21 hours from 'Golden Raven's" return from the goblin crypt mission
In the centre of a big hall, an elf with green hair about 5 feet tall was locked by big black chains. The elf was being pulled from chains towards a round witness box.
On both sides of the room, there were hundreds of people sitting in the auditorium whispering to each other.
While scholars were standing side by side on the red carpet that went to the throne at the front of the wall.
Suddenly, a guard fully covered in silver armour walked up from the left side of the throne and tapped the floor with the long sword in his hand .
"Dongggggggggg!"
"Stand in respect,
the master of water magic.
Conqueror of 17 villages,
master of Frost Dragon.
The city lord of Patliputra,
Is arriving at the court."
As soon as the knight in silver armour made the announcement, he stepped back into his position.
All the people present in the hall stood up from their seats to pay respect as soon as the sound of drums and a bullhorn rang the hall.
The huge black gate with golden rims opened wide as some figures entered the hall.
Alan Salas was on the right side, Sylpha was on the left, and Mike followed him from the shadows.
At the centre of three was a man in his late fourties. Crimson red armour, blue armour, a white cape , battle scars on his fair brown skin, and purple hair only amplified his presence. While two red and black scythes were held on his back.
The trio walked towards the throne in the centre before the man in red and blue armour turned back to face the crowd.
"The court may proceed," he said before he sat on the throne while the scythe on his back disappeared inside his ring.
Hearing this , Alan and Sylpha went to their seat next to the city lord, just a little shorter and less majestic than the throne in the centre. While two similar seats remained vacant on their side.
As soon as the city lord sat on the throne, everyone got back to their respective seats while a scholar in a red uniform walked to the centre of the hall.
" This humble servant wishes for the Lord's well being and good health." The man in the red gown said it with a little bow before he continued to walk back towards the green-haired elf.
"My lord, the case today is very unique and connected to the bloodline of his lord's lineage," he said, pointing towards the beaten blue elf in the witness box.
"My lord, this person you see here in chains might look like an innocent young boy to you, but don't let his appearance fool your eyes." The scholars looked at the young elf with an expression of disgust before he continued.
"This elf here, Sen Vastov from the Vastov family, is being accused of raping and killing his own childhood friend."
At this statement of the scholar, everyone in the hall started to whisper to each other.
"Silance!" The silver guard said he was tapping his lance twice on the floor.
"And what proof do you have for it?" The man on the throne asked in a deep yet serious voice.
"We have three proofs from this incident, my lord, and all three of them directly point out that this person here is not an elf but a monster in elf skin." The scholar said, looking at Sen, then reverted his gaze back to the city lord and bowed his head.
"My lord, please allow this servant to proof his words."
"Request granted " the city lord said in a deep, loud voice.
As if waiting for this statement, the scholar clapped his hands, and five soldiers entered the halls, pulling a cylindrical object covered with red cloth.
As soon as the cylindrical object moved next to the witness box, the scholar moved towards the object and removed the red cover.
Sen, who was expressionless until now, As his sight fell on the glass container, tears started rolling down from his beat black eyes as a few words escaped his lips.
"Alena..."
Inside the cylindrical glass container was the dead body of a young girl. Except for her private parts wrapped around by bandages, her whole body showed signs of burns and cuts, with a sword wound on her chest piercing through her heart.
The scholar pointed his hand towards the body of a young girl in the container as he said, looking towards the Lord.
"My lord, the first proof is the DNA mark we found on the body of this girl; please look at the following report." He said this as he passed down some papers to an old man for verification.
"The document has been verified; according to this data, the culprit's DNA is indeed present on the victim's body." The old man replied with a straight voice.
Sen, hearing this statement, could only look at the old man with eyes of hatred and shock.
"This servant requests to present other witnesses to the hall, my lord." The scholar in the red gown said as he bowed his head.
"Request granted," the city lord replied in the same cold tone.
The scholar in the red gown clapped his hand again, and two guards brought a glass container into the hall. Inside the glass container was a silver-coloured sword with a blue handle, while half of the sword was covered in dark red dry blood.
- Wait.. Just where did they get this sword from - Sen thought, looking at the sword in front of him with big eyes.
"My lord, what you see here is the Vastov family sword, and also the same sword this innocent girl got stabbed from." The scholar said this, pointing at the sword in front of him.
"That's a lie; I don't even use a sword as a weapon," Sen shouted in anger, looking at the sword in front of him.
"We will get to that point soon enough, Sen. Vastov." The scholar spoke in a cold tone, looking at Sen directly in the eyes.
"To confirm this suspicion, my lord, I would like to invite the family head of Vastov, Anil Vastov, into the hall." The scholar said he was looking at the city lord.
"Permission granted"
- That's right! "Father knows me very well; he will make sure to stand for me - Sen thought with a relief expression as a tear of hope escaped his eyes.
As if waiting for the city lord, a young man in his mid twenties walked up to the witness box and bowed his head towards the city lord.
"Let me introduce myself first. As most of you already know , I am the first son of the Vastov family and chief commander of the Patliputra defence forces, Neil Vastov " The green-haired elf in royal dress raised his head.
- What is this beast doing here? Why isn't Fatheer in the court? - Sen asked himself as he was looking at the green-haired elf similar to him in the witness box.
"First, let me apologise on behalf of my father, Anil Vastov, that he couldn't respond to the court's summons due to serious health issues." The man said as he pulled out a paper from his inventory.
"But he did make sure that his absence wouldn't stop the court's procedures; that's why I am here at his place to present his words to you." The man paused a little before reading the paper in his hands.
" My father fully acknowledges that this sword present here belongs to the Vastov family as well as this bad blood standing in the witness square. To make the procedure smoother and punish those who are wrong, the family head of the Vastov family, Anil Vastov, hereby and now strips the name and Vastov title from Sen Vastov. From this moment on, Sen. Vastov is not part of the Vastov family. The court can do whatever they think fits right with the bad blood of the family. " The man read out loud before he bowed to the king and left the witness box.
- No... This.. This can't be right; this has to be a lie. Father will never say this to me. It can't be true - Sen thought before he fell on his knees with a blank expression on his face.
"My lord, since the two proofs are cleared, I would like to invite my final proof, a witness, to the court." The scholar in a red gown said he was bowing to the lord.
"Permission granted"
As soon as the city lord said these words, a figure slowly emerged from the shadows in the court.
"Greetings from this humble servant." My Lord, I am Liana Drex , the eldest daughter of the defence minister of the city and an eyewitness of today's incident," Liana said while knelling on the ground.
"Lady Liana, please, will you be kind enough to elaborate on the details?" The scholar asked her in a respectful voice.
"My lord , this is about a few hours earlier from now. When I was patrolling across the city for some work, my attention was attracted by a scream! And when I moved to the direction where the scream came from, I saw... I saw this monster stabbing his sword through.... through..." Leiana didn't complete her sentence and started to cry over it, as if remembering something.
"No need to say any further, Lady Liana," the scholar said as he turned towards the City Lord. " That's all I have as a witness, my lord. "I hope justice wins."
The court fell silent again before the city lord asked something, looking at Sen.
"Do you have to say anything in your defence?"
But it was just too many things happening so suddenly. Sen was in a daze of his own.
- Why is this happening to me, what did i do wrong? why me of all?- Sen was questioning himself in his mind again and again that he couldn't even hear what city lord asked him.
The city lord waited for a few seconds before he stood up and announced.
"Very well then, I , Alferd Ironheart, the city lord of Patliputra, in the presence of all proof and witnesses, order the culprit a public execution 30 days from now."
"Court dismissed"