บท 77: Verdict
The nauseating smell of blood permeated the air inside the cold, damp cell.
The continuous cracking of bones and the sound of sharp slashes could be heard inside the chamber. Those sounds could make one be terrified for their lives.
If one would listen closely, one could hear somebody breathing in the backrgound amidst the other noises.
It was calm, not too slow nor too fast.
***
On a particular street in the elven city.
"Zoe, open the door, we need to talk about something!", a white-robed elf whose head was hidden under a hood knocked on the door of a house.
The elf was none other than Ariel.
"Zoe? Hello?", she called out again, but nobody answered.
She took out an emerald with magical engravings from her pockets and sent a message through it. After waiting for several minutes, there was still no reply.
"Should I use my authority to forcibly enter? But I don't want to use my authority in front of many people, it's embarrasing.", she muttered as she looked at the elves walking to and fro in the street.
That's also the reason why she was being low-key right now, if the nearby citizens found out she was the princess, heck, the news of her knocking on a door could reach the other side of the city in less than an hour.
And it wasn't just any overstatement.
"Huh, Ariel?", a voice suddenly called out behind her.
"???", Ariel was slightly startled when somebody called out her name, 'Is my cover blown?'
She slowly turned her head around to check who called and saw a blonde boy, about at the age of 10.
The elven boy was wearing clean, , sewed, longsleeve shirt, pants, a raggy scarf around his neck, old-fashioned leather boots, and mask on the lower part of his face.
The boy slightly raised his hair that was covering his eyes, and it revealed his green, emerald like pupils, which was the color of the royal family.
"Gabriel, what are you doing here?", Ariel recognized the boy and quietly asked.
"Big sister, I'm strolling around the city.", Gabriel replied.
After a pause, the little boy scratched his neck and grumbled to himself, "Why do we even have to stay low-key everywhere we go inside the city?"
"Big sister, can't you take me to your adventures for once? There's nothing fun to do in the palace.", Gabriel pouted his cheeks.
"No, you're too young and it's dangerous, and you're the..."
"I know I know, I'll be the one who will inherit the kingdom, so I better stay at the palace to keep reading books and get more intelligent. But the problem is, how can I hone my mind if I stay there all the time?", he interjected.
"Can't you have a debate with the imperial officers?"
"So, should I have a debate with the Imperial Chancellor who doesn't want to expand the city because we can just make the buildings much higher, which is really a bad idea in the aspect of aerial defense, and what did he reasoned out? He said that nobody would even dare to attack the kingdom, such absurdity! Or the Imperial General who always train troops everyday which isn't really his job and because of that, there are a lot of documents stacked in his office that he haven't checked yet, so irresponsible. Or those other hypocritical, greedy, good for nothing high-ranking officials who even wanted to split up the governance of the city just because father isn't that active in the government affairs? Those kind of officials could instigate a rebellion and what they stated is equivalent to saying that father isn't really capable, it is plain treason!", Gabriel rolled his eyes in disgust and crossed his arms.
The corners of Ariel's mouth twitched when he heard his little brother's complaint, but when she heard the last part of his long sentence, she asked, "Wait? They did say that?"
"Uh-huh, I overheard some of them say in their secret meeting in an inn earlier.", Gabriel replied.
"So there's really going to be a rebellion and you're just here relaxing instead of telling it to father?", Ariel almost made a facepalm.
"Pfft... as if father won't even know, he probably has spies informing him of it already.", Gabriel almost laughed by the stupidity of those other elves.
"Big sister, I wonder why you are visiting Zoe, and why are you a bit flustered?", Gabriel asked.
However, he was still the one who answered his own question, "Though I've been hearing top secret news these last few days that Zoe reported a human and that human was caught. So, I'm guessing that that issue also has something to do with you?"
"Yes, I was at my makeshift house somewhere far away from the city, and those Elven Vindicators barged in and captured him. I told them not to do anything bad to him, but they even tortured him for who knows what reason.", she said.
"Why do you even care about an outsider?", Gabriel asked.
"It's a weird feeling, he just feels so familiar, yet I never saw him before in my life!", Ariel explained.
"I think it's much better for you to just go to the mountain under the palace, the Council of High Elders is going to hand out their verdict on that human later for being assumed to be involved in stealing a very important fruit with other humans.", Gabriel said.
"So soon?"
"Mhm, plus, I also heard that they used that 'object' in forcing him to tell the truth. But I think his answers didn't satisfy them.", Gabriel added.
Ariel felt a chill on her back when she heard about that 'object'.
"Really?" Ariel wanted to check if she heard it right, such a an 'object' like that was used on the boy!
"Mhm." Gabriel nodded.
"Whoever made that 'object' is undoubtedly evil." Ariel commented.
"Agreed." Gabriel nodded.
***
Both Ariel and Gabriel then arrived at the half mountain under the palace and entered through a secret tunnel lit by torches and magical stones.
"That human makes you instinctively protect him? Well, that is really an absurd reason, anybody would mistaken you to be in love with him instead.", Gabriel looked at her older sister at the corner of his eyes.
"Also, what will you say to the elders once you are there?", he asked.
"Honestly, I don't know.", Ariel replied.
"Well here's a tip, just become a witness and say that human didn't do anything wrong. Worse case scenario, you might even get implicated in this stealing issue.", Gabriel suggested enthusiastically, as if not caring about the latter part of his statement.
After getting to a certain part of the tunnel, Gabriel stopped and sticked his ear to the wall, "Hold on, I think it's starting."
"Then we should hurry up!", Ariel urged.
The pathway, however, suddenly shook, though the shaking immediately disappeared afterwards.
"What just happened?", she asked.
"The exit at the end just closed up probably due to the verdict to ensure security, we'll never get to exit this pathway until it's done.", Gabriel sighed.
"Is there any other way out?"
"No, as far as I remember all pathways near and connected to the Judging Chamber are usually sealed during a verdict.", he answered.
"We're a bit step too late!", Ariel felt agitation but managed to calm herself down by doing breathing exercises.
"Big sister, do you want to see how the verdict will go? I have a One-Way Transparent Scroll on me.", Gabriel asked.
"Of course."
Gabriel took out a scroll from the pockets of his pants, it was bigger than the size of the pocket, it was clear that the pants was a spatial treasure.
The elven kid unfurled the scroll and pasted it to the wall, letting them see the Judging Chamber from the other side of the wall.
***
A bit earlier...
A bear entered the cave chamber while carrying a cage on its back. The animal was also surrounded by eight Elven Vindicators who were guarding it.
It arrived on top of a large elevated platform, where the elves placed down the cage, then the animal went down the platform and left the chamber.
-whoosh-
The Elven Vindicators pointed their bladed staffs at the cage where Edwin was.
His wrists and feet were tied together by chains, of which, the chains were also tied to the steel cage.
His neck was also secured by chains which were connected to the chains on his wrists and to the cage itself.
The boy was in a kneeling position with his hands behind his back and his head ducked down.
He was wearing new set of clothes, however, there were still some bloodstains on them that were obtained from the leftover blood.
In addition, few drops of blood went out of his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth from time to time.
His bare feet still has a tinge of blood left on it, as with his bare hands too.
A slight quake occurred which immediately subsided, afterwards, six figures entered the room and went to the high podium where there was a single seat.
The figures went to the back of the low table but nobody sat on the seat, they all looked at Edwin, the newcomers weren't actually humanoid figures, but were animals!
"This human was caught near the city. Chizowa suspected that he is connected to the ones who stole the fruit, it's really suspicious for a human to venture this deep.", a black bear with shiny black paws looked at a horned gorilla.
"The princess took in this human, but she doesn't know that this human is involved in the stealing.", the gorilla snorted.
"And so you just ordered to use a Red Thorn on that human without our consent?", a brown crocodile questioned.
The crocodile that just spoke was obviously smarter compared to the demonic crocodile that Edwin had encountered.
"So, you're siding with a human now, Kirk?", Chizowa angrily asked.
"No, I mean that it's a waste to use a Red Thorn on making him tell the truth.", Kirk retorted.
"But he still denied everything in the interrogation.", the bear added.
"Then... it means that he isn't really connected with those other humans?", Kirk pointed out with a questioning tone.
"Hmph, what do you mean not connected?", Chizowa rose his voice.
A white wolf narrowed its eyes and used its great sense of sight to check on Edwin, even though the boy was ducking his head down, the beast clearly recognized him, "This human boy is innocent!"
Everybody in the room was surprised by the wolf's statement, including Ariel and Gabriel in the pathway beside the chamber.
"You're siding with a human, Avram?!", Chizowa roared angrily.
"Yes, is there anything wrong with that?", Avram calmly asked.
"How traitorous! The several years of you and your kind being stationed to live at that broken stone patch already poisoned your mind!", the gorilla grunted.
"Well, I did hear about you getting a debt on a human, Avram.", the bear said, showing its hostility to the Winter Wolf.
"Hmph, Chizowa, your kind losing your symbolic fruit isn't really the problem of everybody else in here! Don't you dare pass your irresponsibility to us.", Avram retorted to the gorilla.
Following which, Avram coldly looked at the bear, "As for you, Sango, you have no rights to whoever I will ask for help because I know who will be trustworthy or not. At that time, I also asked for your assistance, and what did you do? You just flatly rejected it. You do not have enough honor and jurisdiction to challenge what I will do for my clan!"
The bear was taken aback and couldn't refute anything back, but the gorilla further became enraged and even stood up on its two feet!
"Why you...", Chizowa glued its eyes at Avram, it seemed that its fuse was almost lit up.
"Silence.", a lion interjected to what was happening.
The gorilla calmed itself down and sat back down, it didn't dare go against the lion, because it was the highest in rank and the most powerful between all of them, instead, the gorilla asked to the lion, "What is your opinion about this, Nareol?"
"That human obviously didn't do anything. It's impossible for him not to admit it under the pain of the Red Thorn.", Nareol said.
The lion's statement invigorated Avram, also Ariel and Gabriel who could hear and see what was occuring.
"But still, he tresspassed within our lands and found the kingdom, and he has to die so that our location will remain hidden from the eyes of our enemies.", the next statement of Nareol just crushed the recent hope of the three mentioned above.
"Wait, Great Elder! Can you lighten up the human boy's punishment instead of a death penalty?", Avram requested.
"To lighten the human's punishment?" The lion went into thinking.
Then Nareol said, "Then we shall do it by vote. Should we lighten up the human's punishment? All yes, step forward."
After which, Avram and an another animal stepped forward, which was a white deer!
"Huh, Rein?", Avram showed a surprised look at the Highborn Emperor Deer.
The other beasts, including the lion were caught off guard that Rein stepped forward.
"I thought that you took a stand long time ago that you do not care about human beings?", the gorilla's temper lit up again.
However, Rein as if didn't hear, nor even felt the presence of Chizowa.
"All no, now step forward."
This time, the three other chiefs stepped forward, except for Nareol.
Three voted no, two voted for yes, and one abstained.
Seeing the vote, Ariel, Rein, and Avram inwardly said dissatisfied comments, but they knew they couldn't do anything now.
Rein sighed and muttered under his breath, "I can't do anything now, human."
Avram also let out a sigh and murmured, "I hope you can forgive me, Allen."
"Vindicators, you know what to do." Witnessing the vote, Nareol signaled the immediate execution.
The eight Elven Vindicators all nodded and stabbed their weapons at the same time inside the cage.
-pshew-
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