Chapter 21: The Trial
Nimitz, Kalan’s two uncles, Kalan, Lorin, and Alice—six people in total. They didn’t dare to casually sit down before the host arrived, so they could only wait quietly in the living room.
“Kalan, when Lord Linley arrives, remember to be humble in your attitude.” Nimitz gave Kalan a cold glance.
Kalan nodded. “Second Grandfather, I know.”
Deep down, Kalan actually harbored a deep resentment toward Linley. Especially after learning the reason for his release from prison, his hatred for Linley only grew stronger!
“I’d rather stay in prison than have Alice beg him!” Kalan fumed inwardly.
Back when Alice first got together with Linley, Kalan had begun to resent him. And when he won Alice back, he felt a hint of smugness. In his view, although Linley’s strength was decent, compared to their Debs family, he was far too inferior. Yet, in just a few months, Linley’s status had suddenly changed, vaulting him to become the most dazzling rising star in the entire Fenlai City. Even His Majesty the King of Fenlai Kingdom and the Red-robed Archbishop of the Church had received him so warmly. Even his own father had to be humble before him. This made Kalan seethe with hatred deep inside.
Both were young men—why was he inferior to the other?
Especially this time!
He had been thrown into prison, and in the end, he was released. But it was because the person he loved most, Alice, had gone to beg Linley. It was Linley who got him out.
This made Kalan feel a sense of humiliation. How he wished he could refuse Linley’s favor and stay in prison. How he wished he could curse Linley out thoroughly, or even kill him.
But for the sake of his family, Kalan now had to come humbly to Linley’s estate, not daring to show even a hint of disrespect.
Footsteps sounded.
Kalan immediately pushed aside the chaotic thoughts in his mind and forced a smile onto his face, trying to appear as humble and courteous as possible.
“Sorry to keep you all waiting.” Linley’s cheerful voice rang out.
The six of them—Nimitz and the others—looked over. Linley had clearly just bathed. His hair was still wet, and he was casually dressed in a loose robe.
“Please, all of you, sit down.” Linley sat calmly in the host’s seat and waved his hand casually.
Nimitz and the others immediately expressed their thanks and sat down one by one. Nimitz was the first to speak with a smile: “Lord Linley, the reason we’ve come today is to thank you. If it weren’t for you, Kalan probably wouldn’t have been released so soon. Kalan, won’t you thank Lord Linley?”
At this point, Kalan had no choice but to stand up. Suppressing the hatred in his heart, he forced himself to adopt a humble demeanor: “Thank you, Lord Linley.”
Linley gave Kalan a faint smile. “Kalan, no need to thank me.”
“Mr. Nimitz, I have some important matters to attend to later. If you have something to say, please speak quickly.” Linley looked at Nimitz with a smile.
In truth, Linley couldn’t be bothered to waste time with these people. His time was meant for training.
Nimitz was taken aback for a moment but quickly adjusted. He let out a low sigh and said, “Lord Linley, my Debs family has been falsely accused of smuggling water jade ore. At this point, our family might even face destruction. So, we beg Lord Linley to lend us your help. Once our family overcomes this crisis, we will never forget your great kindness.”
With that, Nimitz took a black box from beside him.
“Lord Linley, this is a small gift for you, to thank you for freeing Kalan from prison. If our family can be preserved this time, we will surely offer you a greater reward.” Nimitz held the black box sincerely, looking at Linley.
“Swoosh.”
The shadow mouse Bebe suddenly darted in front of Nimitz, snatched the black box with his little paws, and jumped straight onto Linley’s lap, immediately trying to open it.
“Bebe.” Linley said in a low voice.
Bebe looked up at Linley with dissatisfaction, then didn’t open the box. He grunted a few times and fell silent.
“Mr. Nimitz, Bebe is a bit mischievous. I’ll accept this gift. Thank you for your kindness.” Linley smiled and casually set the black box aside without even glancing at it.
Nimitz could sense Linley’s impatience.
He immediately signaled the others with a look, then stood up and bowed: “Lord Linley, we won’t disturb you any longer. The trial for my Debs family’s case will be held in a month. We hope you can help us during this time.”
Linley nodded casually.
Nimitz and the others then left. Throughout the entire exchange, Alice and Lorin didn’t say a word. It was mainly Nimitz who did all the talking.
Watching this group leave, Linley sneered coldly: “That old fox Nimitz? Bringing Alice along, thinking I’d give you face?” Linley flipped open the lid of the black box with one hand. Inside lay a magic crystal card and a letter.
“A letter?”
Linley picked up the letter, but suddenly flames erupted from his hand, burning the letter to ashes. He couldn’t be bothered to read it.
Soon, it was September.
Over the past month, Linley had trained hard every day. His agility, strength, and other aspects had all improved significantly. The dragonblood battle qi within him had become even purer.
Linley had a feeling that he had reached the late stage of the sixth rank.
As for the progress of his spiritual energy, although Linley’s improvement was very fast, advancing from a seventh-rank magus to an eighth-rank magus—even for a genius—usually required nearly twenty years of effort. Despite Linley’s rapid progress, the improvement over a few months was still not very noticeable.
The path of magic was indeed long and arduous.
In the Springwater Garden, the shadow of a blade danced. A human-shaped stone sculpture was becoming increasingly clear, with discarded stone fragments flying up and landing on the grass. Suddenly, Linley stopped and put away his carving knife.
“Whew, finally finished.” Looking at the stone sculpture before him, Linley nodded with satisfaction.
This sculpture, which Linley had named “The King of Slaughter,” had indeed consumed a great deal of his effort. Each time, he tried his best to fully immerse himself in the state, perfectly carving out the scene of Hiss’s strike.
The sculpture before him was about the height of a real person.
Especially the cold indifference in its eyes, which gave one the feeling of looking at a god. This sculpture exuded the aura of a god of slaughter. And being stared at by those eyes sent a chill down one’s spine.
“Although this piece isn’t as good as ‘Awakening from a Dream,’ it has still reached the peak of what I can achieve under normal circumstances.” Linley was quite satisfied with this work. After spending nearly a month carefully carving it, he had finally finished.
Putting down the carving knife, Linley soaked in the spring pool for a while, then put on a loose robe and sat down in a chair, eating the breakfast brought by the maidservant.
“Linley.” Delin Kowalt flew out from beside him.
“Grandpa Delin.” Linley looked at Delin Kowalt.
Delin Kowalt smiled and said, “Linley, in two days, it will be the trial for the Debs family’s case. Are you planning to watch?”
“The trial?” Linley was startled.
This month of intense training had made him forget about the outside world. He had even forgotten about the Debs family’s case. If Delin Kowalt hadn’t mentioned it, Linley probably wouldn’t have remembered.
“Go, of course I’ll go.” A smile appeared on Linley’s face.
On September 8th, 9999 of the Yulan calendar, at the Blackwater Mansion in Fenlai City.
The Blackwater Prison was the most famous and most heavily guarded prison in the Fenlai Kingdom. And the Blackwater Mansion was the highest court in Fenlai City for hearing cases.
In the courtroom of the Blackwater Mansion, a large number of nobles had gathered today. Even His Majesty King Clay had come to observe from the sidelines. And Linley had naturally arrived as well.
“Lord Linley.” Nobles greeted him warmly one after another.
“Linley, come, sit here.” King Clay, seated in the front row of the audience, waved to Linley. Linley smiled at Clay and walked over.
Linley and Clay sat together.
Merritt, with his hair slicked back, sat in the judge’s seat, his back straight. He really did give off an air of impartiality. “Please, everyone, be seated.” Merritt nodded with a smile to the nobles in the audience, especially directing a humble smile toward Linley and Clay.
The nobles in the audience fell silent. The Debs family had also sent over a dozen people, who sat together nervously waiting for the trial to begin.
“Bring in Bernard.” Merritt said directly.
Soon, under the escort of two soldiers, Bernard, wearing shackles and chains, entered the courtroom.
Merritt glanced at an official beside him. The official stood up on his own and began to speak loudly: “During his tenure as Minister of Finance, Duke Patterson committed many acts that betrayed the interests of the kingdom. Among them, he was involved in smuggling water jade ore with the Debs family. The scale of this smuggling is unprecedented since the founding of the Fenlai Kingdom. The seized water jade ore is valued at nearly fifty million gold coins!”
In reality, the Debs family’s smuggling had only just begun. Saying it was worth fifty million gold coins was an exaggeration; the Debs family had only spent a few million gold coins. This shows how huge the profit from smuggling was.
But the smuggling had only just started. Because of Patterson’s death, the matter was exposed.
The official continued: “After investigation, the people in charge of the smuggling were identified. One of them jumped into a river, while the other two were the brothers Lansir and Lanmir.”
Having said that, the official sat down.
Merritt looked at Bernard: “Bernard, do you have anything to say?”
Bernard nodded: “Yes, Your Honor. First, the smuggling was not carried out by my Debs family. Second, the Lansir brothers were expelled from my family long ago. Third, the true mastermind behind the smuggling should be the one you mentioned who jumped into the river. My Debs family has nothing to do with it.”
Merritt nodded with a smile: “The mastermind behind the smuggling was your third brother, and you still say it has nothing to do with you?”
“Third brother? My third brother is still out traveling and adventuring. How could he be the mastermind?” Bernard insisted.
“Your third brother is adventuring?” Merritt’s face turned cold. “Then let me ask you: if your third brother is adventuring abroad, why, when I asked your family to recall him, hasn’t he returned after all this time?”
Bernard said confidently: “My third brother is traveling in other countries. He might have gone too far. It’s normal not to be able to contact him for a year or half a year.”
Merritt looked at Bernard, smiled, and then said coldly: “Bring in the three Cartersons.”
“Cartersons?” Bernard was puzzled. Who were these three?
Soon, three timid young men walked in. As soon as they entered, they immediately knelt and said respectfully: “Greetings, Your Honor.”
These three young men were clearly commoners who had never seen much of the world.
Merritt said calmly: “Carter, tell us what you discovered back then.”
“Yes, Your Honor.” The leading young man said respectfully, “On June 28th, we three brothers were fishing on the river when we suddenly spotted a nobleman, dressed in fine clothes, floating along the river while clutching a piece of driftwood. There was blood on him, and he was nearly unconscious.”
Hearing this, Bernard’s face changed slightly.
“The day we pursued the leader of the smuggling operation was also June 28th, and coincidentally, he jumped into that same river.” Merritt looked at Bernard. “Bernard, do you confess?”
“My third brother went out to travel and adventure. He absolutely did not lead the smuggling. My Debs family is also completely innocent.” Bernard still held his head high as he spoke.
Merritt sneered and said: “Bring in Kant Debs.”
Hearing the name Kant Debs, Bernard and the Debs family members in the audience all turned pale.
(Today, Tomato wasn’t in good form, so I can only update one chapter. Tomorrow, Tomato will make up for it!)