Peace Hunter

The newspaper published by Diganta continued to be the talk of the city throughout the kingdom of San Fulgen. Some couldn't believe the murder of Duke San Angela's son and condemned the perpetrator, while others were delighted to see and learn the news. These happy souls came from circles that despised the noble families, especially Duke San Angela's. They considered the perpetrator who dared to kill Duke San Angela's son a hero. The rest paid little attention to the news.

-

In the village of Aston, located in the San Minerva region.

Uncle Isaac had just returned from the capital of San Estella in a horse-drawn carriage. Upon arriving at the village, Uncle Isaac hurriedly dismounted and ran to call out to the villagers.

"Everyone, I just received some bad news!" Uncle Isaac exclaimed.

The villagers gathered after hearing Uncle Isaac shouting for them.

"What bad news, Isaac?" asked Uncle Bill, rushing over to him.

"It's about Rid," Uncle Isaac said.

"What's wrong with Rid?" Uncle Bill asked.

"Rid has killed Duke San Angela's son," Uncle Isaac said.

"What?!?!," said Uncle Bill, shocked.

Not only Uncle Bill, but all the villagers who heard about it were shocked.

"Not only that, he also slaughtered many of Duke San Angela's knights. For the full story, please read this newspaper," said Uncle Isaac.

Uncle Isaac then distributed the newspapers he had purchased in the capital. The villagers immediately read the newspapers after receiving them from Uncle Isaac.

"This is absolutely unbelievable," said Uncle Dean.

"That's right, Uncle. There's no way Rid could do something like this. During his time in this village, Rid was a good person and he always helped me, his friend," said Eric.

"Yeah, I don't believe this either. Maybe Rid is being framed by the nobles. You know, Rid was previously hailed as a hero for saving Prince Charles, Princess Chloe, and Princess Caroline during an attack on the academy, right? Maybe some nobles are jealous of Rid's popularity, considering he's just a commoner from a village," said Uncle Isaac.

"Well, I'm sure that's the case. Some nobles do behave badly and insult us, the commoners," said Uncle Dean.

"Besides that, it looks like Rid will be facing a court hearing to determine his sentence tomorrow. Why don't we all attend the hearing? We should urge the court not to sentence Rid," said Uncle Bill.

"That's a good idea, chief. But I don't know if we'll be allowed to attend the hearing," said Uncle Isaac.

-

In a building located in the city of San Angela.

Commander Asier and Vice Commander Sara were seen in one of the rooms in the building. Commander Asier was currently reading a newspaper containing news about Rid. After reading for a while, Commander Asier closed the newspaper.

"It seems this incident was premeditated. I don't know why the Duke's knights were stationed in that forest. The Duke's knights should only be protecting the Duke and guarding his residence, but when the incident occurred, they were in Hevea Forest."

"Sara said they came to the forest to kill a monster that attacked an acquaintance of Duke San Angela while passing through the forest. But Sara said she didn't find any monster corpses in the forest. Commander Luka, who was in the forest, explained to Sara that the monsters were likely destroyed, considering that several areas of the forest had also been destroyed. Yes, that's a reasonable explanation, but I still find it strange. What if Duke San Angela's knights originally intended to kill Rid, but Rid ultimately fought back and even finished them off?"

"If Duke San Angela's knights were ordered to kill Rid, that means Duke San Angela himself was the one ordering them. Father has long suspected him of being with Duke San Minerva and Duke San Quentine. Especially when Father was accused of being the cause of the breakdown in relations between the San Fulgen and Seleria kingdoms, that made father feel that the three of them were planning something,"

"If Duke San Angela really sent his knights to kill Rid, why would he kill him? Rid is just a commoner and not of noble birth or any prominent figure. Or perhaps he targeted Rid because he was related to Irene? Could their real target be Irene?" thought Commander Asier.

After thinking about this, Commander Asier suddenly slammed his fist on the table in front of him. The loud bang startled Vice Commander Sara.

"W-What's wrong, Commander?" asked Vice Commander Sara.

"Nothing. Sorry for startling you," said Commander Asier.

"I see. I thought the Commander was angry because I was the one who arrested Rid Archie, the Commander's sister's boyfriend," said Vice Commander Sara.

"I'm not angry about that. Besides, you did your job well because what you did was in accordance with existing regulations," said Commander Asier.

"Thank goodness," said Vice Commander Sara.

"By the way, Sara, I want to confirm something. You previously said that you detained Rid because he had lied about killing the bandits who attacked them. But in fact, not a single bandit's body was found, only the bodies of Duke San Angela's knights. Is that true?" asked Commander Asier.

"That's right, Commander. After Rid Archie said he killed the bandits who attacked him, he immediately ordered us to search the forest for the bandits' bodies. Initially, the Frost Wolf knights and I intended to examine the bodies ourselves, but Commander Luka stopped us and told us to let his knights examine the bodies. I agreed to that."

"Then, a few minutes later, the Duke of San Angela knights returned with several bodies wearing the uniforms of the Duke of San Angela knights. They said they hadn't found any bandit bodies. After hearing that, I cornered Rid and told him he was lying. But after that, I immediately ordered the Frost Wolf knights to investigate themselves, as the San Angela knights might not have examined them thoroughly enough. But when the Frost Wolf knights returned, they said they hadn't found any bandit bodies either, only the bodies of the Duke of San Angela knights. They could recognize them from the uniforms they were wearing," said Vice ommander Sara.

"Hmm, I see," said Commander Asier.

"What's wrong, Commander?" asked Vice Commander Sara.

"Nothing. Besides that, tomorrow I'm going to the San Fulgen royal court. There's something I must witness and do there," said Commander Asier.

-

Back at San Sabaneta Prison, in the detention room where Rid was.

I was currently being beaten and kicked by two men. They were Marquess Marcelo, Javier's father, and Duke James, Enzo's father. They were the two who wanted to meet me with the intention of beating me up. They weren't the only ones who came; several others were waiting outside the detention room. But the only ones who entered the prison and beat me were those two.

The blows and kicks they delivered left my body covered in wounds. Since I can't use magic in this prison, I can't use healing magic to restore my body either. It seems the entire prison has been rigged with an artifact that makes everyone incarcerated, because not only am I incapacitated, Marquess Marcelo and Duke James also appeared to be using no magic while beating me. The blows and kicks they threw at me were purely physical attacks without any magical embellishment.

"Damned commoners, how dare you burn my son to a crisp like that," said Marquess Marcelo, kicking me in the head.

"It's your own fault for raising your son to be such a barbarian, Lord Marquess. If you had raised your son properly, I'm sure he would have lived in peace, and he might still be alive," I said.

"How dare you comment on how I raised my own child. Don't you know I'm a Marquess? How dare a commoner like you speak like that to a Marquess like me," said Marquess Marcelo, continuing to punch and kick me.

After a while of Marquess Marcelo punching and kicking me, Duke James stopped him.

"That's enough, Sir Marcelo. If you continue, he'll die," said Duke James.

"Isn't that okay? He'll die tomorrow anyway," said Marquess Marcelo.

"If you killed him yourself, you'll be the one punished. Leave his death to the courts," said Duke James.

"Very well, Lord Duke," said Marquess Marcelo.

Marquess Marcelo stopped punching and kicking me. He retreated to where Duke James was standing near the prison door. When Marquess Marcelo stood beside Duke James, this time it was Duke James's turn to approach me. After Duke James reached me, he immediately grabbed my chin and brought my face close to his.

"Even though I've punched and kicked you countless times, I'm still not satisfied. I'll do something else as retribution for killing my only son. Perhaps next time, I'll brutally murder both of your parents," Duke James said.

"Unfortunately, it seems you won't be able to do that, Lord Duke. My parents abandoned me when I was little, and I don't know where they are. After that, I lived with my grandfather, but he's now deceased, so it's pointless for you to even think about doing that," I said.

"Hah, no wonder you're so insolent. You were never raised by your own parents, and that's why you're so insolent," Marquess Marcelo said.

"It seems that has nothing to do with it, Lord Marquess. The proof is that even your son, who still has parents, is still an insolent and uncivilized person," I said.

"You insolent bastard!" Marquess Marcelo said.

Marquess Marcelo then approached me, intending to attack me. But just as he was about to do so, Duke James suddenly punched me in the stomach with great force. The blow caused me to vomit quite a bit of blood.

"Realize your current situation, brat. Do you think you can still talk like that in this situation?" asked Duke James.

"Lord Duke?" said Marquess Marcelo, shocked by Duke James's actions.

"Just stay there, Sir Marcelo. I'll be the one to hit him if he starts ranting again," said Duke James.

"Ok, Lord" said Marquess Marcelo.

Then Duke James grabbed my chin again and brought his face closer.

"Even though your parents are gone, you still have loved ones, right? For example, people from your hometown. I don't know the exact location of your hometown, but I do know that you come from a village in the kingdom of San Fulgen. I'm sure your origins will be made public tomorrow in court. Once I find out where you came from, I will immediately destroy your hometown, kill several people there, and enslave others. How about it? This is the consequence for killing my son. Even those closest to you will suffer the consequences of your actions," said Duke James.

After hearing Duke James's words, I immediately sprayed the blood from my mouth toward Duke James' face. Duke James stopped his grip on my chin and immediately backed away as soon as the blood hit his face.

"I advise you not to do that, Lord Duke. If you do, I will kill you," I said.

I was getting angry after hearing Duke James's words. I glared at Duke James.

"You insolent brat, how dare you look at me like that?" Duke James said, wiping the blood off his face.

After wiping the blood off his face, Duke James immediately approached me again and continued to hit me repeatedly.

"You said you were going to kill me? How could you kill me when you're going to be sentenced to death by the court tomorrow? If you've been sentenced to death, then it's over. A dead person can't kill another person," Duke James said, continuing to hit me.

After hitting me several times, Duke James stopped. He then noticed me, still conscious despite being beaten repeatedly by him.

"Even though you've been beaten and kicked repeatedly, your body is covered in wounds, but why are you still conscious? What the hell are you doing? Are you a living wall?" Duke James asked.

After being beaten by Duke James, I looked back at Duke James.

"You seem very confident that I will be sentenced to death in court tomorrow, Lord Duke. But what if you yourself are sentenced to death in court tomorrow?" I asked.

"Huh, what are you saying? Tomorrow's trial is your trial because you are a criminal. I'm not a criminal, so I won't be sentenced to death. In fact, I'm the father of the victim you killed!" Duke James said, looking angry.

"I did kill Enzo, I admit it. But I was only protecting myself because Enzo tried to kill me first," I said.

"There's no way Enzo would do that. Don't make up stories, brat," Duke James said.

"You don't have to lie like that, Lord Duke. You were the one who ordered Enzo to kill me," I said.

Duke James fell silent after I said that.

"Before Enzo died, he told me about your plan," I said.

Duke James remained silent as he listened to me speak.

"Lord Duke, you intend to assassinate Her Majesty the Queen and the entire San Lucia family, right?" I asked.

Duke James remained silent when I asked about it, but his expression was clearly shocked. So was Marquess Marcelo.

"It seems you were planning to do so, it's clear from the look on your face. If this plan were discovered by the San Lucia family or even Her Majesty the Queen herself, I'm sure you would be executed on the spot, Lord Duke," I said.

Duke James remained silent, but a moment later, he suddenly began to laugh.

"Hahahaha, I see. So you already knew about the plan. So what if you knew?" Duke James asked.

Duke James approached me again and hit me again, continuously.

"Even if you knew about the plan, there's nothing you can do, because you have no proof, brat. If you intend to reveal the plan just by saying it, people won't believe you and will just dismiss it as mere boasting and slander. Furthermore, you're the only one who knows about the plan. After you're executed, no one else will know about it," Duke James said.

Duke James continued to hit me relentlessly. As Duke James continued to hit me, suddenly a prisoner in the same room as me spoke up.

"Who says he's the only one who knows about your plan? I know about it too, because you admitted it yourself after he spoke about it," the prisoner said.

Duke James turned to the prisoner. Initially, Duke James noticed another prisoner in the same room as me, but he ignored him and paid close attention to him. But this time, Duke James noticed who it was. Duke James was shocked when he saw the prisoner's face.

"You're...!?" Duke James said.

-To be continued

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