Peace Hunter

"What did those two say? They have evidence of the incident that occurred in the Hevea Forest?" asked Duke James.

"Not only that, they also have evidence of our suspicious activities. And most importantly, they have evidence of the experiments and the 'subjects'?" asked Duke Darwin.

Duke James and Duke Darwin were shocked to hear what the two women said. Their faces turned pale. Meanwhile, Judge Roswald looked at the two women. They were carrying several items and documents that appeared to be recovered evidence.

"I see, so you've come here to deliver the evidence to Commander Asier and Duke San Lucia. Then, I permit you to enter this courtroom and present the evidence to Commander Asier and Duke San Lucia," said Judge Roswald.

"Thank you, Your Honor," said the two women.

The two women began walking toward where I was sitting. But they weren't heading toward me, but toward Commander Asier and Duke Louis, who were sitting across from me. I recognized one of the two women because one of them was Vice Commander Sara. I recognized her when she came to Hevea Forest and interrogated me after the incident. I didn't recognize the other woman, but judging by her uniform, she seemed to be a knight belonging to Duke Louis. The two women finally arrived at Commander Asier and Duke Louis's place. The two women immediately handed over several items and documents to Commander Asier and Duke Louis.

"I didn't expect you to come here in person, Sara," said Commander Asier, accepting the items handed to her by Vice Commander Sara.

"When the knights you ordered to search for evidence returned, they asked me to deliver this evidence," said Vice Commander Sara.

"I see. Thank you for delivering this evidence, Sara," said Commander Asier.

"You're welcome, Commander," said Vice Commander Sara.

Then Commander Asier opened the plastic container containing the evidence that Deputy Commander Sara had brought. Commander Asier examined the evidence carefully.

"This is very interesting evidence," said Commander Asier.

"If you have any questions about the evidence, just ask me, Commander. I've been briefed on the evidence by those who found it," said Vice Commander Sara.

"Ok, Sara," said Commander Asier.

At the same time, the female knight accompanying Vice Commander Sara also handed Duke Louis a plastic container containing the evidence.

"Thank you for delivering this, Mina," said Duke Louis.

"You're welcome, Lord Duke," said the female knight.

"So the woman's name is Mina, huh?" I thought after listening to their conversation.

Duke Louis then began opening the plastic container to examine the evidence he had found.

"If you have any questions about the evidence, you can ask me, Lord Duke," said the woman.

"Ok, Mina," said Duke Louis.

Duke Louis and Commander Asier continued to examine the evidence intently. Meanwhile, Judge Roswald was seen reading a book while waiting for Duke Louis and Commander Asier to hand him the evidence. Queen Kayana was now seen beside Miss Karina, having previously been behind Duke James and Duke Darwin, who were sitting in the defendant's chair. Queen Kayana and Miss Karina appeared to be engrossed in conversation. Meanwhile, Duke James and Duke Darwin had been silent, their faces pale. They occasionally whispered to each other.

After Commander Asier and Duke Louis had looked at the evidence for a while, Commander Asier stood.

"Then I will present this evidence first, Father," said Commander Asier.

"Yes," said Duke Louis.

Commander Asier then walked forward to Judge Roswald.

"My apologies for keeping you waiting, Your Honor," said Commander Asier.

"It's ok, after all, today's hearing is specifically for the case related to Rid Archie. So there are no other hearings after this one," said Judge Roswald, closing the book he was reading.

"Then thank you, Your Honor. I will present this evidence to Your Honor. I apologize in advance if I present this evidence in a disrespectful manner because I will throw it at Your Honor," said Commander Asier.

"It's ok, I don't have a problem with it," said Judge Roswald.

"Very well. Then seize this, Your Honor," said Commander Asier.

Commander Asier then tossed the plastic container containing the evidence he had recovered to Judge Roswald. Judge Roswald managed to catch the plastic container perfectly with his right hand, even though it was quite large. Judge Roswald then examined the evidence in the plastic container.

"This is..." said Judge Roswald.

"Yes, that's right. The evidence my knights found was dirty clothes covered in dirt and blood. The dirty clothes looked like bandit clothing. They were found buried in the Hevea Forest area."

"Previously, during my vice commander's interrogation, Rid said that he and Duke San Angela's son were attacked by a group of bandits in the forest. Rid claimed to have killed the bandits who attacked them. Of course, my vice commander didn't believe him, so she decided to verify the truth himself by sending some of her knights to search the forest to find out if there were really any bandit bodies nearby that Rid had killed,"

"But Commander Luka suddenly volunteered to do the checking himself. He then ordered some of his knights to search the forest in place of the knights ordered by my vice commander. Of course, my vice commander readily agreed to the proposal. Some of Commander Luka's knights then searched the forest and said they didn't find any bandit bodies in the forest and instead found the bodies of Duke San Angela's knights. That means Rid had lied about his reasons. But, how come my knights now found the bandits' blood-soaked clothes and the dirt buried in the forest? Does that mean Commander Luka was the one who lied back then? It seems he changed the bandits' clothes into the uniforms of Duke San Angela's knights to trap Rid," said Commander Asier.

After Commander Asier spoke, Commander Luka suddenly stood up from his chair.

"How dare you slander me like this, Commander Asier. You're carrying dirty, blood-stained bandit clothing, but those clothes could very well belong to the bandits your knights just killed, not the bandits directly involved in Hevea Forest," said Commander Luka.

"Yes, you have a point, Commander Luka. The bandit clothing I brought could very well belong to the bandits my knights just killed. But I have other evidence. Could you show me that evidence, Your Honor? Even if it's a little uncomfortable to look at," said Commander Asier.

"Ok, I'll show you," said Judge Roswald.

Then Judge Roswald took the evidence Commander Asier had mentioned in the container and began to display it. Most of the people in the courtroom were shocked when Judge Roswald showed the evidence. Most who saw the evidence were frightened and shuddered in horror. Because the evidence Judge Roswald pointed to was a severed arm from the shoulder to the hand holding the sword. The severed arm was covered in blood and dirt, and some parts of the arm were already rotting, but strangely, the arm didn't smell bad at all. Perhaps the stench had been removed by some kind of magic.

"I apologize for making you uncomfortable with the evidence my soldiers found," said Commander Asier.

"What are you doing, Commander Asier? Why are you carrying such evidence?" asked Commander Luka.

"This evidence was found buried in the Hevea forest. Of course, this evidence proves that what happened in the Hevea forest was your doing. Didn't you see that there was still a piece of clothing still attached to the shoulder of the severed arm?" asked Commander Asier.

"Yes, I saw it. But the piece of clothing that was still attached didn't look like my knight's uniform; instead, it looked like ordinary clothing likely worn by bandits. Are you trying to slander me again by saying that Rid Archie's statement was true and I was the one lying? But your evidence is meaningless, because the arm could have come from a bandit who had just been killed and not one involved in the incident in the Hevea forest," said Commander Luka.

"That's true. It's possible that this arm could have come from a bandit who had just been killed. But didn't you observe the sword this arm was holding?" asked Commander Asier.

Hearing Commander Asier's words, Commander Luka began to examine the sword the arm was holding.

"What?!?! How is that possible?!?!?" said Commander Luka, shocked.

Commander Luka was shocked after seeing the sword held by the severed arm.

"You noticed, right, Commander? The sword held by the severed arm is a sword often used by Duke San Angela's knights. Royal knights and ordinary Duke knights are not given contracted weapons and are only given non-contracted weapons. However, the design of the weapons given to both royal knights and Duke knights are all the same, the only difference being the color. And the color of the sword held by the severed arm indicates that it is a sword used by a San Angela knight. Why would a San Angela knight's sword be used by a bandit? Did a San Angela knight give his weapon to the bandits, or was it actually a San Angela knight who disguised himself as a bandit and instigated the incident that occurred in Hevea Forest?" asked Commander Asier.

Hearing Commander Asier's explanation, Commander Luka fell silent, his face pale. He didn't try to refute Commander Asier's explanation.

"You might think that the severed arm wasn't holding the sword at first and that I deliberately made it hold it. But judging by its strong grip, it seems the owner of this severed arm was preparing to attack with the sword, but the arm was severed first. The severed arm stiffened and couldn't move, which is why the sword was still in that hand. So, it's impossible for me to have made the severed arm hold the sword, because it would be difficult to make a stiff arm hold a sword if I did that. The severed arm had been holding the sword since it was found. If you still don't believe this evidence of a severed arm, there's also evidence of other arms holding weapons. And of course, the weapons the severed arm was holding were the weapons of Duke San Angela's knights," Commander Asier said.

Commander Luka fell silent, his face pale.

"Why are you so silent, Commander? Aren't you going to refute what I just said?" asked Commander Asier.

Commander Luka remained silent despite being questioned by Commander Asier.

"It seems you're still going to remain silent, Commander. So, what do you think, Your Honor? Is the evidence I've provided enough to prove who was actually at fault in the incident that occurred in the Hevea forest?" asked Commander Asier.

"Yes, your explanation is very reasonable, Commander Asier. The weapons held by this severed arm are indeed those frequently used by San Angela knights, but the clothing still attached to it is not the uniform of a San Angela knight. From what Rid Archie explained in Hevea Forest, he said he killed the bandits who attacked them there. However, Commander Luka's knights found no bandit bodies in the forest, only the bodies of Duke's knights. This means this severed arm is the arm of one of the bandits Rid Archie killed, as the clothing attached to it is ordinary clothing. Furthermore, the presence of a San Angela knight's weapon held by this severed arm proves that the San Angela knight disguised himself as a bandit and attacked Rid Archie in Hevea Forest. This evidence supports the conversation evidence from the academy principal's crystal stone. In that conversation, it was stated that Rid Archie was the one attacked in the incident and that he decided to kill them all in self-defense."

"Therefore, with this evidence, Rid Archie is again found not guilty in this incident. Meanwhile, Commander Luka, as the commander of the Duke of San Angela knights, planned the murder of civilians, lied during interrogation, and destroyed evidence during the incident. Therefore, I declare Commander Luka guilty of this incident. Several knights involved in the incident will be further investigated to determine their guilt or innocence. I will then hand down Commander Luka's sentence after this trial is complete. If Commander Luka objects to this outcome, he can appeal by presenting compelling evidence."

"For now, gentlemen, please take Commander Luka to the defendant's room first, as the trial will move on to another case after this. Don't forget to keep him from escaping," said Judge Roswald.

"Yes, Your Honor," said the knights in the room.

Several knights then went to Commander Luka's seat and prepared to take him to the defendant's room. Meanwhile, Commander Luka remained silent after hearing Judge Roswald's words. He made no attempt to refute Judge Roswald's words. He didn't even try to resist as the knights tried to take him away.

"W-Why did this happen?" Commander Luka asked.

Commander Luka still couldn't believe Judge Roswald had found him guilty. Commander Asier then approached Commander Luka, who was being carried away by several knights.

"What a shame, Commander. I'm sure you ordered your men to cover up or destroy evidence related to the incident, but my knights still found it," Commander Asier said.

"H-how did you find that evidence? I already ordered my men to remove and destroy it," Commander Luka said.

"I don't know. I wasn't the one who found the evidence, but the knights I commanded. It's possible they found it because your men were negligent in destroying it, or perhaps one of your men betrayed you and deliberately buried the evidence so it would be easy to find. If that's the case, it seems your man is still sane because he doesn't want to be involved in your evil plan," said Commander Asier.

Commander Luka fell silent and slowly walked away from Commander Asier to the defendant's room. Commander Asier continued to look at Commander Luka.

"If I hadn't taken a day off when the incident happened, you might have lost right then and there, Commander," said Commander Asier.

Commander Luka was finally taken to the defendant's room, while Commander Asier returned to his seat. Seeing Commander Asier already seated, I immediately thanked him.

"Thank you for helping me, Brother Asier. Even going so far as to gather such evidence," I said.

"It's ok, Rid. I'm doing this for my sister, after all. If you're arrested or sentenced to death, Irene will be sad," said Commander Asier.

Meanwhile, Vice Commander Sara, who was sitting to my right, began to talk to me.

"I want to apologize, Rid Archie. Because I wasn't thorough during my interrogation, I ended up causing you this," said Vice Commander Sara.

"It's ok, Vice Commander. I didn't think too much about it, so don't worry," I said.

"Okay then," said Vice Commander Sara.

Then the trial resumed.

"Based on the supporting evidence provided by Commander Asier, it can be concluded that the conversation evidence contained in the crystal stone held by the academy principal is valid and irrefutable. Therefore, Duke San Angela and Duke San Minerva have been proven to be the ones who planned the assassination of the entire San Lucia family and Her Majesty the Queen, and their plan began with their intention to assassinate Rid Archie. But before that, I would like to first review the evidence presented by Duke San Lucia. It appears they have committed other crimes," said Judge Roswald.

"That's correct, Your Honor," said Duke Louis as he walked toward Judge Roswald.

"Forgive me for presenting this evidence in such a disrespectful manner, but please accept it, Your Honor," said Duke Louis.

Duke Louis then tossed the plastic container containing the evidence to Judge Roswald. Judge Roswald caught it perfectly with his hand. Judge Roswald then immediately examined the evidence. Some of the evidence contained documents that Judge Roswald was required to read. Upon reading one of the documents, Judge Roswald was shocked.

"Wait, this document..." said Judge Roswald.

Duke Louis looked at Judge Roswald. He knew what document Judge Roswald was reading.

"That's right, Your Honor. That document is about an experiment they conducted. That experiment was the root cause of the deaths of several Elves whose bodies were found in the San Lucia region. The dead Elves were found with holes in their left chests, meaning their hearts had been removed. Those Elves' hearts were the ingredients in the experiment. They took the Elves' hearts to use on the humans they chose as 'subjects' in the experiment. And the person responsible for conducting the experiment is... the Marquess of Rovinj, Marquess Marcelo Buston," said Duke Louis.

Most of the people in the courtroom were shocked to hear this, including Marquess Marcelo, whose name had just been mentioned. Marquess Marcelo was shocked when he heard his name called.

"What?!?! M-me?!?!," asked Marquess Marcelo, shocked.

Meanwhile, Duke Remy smiled upon hearing what Duke Louis had said.

-To be continued

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