Peace Hunter

"The incident involving the deaths of several Elves whose bodies were found in San Lucia territory. That case remains a mystery to this day. Because of that incident, relations between the kingdom of San Fulgen and the kingdom of Seleria soured, as the dead Elves were a knights of the Seleria kingdom," said Judge Roswald.

"That's right, Your Honor. Because the dead Elves were found in my territory, they accused me of killing them and taking their hearts. Because of that accusation, many nobles denounced me and vilified me for causing the relationship between the kingdoms of San Fulgen and Seleria to deteriorate. But in fact, the main perpetrator in that case was Marquess Marcelo. Not only that, but Lord James and Lord Darwin were also involved in the case," said Duke Louis.

"No, I wasn't the main perpetrator in that case," denied Marquess Marcelo.

"If not you, then who? The evidence clearly states that you were the one who conducted the experiment," said Duke Louis.

While they were arguing, Queen Kayana suddenly approached Duke Louis and began to join in the conversation.

"Wait a moment, Lord Louis. You said you'd found evidence of an experiment using an Elf heart. I actually suspected that the murder of the Elf whose heart was missing was the result of such an experiment. My reason for this suspicion was because I knew that hearts from other races could be transplanted into humans and vice versa, so I suspected that the heart of the deceased Elf had been transplanted into a human."

"Furthermore, I've heard rumors about Javier, the son of Marquess Marcelo. Javier once burned many of his teachers who taught him magic with his powerful fire magic. Normally, humans who haven't yet mastered magic are unable to cast such powerful fire magic. So I suspected that the magic Javier cast was abnormal, possibly due to his recent Elf heart transplant. He was still adjusting to the heart transplant, which made him unable to control his magic power. Because of this suspicion, I ordered the academy principal to monitor Javier during his entrance exam a year ago,"

"During the third stage of the entrance exam, when Javier faced Rid, the principal said that Javier used a lot of dangerous magic, one of which was high-level magic without experiencing fatigue, I also saw it myself from the recording evidence the principal provided. Isn't it strange for a human who is a prospective student to be able to use so much magic like that without getting tired? Because of that, my suspicion that Javier received a transplant from an Elf heart is getting stronger, because Elves are a race that has a higher Mana capacity than humans,"

"If Elves used as many magical attacks as Javier, I'm sure they wouldn't experience fatigue. While the Elf race's Mana capacity is still lower than that of Fairies and Spirits, who are both experts in magical attacks, at least Elves are still superior to humans, especially since the Elven kingdom, Seleria, is very close to the San Fulgen kingdom. So obtaining an Elf heart for transplantation into a human is very easy. But that's just my guess, and I haven't been able to find any solid evidence for it. I've tried to order some of my knights to spy on the Rovinj area, Marquess Marcelo's domain, to find evidence related to Javier or the alleged experiment. But I lost contact with my knights, and to this day, I haven't found any valid proof for my suspicions. But how did you find that proof, Lord Louis?" asked Queen Kayana.

"I obtained this evidence from the Duke of San Angela's residence, Your Majesty. I was able to obtain this evidence because some of Duke San Angela's knights are my informants. I've had them in my care for a long time and have always ordered them to find any suspicious evidence related to Lord James's activities, but they've never been able to find any. However, I'm a little surprised that this time they've found it," said Duke Louis.

Hearing this, Duke James immediately joined in.

"You're truly outrageous, Lord Louis. How could you place a spy among my knights?" asked Duke James, visibly irritated.

"Are you seriously saying that? You yourself placed a spy among my knights. Did you think I didn't know you had one?" asked Duke Louis.

Hearing Duke Louis's words, Duke James was speechless.

"You might think I'm setting you up and that the evidence I found is fabricated by my spies. But these documents bear the signatures of Lord James, Lord Darwin, and Marquess Marcelo, each with their own stamps. Do you think this is a trap?" asked Duke Louis.

After Duke Louis said this, Judge Roswald continued to examine the documents presented by Duke Louis.

"What Duke San Lucia said is true. These documents bear their signatures and their own stamps. These signatures and stamps appear to be genuine," said Judge Roswald.

Judge Roswald then read the documents again.

"Even Your Honor said so, so the evidence we found is truly valid," said Duke Louis.

"You're truly amazing for finding this evidence, Lord Louis. It turns out my suspicions were correct: there was a forbidden experiment being conducted in this kingdom, involving the hearts of the Elf race. I never imagined that the main perpetrator would be the father of my suspect, Marquess Marcelo. It seems difficult for you to have a son like Javier. I mean, you insisted on keeping the experiment a secret, but your own son recklessly tried to leak his own secret by using a lot of magic during last year's entrance exam," said Queen Kayana.

"I-I already said that I wasn't the one who conducted the experiment. I-I admit that I was involved in the experiment, and my son was also a subject, but I wasn't the one who conducted it," said Marquess Marcelo.

Marquess Marcelo continued to deny it, even though the evidence found proved he was the main perpetrator of the experiment.

"You can't deny it anymore, Marquess Marcelo. This document clearly states that you conducted the experiment. It contains a report detailing the bodies of the elves they killed. These elves truly came from the Seleria Kingdom, and all of them were knights of the Seleria Kingdom. The report also explains that these elves were kidnapped while patrolling the Mistskog Forest, specifically on the border between the San Fulgen Kingdom and the Seleria Kingdom. They were abducted by Duke San Minerva's knights because San Minerva's territory is close to the Mistskog Forest. After the elves were kidnapped, they were killed, their hearts removed for experiments, and their bodies were dumped in the San Lucia region so that the people of San Lucia, especially Duke San Lucia, would be scapegoated for this incident."

"Furthermore, this report also details the subjects involved in the experiment. The subjects were Javier Buston, son of Marcelo Buston; Enzo William San Angela, son of Duke San Angela; Florian Randall San Minerva, son of Duke San Minerva; and several children of middle-ranking nobles. All of these subjects had one thing in common, they were all young men under the age of 23," said Judge Roswald..

Duke Darwin, Duke James, and Marquess Marcelo were shocked upon hearing Judge Roswald's words. They were shocked not because their children's names were on the list, but because there was something odd about it.

"Why aren't Vyn and Amelia from Lord Remy's family listed? And why does the document state that the main perpetrator of the experiment was Marquess Marcelo, not Lord Remy?" Duke James wondered.

Duke James's face looked troubled as he pondered this.

Unlike Duke James, who was still pondering the oddity, Duke Darwin immediately questioned Judge Roswald about it.

"W-wait a moment, Your Honor. Are all the names of the subjects listed on the list?" asked Duke Darwin.

"Yes, I've read all the names of the subjects listed. What's going on?" asked Judge Roswald.

"Why isn't there a name—" Duke Darwin said.

Before Duke Darwin could finish his sentence, he vomited a large amount of blood from his mouth. Everyone in the courtroom was shocked.

"What happened? Why did Duke San Minerva suddenly vomit blood?" Caroline asked, shocked by the scene.

"Just like Enzo and Javier did when they were about to say a name, Duke San Minerva also vomited blood when he was about to say a name," I said.

After vomiting blood from his mouth, Duke Darwin continued to hold his neck. He was visibly gasping for breath as he held it.

"Haaaahhhh....hahhhhhh....what happened?," Duke Darwin asked.

"What's wrong, Mr. Darwin? Are you sick?" Queen Kayana asked.

"I-I'm fine, Your Majesty... I'm also confused as to why I vomited blood after asking a name—," said Duke Darwin.

But before he could finish his sentence, he vomited blood again. The people in the room were shocked again. Meanwhile, Duke Darwin began to fall from his chair and lay on the floor, limp from vomiting so much blood.

"Lord Darwin, what happened to you?" asked Duke James, who was beside him.

The knight who had been lining up behind Duke Darwin and Duke James to guard them began to approach Duke Darwin, who lay limp on the floor.

"I don't know what exactly happened, but please heal him, gentlemen," said Judge Roswald.

"Yes, Your Honor," said the knights.

Then several knights who could use healing magic began to heal Duke Darwin. Queen Kayana, Duke Louis, and Miss Karina, who were near Duke Darwin, began to ponder what had happened to Duke Darwin. Meanwhile, Duke James began to realize something and turned to Duke Remy. Duke James saw Duke Remy smiling at him. Duke James was shocked to see Duke Remy smiling back at him.

"Y-you, are you betraying us-?" Duke James said.

Before Duke James could finish his sentence, he vomited blood, just like Duke Darwin. The two Dukes vomiting blood caused panic in the courtroom. Judge Roswald was confused as to what was happening.

"What happened?" Judge Roswald asked.

- To be continued

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