Chapter 163: Blizzard (5)
The closed hearing was already nearing the end of its second week.
In a cramped, dark chamber deep within the Imperial Palace, Anton Zefren was being subjected to an endless interrogation disguised as a "approval review".
"I can vouch with absolute certainty for Anton's upright character."
Most of the witnesses who attended were former members of the Sentinel. Already retired from active duty or working belatedly as independent knights, many among them spoke in Anton's defense.
"Do you remember the fierce battles on the old western front? This man never once retreated. He stood at the vanguard and broke through the enemy lines. Countless soldiers survived because of him."
Yet their advocacy and moderate opinions were, in truth, meaningless. What mattered most, in the end, was whether the Sentinel, the Empire's supreme iron legion, could be entrusted to him. In other words, the question of Anton's loyalty and ideology.
"...Candidate Anton was known to express highly progressive opinions without reservation."
"It is an undeniable fact that since he assumed the position of Deputy Commander, discipline among commoner-born members of the knight order has visibly deteriorated."
Witnesses came and went in an endless rotation.