Mythshaper

Considering the parties involved in the case, a court hearing took place the very next day. I had a rudimentary understanding of how these legal proceedings went, but both my parents and Master Kaius reassured me that I was under no criminal offence.

Even if the people who died by my hands were not sinners, so long as the battle was fought for self preservation, I was off the hook. Essentially, I had no fear of death during the battle, not from the underlings or the Prestigious Class Half-living. However, it still fell under the category that I acted out of self preservation.

The court hall was not the largest. The seating was half-filled with about fifty odd people, including the enforcers, convicts, and the victims. I noted that all four of the patrons affected during the battle were present, seated on the left wing of the hall.

"We can go meet them once the trial is finished," Mum said, guiding us towards the right wing.

I noted the girl, Viola, seated on the far end, looking as if she would be anywhere but here. I greeted her, to which she responded with a curt nod. Not a talker, I learned that from the other day. She was in formal attire today, probably the uniform of the academy, black trousers and a light blue shirt with a long overcoat draped over it, red buttons on her coat signifying the augmenter path. She seemed to prefer the utilitarian pairing of shirt and trousers over long-hemmed gowns or skirts. Well, it did suit her. They were all enchanted pieces of prestigious class.

We settled down in the front as well. My parents were on my left, while I sat divided from them by three empty seats.

"Where is Master Kaius?" I asked. There was no wind off him since I woke up.

"He'll be here," Mum replied, her eyes drawing towards the girl. "Said he'd advocate the trial in your stead."

True to his words, Master Kaius strolled into the courthouse with Nero in his tow. Doing his due diligence, he had changed from the vagrant kaftan to a pristine toga, giving him a more scholarly philosopher look. On the other hand, Nero was dressed similarly to Viola, though it was no uniform, just expensive enchanted clothes. The fellow was as tall as Master Kaius and Father, lanky, with an angular, handsome face.

They swaggered into the room, only to falter before Viola.

"Move over," Nero ordered.

The girl glowered at him, but moved two seats to give way to them. Now, only an empty seat divided us.

My eyes, however, shifted to the young man with the punchable face. Master Kaius asserted that he was not a Half-living. Yes, he had access to Midnight Essence, but his source of it was of a far higher and purer standard than those poor mutations. In other words, he did not need to feed on essence constantly to live.

"I sensed some powerful aura hiding around here," Father intoned.

Mum immediately leaned in and peered at Nero. "Anything irresponsible you want to orchestrate today?"

"Ugh," the young man let out a groaning sound. "Magister, you only seem to blame me for everything. A single me can't genuinely cause so much unrest." His eyes drifted towards the convicts. "But to ease your concern, none of them seem important enough that their cult would chance a rescue. If they wanted to, they would have done it already. You have nothing to fear."

"I hope you are right," Mum warned.

Nero snorted a laugh, while Viola sneaked a glance at her.

His eyes shifted to Father. "What's your. . . paramour? Spouse? Or partner, whoever he sensed was likely was here in the voluntary duty to bring me to heel." He paused, studying Father. "Impressive aura detection, by the way. Hmm, are you by any chance from out there?"

"Ahem!" Master Kaius coughed.

Soon, the bailiff announced in a resounding voice, "By honour of his title and name, Legetus Remus Macillus Aelius will preside over the trial as the praetor."

"Looks like I'm right," Nero said, scrunching his nose. "Man, I wish I were wrong, but I never am."

Draped in an unblemished toga, Legatus Remus strode from the antechamber after the preamble, and at once everyone stood up. It was a common practice to stand in the presence of a Praetor, but the man's station was far above a prefectural praetor. There was probably no one in Elinum who had not heard of the name Remus Macillus Aelius, and the prestige that came with it.

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Then my eyes fell upon Nero, who only showed the minimum reverence after Master Kaius pulled him to his full height. It did not seem to go unnoticed by the designated judge of today's trial, however, though he said nothing outwardly. Yet.

The audacity of that man. I could not say I was entirely opposed, if anything was to go by the account of the Legatus visiting our house. Although here, it was more regarding the seat Legetus Remus was holding. Additionally, Remus was not a bad man, according to Mum, great even, as mentioned in Grandfather's book. Only that he was blindingly loyal to the empire.

The proceedings went on identically to what Master Kaius had cited, only that Remus did not let Master Kaius have any say as our advocate. He already had a questioner standing beside the transcriber, ready with parchment and pen.

The witnesses, the four patrons, were brought to the witness stand one by one to give their testimonies, until it was Viola's turn. It began with simple questions, such as where the mission started, what their plan was, her involvement in it, and how they found the cultists, until the questioner got to the nitty-gritty.

"Were you aware this mission you partake was not sanctioned?"

"No," Viola said with a wooden expression.

"As a mere student from the Academy, why did you participate?"

"I was told an Arbiter has the authority to make the calls."

"And the one to tell you that is?"

Viola pointed at Nero.

"I do have the authority, don't I?" Nero chuckled, leaning back. "Silly girl, tell them about your quest and—"

"Silence!" the bailiff called.

Nero clicked his tongue.

"Anything worthwhile you want to add?" the questioner asked.

Viola considered for a moment. "I was given a quest from the Spell prior to my involvement in the mission."

Everyone in the courtroom held their breath. Even Remus's eyes contracted at the violet-eyed girl. A mission from Spell was not common at all, although there had been some during the crisis a few weeks ago.

"The quest pertains to?"

Viola inhaled deeply. "Saving Nero Telemans."

"I would have been fine off my own," Nero interjected. "Spell just loves me too much and made the unnecessary call."

"You will not utter a word unless prompted," this time it was the Praector who declared it.

Nero raised both of his arms in submission.

"You may return to your seat." Viola was sent back soon after. "Arilyn Arcis O'Ryon, please come to the witness stand."

Mum patted me reassuringly as I stood up. Father nodded as I slid past him to creep to the uplifted stand.

If I thought I would have to churn through similar types of questions to the other witnesses, the first one already caused my breath to hitch.

"Were you completely under control during the onslaught?"

This was not on the mock trial. My eyes turned to my parents and then to Master Kaius, who gestured for me to be at ease. I ran the familiar breathing exercise and said, "As much as I can be when a dagger is pointed at my throat."

The questioner studied my face. "According to the reports, you have been afflicted with a perception-bending drug before the battle. How much has that affected what followed?"

A line creased between my brows. "A little," I said. Although Legatus Remus's presence might have turned the trial into a more thorough proceeding, I still could not help but feel like the questions were pointed and aimed at something. "My mind and Will is abundantly robust to be affected by a few wisps of smoke I inhaled for more than a couple of seconds."

"That's tough to say, judging by your stature."

That prickled me more than I liked. I saw that Master Kaius was ready to object, but I held my peace nonetheless. "You are welcome to measure it."

"Your honour," finally, the elder said, "it seems your truthseeker is circling along inane subjects."

The bailiff was ready to silence even our proxy, but Remus raised a palm, saying, "Questioner Julius, please refrain from adding your personal opinion."

"Pardon me, your honour." The questioner returned to me soon enough. "How were you aware of the identity of the Half-living?"

Now that was something we had discussed in the morning. Regrettably, my mood was already downcast from the earlier questions, and perhaps my age caught up with me as I returned a more uppity answer. "My perception is far more robust than your report may claim."

"Are you claiming you can detect Half-living with your 'robust' perception?"

Some of the people stirred in the courtroom. Even the Half-living in question gazed up at me with its dark eyes.

Even Nero whispered to Mum, "Can he?"

"I'm claiming my perception is robust for my Noble Class," I said, returning to my tact. "And the Half-living here was incompetent enough that it gave the telltale sign required for me to detect its nature."

"I'm not an it, devil child!" the Half-living cried. "I'm a He. HE!"

The enforcer swiftly sprang into action, silencing him from screaming any further. But that left me something to think about. Ever since the assault in the inn, I had thought of Half-living as something like a savage beast or a monster. Even though they clearly had a gender, my mind jumped to designate them as 'it', which was clearly not correct.

"And what are these telltale signs," the questioner Julius asked, "if you may like to add?"

What was obvious to me was the pitch-black colour of the essence. However, that was clearly not the case, with exhibit Nero. The difference between them was more easily perceivable now that I could cross-reference.

"His essence reeks," I answered. "It is dirty, with a cold, rotting smell."

"So now you are telling us essence has a smell too?"

Before I could defend myself, Remus opened his lips. "It does."

The questioner and many in the room were taken aback. I guessed I was not the only one born with robust perception.

"Move to your next question."

"As you wish, your highness," the questioner agreed, and finally moved to the simpler questions. He still did not forget to mix in a few jibes here and there, but I returned his questions dutifully.

"Before you are dismissed," Legatus Remus said, narrowing his eyes at me, "I have a question of personal interest. It will not affect my final verdict; you can rest assured."

I frowned, wondering if it was a trap. "If it's irrelevant to the trial, you may resolve your personal inquiry after your verdict."