Chapter 229: |
Chapter 229
She covered her mouth with a fan. She had a gorgeous appearance, and people tilted their heads.
It was the first time they’d seen her face.
‘Who is it?’
‘Was that woman from the capital?’
Then the woman gracefully introduced herself.
“This is the first time I greet the nobles of the Kingdom of Houston. My name is Count Emeritus Laina of the Alpenser Kingdom.”
“……!”
Everyone was stunned by the introduction.
It was one of the three great powers of the Cross League Empire!
The Count of such a powerful country suddenly appears in the Kingdom of Houston?
But the surprise was early.
Some of those in the audience groped her name. They were well-versed in international affairs.
“La-Laina? Maybe that…… Lady of the Red Blood?”
“Yes, that’s right. Some of you know me.”
The woman, Laina, smiled seductively.
“It’s not enough, but as a sage-level Archmage, she serves as the Inquisitor of Heresy in the Wizard Tower.”
“……!”
The hall was shaken by the introduction.
“I heard that the Marquis Penin, who would one day become the pillar of the Wizard Tower, had a false accusation, so I went to see him in person.”
She smiled and looked straight at Count Rodden and Kairn.
“Catching demon bastards is my specialty.”
“……!”
A chilling voice came out.
“Then I will begin my defense.”
* * *
There was a reason why Laina suddenly took on the defense.
She had just come to the Kingdom of Houston to meet Raymond.
“I’ve got a clue.”
The bastards.
She is talking about the dark curtain that caused the mine disaster.
She’s been scrambling to get clues, and she’s found a clue and she’s come to see Raymond.
But when Raymond was thrown into jail on a ridiculous accusation, she was furious.
“How dare you accuse my prospective disciple of becoming the pillar of the Wizard Tower?”
Outraged, Laina said she would take full part of the matter and offered herself as a defender.
Raymond thought about it for a moment and then accepted.
‘Even Kairn won’t be able to overwhelm the wizard Tower’s Arc Mage with authority.’
That’s what he thought.
However, he was worried about whether she would be able to defend him well with her hot-tempered personality.
‘…… It’s better than I thought, isn’t it?’
Raymond watched Laina’s remarks in amazement.
It wasn’t as good as he thought it would be.
No, it was perfect.
Logical and calm, but at the same time, there was a constant outburst of bitter remarks.
“Watch this video. This is what the victim looked like 12 hours after his death.”
Paaat!
The video Cameron had magically shot floated in the air.
Seytil was lying in a coffin.
The nobles in the audience groaned at the horrible sight.
“At that time, His Highness Seitil’s body temperature was 33 degrees. The stiffness had progressed to the upper limbs, and the corpse spots were showing incomplete fusion on one side only.”
“…… What do you mean, Archmage?” Kairn asked, frowning.
So did the others.
No one understood what Laina had just said.
Laina smiled.
“It’s a blatant lie to say that the victim died around 9 p.m.”
“……!”
“The corpse reactions I’ve just mentioned are the ones that occur when it’s not been a long time since death.” Laina continued.
“Based on the circumstances, it appears that the victim died around 1 or 2 a.m.”
Earl Rodden jumped to his feet.
“That’s ridiculous! Where did you get that nonsense?”
“What are you talking about?”
Laina stared at Earl Rodden.
It was a transparent, eerie gaze.
Earl Rodden flinched.
Laina’s intimidation of slaying all kinds of demonic creatures in the center of the continent was not something that Earl Rodden could handle.
“May I consider your remarks to be disrespectful to our Wizard Tower?”
“That is…”
“Mr. Cameron.”
Laiina signaled, and Cameron lifted another video into the air.
It was even worse than the previous one.
Hundreds of corpses were rotting everywhere.
“This video is about the corpse farm of a black mage from the Free City Union. He was called the ‘Angel of Death,’ and he studied the process of killing people and decaying corpses.”
The people in the audience swallowed.
“Five years ago, the Wizard Tower slew him and obtained the results of its research. His research documents described the process of changes the corpse undergoes after death, and according to that knowledge, the victim must have died around 1~2 a.m.”
Everyone in the courtroom looked surprised.
‘Estimating the time of death by the hardness of the corpse or the body temperature?’
They never imagined it.
But it’s the wizard tower.
And the famous Archmage.
They couldn’t suspect it was a lie.
‘If the Archmage of the Wizard Tower is saying that then it must be true.’
‘But how can the Marquis Penin have such knowledge? Isn’t that something that even wizards who specialize in living beings don’t know?’
The people looked at him in amazement.
Meanwhile, it wasn’t just the people in the audience who were admiring Raymond.
Laina, who was leading the trial, was also inwardly admiring Raymond.
‘In fact, most of this material was handed over by the Marquis Penin.’
Laina recalled the first time she saw the evidence Raymond handed over before the trial.
She couldn’t help but glaze over in surprise.
It’s staggering. What was surprising was what’s in the evidence.
‘This…… It’s more than the Angel of Death’s research! How can you have such a tremendous amount of knowledge?’
Changes in body temperature after death.
Post-degradation.
Sivan.
Raymond gave a scientific explanation of why Seytil died around 1 a.m., and his explanation was far beyond the existing biometric knowledge of the Wizard Tower.
‘The Angel of Death, who has studied more than a thousand corpses, has only identified the occurrence of certain phenomena, but has not been able to determine the cause of each phenomenon. But this?’
Laina swallowed.
She wondered how the biological alchemists would react if the document in her hand was handed over to the Wizard Tower.
‘How do you get this knowledge? Does this confirm the fact that he is a natural wizard? But even a natural wizard doesn’t automatically gain academic knowledge, right? Is he an intelligent genius in the academic field too?’
Laina couldn’t understand Raymond’s talent. Even in the tower of geniuses, there was no genius like Raymond.
Anyway, there was a certainty.
Every time she looked at Raymond, she always felt a new sense of awe as if she was looking at a bottomless treasure trove.
It was truly the greatest treasure.
‘It’s too coveted.’
Laina’s gaze toward Raymond was even more of a longing.
‘…… Let’s pretend we don’t know.’ Raymond broke out in a cold sweat and slid away.
After that, the trial proceeded.
In addition to her after-the-fact reactions, Laina also spoke about other things that Raymond had uncovered at the scene.
“The distribution of blood stains at the scene of the incident suggests that the victim was attacked from a low position. It’s completely different from the testimony of the witnesses.”
“Well, that’s a lie. Do you have any traces of blood?”
“Mr. Cameron.” Laina beckoned, and Cameron cast another spell.
If you calculate backwards the direction of the drop of blood and the length of the tail, you get a single line. This is the direction in which the drops of blood came.
The point where the lines of each drop of blood overlap is the point where the price occurred.
Cameron’s magic shaped the content in a way that anyone could see.
The courtroom was abuzz.
“Is that ……?”
“So you’re saying everything the witness has said so far is a lie?”
Everyone looked at Earl Rodden.
Earl Rodden’s gaze was already white and blank.
Laina said coldly. “There is nothing consistent with the testimony of the witnesses. We’ll have to see how this goes.”
“That’s it… The witness is not allowed to appear in court at this time. Unfortunately, he disappeared because he felt threatened for his personal safety.” Earl Rodden shook his head with a pale face.
Since this has happened, he had no choice but to deny it as much as possible.
The good news is that they’ve already eliminated the witness. No one knew the truth.
Laina asked, smiling wryly.
“Then I’ll ask you one thing. Who was the first person to see the victim’s body, other than the missing false witness?”
“It’s me.”
“And when is that time?”
“It’s about 1 a.m. The witness reported it at that time, and as soon as the body was identified, the Marquis Penin was taken away.”
Earl Rodden was stunned.
Around 1 a.m.
This is the time when Seytil is believed to have died.
“…….”
Everyone in the court glared coldly at Earl Rodden.
Earl Rodden stammered in embarrassment.
“Oh, no. I was just checking the scene after receiving a report from a witness, and by the time I arrived, the incident had already happened.”
“Is that so?” Laina sneered.
“So, you don’t know what happened to the ‘finger marks’ on these bloodstains. Mr. Cameron?”
Cameron’s magic came again.
The bloodstains on the mace, the killing instrument, were magnified.
Those who saw the “traces” left in the bloodstains murmured.
It was a fingerprint!
Raymond used fingerprints as evidence to identify the culprit!
“As you may know, our wizard tower proved ten years ago that fingerprints on fingers are different for everyone.” As she spoke, she again exclaimed herself.
‘I can’t believe I’m thinking of using your fingerprints in a criminal investigation like this.’
In fact, in the Wizard Tower, the disparity of fingerprints was evaluated as useless knowledge.
It was a great discovery, but it was useless.
Since they don’t know what to use it for.
If today’s events escalate, criminal investigations on the continent will have a major turning point.
“This part of the mace is actually where your fingers touch when you hold it and swing it. In other words, these traces were left by the perpetrator. But why is it that this fingerprint is from the Earl’s?”
Laina pulled out a piece of cloth.
It was Earl Rodden’s pen!
His name was beautifully engraved on the tip of the pen.
‘Oh, no? Why is that over there?’
Earl Rodden’s eyes fluttered frantically.
By the way, that pen had been stolen by Mien at Raymond’s request.
“I think you need to explain, Earl?”
Earl Rodden’s limbs trembled.
“Me, I…… Oh, no…….” He tried to force himself to deny it, but he understood.
It was over.
With this evidence, there was no longer any denying it.
Everyone in the courtroom was glaring at him coldly.
‘Oh no! I’m going to be killed!’