Chương 96: Chapter 75. Escalation

Liliya was beginning to think she'd stepped into the wrong courtroom. Immediately upon returning to Luxanne, she had filed a motion for new trial with the Adventurer's Guild. Admittedly, considering just how corrupt they'd revealed themselves to be, she'd expected them to deny her request. As such, it had been a pleasant surprise when they'd responded to her the very following day agreeing to host a retrial. It made sense; with Montague expired, they no longer had any reason to continue enforcing her disbarment.

Due to the circumstances, she'd assumed the Guild would want to handle things quietly. She had thought she'd just show up, give a private testimony to a clerk, and get reinstated as an adventurer with little to no fanfare. Instead, she found herself in a room filled with some of the most powerful and influential people of all of Luminarche. All five Guild Council members were assembled in front of her at the judge's bench.

Unlike other guilds, the Adventurer's Guild didn't have a single guildmaster but rather was ruled over by a collective council. They were the ones who had caved to Montague's demands and removed her as an adventurer. They looked down at her from their elevated platform, scrutinizing her with wizened gazes. Not a single one of them looked even the slightest bit guilty or ashamed. She resisted the urge to glare back; as much as she detested them, it wouldn't be wise to be outright antagonistic.

To the side of the room sat two Royal Sentinels in the witness stands. She recognized them: Vincent Appleby and Oliver Cox. They were the ones who had originally taken her hostage and were subsequently assigned to be her guards inside Montague Castle. They didn't seem very pleased to see her; she could feel their glares boring into her. Next to them stood a Cardinal of the Holy Church, a high-ranking member of the Church's clergy. He was dressed in a black cassock lined with threads of gold.

Actual gold at that, enchanted to be fluid. He observed her with a stern, neutral expression. She had no idea why he was even there; typically the Church didn't involve themselves with adventurer matters. The gallery stands on either side of the room were packed with some of the most powerful and influential adventurers in all of Luminarche. Multiple guildmasters of top guilds were in attendance, along with Institute officials and noble emissaries.

The room was filled with a low hum as they conversed with each other in muttered tones. She stood on a raised podium at the center of the room. There was no one next to her. Although Merriweather had offered to attend, or even to send legal representation, Liliya had assured him that it would be alright. That, in retrospect, might have been a mistake. However, though she was a little concerned, she wasn't very afraid. The room quieted as the doors opened and Levi Ironwood stepped in.

Although nobody said anything outright, the glares thrown his way more than conveyed their general sentiments of disgust and scorn. Evidently, his attempt to cheat the Ascension Trials had been neither forgotten nor forgiven. As ever, Levi didn't even seem to notice the stares. He strolled across the room to take his place in the witness stands. Liliya hid a small smile. She had learned by now that as long as she had Levi on her side, things would be okay.

Her smile disappeared a moment later as her older brother, Dmitri Volkov, stepped into the room as well. She tensed up. What was he doing here? Did their father send him? Before she could ponder further, the head Council member stood up and cleared his throat. The entire room fell silent.

"It is now noon," he said.

"The trial is in session. Today, we are convened to review the prior ruling against Liliya Volkov and to ascertain whether the decision to disbar her from the honored ranks of adventurers was lawfully and justly administered. As the accused, Liliya Volkov, had failed to present herself for the previous trial, the Council had seen fit to grant her a second hearing." Liliya wanted to hiss. Failed to present herself? She hadn't even been in the city during the time of trial, much less been served a formal summons.

What was he saying?

"The facts are as follows," the Council member said; he seemed to have taken on the role of head judge.

"During Lady Volkov's Trial, she had activated the emergency beacon that all candidates are equipped with. Usage of the emergency beacon immediately, automatically, and unequivocally disqualifies the participant. Despite being fully aware of this fact, Lady Volkov still accepted her proctor's decision to graduate her as an adventurer." He turned to her.

"Do you deny this, Lady Volkov?" Liliya shook her head.

"I do not, Honored Councilor," she said in an even tone.

"I did activate the beacon, I was fully aware of the rules, and I did accept my proctor Professor Merriweather's decision to graduate me. Those are all true. However, I assure the Council that there was a good reason for it. When I activated the emergency beacon, I had already completed the requirements of the Ascension Trial, which was to clear all the monsters within a silver-tier dungeon. I only activated it after we came under attack by an Elder Wyvern, which my party teammate can corroborate.

Consequently, I believe that I deserve my ascension to adventurer."

"I see," the head judge said. He looked over at Levi.

"The Council calls Levi Ironwood to the stand as a witness. Lord Ironwood, do you confirm her statement? Please be aware that perjury will be subjected to the harshest punishment available. The Council is aware of your track record of unscrupulous proclivities; know that such will not be tolerated here." Levi stepped forward to the witness podium.

"Everything she said is true," he said.

"Additionally, I would like it to be on the record that she singlehandedly cleared the entire Ascension Trials. I raised not even a single finger to help. She killed every monster we encountered in the silver-tier dungeon all by herself." The head judge looked disgusted by his words, and the gathered adventurers in the spectator stands muttered darkly to themselves. Liliya had to suppress a snort at his attempt to bolster her reputation.

"I see," the head judge said. He glanced down at his notes.

"We have reports from multiple adventurers, including Alistair Merriweather, Qorbin Ravenbane,"–now that name got a reaction–"and the reinforcements sent to the town of Farband that an Elder Wyvern indeed was present." He looked at Liliya.

"On behalf of the Guild surveyors, I apologize for the Guild's failure in detecting the Elder Wyvern's magical signature."

"It's quite alright," Liliya said.

"I don't blame them – there were extenuating circumstances." You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. The head judge accepted it with a nod.

"Thank you, Lady Volkov. In light of this new information, the Council shall now vote on whether to revoke the previous ruling. All in favor of reinstating Lady Volkov as an adventurer?" All five of them raised their hands.

"Excellent," the head judge said.

"Congratulations, Lady Volkov. Your adventurer status is reinstated effectively immediately." Liliya blinked. Wait, that was it?

"Thank you–" Then the head judge smiled. It had about as much warmth as a shark's.

"Now that you are an adventurer again, this means you fall under Guild jurisdiction once more. A new matter has come to the Council's attention – one that we cannot ignore. Lady Liliya Volkov, you have been accused of being an accomplice in your master Qorbin Ravenbane's plot to murder Duke Alan Montague and his heir, Royal Sentinel Theodore Montague. How do you plead?" Liliya froze. She recovered an instant later, but the damage had already been done.

The satisfaction in the head judge's eyes attested to that; he knew that he'd rattled her.

"Not guilty, Honored Councilor." She didn't expect this. When did they decide to blame Qorbin for the deaths? Nothing had been announced publicly yet. Worst, they were blaming her for being complicit? Oh no. This must be why so many people were in attendance. Had they all known what this trial would actually be about? The guildmasters must have come because if she was successfully convicted, then it would reflect badly on all adventurers.

The Royal Sentinels might very well use it as an excuse to impose even harsher controls and restrictions upon adventurers, which they had been vying to do for decades now. No, she should be fine. They had no proof. She'd just say that Qorbin had attacked Montague without her knowledge or agreement, and had abducted her from the manor afterward in a misguided attempt to 'rescue' her. She'd plead ignorance, and–"I see," the head judge said.

"The Council calls witness Royal Sentinel Vincent Appleby to the stands." Vincent nodded and made his way over to the witness podium.

"Sentinel Appleby, please recount what'd happened at Montague Castle during the night of the murders." Vincent nodded.

"I was standing guard along with my colleague, Oliver Cox, outside of Lady Volkov's room. We heard the sound of battle coming from outside, but we were ordered to not leave our posts under any circumstance. While we were standing guard, someone attacked us from behind and knocked us out. We did not catch sight of our assailant, but we have reason to believe it was Lady Volkov herself." Murmurs of shock rippled throughout the room. Liliya's eyes widened. Huh? What?!

"Furthermore," Vincent continued over the sound of the crowd, "we believe Mythmaker Qorbin Ravenbane recruited Liliya Volkov to act as a sleeper agent. The Royal Sentinels suspect she agreed to the marriage under a false pretense; her true purpose was to infiltrate the castle from the inside and aid her master in breaking through the castle's defenses and murdering the Duke and his heir."

"Hmm," the head judge stroked his beard.

"That is quite the accusation. You and your partner are both seasoned Royal Sentinels, are you not? How do you purport Lady Volkov was able to knock you both out? All due respect to her skill – which she clearly possesses in spades – but she is only a fresh Institute graduate." Several of the other Council members nodded along in agreement.

"That is true, Honored Councilor," Vincent replied.

"However, please recall that Qorbin Ravenbane and Liliya Volkov were responsible for taking down the Hollow cultist Mythmaker Hawke. Hawke was a high-tier Wildmage who'd gone on hundreds of quests; he would've possessed numerous magical items and artifacts that would allow someone to temporarily surpass their level. For example, ultra-high-tier magical potions." Liliya's blood ran cold.

"We request permission to check Liliya Volkov's blood for traces of any such potions," Vincent said.

"As I'm sure everyone knows, traces of potions can be detected in a person's system for up to months, depending on the potency."

"Hmm," the head judge said.

"Permission granted – though the Guild will conduct the check to avoid any potential biases."

"Of course," Vincent smiled.

"I wouldn't expect anything less." The head judge nodded.

"Fortunately, we already have a healer in attendance. One of the best healers in Luminarche, in fact. Guildmaster Abode, if you would please make your way to the dock and conduct the test?" Off to the side, Guildmaster Abode in the gallery sighed.

"Must I?"

"Rest assured that you'll be compensated for your time and expertise."

"I don't know… Not sure if I wanna help the Royal Sentinels. They still haven't responded to my suggestion to perform annual mandatory proctologic inspections on their members–""Guildmaster Abode!"

"Oh very well," Guildmaster Abode said. He limped over to the podium where Liliya was standing. Even considering the serious circumstances, she still stared at him with a slightly reverent gaze. She recognized him, of course. Gregore Abode, Guildmaster of the Healer's Guild, widely considered to be one of the few adventurers with healing magic on par with the Goddess's powers herself. He had saved thousands of lives; his reputation was legendary.

"Guildmaster Abode," she bowed.

"It's an honor to meet you, though I wish it could be under better circumstances."

"Eh. Most adventurers I meet tend to be on the verge of death. It definitely could be worse. Give me your left arm." Liliya held out her arm, and he felt about for a vein. Once he selected one he determined was satisfactory, his finger glowed with a white light. She gritted her teeth, but then blinked as her blood pierced out from the vein in such a fine stream, she didn't even feel it. It was like a strand of crimson hair.

Even Syto, a centuries-old vampire, would've likely been impressed by Guildmaster Abode's control over the blood.

"Conducting the analysis now," Guildmaster Abode said as he manipulated the blood into a rotating sphere between his hands. White light suffused the ball in even intervals.

"For what it's worth," he said in a low voice that only she could hear, "I think what they're saying is total bullshit. It's pretty blatant they're just making stuff up at this point, hoping that it sticks. I mean, potions? Seriously? Was that the best they could do–?" His spell finished and bright multicolored balls of light shot out from the blood. They hovered in the air above, so bright they were nearly blinding.

"Ah," he said as he gazed up at the lights. He blinked.

"Never mind…"

"Well?" the head judge said impatiently, shielding his eyes with his hand.

"What do the results mean?"

"The colors and intensity correlate to the type and strength of whatever potions are in her system. Red for strength, blue for dexterity, green for constitution, and so on. I've never seen the light so bright before…"

"So is Sentinel Vincent right?" the head judge asked.

"Would these potions temporarily enhance someone's stats to overwhelm even two Royal Sentinels?" Guildmaster Abode was silent.

"Abode…"

"Yes," Guildmaster Abode said reluctantly.

"I see. Thank you for your assistance, you're dismissed," the head judge said.

"It appears you are right, Sentinel Vincent." Vincent inclined his head.

"We Royal Sentinels know a thing or two about investigations."

"So, what, you claim that Liliya Volkov drank those potions, knocked you and your partner out, and then went to go help Qorbin Ravenbane and the other unknown assailant?" Vincent nodded.

"We analyzed the times of death of all the corpses on the scene. Multiple guards on the upper levels had died while Qorbin and the other assailant were still battling the outside guards. We believe Liliya Volkov was responsible; she'd cleared a path for her master to take."

"I see," the head judge said. He glanced at the other Council members.

"This does seem rather convincing to me. Lady Volkov was found with ultra-high-tier potions in her blood, potions she shouldn't even have. That, along with her disappearance after the murders, is more than enough circumstantial evidence to prove that she's complicit. Perhaps even more."

"Aye," another Council member said.

"It was obvious something was amiss the moment we received news that Ravenbane had taken her on as an apprentice."

"He must've corrupted her, the poor soul," another said, shaking his head.

"I knew we should've done something about him earlier…"

"There is no point in regretting the past," the head judge said.

"All we can do is right the future. Along that vein… All in favor of convicting Liliya Volkov for the murders of Duke Alan Montague and Sentinel Theodore Monta–?"

"OBJECTION!" A thunderous voice rang out throughout the room. All eyes turned to the one who had spoken. Before Liliya even looked over, she already knew who it was. Despite herself, she smiled. Levi Ironwood stood there, a mad grin on his face.

"Serving as counsel for the defense, Levi Ironwood."