Free Web NovelChapter 181: Chapter 125: Ferdinand, How Dare You
’What’s going on?’
’Why is there a maid here?’
’I’m sure I checked before I came in. How did I miss her?’
’When did she get there?’
’Did she see what I did?’
Baron’s heart sank. He made a snap decision.
’It doesn’t matter if she witnessed what I did or not.’
’I have to grab her now, before anyone else notices she’s here!’
He put his plan into action immediately. As he walked to the door, Baron’s hand reached for the Sedative in his pocket. To ensure he wasn’t exposed and that the guards wouldn’t notice, he began to wonder if he should knock Miss Triss out as well.
But at that exact moment, the Maid pulled the door open.
The appearance of the person outside made him freeze, stopping him in his tracks.
At some point, a large group of Guards had surrounded the door. Faraday, escorted by them, pointed at Baron and shouted:
"That’s him! I saw him! It was L who set the fire and committed murder at the warehouse!"
The deputy Guard commander said calmly, "Arrest them all."
The Guards moved forward to bind Baron with Forbidden Magic ropes.
But Miss Triss raised an eyebrow, stepping in front of Baron. "Mr. L is my guest and friend," she said, her tone sharp. "Show some respect!"
"This..."
The person stopping them was the commander’s daughter. The Guards halted and looked to their deputy commander, their faces showing their predicament.
They couldn’t afford to offend the commander’s daughter, but the deputy commander could.
The deputy commander paused for a moment. "Miss Triss, this is an official investigation, not a game. I suspect this Mr. L is connected to the explosion tonight at the Furnace Warehouse on Black Moon Goddess Street in the West City District."
His gaze was grim. "Didn’t you hear the explosion?"
’An explosion? I don’t remember hearing an explosion.’
Miss Triss frowned. Just as she was about to speak, Baron stepped forward. "I’ll go with you," he said.
Miss Triss’s brows furrowed in concern, but Baron simply nodded at her. "It’s just a suspicion. Don’t worry, Miss Triss."
’He told me not to worry...’
Miss Triss blushed. She, who was normally so headstrong, merely let out a soft huff.
Seeing this, the hearts of the Guards who still harbored fantasies about Miss Triss shattered.
The deputy commander, however, was thinking, ’If this L is truly guilty, I wonder if our famously impartial commander would be willing to make an exception for his own son-in-law.’
"Let’s go!" He glanced at Miss Triss and the Maid beside her. "Bring them all." freeweɓnovel.cѳm
In response to Miss Triss’s protests, the deputy commander said, "No piece of information related to the case can be overlooked. Those are the commander’s exact words."
...
The case had such wide-reaching implications that Judgement was convened immediately in the council hall of the City Lord’s Mansion.
The moment a Guard pushed Baron into the council hall, he felt several sharp gazes land on him.
The Guard Commander, City Lord Lewis, Captain Victor, Mr. Stephen... and Ferdinand.
Ferdinand, that old fox, had lost his usual air of detached calm. Now, his smile was cold, and that coldness was laced with fury.
He had clearly been informed by his men about what had happened to the warehouse he used to store his Alchemy Metal.
Baron remained calm. Professional habit took over, and he immediately began scanning the council hall for the fastest escape route.
The deputy commander brought Baron and Faraday forward, then whispered for a moment in the ear of the commander.
The commander said impassively:
"Faraday, if, as you claim, the warehouse explosion was not your doing but L’s, how do you intend to prove your words are true?"
Faraday shot a furtive glance at Ferdinand, then gritted his teeth and said:
"You can have Captain Victor use his [Honesty] interrogation! I am certain the person I saw was L!"
’He’s requesting an [Honesty] interrogation from a Faith Knight right from the start!’
The onlookers exchanged glances, sensing this was no simple matter.
No criminal would voluntarily request an [Honesty] interrogation from a Faith Knight. You never knew what questions the interrogator might ask.
With cleverly designed questions, all sorts of information unrelated to the case could be inadvertently revealed.
’It seems this Faraday is dead set on L being the culprit!’
The commander didn’t respond to Faraday, turning instead to Baron. "L, do you have anything to say?"
’The only Faith Knights here are Victor and Brother Sorrowful, and Victor has already used his [Honesty] for the day.’ frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
’And if my plan went off without a hitch, Zod should have already tricked Brother Sorrowful into using his [Honesty] a short while ago.’
Capable of orchestrating such a dog-eat-dog scheme, Baron was naturally well-prepared. He spoke with a calm and measured tone:
"I don’t know why this man accuses me of being the culprit behind the warehouse explosion, but I have Miss Triss and everyone present at the ball as my witnesses."
"I was teaching Miss Triss to dance in her room the entire time. I never left."
"If you don’t believe me, sir, you can ask Miss Triss and the others who were present."
Baron deliberately avoided mentioning the mysterious, unnervingly unobtrusive Maid who had been in the room.
"You say you were in a room with Triss the entire time?" The commander’s gaze sharpened.
"Teaching her to dance," Baron added quickly, not wanting the commander to see him as an enemy.
Miss Triss blushed slightly but still spoke up. "I can vouch for Mr. L. From the moment we entered the room, he was either teaching me to dance or we were drinking."
"The Maid in the room can attest to that!"
’Damn it!’
Even though Baron had been deliberately trying to avoid the topic, Miss Triss’s words caught him completely off guard.
The commander sized up his daughter for a moment before turning to the Maid who had been brought along with them. "Is what my daughter says true?"
Baron’s heart grew heavy. Spiritual Power began to gather within him. ’If the Maid saw everything and tells them what happened...’
’...then I’ll have to initiate Plan B.’
