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TWL Chapter 118: The Unfair Trial
🕑 Added 2024-04-25 23:27:47 +0000 UTC"It's time to hear the testimony of the witnesses!" Lord Verrieres solemnly declared. "Let the beekeeper continue talking!"
"Thank you my Lord. That day the witcher came to my house to buy honey, but he was greedy and did not want to give me money. He also hurt me and my wife."
"At that moment, I thought he would hold a grudge against us, but I never imagined that the next day, when my Vitty went out to play with his friends, he would never return..."
“Beekeeper, are you sure it was the next day, right after the witcher came to White Orchard, and right after the witcher bought honey from your house and left?”
"Yes, Lord, I'm sure. And he didn't buy my honey, he didn't give me money!"
“Very well, go down, beekeeper. Your evidence is enough, let us invite the next witness.”
The beekeeper thanked the lord profusely and spat on the witcher before leaving. The guards no longer paid attention to the witcher and called a new witness.
But this is obviously against the regulations.
The witcher gritted his teeth, interrupting the process. "Your Honor, I should have time to defend myself."
"I have not given you leave to speak!" Verrieres shouted. "Guards!"
The hilt of a sword hit the witcher's back again, making him stagger. The crowd let out a cry of surprise, becoming more and more excited.
House frowned and spoke to some of his classmates. "This does not fit the trial process at all, and the evidence provided by that beekeeper is not really convincing."
Zoltan, who had been watching carefully, nodded. "What we have before us does not seem like a trial, but rather a farce to please a noble."
Yarpen popped more raisins into his mouth and agreed. "I have heard about this lord. He is like a stupid pig on a saddle."
The 'trial' continued.
The next witness was a peasant woman. "I saw this... witcher, he lived in our inn. He always had disgusting marks and a pungent smell on his body. He was very scary."
"He often stared at passing children... My poor Samo disappeared two years ago, it could have been the work of the witcher..."
The jailer also came on stage as a witness: "When the witcher was in the cage, he kept sitting in a strange posture and muttering words. He wanted to use magic to leave the prison."
Verrieres became interested. "Are you sure, Jailer, that the witcher wants to escape justice?"
"Yes, my lord, I swear in the name of my mother." The jailer replied in fear when faced with the lord's questioning. "He even tried to violently resist to escape, luckily I managed to control him, look, I still have injuries..."
"He also scared the children. By the way, he scared away the kind-hearted boy who brought him food, even inside the prison he did not forget his bad intentions."
The crowd was in an uproar when they heard this. The beekeeper seemed to see confirmation of his suspicions and glared at the witcher, wishing he could take him on with a weapon.
"Oh? The child?" Verrieres sat up straight. "Are you sure, jailer? Can you call the boy here?"
The jailer was extremely excited by the lord's inquiry. He searched for his target in the crowd: "Leo! You are here, dear boy, come quickly!"
Verrieres announced loudly: "So, let's move on to the next witness, the boy who brought food to the witcher."
Leo was anxiously dragged away by the jailer, and the look of the villagers crowding around him scared him. He then looked at the witcher, whose snake eyes seemed strangely calm.
"Leo, tell the Lord how this witcher hurt you, scared you, and threatened you when you were bringing him food, okay?"
Verrieres stretched his neck, and all the villagers' eyes moved to Leo.
Leo stammered: "He, he didn't threaten me. I, I wasn't scared by him either."
"What?" The jailer said anxiously. "You were so scared that you ran out while screaming. He also knocked over the meal you sent, didn't he?"
Leo stammered: "I, I didn't see it. But I seemed to have kicked something when I was running. Maybe I kicked the bowl over."
The jailer became happy.
"Listen, Lord, Leo was so scared by the witcher that he ran away. He panicked and even kicked the bowl."
"How scared does a normally sensible and thrifty child have to be to do something like that? He's still so scared that he can't even face this witcher now!"
"Oh." Verrieres said pitifully. "Poor child, another child. Fortunately, the trial came in time and allowed us to save this child."
Leo panicked, but now he was afraid. He pulled the jailer to speak, but the jailer held him down and refused to let him move.
The child looked at the witcher again, looked at the snake eyes, and found that he was also looking at him.
"That's enough, kid." Leo heard the witcher talking. "Thank you for your testimony, but you'd better go home quickly."
“Silence! Guards!” Verrieres shouted, and the guards hit the witcher on the shoulder, causing shouts of excitement from the crowd.
Yarpen frowned, realizing that the raisins no longer tasted sweet. Disappointedly, he put the bag of dried fruits in his lap, crossing his arms.
House frowned. "In the old Cintra, this lord would have been held accountable by the queen."
Milva was indignant but remembered her position. She looked at the snake-eyed witcher whose expression became unusually calm, then looked at Lann, and said softly. "My Lord, this is a witcher, like Mr. Geralt, should we...?"
“It’s not that time yet.” Lann replied.
In the center, Verrieres stopped trying. He saw that the villagers had already approved the trial process that he presided over. He felt faintly tired and planned to end this farce. He even skipped the process of allowing the witcher to defend himself and concluded abruptly.
"I have heard of your reputation, witcher. You use the pretext of killing monsters to force poor villagers to give up their last savings, otherwise you will massacre their villages."
"I also found a large amount of poison and daggers in your possession, obviously you also act as a human killer."
"What happens outside is none of my business, but the crimes in White Orchard must be judged fairly!"
Verrieres stood up, he had his final words planned in advance, almost like an opera, and just saying those lines was enough to make him feel satisfied.
"You have broken into my domain without permission, you have mistreated my subjects, you have harmed small children, and you still refuse to hand over the child's body to this day."
"Even in prison, you show no remorse, seek to escape without honor, and hurt children who show you kindness."
"Your cruelty infuriates me, your crimes must be punished. As lord of White Orchard, I have the obligation to protect my subjects and provide them with justice, and I also have the right to judge your crimes."
"I declare I condemn you to death, unknown witcher..."
The witcher, who had been kneeling without moving, suddenly raised his head, and with a shout stopped the remaining words of the Lord of White Orchard. "I demand trial by ordeal!"
Verrieres almost ran out of breath. Facing the witcher who interrupted his speech, Verrieres shouted: "You are not qualified to choose trial by ordeal, guards..."
This time, the witcher did not allow the guard, who was strutting around with his sword sheathed, to have his way. He quickly turned around and delivered a low kick that knocked him down, causing a group of people around him to go on guard, but the witcher did not continue attacking.
He turned to the villagers who were looking at him with fear, revulsion, and barely contained excitement, and shouted loudly, "I am Kolgrim, I am a witcher!"
"Just a month ago, in Velen, I expelled a group of drowners for the villagers there. Half a month ago, in Maribor, I eliminated a group of Ghouls."
"Three days ago I arrived here, and I didn't even have a chance to draw my sword!"
He pointed at the beekeeper: "I saw him beat his wife after he got drunk, then he tried to sell me honey at three times the market price because I was a stranger."
"I don't know where his son went. The last time I saw him, I just saw him walking towards the river, and that's it!"
"I didn't hurt anyone in White Orchard. Instead, my sword and dagger eliminated many monsters for your kingdom."
"You think that we witchers are those desperate people who can be dealt with dozens of crowns. And now, just because they see my yellow eyes, they declare me guilty?"
The witcher turned and looked at the Lord of White Orchard sitting on the high seat and said loudly: "I can't get justice here and your trial isn't fair at all."
"I can't get justice here and your trial isn't fair at all."
"I know you won't let me go, and I don't expect your ridiculous justice, give me the trial by ordeal and let fate witness my innocence, then I'll go."
"When you find the poor boy, you will know how wrong you are."
The Lord of White Orchard looked at the uproarious crowd. He was a little shocked by the momentum of the witcher for a while, but then he became angry.
