Chapter 174: Truth Paper
After they were done filling their stomachs, Miguel and the other two immediately made their way to the Guard Station.
After asking around, they found the Guard Station that was situated near the City Lord manor.
It was not a big establishment, and was only one storey tall. There was a huge clearing at the back though, it was probably where the guards train, just like the arena at the back of Alderic’s manor.
Miguel and the other two went inside the Guard Station.
Multiple gazes were immediately attracted toward them the moment they entered.
Miguel looked around and realized that there were some familiar faces.
Miguel met most of them during the inauguration ceremony.
Damian was also there along with Domen and some other elders of the Red Family. Doctor Timbaru was among the crowd as well as some of the famous doctors in Blazing City.
It looked like the death of a Master Martial Artist inside the city created such a huge fanfare to the top echelons.
At the center of the crowd, City Lord Cardino stood up and announced, "Since, Elder Journey is here, let us immediately start the hearing."
The crowd nodded their heads in agreement. Most of them were tense as they did not know who exactly the culprit was.
However, Elder Journey was one of the main suspect and they were worried that they might get implicated out of their interactions during the inauguration ceremony.
Before anyone could talk, Doctor Tambiru immediately went forward and said, "I’ll say this first. The one who did it is a Martial Artist. He appeared in my house like a smoke yesterday asking if I already cured Orman and Sendal before disappearing in the shadows without saying a word."
Afraid of being suspected as well, Tambiru decided to talk before everyone else and wash his hands of the situation first.
His words attracted the attention of everyone present. If they don’t know his strength, they would surely suspect him of being the killer. However, it could not be denied that his words also provided insights and information for everyone to start.
"A martial artist? Give me the list of Master Martial Artists in Blazing City," Cardino ordered the person beside him.
He was the guard captain of Blazing City, his strength also nearing Master Martial Artist. Despite his strength, Miguel knew that he was not the strongest among all the City Guard, though.
The Guard Captain nodded his head and brought back the list of Master Martial artists in Blazing City.
High-ranking Summoners and Martial Artists would be listed in Blazing City. Their strength could no longer be ignored so they must not act unbridled in the city.
"Here’s the Truth Paper that you’ve asked me to bring over," Damian stated at the side as he took out a scroll of yellowish paper from his grimoire.
"You can use this to verify their words so that we could identify if any of us here is the culprit," he added.
Cardino smiled in relief. As long as this paper was here, everything would be revealed.
The Truth Papers were distributed to them by the Meven Empire. As he was close to Damian and because he was very strong, City Lord Cardino entrusted this important piece of paper to him.
Seeing the confused look of some of the people present, Cardino decided to explain, "This Truth Paper is handed to us by the Meven Emperor himself. It contains the power of the Innate Skill of his trusted aide. The Truth Paper can determine whether a person is lying or not as long as they write their answers on the surface of the Truth Paper."
He then looked at Tambiru and then Journey slightly with a gleeful smile on his face as he said, "Now, if you really are not lying, you should not feel afraid of writing in this paper. This way, we could easily determine if you are speaking the truth."
Cardino spoke those words loudly. He wanted to scare the suspect a little bit, and was kind of announcing in advance that there was no use in hiding anymore. In his mind, though, he was already convinced that Journey was the culprit due to a lot of factors, including the crime scene being near his recently acquired villa.
What made him curious, though, was that, who was the martial artist that Timbaru was talking about?
Tambiru knew for a fact that he wasn’t lying, so he confidently went forward and wrote his answers on the yellowish Truth Paper in front of everyone else.
Miguel observed the situation and his gaze was fixed on the Truth Paper as Tambiru wrote word after word in the paper with a very messy handwriting.
He answered every question without fail. He even detailed everything he saw yesterday, including the voice of that Martial Artist, as well the words that was obviously seeking vengeance.
The Truth Paper glowed for a few seconds as it judged the truthfulness of Timbaru’s words.
A moment later, a frown could be seen surfacing in Cardino’s face.
He did not expect that Timbaru was actually telling the truth.
None of the words he wrote in the paper turned red, instead, they were now covered with a green light, indicating that they were the truth.
The crowd discussed to themselves as they pondered about Timbaru’s truthful words.
"Since it’s proven that he is not guilty, Timbaru, you are now cleared of suspicion," Damian announced.
Timbaru heaved a sigh of relief. As long as he was not wrongly blamed and accused, then everything’s gonna be fine.
After Timbaru, they also made all the ’witness’ and the other suspects write their words in the Truth Paper for verification.
One by one, they proved in front of everyone else they were telling the truth, and that none of them were the culprit, nor the accomplice.
Now, all the suspects had already proven themselves. All but, Elder Journey who they decided to test last.
There was a victorious smile on Cardino’s face as he gestured to the paper.
"Elder Journey, will you?"
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A/N: Extra Chapter for surpassing 250 power stones last werek.