“Protecting a criminal and still acting so righteously? Hmph! You are the one that will regret this stubbornness of yours. I know you can have your people coming, then we will just make sure that this is over before they arrive!”
Everyone looked tense. All the soldiers and guards from both sides were having their hands wrapped around the hilt of their swords, ready to tussle at a moment’s notice. Jack looked at the scene in amazement. He never expected that he would become a reason for two groups of NPCs to have a confrontation with one another.
Magistrate Warren had his hand lifted, about to give the sign to attack when he was interrupted by a voice.
“What in the name of King Themos is going on here?”
Everyone turned to the source of the voice and saw a group of five people. All of which were familiar faces to Jack. It was Bailey and the rest of the cadets.
“Miss Bailey!” Lindsey called out. “You are early, but it’s good that you are here. These people here want to bully Mister Storm Wind.”
Bailey looked at the group that was mentioned and recognized Walter. “Walter? What is the meaning of this?”
Walter harrumphed in exactly the same manner as his old man, “hmph! Don’t act like you are still my instructor. You already lost that title since you failed to defend me from this fiend and even worse, fail to exact justice for me!”
“Lost the title? You have guts, you little punk. Do you think I don’t dare to teach you a lesson if your dad is here?” Bailey retorted.
Magistrate Warren gave a short glance before returning his attention to Commander Quintus. “Only an insignificant lieutenant with a bunch of kids. Don’t you think this tip the scale in your favor. I will give you another chance. By the end of my count to three, if you are still being stubborn and refuse to hand over the criminal who crippled my son to me, do not blame me for being discourteous! One…”
“Save your breath, three! If you want to fight, let’s fight already!” Commander Quintus was unflinching.
“You stubborn old fool!” Magistrate Warren gritted his teeth. “Fine! Have it your way! Everyone, att…”
“Halt!”
Another voice interrupted the magistrate again. He turned furiously to the source of the voice.
Jack also turned and was astonished to see that it was Alonzo that shouted, who prior to this had stayed at the back of the cadets’ group. What is that young cadet doing trying to interrupt the magistrate? That fat official didn’t even give a face to a Lieutenant and a Knight Commander, this squire was clearly looking for trouble.
As if agreeing with Jack’s thought, Walter spoke out, “who the hell do you think you are? You are not even worthy enough to be my lackey, now you dare to interrupt my dad? You know I can have you slapped till your cheeks are swollen? Know your place and be silent!”
Jack didn’t find Walter’s outburst to be odd. However, one thing surprised him though. The expression of the magistrate turned from belittling, to astonishment, then to worry and uneasiness. Even the color of his face turned slightly pale after Alonzo made himself known. What the magistrate said next, caused most of the people around to look at the young squire with wide eyes.
“Yo… your majesty! What are you doing out here?”
“Your majesty?” Walter turned to his father, unable to believe what he had just heard. “Father, did you recognize the wrong person?”
Magistrate Warren pulled his son back and put a restraining hand on his shoulder. He said apologetically to Alonzo, “I’m sorry, young prince. My son had always been brash, but he means no disrespect. Please forgive his obtuseness.”
Prince? Gasps could be heard from the guards and soldiers and even the other cadets, but Commander Quintus, Lieutenant Bailey, and Lindsey didn’t seem as surprised. Jack figured that they had known about Alonzo’s identity from the start.
Was this something like those plots in old telenovela where a charming prince went to disguise as a civilian? Well, in this case, a disguise as a young soldier.
Alonzo who had become the center of attention, didn’t show any sign of faltering. His stern face carried a confident authority. “What am I doing here? I’m meeting my friend and benefactor here as we have a schedule for a training trip. Now I demand your explanation! What are you doing here bringing such a troop and create disturbance in the residence of an honored commander of the army?”
“Re… reporting, my prince. I’m here to apprehend the criminal who had caused harm to my son,” magistrate Warren answered with a slight bow.
“Criminal?”
“Yes, it’s that outworlder over there! He had attacked my son and the Knight Commander had unjustly harbored this lawbreaker.”
“How dare you!” Alonzo yelled out. “That person is my benefactor. How dare you accuse him!”
“Be–benefactor?” Magistrate Warren felt like he was going out of his mind. “Ho… how…?”
“He had saved my life yesterday during our training mission. Same as the rest of the Cadets and Commander Quintus’ daughter. In fact, that ungrateful son of yours had also owed him his life!”
“That’s bullshit! I…”
“Shut up!” Walter’s outburst was quickly getting shut by his father’s scolding. He didn’t dare to offend his father.
Magistrate Warren was silent for a while as he pondered about the situation. He then said to the prince with a bow, “my prince. Even if he is your benefactor. It was a fact that he had assaulted my son and crippled his arm. The proof is right here and I believe from what he told me that his fellow cadets, which must include you, had borne witness to such violation. It is the law of this kingdom to punish the offender. We cannot let go of a crime just because he is your friend, how can the masses believe in the law if we failed to uphold it? I demand justice be served and punishment be enacted upon this outworlder!”
Jack furrowed his brow. This magistrate deserved his post. Seeing that violence was out of option, he quickly switched tactics to reasoning. That fluidity in his attitude was commendable. Now, what should he say to defend himself?
As Jack was still thinking of a counter-argument, Alonzo had already beaten him to it. “Well said! Certainly, justice must be served. Law must be upheld. No royalty nor official may abuse their power and ignore the law. Talking about injustice and crime. I must also address another crime from yesterday’s occurrence.”
Magistrate Warren lifted his head from his bow. He stared with an inquisitive look at prince Alonzo. There was weariness in his eyes.
Alonzo continued without deigning the magistrate a look, “as another matter of fact from yesterday’s training mission, we had encountered a boss monster that was way out of our league. One of us had kept this monster occupied while allowing us an escape. While said comrade was trying to make his own escape, another one of us was despicable enough to cut the means of escape from this comrade, simply because of petty enviousness. Now I would like to ask, what is the punishment for such a crime?”
“Penalty for betraying a comrade is death!” Bailey uttered.
“I see. Thank you, instructor. Now, what do you think about this, magistrate?” Alonzo now gave the magistrate a meaningful look.
“I… I don’t see why this matters at the moment. If we…”
“It definitely mattered, because the perpetrator is the one behind you. Your precious son, Walter,” Alonzo said.
Magistrate Warren turned to look at Walter, who didn’t dare to look back.
“Did he not tell you the reason why mister Storm Wind lashed out at him?”
“This… this is slander! My son would never…”
Alonzo cut him with a stern voice, “he had confessed to it! Everyone in my team heard it including me. Are you calling me a liar!?”
“I–I would not dare…,” the magistrate replied with a weak voice. “But… but… this does not exclude the outworlder from a punishment. I demand he be taken into custody.”
“Of course,” Alonzo said. “how about this? We perform the punishment at the same time. Your son and this outworlder. That’s only fair, right?”
The magistrate turned pale at the words. The outworlders were known for their immortality. Even if they were killed, they would still come back to life. They would lose every progress they had made from the start though. On the other hand, for natives like them, death would be permanent. It was clear who would lose out if both parties were punished.
Furthermore, the penalty applied to the Outworlder might not be death. After all, he had only taken his son’s arm, not his life. The jury was still out on the nature of the punishment. His son’s treachery, however, was governed by military law which was harsh in their implementation.
