Golden Cathedral of Altor. "What? You're demanding the execution of Night Watch Captain 'Clown'?" Although Cardinal Gose had already anticipated Natasha's furious reaction after examining Lucian's condition, he had never expected her to be this radical, this forceful. Natasha's silver-purple eyes were crystal clear, almost dreamlike, but her tone was deadly serious: "Yes. Clown must be executed." As a Cardinal, Gose was well-practiced at maintaining a warm and benevolent expression. He said gently, "Your Highness, Mr. Evans is perfectly fine — no death, no paralysis, no disabilities. Why must you press the matter? Besides, it may not have been Clown's doing. Mr. Evans may have misidentified the person. It's quite possible it was a heretic from the Silver White Horn disguised as—"
"Bishop Gose, if you believe Lucian misidentified the culprit, then bring Clown forward to face his identification and questioning, along with a Divine Arts truth-reading. I believe that should settle everything." Natasha's imposing aura bore down on Gose, creating immense pressure — after all, they were both of high rank.
Faced with Natasha's proposal, Gose fell briefly silent. The truth was that both he and the head of the Tribunal had reason to believe Clown was responsible. If Clown were detected lying under divine interrogation in front of all the nobles — if it came out that he had attacked a high-society figure without following proper procedure — the Church's credibility would suffer a serious blow.
After a moment, Gose continued in his amiable voice: "Very well. Let us assume for the moment that Clown was indeed responsible. But why would he do such a thing? The answer is obvious: Mr. Evans may have connections to the evil figure known as 'Professor' on the purification list. In order to prevent evil from befalling the Vorlite Principality, from befalling Altor and its nobles, Clown took a risk to probe the situation."
"But is there evidence? Real evidence?" Natasha took a step forward, her gaze filled with authority. "Bishop Gose, this is not the late period of the Dawn War — an era when Night Watch members could simply arrest anyone they suspected of being an Arcane Magic user or having ties to one, lock them up for slow interrogation, or probe and examine them at will on the basis of mere suspicion alone. Today, you nearly killed Lucian Evans over imagined evil. Tomorrow, will you execute some noble on the same unfounded suspicion?"
"I don't think any noble wants to live in such a state of constant anxiety — always worrying whether a Night Watch member from the Church might suddenly burst into their home and arrest or kill them based on nothing more than the 'evidence' of having no shadow!"
"Powerful knights may not fear for themselves. But they fear for their wives, for their children — that those they love might suffer the same fate!"
After a string of sharp, aggressive words, Natasha raised her voice: "Bishop Gose, I represent every noble in the Vorlite Principality in demanding the execution of Clown — to serve as a warning to any Night Watch member who dares to violate the covenant between the Church and the nobility!"
If only this were several hundred years ago, he thought with some helplessness, then he wouldn't have to listen to Natasha's "unreasonable" demands. But the standoff between the Northern and Southern Churches, the rise of the Arcane Council — all of this had rapidly elevated the status of nobles, who already wielded great power. When united, they could now contest the Church's authority on certain issues and influence its decisions. And this matter truly did tread upon the nobles' bottom line.
"Your Highness, you are a devout noble. The previous handling of the situation was quite appropriate. Moreover, Mr. Evans is not seriously hurt. Even if Clown is guilty, it has not reached the point where execution is warranted." Gose softened his tone, first attempting to use Natasha's devout faith to weaken her hardline stance. Then he offered a low-key solution both sides could accept: "How about we let the Tribunal's internal court try Clown and impose the punishment he deserves?"
Natasha drew a cross over her chest. "Truth endures forever." Then she said solemnly: "I am a devout believer, which is precisely why I do not wish to see a madman like Clown among the Night Watch destroy the relationship between the Church and the nobility." Having said that, she fixed Gose with a direct stare, conveying her unyielding resolve: "If Clown does not die, no noble will ever feel safe!"
Gose was silent for a moment before replying: "Your Highness, I will relay your demands to His Eminence the Cardinal and to Bishop Amorton. After all, the Tribunal is not under my jurisdiction — only they can make the decision."
Only then did Natasha nod. "I trust His Eminence the Cardinal and Bishop Amorton both understand the severity of this matter. I will await the final result."
……
In an unremarkable villa somewhere in Altor, Clown was carefully scrutinizing the intelligence he had gathered, trying to find even the slightest clue confirming that Lucian Evans had deep ties to Professor.
Suddenly, the door was flung open, and Battle Priestess Juliana rushed in, panicked and frantic: "Captain, quickly — you have to flee!"
"Juliana, what happened? Calm down." Clown looked up, his face wearing that same comical grin.
Juliana took two deep breaths. "Captain — the Tribunal has decided to execute you. You need to escape, now!"
"What?! How is that possible?!" Even a fifth-rank Great Knight with extraordinary willpower could not suppress his astonishment. Clown felt as though the entire world had abandoned him. He had toiled tirelessly — for the Lord, for the Church, for the Tribunal — fighting evil and extinguishing darkness. And the Tribunal had decided to execute him?
Juliana didn't know whether this secret hideout had already been compromised, so she kept it brief: "Captain, at the 'Return Concert' that ended an hour ago, Lucian Evans collapsed on stage with a sudden illness. Bishop Gose confirmed it was a relapse caused by his previous injuries not fully healing. Natasha was furious and refused to compromise any further. With the entire noble class behind her, she demanded the Church execute you. And from the risky intelligence that Captain Lunde shared, the Church has already relented — they're preparing to secretly capture you, then execute you in secret to satisfy the nobles and keep the whole affair quiet."
"Execute me… execute me?" Clown whispered to himself in a low voice, unable to accept it. His words were laced with frustration, despair, and bewilderment — a stark contrast to his exaggerated smiling mask.
Juliana thought he didn't believe her and hurried to explain: "Captain Lunde's relationship with us was poor before the Melzer Black Forest incident, and afterward he kept his distance publicly. So when the Tribunal lords mobilized the Night Watch to gather intelligence and capture you, they chose him for the task. But the moment he accepted the mission, he risked everything to pass the information to me, so I could warn you to escape — leave Altor, hide somewhere else for a while, then return under a new identity. At least two of the three Tribunal lords sympathize with you!"
Clown's murmuring ceased. He stood as though his soul had been stripped away. Just as Juliana was about to urge him again, he suddenly burst into laughter: "Hahahaha! Hahahaha! Hahahaha!"
The laughter was tinged with madness.
"Captain, are you all right?" Juliana asked, worried.
The laughter cut off abruptly. Clown spoke in an eerily calm voice: "I'm perfectly fine. I just find it absurdly amusing. A musician with deep ties to an evil warlock, a princess with deep roots in the Arcane Council — and together they've managed to force the Church into executing its most devout, most loyal dark servant. Whose Church is this — the warlocks' Church, or the Lord's Church? How could His Eminence Saer de, Lord Amorton, and Lord Gose possibly tolerate and allow something like this to happen?"
"Captain, don't concern yourself with what those lords think. I believe in you, Minsk believes in you, Captain Lunde believes in you, many Night Watch members believe in you, and two of the three Tribunal lords sympathize with you! I believe that light will ultimately prevail over darkness, and holiness will surely triumph over evil!" Juliana spoke with some agitation, seemingly stirred herself.
Clown shook his head. "Juliana, don't worry about me losing control of my emotions. Without extraordinary willpower, how could I possibly command a fifth-rank bloodline? I'll lie low, and then I'll find the evidence. I'll expose Lucian Evans before everyone's eyes and return to the Tribunal in broad daylight." He let out a cold laugh. "Heh — if I could kill Lucian Evans with my own hands in front of Natasha, force her to watch helplessly as everything she tried to prevent happened anyway — that would be perfect."
"Captain, don't be reckless! Right now Lucian Evans must be surrounded by layers of protection and ambushes. They might even be trying to lure you into a trap to kill you for good!" Juliana hurriedly warned him. Though she knew Clown's willpower made it unlikely he would lose control or make a foolish mistake, she also understood that dark-natured bloodlines carried traces of madness no matter what.
Clown's comical face turned toward the window, and he let out a cold snort: "I know. Because no one else may understand how badly Lucian Evans was originally injured — but I certainly do. I didn't have time to strike a killing blow. With a knight's natural healing, even without any potion, he would fully recover in two or three days at most. There's no way the injury would linger this long and develop into a serious illness. He's clearly using this as an opportunity to pressure Natasha and force her to apply pressure on the Church. Would someone like that not take precautions against me escaping and seeking revenge?"
"I'll investigate carefully. This time, I will catch his tail!" The eyes above Clown's comical, exaggerated mask were chillingly cold.
……
Inside the villa.
"Lucian, are you really sure Clown will be deliberately allowed to escape?" Natasha asked with some doubt, then teased with a touch of humor: "Don't tell me you predicted this with a crystal ball?"
Lucian feigned surprise as he looked at her: "Oh? How did you know?" Then he chuckled. "Actually, it's just simple reasoning. Your position was too aggressive, your demands too extreme — whether it was the Cardinal or the head of the Tribunal, they'd inevitably sympathize with Clown. So leaking the information deliberately to let him escape is a very natural possibility. And judging from the matter with Warden Salvador, and the number of Night Watch survivors from the Melzer Black Forest incident that you confirmed, there are certainly people inside the Tribunal who, like Clown, despise Professor with extreme hatred. They very likely have close ties to Clown."
The hardline stance and extreme demands had been planned between the two of them in advance.
"So that's how it is. But this is only psychological reasoning, without any solid evidence to support it. The Cardinal and the Tribunal are extremely serious about matters like this, so there's a very real chance Clown will actually be executed, and your plan won't be able to proceed." Though Natasha admired Clown's determination and actions in fighting evil, anyone who harmed her friends was absolutely unacceptable. On this matter, she had never been soft or hesitant — she always knew exactly which side she stood on and never indulged in unnecessary mercy or kindness.
Lucian smiled. "Even if he's executed, there are still plenty of Night Watch members who've been stirred to anger and sympathy. They won't let Professor go." Besides, "he" probably wouldn't let an opportunity like this slip by — if "he" had discovered something. Lucian thought silently to himself. This had been an important objective he'd added on the fly after Clown's probing attack, and the foundation for all his reasoning just now.
"Let's hope so," Natasha said with a smile. "I've already given you that person's information. I'll cover for you here — go quickly and come back quickly."
……
Viscount Klein, the chief administrator of the Altor Municipal Hall — an elder who had never awakened his bloodline's power but remained vigorous and energetic in his fifties. His black hair was combed neatly, and a pair of deep green eyes as profound as a lake were filled with the authority of a man accustomed to command. After attending Lucian Evans' concert at the Sacred Hymn Hall, he had returned home with an excited heart, unable to fall asleep for the longest time, and had no choice but to sit in his parlor poring over the books he had collected. As time wore on and the night deepened into silence, Klein finally set down the ancient tome in his hands and prepared to enter his bedroom to sleep.
As he removed his coat and changed into his nightclothes, habitually tidying his appearance before the dressing mirror, he suddenly caught sight of a mysterious figure reflected in the glass — a person shrouded in a black hooded cloak. The figure seemed to exist on the other side of the mirror, and spoke in a hoarse, rasping voice: "Hello, Sage. It's been a long time."
"Professor?!" Klein blurted out in shock, and instinctively activated Mage Armor. It seemed that after these years, he had finally become a full-fledged Arcane Magic user.
He was the former Magic Apprentice known as Sage. Because of his close ties with White Honey Sugar — Sylvie — and her father, Natasha had obtained his intelligence and files long ago, but had never confronted or exposed him.
Klein cautiously turned around, only to find that no one was behind him. But the black-robed mysterious figure still stared back at him from the mirror.
Fourth-circle Arcane Magic — Mirror Projection?!
(To be continued) rt