duke and writer

"Silence." Amid the uproar, the majestic words of the presiding judge pierced through the noise and sounded clearly, "Mr. An Mixiu, as an important witness, you should have not forgotten the original oath?"

"That's why, Your Excellency the judge," the young writer replied firmly. He looked around slowly, his gaze passed over the terrified people below the stage, and the princes and nobles who sat on the high side. Pausing for a moment on his face, he finally cast his eyes on the slightly frowning judge, "Under the watchful eyes of the God of Creation, on the basis of my faith, honor, and life," he raised his open right hand, " I promise that everything I say is the truth, and there is absolutely no falsehood."

"Ridiculous!" The investigator on the side shouted angrily, "This person has inconsistent testimonies, interferes with evidence collection, and has ulterior motives. He must have colluded with heretics and rebels! How can such a guy be trusted?"

"Oh, that's interesting," the young king on the high platform sneered, "If I remember correctly, isn't this the witness you found?"

"Your Majesty, if it wasn't for his testimony..."

"Why, is the thirty-day grace given to you to collude confessions?"

"Subordinate..."

"Silence! Everyone who has nothing to do with the trial, please remain silent." The presiding judge turned his gaze to the young man standing in the center of the court and asked in a deep voice, "As you can see, Mr. An Mixiu, if you insist that the testimony is true, you will be searched by the court Even so, do you not consider changing the testimony?"

"Yes, I insist on my testimony—first, the author of "The Plague" is not Thunder Lion; second, the Brendas have never been blasphemous, and are definitely not heretics; and..."

"and also?"

"No, nothing."

And thirdly, "The Plague" is not heresy, it just rediscovers the testimony of a hundred years ago, telling the world that demons will also hide in the Holy See.

"Damn it!" Palos cursed secretly in his heart, trying his best to maintain a calm expression on his face.

——To be put together by the object of protection, everything will be messed up now.Obviously, as long as he testifies according to the wishes of the Holy See, that guy will not only be freed from the suspicion of heresy forever, but will also be protected by the people of the court, and his life will be safe from now on. What went wrong in the middle?

……

Before the 31st, the Inquisition entered the royal city together with the Knights Templar.

While the leader of the Knights conveyed the pope's will to the king and discussed the matter of assisting the city defense, the judge of the tribunal also summoned the people to read out the decree-requiring everyone to take the initiative to report the accused heresy within [-] days of grace, that is, the former All news of the Prince Regent and his family.If the collaborators can voluntarily plead guilty within the time limit, they can be pardoned after a lighter penance; if they are reported and proven guilty, they will be sentenced to heavy punishment after trial.

"... Please believe that I have always been a devout believer in the God of Creation, and I have never had the slightest thought of disobeying the Holy See. Since the day Leishi posted a notice slandering the Holy See, I have never had any contact with him again. any contact."

The crossed fingers touched the tip of the nose, and the man's orange pupils were full of pain, "Father, I repent every day for my ignorance and for working with that blasphemer. I sin against myself I have confessed to my crimes, and I do not ask for forgiveness from the court, nor to get rid of the torment in my heart, but only hope that the court will sentence me to the punishment I deserve, so that I can have the opportunity to atone for my mistakes."

"Forgiveness is an eternal gift from God, and I have no right to take it back. There are too few perfect people in this world. My child, no one has ever intended to be so harsh on you except yourself. Being harsh will only bring guilt, and Guilt and hurt have always been best friends." The elder clergyman kindly counseled, "The important thing is to make a change."

"Change..." Palos lowered his head and pondered for a moment, then raised his eyes to look at the other party, "I...maybe I can help the investigator."

"The gods will be pleased with that." The priest smiled.

According to the plan, everything went smoothly. He went to the Duke's Mansion with the investigators, and "accidentally" discovered the agency, found the young writer imprisoned in the secret room, and numerous "criminal evidence" hidden in the dark compartment on the wall.

"...God!"

"Chuangshi God, it turned out to be "Plague", is it a private possession..."

"It's not that simple, you look at these things—"

"Isn't this the witch's manuscript, and these letters are..."

"These filth should have been burned away in the past, how could..."

"...Gentlemen, the result is already obvious. Lei Shi is the author of "The Plague."

"It turns out that he is the blasphemer. No wonder we still couldn't find any clues after years of investigation."

"--What?!" Hearing the commotion in the study, the young man who was leaning wearily against the wall was shocked, and immediately rushed in with strides.

Almost rudely, he opened a gap in the circle of investigators, and snatched the manuscripts and letters without any explanation.Once the face with a gentle smile was covered with a certain terribly serious expression, it made others hesitate to reprimand him.

"It's him..." An Mixiu flipped through the familiar and unfamiliar materials in his hands in disbelief, his chest heaved violently, "It turned out to be him..." The air he breathed also became rough, almost scratching the lungs.

Yellowed paper fell from trembling hands and scattered all over the place.

"Sir, are you okay?" Feeling the pressure on his left shoulder, he turned his head wordlessly, but saw Palos' face that was familiar with acting, "It's all right, don't worry, you are an important witness, the court will guarantee Your safe."

"..."

"He is right, Mr. An Mixiu, we will protect you from anyone's persecution. Correspondingly, we also need your help. Presumably you are also willing to testify in court for this matter?"

"...Well," he was stunned for a moment, the young man twitched his lips far-fetchedly, "Of course." He replied.

……

In the courtroom, the presiding judge explained the relevant legal provisions that were cited word for word, and finally announced the trial results in short and authoritative words——

"...The report is invalid."

And just before the trial ended, the trial judge brought out a new decree and announced that a certain writer on the witness stand at this moment has been charged with perjury, treason, and heresy.The matter is of great importance. On the first mass day after [-] days, the court will hold a new round of trial here.

"Your Excellency the judge," An Mixiu stood up and said loudly, "I heard that as an important witness of the court, you can make a request to the court and get permission, right?"

"There is such a practice, but the premise is that the request must be reasonable and legal, and it is limited to the trial period, such as withdrawing the accusation..."

"—I request a duel verdict."

All of a sudden, exclamation, laughter, and boos sounded together.

"Silent!" The judge looked at the other party with shocked eyes, "Mr. An Mixiu, do you understand the meaning of your words?"

"It's very clear, Your Excellency the Judge, I request a duel verdict - I don't need thirty days of grace, and I don't need anyone to fight for me." He took a step forward and raised his jaw tightly, "I am willing to give my life Divine judgment."

The presiding judge nodded, then turned back to ask the search officer for a response, and as expected, he got a favorable answer.He faced the crowd with a calm and serious expression——

"It is God's will," he said, in a low voice, as if to pronounce a death sentence.

Palos raised his hand to cover his blood-stained face. For the first time, he sincerely prayed that a certain Duke would never come back.

……

At the same time, the war in the distance has just stopped.

"Tsk," while taking off his blood-stained armor, Lei Shi took the time to kick the stretcher placed in the tent, "Get up, you won't even pretend to be dead."

"You asked me to pretend, boss." The guy covered in linen immediately sat up when he heard this, and looked at the other party with innocent and wronged eyes.

"..."

If it weren't for cleaning up the chaos on the battlefield and adding his own cover, this guy would definitely go through the gang, Lei Shi thought exhaustedly.

"Let's talk about the next arrangement—"

In formulating the entire strategic plan, he took almost all factors into consideration, but he only ignored the problem of Paley's acting skills in this link—fortunately, nothing went wrong, otherwise he would be ashamed to see others if he got stuck here.

"The Pope has already fled to the palace, and you will start to move tonight. Before you can really surround the palace, you must not reveal any traces, understand?"

"No problem, I'm good at sneak attacking." Paley raised his chin proudly, but then frowned again, "But boss, let me take away so many people at once, can you handle it here? "

"I said it was a feint, and I don't intend to really take that city." Poured a glass of water and handed it to the tall man sitting cross-legged, the young Duke said seriously, "Don't worry about it, just do what you should do Just do it."

"But……"

"Perry, you won't let me down, will you?"

"of course!"

"Very well, you stay here before the action, other things will be arranged." Said, Lei Shi pulled him up from the stretcher.

"I leave it to you, get ready as soon as possible." Withdrawing his hand, he left the camp straight away.

"..."

It was night, and the flames dancing in the glass cover illuminated the table covered with maps.

Outside the military tent, there was an unusual sound faintly heard.

The man raised his eyelids slightly, glanced casually at the wind-blown door curtain, and then returned his gaze to the map in front of him.A pottery block engraved with the totem of the Griffin beast was pushed forward slowly, and finally stopped at a location that lacked a mark, forming a confrontation with the chess piece carved with a triple crown——

Since the Holy Father hopes that the matter of his refuge in the palace will always be a secret, then he will just pretend that the old guy is still in the capital, and lead the remaining soldiers and horses to continue advancing. When the siege is formed, it will also stop some people from moving out of the city. The idea of ​​saving soldiers.Although the Pope's personal guards who followed to the palace were elite, they were limited in number after all. Once there was a battle, it would be difficult to resist Paley's troops.Camille and the neighboring countries have already negotiated a price, and the rebellion in the southern jurisdiction of the Papal State at this moment is enough to hold back the Knights of the Holy Sword stationed there.

The bureau has been done, and the result is all in this final battle.

After staring at the map for a while, he finally put his hand on the location marked Wangcheng.

In the silence, the oil lamp was extinguished, and a vague sigh came from the darkness.

——Since the power of the Holy See entered the capital, no carrier pigeons have been seen flying from there.

I don't know if the little king can handle that group of sanctimonious guys.

I don't know if Palos has a way to continue to pass on information while protecting himself.

I don't know if the group of hounds from the referee's court had damaged his favorite collection when they were rummaging around in the mansion.

as well as……

——An Mixiu, are you okay?