A Tale of Strategies For the Throne

In such a large square, there are dense crowds standing, but it is unusually quiet.

The huge statues of the gods of Aaron Landis stand on the square, overlooking all living beings.

At this moment, no one spoke, and everyone's eyes gathered in one place.

In front of the square, on the high platform, a blond boy stood in front of everyone, and the huge lion stood beside him.

The thick brown mane is blown by the wind, making it more and more powerful.

A brown lion, the mount and pet of the legendary sun god Shamash, and the holy beast of Aaron Landis.

King Kamos, who brought two lions to the battlefield, was called the Lion King reverently by everyone.

The king of beasts on the continent.

That majestic appearance makes people feel awe at a glance.

When those fiery eyes stare at you, no matter who you are, you will feel fear from the bottom of your heart and tremble.

Most of the people in the square were like this, especially the countless people standing below, who were all trembling and did not dare to raise their heads.

The deterrent force of this male lion is too great, the feeling of being overwhelmed is almost like the lion king Kamos standing there, which is daunting.

It is said that Prince Garlan will use the holy beast to find out who killed the royal knight.

But even though it is a holy beast, it is also a terrifying beast.

Moreover, it was said in the rumors that the one who killed the royal knight was obviously Prince Heymos, so why did he suddenly find the murderer among them now?

Or, as the rumors said, this was just a way for Prince Garlan to exonerate Prince Heymos?

Many people in the palace knew that the lion named Nega was raised by Prince Garlan since he was a child.

So, Prince Garlan is actually just ordering it to randomly find a scapegoat among his group of people?

Many people standing below were thinking in such a frightened manner, the more they thought about it, the more frightened they became.

Especially after Prince Garlan walked down the high steps with the lion and came before them, the people in the first row who watched the lion walking towards them trembled in fright.

Especially when the big lion came over and seemed to sniff a person quite casually, that person was so frightened that he almost rolled his eyes and passed out.

And the people around the person who almost passed out were not much better, each of them was fighting with each other, almost collapsing to the ground.

Everyone was trembling with fear, but the big lion Nega seemed to be in high spirits, swaying unceremoniously among the crowd, scaring many people dizzy and weak.

It wasn't until Garlan called out to it that it turned around and returned to Garlan's side.

Garlan raised his hand and stroked its thick mane, and it obediently stood still.

Standing in the dense crowd, Garlan caressed Nega beside him, and at the same time swept his eyes from the faces of the people standing here.

There are too many people working in the palace, and it is impossible to stop the operation of the entire palace for a day, so it can only be divided into three investigations.

Those standing here at the moment are the first group of people.

The people here include lower-level nobles, ordinary officials, servants and maids, and the lowest servants.

"Stretch out your hands."

Garland said,

"Currently, the sinner still has the opportunity to confess your crime. If you continue to conceal it, [the liar will be bitten off by the messenger of Shamash]."

【The liar will be bitten off by the messenger of Shamash】

This is a proverb well known in Aaron Landis.

There is such a story in the ancient myth of Aaron Landis.

A long, long time ago, a man came to the just Sun God by relying on his eloquence, scheming, and ability to hide his thoughts, told him bad things about his enemy, fabricated unwarranted crimes for the enemy, and tried to borrow Shamash hand to punish his enemies.

So Shamash ordered the man to hold out his hand to him and swear that he was not lying.

This man walks the talk.

However, the second the man finished his oath, the lion under Shamash bit off his wrist.

From this came the proverb.

And when the people of Aaron Landis accuse a person of lying, they often scold that person—you will be bitten off by the messenger of Shamash!

As soon as Garlan's words fell, the whole square exploded with a bang.

Everyone was amazed.

Is the prince trying to emulate the legend?

That's a fairy tale!

Moreover, in the story, it was the mount of the sun god Shamash who identified the person who was lying. It is not something that can be done by just finding a lion——

What is here now is not the holy beast who understands human nature and follows Shamash, but a living beast.

If it becomes aggressive, and whoever dislikes it, take a bite, let alone a hand, I'm afraid its life will be lost.

Just when everyone was panicking, Garlan spoke again.

"Stretch out your arms."

He said, "Those who are unwilling to do so, I will consider you a suspect of the murderer."

When Prince Garlan said this, no matter how fearful and unwilling those people were, they had no choice but to forcefully stretch out their two hands forward.

Not to mention that the people standing in the square were scared to death, but the people sitting on the high platform in the square also looked at each other for a while.

A senior noble couldn't help but asked, "Prince Garlan is using the power of Shamash and the lion to frighten the murderer?"

If the murderer is afraid that his arm will be bitten off by a lion, he may not dare to stretch out his hand.

Was Prince Garlan's intention to let the murderer show his feet out of fear?

This—is still very unreliable?

Although it is a little more reliable than using a wild animal to identify the murderer, it is only a little bit.

You know, the murderer who dared to do that kind of thing is definitely determined to be desperate, so how could he be frightened by the prince's simple words?

And just as they were whispering and discussing on the high platform, Garlan had already begun to patrol below.

When the big lion approached, almost everyone trembled badly.

Just because the big lion was in a bad mood, he opened his mouth——

Just like that, Garlan led Nega to walk among the crowd, with a calm expression, as if he was taking Nega for a walk.

He stood beside the huge head of the lion, occasionally rubbing and brushing the thick mane of Nirga.

After a while, Nega became a little impatient, let out a low groan, and frightened the nearest person so that he fell to the ground. It looked at that person contemptuously, and then opened its mouth to yell at Garlan. With a sound.

That cry made others tremble with fear, but the blond prince who was standing next to the sharp teeth of the big lion smiled, rubbed its mane, and coaxed it in a low voice. Constantly stroking its head to appease it.

So, after complaining, Nega was satisfied with the result of patting his head and coaxing him.

It grunted from its throat, raised its mighty head, and continued to walk among the group of humans that it really found annoying.

The man and the lion walked past countless outstretched arms.

Garlan's eyes flicked over these arms one by one.

Time passed bit by bit like this, but the tense and weird atmosphere still shrouded the entire square.

Moreover, as time passed, there was more dissatisfaction and resentment among the people.

The man and the lion swayed round and round in the square. At first, everyone kept their eyes wide open, fearing that something terrible would happen, but as time went by, nothing happened.

The big lion walked around the square like a walk, without looking at the people around him who stretched out their hands tremblingly. No matter how you look at it, it doesn't look like it's identifying the murderer, but it looks like it's leisurely talking to Garland. Play in general.

Naturally, the noble ministers sitting on the high platform became a little impatient.

"Prince Garlan's approach... is too childish."

Finally someone couldn't help but speak.

"Yeah, this is the last batch of people, right? Nothing was found at all."

"He was just playing with the lion at all?"

"Is it still necessary for the prince to continue? How can we find out the murderer like this."

Someone else said something in a low voice.

"After all, the murderer is not here..."

Just when everyone started to have objections one after another, the Chief Director who had been watching quietly spoke up.

"Let the prince continue to do it." He said calmly, "After all, if you don't let him do it to the end, our prince won't give up, will he?"

He chuckled and said, "Anyway, it's already reached this point, everyone just be patient and wait until the end."

The chief director just smiled so gently, it sounded like he was trying to speak favorably for Garlan, but in fact, he was already sneering in his heart, and he was extremely satisfied with the development of this matter.

What's the hurry, wait.

Waiting for this stupid scene to finally end, waiting for the 'wise prince' to be ruined.

And this is a good opportunity to convict Prince Heymos in front of so many people.

Simply kill two birds with one stone.

After all, Prince Garlan jumped into the pit by himself, no one can stop him, right?

This naive little prince is much easier to deal with than the troublesome Prince Heymos.

And only a ruined prince would honestly choose to cling to himself.

The head chief had a calm face, a gentle smile, and even more joy in his heart.

Sitting firmly on one side, the right secretary, who squinted his eyes as if he was dozing off, glanced at the chief secretary out of the corner of his eye.

He vaguely guessed the thoughts in the Chief Secretary's heart, the corner of his lips moved slightly, and then disappeared immediately.He still lowered his head and lowered his eyes, as if he didn't hear anything, he let the people around him talk about it, and he didn't express any opinions on this matter.

Some people, because they don't have something, think others don't either.

He even firmly believes that such a thing does not exist at all.

opinionated.

So narrow.

The old man who looked like he was about to fall asleep squinted his eyes and thought.

I don't know what the little prince is up to.

That day, he once said something to his nephew of the same clan.

Don't underestimate Prince Garlan.

The old man said to the young civil servant.

I am afraid that many people in the palace think that his reputation is backed by King Kamos and has been praised by others.

But you have to remember.

The [Wise Name] is not something that can be praised easily.

From ancient times to the present, I don't know how many kings have tried their best to give themselves a name of wisdom, but has anyone succeeded?

The public may be easily deceived and deceived in a short period of time, but as long as it takes a long time, they can see it more clearly than anyone else.

Because they can see the sincerity.

There are always some people who are too smart, think others are stupid, and think they have seen the truth.

As everyone knows, the stupid person is actually himself.

…………

On the other side of the high platform, Captain Sage stood there silently, staring at the back of Prince Garlan in the square.

He remembered what Garlan had shown him that day in the ice cellar.

Garlan showed him the hand of the knight whose neck had been twisted, the nails were full of congealed black things.

At that time, Prince Garlan said to him.

"That's how you find the murderer."

"What do you mean?"

"When the murderer twisted his neck, he instinctively wanted to pull the murderer's arm away, so his nails left scratches on the murderer's arm."

Gallan said, "The black lumps under his nails are the coagulation of the flesh and blood of the murderer who was gouged off at that time."

"You mean that the man who killed him should have scratches on his arm?"

"That's right. And because it was a struggle before death, the strength must have been great, and the scars that were pulled out are definitely not light. It has only been more than ten days, and there must still be scars on the arms." Garlan nodded, "And During this period of time, you sealed off the palace and did not let anyone leave, so the murderer should still be in the palace, as long as you find the person with the scar on his arm..."

He glanced at the knight in the box, showing a thoughtful expression.

"Actually, it's not just this. I also found a clue on his body. It should be pulled from the murderer before he died. Following this clue, the murderer can be found out slowly."

He shook his head and said, "However, this is too slow and there is no time, so it is the fastest way to find people with scars on their arms."

He turned to Sako and smiled.

"However, Captain Sage, protect their bodies and don't move them yet. After all, they can be used as evidence after the murderer is found."

…………

Waking up from the memories, Sako looked up and found that the atmosphere seemed to be a little bit wrong.

The noble ministers who had been whispering on the opposite side suddenly stopped talking and stared down.

And the noisy square suddenly became silent at this moment, as if all the sounds had stopped at this moment.

Sage suddenly stood up and looked towards the square.

I saw that the crowd who had been standing densely together in the square dispersed at some point, leaving an open space.

In the upper left corner, the people there hurriedly backed away as if they were afraid of being infected with a disease, thus leaving a big circle there.

In the empty circle, the blond prince who had been walking among the crowd stood there motionless.

A male lion as tall as a man stood beside him, staring at the front with covetous eyes.

In front of the man and the lion, there was a man kneeling on the ground, trembling all over.

Sage's heart tightened, and his mind became hot.

Without thinking too much, his body started to move by itself, and he rushed to Garlan's side almost instantly.

I bowed my head.

His pupils constricted violently.

He clearly saw the ugly scar clearly visible on the kneeling man's right arm——