The Achievement Junkie 93 Trial in the Royal Cour

"Come in you old fart!"

Zariff chuckled as he pushed the door open and saw both Rydel and Jack already up, ready to leave at a moment's notice. "I take it you're ready?"

"Of course," said Rydel. "Let's get this over with."

They clumped together as they made their way through the halls and past the reception desk. As they did, a voice cried out from behind the desk, "Good luck with the trial. Don't try anything stupid, Jack."

Jack smiled wide when he heard Maura's comment and turned to face her. Sadly, by the time he looked back she was already nose-deep in her first pile of paperwork. He sighed and followed the big man out the front door in silence.

There was no foot traffic so it didn't take long for them to reach the palace. They made sure to arrive early so they could go through the proper protocol and get checked.

Most people would have to remove all possible weapons, but as members of the Adventurers Association, they only had to inform the guards of what types of weapons they were carrying. So long as it didn't resemble anything like a bomb, which caused massive AOE damage, they were allowed in.

They passed security without any trouble and found themselves waiting in a building on the outskirts of the palace. That building was the Royal Courthouse, used for trials of all kinds. Soon, it would be their turn to stand before the assigned judge and plea their case.

"Are you ready, brat? A lot of this is riding on you and that fox of yours, so don't blow it," stated Zariff.

"Don't worry, we got this in the bag." Jack smiled, showing some unnatural excitement. "If Leo was right about him not being able to control the Royal Court, then I'm sure the king won't be able to head the meeting. It'll probably be Arnole in charge of the hearing."

"Whatever, just stick to the plan and we'll find a way to make it work. Since we're association members, they can't treat us easily, so there's a good chance we can win this one," reminded Rydel. "I'll handle most of the talking, you just did your thing."

"Yeah, yeah, we'll wait for the right moment; won't we Bowzer?"

Bowzer's head bobbed up and down with a big smile. They could all see the excitement oozing out of the fox pup. 'Bowzer ready!'

'Not yet, okay? You've got to wait till I tell you,' reminded Jack.

'Okay.' Bowzer did his best to contain his obvious excitement.

"Jack and Rydel of the Adventurers Association come forward!" a guard shouted into the waiting hall. "Jack and Rydel, to the courtroom?"

All three adventurers stood tall and took their time to enter the courtroom. The same guard who called them earlier was about to yell for them again, but he quickly noticed their high levels and the massive man in the middle of the three.

"Thank you … for your patience," stammered the guard as they passed him to enter the room.

They paid the guard no attention and entered without hesitation. As they walked up the center aisle the crowd had their eyes glued to them, especially the Jack who was making his first public appearance as a summoned hero.

The judge's seat was still vacant. There were guards everywhere, each armed and ready to intervene at the drop of a hat.

At the side of the plaintiff sat Fronks and another captain of the guard. They glance at the arriving adventurers and scoffed quietly.

To Jack's surprise, he saw no jury; there wasn't even a place a jury could sit. He instantly realized that the entire case would be up to whoever was selected as the judge, making things more difficult and complicated.

Jack leaned in to ask, "What level are these guards?"

"Most are at least lv. 20 but there are three above lv. 30 spread out between each exit of the room, not including the captain sitting next to Fronks," whispered Zariff. "It would seem they have more lv. 30's then they let on."

The crowd was filled with whispers and muffled comments about the coming trial. Of course, each person allowed to witness the trial had a considerable backing and a fair amount of power within the city. Well, known nobles filled the seats, paying extra to guarantee they could witness such a groundbreaking trial. Whoever won this would gain a huge boost in public influence, and the loser would lose considerable face.

It wasn't long before a Guard Captain stepped forward and asked for the crowd to be silent. As it quieted down, the back door behind the guard opened and in walked Arnole. The mage smiled and said, "I've come to personally witness this trial and maintain fairness to whichever party is the most just. I hope you all are okay with this." He sat down before had time to reply.

"Sure, so long as we can finally end this trial instead of prolonging it like before," stated Zariff. "As you can see, I've produced both Rydel and Jack like you've asked. Now, nothing is preventing us from ending this today."

"I agree," said Arnole. "Today, this will finally come to an end."

Fronks stood up and called out, "We would like to call our first witness to the stand."

A man near the front of the audience stood up and made his way to the stand with no emotion on his face. He sat down quietly and met Fronks eye-to-eye. There was an unspoken signal sent between them, marking that he was fully prepared to speak what needed to be said.

Approaching the witness stand, Fronks smirked and asked, "What are your name, occupation, and social level?"

"My name is Loranzo Curtall. I'm the chief manager of the Curtall Trade Caravan and a member of the Curtall Noble Family."

"Why is it that you've been called here today?"

"To bear my personal witness of the events which happened over a week ago involving those two men and yourself."

"Good, and you hereby swear on the name of Halmut to recount the truth and nothing but the truth?"

"Yes, of course, captain." Loranzo nodded, waiting patiently for the first question.

"How did such an event start?" asked Fronks.

"Me and the others in my caravan saw them speaking with your guards," said Loranzo. "I was busy handling a few issues of my own so I didn't hear the conversation, but I did hear the twang of a bow and saw that young man Jack launch an arrow aimed at you on your platform. Since he's so low-leveled he missed of course, but that doesn't change the fact that he shot at a captain of the guard."

"And what did Rydel do during this?"

"He watched Jack take the shot and smiled. Then he also took two shots in your direction, but these were obviously aimed at the hinges of the gate's door, which shattered instantly. With that as a diversion, the two of them hurried away out of the city while the guards were left dealing with the damage caused."

Fronks smirked, "And those damages were?"

"First of all, the heavy gate door was destroyed. It fell and splintered against anything and everything in its way as it toppled over. The same door knocked over the guards' platform, crushed a couple of wagons, one of which was my own, and caused each trade caravan a day of travel just to wait for the heavy door to be removed. Luckily, there were no major injuries caused in all this, much due to the guards quickly acting on the situation."

Hearing the list of damages, both Rydel and Jack wince slightly. At the moment, they knew shooting the door down would cause a lot of trouble, but it would always feel worse when you hear the exact damages and not an estimated guess.

"Is there anything else that should be brought before the court according to your knowledge?" asked Fronks.

"No, nothing besides the terrible damages that they caused for no good reason." Loranzo rolled his eyes at the two adventurers across the courtroom. "Now, if I may, I must get back to work."

"Of course, thank you for cooperation." Fronks motioned for Loranzo leave.

As Loranzo stood, about to exit the booth, a voice called out, "Don't we also get to speak with the witness?"

Fronks and Loranzo hesitated and looked back to the defendants' table and saw Rydel stand up. Arnole spoke up, "Of course you may. Please, wait a little longer, Loranzo."

The caravan chief returned to his seat, trying to imagine what sort of questions Rydel may ask him after he stated his case. Unknown to him, Rydel and the others had guessed a similar testimony would be given and had their strategy of defense.

Chapter end