This time around, it was not just a murmur.

The courtroom erupted. Many rushed out to make calls, and a few more began throwing questions towards the council members.

"Order! Order!!"

The gavel was beaten again and again.

Devon did nothing but stand there. A smirk on his face.

He turned towards Soren a bit, winking at him.

Is this the secret weapon he was talking about?

Soren thought to himself.

What Soren did not know was who Devon Lamington was. Or rather what the name Lamington stood for.

Regardless, this was but a taste of their ability.

As people called to gather information, Soren got the gist of the matter.

It just so happened that the last stop the train had made on its way to the empire was because of an emergency call for help.

It came from another train carrying cadets to the academy.

However, it had not been the only call.

Coincidentally, there were multiple attacks in different places.

However, the one thing they all had in common was this. All the attacks had been on first-year cadets on their way to the Imperial Soulforge Academy.

Of course, they had all been Eldritch soul attacks.

While the details of how these attacks happened differed, they were all kept secret from the general public and even from the families that lost their children.

It turned out that the Soulforge Academy had intended to keep the news a secret until further notice.

The reason was simple. It would create mass panic.

Fresh cadets of the Imperial Soulforge academy were killed en masse?

Without a doubt the public would be shaken, and faith and trust in the empire would be shaken.

The Imperial Soulforge Academy was the symbol of the strength of the empire. If its cadets could die like chickens, what was to say that the rest of the empire was safe?

There was also another troubling question.

Who had the guts to do such a thing? Who had the guts to attack the heart of the empire at its weakest vein?

A lot of things suddenly clicked in Soren's head.

Now, the Eldritch soul attacking his town no longer seemed like a coincidence.

No. It was not. All planned.

Soren turned to the images of the destroyed trains and the ruined villages and towns.

The ripped corpses on the ground.

That was supposed to be the fate of his town.

But it wasn't. He had prevented it.

While thinking deeply, he suddenly remembered what Instructor Ivory had said.

'...To think that you will come up with such a detailed trap just to ruin my master's plans.'

This was a clear confirmation of his current suspicion.

Soren had ruined the plan to kill the new soulbound warriors and had also ruined the plan at the train.

All this time, it was not a coincidence.

Soren's eyes widened in realization. "Didn't that mean that there is a mastermind behind it all? Maybe the one Instructor Ivory called, 'Master.'"

Soren frowned. He could tell he had unwillingly gotten himself in the middle of very dangerous forces.

Wait a minute! Even if he did not know who this mysterious master was, he knew the opposing party.

Soren turned to the Council members.

Devon had told him that they were looking for an example.

Was it to use him as an example, a kind of warning against this mysterious threat?

Was that the reason so many people had been invited for the court case?

Or was his demise a method to appease this mysterious force that opposed the Imperial Soulforge Academy?

Soren's head was filled with a million questions. After all, there was also the fact that the nobles were probably looking for a commoner they could step on to remind commoners of their position.

Right, Soren could tell. Whether it was a conflict of interest between commoners or nobles, the Imperial Soulforge Academy and the mysterious master, or the Imperial Soulforge Academy and the nobles, he stood at the center.

Soren suddenly felt like prey in the middle of wild animals, each one wanting a piece.

However, Devon Lamington had come along to throw them a bone they could not resist but fight over.

Soren suddenly looked at this lawyer in a new light.

Devon was far beyond what met the eyes.

And in this manner, the court entered another recess even though it just came from one.

It couldn't be helped. The people in attendance had important matters to attend to.

When the court resumed, the prosecutor sat at her seat, carrying a face Soren could only liken to squeezed bread.

Devon continued. "As you can see, ladies and gentlemen of the court, from the current evidence I am sure many of you can confirm that it was in no good interest of the empire for my client and his mates to let go of the late Instructor Ivory, especially after she had made the confession she did."

He walked forward, pleasantly enjoying the frowns many in the audience had on. After all, he had grabbed them where it choked the most.

The safety of the next generation.

He knew these angry faces were no longer directed at Soren but rather at the Council members.

And so Devon continued. "While it's true that my client acted outside the law, he obviously did it with the thought of the Empire's future in his heart.

One could say that by saving that train of future Soulbound knights, he had saved the Empire's future and, therefore, the Emperor's face."

With this, Devon walked over to his seat.

The court was silent for a while. The tension in the room was obviously strong.

Cough...

The head council member turned to Soren. "You may return to your seat."

Soren nodded and made his way back.

The moment he sat, he leaned into Devon and whispered. "Is it over now? Did we win?"

Devon shook his head as he whispered back. "No, we lost."

Soren was shocked. "We lost?"

"Yeah. Fun, isn't it?" Devon chuckled.

(Author's note: Tell me what you guys think. Were you expecting this?)

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