Grimm stared at the lab journal in his hands, its contents shaking him to his very core.
Moonlight Moss and the lightning element didn't repel each other?
The current processing workflow for purifying agents was wrong?
If he hadn't seen Violet's successful experimental sample, Grimm would have wanted nothing more than to tear this ridiculous academic report to shreds immediately.
“Bring the experimental materials over.”
Violet handed over the nearby potion box, knowing that Grimm wanted to perform the experiment himself.
Dozens of minutes later, Grimm's heart was shaken once again, the shock plain on his face.
“This... this is actually true?!”
Quiet whispers rippled through the classroom. It was the first time they had ever seen their professor lose his composure so completely.
Had Senior Violet created something truly mind-boggling?
“Professor, this is the paper I wrote.”
“Quick, let me see!”
Grimm snatched the paper from the girl's hands, his eyes scanning the pages at lightning speed.
“A destabilization reaction between anions and charged particles? What is this?”
Violet lightly touched her finger to the corner of her mouth and said sheepishly, “I don't know.”
“You don't know? How can you not know about something you created... Wait, you're the second author?!”
Grimm's eyes fell on the beginning of the paper, where a name he had never seen before was clearly written.
“First author: Ain Aldric?”
“Who is he?”
Grimm could guarantee that among all the students he knew and all the potion-making professors in the academy, this name had never once appeared.
“Well, I don't really know either. I think he's a student from another department?”
“From another department? You mean he figured all this out through self-study?”
“Where does he live now? Who is his mentor?”
“I don't know...”
Violet suddenly realized that she had been so focused on writing the paper and report that she had completely forgotten to ask which dormitory Ain lived in.
Grimm pinched the bridge of his nose. He wanted to scold Violet, but in the end, he only sighed.
Silly girl, why didn't you tie up someone this important and bring him to me!
“For this final project, Violet gets a perfect score. Everyone else gets forty points. That is all. Class dismissed!”
As soon as he finished speaking, Grimm returned the documents to the girl and gestured, “Follow me.”
He had made up his mind. No matter which department this student named Ain belonged to, he was going to recruit him!
No one could stop him!
“Professor, I know a student named Ain. He's a second-year.”
Just as he reached the door, Grimm stopped in his tracks. He looked at the student who had spoken and gestured for them to continue.
“News got out this morning. Senior Erylin, a third-year, got a score of zero in yesterday's practical exam, and there was a student named Ain in her team.”
“I heard he lives in Building 7 of the Arcane Department.”
The student turned to look at a companion nearby, seemingly confirming the information they had just discussed.
The companion nodded as well. Seeing this, Grimm immediately decided to take Violet to the Arcane Department to get their hands on him.
...
Inside the Interrogation Hall, twelve stone pillars carved with judgment runes were wrapped with the badge rubbings of past members of the Titan Prosecution Office.
Those bronze rubbings gleamed with a cold, hard light under the magic lamps, and the surrounding gallery was packed with people.
Belinda sat in the front row of the gallery. The bruise on her right cheek had not yet faded, but a faint smirk played on her lips.
She had wanted to have Lillian drag in as well, but there hadn't been a suitable opportunity to release the rest of the red potion.
Standing in the center of the hall, Ain had magic chains bound around his wrists. He slowly raised his head and looked at Sevis on the elevated judgment stand.
“Ain Aldric.”
“Today in the academy's central courtyard, you used a continuous magic spell to harm Belinda Xavier, an executive member of the Titan Prosecution Office. Furthermore, we detected mana residues of necromancy at the scene.”
“According to Article 2, Chapter 4 of the Titan Prosecution Regulations: maliciously resisting or harming a member of the Prosecution Office is deemed a severe criminal offense!”
“According to Article 1, Chapter 7 of the Titan Prosecution Regulations: any form of necromancy is considered forbidden magic. And Article 24, Chapter 7: anyone verified to have dabbled in necromancy shall be sentenced to a minimum of ten years of imprisonment!”
Sevis read the charges word by word from the judgment stand, his tone carrying an absolute, unyielding authority.
“He was the one who cast forbidden magic in the teaching building last time, right? I heard Senior Erylin subdued him on the spot, which was why nobody died.”
“I heard someone was caught casting forbidden magic in the academy again and wanted to come see. I didn't expect it to be him again!”
“That's not all. Didn't Senior Erylin get a zero in yesterday's practical exam? Apparently, that was because of him too!”
“A guy without even a drop of mana dragged Senior Erylin down to a zero! Heaven knows what he did!”
“Huh? He doesn't even have mana?”
“I only heard about it from others. Looking at him now, he was probably faking it just to win Senior Erylin's sympathy!”
Sevis's gaze sharpened. He slammed his gavel heavily onto the desk, the loud crack instantly silencing the gallery.
“Ain, as someone who has been involved in two forbidden magic incidents, you shouldn't need me to read the regulations to you.”
“But you seemed to be enjoying your reading quite a bit.”
Sevis's finger froze on the parchment. A collective gasp rose from many in the gallery.
“He's already in this situation, yet he still...”
“What do you mean by that?”
Sevis's voice dropped slightly, a cold glint appearing in his eyes.
“I mean that as a recitalist, you read beautifully.”
“But as an Arbiter, I think you're nothing more than a criminal shielding your own relative.”
“First of all, I did not harm Belinda. She attacked me first, and I merely fought back in self-defense. Secondly, the magic I used was not necromancy.”
“Furthermore, I advise you to check if your sister is carrying any contraband drugs.”
“For example, something that stimulates the nerves of magical beasts.”
A cold light flashed in Ain's eyes as he shifted his gaze to Belinda.
Belinda's body shuddered. She hadn't expected Ain to know the details so precisely.
“Members of the Prosecution Office have the right to use force in the first place!”
“You're a repeat offender of forbidden magic! Isn't it only natural for someone to take action against you?”
“Don't slander Senior Belinda! She's been with the Prosecution Office for two years and has caught several rule-breakers! How could her judgment be wrong?”
“Silence!”
The rising tide of whispers in the gallery instantly died down.
“Belinda, do you have anything to say regarding Ain's accusation?”
“Brother... Arbiter, Ain was the one who used forbidden magic first. I'm afraid his mind had already been corrupted by forbidden magic at that time. I only tried to subdue him to stop him from attacking other students.”
“As for the contraband drugs Ain mentioned, I believe it is nothing but a baseless slander.”
“You may send people to search my dormitory and any place I have stayed.”
Sensing the gallery starting to grow noisy again, Sevis slammed his gavel once more.
Ain sneered inwardly. He had already known Belinda would be prepared.
He was also well aware that he couldn't win this trial outright.
Thus, his best move was to fling mud at her first, flatly deny the forbidden magic accusation, and drag things out for as long as possible.
This was only the first trial. There would be a second trial to follow.
Rate on N.U.
