What is that bastard doing here? Mikaela thought as her eyes were locked upon the man who just entered.

He was Joe Nathan, one of the Twin Axes.

As she tries to glean the meaning of his arrival, Joe Nathan's turned his attention towards her. "Why the fierce glare? Do I have something on my face?" The man asked, feigning ignorance.

"Cut the crap. Why have you come here?" Mikaela asked, her voice almost growling.

If the man is here to avenge his friends, then he picked the worst time to pop up. With the odds already against the idiot Artreus, one more man to falsify evidence is the last thing he needs.

"Why so hostile? Artreus, put a leash on your woman, would you? Or else I might just turn around and leave. I already have someone here who looks to be dying to eat me up. I don't need another." Joe then threw a mocking smile towards the man who is standing behind Mayor Longley. Upon hearing the mocking remarks from Joe, the man seems to burst in anger at any time, his killing intent overflowing.

Not to be beaten by the Mayor's guard, Mikaela also glared murderously at Joe, who is unperturbed at the amount of killing intent towards him. A smile is pasted on his face like he finds the situation amusing.

How the hell he calls her Artreus' woman? Her? Be that knucklehead's woman? Sure he is strong, caring to kids, a decent cook, and a patient mentor not only to the kids but also her, but never did it slip her mind to have romantic thoughts about him.

Not that she ever recall the man ever shown interest with her or any woman for that matter.

A thought that somehow irks her for some reason.

As she thought of a snide comeback for the bastard, the Mayor put a stop to their banter. "While it delights me to see young ones so full of energy. This is not the time and place for such matters since we are here to solve a case, not to throw insults at each other. So, if you would be so kind to state your business here, Adventurer Joe, we would all be so grateful."

"You must be here to avenge your friends from the barbarity of this savage, right? Go on. Tell the people here how guilty this man is." A smirk formed upon the face of the hateful guard Negan.

Mikaela hasn't recognized it earlier, but all the ones that have come together against the idiotic Artreus, except for the old man, were people that she had met before. That one of the witnesses was among the group of scoundrels who she beat to the brink of death when they tried to harass her while she was trying to look for clues on the high-class technology available on Bone Crusher Gen's hideout. The thin one with a limp leg tried to scam her, saying that he had the information she was looking for when he clearly didn't. She left him with a broken leg and beat his face till it is black and blue. Lastly, the guard, Negan. Upon recalling their last encounter, Mikaela realized why they were hellbent on bringing the idiot down.

It was because they have a grudge against her.

Those bastards must be bidding their time, looking for a way to get their revenge on her. They know they can't win on a straightforward confrontation, thus they opted for an underhanded way to get even with her.

By messing with the people close to her.

Clearly, they wouldn't even dream of crossing the old man and Porsha. While both Mikaela and Claus are cautious enough to not fall into such a trap, those two welcome such attempts, with one laughing as it was a long time ago when someone dared try against him, and the other plucking organs and collecting 'live specimens' with a smile on her face.

Leaving the only person gullible enough for them to be an outlet for their revenge, sitting to her right. While the wary look on the idiot's face reveals that he is somewhat aware of the shit he's into, Mikaela is afraid that there is a bigger problem than the witnesses and the bastard guard before them.

With the rumor of Artreus being the culprit spreading so quickly around town and the people on the market which path Artreus would've taken and who he built up relationships with refusing to testify for him with some even have signs of fear on their faces as they franticly refused her petition for their help. Even how the speed at which the mob of onlookers gathered outside is greatly suspicious. This is not something a mere guardsman in a far-off town and his ilk could pull on their own.

That means someone with great influence and power is behind them.

It's a good thing she has sent a letter to the old man, reporting what has happened. While she's not expecting him to arrive anytime soon, telling her problems to the old man makes her feel calm somehow, although she hasn't opened up her woes to him lately for she is now an adult and her pride wouldn't bear being seen with the old man trying to comfort her. But now is not the time for pride. If somehow the idiot gets convicted, the ones conspiring against them would surely hang him before the old man comes back. If so, she will try her best to escape with him even if they have to fight their way out of town and if they somehow fall, it would be small consolation knowing that the old man would burn everything down to avenge them.

As she prepares herself for what is to come, her thoughts were cut short by the outburst of Negan. "What are you saying that he's innocent? Are you mad? Did you forget what he did to your companions?!"

"He did whoop my companions' asses. Not that I wish them harm, but they had it coming, throwing their weight like they own the place and whatnot. The only question is when and who would put them in their place, which answer is yesterday and the man who you're wrongfully accusing of a crime he did not commit." Although she was glad that someone has stepped forward to testify for the idiot Artreus' innocence, Mikaela couldn't help but be suspicious of why Joe was helping them.

Was he just a person who doesn't want to see someone being charged wrongfully?

She doubts it.

Their previous interactions might be short and ended with him halting the confrontation between his companions and Mikaela's group, but there is something about the man that makes her uneasy.

"So. you're saying that the young man over there is innocent?" Asked Mayor Adam.

"Indeed. I've seen it with my own eyes." Joe said with a smile on his face. "I watched the spar between him and my companions. After Artreus defeated the two, I wanted to challenge him myself. But as you all know, he ran immediately after the spar ended. Thus, I quickly followed him. Boy, he ran fast. So I took to the roofs to not lose sight of him and I followed him until he reached the Sleeping Giant Inn. I reckon he was tired from the fight, so I decided to go back and wait for another opportunity to spar with him."

One of Mikaela's jobs is to gather information. From when she was just thirteen years old, up to now that she was twenty, she met all kinds of people in the course of gathering intel. She has met swindlers, liars, scoundrels, arrogant people, stupid people, ignorant people, and the occasional honest ones who don't need to be pummeled before singing the tune she wants to hear. Her experience dealing with all kinds of people has taught her to determine if a person was telling the truth or not, and her experience tells her that Joe was telling the truth. This was good since it means that they have somewhat reliable evidence to prove the idiot Artreus innocent.

But somehow, her gut tells her that Joe was hiding something. What that something is, she has no idea.

"You say you followed him and saw him run from the stage straight to the inn. But how could you prove that what you're saying is true? Just because you say that you saw, doesn't make it true." Negan rebutted.

Mikaela could hold it in anymore and gave him a piece of her mind. "You hypocrites! I've sat here and tried my best to keep calm as your 'Witnesses' spout trash. Pinning a crime that my companion is innocent of with the statement of the people with questionable credibility, disregarding our words as untrustworthy just because no one else wants to testify for us. Now that someone testifies for us, you just brush it off as lies?! Could you believe the garbage that is coming out of your mouth?!" Mikaela slammed her palms against the table, causing it to violently shake.

"How vulgar! You dare insult a member of the town's guard in our own building! This is not the adventurer's guild, missy." As Negan spoke those words, Mikaela could feel her anger about to burst and she glared at him murderously. Upon sensing her murderous glare, Negan was visibly shaken but still tried to stay calm. "Y-you try t-to threaten me? Thi-this is our t-turf! Y-you f-filthy adventurers d-don't have p-power here!"

The quivering rat turns his eyes towards the guard captain whose hand is already gripped around his sword, ready to intervene if she makes a move. At the same time, both the assistant of the guild master and the guard of mayor Adam readied themselves to defend their wards.

The atmosphere becomes tenser as moments pass until the mayor stood up and lays his hand over the sword of his guard. "I could see your point, miss Mikaela. Indeed, it doesn't matter if one side has more evidence than the other. What's important is its legitimacy. Still." He then flashed a stern glare at her, causing her body to tense up. "I don't appreciate you threatening my men right in front of me. You may voice your concern but not at the expense of giving face to others. You may think it is not important since you see the White Wolf does it so often. But you are not at the level where you could throw your weight around, and as your elder, I advise you not to follow in his footsteps. It may look cool. But it will make you a lot of enemies."

Mikaela's face reddened. Both in shame of being lectured in front of a large group of people and annoyance since not even the old man himself admonish her this sternly before. Unable to reply in fear of not being able to hold her tongue and say something that will make matters worst, Mikaela sat down in silence. But her gaze still burns hot. Making a mental note to tell the old man about this, she listened to the rest of what the mayor has to say.

Nodding in satisfaction as he watches the others settle down, the mayor continued. "Both sides say that their statements are the truth. While you have a witness that testifies for the innocence of the adventurer Artreus, the prosecutors have three witnesses with conforming statements that indicted the accused of the murder of the citizens of our once peaceful town. While that doesn't prove him guilty beyond doubt, the case against him is indeed strong. Unless you could prove that the witnesses against him are wrong." The mayor raised an eyebrow and his gaze turned towards the guild master, who is sitting calmly on a chair opposite of the mayor.

"Is our esteemed mayor thinking that I have something to help prove if the witnesses are telling the truth?" Guild Master Paul Bret Anderson smiled as he spoke only for his words to be met by silence from the mayor. After a few seconds of the tense staring match between the two, Guild Master Anderson's smile became sincere as he let out a sigh. "I guess there is no use hiding it from our wise mayor. While I myself could prove of the witnesses statements' truthfulness, I'm in possession of something that would." With a clap of his hands, the Assistant Guild Master, Michelle Krantz, one who was once called the 'Immovable' when she was still an active adventurer, brought something out of her dimensional bag. It was a small statue of a woman holding a sword in one hand, and a scale on the other.

Upon seeing the statue, Captain Dan exclaimed in surprise. "That is---!" His surprised reaction was shared by Negan and the mayor's bodyguard.

"Indeed it is." Guild Master Paul Bret Anderson smiled as he explained. "This is a statute of truth."

"Impossible. How could you be in possession of such a holy relic? Only the High Paladins and Inquisitors of the Order of the Blazing Sun are allowed to be in possession of such holy item!" Captain Dan glared as if he was to pounce at the Guild Master at any moment. "Did you---."

"Stay your hand. Else I will rid of it for you." Michelle Krantz cut him off mid-speech with her sword already pointing towards the Guard Captain.

Her movement was so fast that Mikaela didn't notice her move.

Is this the level of a top adventurer? Mikaela thought to herself. Even in the White Wolves, she was confident in her speed, and now that she has Awakened, she is confident that she could become the fastest member of their group, even faster than Artreus. But now that she saw Michelle's draw speed, someone who is a frontline who is supposed to specialize in defense, not speed, Mikaela realized that she has a long way to go before reaching the peak.

Placing his hand over Michelle's, Guild Master Anderson spoke. "Don't worry young man. I did not acquire this relic by illegal means. Instead, it was awarded to me by the Grand Paladin himself after I performed a special service for the Order of the Blazing Sun."

"Sheathe your sword, Captain. Not that it will reach someone who was hailed as the Conqueror Hand. If he wants to, he could crush not only you but also everyone around here without moving from his seat." The Mayor told the Captain. His face has no trace of concern even after stating the incredible power of the person sitting across the table from him.

"Mayor Longley, surely you jest. None would dare do anything suspicious while within your strike range. Not that I would either, for I come here not to harm. But to uphold justice, since I believe that one of my own was accused of an outrageous crime he didn't commit."

"This is outrageous! How dare someone who's not a member of the Order of the Blazing Sun use such a holy relic? I bet it's not even the real thing!" Negan shook his head as if he's in denial of what has unfolded.

"Why should I not be allowed to use it if I was gifted by them in the first place? Also... To say that it's fake." Guild Master Paul pushed the Statue of Truth towards Negan. "How about you try and see for yourself?"

"That doesn't sound bad. Not to doubt the integrity of an esteemed member of this town, but since you insist. Hans. Say something true." Mayor Longley ordered the man who is standing guard behind him.

"As you wish, master." The man called Hans stepped forward. Then, turning towards the Guild Master, he asked. "How do I use this?"

"It is not difficult. Just place your hand over the Statue of Truth. If what you say while your hand is over the statue is the truth, it will glow a soft light. But if you say a false statement, it will raise its hand causing the sword it's holding to stab you." The Guild Master explained.

Hans nodded in confirmation. "Then, I will start." He then put his hand over the statue. "I am the first disciple and personal guard of my master, Mayor Adam Longley."

They all watch as the Statue of Truth glows a soft light. "It worked!" Mikaela exclaimed. With this, they will be able to prove the idiot Artreus' innocence!

"Not yet." Mayor Longley cut her off. Then, turning towards Hans once more. "Now, tell a lie."

"As you command." Hans bowed slightly towards the mayor. "I am the second-best disciple of my master, Mayor Longley."

As soon as those words left his mouth, to everyone's surprise, the Statue of Truth glowed.

"What?" Mikaela, Dan, and Hans himself was surprised. Even the crowd that has formed outside the barracks roared in surprise.

"See?! It's not working! Its---" As Negan triumphantly declared, his celebration was cut short by a cold voice.

"Silence." With a single word, Negan closed his mouth shut, sweat pouring down his head. Unlike the warm as the sun Aura of the old man, the Aura that emanates from the Mayor was cool and calm as a flowing river. But as calm as it is, its calmness was unnerving. Mayor Longley then stood up and clasped his hand over the shoulder of his personal guard. "Is that what you believe, my disciple? No need to fret. You are already strong as you are, and while there is always someone stronger, it is up to you to become a better you than yesterday. Then, one day, if you put enough effort, you might even reach the height of strength that you have never dreamt before." Mayor Longley then placed his hand over the Statue of Truth. "You, Hans, is not one of my beloved disciples."

Upon finishing that statement, the Statue of Truth screams as it raised its hand to stab Mayor Longley's hand with its sword.

"Master!" Hans exclaimed as he pulled the mayor's hand off the statue's sword. He then tore his sleeve and used it to bandage the bleeding hand of Mayor Longley.

"It seems to be working fine." Mayor Longley uttered as he let his disciple apply first aid on his bleeding hand.

"It does, indeed." The Guild Master nod in agreement. "Now. How about it?"

"Yes. I believe we should use it to find out the truth. First, adventurer Joe, please place your hand over the Statue of Truth."

"With pleasure," Joe says with a smile on his face as he does what he was instructed.

Taking a seat as Hans finished bandaging his wound, Mayor Longley said. "You say that you've witnessed Mister Artreus here run straight towards the Inn after his match with your companions and that he's innocent of the crime that he's being accused of? Do you swear that it is the truth?"

"It is the truth. Artreus went straight to the inn. He was not the murderer." Joe stated. As soon as he finished his statement, the Statue of Truth glowed. "See. That was the truth." Joe smiled widely as if to mock Negan and the other witnesses.

"W-what? That's a lie! H-he's lying!" Negan exclaimed.

"The Statue of Truth says otherwise," Mikaela replied, a smirk forming in her face. "If you really believe what your witnesses say is true, how about they try?" She gestured at the statue. The witnesses appeared nervous as they all look alternately between the statue and Negan. They are afraid of testifying before the Statue of truth. This just proves that they are lying, and with how they look at Negan, it must be him who hooked them into testifying against the idiot. Now... To finish this. "Well? We're waiting? Why do you guys hesitate? You were so sure that you were telling the truth earlier."

"Guuu...." Sound of frustration escapes the mouth of Negan while his 'Witnesses' remains nervously silent.

"Negan." Guard Captain Dan looked at him. It was a look of disbelief, then turned to sadness.

Basked in the look of disappointment and condemnation from everyone in the room, Negan could only grit his teeth.

A few seconds later, one of the witnesses, the one who had harassed Mikaela along with his now-dead companions before, spoke. "Boss..."

"Shut up!" Negan quickly growled at him before he could say a word more. That confirms it. Mikaela thought. But before she could condemn him, Negan yelled. "That Statue is fake! You all seen it glow at Hans's statement earlier! Hans is the strongest disciple of Mayor Longley! This doesn't mean shit!"

"Patrol Guard Negan, you may not like it, but the Statue is authentic. If your witnesses are unwilling to testify before it to check if what they say is the truth, then I would have no choice but to believe that their statement earlier was a lie." Mayor Longley then turned towards the witnesses. "Do any of you would like to testify?" They waited for a minute, with Negan's witnesses staying quiet. "No? Then, I will consider that an admission of guilt, and I sentence you to jail for the meantime until proper punishment is on par with your crime of falsely testifying against the defendant Mister Artreus, and with the testimony of Mister Joe, I announce that the defendant, Adventurer Artreus, innocent!"

Mikaela almost followed the kids as they jumped for joy at hearing the idiot's acquittal, but before they could celebrate, someone barged in.

"Halt this precedence!" From behind the crowd, a man stepped forward. On his raised hand was an Elk insignia.

Mikaela quickly recognizes the man. It was Viktor Lewis Grant. Upon recognizing him, Mikaela knew that there was trouble afoot.

"In the name of House Grant, I am taking over of this hearing!" Viktor declared.

Just when she thought it was over. Another asshole appears.

The idiot Artreus just can't catch a break.