There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 373 - 365. House Trial

Chapter 373: Chapter 365. House Trial

"Like how you eliminate House Ishtera?"

All eyes were shifted from the old Patriarch of House Horin to the Young Head of Ishtera, eyes widened in surprise at this turn of events. They were just talking about how House Horin might be behind the whole killing of their family members, but what no?

Eliminating a whole clan?

When Luzein Ishtera came out as the new, young Patriarch of an Old House that had been obscured for a long time, the other Houses did some digging, and found out that the clan was suffering from internal strife, and had been in hiding since then, disappearing from any convocation.

Or at least, that was what was written and known to the rest of the world.

Was it not actually the case?

With eyes flashing coldly, Torodeo remarked dismissively. "A child should not barge in an adult conversation."

"A senile old man should rest in a convalescence home."

Yuria coughed in an attempt to hold himself back from laughing. "Ahem, young Patriarch, that is quite a big accusation," he said, smiling amusedly at the stone-faced beauty.

"Not as big as killing generations full of future potential, surely?" Zein replied with the spite he had been saving for months.

Torodeo looked at the indignant pair of blue eyes that he had been chasing for months. It was too bad that he had no idea about those blue eyes, which he had thought was just a trait of someone with northern blood.

But that face...

The moment he saw that face, he knew who this man was.

Torodeo felt his hand itch with the desire to just snatch this guide--this vessel of Setnath--and bolted out of this place. But this accursed President had held this meeting in the most secure place of the palace, so he couldn’t just do that. Perhaps if he mobilized the whole clan...

Perhaps he should just do that the next time, no matter if they had to lose a lot of people to Bassena Vaski.

But for now, he had to get out of this situation first. Everything was still nothing more than circumstantial ’evidence’ and witness accounts from someone that could be pinned as the clan’s ’enemy’. Everything else could be reasoned as fabricated documents meant to degrade them.

So he held back and put his poker face on. "This is pointless," he shook his head and exhaled harshly in exasperation, sweeping his gaze across the table the way he did when he reprimanded his clan members for how disappointing they had been. "I’m not going to stand here just for you people to attack me with these orchestrated lies!"

"You’re sitting, though," a sneer was accompanying the remark.

"Luzein Ishtera, this is a warning--"

"Or what?" the guide tilted his head slightly, arms crossed and blue eyes sharp. "You’re going to try and kidnap me again? After failing twice?"

"Preposterous!" Torodeo’s entourage slammed the table in a fit of anger that Torodeo himself had been trying hard to suppress.

But before anything else could be said, a new recording was played. It looked a little lower in quality, a sign of a hidden camera. From the way it was positioned, the camera seemed to be installed in someone’s button. It panned to a room and someone’s slightly hunched back. Just from the profile and the graying hair color, they could tell it was Torodeo.

[Do it in a way that won’t raise suspicion. That brat is just a mere guide, so I don’t want to hear it pose too much of a trouble] they could hear his voice clearly, even through the low-quality video. [I want Luzein Ishtera in my basement no later than next Friday]

SLAM!

Torodeo’s nephew slammed his fist onto the table. "That’s a tempered--"

[Yes, I am tasked with trapping the Serpent Lord so the other can take the guide away] another video played, cutting the nephew’s words. A man with tanned skin and light brown eyes, Juna Vaski, was speaking with a pale face and slightly trembling voice. [We are supposed to send Bassena Vaski to a dungeon and bring the guide to the Horin clan’s residence. It doesn’t matter in what way, as long as he’s still alive]

Right after that confession, a recording of a night on a lakeside deck was played. From the moment the man in the video touched Bassena Vaski’s shoulder, to the point where a female esper unleashed her power toward Zein, clearly intending to hurt.

The recording stopped there, but there was enough for them to cast judgment for.

"Sir Horin!" the young heir of Kamui stood up again and even signaled his bodyguards to position themselves so they could prevent people from Horin’s clan from going away.

"How despicable!"

"Are you still going to say this is a fabrication, Sir Horin?"

"Sir?! He doesn’t have the right to be called that!" the patriarch of House Arok turned to the other two Houses alleged as the corroborator, pointing with his finger which was trembling from so much fury. "You--you must be in this too!"

"That’s ridiculous! We know nothing of--"

"This does not prove anything!"

The room turned into a bigger chaos than before. The representatives of House Chodjim and House Naalaka tried their best to defend themselves because they truly had nothing to do with the guide’s kidnapping. And while Zein himself said nothing anymore, Zhou Caishen and the heir of Kamui were in a verbal fight with the entourage of House Horin, while Yuria Apsoro energetically fanned them all.

"Silence!"

In the end, the chaos was once again stopped by Ludya Mallarc’s voice soft but firm voice, which had gone slightly higher and louder this time. But instead of the calm countenance she showed before, the deep red eyes were looking at Torodeo and his entourage with unmasked distaste.

"How dare you, denying it in front of the Young Head even after all of that," the cold rage was embedded in her voice. "Have you no shame, Torodeo Horin?"

"That’s right! How shameless of you!"

The deep red eyes glanced at the representative who had just spoken. "I said, silence."

"Ahem,"

Without wasting any more time, Ludya turned to Li Caishen, who seemed to have been waiting for her next action. Even as the President, he had no authority to conduct invasive investigations of the Houses. Such things could only be established by the Council of the Thirteen Houses.

And she did not disappoint.

"As the matriarch of House Mallarc and a member of this Council, I request a House Trial for the kidnapping attempt on the Patriarch of House Ishtera," Ludya Mallarc announced with a clear voice.

It was true that the evidence around the establishment of those devices had no definite evidence aside from a bunch of documents that could very well be falsified. But a recording of Torodeo’s order in the kidnapping attempt was more than conclusive, and they could make do with that.

Yuria nudged his cousin, who--as the official representative--had the voting right. "I motion the request," the representative of House Apsoro raised his hand.

Zhou Caishen crossed his arms and stared at Torodeo coldly. "House Caishen will support the motion."

"And House Kamui."

The President, hiding his smile, swept his gaze across the room. "Those in favor?"

After such commotion, there was no suspense in this motion, as every representative aside from the three alleged Houses were raising their hands, including Zein.

"This is a trick! This is--this is all your trick!"

Ignoring the entourage, the President continued to address the procedure. "The right to investigate, as per the rule, will be handed to the one bringing the motion, with government cooperation," he turned toward Ludya politely. "Matriarch,"

"Thank you, Mr. President," the Matriarch bowed her head slightly before looking straight forward, at the pair of golden eyes that had been buried more and more under furrowed brows. "The evidence provided has fulfilled the condition mentioned in Article 5 of the House Trial’s procedural initiative, therefore, a thorough investigation of the House of Horin shall be conducted immediately."

"Now wait a minute--"

Torodeo’s entourage halted their attempt to step forward as the people from House Caishen and House Kamui closed in on them. They didn’t use mana or anything, but both Houses were known for their martial arts prowess, so even their physique was already intimidating.

It was getting clearer now, as to what objective this seating arrangement was--one side for containment, and one side for protection, as Zein was being surrounded by the bodyguards of three remaining Old Houses.

"Very well," the President nodded and, in the next second, a digital document had been sent to each representative. "If you could please sign the warrant?"

One of the presidential staff came forward to offer an enchanted pen to Ludya, who proceeded to give her signature. "Who knows, mm? Perhaps we’ll find other evidence there," the red eyes flicked at Torodeo. "A Specter’s core lying around, for example."

Torodeo, who had been looking so vindictive and angry earlier, suddenly let out a laugh. "Hahaha!" he covered his face as his shoulder shook.

Zein thought the old man had finally gone crazy from the pressure, but then he saw the calm smile on Torodeo’s face.

The old man stopped his laugh and said in a low tone. "Do you think you can find anything?" a deep smile etched on his lips. "Don’t forget; I have the right to condemn you for misconduct and breach of authority if this allegation proves to be false. For all we know, House Mallarc has good enough technology for altering recording and--"

"My, how generous you are to promote our Mortix like that," Ludya Mallarc chuckled. "But well, maybe we could find something if you don’t have time to hide everything yet," she curled one corner of her lips slightly. Oh, she could see it; how Torodeo thought a few hours of delay that it usually needed to form an investigation force was enough time for the people in Horin’s residence to destroy all incriminating evidence. "After all, it’s not an easy thing to do, transporting something like a Specter core."

Torodeo scoffed. "You speak like you already know--"

"Oh, but I do," Ludya calmly leaned back on her seat, as the President addressed her again.

"The search warrant had been finalized, Madam," the presidential staff brought the warrant that contained the endorsement of ten Houses’ representatives.

"Please send this over," she nodded to the staff, and then returned her gaze to the still calm-looking old man before announcing with a solemn tone. "As the inquisitor for this case, I shall employ the Federation Intelligence Command and the following guilds--" she glanced at the tablet screen that Jock held for her. "--Trinity, Celestia, Azure Sky, Glasswing, and Eyes of Argus,"

This time, even Yuria widened his eyes in surprise. He knew Trinity would make a move, and he had willingly lent the House Apsoro’s guild, Eyes of Argus, in this endeavor. But those other names--three of the five biggest guilds in Federation, were not in his calculation.

Hah--you’re right, Calix. Your son is better than you. Yuria thought in delight as he watched Torodeo’s calm facade crack.

Ludya continued to speak, not just to the people in the room, but to the tablet in her bodyguard’s hand. "Effective immediately."

[Understood] the clear voice of Radia Mallarc could be heard from the tablet. [We have received the warrant and the order. Trinity will move first]

And then, from the still-connected call, they could hear the sound of knocking, and a little skirmish as Radia read out the content of the warrant. The vein in Torodeo’s temple bulged as he recognized the familiar voice of his clan members.

"Unless you have a hidden tunnel somewhere, Patriarch, I think we might find just what we’re looking for," Ludya intertwined her fingers in her lap. "See, this is why you shouldn’t play with miasma," she smiled and pointed her finger at her temple, making a circling motion. "It dulls your mind."

The indignant roar coming out of Torodeo’s mouth was signaling the end of his treacherous masquerade.