Chapter 98: Presenting Evidence

Mid Evening - Late Spring : Bahamut

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- Osto Ragnarok ~

*Vwowowowoom* I felt my stomach churn as I was finally released from the space rune. "Ugh..." -Shouldn't I have outgrown rune sickness by now? I'm not even that far from becoming an elder…- [1]

"To think you'd be so old yet still get rune sick." The humanoid halfie I had tied up on the ground next to me spoke up to try and get on my nice side.

But it just soured my already mixed mood. "Don't act friendly with me..." *Vwoom* Not wanting to make a scene, I just shut him up with my aura and wrapped my claws around his fleshy humanoid body. -Obnoxious bast*rd…- "I recommend you start thinking of what you're going to say. Because the elders won't give you much time to think…" Dulling my nails so they wouldn't cut through him, I tightened my grip on him and leapt into the air. *Fwoosh*

The next couple minutes passed in a flash as I flew to the Elder Hall in complete silence, but I wasn't complaining. -The silence is quite relaxing…-

But as I finally started to get close, I had to shift gears. "Hmm…" Looking down over the area around the Elder Hall, I saw dragons in various forms rushing around the courtyard and doing all kinds of tasks. -They're really busy today…-

Finally arriving, I gently landed and glanced at a younger blue dragon near the entrance to the Hall, holding a stack of leather books. *Fwoosh-fwoosh* *Thump* -He looks new...- "Are the elders busy?"

The boy gave me a suspicious look at first but didn't make it too obvious. "Y..yes, they're in a meeting currently."

"Ah." -It's probably a general meeting…- Not wanting to waste any more time, I walked over to the door and went to push it open with my wings. *creaaak*

But I was stopped before I could walk through. "Sir, the elders are in a meeting." The one to stop me was a dragon, slightly larger than me, donning thin metal armor. "You cannot enter right n-"

Pulling out my ID with my aura, I wasted no time showing him the Ragnarok insignia.

He clammed up immediately as he backed away. "Ah, I-I apologize for not recognizing you, Sir Ragnarok. You may enter." *creeaakk*

The moment the nearly 70-meter-tall door finished opening, I walked through and made my way down the long hallway.

*thud-thud-thud-thud* After walking past the countless statues and memorials, I finally came up to another 70-meter-tall door and let out a deep breath before pushing it open with my wings. "Hooh…"

*creeeakk-VWOOOM* A wave of mixed auras slammed into me like a wall as I walked through the doors and came into the center of a colosseum-like room. -They still haven't renovated the inside, huh…-

*tap-Thump-flash* Tossing the halfie forward into the center of the room and letting him transform, I lowered my head momentarily. "Osto Ragnarok greets the Elder Hall."

Up on the raised platform around the sand-covered floor were eight massive dragons, ranging from 43 to over 60 meters tall, staring down at me with mixed expressions. -Where are the other four?- [2]

The moment I raised my head to look at them all though, Asimi called out with a slightly annoyed tone. "You know you aren't supposed to just barge in like that, Osto..."

"If this was a less urgent situation, I would have been more courteous, so I apologize." I gave the scarred and pale halfie a look of contempt as I spoke.

It was quick to shift everyone's attention. "So what have you brought here?" A huge dark blue dragon with a deep and aggressive voice left his seat and hopped off the platform to get up close with the halfie.

-To think Eugene is the trial lead today… How unlucky…- [3] He was an elder that was always against me, even when I was just a kid, so having to mainly deal with him was less than ideal. But nonetheless, I tried to hide the way I felt and spoke confidently. "I brought the requested evidence."

"Hm? Of what? I don't remember any of us requesting anything."

-He's just as arrogant as always…- "It's the evidence that finally connects the Tower on the main continent to the rebellion."

"Hooh? Now that you mention it, I do remember Asimi mentioning something about that a few days ago." His smile widened as he spoke, before finally turning back to the halfie. "But regardless, I can't help but be curious. I've never seen such horrific burns or such unusual injuries on a dragon… Just who-"

"You know I'm not obligated to tell you that…" I gave him a slightly threatening look as I finally sat down.

"Hmph…" He blew a small flame out of his nostrils as he faked a disappointed look before turning to the halfie with a smug smile. "Since you don't have anything else to say, let's begin the interrogation."

"I think we should begin as well, but I can't say I'm not curious as to who you reach out to for help, Osto." A mature and flirtatious woman's voice filled the room in an instant.

Casually looking over toward it, I met eyes with a sleek and beautiful sky-blue dragon around 54 meters tall, giving me a seductive look.

Her name was Basilia, and ever since we first met when I was around 90, she would try and tie the knot with me.

Even after I got married to Zachari and the news of the marriage became public knowledge, she simply refused to give up. -What a troublesome woman…- "You will all meet him eventually. He will come to Bahamut with my wife and I when my daughter reaches adolescence."

"Hooh?" A gleam appeared in her eyes immediately. "How many concubines does this mysterious, strong man have?"

"None, but don't get your hopes up." After a very short moment of silence, I jumped at the opportunity to shift the discussion away from Vasilias. "Shall we begin the interrogation now?"

"Well of course, we shouldn't let ourselves get sidetracked any further." Although it looked like Eugene was being courteous, I knew he simply planned to ask for details about Vasilias from the halfie.

But I was confident. -That halfie doesn't know my relationship to Vasilias, so it should be fine…-

The next hour passed quite quickly as the interrogation progressed.

As expected, we managed to get all of the evidence we needed to act aggressively against the Tower and several humanoid nations almost immediately, but the elders wouldn't let their ever-building curiosity go unsatisfied.

"So you said you weren't the only halfie in the assault team, right? Who was the strongest?"

"Th-the strongest was our leader. He was an ancient half-breed that went by Pello."

Everyone's eyes widened immediately. "And how was he killed?"

"Th-th-that m-monster…" He started shaking as he started stuttering and becoming hard to understand.

I then used the following silence to pull myself away. "Since you all seem to be busy dealing with your curiosities, I will take my leave. Before I go, I would like to request the elders to mobilize military force on the Tower as quickly as possible."

"Hm? Are you trying to hide something? Why are you in such a rush?" Eugene showed a smug smile as if he thought I was cornered.

"I simply wish to return to my son as quickly as possible. I do not wish to waste more time than necessary." I glanced around to make sure my reasoning was received by the elders before standing up.

But I was only interrupted. "You left Vasilias alone in Kaelallan again?!" Asimi was obviously unhappy.

"You know I don't have a choice with that. Anyways, I must return quickly in case the Tower tries to make another move while he is alone."

"Hm…" Eugene's annoying look quickly turned serious again when I mentioned the Tower moving. "In that case, we will finish up for now. If anyone has any objections, just keep your hand down, I plan on using my executive decision for this." [4]

The hall turned silent as everyone waited to see if someone would try and overturn it, but no one stood up.

-Then that's that.- Assuming my part of the work was finished, I finally turned for the door. "Since it seems we are finished here, I will take my leave. If you all wish to continue interrogating, you may do as you wish. I don't want custody of such a ragged thing anyways…" [5]

*Creaaak* As the door swung open, I could still feel a few suspicious gazes on my back, but at the very least, it was less noticeable than earlier. -They may doubt me because I'm hiding a name, but it's not like they can do anything to figure it out…-

Although Asimi likely already knew Vasilias was the one who killed the ancient halfie, I was confident she wouldn't share that information.

But that also raised a certain problem.

*Bang* The slam of the door closing behind me echoed down the hall as I let out a sigh. "Haah…" -How in the world am I going to introduce Vasilias to them…-

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[1] - Essentially just a type of motion sickness

[2] - The Elder Hall has 12 Dragons of varying age within the elder stage in it. (200-750 years old (ish))

[3] - Trial leads are basically the people assigned to lead the discussions, trials, and general meetings for the day.

[4] - Elder Hall Executive Decision makes an elders normal 1 point vote count as 8, overruling minor majorities. Example: If 9 of the 12 reject, 2 accept and the eldest in the hall uses executive decision, it would make it a 10-9 majority. There are exceptions to this, but I wont get into the details.

[5] - Prisoners of War and dragons that would normally be executed can sometimes be taken into custody (as a slave) by another dragon. The dragon who reported the crime or captured the prisoner have dibs on it, so in this case, Osto gave up his ownership of the halfie and gave the halfie to the elder hall.

Chapter end