Chapter 20 Murder Trial
Chapter 20
20.1
As both sides of the trial made their statements, whispers gradually rose in the trial square:
"I know Pushin' White. He's an old gambler. He spends the whole day at the gambling den, and the dry goods store is closed."
"I believe it's true that he wanted to use his daughter's engagement to buy gambling money. This is definitely something a gambler would do."
"This man is truly despicable. I don't believe the accusations of such a despicable man. Who knows if he is trying to blackmail the Countess?"
"But Anne's clothes were indeed fished out of the river, and the suitcase is real. Even if he's a despicable person, his accusation is not without evidence."
"Yes, the trunk clearly has 'E.A.' written on it, the Countess's initials. How could someone like Pushin White possibly have access to a trunk used by aristocrats like that? He couldn't even steal it."
"Pushin White was a despicable person who wanted to sell Anne; and the Countess killed Anne because of a conflict. These two things are not contradictory."
"You're right. Pushin White's low character doesn't mean the Countess didn't kill Anne."
"I think these two are not good people."
"Ah, poor Anne."
“…”
In the Judgment Square, everyone held their own opinions and made their own judgments; some frowned in thought, while others whispered to each other. A few children secretly made faces behind the adults' backs, imitating Anne's movements in "The Sacrifice of Smoke."
As the panic caused by the sacrificial smoke gradually passed, Pushin White regained his composure.
The old man said loudly: "No matter what misunderstanding there is between Anne and me, this suitcase - this blood-stained suitcase - is real! How do you explain this suitcase, Euridice Arquitas?"
Judge Adelaide coughed, "Quiet!"
However, the discussions in the Judgment Square could no longer be suppressed; Adelaide pinched her eyebrows.
Olidisi looked at her and said, "Sir, if you allow me, I have a way to explain this suitcase."
Adelaide rubbed her brows and said, "Okay, I allow it."
Oledsi smiled and nodded. She didn't rush to move.
"As an alchemist and pharmacist," she said, "I'm currently working on a potion that can analyze blood."
She smiled at the knights in the order as she spoke. "Lorenz asked me to conduct research. He wants to know if the blood of citizens of different ethnic groups—humans, chimeras, and centaurs—can be distinguished through a certain test reagent."
Euridice said this, and several knights in the Knight Order nodded.
In some cases involving blood analysis, being able to identify the source of the blood is indeed of great help in the trial.
This is indeed what Lorenz hopes to do.
Olidisi turned to Adelaide and smiled. "Sir, I have a bottle of this potion. It's in the study in the south wing of Fort Oplency, in the A-2 section of the lab rack. I call it the 'Human Blood Identification Reagent.'"
The judge nodded and said to the flying Chimera Knight, "Take my warrant and go get it now."
The Flyer—the Eagle—the Chimera Orc was incredibly fast. The Flyer Knight quickly brought the "A-2" reagent from Olidesi's bookshelf to the Judgment Square.
It was a small round glass bottle containing a silvery-white liquid that emitted a faint blue light.
Oledsi didn't touch the vial of reagent. Instead, she took two steps back and opened her hands. "To be fair, I will not touch this vial."
The judge nodded, and Oulidesi continued, "This is the 'Human Blood Identification Reagent'. It can determine whether the blood contains factors unique to human blood. Your Excellency."
The judge looked at her, and Oulidesi said, "Please drop the blood of humans, chimeras, and pure-blooded beasts onto the leather or cloth used for the experiment, and I will demonstrate the ability of the reagent."
As she spoke, without hesitation, she cut her fingertips—
"I am willing to contribute the blood of the human race," she said.
The judge was stunned for a moment, then looked towards the Knights of Oprunsi; Reynardel, a fox orc knight, walked forward without saying a word and stretched out his arm.
The judge immediately said, "Okay, take their blood and drip it on the two parchments."
Afterwards, two Chimera Orc Knights and a Human Knight from the Knights Templar walked out of the ranks, silently donated a drop of blood, and each pressed it on the third, fourth, and fifth parchment scrolls.
Surprisingly, in the Judgment Square, a middle-aged butcher wearing an apron and with blood-stained fingers shouted, "I have cow blood!"
Even Olidesi was taken aback. The butcher had already picked up a clay pot and smiled shyly: "Hey, I just finished bleeding the cow and came to watch the fun. This cow blood is definitely fresh."
Olidisi couldn't help laughing, and even the judge Adelaide's frown relaxed for a moment.
But the next moment, Adelaide's brows furrowed again.
"Okay," she said, "Now, we have two parts of human blood, three parts of orc blood, and one part of pure-blooded beast bull blood."
She said, waving to the trusted knight beside her, "You come, use her reagent."
The judge said, looking at Oridsi: "Now, the truth will be revealed to us - your reagent had better be useful."
20.2
Long afterward, people still talked about the trial in the city of Oplun in 637 with great relish:
"That trial was so exciting and interesting."
"The Countess used—what was it called? 'Human Blood Potion' or something—on the spot, turning different bloods into different colors. Very interesting."
"Hey, my daughter started wanting to be an alchemist after watching that trial. Thank goodness, she didn't even want to go to the academy before."
"It's not just the potion that's exciting. What happens next, the story of the Abrad family, is even more exciting!"
During the trial, people in the square couldn't help but stretch their necks and heads to see clearly how the potion was used:
The first piece of parchment was dripping with Euridsi's blood.
When the judge dropped Euridice's potion onto the parchment scroll, Euridice's blood underwent a miraculous color change:
The deep red blood slowly turned into a distinct blue color when it came into contact with the potion.
Someone exclaimed in a low voice: "Alas, alas, the first portion is the Countess's blood. Why, it's turned blue!"
"Oh, it's really turned completely blue."
"Can our human blood actually turn blue?"
"This is alchemy..."
People were talking and following the knight's movements closely:
"This is the blood of Reynardel, an orc knight of the fox tribe—Hey, look!"
“Hey, it’s turned gray.”
The second parchment was dripping with the blood of Reynardel, a knight of the Chimera Orcs. As the Judge Knight dripped Euridsi's potion onto the parchment, the crimson color of the blood gradually faded.
The people in the square were surprised and talked about it. "It's definitely not blue. The blue just now was very bright, and this is just the color of blood dimmed."
"Could this potion really be effective?"
"I'm still not convinced. I need to see the blood behind it."
Not only were the citizens in the square discussing this, but Judge Adelaide couldn't help but raise an eyebrow when he saw the blood of the humans and orcs turn into different colors.
"Next," she said.
The next test subject was the blood of two Orc knights from the Knights' Order.
Their blood did not emit a blue light, but turned into a dull gray.
The blood of the next human knight turned into an unignorable bright blue the moment it came into contact with the potion.
Now, not only was there a huge discussion in the square, but even within the Knights, some people couldn't help but exchange glances.
A knight whispered, "This potion will be very useful for our trial work."
The other knight nodded slightly. "Lorenz mentioned this potion. I didn't expect the Countess to actually develop it."
As the knights began to discuss in low voices, the judge had already signaled the knight to drop Euridsi's potion on the last drop of blood: the blood from the butcher's cow.
When the drug came into contact with cow blood, the blood showed more obvious changes:
The color of the cow's blood not only became dull, but turned into a distinct silver-gray color; that was definitely a very different color from the blue of human blood.
The crowd in the square was already intrigued by this magical scene, and some even forgot the original purpose of the potion's appearance and were discussing it enthusiastically; but Judge Adelaide did not forget.
She looked at Euridice and understood her intention. The judge suddenly laughed.
"Everyone, please be quiet," she said.
The judge clapped his hands and said to the knight holding the potion, "I think I understand Ms. Aquitas's defense intentions. Now that we have verified the accuracy of the 'human blood' potion, let's use it to examine the bloodstains in the suitcase."
20.3
"Blood in the suitcase".
When the judge said the word "suitcase", the people in the square came to their senses:
"Ah, yes. Inside the blood-stained suitcase were the blood-stained clothes of the waitress, Anne."
"We are trying the Countess."
"That potion just now was so interesting—wait, are we going to use it on the suitcase? What's the use of that?"
However, after this question was asked, someone already understood the potion's purpose—
As they were talking, the knights standing next to the "evidence" stone platform had already dripped the "human blood identification reagent" on the part of the suitcase where the blood was the thickest.
The people in the square held their breath unconsciously and looked in the direction of the suitcase.
The color of the blood became darker.
Moreover, it not only became darker, but also took on a distinct silver-gray color.
The bright blue color of "human blood" did not appear in the traces of blood.
Someone in the square murmured, "Wait, is that... cow blood? The color of a butcher's blood?"
The Judgment Square was silent for a moment, as if a stone had been dropped into a well. After a while, a "bang" was heard, stirring up a violent splash of water.
"What? Cow's blood?"
"There's no human blood in the box?"
"Wait, that waitress—Annie, she must be human, right?"
"Absolutely. There are no orcs in Old White's house. When little Annie was born, most of the Chimera orcs hadn't yet migrated from Moriota."
"So... the blood in that box isn't Annie's?"
"This is false evidence!"
Euridice smiled faintly; she no longer needed to make any further statements.
The evidence in the case showed a shocking reversal, and the discussion in the square broke out with a loud bang. Even Judge Adelaide and the Knights could not stop the spread of the discussion.
Amidst this huge discussion, Pushin White's face turned pale.
How is that possible?
How could it not be human blood?
How could it not be Anne's blood?
He looked at the Duchess with a pale face. Beatrice Caragaran was also horrified:
How is that possible?
How could it not be human blood?
How could it not be Anne's blood?
Duchess Beatrice, who had been an elegant "onlooker" until now, finally lost her composure and stared at Euridice who was being tried.
Olidisi also looked at her.
She looked at the Duchess and suddenly gave a slow, cunning smile.
That smile was like a butcher's knife scraping across the bones of his prey, making a harsh sound, so sharp and so creepy.
A sense of foreboding came over the Duchess, and she straightened up suddenly.
However, it was too late——
Olidisi suddenly strode towards the west side of the Judgment Square!
Everyone was startled by her sudden action. The next moment, Olidesi quickly grabbed the drumstick of the "Drum of Timis" and hit it hard on the drumhead of the "Drum of Timis"!
A huge and dull "bang" sound struck people's hearts, completely shocking the people in the Judgment Square.
Without giving people time to react, Euridice had already raised his drumstick and shouted: "Commoner Euridice Aquitas accuses nobles Luce Abrad and Beatrice Caragaran——"
The Duchess stood up suddenly, and Euridice shouted, "I want to sue the Duke and Duchess of Abrad. I accuse them of bribing Pushin White, using animal blood to make perjury about the 'suitcase,' and maliciously framing me with the intention of sentencing me to death!"
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