12. THE TRIAL

"It's good to know at least one thing has remained the same about you in the years I haven't seen you."

Entering the room Roland sat down on the opposite chair to Adonis.

From what I knew, sitting in the opposite chair to the head of the family meant that the sitter was challenging the head of the family.

"I could say the same to you, sir guardian."

Adonis replied still nonchalant about Roland's intervention.

As if he had already predicted this outcome.

"Haa! You never learn?"

Saying so, Roland used his presence, and in an instant, the dining table broke apart and the floor cracked, all the food I was planning to eat fell on the floor my eyebrows twitched and so did Adonis.

But that was not the case for everyone else.

Ana, Lucy, Lyra, the servants, and especially Orion all of them were sweating buckets, Orion was even panting and if Roland didn't Stop soon he would definitely choke and die.

I think this guy has a thing for choking.

This was the case when Roland was controlling his presence to solely focus on Adonis.

But then why was I not affected by it?

Well, I wasn't the only one Ajax and Luna were also fine.

Why?

Because we hadn't awakened Mana yet.

"It appears that the stories about you were correct; even as a high tier 6 awakener, you are already able to tolerate the presence of a high tier 7, indicating that your battle power has already reached that of a low tier 7."

"Crunch"

The sound of a glass breaking reverted in the room and all eyes turned towards its source.

Standing on a broken glass Lyra spoke.

"Let the Gods decide his fate!!!"

By now Roland has taken his presence back.

"We all know it's futile to talk, just decide a time and place, and choose your champions."

She spoke and honestly, I think everyone here already knew that if Adonis refused, then this would be the only outcome.

"Hey, you take Orion back to his room."

Noticing that the trumpeter in the room has calmed down a little Lyra commands, one of the maids.

"I will fight on my own."

I spoke after Orion had departed or, more appropriately, was taken away to his chamber.

Surprised their gazes fell on Adonis to confirm my words.

"If that's what he wants to do then I have no objection."

Adonis replied and I could see them frown.

Their expressions were understandable since what Adonis agreed to was practically sending me to my deathbed.

And if he doesn't care about my life then why go through the hassle of trial?

His behavior made me perplexed as well, does he value his promise to Lily that much? but for now, let's leave that aside.

The trial.

A Law created for the well-being of commoners.

Before this law was passed if a noble accused you of a crime, then even if the said noble lacked evidence to back up his accusation and you were not guilty, the noble could still sentence you to death.

Taking advantage of this many talents were sent to death or prison even before they opened their wings.

To put a stop to this the Union of Crown passed the bill of "Trial by Combat".

Now if a noble doesn't have the evidence to support his claim but still decides to give punishment then the accused can demand a trial by Combat.

Both the accused and the noble can participate themselves or choose a champion to fight for them.

The trial only ends with death.

And to make the trial more fair a 3 rule system was later added to it.

The accused can set two absolute rules which will be applied to the trial.

And the noble can set one absolute rule.

If the rules contradict one another then both rules will be canceled and the trial will continue with the one left absolute rule.

this 3 rule system was my lifeline.

Lily was stripped of her noble title by the time Light was born, and Adonis doesn't have a noble bloodline.

So Light was practically born a commoner, making me eligible to demand a trial by Combat.

"By the 3 rule system, I can set two absolute rules right?"

"Yeah"

Lyra confirmed

"Then my first rule would be that the trial will be held 3 years and 4 months later after my awakening."

Hearing my words, the frown on their faces intensified.

"Journey to the Dawn!" [A compitition]

The first to catch on was none other than the unofficial heir Ajax flameheart, he had finally entered the conversation.

"You want to hold the trial at Dawn Academy?"

"Yeah, by doing so I will have enough time to prepare."

I said, but undoubtedly they understood the real meaning behind it.

With this, no outside intervention will happen.

"And my second rule is that my opponent must be born on the same day, month, and year as me."

A suffocating silence fell upon the room, not for me but for everyone else and I could see a few maids slowly without making any sounds trying to make a run for their lives.

The reason behind this silence was simple before coming here I am sure all of them had checked my profile and noticed a particular information about me.

My date of birth was the same as Ajax.

And my second rule implied that I wanted to challenge the unofficial heir in front of the whole universe, Live.

"Khu..khu...khu—!"

A disturbingly dark laughter resonated in the room, and the source of it was the Guardian.

His eyes filled with killing intent that had been refined by the countless wars he had led turned toward Adonis.

"Did you plan all of this?"

A single sentence that's all he spoke but I could see every awakened person in the room visibly shiverling.

Even Adonis facial expressions were slowly turning uncomfortable.

I bet never in his dreams he expected something like this to happen.

"No, those are his words, he has lived his life in the slums, so it's not hard to imagine if he had daydreamed about being the strongest after awakening. Like you used to say he needs polishing."

"....That's better be the case—"

He moved his head around and our eyes met.

"Are you sure about what you said before?"

"I'm"

I replied without any hesitation.

"Fine, then Ajax will be our champion."

His killing intent intensified as he spoke, now even I could feel it as the hairs on my body were standing up and the same could be said for Ajax and Luna.

It was a natural response from this body that I wasn't able to stop.

"Huh? W—what do you mean Roland? Why would you let Ajax fight him? We should use our absolute rule to cancel his one out."

Roland's statement caught Ana off guard as she interjected.

"Don't worry Ana, he will undoubtedly win."

'But even then, t—"

"I know you want Ajax to be the hero of justice, but I think it's time he learns what's more important like his grandfather did, before justice, comes family."

"And as for our rule, I have decided what's it gonna be, you wanted time right? Let me give you more, you are not allowed to learn anything from anyone until you enter the Dawn Academy."

After silencing Ana he spoke to me.

"...ok"

I deliberately replied a few seconds later with a deep frown.

After that, he took back his killing intent and departed, soon after everyone else left.

I was the second last person to leave.

And Adonis being the last.

But while I was leaving I once again saw Adonis closing his eyes and leaning back on his chair.