Golovin hills, black prison.

The strong stench was like substance, and the lone candlelight barely illuminated the mottled but incomparably solid walls around it, and even human faces could not be seen in the dim light.

At the end of the light, there was nothing but darkness.

The black-haired wizard sat quietly in front of the candlelight, waiting for an answer from the person opposite.

Victor Hughes, the Imperial Chancellor, who sat under the lamp, looked intently at the confession in his hand and the recipe for the potion as physical evidence.

His calm and keen gaze swept over the evidence, and from time to time he raised the quill in his hand to record something, and the sharp tip of the pen played briskly on the parchment.

He put down his pen lightly and looked at Brandon's wizarding advisor with a serious gaze.

"I'm very sorry, Lord Loren Turin... The evidence you provide doesn't prove anything. Victor said lightly, "A recipe and a testimony from Miss Lena de Salion are not enough to completely dissociate Lussac Corvo. ”

But it is enough to prove that even if it is really related to him, Master Lussac definitely did not mean it. ”

Loren smiled slightly, and crossed his fingers with his hands: "Intentionally and unintentionally... These two concepts are very different in the laws of the Empire!"

"I thought the Lord Chancellor knew the difference between the two. ”

Hearing the black-haired wizard's undisguised sarcasm and the smile on the corner of his mouth, Victor only snorted coldly, revealing an icy smile.

"Really?"

Victor's gaze swept over Loren's face, and he didn't hesitate to sneer: "You really have to tell me... Such a top potion master in the empire, and the most proficient in pathology and alchemy, faced with a patient who obviously died because of the side effects of the potion... Him!"

“...... Innocent?"

"Can't you?" the black-haired wizard shrugged slightly, "Isn't it true that experts will never make mistakes, and there can't be mistakes or... When you are forced by a patient?"

The justice's face was cold: "What exactly do you want to express?"

"What I'm trying to say is... What you've been worrying about is not who the killer is, but what will happen if Master Lussac is acquitted. ”

Loren looked at Victor intently, with an indifferent smile on the corner of his mouth: "I can understand your approach very well, but please understand... In my opinion, it is not only a question of intention or unintentionality, but even the evidence to determine that Master Lussack is implicated in this case is very reluctant!"

"There's nothing wrong with Master Lusak being Lord Siscott's personal physician, and it's not wrong that Master Siscott died of poisoning with potions, but if these two events alone lead to the conclusion that Master Lusak was the culprit behind Master Siscott's murder?" Master Victor Hughes ......"

"Don't you think this verdict is as ridiculous as 'it is the dagger that kills, not the assassin'?"

Loren raised his eyes slightly, and said word by word in an almost mocking voice: "Since this is such an absurd verdict, then I will use sufficient and powerful evidence to prove that Master Lussac is at most manslaughter... What's wrong?"

"And I have every reason to believe that a figure like Lord Victor Hughes, the former Chief Justice, can definitely see how ridiculous this case really is!"

"Then why is he still reluctant to make a verdict, and why does Lord Victor Theseus, who has always been known as a 'commoner', go to great lengths to embarrass an alchemist and apothecary from a civilian background?"

Victor raised his eyebrows slightly, and his expression did not change in the slightest.

"Is it to maintain the stability of the Empire's political situation... That's right, if Siscott Charn's death is defined as a 'natural death', the Charnes will never compromise, and even join forces with the old nobles to fight in the House, and Lord Victor, who made the verdict, will definitely take full responsibility, and will most likely be removed from office by His Majesty to quell the anger of the public. ”

"In order not to make a mess of the empire's rare stability, and to keep his position in the Imperial Cabinet... Anyone with a little bit of a brain would think that sacrificing a 'little' alchemist doesn't matter, right?"

"What is a wizard in front of the big picture?" Loren looked calm: "In front of his own interests, a mere pariah... It's nothing!"

"Luckily... I've seen your resume, a few years ago, when you stood behind the poor wizard and did everything you could to exonerate him...... It was not until Archbishop Innocent himself intervened and forcibly used the power of religious punishment to burn Wegener at the stake. ”

"Victor Theseus, who dares to confront the archbishop... I will never be afraid of a group of inactive and muddy squirters!"

"After all, it's only been a few years, and Victor Hughes, who was not afraid of power... How can he become a villain who does not hesitate to sacrifice others for the sake of the overall situation?"

The black-haired wizard raised the corners of his mouth, and his voice was heavy: "So... There should be only one reason why you can persist until now, even at the cost of letting a poor person who may be innocent go to hell, so that his family's life is worse than death, right?"

Victor stared at him intently.

"If Master Lussac were acquitted, it would hurt the interests of the civilian class. Loren's expression was subtle: "I don't know why, but... This should be the only possible cause. ”

"So I'm really puzzled, a small alchemist can hurt the interests of the entire civilian class?" Loren stared at him thoughtfully, the joints of his index finger kept tapping on the table, "Lord Victor, please tell me... Why is that?"

Victor was silent for a long time.

It wasn't until he was sure that the black-haired wizard wouldn't look away that he slowly spoke, "You... I really don't know why?"

"I wish I didn't know, because I didn't want to believe the answer I knew... It's true. Loren's eyes were piercing: "I don't want to believe that even the so-called 'fair' Imperial Court is like a fanatical believer who resists wizards. ”

Victor propped his arms on the table and gently moved forward: "Two years ago, the Royal Wizards' Academy and the Apothecary's Guild in the Imperial Capital launched a motion in the Noble Council, hoping to provide medical assistance to the Golovin slums in the name of the Apothecary's Guild and the Empire. ”

"Of course... There were only the most basic cough drops and a few ordinary potions that purified the water—I still remember it clearly, and they said at the time that they were 'using the slums of the imperial capital as a test field to prepare for the large-scale promotion of basic treatment in the future', and even planned to spread this practice to the whole of Sakland, and indeed to the whole empire. ”

"I don't understand, isn't it good?" Loren frowned slightly: "Indeed... They may have done it to win hearts or gain prestige and change people's perception of wizards - but IMHO, if they did, they should. ”

"That's right... Because I was on their side at that time, I did not hesitate to offend the church and fully supported the passage of this motion. ”

Victor stared at him with chilling eyes, his tone getting heavier and heavier: "But you know... What have the poor wizards, who are grateful to Dade for the wizards who healed them, done?"

Loren's pupils constricted, and he suddenly felt that something was not right.

"I don't know much magic, and I don't know much about the many disciplines of your wizards. Victor's voice was flat, but the black-haired wizard could still hear the anger in his voice:

"Lord Loren Turin, what do you mean by ...... 'large-scale live experiment'?"

Looking at his cold, piercing, almost murderous eyes, Loren trembled slightly.

"It's really the first time I've known that people can be poisoned to death in pieces like rats, and even the deaths of thousands of people and tens of thousands of people can become as if they are not worth mentioning......"

"The first time I saw... Children who have trouble breathing... So small... Three or five years old... With her little black hands... I tore my throat hard......"

"Do you know what I was doing?"

"At the time... I'll just hold her... Hold her in your arms and run to the nearest clinic... Until blood sprayed on my face... I just found out ......."

Victor wept, tears soaked his eyes, but he didn't realize it.

Loren didn't speak.

From the moment Victor told the truth, there was no room for him to continue arguing.

"There were so many people involved in what happened back then... The wizarding class, the nobility, the military forces... Although the purpose is unknown, I think that the research was so quickly covered up because it involved the interests of many people. ”

The Imperial Justice shook his head: "You can't imagine that in a day and a night, the entire street and the surrounding residents will disappear and become a new barracks for the Imperial Capital Garrison... I didn't even have a chance to interrogate, so I was forced to close the case!"

"But I still remember that the main person in charge of this project back then, the premier potion master in the imperial capital, and the alchemy expert......"

"Lussac Kovo!"