"There have been so many deaths that I can't bear to let them go," he explained. "We scrubbed her and took her in."

The magistrate nodded expressionlessly. Rui Wen saw that the magistrate was carefully examining her clothes and pants, imagining removing the shackles. She knew what the Pusher was imagining, and she had thought about it many times herself. The outfit was given to her by the old woman, a young man's outfit, and he should have been a head taller than her, perhaps with the smile of Sava or the kind eyes of Asa.

For Riven, this dress is always a reminder of her weakness. For so many years, she has always believed in the power of Noxus, and she has been born and died. However, Riven accepted their modest gift of hope, put on this dress, and integrated into a broken family.

"When she regained her strength, she asked to work in the fields," the old man continued. "My wife and I are old. We were glad to have her to help. ”

"Aren't you and your wife afraid of dying?"

"This girl doesn't want to have anything to do with Noxus. She hated Noxus. ”

"Is that what she said to you?"

"No," he said. She didn't talk about her past. Sava had asked once, but she didn't say anything. We found it painful to ask about it, so we didn't ask again. ”

"If she didn't say anything, then how did you learn about her feelings for her homeland?"

Master Comte wiped his old eyes. Rui Wen saw him with a sad face, as if it was not his turn to say what he had just said. He suddenly realized that there were other people around him listening, and he sped up his speech.

"Dreams when you have a fever, push," he said. "The night she came. Something that belonged to her, something she held dear so much, was destroyed. So she's cursing Noxus. ”

"Do you know what she was talking about?"

"I guessed right, Push." The old man nodded slowly. The hilt of her sword was tangled with the scabbard. I saw her untie her four days ago. I saw that the sword was broken. ”

Riven thought that the only thing she saw in the barn that day was the fat cat that caught rats.

Some began to whisper mocks at the quality of Noxus' weapons.

"What did you do after learning this, Master Comte?"

"I took the sword to the temple."

The magistrate turned his head and looked down at the old man along the falcon's sharp nose. "What are you going to do?"

"I hope the priests will fix it. If the sword could be reforged, she would be able to get rid of some of the ghosts of the past. This sentence made the crowd present immediately erupt, but the old man always looked at Rui Wen and the shackles on her hands. I hope she can find some peace in the moment. ”

"Thank you, Master Comte, for your testimony to this court," said the magistrate, his grim look calming the crowd. "That's the end of your speech."

She glanced at the spread parchment, then faced the courtier.

"Exhibits."

Riven saw two temple priests carrying a large wooden tray with a lavender-colored frilled cloth draped from it, carefully placed on the table in front of the magistrate. A samurai priest stepped forward, his wooden shoulder plates and breastplates with delicate grooves on the edges as a symbol of higher rank.

"Shine on," the Governor said.

The samurai sacrifice removed the lavender-colored cover, revealing a sword and scabbard wider than a fleur's shield. The outside of the scabbard is engraved with rough strokes in Emeral-Noxian. Compared to the soft lines of the Ionian script, the sharp and stiff strokes stand out in the eye. But the magistrates' attention was not on the scabbard and the inscription, but on the blade itself. With such a heavy sword, even for this well-trained temple priest, it was fearful that an arm would be broken just by lifting it, so it was even harder to imagine how the slender wrist in the pair of shackles in front of him could wield it. Indeed, even Rui Wen herself had the same idea when she first saw it.

Now, it was no longer a complete sword, it had been brutally shattered into many pieces, like the claws of a monster cutting through the flesh of metal. Five of the largest of them, each large enough to take a human life on their own, were now on Ionian silk, and even if they were broken, they were still formidable.

The magistrate looked at Rui Wen and said. "This weapon is yours."

Riven nodded.

"I think it's a bit difficult to fight with it in the state it is," the governor muttered to himself.

There were a few snickerers from the crowd.

The samurai priest said uneasily. "This weapon has magical powers, Push. The Noxians cast magic on their swords. His tone was full of disgust.

Riven wondered if the magistrate was listening to the priest. The magistrate nodded thoughtfully, his eyes carefully scanning the sword, until he found the corner that Riven was most reluctant to face, the vacancy that Riven had been looking for. The pusher's hooked nose twitched.

"There's a piece missing from the sword."

A young temple attendant shivered nervously in front of the council hall.

"Tang Gong, was this weapon presented to the temple by Master Conde?" The head of the dossier asked.

"Yes, Push."

"Is that what you reported to this court?"

"Yes, Push."

"How do you know we're going to be interested in this weapon?"

Rui Wen saw the cousin wiping the sweat on her hands on her long sleeves. His face turned pale, as if he might faint or vomit on the stone floor at any moment.

"Cousin?" The magistrate asked.

"I'm a bone washer, a magistrate." The young man's voice trembled. His hands hung limply like burnt candles. "The bones of the elders. After their bodies were buried in the sky, I retrieved the bones and disposed of them. ”

"I know what a bone cleaner does, parish. What does this have to do with weapons? ”

"The same sword."

There was a brief look of doubt on the magistrate's face. The same blankness also hung on everyone's faces, and everyone looked at each other, not knowing what to do. But Rui Wen felt an uneasiness gradually creeping up in her heart.

"When I dispose of Elder Soma's bones, I mean give them to the temple after his death." The incoherent language of the cousin is incomprehensible to many. Instead of continuing, he pulled a silk bag from the pocket of his robe and began to untie the knot with his slender fingers. He took a piece of metal out of his bag and held it up. "This piece of metal, push. It's the same with a broken sword. ”

The cousin hurriedly ran from his position to the magistrate. She took the fragment from his hand and pinched it to her fingertips to look through it. Even from a distance, this piece of metal resembles a broken sword.

Riven couldn't breathe. It was the piece she had worked so hard to find, but eventually gave up. Now it was about to be pieced together, lighting up the forgotten dark corners of her mind. The sins that Riven had borne had been deeply buried, and now she was about to see the light of day. Rui Wen knew what was going to happen next, and she made a heart and waited for fate to come.