The moment Lan turned away, Dell rounded on Ganin,

‘Why did you not tell me about this,’ Dell hissed at the giant smirking man.

‘Sorry, but you did say that I should do whatever the lordling said, and he wanted me to keep it quiet.’ Ganin said with a shrug.

Cursing, Dell stormed up the walkway and into the box on the left. For a moment, he thought about sending one last barb at Lan, but Torral cleared his throat and raised his voice before he could.

‘If the Charged and the Claimant are ready, then I will now take your oaths.’ Torral said in a low, droning monotone that went against his outwardly jolly appearance. ‘Do you swear to carry yourself in a manner fitting of one before the eyes of Cyrene, the eighth Lord of Light and the Master of the Balance? To speak the truth in all things?’ Torral said before looking between the two of them.

‘For the eyes of the Master of the Balance, I so swear that I shall speak true.’ Lan and Dell raised their right hands before overlapping their middle finger with their pointer finger and using the altered answer to the oath.

As he did so, he smiled inwardly at that Torral hadn’t called upon the Lord of Justice, only the Lord of the Balance. The last thing the man would want would be to risk drawing the attention of his own Lord now.

‘And with that, I call this trial into order.’ Torral said a moment before Lan cut him off.

‘Lord Magistrate! I have just learned that Dell has been using an ability to influence other’s minds, which he has been using the whole time he has known me. With that knowledge, I don’t think he can be trusted not to use it here.’ Lan said, making Dell almost laugh as Torral glared at the boy.

‘Young man, Master Dell’s character is not on trial today. Your conduct is. So, I will warn you to keep your attempts to sway me to your side from now on. But seeing as you have brought it up, I will inform you that as long as I am seated here, I am protected from all forms of magic that either you or Master Dell could manage.’ Torral chided as Dell allowed himself a smile.

He had done an even worse job of teaching the boy, Dell thought, if he was slipping up already. What kind of fool would interrupt a magistrate in the middle of your opening words just to make a baseless accusation? Even if Torral wasn’t on his side, that would have been a stupid thing to do.

No matter, Dell thought, if anything, it only helped him, which he planned to demonstrate. ‘My Lord magistrate.’ Dell started with an aggrieved tone. ‘As you can see, this… boy shows just as little respect for this trial as he did as my apprentice. I would suggest that this trial be allowed to go on with him gagged.’ Dell said, shooting a bitter look at the glaring Lan.

‘You may think that I do not know much,’ Lan sneered. ‘But I am sure I am allowed to make a case for myself and bring anything I deem appropriate to this trial.’ Lan shot back, and Dell wished he could thank the boy.

‘Oh?... well, if you are so versed in the domain of the Lord of Justice, then I would like to call upon the Law of Stone. Do you have a problem with that or even know what it is?’ Dell asked Lan, who, for a moment, looked unsure before trying to hide it, but it was too late.

Dell had seen that look too many times over the years to not recognise it, and so he knew what would come next even before Lan set his jaw.

‘Master Cross, do you have any objection?’ Torral asked, getting a frown from the boy.

‘No.’ Lan said as the crystal hanging above them came to life with a gold light.

‘You see that gem, Master Cross?’ Torral started. ‘that is an Anchor Stone. Whenever a Law is called on in this hall, it will be recorded, meaning there is no going back, even if you did not understand what you were agreeing to. Do you understand that?’ he finished, even if the information came far too late to help the boy.

With a defiant look, Lan nodded, and Dell didn’t know if he should thank the boy or be disappointed. Although he had all but handed the case to him with that single gesture, it was another reminder of just how little the boy had learned from him.

As Dell thought as much, Lan turned and frowned as if he had heard his thoughts. With an ever-deepening hatred, Lan lashed out.

‘My Lord Magistrate, I do not wish to be in this room any longer than I must. I would like this matter to be settled today.’

‘Do you mean you wish to call on the Law of Expediency?’ Torral asked, pinching his eyes. ‘Tell me, boy…’ he started before catching himself. ‘Master Cross, why did you not call for an advocate?’ the magistrate asked, the little integrity he had left seeping through even though he was on Dell’s side.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Once again, the unsure look flashed on Lan’s face, and Dell had to stop himself from laughing.

‘I can do this.’ Lan said. ‘There was no need for an advocate as the evidence speaks for itself.’ he added, working to string together an answer. And although he often came to a satisfying answer, it was always obvious when he was doing it. Which Dell had never shown the need to correct. He thought with a smile.

‘If you are so sure, then we might as well begin.’ Torral said, looking at Dell.

‘Thank you, Lord magistrate. As you are aware, we are here today to resolve a matter of utmost importance if justice is to be done. The… man standing in the box of the Charged was once my apprentice, but in ten years, he could not become a fully-fledged merchant despite all my efforts.’ Dell said as if holding back tears.

‘I even gave him one of my warehouses in order to try and speed up his growth. Which I now know was my second greatest mistake after allowing myself to be fooled into taking him as an apprentice.’ Dell added, planting the seed of his final victory.

‘Not only did his Tenure running that warehouse involve countless examples of mishandling goods, leading to expenses higher than any other warehouse, but his real crimes came from the mind-bogglingly poor judgement in terms of hiring workers, which caused the majority of the damage, but also led to the complete destruction of the warehouse once I came to my senses and chose to release them all. This summing up to a total of one thousand gold in damages and more in the time and effort needed to right these wrongs.’

At this, Dell produced his copy of the master Ledger with all the changes he had made over the years and everything that was actually stolen by those thugs he had purged from his warehouse. All in all, it totalled one thousand five hundred that he was looking for. Double what he needed to get everything the Cross’s had, but it didn’t hurt to keep his options open. Perhaps he could even force that man to work for him. That would be the greatest ending to his revenge.

‘Master Cross, do you have anything to say in your defence?’ Torral asked, doing his best to seem the up-standing magistrate

Curious, Dell looked over, wondering what the boy’s excuse would be, for that was all anything that he said would seem.

‘Master Dell is quick to call me a failure as an apprentice. But I would say that if it takes ten years to conclude that I was incompetent. Then, the failings belong to the so-called master. Which, in my eyes, could only be the actions of a fool or someone working with ulterior motives.’ Lan said, turning to look at Dell with those disgusting eyes, his true feelings unshielded.

‘In either case, the fault lies with that failure of a master. The fact that Master Dell kept a record of my so-called failings says a lot about which I think it is. So, for the point he made about those that I employed. He seemed to have forgotten to mention that he insisted on paying the lowest possible salary on top of that any damaged goods would come out of the worker's pay. With that in mind, it was a miracle that I was able to find anyone willing to work for me, let alone keep a full roster of employees, which I might add I did.’ Lan added with another look to Dell, and Dell couldn’t help his skin bristling with anger.

‘As for these so-called damages, my warehouse was not only given the worst jobs, we still had the lowest records of damaged goods while having the fastest completion rate.’

Despite all of what he said being technically true, the fact that the boy thought that it meant anything or was something to be proud of made Dell want to be sick.

‘And do you have any proof of this boy?’ Torral said, pinching his eyes as he reached the end of his patience with Lan.

Knowing that he didn’t, Dell turned slowly, sure that he already knew that look that would be painted on the boy’s face. No matter what he had to say, none of it mattered without proof. Dell thought, but as he looked at Lan, he didn’t find the skin-bleaching panic he expected.

Instead, he found the boy wearing the grin of a wolf.

‘I told you that the evidence would speak for itself. I would be remiss if I didn't bring it.’ Lan said, waving for the female custodian who had led Dell into the courtroom.

With excitement she hadn’t had with him, the woman rushed forward with something wrapped in cloth, stopping long enough to smile dreamily at Lan before running to the magistrate's desk when Torral frowned at her.

Which he continued to do as the girl placed the wrapped parcel and rushed away.

After a moment more that led Dell to believe that Torral had gained his own reason to dislike Lan, the man undid the cloth. Unveiling the book bound in dark red leather.

‘WHAT!’ Dell cried, slamming his fists on the box. ‘how did you get that? You thief!’

‘Calm yourself, Master Dell, what are you…’ Torral managed before he realised that the book in his hand was identical to Dell’s Ledger.

‘Master Cross,’ Torral said, clearing his throat. ‘Master Dell makes a grave claim. You understand that any stolen property cannot be admitted as evidence.’ Torral warned, and yet Lan didn’t even flinch, and the unsureness and negativity that had been there just a moment ago was replaced with a smug confidence.

‘I swear on the name of the Lords of Light and the Mother that I did not steal that Ledger. Or could I, seeing as it was made for me. But as of how I reobtained it, I did not steal it.’ Lan finished waiting for Torral to start speaking before cutting him off.

‘Of course, if you do not believe me, then we can always call for a Truth Stone to be brought into the court.’ Lan said with a shrug. ‘Although if that is the case, then I will be calling on my right to question anyone in the room with it.’ Lan ended, locking dangerous eyes on Torral, making sure his implication was clear.

‘No… that is not necessary. Unless you believe there is a greater force than to Call on our Lord's names.’ Torral said through beads of sweat before rounding and locking Dell with a look before he could interject.

‘I wouldn’t dream of saying such a thing.’ Lan smiled, and Dell had to stop himself from leaping over the box at the boy. Somehow, he had stolen that Ledger even though he had seen the boy drop it, but more than that, he had threatened Torral.

Although the magistrate in charge of a case was the avatar of Law in that matter, their conduct in a trial could be put into questioning before the High Tribunal after the case was over. and even if it couldn’t be reversed, the very fact could spell the doom of the magistrate if they were deemed to have acted with deceit or corruption and Lan knew this, even if he could lose everything, he would destroy Torral in return.