The Creep's “I do” echoed in Mary's head. It was close to a whisper but felt louder than thunder. She turned around and saw that the boy was standing straight, surrounded not by his usual dozens, but hundreds of lights. Some of them blinked in and out of existence, while others remained utterly still.

“And you are...?” asked the central clerk.

“Mortimer Twardowsky, sir,” the boy sauntered to the centre of the scene, his slender body almost swimming through the air. He was... different than Mary remembered him from before the battle. More mature, or... older. Still creepy, though, especially with all the lights flying around and casting not nearly enough shadows at his face and clothes.

The meeting manager sighed so heavily that Mary almost felt bad for him. “Then let's get over it. Be advised that your words will be taken as your official testimony. You must not lie, withhold, nor misrepresent any fact you know or do not know about. Speak what you have to say,” he said, resting his chin on his fist. “Preferably quickly,” he added under his breath.

“I, Mortimer Twardowsky, of sound mind and body, both of which were confirmed by the academy's physician no longer than thirty-seven minutes and eighteen and half seconds ago according to new regulations from yesterday evening, will hereby give testimony in accordance with the rules set by the three thousand, eight hundred and forty-fourth congregation of ninety-eight Thirteen Established Authorisers, and later amended in eighty-sixth congregation of one thousand, three hundred and thirty-seventh Thirteen Established Authorisers...,” the boy spoke in the same unnerving whisper that resonated way stronger than it had any right to, and Mary found it hard to focus on the proceedings. Apparently, he knew a teeny-tiny bit more about the local laws than her, and was not hesitant to use it.

The heroine moved her eyes to the clerks and saw the bespectacled man's lips twisting in a smile, the bored one's face compressed by the arm it rested on, and the malicious woman holding her pen so tightly, that the plastic was already bending under strain. Her chair was shaking and almost giving up. That... was a good sign, right?

“..., and therefore aware of the consequences of my eventual misconduct during this hearing, I testify what follows,” the boy chose this moment to take a breath. He didn't do that nearly often enough. Mary tossed a quick glance at Paolo, who stood at nervous attention in his place, exactly where she'd seen him before.

“Three days before the battle, I approached the heroine under the prospect accusation, Mary Susan Oceanrunner, during the selection ceremony, which can be verified by multiple witnesses, including both Paolo Impaler present with me during this hearing, and a member of the Brutus Saint's Academy faculty overseeing said ceremony. Our team reached the decision not to extend an offer to the questioned heroine at that time, given our desperate need for the other potential candidate. I did, however, suggest that Mary should meet our team at the time of battle.”

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

The boy looked at all the clerks in turn, receiving respectively a small thumbs-up, a yawn, and a glare that reminded Mary of that giant laser from the fateful battle.

“Seeing as the power of shadow beast usage, which is the reason of this hearing, occurred only after Mary Susan Oceanrunner's previous team had been incapacitated for any foreseeable future, and in the presence of quasi-physical manifestation of my own power, which is a provable mean of two-and-a-half way communication, it would be only reasonable to assume that my offer had been accepted there and then, and thus said power usage was valid under the law. It has been clearly stated, in the resolution following the case of- ”

“Tha's a piece of bullcrap,” Renate exploded, spitting down on the scene. “Ya know that ain't got a chance o' standing before the Thirteen.”

The boy slowly turned towards the woman and the poor chair. “Oh, do I know that?” He asked calmly, and half walked, half floated two steps in her direction. “I think that one of us may know about the future a bit more than the other. Would you care to make bets which?”

The woman was shaking uncontrollably, gushing drops of saliva all around while struggling for words to properly express her outrage at the boy's audacity. “Ya... ya...”

The Creep took another step forward, and all of his eyes suddenly winked out of existence. Or rather, all the white ones - he raised his eyelids, exposing pure darkness underneath. His lips twisted into a smirk as the entire area grew notably darker, and suddenly, Mary had trouble breathing, as if the shadow around her was one of a boa constrictor cheerfully hugging the air out of her ribs. “I'd like to remind you that you are only protected while performing your actual duties... Renate.”

At that moment, a loud crack announced that the chair had finally given up, and the woman started to flail her arms as she fell backwards behind her desk. Her shrieks woke up the middle man, whose look quickly turned from annoyed to amused. The Creep immediately went back to using his usual swarm of eyes.

“Well, seeing that we've already lost our scribe, we may as well head towards the ending.” The chief clerk sighed, already back to being bored. He showed no intentions of helping the shouting woman back up. “Adrian, I trust you'll finish the notes?” The bespectacled man nodded. “Then, based on the presented evidence, and after performing the preliminary analysis of the testimonies, I resolve that the case against Mary Susan Oceanrunner will not be passed to the higher instances. Does anyone object?”

Renate still hasn't scrambled from the floor, and Mary could only hear a string of curses coming from that direction.

“Then, this concludes this meeting.” The central clerk drank from his cup and was mimicked by Adrian. The curtain started falling down.

Mortimer walked back towards the stands, seats, or whatever. Paolo was already walking towards the aisle. Mary was stunned.

She was successfully defended... by the Creep.

It took her a few seconds before she started running toward the boys.