To welcome the lord, all guards stood still with their limbs straight and fingers pointing down. Spears and halberds were dropped to the ground, except those that were held before the two inmates' necks and the one that was retaining Akki on the ground. The accountant walked out of the inn, keeping his hands behind his waist. Roal and the innkeeper were also forced out of the inn to see the lord. Regardless, their mouths were filled with dirty fabric so that they couldn't form a word. Looking at Akki's blood-leaking body, neither Roal nor the innkeeper took any action to do anything. They were not defeated physically. Yet, their will was entirely disintegrated.
"Greetings! My honorable Lord Bagen! The criminals who stole from the treasury were just caught a few seconds before your arrival," the accountant bowed, still holding his devious smirk.
The lord stepped off the horse, speaking in his deep voice of masculinity, "Well, then, shall we end our trouble here?"
"Of course," the accountant cleared his throat and peeked at Akki's exhausted face before continuing, "The traveling Bohito, Akki, the Bagen innkeeper of Inn of Helan, Helan lo Erb, and their Eternian friend, had committed robbery from the treasury of Town Bagen, taking away the account book of mine and the town as well as ten bars of gold," he stared at the innkeeper, "After the robbery, the Bohito had the innkeeper burned the two books."
The innkeeper nodded with his eyes closed. He was too ashamed to even look at Akki's bleeding body.
"Do you have anything to say before your death, Mr. Akki?" the lord drew his sword without hesitation or expression, ready to end Bohito's life. He was not expecting a response. As the sword raised above the lord's head, Roal moved his eyes away in grief. The stink of the cloth in his mouth made him sick. He actually coughed a few times before seeing the lord. He knew that the fabric could not prevent him from screaming. In fact, he could probably delay the execution of Akki by a few days if he began screaming and forcefully revealed his identity. He knew he could, but that wouldn't matter after all. The evidence was gone. There was nothing to prove Akki's claim. Roal already accepted the failure. He had seen victims of wrongful convictions so many times when he was a detective that he could make a list of them. He himself and the Bohito would only be another number on that list. Roal Ranith was no less helpless after meeting Akki. The fearless ronin brought back Roal's old self, not the cunning and charming one, the foolish and powerless one.
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Holding his last bit of vigor and breath, Akki simultaneously spat the blood and words, "The accountant was involved in embezzlement. I can prove it." Akki couldn't feel anything else than the pain in his abdomen and the slight suffocation in his own blood. Whoever was sane would want this living hell to end in whatever way.
"Burning your evidence didn't prove a thing, Mr. Akki. And you dare make me suspect my own loyal official," the lord tightened his grip on the sword while the accountant couldn't help but stare at Akki with a smile of victory.
"Abbot Peterson," Akki pushed his words through the deluge of blood with his already exhausted, overused lungs, pausing the lord from swinging the sword. He didn't accomplish such a feat with the instinct of survival. It was the pure fury against evilness that squeezed out his last drop of strength.
"His account book," he pointed his finger upward, yet not at the sky this time, "The inn. 203. Under the mattress." All power in him was gone. Not even a bit of adrenaline was left in that broken body.
Hearing Akki's words, Roal was struck with mixed feelings. He was surprised and delighted while dropping his jaw. He was also ashamed of his own attitude and behavior. He was ashamed that Akki, who was nearly dead and could merely speak, tried harder than him, an uninjured man with only a piece of fabric in his mouth. Besides these feelings, Roal actually had a new realization: Akki didn't make him feel young again. He saw his younger self in Akki and, apparently, a much more competent version.
"Go," the local lord commanded his loyal guards as he formed a frown on his face, looking at the startled town accountant. Sweat slid off his face as he locked his eyes on Akki in shock. The account book was soon brought down alongside the suicide note of the abbot. The tired ronin closed his eyes before seemingly seeing the sun's tip emerging from the horizon.
The tired cowboy sunk his entire chubby body into the bathtub, except his head. The bathtub was facing the three pentagonal windows, which were twice the length of Roal's height. Through the windows, he could see the sun rising, gradually turning brighter and brighter. The view was beautiful, yet Roal couldn't focus on it. A part of his brain couldn't stop replaying the scene of him being a coward. Another part couldn't stop recalling the moment Akki talked with blood leaking from his mouth. Akki's image was blended with those of Roal's early life. The world took dedication away from young Roal Ranith. Would the world do the same to Akki? The old cowboy had an answer, but he refused to approve it.