Menethil's Power

Chapter 302 Trial and Responsibility

Jaina hugged her knees and leaned against the dark corner of the wall. The cold wall was already warmed by the girl's body. She stared blankly at the deep purple arcane barrier in front of her.

She doesn't know how long she was imprisoned. After being brought back to Dalaran, the law enforcement officers neither explained what her crime was, nor allowed anyone else to see the arrested maiden mage. Even when Jaina asked to see They even smiled ironically when she was her mentor, Kel'Thuzad.

"Keep these lies until you tell the archmages of the Kirin Tor in court." That was the only response Jaina got, and she was sent to the Arcatraz.The Arcatraz is a place where Dalaran is used to imprison all kinds of vicious criminals and terrifying monsters. It is the first time that it has been used as a temporary detention place for a high-level mage.

But Jaina has always remained calm and calm, not crying or shouting such inappropriate behavior, but obeying the arrangements of the law enforcement officers, she thinks she has a clear conscience.

After five full days like this, the arcane prison was finally opened, and Jaina had to use her hands to block the sudden bright light.A team of fully armed battle mages came in, and they put Jaina back on the mana shackles, "Jina Proudmoore, your trial will begin in an hour, please follow us to the Tribunal of Truth." said the mage.

Jaina breathed a sigh of relief, her life in the Arcatraz had made her feel extremely depressed these days, great, the misunderstanding can finally be cleared up, she thought to herself.Up until this point she knew nothing of what happened in Silverpine Forest or Stromgarde.

The Tribunal of Truth is located in the easternmost part of Dalaran. It is a huge open-air white stone building. After Jaina was brought in, she was really surprised, because the audience seats that could accommodate more than 6000 people were full.When Jaina first entered, they all looked over in unison.

Jaina was a little at a loss, but she was a qualified noble lady after all, and she would not lose her sense of proportion on such an occasion. She smiled politely, but there was already a trace of seriousness between her brows, and she vaguely felt the seriousness of the situation.

She was taken to the dock in the center of the court, where she could see the trial seat and the plaintiff's seat. At this time, Jaina's heart became more and more heavy, because she recognized the old man with the white beard on the trial seat.

The leader of the Kirin Tor Council, Archmage Antonidas, actually acted as a judge himself. There were two other highly respected mages beside him, Ansrem Luinvivor and Delandon. Their status was the same as that of Antonidas. Rather, the achievements in the arcane field are even higher. After all, the latter is only considered the leader of the Kirin Tor because he is in charge of specific affairs in Dalaran and has enough seniority.

In other words, apart from Kael'thas, Krasus, and Kel'Thuzad who were outside, the remaining three members of the Kirin Tor Council of Six actually attended the trial of Jaina, and the heart of the young mage began to sink. , she faintly felt a little panicked, the identity of the princess of Kul Tiras was nothing to mention in front of the three archmages, Jaina was very puzzled, what terrible things did these big figures think she had done?

"Silence!" Archmage Ansrem stood up and scanned the entire court with dignity. He was a tall, middle-aged man with brown-red beard and hair. He looked more like a gentleman than a mage. "I declare that we will start now." Jaina Proudmoore's trial!" Amplified, his booming voice filled the courtroom.

The archmage sat down after speaking, and then a tall, thin, silver-haired young mage stood up from the prosecution bench, and Jaina recognized Luthor, the enforcer who had arrested her. "Ladies and gentlemen, I must first announce a terrible news. A deadly plague has broken out in Silverpine Forest and Arathi Highlands. This plague is the result of an extremely evil undead magic. According to the statistics of Silverpine Sixty thousand civilians have died in the forest, and almost the entire country of Stromgarde has been affected. This kind of plague can not only make the infected people die quickly, but also turn them into undead zombies, so it is extremely harmful to civilians." Lu Ser stated in an extremely calm voice.

There was an uproar, most of these Dalaran mages had been conducting magic research in Dalaran City for a long time, so they knew little about the outside world, and Jaina also showed a look of surprise, her expression could be seen in Luthor's eyes, The latter could not help showing a sneer, "Although the church and an ally of the Red Dragon took action to control the spread of the plague, the number of casualties is still shocking, and what is even more unimaginable is that such a terrible disaster turned out to be It is inextricably linked with this cute girl."

Following Luthor's gesture, everyone's eyes fell on the young mage again, making Jaina feel a little breathless, "I am deeply saddened by the tragedy that happened in Silverpine Forest, but I don't understand why it should be blamed on me. ’” She kept her voice as calm as possible.

"You don't need to rush to deny it, because we will expose your true face soon, vicious and merciless mage lady." Luther said coldly, he stretched out his hand, and his subordinate handed over a transparent crystal Vessel, filled with golden grains of wheat, he showed the contents of the vessel to all the audience, "This is the source of this plague, which has a very ironic name, 'Golden Hope.' I believe that North Gil Nice enough about this so-called hope, witness Rona Crowley in court!" he said loudly.

Duchess Rhona Crowley stood up from the audience, her face pale.His expression was indifferent, as if he wanted to look in Jaina's direction, but held back.

"Rona Crowley, I need you to answer a few questions." Luthor said unhurriedly: "Four months ago, Jaina took the initiative to come to Silverpine Forest to promote the planting of 'Golden Hope'?"

"then……"

"You just have to answer 'yes' or 'no'."

"Yes." Lorna nodded slightly.

"After the first batch of 'Golden Hope' matured, did Jaina ask to continue the spread planting in this year's crop?"

"Yes."

"So Jaina left Silverpine Forest early again before all the food was harvested and distributed to the commoners?"

"……Yes."

The meaning of these questions is self-evident. The audience looked at Jaina more and more strangely, and the young mage's face became a little pale, but she couldn't help but said, "This is all a coincidence, 'Golden Hope' is a new type of enchanted plant developed by the mentor, it has a very high yield and can completely solve the famine problem of all human beings. I have conducted many experiments and tests on it, and I can swear that it is absolutely impossible to cause the plague." The girl's eyes revealed stubbornness and firmness.

"Is that so, you mean that you also participated in the research of 'Golden Hope' at the same time?" Luthor asked back.

"Yes, the planting experiment of 'Golden Hope' was done by me."

"Very good." Luke turned to all the audience again, "I believe everyone is also very puzzled, why this kind of beautiful-looking wheat will bring a terrible plague, then we might as well do an experiment on the spot to prove it."

He took over an iron cage from his subordinates. Inside the cage was a very irritable cat that kept turning in circles. Jaina's pupils shrank. It was Mr. Bigworth!

"This is a beautiful kitten, and it is now in a very healthy state." Luthor said: "As for these 'golden hopes', in order to show justice, I hope His Excellency Ansrem will convert them into food. "

He took the crystal vessel to the trial seat, and Ansrem began to cast spells. The arcane energy was injected into the vessel, and within a few seconds, the grains of wheat were directly transformed into bread. Obviously, this archmage had great experience in table making. High attainments.

After completing the spell, Anslem's expression also changed. It seemed that the archmage had discovered something, but he had no intention of stopping the experiment.

"There is no difference between this piece of bread and the last meal that those [-] civilians ate." Luther said, he cut the bread into small pieces, and then spread the caviar that had been prepared before throwing it into the Inside Mr. Bigworth's cage.

"Don't feed Mr. Bigworth bread, it can't digest it." Jaina said angrily.

"Why, do you think this piece of bread will endanger your lovely pet?" Luther asked with a half-smile.

It was only at this time that people realized that Luthor actually used the girl's pet cat for the experiment. This practice was obviously inhumane and somewhat cruel, but it seemed impossible to blame him for this in the current situation.

"'Golden Hope' will never have any problems." Jaina gritted her teeth and said, although she always insisted on this statement, she suddenly felt flustered, "Bigworth can't eat bread, let me carry out this experiment. ' she said suddenly.

"We're not fools." Luther showed a sneering smile, "Do you think we're stupid enough to think that a poison will kill its creator?"

Jaina gritted her teeth. She was really angry. The mage girl wanted to smash a Frostbolt in Luthor's thin face now.

The caviar bread was thrown into the cage, and Mr. Bigglesworth sniffed it and began to gobble it up, apparently from starvation.Although it is the sweetheart of Kel'Thuzad and Jaina, it is still just a cat in essence, and it is impossible to understand the ingredients in food.

Under the watchful eyes of thousands of people, Mr. Bigworth finished eating. Within 5 minutes, the kitten was fine, but suddenly, it howled in pain, and its body suddenly curled up and trembled.

There was an exclamation in the audience, but Jaina only felt her heart was suddenly gripped by a cold thug, and she could hardly breathe.

The howling of the Liao people continued, and Mr. Bigworth's smooth fur began to fall off in large swaths. The exposed pink skin rotted at an alarming rate. In some places, the bones were even exposed, but it was still able to continue to move. At the beginning, everyone saw that the cat's eyes were swollen and turned green.

It has turned into an undead creature.

Jaina felt her heart was about to break, "How is that possible." She murmured subconsciously.

"Everyone, this is what happened to those [-] Silver Pine Forest civilians. They were defenseless and unable to resist. They could only watch themselves and their relatives die before turning into such monsters." After piercing the back of Mr. Bigworth's head, the undead kitten pulled out, and then stopped moving.

"No!" Jaina yelled, crying.

"Now, Ms. Jaina Proudmoore, do you have anything else to say?" Luther looked at the distraught mage girl, "Your mentor was illegally studying undead spells before, but we never thought you would will be his accomplice."

Jaina's face was as white as a sheet of paper. The tragic death of Mr. Bigworth had already made her utterly grieved, but now a more terrifying truth was in front of her. She did terrible things, and the so-called followers of Kel'Thuzad, Father Pamir, Edmund, and Winkle, were all executioners.

6 people... This is only a part, Jaina felt dizzy and almost fell down.Even if she really didn't know, she was the one who completed the final research and development of "Golden Hope" and the promotion of this enchanted plant, and she couldn't shirk her responsibility at all.

Two lines of tears slid down Jaina's cheeks, and her world view had quietly collapsed.

"Where is Kel'Thuzad?" Luthor asked aggressively with a livid face.

"I have no idea……"

"Where are the members of the 'Magic Plant Promotion Organization' who are with you? Where are they now?"

"I don't know..." Jaina almost groaned as her face grew paler.

The girl's pitiful appearance made many people feel soft-hearted. Judging from Jaina's current reaction, she seems to be completely ignorant, but was deceived because she was too innocent.

This is a complete tragedy.

Rhona looked at Jaina, the princess hesitated for a moment, and suddenly said: "I have to declare one thing, after the first batch of 'Golden Hope' matured, Jaina and I and many farmers have eaten bread made from new wheat. , but we were not infected. That means this batch of 'Golden Hope' is safe from harvest to delivery to the barn."

"What do you want to express?" Luther frowned.

"Jianna is innocent." Rhona said word by word. This time she became the focus. Many people did not understand why she, as a victim, spoke for Jaina. "The seeds of 'Golden Hope' are stored There was a problem with the journey and transportation, and Jaina was with me during that time, she didn't have the opportunity to do anything," the princess stated calmly.

"But that doesn't mean she didn't have advance instructions or didn't know..." Luther obviously wouldn't be persuaded just like that.

"Enough!" Archmage Antonidas said suddenly, and everyone's eyes turned to the majestic old man, including Jaina, who had always had a good impression of Antonidas.

"What the hell are you bothering about? Do you insist that such a girl under the age of 20 will do something devoid of conscience? Since there is not enough evidence, then there is no need to waste time. Why don't you track down the real The murderer?" The archmage asked a series of questions, he looked very angry, "Now, in the name of the Kirin Tor, I declare that all charges cannot be established, and Jaina Proudmoore is innocent!"

The majestic voice echoed in the courtroom, and no one questioned it, including Luther. Although Antonidas was not too strong, there was no doubt that he was an absolute authority.

Not only did Jaina feel warm in her heart, she stared blankly at the white-bearded archmage, sourness and grievance welled up in her heart, which turned into tears and gushed out again. Before, everyone regarded her as an evil witch, but only Antonida Si noticed that she wasn't even fully grown up, just a child.

Jaina really wanted to have a good cry.

The trial is now over, and the audience began to leave one after another. Antonidas looked at Jaina and sighed, "Actually, I was planning to be your mentor in person, but because of some delays, I just handed you over to Kel'Thuzad, if I... oh..." The archmage shook his head and sighed heavily.

"Go home, child, although you have nothing to do with it, it seems that it is not suitable for you to stay in the Northern Continent anymore," the archmage said again.

"Yeah." Jaina sniffed and agreed.

The three archmages also left. Luthor's face was normal at this time, and he seemed to have completely accepted the verdict, without any reconciliation. He handed the cage containing Mr. Bigworth's body to Jaina, "I'm sorry Little girl, but I can’t choose my duty.” He apologized, his tone so emotionless that it seemed insincere, “A jiluo cat is worth about two hundred to four hundred gold coins, and I will pay you back this money. "

"No need." Jaina said coldly, suppressing her emotional impulse. She took the cage, her hands trembling slightly.

She just wanted to get out of this place as soon as possible.

Luthor also left with the enforcers, leaving only Jaina and Rona in the courtroom. Jaina carried Bigworth's cage and walked out in a daze, while Rona followed her without saying a word. .

The young mage came to the small garden in the corner of Dalaran, and dug a small hole with the staff that was confiscated and returned to her at this time. She opened the cage and carefully took out the body of Mr. Bigworth , this kitten is not as cute as it used to be, but Jaina doesn't care.

She was going to give it a funeral.

Because of being taken to Northrend by Kel'Thuzad for several years, Jaina has no friends of the same age in Dalaran. Mr. Bigworth is her only companion in the boring practice life, but now he can no longer Enjoying Gianna's wanton rubbing, no longer being a warm ball of fur curled up in her arms, no longer meowing and urging her to make cat food.

This only friend has also left her.Jaina's eyes turned red, and she sobbed softly again.Lorna behind her has been watching her without any intention of disturbing her.

Enough crying, Jaina released Mr. Bigworth's body out of the pit, and slowly piled up a small bag of dirt.After the ceremony was completed, Rona stepped up, "Are you planning to return to Kul Tiras next?"

Jaina nodded numbly.

Rona sighed softly, "I know you're innocent, Jaina." Her eyes also began to shed tears, "But you really should go to Silverpine Forest first, there's already..." She also began to groan sobbed loudly.

Both Jaina and Lorna are strong women, but despite their hard shells, they are still soft and sensitive on the inside.

……

When the two girls were immersed in their own grief, there was a translucent figure not far behind, "They were acquitted, it seems that the laws of Dalaran are not too corrupt." Lila said to herself.

In the past few years, the strength of the elf female thief has improved by leaps and bounds. It is a piece of cake for her to simply sneak into Dalaran without doing extra things.Isaacs' order was to obtain all information about Jaina, and Valeera had always been meticulous in completing the task.

Suddenly there was a lot of movement not far away, a group of law enforcers were chasing a figure, Valeera's interest was immediately aroused, there is even a companion?You must know that there are only a handful of thieves who have the courage and strength to sneak into Dalaran in the entire Eastern Kingdom.

(End of this chapter)