Path of Light.

Chapter 543 544. The Thorn Rose in the Shadow
The city hall of the plateau city is built on the highest point of the mound.

The elven merchant walked up a long stone staircase, but not long after he went, he was stopped by several half-elven guards.

The elven merchant stood in front of the first platform and negotiated with the half-elven guards.

The Silvermoon Elf merchants tied up a half-elf gatherer with ropes and escorted him to several half-elf guard warriors, pointing at the gatherer and calling him a "liar".

Mu Lin was going to the prisoner-of-war concentration camp for a routine inspection when a guard came running over breathlessly and reported:

'A group of elf merchants gathered in front of the city hall. They said they caught a swindler and hoped that the governor of the city hall would personally order the punishment of this half-elf swindler.'

Mu Lin frowned and could only postpone his inspection of the concentration camp.

She turned back to the first floor hall of the town hall and asked the guards to bring the group of elven merchants to the first floor hall.

When building this hall, Roy asked the construction craftsmen to open a dome-shaped air vent on the hall's dome. The morning sunlight refracted through the bronze mirrors inlaid around the air vent, and a beam of light fell on the stone table in the center of the hall. On the stone table was a balance, on the tray on the left side of the balance was a scepter, and on the tray on the right side was a sword.

The relief under the stone table shows a group of half-blood elves holding up a broken shield with their strong arms.

There is only this stone table in the empty hall, which fills the hall with a sacred atmosphere.

Mulin stood in front of the stone table, looking coldly at a group of elf merchants who came in from the gate. Among them were Silver Moon elves and half-blood elves. Everyone looked very angry and their steps were very heavy.

Looking at the half-elf collector tied with ropes, he looked listless at the moment, his face was covered with bruises and scars, one of his eyes was swollen like a goldfish eye and he couldn't even open it. There was a half-elf girl following him, and the little girl's face was all red from crying.

A team of half-elf guards stood on both sides of the hall, instantly filling the hall with a murderous atmosphere.

Mulin took two steps forward, and the crisp sound of his footsteps immediately made the whispering elf merchants shut up.

The hall was completely silent, with only the sobbing of the little girl remaining...

"Tell me, what happened? You speak first." Mu Lin pursed his lips and looked at the Silver Moon Elf merchant standing in the front. His voice was full of irresistible deterrence.

The Silver Moon Elf merchant first saluted to Mulin very politely, and then spoke eloquently:
"Mr. Archon, I am a businessman from Padstow City. My name is Sergei. I came to the Plateau City to buy some magical herbs and then transport them to the Elf Continent to make some small profits."

"Three days ago, I spent 100 magic crystals to buy a winter thorn grass from a half-elf collector in the free market. But when I brought it back, I found out that it was a fake. When I brought it back to the tent, I found that the ice shell on the winter thorn grass had melted, revealing a thorn vine soaked in dye."

"So today, a few friends and I found this collector and took him to the city hall, hoping that the Archon would punish this half-blood elf who sold fake goods according to the laws of the Plateau City."

Hearing the word "half-blood elf", Mu Lin's pupils shrank instantly, and a sharp look fell on the face of the Silver Moon Elf Merchant, frightening him so much that he trembled all over and took two steps back.

Mulin asked the other elf merchants, "Who else would like to add?"

A group of elf merchants did not dare to meet Mulin's eyes.

Mu Lin took a few more steps and looked coldly at the half-blood elf collector, as if he could not see the crying little girl beside him, and asked coldly:

“They said you were selling fake goods?”

"Mr. Archon, what I'm selling is a genuine winter thorn grass..."

The half-elf gatherer, still tied up with ropes, retorted weakly.

Mu Lin turned to the Silver Moon Elf Merchant and asked, "You said you bought a fake winter thorn grass. Where is the winter thorn grass?"

The Silvermoon Elf Merchant immediately took out a magic-sealing box. He placed the box in front of his feet, then bent down and opened the lid. Inside was a dried magic herb.

Mu Lin did not look at the magic herb. She turned around and shouted to the back of the hall:
"Woods, come and take a look, what exactly is this magic herb?"

Woods scratched his head speechlessly, walked past Roy and Moira, and walked into the conference hall along the arched corridor.

Under the gaze of a group of herbal merchants, he came to the magic box, took out the magic herb from the magic box, and then carefully identified it...

Soon Woods gave a positive answer: "This is indeed a thorn vine, and the color of this thorn vine is a little wrong, probably because it has been dyed for a long time, and some of the obvious features of the thorn vine have been carefully trimmed, so it does look a bit like winter thorn grass at first glance."

Mu Lin frowned, looked at the group of elf merchants, and asked again:
"Can anyone prove that this magical herb was sold to this merchant by this collector?"

As soon as these words were spoken, several elf merchants stepped forward, raised their right hands and said calmly:

"My Lord Archon, I can prove this."

"I can prove this, too."

"I can prove that when the deal was made, he took out this magic herb. There was a layer of ice on the magic herb at the time. I was there at the time."

"Do you know that if you give false testimony, you will be whipped ten times?" Mulin asked the elf merchants who stood up.

"We know!" Several elf merchants responded quickly.

Mulin frowned and turned to ask the half-elf collector, "Then can you find a witness to prove that the magic herb you sold to this merchant was not this thorn vine?"

"I... I can't!" The half-elf collector hesitated for a moment and answered with some despair.

Mu Lin frowned again.

At this time, one of the elf merchants came out and said to Mulin:

"Mr. Archon, as far as I know, no winter thorn grass has been found on the Pagisto Plateau so far, so we have sufficient reason to say that the winter thorn grass sold by this half-elf collector is fake."

Mu Lin paused for a moment, came to the half-blood elf collector, untied the rope on him personally, and asked in a gentle voice:
"So can you tell me where you got this winterthorn grass?"

……

Roy, who was hiding in the back of the hall, heard Mulin ask the half-blood elf collector in this tone, which meant that Mulin no longer trusted the half-blood elf collector...

And all the evidence currently points to the half-elf gatherer selling a fake winterthorn.

Moira nervously held Roy's hand. She was paying special attention to the debate in the hall. Normally, she would never do this...

……

The half-elf gatherer said that he accidentally found this winter thorn grass in the col of the Great Snow Mountain in the north of the Pagisto Plateau. It is said that traces of the Yeti were also found nearby.

But no elf was willing to stand up and testify for the herb collector that what he said was true...

All the evidence proves that the fake winter thorn grass was sold to the Silvermoon Elf merchant by the half-elf gatherer.

These witnesses were all herbal medicine traders in the free market.

When the transaction took place, everyone stood around to witness it.

Mulin pinched her brows. All the evidence pointed to the half-elf collectors selling fake winter thorn grass.

Moreover, this guy was severely beaten up by these elf merchants on the day of the transaction. Two days later, these elf merchants found the half-elf collector's home again, tied him up and sent him to the city hall.

Under the gaze of a group of elf merchants, Mulin thought for a moment before saying:
"Lock him in the concentration camp prison for the time being. Also, all witnesses must not leave the Plateau City within ten days. This matter still needs further investigation, and the results will be officially announced in ten days." A group of elf merchants breathed a sigh of relief and frowned at the same time. They were a little surprised that Mulin would not let them leave the Plateau City for the time being.

Two half-elf guards escorted the half-elf collector and staggered out of the hall of the town hall.

The little half-elf girl hugged the middle-aged half-elf's thigh and cried miserably.

"Where are you taking my father? Where are you taking him?"

When the guard walked down the stairs, the little girl collapsed weakly in front of the stairs and suddenly fainted.

The middle-aged half-blood elf didn't even have the chance to look back...

……

Moira couldn't help herself and ran towards the little half-elf girl. As she ran, she quickly complained to Roy:

"Can't you help her?"

In fact, Roy was standing at the back of the hall, listening to the entire process of Mulin handling the case.

Facts have proved that Mulin acted very fairly in handling this case. He did not favor the collector because of his half-elf identity. He detained the half-elf collector based on various evidences.

In fact, Mu Lin also said on the spot that the City Hall will have another ten days to investigate...

In fact, Mulin still needs to objectively understand the whole process of the incident, which is exactly the opposite of the judgment steps of the Elf Elders Council Tribunal.

If it was the trial of the Elf Elder Council, the verdict on the half-elf collector would have been announced just now.

And Mu Lin actually wanted to continue investigating and collecting evidence...

So Roy felt that he had no reason to interfere. He couldn't control everything.

……

Moira just begged Roy to help the half-elf girl, but was ruthlessly rejected by Roy.

This made her very angry, and her little face was puffed up with anger.

Moira ran to the little half-elf girl and saw her lying unconscious on the stone slab. She quickly gave her some water. Thinking of how she looked in the alley yesterday, she felt even more sorry for the little half-elf girl.

The little half-elf girl was very thin. She slowly opened her eyes while lying in Moira's arms.

"Do you have other relatives besides your father?" Moira asked the half-elf girl in a low voice.

The half-elf girl's voice was hoarse from crying, and it was very difficult for her to speak, and she even lost her voice:
"There is another brother. He followed the mine guards to the Sun Island Bay to help the half-blood elves there..."

Roy also hurried over, took out a bottle of diluted life tree sap from his magic waist bag, and fed the half-elf girl a sip.

The half-elf girl drank the sap of the tree of life and immediately regained some strength.

She struggled to her feet from Moira's arms, bowed deeply to her, and said:
"I have to go pack my father's luggage. Bye!"

The half-elf girl did not ask Moira for help, but said goodbye to her very politely. Her understanding made Moira feel a little distressed.

……

Looking at the half-elf girl running down the stone steps quickly, Moira's face became even uglier.

"I want the truth, Roy, you have to help me."

Moira was a little angry and pestered Roy to speak unreasonably.

Roy was a little helpless. Mu Lin handled the matter without any problem.

He wanted to bypass Moira and go to the residence to get the horse.

He wanted to go to the blacksmith's workshop today to find out why the blacksmith's workshop was unable to produce the chains on schedule...

At this time, Moira stood in front of Roy again, with her hands crossed unreasonably, her head raised, and stared at Roy with her clear, big black eyes without blinking.

"You must help me!"

Moira's eyes were a little wet, but her tone was unusually firm...

Sabrina and Miss Tiffany just watched from behind, neither of them came closer.

Roy stopped, twisted Moira's face lovingly, and responded softly:
"Got it! You're so annoying."

After saying that, Roy walked into the city hall to find Mulin...

……

The magic airship, which was originally parked at the airport terminal waiting to be loaded with iron chains, flew to Sun Island Bay in the morning. There was no supplies for the Plateau City on board.

Moira and Miss Tiffany were standing on the deck of the magic airship.

Miss Tiffany held the bronze ram horns on the bow with both hands, looked beyond the clouds in the distance, and asked Moira curiously:
"Just to give you a clear explanation, I will accompany you on this magic airship to circle between Sun Island Bay and Plateau City. So...if Roy is not the governor of Pagisto Plateau, he has no power to help you like this. What would you do?"

Moira, standing on the deck, narrowed her eyes.

At this moment, she was like a night blade leopard crouching in the shadows.

"Tiffany, have you forgotten my profession? I'm an assassin! My teacher told me that when I can't find the answer, I will go to each person one by one and ask them clearly. Someone will always tell me."

I don’t know if it was an illusion, but when Miss Tiffany heard Moira say this, she always felt a chill all over her body.

Miss Tiffany turned around, looked at Moira and asked:

"If... I mean if Roy hadn't intervened, would you really have done this?"

"I can!"

Moira replied without hesitation.

"..."

Miss Tiffany wasn't saying anything.

This sweet, cute, introverted half-elf girl in front of me finally became like a thorny rose hidden in the shadows, blooming beautifully to the surroundings while also showing her sharp thorns...

(End of this chapter)