I was an apprentice in Ferren

Chapter 86 Take action
"Don't listen to this old bastard's nonsense!" The burly man wouldn't stand for it and started cursing: "Just now, some idiots were riding their horses and kicked up a lot of dust. We were standing to the side to avoid it, and then this old lady bumped into me. Now she's saying that I bumped into her and that she's clinging to my leg and wailing. She's just being a scoundrel!"

"Hmm?" Deva blinked upon hearing this and looked at the old lady: "Is what he said true?"

"How is that possible? I saw it myself, it was those guys who hit him!" Suddenly, a passerby stood up to support him, and several others gathered around: "I saw it too, it was those guys who hit him."

"That's right, these adventurers from out of town are lawless. They hit people, didn't apologize or pay compensation, and even cursed at them. They're just treating us Northwesterners like pushovers!"

"This is Beer Town, not a place for you to commit evil deeds!"

The old woman also cried out, "Sir, you must do justice for me!"

"Holy crap." Upon hearing this, the burly man grinned maliciously and pulled out a double-handed axe strapped to his back. "Trying to rob us after our extortion attempt? Brothers, let's show these scoundrels that we Nas people aren't pushovers!"

Upon hearing this, the old woman who had been holding onto his leg immediately let go and scrambled back a few steps. The people who had been supporting him were also startled, but they still took out the daggers and crossbows they carried and confronted him. However, their voices trembled slightly: "What, you hit someone and then denied it, and now you want to kill them?"

"Sir, you need to do something about these outsiders."

"Go to hell, you all deserve to die!" The burly man ignored these words, his eyes bloodshot as he roared and his muscles bulged as he entered a berserk state. He swung his two-handed battle axe at the old woman who had framed him, determined to cut her in two.

His companions behind him cursed when they saw this, and also raised their shields to fight back, but they didn't expect that their full-force slash would be directly blocked by a two-handed sword that was radiating green light, and they kicked him back with the momentum: "Calm down!"

But the burly man had already entered a berserk state and, disregarding everything, unleashed another horizontal slash. Seeing this, Deva frowned, dodged the attack, and swept her leg low, knocking the barbarian, who was a head taller than her, to the ground.

Seeing the sheriff take action, the onlookers breathed a sigh of relief, while the adventurers were quite nervous. The burly man, however, got up, brandishing his axe and shouting angrily.

"enough!"

Before the burly man could launch an attack, he felt a sharp pain in his wrist as a chilling ray struck him, the cold force causing his weapon to fall to the ground.

However, a barbarian who has activated Berserk is terrifying. Without any weapons, he attacks empty-handed, looking like a horrifying creature ready to devour anyone he chooses.

At the critical moment, his companions held him down. After a few dozen seconds, the barbarian's body went limp and he lay on the ground panting heavily. The onlookers immediately cheered.

"The sheriff is truly admirable!"

"These disrespectful and impolite bastards deserve to be taught a lesson!"

"I think you're all just bored and have nothing better to do than meddle in any kind of scheme." The masked DuPont glanced at the group of people cheering, and the coldness in his eyes made them stop talking abruptly. Some of them didn't know who this mage who had come to their aid was.

At this moment, Deva also looked at DuPont, clearly realizing that the situation was somewhat complicated. DuPont sneered, "The newly arrived Sheriff Deva is a powerful paladin. She possesses the divine spell 'Domain of Honesty.' Whether it's extortion or a hit-and-run, the spell will reveal who's lying as soon as it's activated. I advise you to get lost if you have nothing else to do, otherwise the liar will be in jail after the spell is activated, probably for at least half a month!" Upon hearing this, several onlookers trembled slightly. The old woman was clearly at a loss for what to do and subconsciously looked towards a second-floor area.

Dupont followed her gaze and saw a middle-aged man with thick eyebrows. The two made eye contact briefly. The man was somewhat surprised, cursed, and retreated back into the room, closing the window.

"roll!"

With a loud shout from DuPont, the group of people lowered their heads and scattered. Even the old woman who could only sit on the ground and wail quickly got up and disappeared in a flash, leaving only the barbarian and his companions looking at each other in bewilderment.

“It’s alright, you can go now.” DuPont looked at the group and said, “But I advise your companion not to be so impulsive. Otherwise, if you really kill someone, you’ll be held responsible. You might regret it when you end up on the gallows.”

The barbarian had lost his earlier arrogance and was now somewhat dejected. The man beside him stepped forward and looked at DuPont: "Thank you, you've saved us a lot of trouble."

“Handling conflicts is the sheriff’s responsibility. If there’s nothing else, take the assignment and get out of here. This town may no longer welcome you, and if you stay too long, something might happen.” After saying this, DuPont returned to his room. The group exchanged glances, nodded, and turned to leave.

Back at the tavern, Deva felt uncomfortable being spied on while eating. She asked to move to a private room and then asked, "Isn't this just a coincidence, or are they testing me?"

Looks like I'm not that stupid after all...
The food was getting cold. DuPont lowered his head to eat and casually asked, "Oh? Why do you think that?"

“Normally, ordinary people wouldn’t dare to mess with professionals. If they did, they would just accept their bad luck unless there were some special circumstances.” Deva frowned as she thought, “Aleville Town is a town whose economy is based on merchants and adventurers. The residents here must know how terrifying adventurers are, and they certainly wouldn’t mess with them without a powerful backer.”

"None of those onlookers were professionals. If a conflict broke out, I was the only one I could rely on. Besides, you ran away after being scared off by the Domain of Honesty. This is definitely a conspiracy."

"That's right, it's most likely an act. If your behavior just now was inappropriate, it will easily spread in this town. If you don't have the ability to distinguish lies, it will be difficult to handle this matter fairly. You will either lose your reputation among ordinary people or be seen as a fool who can't tell right from wrong by adventurers."

Fortunately, you're a capable paladin who managed to intimidate them and they fled immediately. You've passed this hurdle; now you just need to consider what they'll do next.

Upon hearing this, Deva slammed her hand on the table, her eyes blazing with anger: "No, I want that old woman arrested. She must be brought to justice."

"Huh?" DuPont was surprised this time: "Wasn't the matter resolved? Why are you still arresting people?"

"Luckily, it was me who ran into this, but what if someone who can't distinguish right from wrong had been framed? What if that person couldn't beat that barbarian? What terrible consequences would it have if those adventurers were really forced to hand over the money?"

"I must stop all of this!"

(End of this chapter)