A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 246 Conflict Between the Two Courts

After obtaining permission, Rorschach took all the portraits with him. He certainly didn't have the talent for prophetic magic, so he could only resort to his old tricks—

Please, Balan!

After feeding the bead with the blue crystal, it gained some initiative and began to slowly roll on the table. Rorschach placed the bead on the portrait, and after it rolled once, he placed it on the book.

"Hold my hand and close your eyes." When Rorschach was asked this, he didn't do it immediately. The bead trembled twice, as if urging him on.

"Tower Spirit".

"I am here."

Are you Xiao Yi or Xiao Ai Luo Xia asking, "Can you monitor this dormitory?"

"I wouldn't do that on my own initiative."

"That's fine then." Rorschach instructed the tower spirit to keep an eye on his condition and to immediately notify Master Cano if anything unusual happened.

After taking the necessary precautions, Rorschach grasped the bead and did as instructed. When he closed his eyes, what awaited him was not darkness, but a blurry scene, colorless, as if composed only of carbon powder, like a painting.

There were three people in the room: a painter, a young man pointing and gesturing, and the third person, whom Rorschach recognized—Grand Duke Merovinga!

Was it him? With the young man's guidance, the painter completed the painting, and Rorschach recognized it as the first one, by Maxim.

Outside this room was a larger space, where Maxim was giving a passionate speech, but unfortunately, there was no sound. Rorschach noticed that they were in the courtroom, but for Duke Merovinga, the sacred trial below was like a play, and he was merely an audience member, looking down at everything.

The scene changes to when portraits of other lawyers are being drawn. Melovenga has disappeared, leaving only the painter and the young man responsible for identifying the targets.

"Let me put my painting talent to good use again." Rorschach hadn't painted for a while, but with the help of the Pearl of Balan, a portrait that was no less impressive than that of a professional painter was created.

It was the young man responsible for identifying the target.

As for the matter of Merovinga, Rorschach plans to tell Cano directly.

He felt that the activity level of the Pearl of Balan had been a bit too high recently, so he decided to discard it and send it back into quarantine for a period of time.

"Give."

Pascal, upon receiving the portrait, initially thought it was painted by his employer. However, after Rorschach explained, he immediately understood: "It's this guy! He must be the mole in the club."

However, upon actually seeing it, the senior student looked bewildered: "That's not right, there's no such person in our club. Did you draw it wrong?"

This left Rorschach somewhat uncertain: "No, right?"

"Let me take another look." Although he had ruled out the possibility of him being a mole within the club, Pascal still felt the face looked familiar. He should have seen him before—"He's from the club! But not from 'Friends of Fraternity and Equality'!"

The truth now came out: he was a former member of the club before the reorganization, an inactive figure, and a speculator who moved between banks and securities firms. After Maxim led the radicals away and founded a new club, Pascal had no further contact with him.

"It's our former colleagues who have turned against us and are trying to frame us!" He gritted his teeth and vowed revenge.

The copy of the portrait ended up in Cano's hands. After learning the details of Rorschach's report, he went to the hospital designated by the guild.

Some people are "recuperating" here.

Necker had been in his private room for over a month and was quite content with his life. No matter how scorching it was outside, the indoor temperature was magically controlled to a comfortable level. In Necker's own words:

"It would be perfect if my lover could visit occasionally. No, not my wife; let her vent her excess energy in her own salon!"

When Kano looked for him, Necker was playing cards with an "assistant" sent by the Magic Guild.

"All in."

"My dear assistant, learning to control your facial expressions is the first lesson you learn at the gambling table." Necker was a little bored with his assistant's mediocre skills, and the arrival of the Archmage brought an end to the boring crushing defeat.

Cano waved his assistant away. He saw that Necker was covered in newspaper clippings and numerous manuscripts.

"You can't help my assistant much; he's barely able to organize any documents. I need a typewriter and someone who knows how to use it so I can dictate and write, saving me some effort."

"You really are a prolific writer." Kano picked up a manuscript filled with words like "regulation" and "market."

The High Priest briefly recounted what had happened yesterday: "An attempted attack occurred at the memorial service for lawyer Messier, targeting a group of progressive lawyers. The mastermind was a high-ranking nobleman."

After listening, Necker confirmed, "Are your so-called 'progressive lawyers' just a bunch of guys who keep shouting about 'natural law' and 'natural rights'?"

"Yes."

Necker laughed: "Well, I've improved too! Just kidding, haha. Are you wondering why the high-ranking nobles don't just arrest them and be done with it? I heard His Majesty the King has been throwing a lot of people he doesn't like into Basti Prison lately."

"Yes. You're quite well-informed."

"It's not that I'm well-informed, but this information is all public knowledge. Generally, if a secret order is issued to arrest someone, and they are caught, three days later you can see all sorts of heinous deeds of that person in the royal newspaper, which will vehemently condemn them and make sure that readers believe that those arrested are the most heinous criminals. I almost received the same treatment."

Necker spread out the newspapers he had arranged: "Your Excellency, haven't you noticed? The royal palace and the Supreme Court have been at odds lately. Not only are the so-called 'progressive lawyers' raising the banner of 'natural law,' but even the chief justices and the robed nobles are using similar names to oppose Charles XVI."

During this period, another case attracted the attention of the entire Valois public: a group of swindlers claimed to have Her Majesty the Queen's pearl necklace, successfully sold it to an archbishop, and hinted that they could introduce the buyer to Her Majesty the Queen for an improper intimate relationship.

This behavior, tantamount to dancing on a royal graveyard, was surprisingly declared innocent by the Supreme Court! The court declared the group merely jewelry merchants.

Different newspapers had different opinions on the same matter. One side believed that the judges had protected the weak from the royal family, while the other side clamored for the swindlers and judges to be executed together.

"This case has nothing to do with justice; it's the judges trying to humiliate the monarchy and disgust our King and Prime Minister. Now that Duplessi is overseeing reforms, he doesn't like my field, so he's targeting the legal system."

"I support the judges' view that the prime minister should return their power to the king. If the damned Royal Court can really obey His Majesty, the imposition of new taxes can be declared effective by the Supreme Court, bypassing the Council of Nobles."

Necker still harbored resentment towards the meeting of dignitaries.

"But would the judges and the robed nobles behind them sit idly by? Thus, a fierce confrontation is now taking place between the court and the court. And at this critical juncture, if the active 'progressive lawyers' were assassinated, it would inevitably cause fear among the robed nobles, who would see it as the king's brick terror."

"With the death of the progressive lawyer, both the robed nobles and the radicals will surely launch a massive propaganda campaign to spread panic among the people and portray His Majesty the King as a great demon."

"These people act like superiors and nobles when dealing with ordinary people, but when facing His Majesty the King, they claim to represent the masses. The attack will be amplified, further escalating the rift between the court system and the King."

"Once a break occurs, His Majesty's rule will be severely damaged. Unfortunately, His Majesty is a man of strong emotions, and those nobles in robes are the kind of people who take pride in resisting power. It is unlikely that Deplesi alone can stop the situation from developing."

"You said the person who hired the assassin is a high-ranking nobleman, and that the death of just one or two lawyers could fuel the current turmoil and shake the throne. What a lucrative deal!"

Compared to assassinating kings and nobles, what is the harm to a mere lawyer? Given the palace's insensitivity, they certainly won't react to such a trivial matter. Necker applauded; if it weren't for these meddlesome sorcerers, it would have been a remarkably successful scheme.

"Those useless princes who want to seize the throne are obviously the ones who will benefit from this. They're not even as good as His Majesty. So, the biggest suspect is... the currently active Grand Duke Merovingian?"

(End of this chapter)