Wizard's Journey

Chapter 300 Judgment and Trial

A month later.

hum!

A super-fast mechanical bee landed in front of Grimm's Demon Hunter Castle. With a knock on the door, Grimm, who was carefully observing the lightning patterns on the cross-section of the broken branches, looked up, sighed, and put away the two broken branches.

"Gah! Young master, it must be that you've finished your verification and the trial period is over. I'm going to hide for a bit." The myna bird disappeared into the dimensional rift.

Green quickly tidied up the laboratory one last time, then flew downstairs and opened the gates of the Demon Hunter Castle.

"Green?"

Both witch hunters wore eye patches that resembled fly eyes, with dark red light shimmering on the crystal mirrors of the eye patches. A black mask covered their faces, making them look very mysterious.

Green nodded and said in a deep voice, "Yes."

Splash...

Two demon hunter wizards took out a metal anti-magic shackle, along with a quest scroll. One of them said coldly, "You have been determined by the Seventh Ring Holy Tower's Demon Hunter Tribunal to have violated the Holy Tower's rules. Now come with us to the Demon Hunter Tribunal for interrogation."

Nodding, Green stretched out his arms.

Click!

Metal anti-magic shackles were put on Green's arms.

At first, Green felt he could break free completely, but after a few breaths, he found his whole body limp and his magic power was becoming lifeless, making him powerless against the metal anti-magic shackles on his hands.

"Let's go."

Two witcher wizards escorted Grimm into the mechanical bee. Then, with the mechanical bee flapping its wings at incredible speed, a gust of dust rose from the lawn before it vanished into thin air.

three days later.

The completely enclosed room was utterly silent, creating a sense of despair and oppression. The only light coming through the skylight allowed Green to know that the sun and moon were changing.

Suddenly, with a rumbling sound of mechanical gears grinding together, Green, who was sitting on the ground, raised his head and looked over with a pair of black eyes under his golden hair.

The light was a bit dazzling, so Green quickly lowered his head and closed his eyes again.

Two strong hands lifted the limp and powerless Green, half-dragging him, and after a few minutes of silence in front of the closed room door, Green was brought into a large hall and then confined to a chair.

The hall was brightly lit.

There were six wizards on the distant high platform, including the white-bearded old man who was puffing on his pipe and blowing smoke rings.

After glancing at Green, the six wizards on the platform began to examine the documents in their hands.

"As a demon hunter wizard, instead of taking it upon himself to protect the human heritage of the Wizarding Continent, he actually assisted a dark wizard in escaping back to the filthy Black Domain. His crimes are heinous and despicable!"

An angry voice roared as a judgment wizard slammed the documents aside.

"Attempted crime? However, it was not due to a lack of his subjective will, but rather because this demon hunter, the Banjada Wizard, prevented the evil from happening. Therefore, the reduction of the judge's sentence needs to be seriously considered and deliberated."

This calmed one of the judges.

"Was it an act of depravity against his will, done to save his wife's life? While there are extenuating circumstances, wizard apprentices and ordinary humans are essentially on the same level in terms of life. To save and protect a dark wizard apprentice, he killed numerous ordinary humans to collect materials of despair for the dark wizard. His crimes are heinous..."

The first three judges were all people who had an extreme hatred and disgust for dark wizards, just like Grimm at this moment.

Without the dark wizard Hattori Hizo, none of these events would have occurred.

However, the fourth trial witch took an unexpected turn.

"However, it should also be noted that the certification states that this wizarding apprentice named Raffi is the wife of the witch hunter Grimm, so in essence, he is also a victim. Although he committed heinous crimes, he has also shown remorse..."

The witch's voice was melodious and pleasant, like a stream flowing over pebbles.

The fifth witch hunter continued, "Well, also, according to the certification information, Grimm possesses the will of the Heart of the World that forcibly propelled him to become a formal wizard, and he is recognized by both the Will of the Third-Level Witch Hunter Medal and the Will of the Wizard. According to the rules for cultivating potential, our task is to salvage and cultivate the potential of the wizarding world as much as possible, not to punish it."

Smash it, suck it in...

"Indeed, a promising young dark wizard needs our more care and understanding. After all, they have sacrificed so much for the wizarding world. We should try our best to guide these children who have made great sacrifices for the wizarding world onto the right path, so that the power they possess can be fully released for the development of the wizarding world."

call……

The white-bearded wizard exhaled another smoke ring from his mouth.

"After all, dark wizards themselves grow up amidst sin and cruelty, and all of this is a last resort. The wise and virtuous wizards of the past already knew the scorn and consequences that would result from such division of wizards, one of the greatest costs being the continuation of chaos. Therefore, a dark wizard who cannot uphold the principles of cruelty is not a qualified dark wizard, and even minor transgressions are..."

Snapped!

A mallet slammed on the table.

"The wizarding world cultivates dark wizards for a better future, not as a reason to tolerate their rule-breaking! They have indeed sacrificed more than light wizards, but rules are rules, and that doesn't apply because..."

The six judges on the high platform engaged in a series of arguments and compromises. Although they disagreed on the judgment of Grimm, they were essentially all guardians of the wizarding world, people who wholeheartedly and selflessly dedicated themselves to it.

Green was bound to the chair like a lamb in a cage, with two witch-hunting wizards standing guard beside him, meticulous in their duties.

With his head down, Green said nothing, simply awaiting the verdict.

A mature wizard must take responsibility for himself, accept the punishment for wrong choices and actions, and face everything with equanimity.

The so-called "excusable circumstances" are only from Green's personal perspective.

After a full quarter of an hourglass, the six trial wizards finally reached a consensus.

"Black Tower Wizarding Academy, Demon Hunter Dark Wizard Grimm."

Green raised his head and looked at the judge who was reading his verdict.

Beneath his disheveled golden hair, his eyes were utterly calm, and his resolute face, now exposed to the air without the Face of Truth, faced the crowd directly.

"After a unanimous verdict by the six trial wizards, it was determined that the crimes you committed were: assisting in the attempted escape of the black wizard Hattori Mizo, harboring the evil black wizard apprentice Raffi for three months, and indirectly causing the deaths of eleven civilians who were collected by the Desperate Humans. These crimes violated the rules of the Holy Tower and were considered heinous. You are sentenced to a total of nine hundred and fifty years in prison."

Green's breath hitched, and a hint of pain and disappointment showed on his face.

Nine hundred and fifty years?

Even for a formal wizard, it was far too long.

Just as Green was feeling an unbearable pain and despair, the wizard glanced at Green and continued reciting.

"However, considering that Green is a demon hunter and a dark wizard, and that this is his first offense, and that he has voluntarily repented for his sins and has not caused any real or significant damage to the order and rules of the wizarding world, his criminal motives are understandable. Therefore, the Chief Judge has decided to reduce his sentence to two hundred years in the seventh-ring prison as a warning."

Ok?

Two hundred years?

Although the punishment was still long, it was barely bearable, and Green's heart gradually calmed down.

but……

"Because Green entered the Heart of the World with first place in the Dark Wizard Holy Tower Competition during his apprenticeship, gaining recognition from the Wizarding Will, the trial, based on the Wizarding World's principle of nurturing potential, decided to unconditionally reduce his sentence by fifty years in the Seventh Ring Prison. Furthermore, because he obtained a Level Three Demon Hunter Honor Medal during the Demon Hunting Expedition, and is considered a person who has made significant contributions to the Wizarding World, the verdict decided that the condemned Green could replace his fifty years in the Seventh Ring Prison with one hundred Wizard Essences."

After a pause, the wizard looked at Green and said, "If you refuse the trial and accept the result, you have the right to pay one hundred magic essences to apply for a higher-level trial."

Overwhelmed by the disappointment, Green took a deep breath and said, "I agree with the verdict and am willing to pay one hundred witch essences to avoid fifty years of imprisonment in the seventh ring."

The wizard nodded, raised the parchment scroll, and shouted, "The judgment is over."

Then, the six trial wizards branded their life information onto the parchment scroll and handed it to Grimm.

With the help of two guardian witchers, Grimm was briefly restored to a sliver of magic and branded his life information onto the parchment scroll.

A wave of the Seventh Ring Holy Tower Wizard's will surged. The old wizard put away the parchment scroll and said in a deep voice, "The judgment is in effect. Execute it immediately!"

Two guards carried Green out of the trial room, passing by another witcher who had come to be judged.

(End of this chapter)