ATAPOW Chapter 72
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Chapter 72: The Crime Charges
A few leaves gently floated down along with the swaying shrubbery as two streaks of scarlet lights flickered within it.
After looking left and right, a small, sliver head poked its way out.
“Huff, huff~ Thank god I managed to slip away quickly.” As her long hair hung loosely onto the ground, Bai Ji placed her hand against her chest while fear lingered in her mind. She then scurried out of the grass carefully.
Although it was a thrilling and stimulating experience, her longevity would probably be reduced if it were to happen a few more times. That being said, it wasn’t as if she gained absolutely nothing from this trip. At the least, she had temporarily solved her sustenance problem.
As she thought of that, Bai Ji unconsciously kneaded her belly.
That fresh blood was prepared for another vampire in the school; Moreover, that vampire’s identity was actually pretty unique…
‘However, I’m not a freeloader. I owe her for the meal and will definitely return the favor in the future. Mhm… When I have the money, that is.’
“Speaking of which, did I forget something?” Bai Ji was somewhat perplexed as she sucked on her hair, entering a state of silence.
‘Oh! That’s right, my hair clip! I left my hairclip there! What do I do… Do I go back and take it? Ummm…’
‘I’ll just forget about it and put it up as collateral for the free meal… Boo hoo~ But there’s just no way I can forget about it like that! It’s actually the pair I loved the most! I’ve had it for roughly a year now and I don’t want to throw it away…(>﹏<)’
‘But it isn’t realistic for me to go back and retrieve it either…’
Bai Ji hesitantly looked at the public baths behind her. When faced with this cruel and unfortunate truth, she recalled the scenes of her past; The bitter experience where she muddled her way from being an inexperienced knight to becoming a knight king, as well as the unexpected ‘surprise’ that life gifted her after her success.
The battle between the vampires and knights had been ongoing for such a long time, yet, the scarlet queen and Bai Ji’s old comrades-in-arms were still alive and well. It seemed that the only change that happened after fighting for so long was the fact that she changed into a girl.
‘Why? Why are the knights and vampires showing off in the spotlight, while I’m the only one taking a beating in the corner?’
Before she could even be immersed in love, her fierce-man persona of old had already turned into a memory.
Her sorrow instantly turned into a river. Bai Ji sat on the ground in a duck-like position, with a pleasant-sounding ‘wahhh’, she broke into tears.
“Isn’t it just sponging off a free meal?…~ It’s not like I’m not going to pay it back! My hair clip! My life… wahhhh~! I turned into a girl before I could even flirt with girls! Uhuhu…”
…………
The western city wall.
The reinforcements sent from the Chivalric Order of Radiant Knight had managed to repel the remaining troll forces with great difficulty. Knights were incessantly moving back and forth on top of the city walls, sweeping the battlefield to retrieve any usable materials.
However, there were certain issues that perplexed the frontline knights; The knights that came to provide assistance were cold and indifferent to their wounded brethren, while their dead comrades were simply tossed onto carts. They also didn’t express any words of consolation to the frontline knights that managed to survive the disaster.
“Lord Gorm, I’m very grateful for your generous help. If the reinforcements were to arrive a bit later, the city would have probably been…”
“How audacious of a commander you are, you war criminal! Is this how you address a senior official? Lord Gorm’s name isn’t something you can call as you wish! Kneel down! I don’t wish to see such impudence for a second time!” A knight with a handlebar mustache, who served as Gorm’s bodyguard, furiously interrupted the veteran frontline knight’s speech.
The veteran frontline knight was slightly shocked. It was only after looking at the silent Gorm who was standing with his hands behind his back, did he follow the lead of the frontline knights behind him and saluted. He then got down on his knee once he was done with this action.
“Seize their weapons,” Gorm coolly ordered.
The frontline knights, who had just undergone a deadly battle, felt a sense of ominous premonition as they were faced with an approaching encirclement of knights with an unsavory complexion on their faces. Despite that, they still handed their weapons without a fight.
The idea that their people wouldn’t hurt them was deeply rooted in their minds.
“What’s your name?” Gorm looked down disdainfully from the corner of his eyes at the old knight who was still on his knee.
“Reporting to Lord Gorm, the name of this lowly self is called Wright. I’m the chief of the frontline knights in this area.” The veteran knight, who was short of an arm, said respectfully as blood continued to flow out of the socket where his arm originally was.
“Mhm. Are you all aware of your crimes?”
“Crimes?” The veteran knight was momentarily stunned upon hearing this.
“We defended the city to the death and didn’t yield an inch to the enemy, Lord Gorm. May I know where this crime came from?“
”Where did this crime come from, you ask? Haha, are all of you really that oblivious?” Gorm laughed grimly and gave a meaningful look at the knight beside him with the handlebar mustache.
“Crack!” An incident that went beyond the imaginations of all the frontline knights present happened.
Unbeknownst to anyone, the handlebar mustache knight drew his blade and plunged it into the chest of a frontline knight.
Disbelief and astonishment filled the eyes of the frontline knight whose life was currently at death’s door as his body slowly collapsed onto the floor.
“?! Lord Gorm!? Y-You… What is this supposed to mean? Why did you lay your hands on my students? They are all heroes that resolutely defended the city gates! What is the meaning of this?!”
Gorm smiled as he confronted the veteran knight’s indignant rebukes, alongside the clueless panic inside the rest of the frontline knights’ eyes.
“Defended the city gates to the death? Did that really happen? Did you really defend the city gates to your deaths?” Gorm’s doubtful eyes looked towards the handlebar mustache knight at his side.
“Don’t listen to his nonsense, Lord Gorm! If we arrived any later, the city gates would have already been breached!” The handlebar mustache knight said in a resolute and decisive manner.
“You… How could you even claim that in such a dignified manner!?” The veteran knight held himself back so much to a degree that his face was turning red.
“If we didn’t cling onto this place with our lives, how could your reinforcements possibly arrive on time?”
“Oh? You were the ones that defended the city gates?” Gorm tilted his head in confusion and looked towards another knight, as if he was looking for clarification.
“Eh I… No, no. It’s thanks to Lord Gorm’s perceptive attention that we managed to gain control of the entire situation, and arrive at the battlefield in time. We managed to bring the escaping frontline knights to justice and repel the trolls in one go,” the knight was stunned for a moment and immediately changed his words when he felt the gaze from the handlebar mustache knight.
“Mhm.” Gorm nodded his head with satisfaction.
“Did you see it happen? You claim that you defended the city gate to the death? But no one saw that, did they? Let me give you some advice, old man. Don’t rely on your old age to twist the truth to your advantage, alright?”
“You…”
“Do you know how many commoners would have been homeless and displaced, how many families would have been eternally broken up thanks to your dereliction? Are the lives of all these people being plunged into a mire of misery and suffering the first thing that all of you wanted? You lot couldn’t be secretly communicating with the demons, haven’t you?!” Gorm questioned the old man in an overbearing manner.
“You, you… Cough! Cough!” The old knight widened his eyes as he pointed at Gorm with his trembling finger.
“Not only did you frontline knights not report the situation and withhold information from us, but you also neglected your duties and attempted to flee in the face of danger! Do you think you have honored your loved ones and the city’s citizens by doing so? I want to ask everyone here, what should the punishment be for their crimes!?” The knight with the handlebar mustache said in a very ferocious manner as he adapted his speech with Gorm’s words.
“Lord Gorm, let’s stop wasting any more time with them. According to our Chivalric Order’s commandments, the punishment of secretly communicating with demons and deserting the battlefield is immediate execution. Come men! Let’s execute this batch of traitors to humanity!”
With the handlebar mustache knight’s order, the nearby knights drew out their swords and walked towards the unarmed, defenseless, and worn-out frontline knights.
“Stay your hand! I want to see who dares to do so!” The veteran knight roared ferociously.
“Look at these gallant spirits that died in battle underneath your feet, now look at yourself! You’re taking the side of an evildoer and are using your positions to persecute others! …Are all of you really worthy of becoming knights?!”
The veteran knight’s ferocious roar caused the actions of the sword-wielding knights to turn sluggish as signs of an inner struggle appeared on their faces.
“Remember the oath you have made the moment you joined the Chivalric Order! Compare it to what you’re doing right now, you…”
The old knight wanted to finish his words, and yet, he found that he was no longer able to open his mouth.
An ice-cold sword had already pierced through his throat.
“Teacher!” The few frontline knights, who were covered with bruises, flocked towards the falling silhouette and embraced him.
“This crazy old thing. We should have gotten rid of him earlier.” Gorm knitted his eyebrows while placing his blood-stained sword back into its scabbard.
“And all of you, are you planning to share the same fate as them? Our Chivalric Order has never been known to be charitable towards traitors.” Gorm’s cold and stern gaze swept past the sword-wielding knights who trembled and tightly grasped onto the sword in their hands.
Following a series of chopping sounds, fresh blood splattered onto the city walls.