Vol 1 Chapter 2.3 (1/2)
39—Legend of Sun Knight Volume 1
Original novel in Chinese by: 御 我 (Yu Wo)
Chapter 2 My… Part 3: …Companion – translated by lucathia (proofread by Arcedemius, Erro, C/E edited by Doza)
Using all his strength, Elaro rushed into the Judge’s Complex with Ludia in his arms. A bunch of people were crowded inside. They were all members of the Judgment Knight Platoon. They were huddled in a circle, so he could not see what the situation was like in the center.
“Out of the way!”
Only after Elaro’s shout did the holy knights ahead notice his arrival and hasten to open a path for him.
There were already three clerics casting healing spells. Based on everyone’s expressions, the criminal must have still been alive. Elaro relaxed a bit. He took large strides forward and placed Ludia right in the middle of the scene.
Before she had even been set on the ground, Ludia was already chanting an incantation for a healing spell. The Pope had always praised the power behind her healing spells. Even though she needed to use incantations to aid even her Minor Heals, the effect was so much better than what many other clerics could achieve when casting spells of the same level.
The three clerics wholeheartedly welcomed Ludia’s arrival, looking very grateful. However, they continued without a pause, laboriously casting healing spells. In no time at all, the originally dim Judge’s Complex was filled with pale yellow healing light.
As far as healing was concerned, Elaro was unnecessary. So he had the time to examine the situation.
The criminal lay encircled by the crowd. With the entire figure enveloped by the light of the healing spells, Elaro could not determine the condition of the injuries, so he dismissed them for the moment. He raised his head to look around, searching for the person he was more concerned about at the moment.
Hungri was standing to the side with his head lowered, watching the criminal silently.
He seemed to feel Elaro’s attention. When he raised his head, he found Elaro staring straight at him.
Hungri was not too surprised. After all, he knew that a member of the Judgment Knight Platoon had gone off to find Elaro, even though Hungri had reminded him that Elaro would not be much help in saving the criminal. Still, the holy knight had rushed off at the first possible moment to seek Elaro out.
Although Elaro could not offer much a.s.sistance, his very presence was enough to calm everyone down greatly. Hungri looked toward Elaro. He had his brows furrowed deeply. His mature face and tall stature made him look a bit older than his actual age, and also made him more imposing. Although his renowned smile was absent, he still made Hungri feel that Elaro was—the Sun Knight.
Elaro made a gesture toward the exit. Hungri nodded without a word. The two of them left the Judge’s Complex in single file. Elaro, in front, quietly sucked in a deep breath before he turned to face Hungri.
“After I left, did you bring the criminal out again to torture a confession out of him?”
However, Elaro was already convinced. When he had left, the criminal’s injuries had not been severe enough to be life-threatening; but he asked anyway, holding on to a shred of hope that there was some kind of misunderstanding.
Hungri nodded wordlessly.
“Why?” Elaro looked at him sadly. He had initially retained some hope. He had hoped that the situation was not what it looked like, and it was merely that the severity of the criminal’s original injuries had caused him to worsen over time.
However, that was really unlikely to have been the case. The Judge’s Complex used very unique interrogation methods, mostly ones that would cause severe pain without leading to fatal injuries. In addition, as far as lessons required of a Judgment Knight were concerned, Hungri had always been a star pupil. Even the strict Judgment Knight had never been very critical, since Hungri had fulfilled expectations immediately.
Therefore, if a criminal were to die from interrogation, the likeliest possibility was that Hungri had done it on purpose. Elaro didn’t want to think that way, but he knew Hungri too well. He knew the answer without even needing to speculate.
When he saw Elaro’s expression, Hungri finally opened his mouth to speak. “He was asking for a beating. That’s it. There’s no other reason!”
“Hungri, you need to stay calm and impartial—“
“I can’t!” Hungri cut Elaro’s words off with a furious shout. “You don’t have to look at those sc.u.m day in and day out, seeing their evil deeds, hearing them talk. That’s the only reason you can talk about ‘staying calm and impartial’ so easily!”
Elaro opened his mouth but could not retort. If he had to name one of the duties of the Twelve Holy Knights that he was completely unable to take part in, his only answer could be the interrogations carried out at the Judge’s Complex.
In order to carry out an interrogation, one needed to undergo extremely specialized training. The Judgment Knight did not even let Hungri carry out real interrogations often, so of course Elaro would never be able to interrogate a criminal.
“I hate these criminals—no! I loathe them! I always have to pry out bit by bit the ugly, disgusting, and despicable crimes they’ve committed. Even when there’s conclusive evidence, they’re still full of excuses, and they just love to blame all their wrongdoings on the victims they’ve killed!
“The most ridiculous excuse I’ve heard was from a rapist who blamed a girl whose skirt swayed around, saying that she was purposely seducing him!” Hungri glared at Elaro and asked, emphasizing each word, “Having heard this, do you still think those people have the right to live?”
Elaro’s face fell. His tone was reproachful as he said, “The outcome should be the result of your judgment, not a side effect of your interrogation method! Hungri, if you let your emotions steer your actions and end up losing control, what difference is there between you and raging common folk? If anger alone is enough to decide the punishment, what need is there for the Judge’s Complex?”
By the time Elaro finished, Hungri’s expression had become hesitant. But then he heard Elaro use a worried and helpless tone to say, “If you had truly beaten the criminal to death, the situation might have been unsalvageable…”
Hungri clenched his teeth and said, “So what if he dies? In any case, I’ve already investigated thoroughly. The evidence is conclusive! It’s definitely the death penalty!”
Seeing Hungri stubbornly refusing to acknowledge his mistake, Elaro actually became a bit angry. “Even if it is the death penalty, you shouldn’t be the one beating him to death! His crime needs to be judged first, and then he needs to be publicly sentenced, letting the entire populace see the result of committing a crime!”
Hungri sulked but did not say a word.
It made Elaro feel truly disappointed. He had no more words he could use to persuade him. In the end, the only thing he could do was use the Judgment Knight to repress his student. “Hungri, you respect Knight-Captain Judgment a lot. Have you ever seen him lose control during an interrogation? Although the way he treats criminals is very harsh, it’s all for the sake of getting them to confess, not for punis.h.i.+ng them. You should know this even better than I do.”
Hungri stayed silent for a long time until he suddenly said, “I’m still not qualified enough, am I?”
“What?” Elaro stilled.
Hungri lifted his head, the rims of his eyes slightly red. His tone was barely controlled as he said, “I’m not anywhere near qualified enough to be your Judgment Knight yet, am I?”
Looking at Hungri’s expression, Elaro experienced a rare moment of panic. Hungri had been extremely stubborn since they were young. Forget crying; even seeing him show any sign of weakness was a rare occurrence. It was only when he committed extremely grave errors that he ever lowered his head to apologize.
“Hungri, what are you talking about? None of us have become the Twelve Holy Knights yet—“
Hungri cut him off. “If it weren’t because the rest of us are still too young, you would have already become the Sun Knight! It’s only that I’m still not qualified to be the Judgment Knight, so you’re unable to take your rightful place, but I…”
Without finis.h.i.+ng his statement, he suddenly stopped speaking. Elaro felt completely helpless and had no idea what to do.
“I—I just can’t be as good as Teacher!”
After shouting, he could not remain where he was any longer. The tears in his eyes were already… He turned his head and ran off.
Hungri! Elaro opened his mouth but couldn’t actually call out to stop him. He wouldn’t have known what to do afterwards.
Seeing Hungri run farther and farther away, Elaro could not keep his mood from dropping.
“I don’t have the qualifications to be the Sun Knight either. I can’t even get along with my Twelve Holy Knight companions whom I will be with for the next twenty years, so how could I be worthy to lead you all…”
Sounds drifted over from afar. Elaro raised his head to look. Dili and Rhonelin seemed to have b.u.mped right into Hungri and were currently staring at him in stupefaction. Even farther away, he could see Shuis and Valica closing in as well.
Hungri seemed to have noticed Shuis and Valica’s arrival too. He pivoted and left in a different direction to avoid running into them.
“Captain, Hungri was cry—“ Dili hurriedly said. Although Rhonelin, who was next to him, did not speak, he also had a surprised look on his face.
Elaro waved his hand, preventing Dili from speaking further. He waited for Shuis and Valica to catch up.
When they stood in front of him together, Elaro suddenly felt that something was off, but he couldn’t figure out what was so strange.