Chapter 95: Verdict
The spectral scale behind Melina suddenly began to tilt wildly. The golden plates bobbed up and down, completely unable to find an equilibrium. The glowing light flickered and sputtered into a chaotic mess of sparks.
Melina gripped her wooden staff and tilted her head in clear confusion.
"I cannot confirm the validity of that statement," Melina said. "I am not getting an answer."
The glowing scale behind Melina continued to violently fluctuate without ever settling on a definitive answer. The tension in the office spiked drastically.
Balzac stepped forward and broke the silence. "I already discussed this matter with Solomon earlier today. He explained that the angel had been sealed inside the cathedral for a very long time. When the anomaly unsealed him, the entity misunderstood the current situation and immediately began attacking."
Balzac gestured toward Solomon’s perfectly intact right arm. "After the angel realized the truth regarding the Paladin’s defeat, he healed Solomon’s severed arm as an apology and simply went away."
Lonard let out a quiet chuckle near the door. "That sounds utterly ridiculous, yet it makes perfect logical sense. The idea of an exhausted, one-armed teenager somehow defeating a fully manifested celestial entity and returning alive is entirely impossible."
The Grandmaster nodded in agreement. "Solomon has not even awakened his talent yet. He is still technically an unregistered adventurer. If a completely unawakened student missing a limb can somehow overpower an immortal angel in single combat, then we have a significantly larger problem with our understanding of universal power scaling that needs to be addressed."
The Inquisitor stared at the chaotic spectral scale. The combined logic of the professors and the sheer impossibility of the feat finally convinced him. The masked operative recognized he had reached a dead end.
"The trial is officially concluded," the Inquisitor declared.
Melina tapped her staff against the floorboards. The spectral entity and its glowing scale instantly dissolved into golden particles.
"I will relay everything gathered here directly to the Church," the Inquisitor said while turning toward the heavy wooden doors. He grabbed the brass handle and glanced over his shoulder. "Are you coming, Lonard?"
"Of course," Lonard replied, quickly joining the operative at the exit.
"I am not paying for your transport tickets back to the capital," the Inquisitor remarked dryly. He stepped out into the hallway. "Hurry up, Melina."
Melina remained standing near the crystal desk. She turned her blindfolded face directly toward Solomon. Her lips parted slightly, as if she desperately wanted to speak, but no words came out.
She gripped her wooden staff tighter and walked slowly toward the exit. Right before stepping through the doorway, Melina paused and turned her head to look at Solomon one final time before completely vanishing into the corridor.
The heavy wooden doors clicked shut.
Solomon stared at the closed doors. ’What exactly was that about?’ he wondered.
He replayed the final moments of the trial in his mind. ’Did my internal justification regarding the execution successfully trick her talent? Or is there an entirely different reason why her scale completely failed to register an answer?’
’Did Melina discover something that she intentionally chose to hide from the Inquisitor? No, why would she do that? But the second answer worked, so it’s likely the loophole since the last strike that killed Uriel was the Paladin’s emotion.’
The Grandmaster immediately dropped his composed facade and turned toward Solomon with a deeply frustrated expression. He marched around the crystal desk and stopped directly in front of the first-year student.
"Why do you act so recklessly?" the Grandmaster scolded while rubbing his temples to soothe an incoming headache. "You spend every waking moment provoking everyone you meet without sparing a single thought for the long-term consequences of your actions!"
Solomon tilted his head and blinked in feigned bewilderment. He casually slipped his hands back into his uniform pockets.
"What exactly are you talking about?" Solomon asked. "I never provoked anyone today."
"Did you forget you punched a second-year student today and then had a duel with him?" The Grandmaster threw his hands up in sheer exasperation. "You just openly challenged the entire Church and the Holy Empire to a series of literal death matches! You demanded the right to slaughter their holy knights and claim their equipment, and you somehow got those exact demands permanently written into our sovereign clause!"
Solomon maintained his confused expression and offered a simple shrug.
"If those terms were truly a problem, you probably should have said something while the document was being written," Solomon pointed out smoothly. "You are the one who used your administrative authority to make the contract official."
"Also, why should I worry about the consequences?" Solomon asked while adjusting his collar. "The opposite party constantly initiates the conflict. I am simply trying to protect what rightfully belongs to me."
The Grandmaster let out a long sigh and ran a hand over his face. "The Church is a remarkably dangerous organization. You really have no business getting involved with them as a first-year student with an unawakened talent. You can issue all the death matches you desire once you actually acquire the strength to back up those words."
The older man stopped his lecture abruptly. He studied Solomon’s entirely relaxed posture and the sheer confidence he had displayed against the Church operative. A look of realization crossed his features.
"Tell me the truth right now," the Grandmaster demanded while leaning closer. "Have you actually awakened your talent?"
Solomon maintained his calm expression and remained quiet for a moment to carefully weigh his options.
"I am still figuring out exactly how it works," Solomon finally replied.
The answer revealed very little. Even Balzac remained completely unaware of the true mechanics behind Convergence. Solomon fully intended to keep his SSS-rank ability a strictly guarded secret.
The power to permanently consume divine cores and assimilate anomalous bloodline skills defied all known logic. That kind of information would easily make him a target for every single kingdom and faction in existence.
"Oh, by the way, I remember securing a few loot in my expedition. How and where can I exchange it for points or money?"
"You would have known it if you had read the rulebook," the grandmaster remarked. "Go to the academy guild, also called the vanguard exchange."
