Volume 4: The End of the World Chapter 40 Father and Son
"Mr. Garey, according to tradition, I think this matter should first go through the trial process of the Oak Council."
Ebony looked at the young man with a wolf face and tattoo who was tied in front of the statue of the Seven Holy Saints, and said this to the middle-aged man who was sitting beside him with his eyes closed.
Not long after he returned to the Temple of the Great Mother of the Sacred Tree, the second-in-command of the Emerald Province, the secretary Gareth Wolfwhisper who was in charge of all the affairs of the forest elves on the surface, broke in with several Wild Hunt warriors.
At first, he thought that the information had been leaked and that he needed to formally break up with the Duke. As a result, the other party came here with his son in custody. As soon as he came in, he directly asked the temple to provide him with the rotten root juice for execution.
And Ebony naturally rejected him without hesitation.
There was no reason to agree to this, as doing so was neither in line with Ravenwood's traditions nor in compliance with Imperial law.
This was exactly how Fularo had been exercising her tyranny since she came to power—she killed whoever she wanted, without any regard for the law or tradition, and acted entirely on her own accord. In his opinion, perhaps the tribal chieftains who chose the objects of sacrifice based on the astrological signs during the Iron Era were more politically savvy than she was.
After hearing Ebony's words, Gare opened his eyes, stood up and walked in front of the Great Mother Listener, stared at her and said:
"I haven't yet reached the point where I need those old folks at Oak Council to give me permission to do anything."
Under Fularo's rule, the Oak Council, which used to be the core of Ravenwood, now has basically no power except for improving the local people's livelihood. All they can do now is to announce that the policies of the Bone White House are also the will of the "Holy Tree Mother" after they are implemented, so as to reduce resistance to the promotion of those policies.
"If you really have no respect for our traditions, then you can also let your son follow the member of the Blind Sisterhood to the Platinum Province to await trial by the Imperial Court... But to be honest, I don't quite understand why you are so anxious to send your son to death, just to show your loyalty to our beloved Duke?"
As Ebony spoke, he looked at Quill Wolfyan who was standing beside him. Ever since the child was brought in, he had been staring at the statue of the Holy Tree Mother that had undergone the "imperialization" treatment on the shrine.
"Just do as he says, Listener. He's been wanting me dead for a long time."
Quill, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke up.
His voice was flat and calm, sounding like the permafrost on the Cold Stone Plain.
"I am a disgrace to the family in his eyes, and a stumbling block that prevents him from further gaining the trust of the tyrant. Dying under the sap of a rotten root is at least somewhat dignified. If I were killed in some other way, this person would have to deal with my body."
The elves who died from drinking the rotten root sap had their blood poisoned, so their bodies were all handed over to a special blesser called the "Holy Eater" for disposal. For Quill, compared to the fact of death, being subjected to the Holy Communion ritual by this man was a greater shame.
"It's disgusting enough to think about it."
Quill said, spitting to the side.
While he was talking, he didn't even look at his father.
In fact, the father and son never looked at each other from beginning to end.
"Since he agrees, please perform your duties and complete everything."
After a moment's silence, Gare said this.
But when Wu Mu heard this, he opened his hands and looked at the other party with anger.
"Listen, it's not that I don't want to meet your needs. But first of all, you have no power to give me orders. In this world, only the Holy Tree Mother is qualified to give me orders. Secondly, as a clerk, you also do not have the power to sentence the Duke to death. Let me be clear first, I don't know much, and I don't want to get involved in the conflict between you and your son. So, if you want me to use the rotten root sap to execute the death penalty, please bring our most beloved Duke here."
If she could still come.
Ebony thought to herself.
As far as he knew, Lord William had gone to the Bone Palace to "negotiate" with him. Although Fularo was indeed inexplicably strong, she was still not as good as the legend walking in the human world.
"Is the evidence you mentioned here? Before I came to find you, I came here once, but I didn't seem to see anything noteworthy."
It was also at this time that a slightly hoarse male voice suddenly sounded outside the temple.
Ebony, knowing who the voice belonged to, straightened his back subconsciously.
He is back...
In other words, he has completed the initial contact with the woman. Is she coming back to discuss with me the next plan to formally seize power?
"So, you've been here before? Wait, you haven't come into contact with Hobien Ebony before?"
Another cold-blooded female voice sounded outside the door. The moment he heard this voice, he felt as if he had fallen into an icy cave.
That was the voice of his eternal nightmare - Floral Cain.
But why did she come ? And she came with William.
Could it be that William betrayed him and chose to cooperate with the more powerful Duke of Holy Tree?
Impossible... According to the omen revealed to him by the Great Mother, William should be the true liberator of the forest elves.
For a moment, countless uneasy thoughts flooded into his mind, making him freeze in place as if he was petrified, unable to move an inch.
At this time, the heavy stone door of the temple was pushed open. Including William and Flora , four people entered the temple one after another.
William and Fularo walked straight towards the people standing in the center of the temple. Nezemar and Yinlis, who came here for the first time, stood at the door and looked around curiously at the structure and layout of the temple growing in the tree hole.
William and Flora walked side by side in front of Ebony. Gare, who was standing not far away, immediately gave Flora a standard imperial salute.
For a moment, no one spoke.
"Mr. Quill!"
In the end, it was Yin Lisi who first broke the silence when he saw his companion tied in front of the shrine.
Nezemar wasn't paying attention and let the girl break free from his hand and run to the shrine.
Quill looked at the girl in shock, and after a long while he spoke:
"I thought you were already in the Green Cell... Why did she bring you here?"
The "she" that Quill mentioned naturally refers to the Duke of Holy Tree.
"I don't know why, but it seems that I will not be sent to Platinum City. After that, I can try to contact the members of the Blind Sisterhood scattered all over the continent, and then rebuild the organization and continue to tour various places on the continent... This sister told me these."
Yinlis said, pointing to Nezemar who was walking slowly towards him.
"real?"
He turned to look at the tall woman who had stood up for them earlier and asked with some suspicion.
This doesn't seem like something the Duke of Holy Tree, who is strict internally and compromising externally, would do.
Nezemal looked at him and nodded in response.
"But...how did you convince the Duke? Did you pay any price?"
The only possibility Quill could think of was that they offered the Duke a price that would make him compromise.
However, Nazemare shook his head and said:
"It wasn't the presiding judge who convinced her, but she convinced the presiding judge to handle matters concerning the Blind Sisters in this way."
