As they entered the guild master’s office, the three of them were silent, with Vicente smiling under his mask and the blond man glaring at him angrily.
Nova was one of the most beautiful captains in the royal army post of Millfall, a woman in her twenties who had many suitors, including this blond man, her colleague and superior.
Seeing a low-level criminal flirting with the woman who had made him give up all the others, Jett couldn’t help but double the negative feeling he already had for such a person.
As a member of the royal forces, he already hated criminals. But Vicente courting Nova was tantamount to attacking him!
‘Wretch! I don’t know why the Commander put you in his cross hairs, but now I guarantee you will lose everything you have!’ Jett thought to himself.
The guild master didn’t know why the blond was staring at Vicente so hatefully and decided to break the silence as soon as he sat down in his chair.
“Very well, young Cesar, I called you here today at the request of the royal army. Your operations seem to have broken local rules, so we need to talk.” The fat, bald, but very well-dressed man said.
The royal laws had different levels of intensity. The army could destroy Vicente’s group if they had proof that such a team had committed a serious crime, such as attacking a noble or member of royalty, plotting against the state, and so on.
But only the most serious crimes with concrete evidence led to immediate action by the army. In other situations, they had to be more cautious in their actions!
Even though the army was the most significant force in the state, it could not casually punish without evidence. Not only was there a danger that corrupt members would act against the state’s good with swift actions, but the whole state would tremble with fear if this could happen without investigations.
How could ordinary powers, families, clans, and merchants act if, at any moment, they could lose their possessions for flimsy reasons? 𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝘭.𝘦𝑡
For a state to function, even the force in power had to follow the rules and have some bureaucracy before punishing civilians!
Without that, it would be impossible for the state to function, and everyone would quickly oppose the royal family.
That was exactly why Vicente was there now because the army still had no evidence against him to act without worrying about appearances.
He understood this, and a warning came to his mind. ‘So someone important in the army is against me… My enemies probably bought someone.’
The fact that the army had nothing serious against him at the moment did not mean they would never have something like that!
Vice worried and said. “I doubt that very much, guild master. I followed the conventional protocols and had the approval of 4 different army Captains for my operation. Besides, I’m only acting on the private property of my clients and myself. How have I broken any laws?”
Jett said. “Don’t play dumb, Cesar. Those permits you got are worthless. The men who approved you are already under internal investigation for corruption. So, your approvals will be null soon.”
“Really?” Vicente looked the angry man in the eye. “It’s not my fault. It is not us mercenaries who decide who will accredit us. That’s the army’s problem. How can I be blamed for that?”
“Tsk! You can talk as much as you want. In a month, you will lose your licenses, and we can put you out of business if you don’t prove to us that you are operating within the rules.”
“What do you want?” Vicente asked, this time looking at the beautiful Nova.
Nova said. “We need all your data. From the number of men in your operation to contracts with local merchants. You need proof to distance your group from the crime of forming an unauthorized army.”
“Unauthorized army?” Vicente repeated these words. “How could a group of 1st stage mercenaries have the guts to do that? Come on, guys. I’m obviously being targeted by someone powerful for what happened recently.”
The guild master closed his eyes, knowing that this had to be the case. Otherwise, no one would believe such a small, weak group would dare form an unauthorized army.
Forming such a thing was punishable by death!
Nova was also surprised, but as an army officer ordered to contact Vicente, she only followed orders.
Seeing everyone in silence, Vice asked. “Is there anything else I’m being accused of? I want to prepare to defend myself at the Martial Court.”
The royal army enforced the law and punished lawbreakers. But the Martial Court, an independent arm of the army, judged these offenders.
For these people to have come to him, there must have already been a case in progress at the local Martial Court, the only place where Vicente could defend himself and delay the army’s actions against him.
“We also have a charge of murder against you,” Nova said in her angelic voice.
Murder within the kingdom’s cities was a severe crime in the Seidel Kingdom. However, one could only be charged with murder if they killed under special circumstances. Self-defense was not considered a crime.
“Murder?” Vicente laughed. “That’s nonsense. I only killed enemies who attacked me. The army will find no evidence against me.”
“We have a body,” Jett said, making Vicente look at him.
He smiled and asked. “Cesar, where were you an hour before the attack on your building? Why weren’t you with your people at your headquarters?”
This was a question Vicente could not answer. If he wanted to keep his identity a secret and protect Nina from what he was involved in, he could not tell them that he was at home practicing his skills at the forge.
Noticing Vicente’s silence, the three suspected that he was indeed guilty.
The silence was not necessarily a confession, but he would have to speak or prove his innocence if he wanted to be free of guilt. Otherwise, he could be convicted at the Court Martial!
‘Damn it! These wretches are framing me!’ Vicente clenched his fists in anger. ‘It won’t stay like this, Defiant Tyranny!’
He stood up and said. “I am innocent of all you accuse me of. I will prove it in my own way. Talking to you won’t solve anything, so I bid you farewell.”
As he left, the guild master shouted. “Cesar, don’t be rash. If you don’t cooperate, even I won’t be able to help you, and eventually, you won’t even be able to be a mercenary.”
Nova advised as she tossed a small card in Vicente’s direction. “If you change your mind and decide to talk, come to us. You will have one week to present your defense and information. After that, the trial will begin, and in a month at the most, you could lose your business and even be arrested.”
Vicente kept the card and then left, knowing that talking would get him nowhere.
But he was doubly angry. Criminals should not involve official forces in their problems!
‘Fucking cowards. I’ll show you how bandits act against their enemies!’