The Judgment Tribunal

"If Norton really was reborn as Samson, then Jiu De Yaji and Ye Sheng might already be dead." Luo Qiusheng walked down the mountain, weighing things in his mind.

When he'd read the novel, he'd found the two of them dying hard to accept. All it took was a little imagination to put himself in their shoes and feel their pain.

Those who hunted dragons had surely been prepared to make sacrifices. And Luo Qiusheng was a new student at Kassel; most dragon-hunting operations were kept secret...

"I wonder if those old geezers at Kassel will go crazy when I suddenly disappear with Constantine's dragon bones."

He knew all too well that there were traitors among Kassel College's board members and the Secret Party elders.

After coming down the mountain, he reached the gates of Kassel College. The sky was only just beginning to lighten, and a layer of haze made everything hard to see.

"Have you heard? Caesar killed Norton, the King of Bronze and Fire, a few hours ago!"

"The news is all over the Kassel College forums. No wonder he's the Student Union president!"

Luo Qiusheng realized that his hearing seemed to have gotten better. Could this be another effect of the dragon bones?

He jogged over to the groups of students gradually returning to Kassel College. It wasn't long before someone recognized Luo Qiusheng, who had appeared out of nowhere.

After all, an S-rank student had joined this year's freshman class, which was bound to attract attention on the forums. And with Finger aggressively hyping up Lu Mingfei, it was hard for Luo Qiusheng not to get caught up in it.

"Luo Qiusheng!? Y-you—you were dead!"

"Who's spreading rumors that I died?" Luo Qiusheng said irritably.

Before long, Luo Qiusheng had hit it off with the group of Kassel students. In the end, members of Kassel College's investigation team took him away.

Luo Qiusheng looked at the two people walking in front of him. One was on either side, with another behind him, nearly forming a ring around him.

"I mean... aren't you being a little obvious? I'm just a new student who's barely started here. Is all this really necessary?"

The investigation team shouldn't normally show up at this hour. Could those old geezers on the Board of Trustees be behind this?

Kassel College's investigation team—also known as the Board of Trustees' investigation team—answered directly to the Board of Trustees, which in turn answered to the Secret Party's Council of Elders.

As the sky gradually brightened, several hours of rumors and speculation soon set the Kassel College forums ablaze with news that the Board of Trustees' investigation team had taken Luo Qiusheng away. Before long, everyone knew.

But the top story was still that Student Union president Caesar had killed the Dragon King Norton...

At nine o'clock, the hearing began in the grand assembly hall of Valhalla. A square wooden railing stood in the center of the hall, and Luo Qiusheng stood inside it. He swept his gaze over the unfamiliar faces below. Everyone present seemed irrelevant to the story. A few buddies he'd befriended on his way back earlier were seated in the audience, though.

Luo Qiusheng had joined the Student Union, just like Lu Mingfei. Not for any particular reason; he simply felt that Caesar was a great guy to have around. Business-trip expenses covered, travel expenses covered—what could be more appealing than a free ride?

The hearing only began once every seat was filled.

"Luo Qiusheng! You disappeared for a time, then took Constantine's remains in front of the entire school. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Luo Qiusheng frowned slightly and looked at his judge, Andrew Gattuso.

"Are you asking me?"

"No one knows where I went. Even if I told you now, you could just say it's my word against yours. My own testimony wouldn't convince anyone, would it, Andrew?"

"You!" Andrew Gattuso realized he hadn't managed to steer Luo Qiusheng into saying what he wanted. He immediately switched tactics.

Trying to step on me to climb the ladder? You've really got that scheme worked out!

"Also, I have an objection!"

"You brought me here without verifying anything and restricted my freedom. I can let that go. But you all saw Constantine's condition at the time. Even the water in the lake evaporated in an instant when he fell into it. You're saying I took Constantine's dragon bones, so let me ask you: how could I have even gotten close to him? And how did I suddenly escape right under the noses of all of you—including, but not limited to, the Board of Trustees?"

"Show me the relevant evidence. Otherwise, your accusation won't hold!"

Andrew Gattuso clenched both hands into fists. He didn't say a word because even he couldn't refute Luo Qiusheng. This was Constantine, the King of Bronze and Fire! The Dragon King's Lord Flame exceeded 3,000°C; it could melt metal, ignite the air, and warp the heat around it. It could vaporize practically anything in the world.

You want me to prove why you didn't get vaporized!?

After a long silence, Luo Qiusheng saw Andrew standing there with an expression like he was constipated. He smiled and spoke again. "Now it's my turn to ask you something. Is this the Judgment Tribunal of Kassel, or the Board of Trustees? Or is it a tribunal directly under the Council of Elders? Is Kassel going to become the Council of Elders' one-man show!?"

Someone in the audience couldn't take it anymore and stood up to leave the hall. Once the first person left, a second followed. In the end, everyone else had left the grand assembly hall of Valhalla. Only Luo Qiusheng, still looking fearless, remained to face the members of the Judgment Tribunal. Beads of cold sweat even formed on their foreheads.

Even Andrew was beginning to regret this. "Y-you... what are you talking about?"

No one at Kassel had ever dared to say this kind of thing openly. It wasn't that they didn't want to; they were afraid. Afraid of the Council of Elders' immense power, afraid of being purged from within.

Luo Qiusheng had expected the Kassel students to leave. Here, most of them were just cannon fodder. The moment anything involved those big shots...

"Forget it. Let me go back, or... expel me. The choice is yours, isn't it?"

Luo Qiusheng had already mapped out what he would do next. When he'd learned that this was the world of the Dragon Tribe, his first thought had been that he absolutely had to get into this school. So throughout his three years of high school, he'd consistently ranked near the top of his class. He hadn't gone to Shilan High School, so he'd barely had any dealings with Lu Mingfei or Chu Zihang. In the end, they were little more than acquaintances who nodded to each other.

And one of his biological parents was probably of Hybrid blood. He didn't know where they were, and besides, being a Hybrid was a high-risk occupation.

At first, he'd come for Kassel College's generous scholarships and its unorthodox teaching methods. But after giving it some thought, he'd realized that this place "wasn't safe."

A line flashed through his mind: Would you rather muddle through your life, or become the one moving the pieces on the board?

He'd move between the departments of alchemy, field operations, and social studies. He wanted to become stronger, because that was the only way to avoid being killed by someone else—or by a dragon while hunting one!

After Constantine died protecting the still-unawakened Norton—Old Tang—a force seemed to have drawn him toward touching the corpse.

Now he had the bloodline of Constantine, a First Generation, inside him, as well as the medium of traveling between two worlds. It seemed that coming to this college wasn't absolutely necessary...