Chapter 211: The Arbitrator Arrives

The words of the servant served to alert everyone in the hall and they all looked towards each other.

"Seems like this is it. Let's do our best," Count Gabriel stated.

Everyone that was currently present in the hall nodded their heads while Alyssa took her leave as was decided. It was best that she was not involved in the arbitration so as to not cause any excess concerns on the end of the Arbitrator.

John being here was legitimate, as he was a lieutenant under Gabriel anyway and no one would really question that. Everyone stood up and walked to the main hall of the mansion. There they saw a person standing with his backs to them.

The footsteps of five people made the man turn around and they all could see the perchance of the man. Lucius observed the man from head to toe picking up all characteristics of the man.

The arbitrator was a man that looked to be in his late thirties and had light brown hair that was cut short. He was wearing the robes of a priest of the Church of Duran and had a sword on the left side of his waist.

On the chest of the priest, Lucius could see the crest of the Church of Duran, which was a sword and staff laying in a pair of scales. One of the scales held the sword, while the other held the staff.

The man had a straight expression that seemed to be neither too calm neither too agitated. Though there was a certain heavy vibe to it that everyone could sense.

"Greetings, sir Arbitrator." Gabriel as the count was the first to greet the man.

Usually, it would have to be the priest who would have to greet the Count due to being of a higher rank, but since he was in the capacity as an arbitrator, currently the Count's status could be said to be on the same level.

Seeing the entire get up of the man, Lucius found it to be rather unique. While it was not the first time he had seen priests using swords, it was quite rare. Even in his past life, it was the paladins from the church of Thara that used swords and other weapons.

The priests mostly used holy and light spells, maces, flails and staffs. There were some special priests who wandered around the lands also called as monks who would directly use their fists to preach the doctrines of the gods.

"Greetings, sir arbitrator." Lucius and the rest also greeted the man now.

Hearing everyone speaking, the priest showed no change of expression and continued to stare. Only after five minutes of silence did he open his mouth.

"I am Priest Lyle and I'll be proceeding over the matter assigned to the Church of Duran as an arbitrator." The man spoke in a forthright tone.

"We welcome you to our abode, priest Lyle." Lucius spoke before gesturing to the meeting hall's direction. "Why don't we all go and sit, while the servants bring us some refreshments. I'm sure Priest Lyle is exhausted from his long journey." Lucius said with a smile.

Lyle didn't say anything and simply stared at Lucius straight for two seconds before he walked in the direction of the meeting hall. 

~phew~

Kiana and Lita let out a breath they didn't even know they were holding. To them, the man in front had an oppressive aura that made it hard for them to be comfortable, despite the fact that he hadn't even done anything yet.

Lucius narrowed his eyes upon seeing the conduct of Lyle and knew that the man will be a tough nut to crack.

'This will need some extra effort.' Lucius thought to himself as he stared at the man's back.

He lightly squinted his eyes and activated Nexus, before a string of words appeared in front of him.

Gift Name: Tilting Scales

Description: The owner can detect lies and falsehoods that are spoken by someone when the gift is used on them. Then, depending on the number of lies they have spoken, the greater damage they will sustain when the owner attacks them.

Rank: Epic

Type: Mental/ Enhancement 

Evolution: Possible 

Evolution Requirements: Approval of the Altar of Duran

Other Owners: High Priest Martin, High Priest Ford, Bishop Vince, … (total owners: 23)

Seeing the details of Lyle's gift, Lucius became a bit more alert. He now knew that this would be far more difficult than he had thought. Not only was the gift and epic ranked gift, but it was also the worst kind of gift that they could have come across in this situation.

The gift was a lie detection gift and could even increase the power of its owner's attacks depending on how many lies the other person spoke. 

The only other problem Lucius had with this was that he didn't know of the consumption of Aether for the priest. There was also the surprising requirement for evolution that Lucius saw in it.

The only requirement for evolution was the approval of the Altar of Duran, which seemed according to the rumors that he had heard. Though according to those rumors, the priests needed to do a great service and be devoted to the god to be promoted.

Another thing he noted was the other owners of the gift. They all seemed to have far higher ranks than the man in front of him.

'Is it perhaps that he was slated for a promotion and this is his final task or something like that? Maybe that's why they upgraded his gift…' Lucius thought to himself.

But as he thought this, another idea entered his mind.

'Wait a minute, if he really did get the gift recently… perhaps he doesn't have as good of a control over it as he did with his previous gift, whatever it may be. And I doubt he got many chances to practice it either, after all the secondary effect of the gift can't just be used on anyone.

I don't think he will just go around attacking… no wait, he may actually do that if it was criminals.' Lucius thought to himself.

The more Lucius thought, the more confident he became of handling the situation. While there were of course, some unknown parameters that he had, there were still the backup plans he had ready.

~Creak~

The chairs were pulled back by the servants promptly upon their approach to the table and they all took a seat.

"Well then, Priest Lyle. Where do we start?" Gabriel asked.

Arbitration was a rather complex process, which could end up being very hectic or very straightforward. It mostly depended on the kind of arbitrator that was assigned and what kind of a crime he was assigned to investigate.

"I'll start with the facts that have already been established and witnessed by plenty of people." Lyle spoke before he took out a scroll from his satchel bag.

~flap~

The scroll was quickly opened, and Lyle gazed at it before starting to read.

"Asher Inanis, son of Gabriel Inanis, the Count of the Land of Etara is accused of forcefully usurping the territory of Harrels family, seizing the female heir of Harrels family, imprisoning the said girl and subjecting her to unknown actions.

Asher Inanis is also suspected of having colluded with some unknown criminals and hypnotizing Keith Drew. This further led to the young man being cursed by some unknown gift and his status is now unknown." Lyle spoke.

The more everyone heard it, the more horrified they felt.

'This… this is not what they informed us of at all!' Gabriel thought to himself.

Lita, Kiana and John had similar thoughts, but Lucius on the other hand, kept a calm face.

"Priest Lyle, may I ask on what basis were these facts verified and whether they are even 'Facts' or mere speculations?" Lucius questioned.

Lyle raised his head and looked at the young man in front of him, who was campy gazing at him. Despite being accused of severe crimes, the young man was not the least bit unnerved and looked like a thousand year old rock.

"Some of them may be facts and some may be speculations. The reason I am here is to verify exactly which of these are facts and which speculations." Lyle answered.

"I see…" Lucius nodded his head. "Then may I ask who was it that made up these speculations? The church, Viscount Drew, someone else… or you?" he questioned directly.

Hearing Lucius's almost rude questions, Lita and Kiana almost flinched. Gabriel on the other hand, clenched his fist, knowing that this may be one of the most difficult times for their family.

Everything that they had been preparing all this time, seemed to be almost useless as the arbitrator in question directly set out accusations. While Gabriel had heard of plenty of scornful arbitrators, this was the first time he was seeing someone who would accuse first before verifying it all.