Chapter 300 - Pardoned

"Fuckers, if any of you move I'll end you all!"

Mercury felt his breath go heavy with pain, after all, there was still an arrow that had gone through his right shoulder, he sat down on the ground and reached out to the back of his shoulder and felt the arrowhead

"Shit it's barbed…"

Mercury felt the tip of the arrow and cursed it barbed from which prevented it from pulling it out right away because it would only rip his flesh making his bleeding increase so he did the opposite

"Ku…"

He pressed the arrow deeper through his shoulder before he reached out behind his neck and pulled it out the way it had penetrated his shoulder, then he tapped the ground with a finger making the rock shards that hold the people that had attacked him in place grow spikes that kept them from moving even more

"I said if you move, you die! Don't test me!"

Then he made a rock pillar push his backpack over to him where he took out some first aid stuff and began disinfecting his wound with some high proof spirits before he bandaged it, then he stood up, or at least he tried to as he staggered and fell to his knees

'Poison?'

Mercury felt his head go faint before he collapsed onto the ground and passed out…

When he woke up again he was in a room, chained to a wall, he had a major headache so for a bit, he just sat and stared out into the air until his headache lessened, then he moved his hands up before his face and muttered.

"They chained me with steel chains… Ironic"

Mercury began chuckling for a bit before he looked around, besides a door that looked like it was reinforced with steel there was nothing in the room except a hole in the corner he assumed was for shitting in

"Yep, this is a jail… [Metal assimilation]"

The cuffs that held his hands, neck, and ankles rusted away before he stood up and stretched then he walked, or rather, limped over to the door and put his hand onto the metal part of the door and once again muttered

"[Metal assimilation]"

Then looking at the now not so reinforced door he pushed and without any surprise, it fell over as the locking mechanism was also made of steel and hit the stone floor with a bang

"...Shit"

Mercury was alerted for a moment before he shrugged and walked out of the jail room, he figured that he would just incapacitate anyone that had been alerted by the sound, as he walked out of the cell he stomped the ground with his left leg and a cane formed of the stone floor below him and floated up into his hand

"Much better"

Then with a new cane in hand, he walked down the hallway with cells on each side like he owned the place until he reached a bend and tapped his cane a few times before he walked around the corner and saw a few people that were now held in place by very sharp rock spears that extended from the walls and floor alike, these people had long ears and looked very frightened by the rock spears that threatened to skewer them

"Elves?"

Mercury looked at the elves that looked like they were about to wet themselves and sighed before he retracted the rock spears slightly before he asked

"Why did you capture me! Where is this!?"

"W-W-We don't know, we just guard the prisoners!"

Mercury sighed and tapped his finger on the cane, making the rock spears retract letting go of the frightened elves that sat down on the floor in fear as they were drenched in a cold sweat, Mercury felt slightly bad over this and shook his head before he asked

"Which one of you guys is ranked the highest?"

The elves all looked at an elf that looked slightly older than the rest and asked

"Can you bring me to someone that knows why I was captured?"

"S-Sure"

The elf stood up, he had slightly greying green hair but besides that, he looked young and healthy

"This way"

Mercury nodded and followed after the elf out of the prison, outside the prison was a city, but unlike any city Mercury had been to before it looked much more… Natural, trees were growing around the buildings and sometimes trees were the buildings as they looked to be carved out to provide living space, the resistance was mostly elves, but there was also some half-elves and a few human and beastmen in between, Mercury walked down the street behind the elf that glanced back at him a few times as he walked, eventually it looked like he could not take it anymore and he asked

"So… What's your name?"

"Me? I am Mercury"

"I see… My name is Ben"

Mercury nodded, soon the two of them arrived in the center of the city where a castle made out of living wood lay, Ben walked into the castle and Mercury followed after him, after Ben spoke with the receptionist the two of them sat down and waited in a waiting room, as the two of them waited they gradually began to chat about this and that and soon Ben's name was called and he stood up, Mercury followed after him, by now he had a pretty good idea why he was captured, Ben had told him he probably had trespassed in the Ingrid forest which they currently were in the center of, the elves the Ingrid forest didn't have much contact with the outside world though they still traded some things with verified merchants from the outside.

Mercury and Ben walked through some long hallways and eventually arrived in what looked like a courtroom, Ben gestured for Mercury to steep up onto a platform

"Don't act violent, the judicator guards will strike without mercy Mercury… Just speak the truth"

Mercury reacted to the word 'judicator' and wanted to ask what exactly it was but still, he held his tongue and nodded, then Ben walked out of the room leaving Mercury alone in there, soon two people entered the room, Mercury froze, they looked like soldiers and the elite kind too, then another person entered the room, they wore a white dress and a veil covered their face, this person took a seat at the elevated judge's bench and then Mercury felt a pair of inquiring eyes on him as the person spoke

"What's your name?"

Mercury didn't see any need to lie, so he told his name truthfully

"I am Mercury"

The judicator nodded before they spoke again

"Who named you?"

"Party"

The judicator paused before they suddenly asked in a slightly shaking tone of voice

"Who is this Party?"

Mercury smiled before he spoke nonchalantly

"One of the 33 archangels of Alfan"

Then silence followed, the two soldiers placed their hands on their weapons before the judicator suddenly yelled

"Stand down!"

Then the judicator stood up from their chair and walked down and stood in front of Mercury and then suddenly they kneeled down and spoke out loud

"Judicator Evelin greets you, Mercury one of the five"

The two soldiers trembled before they also bowed down, Mercury looked blankly at them for the best part of a minute before he asked

"What did you just call me?"

The judicator lowered her head even further before she spoke respectfully

"One of the five… The five living gods that walk the face of Alfan"

"And you figured this how?"

"Only the living gods are bestowed names from the 33 archangels of Alfan"

"I see…"

Mercury thought for a few moments before he spoke

"How high are your authority here?"

The judicator thought for a moment before they spoke

"Second only to the king of Ingrid forest"

"I see… I wonder if you could help me out with a few things?"

"Anything esteemed living god Mercury"

"Well then… I would like to live here for a bit, help me arrange this… While I live here I would like to receive training in a few areas I am lacking. Besides this, I would like to receive some information from you, could you help me out with this?"

"Yes esteemed living god Mercury… It's only I am duty-bound to inform the king, would that be okay?"

"Sure, oh and I would also like my luggage back"

"Of course"

After talking with Evelin a bit more Mercury walked out of the courtroom and back out to the reception where Ben was waiting still, he stood up when Mercury arrived and asked

"So… How did it go?"

Mercury showed a smile

"It went well, I was pardoned and the Judicator also promised to return my stuff and allow me to live in the city for a bit as an excuse"

"I see, well then, we met kind of roughly but I think we could get along, what do you think, Mercury?"

"Yeah I think so too"