The Gods Decree - Chapter 253 Sir Mouse And Lady May Attorneys At Law 3

Realizing he was indeed at fault Taf swiftly uttered,

“No more questions.” With Jobu being in his current condition any further interaction would only diminish his case. When he sat beside May, she squeezed his hand as a means of comfort. Usually, Taf is three moves ahead of an opponent, it was indeed odd to see him bested. Yet it was understandable as Adjudicator Baro has been a professional for five times their existence.

To contend with some a person it would not take only Taf’s but her whit as well to even the odds. Such a blunder was best achieved early on within the tribunal, what was the best possible tactic was to end on a very strong note.

Once more Baro stood calling forth another witness. This time entering was a youth whose face was filled with Acne. He hurriedly took to his seating where Baro awaiting him for questioning. When seeing this new alleged witness both May and Taf knew things were only about to get worse.

“State your name and ties to the defendants,” Baro questioned this time however he did not turn to the witness but stared at both Taf and May. It was a glare of dominance stating, this was his backyard, how dare they trespass.

“Shaun Barker[1], there are no ties to the defendants.” Shaun hurriedly replied,

Baro uttered while tactically walking around the witness stand, “Well, this is curious, why did I call you to the stand then? How about this, have you ever had any form of interaction with the two? If so would you please tell the tribunal in detail what unfolded.”

Recalling the whole ordeal with selective memory Shaun answered, “It all unfolded in the swamp Adjudicator Barro, it seemed my state displeased the two, therefore with a word, the one deemed Sir Mouse, rubbed my face against the coarse ground. While May inflicted harm to my friends who were merely innocent bystanders.”

Playing to his audience Barro inquired in an inquisitive tone, “Surely the altercation ended there?”

“No adjudicator Baro, they then demanded we leave behind all of our possessions,” Replied Shaun.

“So they extorted you and your friends. Just like their attempts at plundering away at the sect’s assets with these flimsy claims. How interesting? Well, I am sure this was the last meeting of both parties?”

“Once again Adjudicator Baro, no. When leaving ‘The Limitless Saber and Sword’ I was unfortunate to once more meet paths with Sir Mouse. When my brothers confronted him about his actions, they too were mercilessly beaten and their blood used as a warning to his potential foes.”[2]

“So the pattern of psychopathic behavior continues. Did it end there?” Baro furthered with his questioning as the hall became enthralled in Shaun’s account of the past events. Such acts of brutality and total disregard for others honestly was not all that uncommon. What didn’t bode well for Taf and May were their ages.

When hearing the last line of questioning,It was at this moment that Shaun became teary-eyed as he recalled the last time he saw his brothers. They couldn’t be described as the best brothers anyone could find, but to see them in such a state brought him to a breaking point.

“No, they were chopped up, butchered by one of the couple’s minions, Niesha when daring to compete in the forest. I saw them limbless as a few elders struggled to once more graph their lost appendages. Their future ruined all because they dared to stand up for their loser brother,” [3]

Niesha who was the audience could only look away awkwardly as she garnered stares from the room. This might have been the end result of her altercation with the Barker brothers, however, the two were by no means innocent and the pitiful souls which Shaun made them out to appear.

Baro responded as though feeling Shaun’s plight, “Well from a sympathetic voice, do send my condolences to your family and rest assured this tribunal hears the hurt in your heart.”

Once more when eying both May and Taf, Baro uttered with a grin, “check”. Learning from the mistakes of the past, neither May nor Taf sought to cross-examine the witness. Yet to their annoyance that was not the last of Baro’s ‘check and jabs’ when he had the two cornered. He had a plethora of willing witnesses that came to the stand as victims of an altercation between them and the couple. From Eto’o and Jacob’s squad members to the battered Doan, Gaaro, Sal, and Brutus.

The number of enemies the two had made over their short period within the sect, was quite alarming. Yet what was concerning was their means of retaliation against such enemies. Seeing the position they were in May uttered in a hushed voice to Taf,

“It’s time we made our move.”

Taf had to admit May did indeed have a point. If they had any hope of salvaging their good names. Something definitely had to be done swiftly. It was at that moment Taf took to his feet saying,

“I would like to call my first witness to the stand, May Grace.”

When hearing this Baro who had been the dominant party in proceeding so far could not help but contrary to his usual frowning nature chuckle. This, he definitely would like to see unfold. It could be said he wasn’t surprised by the two’s actions.

As she walked to take the stand, May took her time to her seating before Taf proceeded with his line of questioning,

“Miss Grace, you have heard the prosecutor’s line of questioning. What comes to mind when sitting at the desk hearing the accusations and so-called eye witness testimonies?”

“It deeply saddens me the means by which myself and co-defendant have been so wretchedly villainized. With each witness brought by the prosecution, they simply skewed the narrative of the detail to suit their tales.” As May spoke her eyes became puffy before tears flooded down her face. With her neck already having a brace, matched with her previous sickly demeanor, it was simply overkill on the audience.

Taf didn’t hurry to further his questioning playing on May’s apparent emotional breakdown. He knew that the best tactic the two could deploy was to show that they are indeed human and not as cold-blooded as portrayed by the prosecution. Feigning extreme sympathy, Taf started to once more cross the witness before hesitantly coming to a halt. He then patted her on the back and handed her a small clean rag, one more furthering the act.

“I have no further questions.” He ended by saying, which was quite the surprise for Baro who had been less than amused with May’s performance. Yet, he knew Taf could have reaped even further rewards from the situation. Just another lack of experience once again being shown.

“Miss Grace it seems you’re quite aggrieved.”

Baro started off by not badgering the defendant but rather as though he was quite understanding. In his mind, he knew perhaps this was an attempt by the two defendants baiting him into pressing May. Which would only further lead her into once more breaking down for all to see. Therefore he would simply do the opposite disrupted their already planned lure.

“So everyone was lying and none of these acts were personally committed by you or your co-defendant?” He calmly questioned.

As May sobbed she wiped the tears from her eyes before responding, “No, we did have confrontations with the different parties but the underlined reasons were not taken into consideration.”

Baro with evident sarcasm in his voice reiterated the evidence provided, “Oh I see, so there is a reason you mercilessly hunted Darwin like an animal to the safe-Haven. Piercing his body approximately five times with multiple ice-made arrows? From the multiple eyewitnesses, you were willing to provide a killing blow if not for the intervention of Elder Alders.”

“Yes that is all true, I did mercilessly hunt him as you said. To add further to my statement, I would once more do it if he was not already dead,” Without any seeming remorse, May uttered to the bewilderment of not only Adjudicator Baro but the twelve judges and all, except Taf who sat calmly at his seating.

Admitting to attempted murder without any seeming guilt, was the one thing May should never have done if the two were to have any hopes of winning. With her cold statement, the case was now firmly closed shut. Until the revelation of her next remark,

“If it means the shielding of my more vulnerable fellow female disciples, I would kill him a thousand times over to protect them where the sect failed them the most, from a rapist. A rapist who used his status of strength to defile their bodies and shunning them into silence.”

When the last words were uttered by May only silence overwhelmed the hall. These were quite the strong allegations and if proven would blow the case wide open. None was more startled by the news than Adjudicator Baro. He had not received any of this information prior to May’s revelation and only described the deceased Darwin as a victim.

As he subconsciously turned to the defense desk, he saw a youth who calmly returned his stare mouthing,

“Check! Your move.”

With a smirk as it dawned on Adjudicator Baro that he now was the once caught in a cleverly woven plot.

Unedited Version

To be continued…

[1] Chapter 127-128 Joker

[2] A perfect example of how events can be twisted to suit any narrative.

[3] A second example

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