The Mech Touch novel Chapter 1230

Ketis, Leland, Gavin and Melkor all sat in one of the living rooms of the guest compound. Their eyes glued onto the huge projection that depicted the tribunal proceedings in lifelike detail.

The four of them would have preferred to be present in the gallery themselves, but the Protectors of the Faith denied their requests.

In this volatile time, it was better for the associates of the accused to stay put!

For this reason, the people that Ves brought to the Protectorate had no choice but root for Ves at a fair distance from the court building.

"What a blowhard!" Ketis yelled. "How can this old inquisitor come up with so many lies and exaggerations? They’re all false! Ves would never be so disrespectful to the Ylvainans! He has always treated their beliefs with respect!"

The defense did attempt to fight back against High Inquisitor Xefin Lin Poxco’s lurid characterization of Ves. They brought forth numerous witnesses, from Leon to various Protector guards, and had them state their impressions.

Overall, the witnesses all had something good to say about Ves and his mechs. The Protector guards especially showered Ves with praise.

"Even if he’s a foreigner, he has always acted as a model guest in our state." One of the Protector captains said without reservation. "While I cannot make any judgement of Mr. Larkinson’s moral character, his conduct and his work has never posed any threat to our faith. In fact, his mechs has reinforced my belief and every other Protector who enjoyed the privilege of witnessing his creations in person!"

All the positive character witnesses helped counteract some of the bad impression against Ves, but that did not change the public’s determination that he had likely defiled their holy relic!

This crime alone was so severe that almost no Ylvainan citizen wanted Ves to walk free from the court right now!

Gavin looked around the room for a moment. "Where’s Lucky, Ketis?"

The woman shrugged. "Beats me. Lucky has been in an awful mood ever since the inquisition took Ves away."

"This is a volatile time for him to be running free. What if he’s racing across the city to reunite with his owner?"

"Don’t worry, Gavin. Lucky is smart enough to know what he can and can’t do." Ketis confidently stated.

All of them were used to Lucky coming and going, so they didn’t worry too much about where the mischievous cat went. In fact, Ketis even thought it might be good for Lucky to go to the courtyard.

So far, the trial was not going well for Ves. As Ves continued to sit quietly while his counsel did all of the talking on his behalf, he discreetly observed everyone’s attitudes with his spiritual senses.

The gallery was easy to read. Most of them wore their emotions on their sleeves.

Some of the Ylvainans were slightly different, though. Ves sensed a lot of calculation when he brushes his spiritual senses against their intangible minds. This signified that they were plants who had deliberately been placed in the gallery to incite the others.

Of course, as much as the people in the gallery loathed Ves, they only indirectly affected the verdict.

The real decision makers sat behind the bench. Judge Okin Fillis remained passive and inscrutable throughout the tribunal session, presenting the illusion that he was detached and therefore impartial.

Only the sheep were fooled by the Curin judge’s act. Everyone else knew that Judge Fillis would definitely acquit Ves as instructed by the elders of the Curin Dynasty.

High Inquisitor Kelly Ixef Poxco presented a reasonable front as a judge. That didn’t mean she came off very sincere in her act. Ves could sense the seething hatred underneath her skin. She shared the same intensity against Ves as High Inquisitor Xefin Lin Poxco!

Only Kelber Kronon remained calm, both outwardly and inwardly. He listened to the high inquisitor with a critical mind as the man painted Ves as a great deceiver.

It was as if the judge could smell all the nonsense that the prosecution was flinging towards Ves.

Still, Ves sensed that though the Kronon judge didn’t like the inquisition and how they ran their tribunals, Kelber didn’t regard the defendant fondly either.

The hard evidence that Xefin Lin Poxco presented was extremely compelling. Several Protector guards stationed at the guest compound have also testified that nothing funny went on as the inquisition arrived and conducted their inspections.

All of this meant that Kelber became inclined to believe that Ves was indeed involved with the theft of the holy relic. The military judge even became swayed by the possibility that Ves destroyed the relic!

This was a very serious charge that spoke to his heart! Kelber could hardly keep his calm when he contemplated that Ves might have done something so severe!

Ves inwardly shook his head. He shouldn’t have been surprised by the worsening sentiment against him. Even though he was completely innocent of whatever the inquisition accused him of, his defense had little recourse to fight back.

While it was possible that someone may have framed Ves, the defense did not present any evidence to support this argument. Casting doubt on the origin of the microscopic particles basically amounted to a conspiracy theory which the Kronon judge didn’t take very seriously.

The tribunal already lasted several hours and the time for arguments was about to come to a close. At this point, everything had been brought up. There was very little chance that the defense could say anything that could change the minds of the judges.

This was bad, Ves realized. Judge Okin Fillis may be on his side, but he needed the support of at least one other judge.

Yet Judge Kelber Kronon, his only potential savior, felt more inclined to support High Inquisitor Xefin Lin Poxco than acquit Ves of the charges!

Ves couldn’t say he expected anything different. The evidence to support the first charge was too solid.

Was the worst-case scenario about to happen? As soon as the tribunal issued their verdict, Ves would definitely move into action.

While he hadn’t seen any sign of Lucky, he knew him well enough that his cat should be ready to help in his own way.

That wasn’t all.

With how much Calabast knew about Ves, she would definitely do everything in her power to save him from the inquisition. Ves didn’t know how much resources she could bring to bear in order to save his life, but she was definitely hiding something under her sleeve.

As for Flashlight or the Bright Republic, Ves didn’t put much hope in their help. Their influence was minimal in the Protectorate.

Even though it seemed that Ves wasn’t alone, he still didn’t want to resort to this option. There was still a chance he could save his hide without burning all of his bridges.