Chapter 499: Clash (VI)

There was instantly an uproar in the entire hall and even Lydia leaned forward to gaze at the badge in Rhode’s hand curiously. She knew that Rhode was definitely lying through his teeth and not many people were capable of that. Moreover, Rhode even presented evidence, which was more reliable than the words coming out of the Parliament’s mouth.

MP Danny’s round face turned deathly pale. Got to say, this move from Rhode had caught him off guard. The Parliament’s scheme was as Rhode had predicted. No matter the truth of the incident, as long as they nipped down on the unlocked seal, Lydia would need to bear the responsibility and be punished.

However, Rhode had seen through their schemes and took drastic measures to remove the basis that they relied on. Now they couldn’t insist on Lydia providing an explanation because they had to get rid of this damn problem from themselves first!

“T-That’s a load of crap!” MP Danny held it in for a while before finally bursting out. However, his retort didn’t receive anyone’s acknowledgment. Instead, the gazes of the nobles on this fat envoy were getting more hostile. After all, Rhode’s narration of the incident was more logical than Zieg’s. Later on, Rhode had even displayed the letter that he received from Lydia to assist the Chairman as circumstantial evidence and the nobles acknowledged Rhode in their heads. But even so, most of them didn’t behave as though they were supporting Rhode at all. These nobles who lived in Golden City for many years weren’t that easy to deal with. Although Rhode’s statement rescued Lydia from a huge trouble, there was actually a very serious consequence in his words.

If the Parliament was truly the main culprit behind the Soraka Mountain incident, there would be terrible consequences.

Of course, the nobles also doubted if they were the culprits. After all, if they did attack the sacred grounds, why would they leave such obvious evidence for Rhode?

The nobles kept quiet about their doubts because the ones compelled to yield would be the Parliament and not the Munn Kingdom anyway. They were curious to see what more Rhode could do.

“Baron Rhode, are you sure that is the badge of the Country of Light’s Parliament?” Lydia twitched her brows and asked while Rhode nodded. “Yes, Your Highness. I can guarantee that this belongs to them.”

Rhode replied without any hesitation at all. As the saying goes, no one knows you more than your enemy. Rhode had murdered the Parliament for many years and he couldn’t be more familiar with their ranks and badges. Therefore, after Rhode received Lydia’s letter, he passed a blueprint to Lapis and asked her to recreate their badge slavishly. With Lapis’s capabilities as an Alchemist Master, it wasn’t challenging for her to create an exact copy that even their own members couldn’t differentiate between.

Rhode knew that his actions equaled to ripping off the final respect between the Country of Light’s Parliament and the Munn Kingdom. The Country of Light’s Parliament definitely had to answer to this matter. But since it was baseless, they surely wouldn’t be able to do so. If Rhode was said to be worried about them sending in Corina or the Elderly Mage, he could now pass off a fake as genuine without the slightest scruple since they had sent in a man he didn’t have an impression on. Even though Zieg sounded confident, Rhode would never believe that Zieg had indeed seen him. Furthermore, Rhode had transcended into the level of the Plain of Order after his battle with the Supervisor and it was impossible for anyone to hide the truth from him in that state. Moreover, Zieg’s abilities were only in the mid-Elite Stage and unless he was the biological son of the Devil, he would definitely perish in that disaster.

In this situation, there would definitely be conflicts. But this was what Rhode needed the most. He could wipe out their options thoroughly. If they wanted a battle, Rhode would battle them in return. But now, it wasn’t not up to them to decide if they wanted to battle or not.

Rhode believed that with Lydia’s bright mind, she could see through the mystery and once the Parliament had lost their options, they would be led around by the nose by the Munn Kingdom thereafter.

Furthermore, Rhode didn’t believe that the Parliament was able to make a comeback.

“T-That’s not true. That’s a counterfeit!” MP Danny exposed the secret flatly, but no one believed his claim because he denied almost instantly without even looking at the badge in Rhode’s hand. This went to prove a point…

MP Danny didn’t anticipate that the situation would develop into this plight and he wasn’t wrong to insist readily that Rhode was lying. After all, the Parliament didn’t start out by relying on fabricating stories. It was due to Danny’s years of superiority in the Parliament that he would do this. To the civilians of the Country of Light, their nation was the most powerful, perfect, righteous, and free. Therefore, they would often look at outsiders arrogantly. Not to mention, it irked their eyes that a nation like the Munn Kingdom would worship the Light Dragon and they were also a territory that rivaled against the Parliament. Due to this reason, they regarded the people of the Munn Kingdom as barbarians and almost none of them would speak good words about the Munn Kingdom. At this point in time, their recognition of the people of the Munn Kingdom stopped at only the stage of rumors because in their impression, the people of the Munn Kingdom were worthless slaves who weren’t worth sympathizing. Even though the Munn Kingdom was wealthy, they believed that they were the results of exploiting those evil nobles. Moreover, they thought that up to 99% of the people in the Munn Kingdom couldn’t afford clothes while the remaining 1% lived a luxurious life.

The people of the Country of Light grew up in this ‘truth’ and didn’t have a good impression of the Munn Kingdom. This was also the fuse that led both nations into a conflict. Take the Myriad Flowers Battle, for example. The military officers of the Country of Light didn’t even treat the people of the Munn Kingdom as citizens. Instead, they treated them as an ‘evil barbarian village’. In such a circumstance, it would require a miracle for both nations to have a friendly relationship.

Due to this perception, MP Danny flatly denied that the badge in Rhode’s hand was a counterfeit because he saw that the sinister, scheming, and barbaric people of the Munn Kingdom were obviously shrinking responsibilities. This fake evidence wasn’t even worth his glance. We are the high-class people of a wonderful country and we don’t have any interest in playing with lowly barbarians.

But it was a pity that the interactions between humans in this world were the hardest. If one could clearly understand what the other meant, perhaps the world would’ve turned into a much more peaceful place… Of course, even if the nobles of the Munn Kingdom understood MP Danny’s meaning, they wouldn’t allow this world to become peaceful with them.

Moreover, the nobles had misunderstood him now. To Danny, it seemed as though he were disdained. However, to the majority, the Parliament seemed to be offering excuses. From another perspective, this supported Rhode’s statement even further and if the Parliament didn’t do it, would they even need to deny so quickly?

“MP Danny, since we’ve shown our evidence, I think that you should also provide evidence to support your statement.” The Patriarch of the Senia Family stepped forward and gazed at the fat parliament member coldly. Not only him, but the nobles had also stopped their private discussions and gazed at the diplomatic envoy of the Light Parliament silently. Rhode had said his piece. But the Parliament couldn’t get away with it by simply saying ‘That’s a counterfeit!’ There were several nobles from the Munn Kingdom who had interacted with the Parliament. They scanned the appearance of the badge and it indeed looked similar to the Parliament’s. As for its authenticity, the nobles didn’t give too many thoughts. After all, they subconsciously felt that Rhode wouldn’t show a counterfeit badge in this dignified, sacred venue.

But it was a pity that the badge was actually fake.

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As the diplomatic envoy, MP Danny wasn’t simply a good-for-nothing. He calmed himself down quickly and glanced towards Rhode. “… There is a huge loophole.”

“Loophole?” The Patriarch questioned.

“That’s right!” MP Danny lifted his head proudly and let out a short laugh as he swept Rhode a glance once again. “Everyone, we are all aware that it was the Duke Fiend that was sealed beneath Soraka Mountain. Even though its strength might be weakened, it was still extremely powerful. So then, Mr. Rhode said that he managed to lure the Duke Fiend into the land of Order and destroyed it… Does everyone think that this man is capable of doing that?”

“Oh?” Rhode twitched his eyebrows and gazed at the glint in MP Danny’s eyes. It seemed that this pig-lookalike was much more astute than he appeared to be. At least he understood the strength of the Duke Fiend.

The nobles revealed doubtful looks. Even though they had witnessed Rhode’s abilities in the Midsummer Festival, the Duke Fiend wasn’t simply a Devil that anyone could defeat. It could be considered as a legendary monster that required Lydia to exterminate. Although the nobles recognized Rhode’s formidable strength, it was too unreasonable to compare him with Lydia…

“Of course I do not have the strength to do it.” Rhode admitted straightforwardly while MP Danny grinned from ear to ear. “So then, Mr. Rhode, since you do not have the strength, how exactly did you defeat the Duke Fiend then?”

“Even though I do not have the strength to do so, it doesn’t mean that my men aren’t capable of doing so,” Rhode answered instantly.

The entire hall fell into silence once again.

The nobles that supported Rhode gazed at him as they felt that his statement was too illogical. If you don’t have the strength to defeat the Duke Fiend, how is it possible that your men could? In order to defeat the Duke Fiend, one will require the strength of Royal Highness Lydia’s caliber and we would have known if there were indeed such powerful presences in the Paphield?

“Oh? May I know where your are men right now?” MP Danny questioned in a sarcastic tone.

“My apologies. Due to certain reasons, they have to stay in the Land of Atonement and they don’t have the intention of heading into Golden City,” Rhode replied swiftly.

“…” The smile on MP Danny’s puffed-up face widened and he let out a snort. As he was about to speak, Rhode’s follow-up froze his smile on the spot. “But if there’s a need to, I can invite everyone to my Land of Atonement to personally witness their strength… Of course, I’m willing to reveal the truth by Spirit Tracing if anyone thinks that I’m lying.”

MP Danny was stricken into silence and he narrowed his eyes to scan Rhode from head to toe. If he had considered Rhode to be uttering rubbish, Rhode’s solemn vow now had just struck him speechless. Danny had even suggested using the Spirit Tracing to reveal the truth in front of everyone. Spirit Tracing could be said as the most advanced ‘lie detecting spell’ in the entire Dragon Soul Continent. It could display a specific time or timeline that the spirit had experienced in the form of a magical image and could be used to reveal the truth of any conflicts instantly.

However, not everyone was capable of casting the Spirit Tracing spell. After all, this spell was too powerful and sensitive, which would invade one’s privacy. Therefore, unless necessary, seldom would one choose the Spirit Tracing method to present one’s past. Strictly speaking, this spell couldn’t be considered as a spell. It was a kind of Spiritual Spell and only the high-level underlings of the Judgement & Ruling Twin Dragons could master the Spirit Tracing skill.

Since Rhode announced that he could rely on Spirit Tracing to reveal the truth, surely he wouldn’t be lying. After all, the Spirit Tracing would only reveal the truth. However, the nobles were doubtful even if Rhode was speaking the truth…

“Baron Rhode, I understand your thoughts… But, why aren’t your men willing to assert themselves in Golden City?” Lydia squinted slightly. She leaned back on her throne and gazed at Rhode with a gentle smile. Rhode sensed her gaze and shrugged his shoulders. “They don’t like to leave the Fortress. Besides, I’m only their guild leader and not a slave owner who will strip them of their rights and force them to come here. That’s why.”

This time, the crowd wasn’t sure if Rhode’s words were true or not.

“Hmph, you…” MP Danny gaped and at this moment, Lydia stood on her feet. “This hearing shall stop here for now. Since Baron Rhode has provided us with the evidence, we should consider the evidence as a basis… MP Danny, as what I’ve said earlier, I hope that the Country of Light’s Parliament can provide us the magical image of the Spirit Tracing from Mr. Zieg Alanic. And before we formally receive the magical image, we shall not respond to any accusations from the Country of Light’s Parliament.”

“P-Please wait, Your Highness Lydia,” MP Danny spoke in panic. “Before our Country of Light Parliament can provide you with the evidence, whatever this young man says now will be treated as the truth, which is…”

“Of course, I do recognize this point. This is why I’ve decided to head into the Land of Atonement personally to check in with Baron Rhode’s men about the truth…” Lydia gazed toward Rhode intentionally. “If the Country of Light’s Parliament is unable to accept this arrangement, you can also dispatch your men along for this trip. Coincidentally, I can use this trip as an opportunity to witness the devastation of the land of Order by the Duke Fiend. What do you think, MP Danny?”

What do I think? Damn it, this bunch of scheming bastards… Do they really think that they can scare us by putting on a show? Hmph, it’s not that easy. But since this young man is so confident in his words, he mustn’t be bluffing too. Even if he is really deceiving us, do you really think that I don’t have other ways to deal with you?

MP Danny revealed a sinister smile at this thought before lifting his head. “Sure, Your Highness Lydia. I agree with your suggestion.”