Demon Bible

Chapter 215: Interrogation Hearing

Her gaze then swiftly locked onto several figures amidst the fray.

Although Opper's appearance had drastically changed due to his weight loss, Isabella recognized him immediately.

"Opper..." Isabella stared at the man, countless thoughts racing through her mind. Following her advancement to the Iron Rank, her perception had been vastly enhanced.

At this point, Opper no longer entertained any thoughts of escaping; it would be completely meaningless now.

The moment his internal mindset shifted, Opper's aura underwent a subtle change as well.

"Lady Isabella, it has been a long time." Opper offered a slight bow, his mental power smoothing out into a calm state.

On the other side, Zoven, who had been fiercely engaged in combat, also ceased his movements.

Had it been any other cleric, Zoven absolutely would not have stopped fighting.

But Isabella was different. Recently, she had been personally leading her people through the streets, demonstrating the most genuine kindness toward the impoverished at the bottom of society.

As a fellow human being, even if she could not rewrite their miserable lives due to the strictures of class and order, she at least did everything within her power to add a little brightness to their existence.She wanted to ensure that their lives wouldn't be entirely consumed by suffering from beginning to end.

Such heartfelt benevolence was incredibly difficult to fake.

Therefore, Zoven trusted Isabella.

"I see." Isabella swept her gaze over the current situation, quickly piecing things together.

She had seen Zoven's wanted poster before, but she hadn't paid much attention to it at the time.

After all, such warrants were not uncommon; she only knew that this particular one was likely connected to Nemus.

Yet now, his appearance here, exposing the presence of Opper and the others, made Isabella faintly realize the massive underlying issues this situation might entail.

"Nels..." Isabella's mood darkened for a brief second before she swiftly redirected her focus to the pressing matter at hand.

"Are you gentlemen planning to come with me peacefully, or do you intend to put up a fight?!"

"Lady Isabella, we merely run a modest business; how could we possibly dare to raise a hand against you?" Opper chuckled, showing no inclination to fight.

Strictly speaking, the charges hanging over him could be considered both serious and trivial, depending on how one looked at them.

The first issue was the previously unconfirmed smuggling of whalehide ore.

Because there was no hard evidence, getting to the bottom of this matter would require lengthy interrogations to force a confession.

However, even if he did confess, the consequences wouldn't be too severe.

The second and most critical issue was his association with the old priest.

The old priest had already been officially designated as a Sinner by the Church's Judgment Hall.

Furthermore, the connection between Opper and the old priest was layered through the Floating World Society.

Back then, it was Opper's caravan, traveling back and forth between Finback Village and Tail Fin Town, that had purchased various research materials from the Floating World Society on the old priest's behalf.

This fact was easily corroborated by intelligence gathered from both the old priest and, subsequently, the Floating World Society.

Of course, there was still a glaring problem—a lack of definitive proof.

The fact that Opper helped procure items for the old priest could be fundamentally confirmed due to multiple corroborating sources.

However, determining exactly how deeply Opper was involved in the entire process was incredibly difficult.

Sure enough, following the arrest of Opper, Arlo, and the others, the Church immediately initiated an internal interrogation.

Inside a grand hall, numerous clerics had already gathered to observe the proceedings.

Facing the interrogation, Opper stated outright that he was completely unaware the old priest had been conducting forbidden experiments, nor did he know that the Floating World Society he purchased materials from was a heretical cult.

He claimed he was merely following the old priest's instructions to buy supplies. He suspected the transactions might involve the gray market, but he swore he knew nothing of the true underlying details.

While this explanation was highly unlikely, there was simply no way to prove that Opper was outright lying.

"Then tell us, Opper, how did you manage to purchase property right next to the Church, and exactly who are you doing business with?!" Roman, who had achieved almost nothing in the Confession Department, was the first to launch an aggressive line of questioning.

He realized this was an opportunity—an absolutely perfect opportunity.

The Confession Department maintained extremely close ties with the Judgment Hall.

If he could seize upon Nemus's potential misdeeds through this trial, he could drag that Great Knight down from his pedestal.

When the Church's internal politics subsequently shifted, the number of people coming to confess would increase, giving him a real chance to surpass Isabella, who had successfully reformed the Redemption Department.

"Didn't I spend some time on the run and lose a lot of weight?"

"So I assumed a new identity, entered Tail Fin Town, and conducted some minor business with other people," Opper replied, spouting words that not a single soul in the room actually believed.

With Opper's arrest, everyone who needed to know his true identity was already acutely aware of it.

His business was undeniably tied to the smuggling of whale products, and it was absolutely Nemus who had sheltered him and helped forge his new identity in the first place.

If Isabella hadn't used her heightened perception to uncover his true identity and force the matter into the open, he wouldn't even be standing here as Opper right now.

He could have completely maintained the facade of being a perfectly legitimate merchant.

"This is troublesome," Roman muttered, casting a glance at Nemus, who was attending as an observer, then looked at the silent Isabella before sweeping his eyes over the surrounding clerics.

Opper refused to confess, gritting his teeth and stubbornly denying everything.

Even if they sentenced him based solely on smuggling contraband for the old priest, the harshest punishment would merely be temporary imprisonment.

To Roman, Opper was inconsequential; what truly mattered was the man backing him—Nemus.

Knowing the truth was one thing, but having the hard evidence to prove it was another.

Without concrete proof, mere hearsay and assumptions were not nearly enough to implicate a Great Knight.

Especially since, at this very moment, the majority of the people who knew the truth had opted to remain dead silent.

Most had clearly seen the results of Nemus's recent efforts.

He had undeniably improved the Church's circumstances, and his formidable strength was plainly evident to all.

Under these conditions, almost no one was foolish enough to charge headlong against him.

Even Roman, had it not been for the tantalizing lure of the Bishop's seat hanging before him, would have weighed the risks carefully and avoided digging too deeply into Opper's affairs.

But since he had already made his move, there was absolutely no room for regret.

Roman then shifted his piercing gaze to the other person of interest—Zoven.

Zoven was a wanted fugitive. Having been captured this time and involved in a direct conflict with Opper, he was being interrogated alongside him.

"Zoven Lilian, do you have anything you wish to say?"

"First of all, I fiercely deny the charges against me. I never stole anything from Nels." Zoven glared with pure venom at Nemus, his burning desire for revenge growing ever stronger.

"Secondly, I was previously attacked by two of Opper's subordinates. Long before the arrest warrant was even issued, they falsely accused me of theft. I have reasonable grounds to suspect they were working directly on behalf of Nels."

"Finally, I formally accuse the Great Knight of Tail Fin Town, Lord Nels, of murdering my grandmother, murdering my mother, murdering my older sister, and murdering my younger sister!"

As Zoven laid out his claims one by one, dragging his bitter conflict with Nemus into the public eye, the majority of the room's gazes shifted toward Nemus, awaiting the Great Knight's response.

"Lord Gotthard once told me that the Historical Number wouldn't be easy to obtain. It seems he was absolutely right."