Yaleriga felt something was wrong after clarifying her situation.
At the beginning of the matter, she had a good chance of getting away. But she didn't want to become someone who was refused contact with the city. Although she could still use other methods to sneak in, it would have an unpredictable impact on the deal she was negotiating. She wasn't willing to give up halfway, let alone because of a bizarre crime she hadn't committed.
She was not worried that she would be wronged, but she did not expect to be brought to see the rumored image of the verdict. She recognized the giant eyeless face and knew that it was a statue created by an ancient civilization that had died - Kusinsaye, or Kusintewaye, who was in charge of justice and law, was woven into a mythology A foreign object that can recognize the appearance of the soul, the most trusted soul judge of the magic goddess Migunawaye. Because he can see reality, he will never be confused by the illusion of the material world. His eyes withered out of uselessness, and had no need to smell or hear.
Yaleriga remained skeptical about the authenticity of these myths. She knew that myths related to or very similar to it were still circulating in some places, and all history became connected to each other in the turbulence of the tide. However, that is not necessarily related to authenticity. Not all myths have real characters. They may still be common imaginations of people, or convenient tools used to rule the lower world. There are some real behemoths lurking in the depths of the waves in her memory, but she has never found a counterpart to the "Magic Goddess Migunawaye". The emptiness of the legend made her suspect that this god never existed, was a powerful mage who was mythologized, or was some kind of force that was personified.
These things flowed through her thoughts, seeming to bear witness to her impressions of Men City. But all this information could not help her escape from the predicament at hand. When the Guardian asked her name she had to weigh the cost of keeping up the lie.
"Yaleliga." She replied calmly. Obviously contrary to the pseudonym she had been using and signing in Gate City. This time the ground beneath her feet did not move, and the Golden Guardian made no comment. She heard the goblin and night dire give equally measured answers, even using their elf names that they usually did not reveal to others. Because the language is close to the wind and shadows, not only can Yalayliga not be able to imitate it, she can't even distinguish the syllables.
The Golden Guardian then asked them to tell them why they were sent here and everything they knew about it. Her accusers all answered to the point. Even though the excited little goblin complained about her, the height between them did not change at all. She guessed this was because the Judgment Statue was not able to discern actual facts, but merely judged the truth of words.
Yaleriga listened more intently as the Night Dire unfolded its statement. From the ghastly voice in the doll's belly, she learned many more truths about this bizarre abandonment case. When the first babies were delivered, the matter had not yet attracted much attention. The infinite doors in the city bring endless opportunities, but also countless abandonments. Although the children's looks are strikingly similar, the foster home has also seen 9ts. They have even hatched more than thirty eggs from the same mother.
These babies with degraded eyesight and developed ears were naturally identified as siblings due to their highly similar appearance, and were cared for by the night-gaunts in accordance with prescribed procedures. That doesn't mean they will grow up in the Gate City, as the Night Dire will only care for the young for a short period of time. When a child's fears and nightmares fade during sleep, they are no longer able to draw nourishment from the person being cared for. At that time, they will choose suitable new parents in the dreams of countless worlds. And since these babies had hardly experienced any torture, they were all quickly sent away. Everything seemed to be calm, but then one day, the director of the nursing home opened the door and found twenty babies neatly arranged there. Eight more came the next day. The third day was seventeen.
On the fourth day, Dean Bendis sat quietly in a tree near the gate of the courtyard where his friendly but trembling neighbor lived. It waited for two whole days and nights with preparations to welcome guests, but no one showed up. At the same time, its subordinates were busy picking through the bizarre dreams, trying to find a total of forty-five suitable families or societies to place these babies of unknown origin. It took them ten full days and nights to complete this exhausting work, and then one morning the following morning, the door of the nursing home was knocked again...
All attempts to capture the Forsaken ultimately failed. There appear to be many causes, and the scope of this abandonment is growing over time. Although they will eventually be brought to the nursing home, Bendis took off his daily work clothes, visited Baita and several other major baby carriers with a true face and a polite attitude, and separated through friendly negotiation. An administration fee was charged. The babies that continue to be delivered quickly exceed the processing speed of the Night Dire. They can hardly find suitable adopters, and they have to make room for children of other races. Finally, Dean Bendis visited the Lord of the Gate City through its secret channels and delivered all the undisposed babies to the mysterious master. Since then, they have continued to receive abandoned babies frequently, and have discovered that all of them look almost identical. The night-gaunts had no choice but to follow the dean's instructions, take care of them as much as possible, and then leave them to Bendis for a period of time.
These twists and turns of information were all that Yaleriga could piece together from Nightmare's confession. She still had many unanswered questions, but there was no chance to ask them right now. Soon, Nightmare's statement came to the part she had personally experienced. It truthfully tells the story of Yaleriga's appearance, and also points out her obvious suspicions. Although Yaleriga was very aware of what she had done, she found that the ground under her feet remained unchanged, thus once again verifying her conjecture about the function of the colossus.
When the interrogation came to her end, she had already thought about how she was going to handle it.
"I didn't abandon them," she said first.
The road beneath her feet was motionless. It was certainly a victory, so the two witnesses on the other side looked at her in surprise and confusion.
"I saw a strange ship in the outer harbor."
If she stayed here, she might be able to easily get rid of the suspicion and escape from this incoming trouble. But she wanted more than that. So she continued: "I saw a strange spaceship when I was walking in the outer harbor, and followed it to your place. The child was once in the ship."
"Where did the ship go?" Night Dire asked.
"Disappeared." Yaleriga said.
It wasn't a lie, it just didn't say everything she was thinking. But then the ground beneath her feet began to shake again, sinking slightly. This naturally attracted suspicious eyes, but this reaction was also expected by Yaleriga. She repeated that she was not an abandoner and had never even known about the infant abandonment case before. Naturally, the stone statue remained faithfully motionless, and her suspicion was completely cleared. Before Nightmare asked about the whereabouts of the spaceship, she took the initiative to talk about what she saw in the outer harbor.
"I saw a man waiting for the ship," she said. "He looked like the ship was going to show up. When I asked him what was in the ship, he suggested I go and see for myself. That's why I Will show up at their door."
She then described the other person's dress and appearance, as well as his unusual speech and behavior. Throughout the process she tried to articulate every element that aroused her suspicions, but avoided making any identity judgments. She even took care not to use any words that would lead others to guess, lest the colossus think she had bad intentions.
Still, things were going in the direction she expected. Her little adventure aroused everyone's common suspicion. They asked her to be more precise about the time and place, and then the Golden Guardian asked her to stay where she was, to wait quietly and honestly. Yaleriga knew that there was a secret connection between these golems, which allowed them to send messages to each other at a close enough distance. And when the one behind her fell silent, it probably meant that the other Guardians had set off to find anyone who matched her description.
She had no doubt that the Guardians would be able to accomplish their mission, and given their close connection to the Gate City, finding anyone seemed to be a breeze. Naturally, she couldn't let the young mage get away from this easily. But there is also a regrettable part in this matter - she followed without resistance, hoping to find the person she was looking for through the guardian, not only the mage, she could even mention Qiaoqiao in a subtle way Tianyi, or anyone she had heard was in Gate City, asked the Guardian to bring him to confront her. She could easily meet anyone she was curious about and then just have to excuse herself that she was mistaken.
This plan has obviously failed now. Because she never thought that she would be taken to such a place where only felons would come. She thought about the sentencing standards in Mencheng with some surprise. The darkness below her, considered from many angles, is by no means a simple geographical cliff. It may be a chaotic gap between time and space, or a one-way door to another dimension. In any case, it has to ensure that those who fall behind cannot return - but since when has the crime of abandoning an infant been included as a standard for death penalty or banishment? Or was it because of this astonishing amount that the Lord of the Gate City increased the sentence? That was contrary to her understanding of Gate City and the set of legal standards usually used in Gate City, which meant that there might be parts of the matter that she didn't understand yet.
She would be happy to talk to the night dire or chat with the little goblin, but since she is standing on such a dangerous scale, any more words may lead to questions from others, and then... Risk of being forced to lie. She had to pretend that she was fascinated by the gorgeous and complex geometric golden dome, while thinking about the subsequent arrangements in her mind. She thought of Jing Huang waiting in the hotel. If she was missing for too long, maybe he would come out and look for her. But that may not be a very good idea. Considering that Jing Huang obviously lacks some knowledge that people are accustomed to, he may cause some unexpected commotions and even face the punishment of exile. In order to avoid missing the operation for which she paid a high deposit, she had to remind herself not to get too obsessed with the mystery of the baby abandonment case, but to get away as soon as possible and take care of her young and eccentric traveling companion.
When she was thinking about how to deal with this strange thing, there was a heavy and harsh metal friction sound from the end of the stairs leading to the scales. That was the base of the Golden Guardian moving on the rough ground. Yaleriga also heard the sound of brisk, tapping footsteps. When the sound was still far away, she thought it was the sound of some kind of hard-soled leather boots hitting the ground, but soon she realized that things were not under her control - the footsteps were walking towards the stairs, even though The same creature, but denser than a bipedal species. The visitor was not the young mage with blue eyes as she had imagined, but some kind of four-legged and hoofed creature of similar size.
She stared closely at the darkness at the end of the stairs until all the visitors appeared in front of her. Shock and alertness immediately made her stand up straighter. At the forefront of her sight, in front of the golden guardian responsible for escorting, walking down the stairs was an artiodactyl creature as white as snow. It had a long, narrow and handsome face, and huge plump wings gathered on both sides of its back. , there is a single horn on the top of his forehead, and the hair all over his body is fine and long, as if it is blowing in the wind at any time. The beautiful and majestic image of this creature immediately reminded Yaleriga of a certain country in the dream world. However, its size was far larger than she thought - but that was not the main reason for her surprise.
Before the arrival of the visitors, she had only heard the movement of two creatures, and believed that the only people descending the stairs were the escort and the new suspect. But at this moment, there was a person standing next to the beautiful four-hoofed flying animal. That was not the mage she was waiting for, but the Jing Huang she parted with in the hotel.
Yaleriga did not act immediately. She thought quickly, trying to figure out what went wrong. Jing Huang, who was standing on the stairs, looked at her slightly confused, as if he was not sure about the situation. Before she could give him any hint, the four-hooved winged animal opened its mouth, and a gentle and majestic female voice echoed in the space.
"I am Qiaoqiao Tianyi," the creature announced, "the very person this suspect met not long ago. I was in disguise tracking a suspicious abandoned baby ship. I can prove that she is not an abandoned baby - However, that does not mean that she is innocent. I hereby accuse her and the child beside me of several robberies and thefts. The statue of judgment can bear witness to this."
