The Fire and The Storm - The Nexus of Kellaran #2 novel Chapter 96

Part 15

They found her, her family, and many of her neighbors in the street in front of her sister’s family’s house, where she presently lived. She and all the rest of the dwarves present were gathered around a two meter high yellow cube that floated a meter above the street. Though many of them were struck dumb by the sudden appearance of many of the world’s most elite, bowing and gaping and a few pressing their foreheads to the pavement, Goodwife Goslab stood straight and proud.

“Prince Mark, I want to thank you and your children for your quick response to my complaints.” she stated in Kleti. “I know you’ve only been out of the time-bubble for less than a hand of hours, so I didn’t even expect my husband’s murder to be confirmed so soon. For his killer to actually be caught and delivered to me so quickly is a great satisfaction to me.”

“Actually, I’m only here as part of the team helping Lord Regent Povon, here.” Mark told her in the same language with a warm smile. “We’re here to recover your home, your business, and your possessions for you. I’m very sorry for your misfortune, and I assure you that I never expected this kind of thing to happen to good people like yourself when I authorized The Game of Status.

“Now, if this cube is indeed the work of my children, it will be the work of Povon and Kragorram’s son Karzog as well, since our kids always work as a team. Can I ask you all to step back so we can examine it? Our kids were working on the problem of murderers separately, so I’m not sure what we have here.”

“Oh?! Be my guest!” the goodwife urged as she stepped back. “You’ll find that your children have left you little enough work to do here!”

Once within a few meters of the cube it could be seen that there was fine red writing in Trade Common in the center of each yellow face. Every side said the same thing. It read: “The inmate of this Punishment Cube; Flebzam Nuj, registered player of the 9th League of The Game of Status, stands convicted of the murder of Belnim Goslab by nefarious spell-mongery, under the authority of Prince Markhan Reginus Longstrider the Fifth, Lord of Serminak, and of Lord Regent Povon; Referee of The Game of Status. The crimes of Flebzam Nuj have resulted in a reduction in the military capability of The Just Alliance, a decrease in productivity, and dissention among the populace. Details are As Follows:”

It then gave a complete account of everything that Flebzam Nuj had done to swindle and murder Belnim Goslab, and all the consequences thereof, followed by; “This act of justice was done by The Governors of Hiliani;”

It gave the four youngsters’ complete formal names and titles, and ended with;

“Those who wish to witness the punishment of the prisoner may touch the Punishment Cube.”

Mark touched it and the cube seemed to become invisible, and the cries of its occupant became audible to him, though obviously not to those around him who weren’t touching the cube. A bearded dwarf was writhing and screaming in pain on the bottom of the cube. It appeared he had soiled himself, and his excrement was gradually escaping from his pantaloons and smearing over the bottom of the cube.

“A neat solution, this.” the Goodwife commented with a nasty smile. “I get to see the punishment as long as I want, without it bothering the neighbors.”

“How long has it been here?” Povon asked.

“It floated down the street and stopped there almost an hour ago. A team of Kleti Justicers has already been and gone, and they said that with the information on the cube, their auditors would have no trouble getting my home and business back. Overlord Senchak himself came by to see it, you know. Said it was fine work.”

“It is.” Povon smiled. “We’ll check with your local Justicers, and give them any help they need to recover your property. Other than that, it seems our work here is done, as you’ve said.

“I do apologize for the loss of your property and for the suffering you’ve endured. I’ve not yet decided whether I’ll put systems in place to prevent similar things from happening to good people such as yourself, or whether I’ll fulfill your petition’s request and end The Game of Status outside Serminak. Either way, steps will be taken to ensure that such things will not happen again.”

“Well you know where I stand on that.” Goodwife Goslab insisted, refusing to be intimidated by the silver dragon. “Thank you and good fortune, Lord Regent.”

“And to you, Goodwife.”

“Having your property back doesn’t compensate you for the suffering you’ve endured.” Mark told her. “The cube details his crimes in this case, but we’ll also investigate all of his criminal activities and assets. Everything else he owns will be confiscated and awarded to yourself and other non-players who’ve been affected by his crimes.”

Zone Inspector Rayn had been standing with his hand against the cube while he Read the dwarf within it. Now he turned and addressed Goodwife Goslab. “In your case, that should come to the equivalent of about thirty thousand gold OverMarks, to be divided among your family.”

Her eyebrows rose as her face lit up. “Thank you. That amount will be more than sufficient to compensate for the suffering we’ve endured from losing our property and being evicted from our home. Nothing can balance the loss of my husband, but that was his own damn fault, and I get to see his killer punished, which is a fine thing. I think justice has been satisfied.”

“Good.” Mark nodded with a smile. “Good day to you and yours, Goodwife Goslab.”

“Good day to you and yours, my beloved Prince.” she returned with a warm smile. For the first time since they’d arrived, she relaxed from her proud posture as she graced him with a deep and elegant curtsey.

Mark accepted Povon’s Link and her lead as she directed her team to the local Hall of Justice for a quick stop, before dealing with the next case on her list.

It had taken over an hour for The Governors to formulate the automated and self-duplicating spells for detecting, catching, and punishing murderers. They’d only managed to finish it so fast because they’d asked Sheramiv to arrange a few hundred volunteers from around Hilia who weren’t intellectually busy and were willing to lend a bit of their intellectual capacity for a few minutes. Each volunteer was left with the memory of a few dozen complex sub-spells that weren’t really of much use on their own.

The four had used every candle’s worth of power they had available to them to cast the spell, including all that was stored in the power-stones they’d been given, and they’d had to add seven minutes to the process while the last of the required power was collected from Laylas Valley and Focus Mountain.

Finally they unleashed their creation upon the world, and followed its progress until they were certain that it was functioning as designed. Then they took a moment to bask in the satisfaction of a difficult task done well.

“All right, we got that done pretty fast, and our parents should still be busy for at least a couple of hours.” Six stated. “So this is the time for Karz’s visit. We follow your lead, Karz.”

“All right, thanks.” Karz nodded. “Much as we may not wish to, it would be smart for us to be diplomatic. So you should use full simulacrums and translation. I’ll use a Simulacrum too, I think, just for the psychological advantage, and the safety it provides. About average size would be best.

“Are we ready? I’ll bring us in about four hundred meters out.”