Cloud Thinking

Helia came to the ward where the injured were. The four people who were still shouting and cursing excitedly shut up after seeing Helia's figure.

In addition to her, the other three referees also came, accompanied by Ansel and Damian.

Ansel stood beside her consciously, and just as he was about to ask her about the situation, he heard Helia say:

"This matter ends here, and neither party will be held responsible."

Not only were the four people shocked, but even Valosinger widened his eyes and looked at her in confusion, totally unable to understand why she made such a decision.

"Your Highness, I cannot agree to this!" The first person targeted by Ariana said with anger, "She almost killed me. How can I pretend that nothing happened?"

"Your Highness! Are you going to protect a murderer?!"

"Your Highness Helia, that woman dared to kill someone in front of so many people, and you want to pardon her? Are you crazy?" Dorado cursed.

Helia looked at him coldly and asked in confusion: "Murderer?"

"When you pushed her, didn't you think that she might fall off the horse and die?"

"If that's the case, then aren't you also a murderer?"

His face turned pale for a moment, but soon turned red with anger, "She's fine! But I actually fell off the horse!"

"If it weren't for the healing magician, I would have been dead and disabled!"

"Your Highness! The injury is not on you, so of course you are not in pain! But we have literally walked through the gates of hell!"

"But aren't you okay now?" Helia said this in an almost cold and heartless tone.

"Besides, she only shot your horse. You lost your balance and fell off. You should take at least half the responsibility for your broken leg."

He was so angry that he gasped for breath and his whole face turned red, but he couldn't say anything else for a while.

"Moreover, if we really want to investigate further, I saw clearly on the stage how many people in the previous competition were injured in the horses and harmed, and how many were ruthless and vicious." Helia continued.

"The rules of this competition do not specify that you cannot hurt people, nor do they specify that you cannot hurt horses. In addition, the division of groups is designed to allow contestants to compete."

"Isn't it normal for someone to get hurt during the competition? It's not like there weren't other people who got hurt? Why don't those people pursue responsibility?"

"My attitude is clear: either we investigate all of them together, or we investigate none of them at all."

The meaning of Helia's words was obvious. In this matter, she wanted to protect Ariana.

"Your Highness, even if we agree to your request, what about the audience outside? How are you going to explain it to them?" Another person used public opinion to put pressure on Helia.

"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. What's the point of explaining this?" Helia asked. "You've already pointed your bow at her, and you're not allowing her to fight back?"

"The moment you point your arrows at her, you should be prepared for retaliation."

"Besides, that's a competition arena. You're not as skilled as others. Who can you blame?"

"When you go to the battlefield in the future, do you still expect the enemy to show mercy to you?"

"But we didn't hurt her at all!" The man just thought Helia was unreasonable.

As soon as the voice fell, Helia's figure appeared like a ghost. She drew Carlisle's sword and brought the sharp blade close to the man's fragile neck.

If she or he moves the slightest, I'm afraid there will be bleeding.

She leaned forward slightly and whispered in the man's ear: "But I haven't hurt you yet, have I?"

The man was trembling all over and didn't dare to speak. I don't know whether he was afraid or angry.

Maybe it's both.

"Your Highness, calm down, let's discuss it." Varosinger advised.

Helia put away the sword and threw it back to Carlisle, then walked towards the door of the room and motioned for them to talk outside.

Ansel and Damian naturally stood on Helia's side, so they had the same attitude as Helia: either hold everyone accountable or hold no one accountable.

"If you hurt someone, you have to take responsibility. Otherwise, what will happen in the future? What if you raise a murderer?" Dorado strongly objected and insisted on making Ariana suffer.

"Indeed, the friction between other people was at most unintentional or accidental during the competition, but she was obviously trying to kill them on purpose. It would be hard to convince the public if she is not punished..." Gisellewell said.

"But some of them shot arrows directly at Ariana. Can this be considered unintentional or an accident?" Helia retorted.

"But she committed the crime in public, and you can't just let her go without any explanation. What will others think if you let her go?" Gisever said.

"They also committed the crime in public, and some even shot people directly. Ariana only shot a horse. There is a fundamental difference between the two." Helia refuted again.

"Not to mention that they could have resisted. Four people couldn't beat a woman. They lost face. How can they have the nerve to pursue it?"

"It is undeniable that someone was injured. It would be unfair not to punish the person who injured him," said Valosinger.

He did not side with Helia.

Helia laughed angrily, "Fair? So many people have done something wrong, but she is the only one who has to be punished. How can this be called fair?"

"In terms of law, every citizen of the empire has the right to defend his or her own life. Ariana's fight back when her life was threatened was both morally and legally correct."

"But the law also stipulates that anyone who commits a crime in public is guilty," said Gisever.

"Then there was the one who bumped into someone and caused him to fall in the previous group, the one before that injured someone while shooting arrows, and the one who started the earliest group kicked someone's horse, causing the horse to get scared and someone to fall. Aren't these also crimes committed in public?" Helia objected again.

"Your Highness Helia, I know that because she is a woman and you are also a woman, you want to protect her." Dorodo interrupted, "But you can't be so unreasonable!"

"I'm unreasonable? Every word I said was reasonable. You're too stupid to understand and can't figure it out, so don't get involved. You make yourself look like a brainless pig." Helia scolded.

Dorado was furious, and the hair on his head stood up. When Helia saw this, an inappropriate thought popped up in her mind:

If I could pull some out and give it to Mr. Mobicius, he would definitely be happy...

This matter is indeed difficult to handle. Even though Ariana had the reason that she wanted to protect herself and that it is inevitable to hurt others in competition, she was not injured and was fine, while they were seriously injured. This is a fact.

The victim is always right.

Moreover, there were witnesses and evidence, and hundreds and thousands of pairs of eyes watched the entire process of her committing the crime, so she couldn't escape.

If Helia wants to save herself, she can only do so in this way, insisting on her principles and dragging others into the water with her.

"Your Highness, this is inappropriate." Varosinger advised again, "She hurt people wantonly under our noses. In a sense, she is challenging the authority and the fairness of this assessment."

"If we don't punish her, it will damage the reputation of the royal family, the image of the empire, and it will also trample on the law."

"I didn't say there would be no punishment. I said if we have to punish, we should punish together. If she is punished, those who took action will also be punished together." Helia said.

"If you punish her alone, what will the other players think? Protecting yourself and counterattacking is actually a mistake."

"If someone is still being besieged and bullied, and even fighting back becomes a mistake, do you want to see someone die in the exam room?"

"Then the reputation of the royal family and the image of the empire will only become worse."

“Your Highness is right. This problem must be properly resolved. We need to give the audience and the contestants a reasonable explanation, right?” Damian spoke up at the right time.

Giselwell carefully observed the current situation, then checked the time. After confirming that Helia was unwilling to give in, he considered:

"How about this, since you think that female player went too far, why don't we punish her more severely and the others less severely."

"If everyone is fined, this can be avoided as much as possible."

"The female player's behavior was more serious, so the penalty should be heavier. It can also give an explanation to the audience and warn the following players."

As expected of a fence-sitter who tries to smooth things over, he now becomes "you" again. If you don't know, you might think that the one who was arguing with Helia just now was not him.

Dorado glanced at him, rolled his eyes speechlessly, and sneered twice.

Valosinger looked at Gisever who changed sides on the spot, and then at Dorado who just rolled his eyes and said nothing, and he knew that they had compromised with Helia.

There would be no result if I continued to insist, so I might as well follow Helia's lead and do her a favor.

No matter how others say that the verdict is unfair, it is Helia who takes the blame. They can still gain sympathy by saying that they are controlled by the powerful.

The few of them discussed it again. Of course, it was basically Helia who was talking, and the others either agreed or raised questions, which were then refuted by Helia.

Ariana's score in this assessment will be reset to zero. Anyone else who fights on the field and causes injury to others will have half their points deducted, and anyone who does not hurt anyone will have 20% of their points deducted.

After hearing the result of the jury's discussion, the four patients looked at each other in disbelief.

They broke their legs, got bumps on their heads and almost lost their lives. They were hurt so badly, yet they were still deducted points!

Is there any justice in this world?

And this was actually the result of discussion among the four referees!

But what else can they say?

They are just a group of ordinary people who can say nothing when facing power and can only obey.

After Helia and her group returned to the referee's seat, they simply explained the result and asked the examiner to explain the new rules to the following contestants.

There were frequent rustling noises coming from the audience seats, and even the discussions were much quieter than before. Most people were puzzled, but few dared to curse.

After all, they couldn't afford to offend anyone on the referee's bench.

The contestants behind were also a bit confused and came on stage in a daze. The five faces shown on the water mirror all looked almost uniformly bewildered, so that only a few of them could be considered outstanding.

Everyone was timid and unwilling to get close to each other, for fear of being hit by someone or accidentally hitting someone and having all the points deducted. Instead of attacking, it is better to be conservative.

Not only did the audience boo again and again, finding the show extremely boring, but the referees also had worried looks on their faces and didn't know what to make of it.

Off stage——

Ariana was still locked in the room, and two guards who obeyed Helia's orders stood outside the door to protect her.

To prevent those four or other people implicated from getting too angry and causing trouble for her.

"You are also a tiger, you dare to do this."

A cold voice echoed in the empty house, but no one was seen, as if a ghost was speaking.

Ariana raised her eyes and turned her head to look around, trying to catch the trace of the person coming.

"It's none of your business," she said.

"I thought you were so powerful, but this is all you can get?" A wisp of gray smoke seeped out from the wall, slowly condensed into a human shape, and finally transformed into the appearance of a man.

Ide walked up to Ariana and sat on the chair where Helia had sat before. Then, his appearance and figure suddenly began to change little by little.

Flame red hair, sapphire blue eyes, a face like a hibiscus...

He took on the appearance of Helia.

"Even if Helia saves you this time, you won't be able to join the Knights later. Why bother?"

"Are you going to compete again? Why don't you have some fun with me? You came here just to attract Helia's attention, and now you've achieved your goal."

It was a bit strange that he had the same body as Helia but spoke with a man's voice.

Ariana did not answer, but asked: "Then why did you come?"

Ide supported his chin, tapped his face with his fingers, raised the corners of his mouth, and said with a happy face: "I see that Helia has a bad relationship with that Dorodo..."

"How about I lend a hand and make the fire between the royal family and the association burn bigger and bigger?"

As he spoke, he summoned a flame from his palm, identical to Helia's own natural flame.

"Idrija, you're crazy! Don't you think it's chaotic enough now?" Ariana shouted.

Ide shrugged nonchalantly, "It's going to be a mess anyway, so why not make it even more chaotic!"

Ariana gritted her teeth and said, "You really want the world to be in chaos."

Ide used Helia's face and chuckled twice, "This is what we, the Sons of Chaos, are like."

"We seek the breath of chaos, sow the seeds of strife, enjoy the joy in chaos, and offer fine wine for the grand opening of the drama."

He suddenly came forward, and although his face was full of smiles, his eyes were as cold as ice.

"Why, do you want to join us?"

Ariana turned her head away to show her refusal, "You and I will never agree."

"Haha, how could that be possible?" Ide smiled and stepped back, returning to his original lazy and frivolous appearance.

"To be honest, I thought Helia would be interesting at first. After all, she's a person who causes trouble wherever she goes. Maybe she and I would get along well."

"But now it seems that she is also a person who is bound by something that does not exist. She is not free or happy at all."

"Ah - if she could join us, the Sons of Chaos, with her status..."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, I can't imagine what kind of wonderful play the Empire will present."