Chapter 491: Evidence!

"M-Mr. President... D-Duke..."

Upon seeing the President and Duke Hernand, Solat and Willard couldn't help but tremble.

The President and Duke Hernand, however, remained silent with grim expressions.

Instead, they turned their gaze toward Gavis, waiting for his explanation.

Gavis did not delay. "Mr. President, Duke Hernand, and all the nobles, your guesses are correct; these two are the spies I mentioned who helped the beastmen burn the grain supplies and infiltrate the city!"

A murmur erupted through the crowd.

"Could it be them? But Willard is still the war supervisor!"

"Yes! And Solit is no ordinary person either; he is a scion of the Stonebreaker family!"

The crowd instantly erupted into chaos.

The President's gaze turned icy. "If I recall correctly, your name is Willard, the war supervisor sent from the Southern Region this time, and the scribe of Eagle City!"

"And you, I believe your name is Solit Stonebreaker; you previously served as the deputy commander of the Vanguard Camp and are also a scion of the Stonebreaker family!"

Naturally unwilling to admit their crimes, Willard and Solit immediately defended themselves. "Mr. President, please listen to our explanation; this is a complete fabrication by Gavis. How could we possibly betray the kingdom!"

"Yes! Mr. President, this is our first time coming to the Northern Region; how could we possibly be beastman spies?"

"Gavis is completely framing us and trying to get us killed!"

While these two were desperately trying to save their own skins, one person in the crowd frowned deeply.

It was Duke Stonebreaker.

He had initially been puzzled by the way Gavis had looked at him earlier.

But upon seeing Solit and Willard, everything became clear to him.

His heart skipped a beat.

It was a fact that Solit and Willard had sent messengers to inform the beast tribes about Gavis's information.

As for burning the grain supplies and letting the beastmen into the city, although he couldn't be one hundred percent certain they were the ones responsible.

It no longer mattered, because regardless of whether they were truly spies, as long as they were proven to have had contact with the beastmen.

They were doomed.

Of course, originally, if Solit died, it wouldn't have mattered much; he was just a scion of a collateral branch.

Such collateral scions numbered in the hundreds, if not thousands, within the Stonebreaker family.

However, what Duke Stonebreaker feared most was that these two would not withstand the pressure and reveal how they had managed to leave the city.

After a moment of thought, Duke Stonebreaker suddenly spoke up. "Mr. President, although Solit is merely a collateral member of my Stonebreaker family, I have met him a few times!"

"During this period, he has been dutiful in the army and should not be capable of becoming a beastman spy!"

"More importantly, he truly is visiting the Northern Region for the first time; in the past, he was always in the heartland of the kingdom, within our Stonebreaker fiefdom, so they likely wouldn't even know how to contact the beastmen."

"As for being beastman spies, that is even more impossible, so could this perhaps be a misunderstanding?"

Upon hearing this, the President glanced at Duke Stonebreaker and frowned.

He naturally understood Duke Stonebreaker's meaning; it was clearly an attempt to protect Solit.

If he had evidence here, it would be one thing, but without evidence, the situation would be difficult to handle.

Before the President could respond, Gavis spoke again. "Duke Stonebreaker, this is no misunderstanding; the news that these two are spies came directly from Molar himself!"

"Therefore, if you shield them, you are betraying the souls of the tens of thousands of soldiers who died!"

A gasp rippled through the crowd.

Gavis's words were undeniably heavy.

Accusing someone of shielding beastman spies was an act that would be condemned by the entire kingdom.

More importantly, Gavis was accusing a duke.

A viscount accusing a duke was an unprecedented event.

In the past, no minor noble would have dared to do such a thing.

Not to mention minor nobles; even counts and marquises would likely not have the courage to openly accuse a dignified duke.

For a moment, the nobles whispered among themselves.

Besides discussing whether Willard and Solit were truly spies.

More were discussing the fact that Gavis had offended Duke Stonebreaker.

Duke Stonebreaker's face was as cold as water.

Having lived for so long, this was the first time a minor noble had openly accused him in such a manner.

"Viscount Gavis, do you have any evidence? If you have no evidence and accuse me of shielding Solit, that would be an act of insubordination, and I, the Grand Duke of Stonebreaker, will certainly demand an explanation!" Duke Stonebreaker's voice was icy.

If this young man could not produce evidence, he would not be polite.

If he did not take this young man down, he would no longer be fit to be the Grand Duke of Stonebreaker and would likely be laughed at by nobles throughout the kingdom.

Facing the threat, Gavis merely curled the corners of his mouth, having anticipated all of this.

"Duke Stonebreaker, of course I have evidence! And this person here is the witness who can prove they are spies!"

Gavis pointed his finger at Dokadi, who was kneeling on the ground trembling, having dared not say a word since Gavis and the others appeared.

Dokadi had already understood from Gavis's words what the President and the others had come to do!

As someone with a guilty conscience, he was naturally trembling in fear.

Feeling the gaze of everyone around him, he was terrified to the point of losing his soul.

"Dokadi, do not be nervous; stand up now, I have questions for you!" Ignoring the thoughts of others, Gavis walked over to Dokadi and lifted him up with both hands.

Dokadi trembled, glanced at Gavis, then at the President, before quickly lowering his head again.

"Dokadi, you must have seen what Solit and Willard were trying to do just now, correct?"

"If my subordinates had not arrived, you would likely have already died from their treachery, wouldn't you?"

"And why they wanted to kill you, you should be clear about that too. So let me ask you — do you regret doing that thing for Minister Weilade now?"

"I… I…" Duokadi opened his mouth, wanting to say something.

"Duokadi, don't talk nonsense — if you say the wrong thing, you'll definitely die too!" Solite was the smarter one, suddenly cutting in to threaten Duokadi.

Duokadi was so frightened that he shut his mouth on the spot.

Gervas glanced at Solite, but tossed him a contemptuous, mocking smirk.

Then he looked toward the President. "President, I have a request!"

"Go ahead, Gervas!"

"President, I wish to ask you for a promise — that if Duokadi can atone for his crimes by honestly confessing the mistakes he committed before, you'll spare his life!"

The President immediately understood what Gervas meant. "No problem. If he's willing to confess honestly, then I promise to let him live!"

"Furthermore, if he can redeem himself by exposing the other spies, I can continue to lessen his punishment!"

Gervas nodded in satisfaction. "Duokadi, you heard that too. The President has already said — as long as you perform well, your punishment can be reduced."

"Besides, I know you were merely coerced and bewitched by Minister Weilade, so the real spy business can't really be pinned on you."

"Now, whether you want to live or die is entirely up to you! The chance is right in front of you. If you don't cherish it, then there's nothing I can do either!"

"I… I'll talk. President, I'm willing to talk. It was all Weilade and Solite who told me to do it — I really didn't mean to…"

No brilliant tactics were needed — just the promise of a way out.

Combined with the killing intent Weilade and Solite had shown toward him earlier, it made Duokadi pour out everything he knew without the slightest hesitation.

For instance, Weilade had him pass messages to the beastmen.

And he had also received tokens from the beastmen, and so on.