Omega's Rebirth-Chapter 473: What Law ()
The cart overturned completely, all the chests it carried crashed harshly to the ground, their lids popping open and dozens of precious goods clattered everywhere.
It created quite the spectacle, not that Neveah minded it.
"My goods! My goods!" The merchant wailed miserably, his loud cries calling for even more attention.
Murmurs sounded from the crowd of onlookers, it was a mix of opinions on what they were witnessing, but Neveah ignored it.
"These goods are worth thousands of gold! Who can compensate me?!" The merchant wailed on, believing he could agitate the crowd as he had done before.
But the merchant did not understand that this was the Dune City...there was only one way this could go.
It was always difficult to deal with new travelers who had never visited the Dunes before and did not understand the way things were done, it was the only reason Neveah had to be careful.
Within Dune City, there was not a single soul that would protest against her decision and even amongst the crowd of travelers, there were many who had visited the Dunes quite a few times and had come to know the ways of the White Dunes.
In the White Dunes, absolute trust had been established between the dragon kind and the people they protected, it was astonishing to Neveah at first but she had come to understand why her father was such a great ruler.
"Lieutenant Vairheac will inspect the carts in person! Whoever has a problem with that may step forward!" The city guard in charge announced, his tone loud enough so this time, all could hear it clearly.
"Ah...is this Lieutenant Neveah Vairheac? The young heiress of the White Dunes?" A voice whispered amongst the crowd who were not so familiar with the White Dunes.
But familiar or not with the White Dunes, at this point, there was no one in the stronghold who had not heard of Neveah.
"It is indeed! Who else could it be?!" Another voice whispered.
At that same moment, the crowd dispersed and everyone returned their attention to what they should rightly have been doing.
If they had not heard Neveah’s introduction well enough the first time, they had surely heard it now.
"If it is Lieutenant Vairheac who says it, then there is surely something suspicious about this!" A voice said in the crowd. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖
Many other voices echoed their agreement, these were those who knew the ways of the White Dunes.
Ultimately, Neveah could tell that those who had stirred up the ruckus initially amongst the crowd may have travelled separately but were clearly a part of the merchant’s caravan.
Neveah did not comment on it, her attention was focused on the cart. The force of it’s fall had knocked out some of the woods with which it was built and in that process, a hidden compartment had been revealed, a hollow space in the base of the cart.
"There... smash it." Neveah gestured to the hidden compartment that everyone had now noticed, even the merchant and his followers who had all fallen quiet.
The city guards complied immediately, smashing open the cart with a few hits. It fully revealed the hidden compartment where rows of swords were strapped to the base of the cart.
The city guard in charge retrieved one of the weapons and handed it to Neveah.
"It is rather heavy, for a sword. With over a dozen of this strapped to the cart, it is no wonder the wheels left a deeper imprint. Likely, all the other carts carry the same." The city guard in charge commented.
Neveah nodded slowly, checking the weight of the sword and as the city guard had reported, the weapon was quite heavy and completely unbalanced.
It had an exquisite and expert make, but given the weight, it was a sorry excuse for a sword.
Neveah drew the sword, examining the blade slowly. She ran her fingers along the length of it, wondering what kind of steel was still so heavy even after tempering.
"What more do you have to say?" The city guard in charge asked the merchant who now stood in silence, his gaze darting this way and that.
"I... Trading weapons is not a crime!" The merchant exclaimed in his defense.
"Not if you have the rights to trade weapons. When you do not have such rights, it is called trafficking." Neveah said, though her attention was still fixed on the sword.
"If you had them, you would not have to conceal the weapons so creatively in the first place..." Neveah began to say but was interrupted by the merchant.
"I wish to see the captain of the city guards! By law, trafficking weapons can be offset with a fine!"
" A few of my goods can pay off the fine and I will not protest to having the cargo seized!"
"I am not of Asvarian blood! I should first be allowed fair trial in a mortal court! I have committed no offence against dragon kind! I wish to see the captain!" The merchant yelled out as the city guard surrounded him.
Again, appealing to public sentiment using the premise of the much debated topic of dragon dynasty tyranny and oppression that had earned more traction in recent times.
Since the dragon dynasty and Fae clans had begun falling out...
Whoever this merchant was, Neveah could tell he was well informed of the current state of affairs in the stronghold.
"By what law, exactly? You must not have realized that you are in the White Dunes now... there is only one law here, the supreme law." Neveah said, still studying the sword.
There was something about the weapon that unsettled Neveah, it gave off a familiar ominous aura and Neveah could not quite place where exactly she had sensed this before.
Neveah frowned slightly, she lifted the sword to her view and hit the blade with a powerful fist, smashing the steel.
Neveah expected it to break in half but was surprised to see the steel break away like an outer case, revealing the true blade of the sword and the reason for the uneven weight.
"Adamantium!" Neveah hissed, her gaze darkened, lifting sharply to the merchant.
Realizing they had been discovered, members of the caravan took to their heels, attempting an escape.
"Apprehend them all! Not a single one is allowed to escape!" Neveah ordered, her tone cold and fierce.
