Tribe Conquest: Harem starts in a tribe!-Chapter 12: Trial

The trial altar was a circular platform; the tribesmen gathered below it to spectate the ongoing trial.

The council of elders — a group of four elders and a grand elder — was sitting in a row of luxurious chairs made of fur and wood, ready to act as judges alongside the Patriarch.

The Vice-Patriarch would also have been a judge if only his son wasn’t the accused criminal. He was right now standing with Rokan on one side.

On the opposite side, Eric sat on an elevated platform, generally used by the victim to plead his case. Behind him stood Jule, his stepmother Selera, and younger sister, Lira.

On Rokan’s side were his wife, the four goons, and the Vice-Patriarch.

"Selera, come here. Why are you standing behind him?" The grand elder called loudly, standing up from his seat with a disdainful look in his eyes. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

The grand elder, an old man with long white hair and a matching beard, was the father of Buan’s stepmother, Selera. Lira was his grandchild, but since Buan’s mother was different, the grand elder hated him and didn’t consider him a part of his family.

The grand elder, even though old, wasn’t feeble, instead, he had bulging muscles and a huge frame of 190 centimeters.

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"No, Father!" Selera refused, calm and elegant in her answer. "I’ll support my son. Let me be here."

The grand elder gritted his teeth and spat. "He is not your son. His mother died after giving birth to him."

Just as she heard this, Selera shot a furious glare at her father. "You are crossing your limits, father! If you hadn’t forced me and Lira to accompany you yesterday, this wouldn’t have happened."

Selera hadn’t wanted to accompany the grand elder originally, fearing the worst for Buan, however, after long persuasion of her father, she reluctantly agreed. However, when she wanted to go and tell Buan about her short absence, her father stopped her, not allowing her or Lira to do so.

It was only due to her father that Buan was crippled right now.

"You stubborn child..." The grand elder sighed in defeat, sitting back down.

***

The patriarch — a two meter tall man, adorned in a magnificent fur cloak and leather pants, with long, dark violet hair and eyes, and a massive physique — announced the start of the trial.

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After a few moments, he looked at Buan and instructed, "Buan, tell us what happened last night."

Buan began to narrate his previous night’s experience, from him getting chased by the scout on a hound, to getting kidnapped, from him waking up from getting pissed on, to his legs being crushed.

He didn’t forget to include the things Rokan said to him, the reasons for killing him, the vice-patriarch’s ambition to become the patriarch himself, and everything else.

He explained in detail, the dread he felt, the pain of getting his legs crushed and then chewed by a harrowing monster. Buan knew that expressing his experience in detail would work as proof in itself. Only someone who had experienced something like that himself could detail the terror of facing a beast god.

He concluded his narration with being saved by Jule, getting treated by the shaman of the Roen tribe, and then returning today at dawn.

A wave of murmurs rolled across the tribesmen gathered around the altar.

Even the vice-patriarch shot a dark look at Rokan, whispering, "You fool! Why did you tell him everything?"

The Vice-Patriarch, named Trula, was a giant man with long crimson hair and a matching goatee beard.

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He didn’t condemn his son’s method of dealing with Buan, since it was flawless.

If Rokan had used poison, the beast god would have sniffed it and wouldn’t have eaten Buan. Moreover, using poison would associate the murder to Rokan.

In the tribe, Shamans had a unique ability to deduce the killer of someone through the power of the sun god. If Buan’s murder was investigated, the shaman would point at Rokan, and then he would’ve been executed.

Crushing Buan’s legs was the right answer because... crushed legs gave Buan the ability to move and struggle, associating the kill to the Beast God.

Trula was only furious because of his son’s loud mouth.

Still, not everything was out of control.

After a short while, Trula clapped loudly, suppressing the murmurs under his thunderous claps.

"What a story." He laughed. "Even I was fooled for a second,"

He raised his eyebrow: "But what does your story prove?"

"There is no evidence." He sneered.

Seeing him speaking out of turn, the patriarch glared at him coldly. "Trula, don’t interrupt. He has brought a witness."

The patriarch turned to Jule and requested with a polite smile. "Warrior Jule. Please tell us what you saw, and how much of Buan’s testimony can you vouch for?"

Since Jule was a warrior of another tribe, the patriarch couldn’t be rude to him. Much less when he had saved a warrior of his tribe and brought him home safely. Jule was a guest right now.

Jule walked forward confidently.

Addressing everyone, he began his side of the story.

"I was looking to hunt a spirit beast around my tribe, and suddenly, I heard a scream. The scream was full of horror and desperation. I noticed that it came from the territory of the Beast God, Crocomanga. At first, I was hesitant; however, soon I made up my mind to go and check it out."

He glanced at Buan briefly and smiled, before continuing. "That’s where I found Buan, his right leg in the maw of the Beast God, Crocomanga. I knew I wouldn’t be able to pierce its skin, so I targeted one of its four eyes with my spear. Once it was writhing in pain, it left Buan’s leg, and I took that chance to save him. However, he fainted while I was carrying him due to loss of blood. The shaman cured him using divine healing of the sun god. Next, I brought him here to act as his witness and to help him get justice."

The patriarch nodded, allowing Jule to step back.

For a few moments, only murmurs of the tribesmen around the altar could be heard, convinced that Buan was speaking the truth.

"Doesn’t that mean Buan is telling the truth?"

"Everyone knows about Rokan’s hate for Buan. This was bound to happen sooner or later."

"But is this enough to punish the son of the Vice-Patriarch?"

As Trula watched the crowd’s opinion shifting to Buan’s side, he walked forward and spoke loudly:

"This still doesn’t prove anything. There is no evidence of Rokan being involved. This only proves that Buan was in the maw of the beast god, Crocomanga, nothing else."

"If he was kidnapped so openly, how come there isn’t a single witness in the tribe?" Trula asked, acting as if his son was being falsely accused.

"Then how do you explain him ending up in the beast god’s maw?" Selera asked, her jaw clenched.

"Maybe he planned for this." Trula shrugged as he guessed with a smirk: "He was getting bullied for being weak, so he decided to frame his bullies to get rid of them."

He was implying that Buan was framing his innocent son, and the sheer foolishness of his statement felt nauseating to Selera.

As a mother, she couldn’t believe the criminal was acting as the victim here.

Instantly, she spat in anger, "No warrior would be foolish enough to lose a leg just to frame some bullies. Becoming a cripple is even worse than death in our tribe. Do you really believe Buan can just walk into the Beast God’s territory solely to frame your son?"

For a short while, everyone was silent. Spoken aloud, Trula’s reasoning truly sounded stupid.

"Stop it, you two." The Patriarch suddenly interjected, unable to bear watching them argue.

He turned to look at Buan and asked. "Do you have any other evidence?"

Buan stiffened under his gaze.

After a few moments, he shook his head in response. He didn’t have any other evidence other than the obvious situation that explained itself what had happened. Even a child could add two and two here.

Getting Buan’s answer, the Patriarch nodded in understanding before going over to the council of elders to discuss.

They discussed in a low voice, not letting others listen in on their conversation. Others could only attempt to discern what they were saying from their reactions and occasional nods.

After a few minutes, the patriarch returned to his seat and announced in his commanding tone.

"There is a lack of evidence and witness to prove the crime. We cannot give a decision based on the present proofs. Therefore, this trial will be postponed indefinitely until definitive evidence is found."

After a short while, he turned to Buan and continued, "Till then, the tribe will give the victim, Buan Vila, the compensation to get a wooden leg crafted by the tribe’s best craftsman, Hula."

"Of course, the victim has the right to demand a trial by combat." He added, raising his eyebrow to know Buan’s response.

Eric looked at the patriarch incredulously, screaming inside his head,

’Are you mocking me right now? I can’t even stand up, much less fight against a warrior with a 3-star spirit tattoo.’

Eventually, Eric sighed and shook his head, giving his response to the patriarch.

The patriarch nodded and announced, "This trial is hereby concluded!"

Selera gritted her teeth in frustration but didn’t protest. You couldn’t object to a decision of the trial without any evidence.

Eric also knew this. He knew that the patriarch, the council of elders, and all the tribesmen in the tribe knew that Buan was speaking the truth; however, due to Trula’s influence, they couldn’t punish Rokan on vague suspicion without definitive proof.

Trula was a powerful warrior and a sharp strategist, an asset for the tribe. They couldn’t offend him even if they wanted to. This was the reason why the patriarch didn’t do anything despite knowing about Trula’s ambition for his seat.

As the patriarch and the council of elders were getting up to leave, Trula walked forward and yelled.

"Wait!"

Suddenly, all attention was focused on him.

He pressed a fist against his chest and bowed to the Grand Elder as he requested. "Grand Elder, I would like to ask for your daughter’s hand in marriage."

For a few moments, everyone was dazed except the grand elder.

"What?!" Selera and Lira widened their eyes in shock.

The Grand Elder, however, seemed to be aware of this beforehand.

Trula continued. "As you know, my wife died three years ago, leaving me and Rokan alone. Similarly, the previous patriarch died a year ago, leaving your daughter and granddaughter alone. I think she deserves a happy life, not a lonely one. I’m powerful and influential, a perfect candidate to be your son in law."

The response came a bit too fast.

"Hahaha, why not?" The grand elder laughed. "I was worried about my daughter, but with you, I can rest assured. I give you my blessing."

Everyone looked at this scene incredulously in a daze.

"Father!!" Selera yelled furiously. "What’s going on?"

"How can you arrange my marriage without asking me first?"