A fantastical journey across the heavens, beginning with the Witcher.

"At this point, even if the principal of Oxburgh Academy or the King of Redania came, they couldn't directly declare Lily innocent. They would have to wait for a public trial."

Li De had one more thing he didn't say: The only chance to save Lily was before the mayor posted the notice. Now, even if Philip changed his mind and insisted on releasing his student, the uninformed public would only accuse him of protecting a monster. If the mayor used a few underhanded tactics, the principal, who had only been in office for half a year, would be overthrown by public opinion.

"But Lily didn't..."

Elena tried to argue, but Li De interrupted her directly, "At this point, the truth is no longer important. In their minds, werewolves are evil, so Lily is evil."

"If you really want to save her, you have two choices."

"First, stop having illusions about humanity. Tonight, stage the scene and say that Lily turned into a werewolf and escaped. I believe Captain Sal will cooperate."

"Second, continue to be naive and wait for tomorrow's public trial. The result will definitely be a failure, but as long as she is not executed on the spot, there is a chance to switch Lily. At that time, just find any corpse to fool her. As long as we maintain the image of 'Mayor' as fair and just, he doesn't care where Lily went."

Elena grew up at Oxford College, where she studied theology, law, literature, and everything she heard, saw, and learned was about fairness and justice.

Everyone told her that doing good deeds would be rewarded and doing bad deeds would be punished, but no one told her that all of this depended on having a highly respected grandfather...

When she suddenly realized that her grandfather was unable to bring about fairness, she was briefly confused, but then she became determined again.

"We can't run away. If we do, Lily's suspicion will be impossible to clear. I want to tell everyone at the public trial that Lily is a hero, not a monster!"

"For your mental health, I actually recommend the first option. If you insist on sticking to it, that's up to you."

Li De shrugged.

……

The public trial date arrived as scheduled, and the once chaotic Bullburg Square was transformed into a makeshift courtroom.

Seated in the dock were the judge, the mayor of Bullburg, Principal Philip, as well as local nobles and citizen representatives.

Lily and Elena were sitting in the dock. They had originally planned to tie Lily up with chains, but Sal forcibly stopped them.

As for the plaintiff's seat... there is no plaintiff, or rather, the entire Beefburg is the plaintiff...

A jumble of voices came from the crowd.

"Look, that's a man-eating monster!"

"Nonsense, that was a little girl, not even as old as my daughter. The monster has already been killed by the demon hunters. Didn't you see the notice?"

"You didn't read the notice. That's a monster, you know, a werewolf? The giant wolf in the stories that howls at the moon and eats old people and children."

"..."

"Silence! Silence!"

The judge on the bench banged his gavel and shouted for the crowd to quiet down. Once the noise subsided, the judge began to pronounce the verdict: "Today, April 7th, 1267 AD, under the banner of Redania, in the central square of Cowburg, the werewolf Lily is publicly tried for allegedly…"

The trial proceedings had barely been halfway through when Elena stood up abruptly and loudly objected, "Objection! Your Honor, Lily is first and foremost my student. Please address her as—Lily, a student at the Medical School of Bullburg College."

The judge hesitated for a moment, glancing tentatively at the two bigwigs beside him. After receiving a barely perceptible nod and a shake of the head, a bitter feeling welled up in his heart. If he had known that the girl had the principal's granddaughter to defend her, he should have just claimed to be sick and asked for leave.

Now, the principal and the mayor are at odds – one nods, the other shakes his head. Whom should he listen to?

After hesitating for two seconds, he chose a compromise, removing the werewolf prefix and not including the name of Bullburg Academy.

"...The trial of Lily for allegedly endangering the city-state's security, concealing her monster identity, and disturbing the public is now in session!"

"On behalf of the Niubao Judicial Office, I hereby swear to His Majesty King Tamir II that this public trial will be fair and solemn. The defendant is permitted to present his defense, and the public is allowed to observe and witness the proceedings."

The judge paused, glanced at the crowd, and then raised his voice to read out the charges against Lily.

"Now, in accordance with the law, we are filing a public complaint against the defendant, Lili, for the following reasons:"

First, the defendant, Lily, deliberately concealed her werewolf identity and infiltrated Cowburg Academy for a long time, deceiving the public and the academy's faculty and students. Her actions seriously endangered public safety.

Secondly, during the Blood Demon attack at the college, the defendant Lily publicly revealed her werewolf form, causing extreme panic among the students present and seriously disrupting public order;

Thirdly, werewolves fall into the category of high-risk monsters and have always been bloodthirsty. The existence of the defendant, Lily, poses a serious threat to the lives and safety of the people of Cowburg, violating the laws of the Cowburg city-state.

"Defendant, do you have anything to say in your defense?"

"Your Honor, the above accusations are untrue!"

Elena stepped forward quickly and began to defend herself as a legal advisor.

"Regarding the first charge, although Lily concealed her werewolf identity, her transformation ability comes from her bloodline, and she can remain rational even after transforming, which does not involve endangering public safety."

"Regarding the second charge, when Lily revealed her werewolf form, the Blood Demon was attacking the students at the academy, which was an extreme situation. She was trying to save her companions and it did not involve disturbing public order."

"Regarding the third charge, please refer to the first defense, and none of the laws of Cowburg state that werewolves cannot enter the city."

The mayor on the bench immediately retorted sharply, "Arguments are meaningless! Who can guarantee that she remains rational every time she transforms? Who can guarantee that she transforms to save people, and not because she's being stimulated by the Blood Demon and revealing her bloodthirsty instincts?"

"Your Honor, the principle of innocence applies!"

"Hehe...then let's call witnesses."

The mayor gave a meaningful laugh.

The female students who were rescued by Lily walked up to the witness stand. Perhaps because it was the first time they had spoken in front of so many people, they all looked a little flustered.

Elena gritted her teeth. She had always thought that fat pig was just an incompetent person who held a position without doing any work, but she didn't expect him to react so quickly when he tripped her up behind her back.

Yesterday, she had intended to find those students and persuade them to testify for Lily, but the result was that they had already been taken away by the mayor.

Now look what happened! Who knows what that fat pig said to them!

Elena walked up to the students, her expression sincere and her eyes pleading: "Students, please describe in detail whether your lives were threatened during the Blood Demon attack, and whether Lily blocked the monster, buying precious time for the Demon Hunters to come to the rescue."

The girls exchanged glances and shook their heads in response to Elena's despair: "We...don't know. We only saw Lily turn into a werewolf and fight the monster. It was terrifying."

The judge began by asking, "After the defendant transformed into a werewolf, did he have a tendency to attack you?"

"have."

Lily was struck dumb, her lips trembling as she forced back tears as she looked at her former best friend.

Wow!

The crowd erupted in uproar, with whispers and murmurs filling the air.

"A monster is a monster!"

"That's right, monsters can't be trusted. We still have to live in the city! Who can guarantee it won't attack us in the future?"

"..."

At the back of the crowd, Li De quipped to Sal beside him, "Big cities are just different. In the countryside, a mob would just charge in with pitchforks. There's no need for all this. If you ask me, you should just vote on the method of execution. Why go through all this formalities?"

Sal looked embarrassed and was unable to refute.

"That's not the truth! They were just terrified by what they saw! Lily had no intention of attacking anyone!"

Elena shouted desperately, trying to prove Lily's innocence, but the judge turned a deaf ear and did nothing to maintain order; her defense was completely drowned out by the noise of the crowd.

The girl who saved the man huddled helplessly in the defendant's seat, hiding her head between her knees, too afraid to look up and face the gaze of the crowd.

Only when the crowd reached a boiling point did the judge, at the mayor's behest, strike the gavel, ending the farce: "Silence! Silence! I hereby declare a temporary recess!"

Elena, ignoring Lily's distress, roughly pushed through the crowd to the witcher, her voice urgent: "Li De, I didn't expect this! Can you testify in court? You're the hero who killed the Blood Demon; everyone will believe you!"

Li De shrugged, his tone revealing a lack of expectation for the outcome.

"Of course I could, but it would be useless. In most trials involving monsters, the Witcher stands on the defendant's side, not the witness stand. Even if I went up to testify, they would only think that I was bribed by you, or simply that it was a mutual cover-up between 'two monsters'."

Elena's straight back slumped.

……

After the court hearing resumed, there was no surprising reversal of conscience.

Even though Li De, as a Witcher, stood in the witness stand and repeatedly explained how urgent the situation was and how correct Lily's actions in saving the day were, the result remained unchanged.

The voices from the crowd were all saying, "He's helping the monster!" and "They're in cahoots! If the monster's gone, the witchers won't have a job. I think he's deliberately protecting them!"

The malicious whispers were unsettling, but Li De seemed not to hear anything and simply shrugged at Elena.

It's as if it's saying, "See, I told you so."

When the judge pronounced the death sentence, the citizens cheered in unison, as if killing Lily would guarantee them a peaceful and prosperous life for the rest of their days.

That evening, bonfires were lit again in Bullburg Square, and the whole city celebrated. Women danced and sang around the fire, while men gathered in taverns, drinking beer and recounting their unpleasant experiences during martial law.

Only a few people were missing.

The bright moonlight bathed the deserted village in a silvery glow, and the night breeze, though cool, carried a subtle gentleness.

At the entrance to the deserted village, Li De, Elena, and a figure draped in a black robe that covered their face stood quietly.

"This is the Swallow Potion, which saved you after you were severely injured by the Blood Demon; this is the White Honey Potion, which can remove the effects of the potion... Remember, these potions are all poisonous. You must turn into a werewolf before drinking them. To be safe, only drink a quarter of it each time. Replenish it with strong liquor after each drink. Although the potion will be diluted, the effect will still remain, enough for you to use it eight or ten times."

The witcher, abandoning his usual nonchalant attitude, carefully explained the effects of the potion.

The man in the long robe raised his head, revealing Lily's face: "I'll remember that, thank you, Brother Li De."

Li De really wanted to say that he was old enough to be the girl's father, but to avoid spoiling the mood, he just smiled and agreed, and casually patted the girl's head.

"Don't worry about what other people think; they're just... scared."

"Brother Li De, would you be treated like this too?"

"It often happens that sometimes I'm just passing by the village, and the villagers will pin all sorts of accusations on me, like whose cow is sick, whose child is missing, or whose elderly person has passed away. I have no idea that I could do so many bad things."

Lily pursed her lips and asked hesitantly, "Then do you hate them?"

Noticing something was wrong with the girl, Li De looked into her eyes and answered seriously, "Hate is the cheapest emotion. You just need to distinguish who is your friend and who is your enemy. There's no need to hate those who dare not raise a weapon against you, since they can't hurt you anyway; but if they dare to raise a weapon against you, don't hesitate, kill them, and then you'll find that you won't hate a corpse at all."

After the two finished speaking, Elena, who had been silent all along, finally spoke, her voice choked with emotion, "I'm sorry, Lily, I should have let you leave yesterday. Today during the day..."

"I don't blame you, Professor Elena."

Lily grabbed the other woman first, and due to the height difference, the girl's head was buried directly in the woman's chest.

"If you hadn't been so persistent in defending me, I almost would have lost control. You're the one who kept me in my tracks and let me know that there were still people who believed in me. Thank you, Professor Elena. I'll definitely come back to see you someday if I have the chance."

Elena's voice choked with emotion: "Okay, you must take good care of yourself."

They embraced each other for a long time, reluctant to part, before slowly separating.

Lily wiped away her tears, bowed deeply to Elena and Li De, then turned and disappeared into the night, carrying the prepared package on her back.

Elena watched her departing figure, her tear-streaked face filled with confusion: "I feel like the world has changed..."

"No, the world has always been like this."

Li De patted her on the shoulder and said in a relaxed tone, "Let's go to the bar and get a couple of beers."