I think.
You might have forgotten someone.
While Lanqi was inside the Shadow World, there was another person in the real world living in dire straits every single day.
Lanqi had shut off the three-week Shadow World broadcast and had not turned it back on since.
Dean Loren now had to hold a press conference every two days and bowed five times a day on average. In the vast majority of newspaper photographs, he wore an expression of cold sweat dripping down his forehead, completely drained of the will to live.
Today was the twenty-eighth day since School of Sages students Lanqi Wilfort and Hyperion Aransal—along with a Tier 7 loaf of bread—had entered the Tier 7 Shadow World together.
Hutton Kingdom, royal capital of Ikerite, Old Bailey Court.
Inside this grand, ancient courtroom hall, light filtered through high ceiling glass windows, tinting the space with a solemn hue.
The Old Bailey Court had originally been established a century ago as a criminal court near the Ikerite city walls.
Its name was derived from Old Bailey Street, which stretched a full two kilometers along the line of the ancient Ikerite city walls.
The court's history could be traced back to at least 1605 of the Solar Calendar, though the current structure had been rebuilt in 1702. In its early days, it dealt primarily with petty criminals, but gradually evolved into the center for handling major criminal cases.
A statue of the Goddess of Light and Law stood at the far end of the hall, as if her gaze too was watching the hearing about to unfold.
In the center of the hall,
dressed in a black formal suit, white shirt, and gold necktie—with diamond-cross holy emblems patterned on the buttons and collar—Loren stood.
His figure looked exceptionally isolated.
As the hub of Hutton Kingdom's criminal justice system, Old Bailey Court was one of the most critical criminal trial venues, dealing with cases ranging from murder and fraud to terrorism and other major crimes.
Many famous historical cases had been tried here, encompassing terrorists, serial killers, and high-profile political trials.
The facade of the modern Old Bailey Court building was adorned with sculptures of prominent chief justices representing justice, courage, and wisdom. Inside, the courtroom was decorated with traditional wood paneling and heavy red curtains, while the judges' bench towered with an aura of supreme authority.
Under normal circumstances, Loren would be an invited dignitary seated on that bench.
Today, he was looking up at it.
In the public gallery, Luvishir, the student council secretary, put away her pen and notepad, unable to bear writing any further.
As a journalist for the *Hutton Times* and an upperclassman to Lanqi and Hyperion, she had been closely following all news related to Ikerite Academy and the Shadow World every day of late.
Hearings at this court were generally open to the public, serving as an important manifestation of legal transparency and justice in the Hutton Kingdom.
Because it handled many high-profile cases, the Old Bailey Court was constantly scrutinized by the press, often becoming the focal point of reports and analyses from abroad.
Luvishir could sense that the seats around her were filled with journalists from other member nations of the United Council of Kingdoms.
She glanced casually at the notepad of the reporter sitting beside her.
It read: *"Judgment Day Revealed: Loren, the Truth Behind the Catastrophe and the Enigma of His Fate."*
Luvishir: "..."
Silently, Luvishir took out her notebook, crossed out the headline she had previously drafted, and revised it to: *"The Mystery of Judgment Day: The Man Behind the Disaster—Loren, Hero or Sinner? His Secret Will Shake the Entire Kingdom!"*
The Old Bailey Court and the trials held within it frequently appeared in various literary works and plays across the Southern Continent, such as numerous detective dramas.
Consequently, it had become a prime spot for gathering material, far more than just a historical landmark of Hutton Kingdom's legal history.
At last, the chimes began to toll.
The pale light and the oppressive atmosphere coalesced into something almost tangible.
The walls were no longer a bright refuge; they seemed to have morphed into the stern faces of inquisitors, exerting silent pressure onto Loren at the center of the courtroom.
For this hearing, across the semicircular witness stand, officials from various high-level departments had already taken their seats. There were representatives not only from the Southern Continent United Kingdom Council, the Shadow World Management Association, the Southern Continent Disaster Prevention Agency, and the Hutton Kingdom Security Bureau, but also dignitaries and aristocrats of Hutton filling the benches.
"Right now, that Ikerite Academy student is walking on thin ice with every step. An outsider attempting to command a behemoth steeped in ancient history like the Polante Empire... The public sentiment and the parliament are like two ferocious beasts. No matter how delicately he tries to balance them, he can only attend to one at the expense of the other—or lose both entirely. Boosting military strength or finances within a short time frame is all but hopeless."
Murmurs from the jury benches echoed through the dim chamber like ghostly whispers.
"No Tier 7 Shadow World is ever simple. The entrenched power structure of that parliament is an immovable fortress. The entire Polante Empire is a cage, and that northern continent looks like a total dead end."
"I fear Loren's student has already collapsed and doesn't dare activate the Shadow World Recording Program again."
The experts' assessments were like heavy bombs exploding continuously across the courtroom, rattling everyone's heart.
When the Chief Inquisitor rapped the gavel to mark the start of the proceeding, the voices ceased abruptly, and a stifling silence enveloped the room.
Loren took a deep breath, trying to calm the turmoil in his chest.
He had learned how to endure doubt.
Though there were quite a few people on the bench and in the gallery who were close to him and worried for him, they were a tiny minority, incapable of holding back the storm of public opinion.
"Loren, do you know why you stand here today? The three-week deadline has passed, yet we remain unable to predict the progress or failure rate of this Tier 7 Shadow World. As the primary person accountable for an incident that could trigger a catastrophic disaster, how do you intend to take responsibility for your actions?"
On the bench, one of the inquisitors—Duke Acares, Minister of Justice for the Hutton Kingdom—spoke in a solemn voice.
As the head of the Hutton Kingdom Security Bureau, he even found it necessary at this moment to suspect that Loren might be colluding with the foreign Resurrection Church.
Recent evidence had increasingly indicated an inseparable connection between Duke Mikhail and the Night Bishop, and prior to his disappearance, Duke Mikhail had shared a close personal friendship with Loren.
If Duke Mikhail truly was the Resurrection Church's Night Bishop, it was hard to believe Loren was entirely unaware.
Loren felt as though something were lodged in his throat.
"Respected inquisitors, I... I am well aware of my responsibility, but please allow me to explain... I know the personal capability of my student, Lanqi Wilfort. He possesses unique talents when it comes to the Shadow World; nearly a year ago, he defeated the Saintess of Destruction..."
Maintaining his composure, he laid out his reasoning.
"However, I give my word: if an incident is indeed caused by Lanqi, then as his teacher—and for my failure in my duty to properly rein him in—everything will be my responsibility."
Even as Loren answered, a glow lit up on one side of the courtroom. A crystal-sphere magical apparatus began to rotate, projecting the final images transmitted by the Shadow World broadcast three weeks prior.
The magic engineering projection allowed everyone to see clearly the last known state of affairs within the Shadow World.
"The biggest issue right now is that if a Shadow World fails midway, a calamity doesn't necessarily wait until the projected forty-five days elapse without meeting the victory conditions. Over these past three weeks, a disaster could have struck at any moment due to the failure of this Tier 7 Shadow World! Loren, can you truly shoulder such a responsibility?" Duke Acares pressed.
It was not just Loren; even Duke Acares, who belonged to the same faction, and many other high officials of Hutton Kingdom were under immense outside pressure.
In the gallery, the citizens held their breath, exchanging glances from time to time. Their expressions shifted from skepticism to contemplation, and from contemplation to confusion.
"I stand ready at all times to do everything in my power to make amends for any wrongdoing. I will not evade any responsibility."
Loren's voice resonated through the hall, every word sounding as though he were wrestling with destiny itself.
In this hearing that was part trial, part defense, words like truth, responsibility, and redemption felt extraordinarily heavy.
As the sun rose completely, the hearing that had convened in the early morning finally drew toward a close.
When the first session of the hearing was declared adjourned, everything settled back into quiet.
Loren slowly stepped down from the witness stand. At this moment, he looked more exhausted than if he had just fought a Cardinal, as if he were already completely numb.
Even the Ice Snow Witch, disguised as an ordinary citizen in the gallery, could not help but feel a pang of sympathy for him.
These days, she had been staying at the Church of the Goddess of Fate's temple in Ikerite, running into Loren constantly.
She could not even bring herself to put any more pressure on him.
Even though she worried about Hyperion every day—tossing and turning at night, unable to sleep at the thought of her being missing in a Tier 7 Shadow World—right now she could only think that this fellow looked pathetically honest and earnest.
No matter how the dignitaries gave him a hard time, he did his best to shoulder everything on his own, trying to move and persuade everyone with his sincerity.
He was entirely a good-natured pushover.
*Wait, no.*
The Ice Snow Witch's brow furrowed tightly.
The manipulation of public sentiment on the Northern Continent, the raving last words of the Son of Destruction—they had already exposed cracks in Loren's grand scheme.
If one thought about it carefully, if Loren truly was the mastermind behind the scenes, such endurance under humiliation and such flawless acting fit his grand vision to perfection.
Suppose... all of this was within Loren's expectations, and he already knew that everything would be overturned in the future. Then...
A sudden chill ran down the Ice Snow Witch's spine, and she wrapped her arms around herself.
Chapter 586