2117  Verdict

Everyone was shocked, not only because of the punishment demanded by the captain, but also by the sudden outburst.

Dove stood there in silence for a moment until Sam spoke to her.

"Are you okay?" Everyone was dumbfounded. Isn't she the one that's supposed to ask him? Why would the guy undergoing the trial ask someone else if they were okay.

Looking at his composed face, Dove also tried to calm down.

"Are you going to be okay? Are you confident?" She asked him. At that moment, both of them ignored the trial and the judge. They just talked normally.

"Don't worry, it is within the expectations."

"Okay then, I will trust you." With those words, she left. Sam looked at her with a confused expression. He can understand her outburst. By now, he had a grasp at her personality. She is way too protective of the Gambler's academy and its students.

She takes her responsibility way too seriously and it is not necessarily a bad thing. He watched as she disappeared through the entrance and turned back.

The judge cleared his throat to attract the attention of the courtroom, before speaking.

"Sam, do you have anything to say about captain's accusations?"

"No, sir. Most of it is true. As for the rest, I honestly don't care. If you think what he said makes sense, if you and him really believe that a grade 1 student can become such a threat to the safety of the academy realm, by all means, please judge me according to the Olympian law."

The judge stayed silent for a while and gave out the verdict.

"The Olympian law is one of the special regional laws that is only applicable to the Olympian region. And according to it, a threat that could topple the stability of the Olympian region should be subjected imprisonment in the Tartarus Pocket dimension.

However, that is only the punishment for the highest of the threats and the ones that cannot be neutralized. Even if the city guard captain deems Sam as such, I fail to see how a grade 1 student could be considered as such.

So, I am going to consider Sam as a person with Anti-Olympian beliefs and a minor threat to the peace and quite of the Olympian region.

Under that condition, Sam shall go through the Twelve labors.

The deans serving the twelve major Olympian gods shall design the labors and send it to me for the approval within the day. If Sam finishes the labors, he shall be deemed innocent and will also gain immunity within the Olympian region.

If he fails to do so and forfeits, he shall be imprisoned in the tartarus pocket dimension for a decade. If he dies while finishing the labors, it shall be considered the divine punishment. Any foul play detected from any external parties will be seen as the failure of the academy that gave out the labor and they shall be held accountable.

The verdict has been passed and the court is now adjourned."

And just like that, Sam's fate has fallen into the hands of the Deans of the twelve academies.

Sam looked at the Captain, who smiled at him.

"No hard feelings kid, but there is a lesson in there for you. If you stand out too much, you will be hammered down."

"Some nails can be too strong, captain and that might break the hammer in half."

"Speak all you want. But your fate is now sealed."

"Can you do me a favor captain?"

"What is it?"

"Can you remember the line you just said and repeat it to me every time we meet in the future? I really liked it when you said it just now."

"Why?"

"No reason, really."

"I won't do things without reason."

"Then how about we make a bet? As long as you can keep on saying that line, I will give you a million gold coins every time we meet. But if you cannot, you have to quit the job as the captain. Are you interested?"

"A million gold coins?"

"Of course, a million. Not one coin less."

"Why are you making this bet?"

"I don't keep anything that was given to. I always pay back my debts and let's say this wager makes that debt repayment more interesting."

The captain looked at Sam suspiciously. "Alright, Deal."

They shook hands and left.

As soon as Sam stepped out of the courtroom, his wrist band got a hit. It's a video recording sent by Vidyut. In the video, Crow, the current person in charge of the Gambler Academy's student union is standing in the middle of the Zeus Academy's grounds.

He held a scroll in his hands, standing upright as he read out loud.

"From this moment onwards, the Gambler Academy is laying claim on the Thunder Star Planet that was under the control of the Zeus Academy until now. We are giving the Zeus Academy administration five hours to evacuate and hand over the Thunder Star to the student union of the Gambler's Academy.

Or else, severe action will be taken and the Gambler Academy or its students will not be held responsible for the consequences."

No one made a move on him. I understood why, because this is a true declaration of war and Crow is just a messenger from the Gambler's Academy. As mentioned before, so many times, competition is highly encouraged throughout the Academy realm and there are constant clashes between the academies.

Just like how they organized so many tournaments for the students to compete with some semblance of civility, there are also certain measures in place to fight in larger scale.

And one of them is the direct declaration of war by laying claims on the property of the other party. It is a bit old as a custom. This is not usually used in the Academy realm. When wars happen, they usually keep it hidden under the wraps so that they could ignore certain rules.

Also, who would give up their advantage of landing a surprise attack?

Dove would.

She first wanted to deal with the Zeus Academy in a different way, but the trial pissed her off way too much, so he wanted to subject the academy to utmost humiliation possible. Now, this is the method she chose.

The thunder star planet is a purely mining planet. Except for the Zeus Academy mining the minerals there is no civilization there. Only the beasts and other creatures.

Sam smiled at this.

He has two days before his twelve labors start and before that he has quite a good show to enjoy.

He went back to the academy.

The gambler's academy as a whole is shaken. Everyone is running around hurriedly as if they are preparing for something. Sam went to the student union and asked.

"What is happening? I just heard about the declaration. Are you guys really making a move right away?" He asked Crow.

Crow nodded and said.

"Dove's order. She is directing the war herself. Things are going to get really chaotic. I told her that you might have some trouble because of this. After all, if the Zeus Academy is pissed and they want to take it out on you in their labor, there is no way for us to stop."

"It is fine. Can I participate in the Thunder Star planet's raid? I am sure the Zeus Academy is not just giving it up."

"According to the rules, it is a Grade 2 planet. That means only Grade 2 students are allowed. It is also a planet that is devoid of any contact with outside world, so the academy realm judiciaries are the ones who keep tabs on it. It will be hard to convince them to let you in."

"Alright. Go ahead. Just let me know how it turns out."

Crow nodded and left. Things are getting more and more exciting and Sam couldn't wait anymore to muddy the waters more.