Little Mortal said to the recording crystal,
"Bring out the screen, little crystal."
A big visual screen projected from the crystal hanging on the backpack, the same crystal with the job of recording.
"Make it bigger... Nice, now make it wider, we might need to show 3-4 heads in it... Aha... That's good."
A big live screen with him at the center appeared in front of everyone.
The crowd, who were talking and playing, suddenly turned silent.
Assistant Rose, who was worried that these people would not listen to him if they found out he was not the 'sect master' they were waiting for but a little boy, felt this move alone should be enough to make them quiet and gather their attention.
On the screen, Little Mortal, with his mustache, all those rings on his fingers, and wearing his oversized black robe, was too eye-catching.
The crowd started whispering to each other:
"Has the gathering started?"
"What is this moving image?"
"Who is this rich kid in it?"
"How did we end up with one of these hateful black robe guys?"
A little girl asked her mother,
"Why does he look so rich but doesn't have any shoes?"
Her mother hurriedly said,
"Shhhh, if he hears you, the next day you might disappear!"
The little girl turned frightened and hid behind her mother.
Little Mortal, who saw everything was ready, said,
"Big guy, give me a microphone."
Everyone saw a black object with a round top appear in his hand.
He tapped it two or three times, making a bam-bam sound echo through the gathering place.
Little Mortal held the microphone in front of his mouth and said,
"1-2-3, testing, 3-2-1, okay."
Looking at the crowd, he pointed at someone:
"You, old gentleman at the far back with the blue shirt—do you hear me? No, not you, the other one... Ahhh, okay, wait a second."
He then turned around and said,
"When did you become so unprofessional, little crystal? Don't embarrass Big Sister! Why aren't you showing him on the screen?"
A moment later, in the top corner of the big screen, an old man appeared.
"I mean this old gentleman—sir, do you hear me clearly?"
The old man, who was looking at himself on the screen with surprise, nodded his head.
"If my voice is too loud, bring your left hand up. If it's low, bring your right hand up. Oh, it's low? Wait a second..."
He touched the microphone and said,
"What about now? If it's good, nod... Okay, it's done."
"Now, if there is anyone deaf in the crowd, please—the person beside them—raise one hand and point at your deaf friend with your other hand."
The crowd, who didn't understand what this was about, just did as he said.
They thought he was the one responsible for preparing everything before the sect master arrived, but didn't know why he asked for the deaf.
Around sixty people raised their hands and pointed at the person close to them.
"Okay, let's try it with the deaf lady in purple."
This time, before he said anything, a lady in purple—who was being pointed at by the person behind her—appeared in the corner of the big screen.
"Young lady, do you hear me?"
When he said that, people started looking at each other and whispering:
"What is he saying?"
"She's deaf—hear what?"
"He's just a child; he doesn't know!"
Little Mortal, who saw the deaf lady just looking at the screen in surprise but not reacting to his question, started pressing some buttons on his microphone and asked again:
"What about now?"
This time, the other party suddenly frowned.
He played with his microphone again and said,
"You should be able to hear me now. Raise your hand if you can."
The eyes of the lady in purple widened in shock!
She raised both of her hands and started jumping up and down excitedly.
The people's jaws dropped. Even Lady Butterfly was dumbfounded and thought to herself:
'Something to show a picture of you or make your voice louder isn't unheard of to us. But how can he make a deaf person understand him? If someone is born deaf and suddenly hears others speaking to them, they can't understand spoken language on their first try!'
Little Mortal saw that the image and sound were ready and nodded in approval.
He turned to the crowd and said,
"I was going to talk to you about the matter of you becoming my followers, but on the way here, we found an organization of human traffickers, so we should take care of that first."
The people were confused at first.
They were here to be the sect master's followers, not his.
But no one dared to say it just because of his black robe.
And when he said "human traffickers," they thought to themselves:
'Aren't you the only kidnappers in the city, you guys in black robes?'
Lady Butterfly at the side became a little excited.
The unpredictable nature of this fake black robe kid, plus the twenty rings on his fingers, made her think of an interesting possibility.
"I must say, I am really disappointed in our sect's management. But I will talk to my teacher, the sect master, about this matter later."
Rose and Lady Butterfly became a little worried this time.
If he really was going to be the sect master's disciple, then it should be fine.
But if the sect master herself came out of seclusion and said, I don't even know you, then she might disappear—especially with him already dissatisfied with the "sect's management."
In the second possibility, one of them would be motherless, and one of them would lose her daughter-in-law...
They both thought the same thing:
We need to talk to Snow Goddess before she meets this little guy and convince her to accept him as a disciple—and listen to whatever he says!
At the same time, the crowd figured out this kid's identity.
"So that's why he looks so rich!"
"That's the sect master's disciple for you."
"So the sect master didn't come and left this gathering to her disciple and daughter? That makes sense."
"I was wondering why this one is so polite and not disgusting like the other ones! He was disciplined by the Sect Master herself!"
Little Mortal continued:
"With the investigation done by our professional team member, Agent Morty Meven, we found the hideout of this organization."
Now the crowd became interested.
"Who is Agent Morty Meven?"
"What happened after?"
"Even if you find them, so what? Who dares to touch them?"
When Rose heard him talking about Agent Morty Meven, she knew this organization wasn't simple!
She excitedly whispered to her grandmother:
"Grandma, it's him, it's him! The one that I told you works in the shadows!"
Lady Butterfly gulped and thought:
'Us cultivators can't even feel this one. And there's another one called Agent Morty Meven who operates in the shadows? From now on, we can't even go outside at night?'
Little Mortal puffed his chest and, with one eyebrow raised, said:
"And because the number of this criminal group wasn't small, I was forced to take action personally."
The crowd became speechless.
"What is he talking about?"
"A little brat who should go ask for milk, personally took action to catch criminals?"
Some of the little children even started chuckling.
But his following sentence shocked everyone:
"And I should inform you that the operation was successful."
Then everyone saw the little boy with a mustache on the screen frown and look angry.
"When we were done with the cleanup, our support team found a lot of evidence about these criminals—their lawless and evil activity inside the city and the horrible results of that."
"So now that you are all here, with Judge Bredd's request, we are going to start the trial for these criminals in your presence as witnesses."
Rose became excited and started pulling her grandmother's sleeve:
"Judge Bredd is coming!"
Lady Butterfly became curious to see one more of these little monsters joining the scene!
She knew there were at least three of them!
Even one of these unknown creatures—that she wasn't sure were human—was strong enough to make the top powerhouses of this world disappear. What would the capability of three be?
The crowd, who didn't even know who the criminals he was talking about were, just looked at him blankly.
"Assistant Rose, please join me on the stage."
Rose quickly walked over.
He then pointed at her to come closer and started whispering something in her ear.
After that, he gave her the microphone, went to his backpack, hung the cage on it, opened the lid, and jumped inside.
Rose looked at the microphone and spoke into it:
"Hello everyone, can you hear me?"
The crowd suddenly became excited.
"Yes, Miss Rose, we hear you!"
"How have you been, Lady Rose?"
"Lady Rose, you are as beautiful as always!"
"Okay, everyone, stop messing around. I want you to move a little so our support team can provide you with some chairs to sit and be ready for the court and Judge Bredd's arrival."
"We are listening to you, Miss Rose."
"Okay, women and children to the left, please. Men to the right."
Everyone started moving without question.
"Now, please try to stay in line with some space for chairs behind you."
At the same time, as people were lining up, the backpack lid opened again.
A little boy with a curly-style white wig and a black judge's robe—who nobody recognized—came out. There was a little wooden hammer in his right hand.
He walked beside Rose and reached out his hand. Rose handed him the microphone and, seeing Little Sec—ahem—Judge Bredd's nod, she went back to her grandmother's side and whispered:
"Look, look! He is the Judge Bredd I told you about!"
Lady Butterfly was speechless.
Can't you see they're the same person? Don't tell me that 'Morty Meven in the shadows' is the same kid, too?
Seeing this "new" guy with a serious face appear on the big screen, everyone fell silent.
Judge Bredd looked at the backpack without saying anything. A moment later, a little tribune appeared in front of him, and silver light started flying out toward the crowd.
At first, everyone panicked, but when they saw these lights turning into chairs, they calmed down and gasped in amazement.
That backpack was so magical!
Judge Bredd looked at the crowd and said,
"Please sit."
No one knew why, but it felt natural to obey the little boy in front of them.
So everyone sat down—even Rose, Luna (who was better now), and Lady Butterfly sat obediently. They didn't even notice when three chairs appeared behind them, too.
Lady Butterfly felt helpless. It was like she could be assassinated at any moment when this little kid or his treasures were around...
The little Judge Bredd continued:
"I know this is the first time for many of you to be in court, so I'll keep it as simple as possible. But I want you to abide by some rules."
At this moment, if a pin dropped, you could hear it.
The crowd felt the person in front of them was the law itself—they should listen and do as he said.
But Lady Butterfly felt differently. She sensed that what made him so commanding was the little hammer in his hand, as if it represented justice.
He continued:
"I will call the defendants one by one. When they come, I want you to remain calm and not disrupt the session's order."
"If you want to speak, raise your hand. If I allow it, you may speak—but always start your sentence with 'Your Honor'."
The atmosphere grew heavy.
The crowd grew nervous.
Who are the criminals?
How many are there that he says 'one by one'?
Why is he involving us in all this?
"I know you're wondering what any of this has to do with you. But when we start with the first person, you'll understand naturally."
The people who had witnessed what they didn't want to see at the inn felt the most afraid. Those who didn't know soon would—but they knew exactly who he meant.
Does he really want to prosecute those two?
With their crimes, what punishment fits except death?
Does he dare to have them killed?
"Okay, the court officially begins."
Then he turned to the backpack with the little cage hanging on it and just stared.
Suddenly, the sound of chains echoed from the stage.
The people looked toward the sound and saw a person with tangled hair in chains who had appeared there at some point!
The person's mouth was sealed, and his horrified face made it clear he'd seen terrible things wherever he'd been before arriving.
When he appeared on the screen, the crowd gasped.
Before they could process where he'd come from or who he was, they heard Judge Bredd's angry voice as he attacked a crystal object on the backpack:
"How can you be so stupid? Can't you see there are children in the crowd? Censor it! Make it suitable for all ages, you idiot, before I crush you! My goodness, don't ruin Big Sister's reputation with your unprofessional acts!"
The whole stage shook from the one-sided beating!
People who'd thought What a polite child now took it back.
Lady Butterfly watched his strikes but sensed nothing from them—as if it were just a three-year-old messing around.
But why is everything shaking?
Why does nothing make sense with this brat?
Is that why he asked the magical backpack to 'reinforce' the stage?
And who is 'Big Sister' he's so sensitive about?
A moment later, the screen went dark. When it turned on again, the criminal's horrified face was censored.
Judge Bredd, adjusting his wig while huffing and puffing, returned to his tribune.
"Sorry, everyone. Some technical difficulties needed to be handled."
The crowd nodded in understanding.
No one dared to speak. This kid was as crazy as the other black robes—and surprisingly Strong !
"In his current state, you may not recognize this criminal. So let's watch the record of when he was caught in the act by the Sect Master. While we show these records, you may discuss quietly among yourselves."
Then he waited...
The crowd buzzed with excitement. Sect Master would appear in this footage?
A second later, the image on the screen changed. Now it showed the inn—a place many recognized.
The same little kid, but with a mustache, was standing atop the same backpack on the stage, talking to the inn's patrons like a boss. The only noticeable difference? His hands bore not a single ring.
Suddenly, the door opened, and a black-robed man entered.
With his arrival, murmurs erupted:
"Oh no, it's him!"
"Who's he taking this time?"
"This #&$f!"
The young man approached a maid and tried to drag her away.
An old lady in the crowd—the rice seller from the shop beside the inn, whom Little Mortal had asked for the library's address—gasped. It was her daughter being taken...
But before she could react, the little boy on the backpack appeared in front of the man, and they began arguing—until the moment he told the maid, "Blink if you're kidnapped."
The "camera" angle shifted to a close-up of the maid's face, slowly zooming in on her eyes...
A certain girl in the crowd blushed at seeing herself on the big screen in front of so many people.
The younger folks whispered:
"Blink!" "Blink!"
The elders urged the opposite:
"You'd better not!" "Don't blink!"
Lady Butterfly, recognizing the young man, leaned forward eagerly.
Hearing about his capture was one thing—but seeing it? That was another!