Ning was taken to court two days after his arrest.
The courtroom was packed, reporters filling the back rows, many notable people sitting in the front rows. The prosecution table was filled with lawyers wearing expensive suits.
Ning sat beside lly on his table, with one other lawyer there to help lly. He still wore his costu and every docunt there referred to him by his superhero na for the sake of privacy.
The judge arrived, a handso Infernal with graying hair. He reviewed the case quickly, allowing either side to make their point.
Forgath’s lawyers tried to make a case for murder, but they could hardly make it sound so. With the recorded confession and witness testimony from Frostveil and Vanisher, the evidence was overwhelming in Ning’s favor. Forgath had admitted to attempted murder and posed a threat that couldn’t be contained through normal ans. So, in his capacity as a hero, Ning had made an executive decision to execute the person.
Not even the judge could say that had been the wrong choice.
In the end, the charges were reduced from murder to public endangernt due to Ning’s status as a licensed hero and the circumstances of the killing.
"The defendant is fined 3.2 Million Jorans and sentenced to 100 hours of community service," the judge announced, leading to a lot of gasps around the room. That was a lot of money after all.
"Community service will be perford in costu as a reminder of the responsibility that cos with heroic power."
"Furthermore, the court considers the transfer of funds valid, thus all paynt made by Forgath before his death is accepted."
The gavel struck, and the case was closed.
Ning froze as he stared at the retreating figure of the judge.
3.2 Million Jorans was a lot, but the judge had just handed him 300 Million Jorans. Compared to that, his paynt was a chump change.
Ning could hardly keep his excitent contained. "Can you handle the money for ? Every cent that cos out of it has to go directly to the trust fund you set up for ."
lly nodded. "None for the charities?" she asked.
"Not yet," Ning said. "Just let it be in the trust fund for now."
lly didn’t ask for more.
After the court, Ning went straight to his new ho, entering it finally. Blake had taken care of everything, so he had no need to set up anything else.
Ning had loved this house the first ti he had seen it, and now, he loved it even more. He sat on his couch, closing his eyes, enjoying the blissful lack of urban noises.
He could do this all day long.
* * * * * *
Six days into his community service, Ning had completed a third of his community service hours. At the rate things were going, he would have to keep working for another 2 weeks.
He was on the side of Highway 7 this ti around, underneath an overcast sky, picking up trash along the roadside. He wore his full Blackfang costu—the black and red suit, the mask, everything—all per the court requirents, which ended up being quite the attraction.
The highest-ranked hero of all ti getting caught for murder just hours after his debut, only to end up at the side of the road picking trash, was just too absurd a thing for anyone to let be.
Cars slowed as they passed, drivers staring at him or pulling out phones to take pictures. Children pointed and laughed at him, and not a few of them called him a murderer that would have to answer to the gods when he died.
Ning was a little surprised. Conjorans tended to not believe in the deities as much as the other countries did. Bronveria had temples, Sisania had churches. And Faedria believed in Valmonth, the god of Elves.
He ignored them and continued filling the trash bags with discarded bottles, wrappers, and cigarette butts.
It was mindless work, but Ning didn’t mind. It gave him ti to think about his next moves.
Five Numbers remained. He needed to find them before the upcoming apocalypse. Regarding that, he needed to find out about the apocalypse.
Ning could guarantee at this point that Tritus was planning sothing, so before his plans could take effect, he needed to act. Just to be safe, Ning had already asked his system to warn him of any impending doom monts before it happened so he could save the people of this world.
At least that way he wouldn’t feel guilty if people died due to his inaction.
Ning’s thoughts vanished like droplets of water striking the surface of the sun. A loud and sudden crash caught his attention just that second. His head snapped around, searching for the source of the sound.
A yellow school bus had veered off course and crashed into the side of the bridge, the entire thing now in freefall.
Ning beca a blur.
He transford mid-sprint, his body shifting into a bat. In the next instance, he was already next to the river, coming up on the falling bus.
The bus was already halfway to the water below when Ning reached it. He didn’t try to stop it completely. That would have snapped the fra and killed everyone inside. Instead, he positioned himself beneath it and slowed the descent, controlling the fall.
Hopefully, that would be a faster save than anything else he could do at that mont.
The bus still hit the water with a splash, but the impact was manageable. Ning shifted back to his human form and grabbed the underside of the vehicle, pulling it toward the shore. He could hear the children’s screams in the bus, so even as he pulled it, he had the system heal most of the deadly wounds inside.
So wounds would have to stay though, just so this didn’t look like an entire miracle. Even with wounds, all the children surviving would be considered nothing less than a miracle.
Ning would have to be happy with that.
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