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“Erm, I don’t really know since I wasn’t present when it all happened…” Daniel stated flatly.r

His response wasn’t the kind that Melissa wanted, making her freeze in disappointment.r

As a penitent, Daniel made it his policy not to harm anyone and to be as good as he could to everyone.r

“I can’t accuse Ana of something I didn’t see her do.” He mumbled, looking at Ana’s face.r

She nodded at him with approval, showing him respect.r

“You did the right thing, Daniel.”r

Ana’s praise made Daniel’s heart feel warm. He always liked being complimented for doing the right thing, another reason why he always did it at any given opportunity.r

Well, another reason was that he respected Ana a great deal.r

“So, you’re picking her side over mine?! You’re the worst, Daniel!” Melissa whined.r

Daniel, upon seeing that his girlfriend was deeply hurt by his actions attempted to embrace her as he usually did, but she quickly stepped back, displaying anger.r_.

“You can’t even support me, and you say you’re my boyfriend? Unbelievable! So you’d rather choose Ana’s words over mine?!” Melissa shouted.r

Daniel looked guilty. He had made his girlfriend sad, which wasn’t his intention.r

“N-no, that’s not it. I’m not taking sides here, and even if I was to pick, I’d choose yours every single time…” He moved closer, trying to plead with Melissa.r

“T-then-!” Melissa replied, hoping Daniel would switch his stance now that she had appealed to his guilt.r

She was wrong again!r

“… But, I can’t be a witness to something I never saw with my own eyes. I’m sorry, but there’s nothing I can do.” Daniel remarked.r

Melissa gritted her teeth. Her disappointment in Daniel’s behavior knew no bounds. The boy was extremely useful in many situations, however, when it came to matters like this, he was entirely undependable.r

‘All because of that Alignment! Damn it!’ Her thought rang angrily.r

“That’s enough, everyone!” Charles’ voice suddenly rang out, drawing the attention of all three Gifteds to him.r

“I think I’ve heard enough. As you know, I can discern the truth of those in my line of sight. That is my Gift. It’s useless lying to me in the first place.” He stated.r

Melissa’s mind drew a blank. She was completely caught off-guard, and the moment Charles said this, she knew she had lost.r

‘Due to the panic, I forgot about Charles’ Gift. Damn!… now I’ll appear as a liar!’r

Ana was smiling, happy that she would be justified. Fortunately, Daniel had not taken any side, else he would have been in trouble himself since it would count as a lie.r

“Melissa, clearly you’ve acted out in violence against Jeremy. That much is true. However, I’m not unreasonable. Do you have a valid reason for doing so?” Charles asked, looking at the guilty party.r

Melissa, seeing this as a chance to redeem herself, decided to explain how provocative Jeremy was, also telling him how Jeremy quickly changed his personality when Ana’s team entered the room.r

“I swear, he wasn’t even injured. I was the one who was hurt by everything!” Melissa added in her defense.r

Just as Charles expected, Melissa told the truth. r

‘I know for a fact that Jeremy is manipulating Ana’s opinion of him. No, not just her… the whole team.’ Charles thought, as he considered what route to take in accordance with Melissa’s testimony.r

There was no doubt that Melissa had her issues, but even she wasn’t crazy enough to assault a kind boy who acted innocently all the time. Charles understood all that. However…r

“Melissa, you’re lying.” r

This shocked the poor girl, making her widen her eyes in shock. r

“W-wha-?!” r

“I spoke to Jeremy not too long ago, you know? I also used my Gift on him. He was a kind and gentle boy. He has been through a lot, but I doubt he would ever do anything malicious.” Charles remarked.r

He felt bad lying to Melissa, but he had no choice. From the very beginning, there was only one choice he ever had, and that was to deem Melissa guilty.r

‘If I don’t give him what he wants… I don’t even want to think about that now…’ Charles sighed to himselfr

Besides, it was still a fact that Melissa assaulted Jeremy. That much wasn’t fabricated. She needed to be punished for her act of violence.r

“You’ll be excluded from any of the spoils gotten from your recent expedition, and any subsequent expeditions for two weeks. You’ll also have to give Jeremy a formal apology. That should do it.” Charles gave his verdict.r

Melissa’s jaw dropped upon hearing the decision.r

“C-Charles, that’s too much, don’t you think?” Melissa asked in a pleading manner.r

She gave a nervous laugh, knowing what this spelled for her.r

Not gaining her shares in spoils that could potentially enhance her and guarantee her survival was one thing, but giving an apology to Jeremy? That was absolutely unthinkable!r

“That is my verdict. Also, I’m sure it goes without saying that you also can’t gain access to the Ogre’s skills.” Charles replied harshly.r

He never liked Melissa and always looked forward to when she would be humiliated and forced to stop leeching off of Daniel. However, doing things this way felt wrong to him.r

It wasn’t because he felt bad for Melissa. No, the reason was more personal.r

‘I hate being used like this by that kid… Damnit!’r

Suddenly, it appeared like the mighty Charles had become Jeremy’s puppet leader, a lackey!r

“I can’t accept this! I can’t! I wasn’t at fault!” Melissa kept protesting, already tearing up. r

Whether they were real tears or not was unknown to everyone in the room, even Melissa herself.r

Of course, she wanted sympathy, but she also felt incredibly frustrated by the judgment placed on her.r

“It’s not fair!”r

“That’s enough, Melissa. Just accept the consequences of your actions.” Ana said, slightly disgusted by the innocent act Melissa was playing.r

“It’s useless trying to feign innocence. Charles has already seen through everything. You should just apologize, Melissa. I’ll go with you.” Her lover said, drawing closer to his girl as he embraced her.r

Melissa felt like screaming out of her lungs and slapping Daniel many times over. However, what would that solve? She wrapped herself in his arms instead and cried on them.r

Daniel affectionately stroked her hair, whispering soothing words to Melissa’s ears.r

‘Urgh, I feel like killing him!’ Her mind rang.r

However, Melissa understood, that despite her burning hatred for Daniel’s retarded attitude, she still needed him.r

‘Just you wait… the moment I get a better deal, I’ll be dropping you behind!’ She gritted her teeth and cried some more.r