Chapter 1146 - 228: Breaking News 9
Seraphina drew out her Magic Wand, gave it a gentle wave, and with a "bang" from outside, a quaint Stone Basin smashed through the carriage parked at the door, swiftly flew in, brushed past Vid, and stopped right in front of Seraphina.
Before Vid could clearly see the Stone Basin, he suddenly felt a chill all over, causing his stomach to sink.
He instinctively wanted to retreat, his right heel slightly off the ground, but he forcibly stopped himself the next moment, though his shoulders slightly stiffened for a fleeting moment.
Then Vid stared intently at the floating Pensieve, involuntarily brushing the goosebumps on his arm.
The "Healer Assistant," like part of the wall’s shadow, was unconsciously ignored by everyone present. Yet, his subtle abnormalities did not escape the attention of a pair of eyes among the guests, eyes that seemed to be observing him subtly all along.
An Eastern European Wizard, exuding a slightly gloomy aura, looked at the Pensieve, rubbing his own Magic Wand with his hand, a hint of interest flashing in his eyes.
Seraphina ignored all the commotion, lightly tapped her Magic Wand, and the memories stored in the Pensieve, which had been rotating slowly, suddenly accelerated, forming a tiny vortex.
"Buzz..."
The Stone Basin emitted a deep, low hum, and above it, silver light surged, condensing directly into a massive three-dimensional scene in the hall’s midair!
In the scene, Nikolo Hossun and Ezra Hughes walked side by side, their expressions heavy, seemingly discussing something.
The two seemed to be enveloped in a thin, moonlight-like silvery glow, a characteristic of the memory itself.
Suddenly, an abrupt change occurred!
𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺
The two inadvertently stepped into a trap made of golden particles, and out came Reginald Perez, who would later reportedly be brutally killed by Hosone, with a slight look of pride and malice on his face.
His expression was nothing like the "righteous warrior who sacrificed for the Congress" as publicized by the higher-ups. His face only bore a chilling and sinister grin mixed with fanaticism and resolve.
At this moment, the scene suddenly trembled, abruptly pulling away.
It was as if a bird, frightened from witnessing all this, instantly flew away.
Soon after, the perspective broadened, and the edges of the scene featured several figures everyone was familiar with.
They stood there silently, like spectators lurking behind the curtain, silently observing the conflict rapidly heading towards an irretrievable situation at the center of the road. No surprise, no urgency, only a cold wait.
And among them was Laira, who almost became the new Congress Chairman today. In the scene, she slightly tilted her head, her gaze attentive, showing no surprise on her face, but rather a faint, elusive smile at the corners of her mouth.
The other was Fontana, who had just been released by a student and nearly fell.
The other faces, though somewhat blurred, had almost all appeared at today’s inauguration venue! At this moment, as the figures in the scene revealed themselves, from the crowd below came a series of suppressed gasps and whispers:
"Is that... Director Tia?"
"Oh my, Senator McKlow is there too!"
"And Lloyd! Didn’t he claim to be inspecting elsewhere at that time?!"
"This isn’t true!" One person couldn’t withstand the pressure and jumped out, screaming sharply: "This is the same as before, all fabricated memories!"
"Oh, come on! This is fabricated, and that is also fabricated..." Even the British Minister of Ministry of Magic Sinclaire couldn’t help but mockingly comment: "Is everything not in your favor fabricated?"
He was somewhat angry initially, but at this point, Sinclaire had been entirely captivated by this grand play staged by the American Magic Congress, watching with great interest.
A joke, only when it happens to others, can an uninvested bystander feel the purest joy.
Sinclaire felt quite happy now, his leisurely tone filled with sarcasm.
The official who jumped out was blocked by this straightforward ridicule, his face turning from red to purple. His mouth agape, chest heaving violently, his forehead drenched in cold sweat.
The scene in the air remained silent and still.
Perhaps with the removal of verbal disturbances, everyone could see even more clearly who, in that rapidly erupting battle, was the schemer, who was the pawn, and who was the tragic yet determined warrior!
This segment of memory did not last long, and when the scene dissipated from the air, everyone heard Seraphina’s voice:
"Hosone is not a coward, nor a traitor. On the contrary, he has been trying to fight against an invisible, corrosive power entrenched within us."
"However, the enemy’s power far exceeded his expectations and had already seeped in beside him long ago, unbeknownst to Hosone, leading to his entrapment to this extent!"
Seraphina waved her Magic Wand again, countless sheets of white paper flew in from outside, fluttering into the hands of the many guests.
"Take a good look, everyone."
Seraphina sighed wearily and said, "Look at how these people, like termites, day after day silently alter the chairman’s will, creating the false impression of his incompetence and heartlessness, and driving a wedge of mistrust between him and the departments!"
The crowd skeptically caught the papers flying towards them. After a glance, an old Auror with graying hair and a scarred face suddenly clenched his fists and roared:
"So Chairman Hosone agreed to posthumously award Ronald Lindow? Why did I see a response that said it didn’t meet the regulations and was postponed?!"
The funeral of the Auror who sacrificed himself was cold and desolate, with only Laira hastily arriving, representing the chairman’s office.
At that time, she said with a face full of shame, "Sorry, Mr. Hosone wanted to come, but he was too busy..."
That guilty expression seemed to have "lies and comfort" written all over her face.
Another scarred man surprisingly said, "The subsidy for monitoring dangerous magical creatures in the wild was adjusted long ago? But why weren’t we informed? Instead, it was—"
He cast his gaze toward Laira on the stage.
——Instead, it was Assistant Laira who secretly funded them with various magic potions and weapons, albeit never sufficiently, yet everyone was grateful for it.
So before, no matter how much evidence was presented or how others attacked Laira Piqueley, the group of men firmly believed she could never be that kind of person.
But at this moment, the documents revealed... At least two-thirds of the subsidies they had already raised were pocketed by Laira and others, with the remainder converted into supplies distributed sporadically to them.
In the crowd, suddenly a lady wearing an old brown robe burst into tears, her body trembling violently.
When she used to work in the Magical Creatures Management Department, she had an excellent opportunity to transfer to the International Magic Trade Standards Office, but due to a ten-minute delay in file classification, she was harshly relegated to a marginal position by Hosone.
For years, she saw that as the most regretful mistake of her career, a bitter fruit she had to swallow, even privately berating herself countless times over those "damned ten minutes," becoming so neurotic that her family couldn’t take it.
Yet now, the documents in her hand showed that her promotional path was interrupted not because she was inadequate or due to a minor error that was quickly corrected.
But rather, her report expressing her determination was replaced with unfamiliar text:
[Because my child at home suffers from a rare magic power regulation disorder and needs more stable maternal companionship, I beg to work in a low-intensity, time-stable position... please leave this opportunity for someone in greater need...]
And Hosone’s actual response wasn’t the cold [lack of responsibility, sacrificing public service for private matters, adjusted to a supportive position, original promotion quota filled by backup personnel].
In reality, the chairman who had already been ousted had once written at length in rambling fashion:
Urging her not to give up her opportunity, he could coordinate her transfer to a policy role; saying if her attitude persisted, the promotion could be retained for two years later; also suggesting that if she needed support, she could apply for the Congress’s internal cooperation fund with the Magic Hospital, among other projects.
Those lines, written with clear handwriting and precise wording yet emitting a rare warmth, made the woman unable to suppress her sobbing.
Then, her gaze suddenly lifted from the parchment, her reddened eyes like burning embers, piercing through the crowd and fixating on the direction of the podium—with that gaze no longer filled with sadness, but the deepest hatred.
A few minutes later, the entire hall exploded.
That was not a uniform roar of anger but a storm of angry voices converging into a roar that seemed almost to overturn the dome!
"Liar! Snake!"
"You destroyed my promotion! You ruined my life!"
"My father died believing Hosone cut his pension!"
"Give me my life back!"
"We’ve been fooled like idiots for so many years!"
"For the sake of your positions, you use our sweat and future as stepping stones?!"
"Get her down! She’s unworthy of standing up there!"
Roaring, questioning, and angry curses surged like an angry tsunami from every corner of the hall, merging into a deafening wave, slamming ferociously against the podium.
The crowd began to uncontrollably surge forward, their magic robe sleeves fluttering with excitement, countless magic wands drawn, their tips flashing with dangerous and unstable glows.
Laira stood there, her body teetering, feeling as if the ground beneath her feet was collapsing.