The old chronicles beneath Blackglass cliffs were opened. Their illustrations matched the creature, crest, and object before the crowd. knight Garran had profited by declaring the old pact broken, selling nests, land, or passage rights that never belonged to him. The supposed monster was not the threat. The man claiming to protect the realm was.
By sunset the gate guard changed sides. Riders carried copies of the evidence to every province. knight Garran's hired soldiers laid down their authority rather than violate the restored oath, and the treasury seals he had misused were removed in public.
The investigation lasted longer than the dramatic confrontation. Specialists rebuilt the timeline minute by minute, matching travel records, maintenance notes, witness calls, and the physical history of an obsidian horn fragment. Even details that seemed trivial mattered: a repaired edge, dust from Blackglass cliffs, a date written in a margin, and a photograph taken by someone who never realized it would become evidence. Every independent fact pointed away from coincidence and toward deliberate concealment.