Chapter 93 Living Rune

Mina kept the sensor alive inside a copper cage while twelve officials argued about which office deserved permission to confiscate it.

The fist-sized crystal pulsed against her worktable, showing one clean blue beat followed by a black contraction nobody outside the team admitted seeing.

’Twelve coats, six seals and zero people willing to call the evil pulse black, damn, bureaucracy really can lose a color through committee vote.’

Damien stood beside the evidence tent entrance with Blank inside his collar, watching the creature track every contraction through silver eyes.

"The sensor remains tournament property, so continued private handling creates a chain-of-custody violation," the senior marshal said, extending one gloved hand toward Mina.

"Your custody tried collecting my body through a bridge, which reduced my confidence in the chain considerably," she replied, tightening the cage through one copper key.

Vivienne placed the filed objection beside the marshal’s wrist, keeping her voice formal while irritation sharpened every consonant.

"National rule fourteen grants the discovering team paired custody when evidence remains active and ordinary storage may alter it," she said, tapping the relevant sentence.

’She found the exact rule while Mina threatened three officials, meaning the team has developed a terrifying legal ecosystem.’

Isolde fed volcanic salt beneath the cage through a narrow spoon, making the black contraction spread across one inner seam.

"The foreign structure is consuming heat and returning a smaller signal through the score channel, which resembles theft more than calibration," she said, wiping the spoon clean.

The marshal looked toward Damien again, apparently hoping the captain might recover control of women who had never surrendered it.

"If you want my contribution, I suggest listening before Mina charges storage by the minute," he said, moving one chair away from the evidence.

Mina opened the crystal housing under four recording charms, revealing thin black runes coiled over every scoring filament like wire on bone.

’Same residue as the gala, workshop, vault and Marlowe lab, which means the Benefactor has finally discovered sports corruption.’

Blank pushed its head free and snapped at one rune without touching it, then held a stable catlike shape for five full seconds.

[Correction residue matched]

[Benefactor signature: probable]

[Sabotage state: active]

"That line is still changing the stored score while we watch it, so freezing the crystal would destroy the transaction record," Mina said, turning the cage toward the nearest broadcast charm.

The senior marshal covered the charm through his palm, realizing too late that three others remained above the table.

"This hearing is not authorized for public transmission, and your team will stop presenting unfinished conclusions," he said, lowering his hand after several viewers had already clipped it.

"Then authorize somebody competent before the rune finishes eating yesterday," Mina replied, pointing one tool toward the shrinking blue filament.

’She wants him angry enough to make a written refusal, damn, Bram would be proud before explaining why this could start six lawsuits.’

A red-haired woman ducked beneath the tent flap without waiting for admission, carrying a blunted greatsword across one shoulder and black dust over both forearms.

Rhea had watched their run from the first seed platform, where her own team posted a time eleven seconds slower without losing formation credit.

"Their board number is garbage, I counted every contact from above and watched the clock stop clean," she said, planting her sword beside the table.

"You are not registered as an evidence witness inside this review," the marshal answered, angling his body between her and the charms.

"Register my eyes, then explain why your machine says they moved slower than people I personally watched move slower," Rhea replied, scraping black dust from her wrist onto his clean form.

’Rhea supporting us through pure hatred of bad scoring feels incredibly on brand, though saying that near her would cost a wall.’

The public feed reacted faster than tournament administration, placing paired recordings above every spectator screen outside the tent.

One clip showed Team Sterling crossing in two minutes eleven, while another displayed their formation breaking at a point where all four remained visibly together.

Vivienne’s relay pulse record matched the footage, giving Mina a second independent clock outside the compromised score network.

"You can deny her count or our device, though denying both requires accusing national footage of inventing four bodies," Vivienne said, sliding the records beneath the marshal’s seal.

The tent opened again for a thin gray-suited man carrying three ledgers and no visible interest in anybody’s authority.

Auditor Perrin Quillon had not changed since the academy inquiry, except his pen now wore a national evidence chain around its clip.

"Nobody will freeze that sensor until I finish comparing what it removed against where the benefit landed," the auditor said, setting his ledgers beside Mina’s cage.

’Quillon came all the way to Crown Basin carrying the Lucas arithmetic, which means his quiet week ended somewhere dangerous.’

He aligned the raw tower record, Mina’s relay clock and public footage before writing one figure beneath each discrepancy.

Every missing point left Team Sterling through the same black rune, but the outgoing trail vanished before naming any receiving lane.

"This is statistical laundering with a shorter wash cycle, except somebody left the machine running during inspection," Quillon said, turning one page toward the recording charms.

The senior marshal tried closing the tent, then stopped when Rhea rested her greatsword across the flap without making a threat aloud.

"The first-year rescue credits you examined involved people, while this is automated scoring under separate jurisdiction," he said, pressing his seal against the evidence form.

"Arithmetic does not change professions when frightened, so your distinction can wait behind the numbers," the auditor replied, taking the sealed form before ink dried.

’That man insults through accounting, which may be the only voice in this country more expensive than Isolde flirting through invoices.’

Quillon ordered paired custody between Mina and the national audit office, leaving tournament staff access only through witnessed inspection.

[Sabotage evidence preserved]

[Independent witness threshold met]

[Hidden quest complete: Keep the record alive]

[System Points awarded: 5,000]

[System Points: 12,000 → 17,000]

Mina watched the panel vanish without asking what Damien had received, her attention fixed on the black rune tightening around another filament.

"It is still subtracting from yesterday’s raw record, which means somebody wants the evidence dead before an appeal finishes," she said, replacing the cage lid.

"Can you keep it alive through Day Two without feeding it our current relay," Damien asked, feeling Blank retreat when the rune pulsed.

"I can keep it angry, hungry and witnessed, though your relay stays disconnected until I rebuild every scoring contact," she replied, pulling the crystal toward her case.

’No shared positioning tomorrow unless Mina trusts the line, so the mountain just removed our best team tool before a rescue course.’

The judges convened at noon, accepted the evidence as credible, then refused immediate correction while the tournament remained active.

Their order sealed the living sensor, preserved Team Sterling’s reduced score and promised review after Day Two concluded.

Rhea read the ruling over Damien’s shoulder before breaking one practice tile beneath the flat of her sword.

"They know the number is wrong and kept it anyway, so beat the next course hard enough that subtraction becomes embarrassing," she said, walking toward her team.

Across the Basin, the Day Two gates opened early and released the sound of something enormous striking metal below the rescue arena.