Chapter 58: Adoption

  The words spoken by Rudnicki hung in the air. Although the noise of the celebration still prevailed outside, inside Justinian stared at the devil in silence.

  Pondering what meaning the word 'adoption' held in hell, he slowly shook his head.

  "I don't understand."

  He didn't even notice that the blood in his veins had begun to circulate faster. A pressure appeared around his throat, just as if someone had grabbed him.

  "Hahaha, why the strange face, my boy! Just agree and from today on we will be part of one family!"

  No matter how hard he had subconsciously tried to deny the meaning of those words before. As soon as Rudnicki spoke again, there could be no doubt what he meant.

  'Family?'

  The memory of Sister Teresa and Zonik appeared before his eyes. The only family he had, and the most important thing in his life.

  The people for whom he had made a pact with the devil and ended up in the 66th hell.

  Contrary to expectations, however, he did not feel bad, thinking that now, beyond the memories of these dear people, he could find a new family.

  More a sense of relief and understanding that a certain chapter of his life was already closed.

  Looking at the cheerful Rudnicki, he smiled sincerely.

  "Then let it be so."

  "To the health of the Grim Judge!"

  "To the glory of the Rudnicki family!"

  "To golden noble freedom!"

  The noblemen sitting at the long table were all too eager to raise a toast after hearing the news. They were clearly pleased that someone like him was now one of the Noble Brothers.

  Franciscus, sitting a little further away, did not seem surprised and accepted it with understanding. Unlike Ignatius the Emptyhead, who was clearly a little jealous of the young man's acceptance by the noblemen.

  Bogna, working on serving meals and clearing dishes after the drunken antics of the guests, was too busy to stop and pay attention. One could, however, guess that the Grim Judge occupied a much higher position in her mind than some Noble Brothers.

  Justinian himself was slightly embarrassed by the whole reception and didn't like big parties anyway. He had to admit, though, that it was nice to feel a sense of belonging to a specific group.

  His mind pondered the consequences of this decision. He then realized that in the history of the 66th hellish dimension, he had no idea what the way to become a nobleman was.

  So he asked Rudnicki about it, who quickly darkened upon entering the subject. The rest of the noisy rabble did the same, wincing as if their honor had been insulted.

  "You see, my dear friend..."

  The old nobleman finally began, after a long consideration.

  "One cannot simply become a nobleman."

  Immediately, murmurs of satisfaction spread among the others, which Rudnicki noticed with pleasure.

  "Nobility is heritage and honor. Something you must be born with."

  Justinian took this merely as flattery to the assembled crowd, but soon had to frown, seeing that the drunken Noble Brother around his table... were teary-eyed with emotion.

  One of them even pulled out a pennant with his coat of arms and began stroking it like the holiest of keepsakes.

  Ignatius the Emptyhead was also among them, looking nostalgically at his residence on the mountain top. He even straightened his back a bit for the occasion.

  "So how am I supposed to become a nobleman?"

  Increasing consternation was etched on the young man's face.

  "Hahaha, my dear friend, you should know about our magnificent lineage."

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Here Rudnicki clapped his hands, and the emotional noblemen immediately cheered up. Pride was painted in their eyes, and some lifted their double chins, as if looking with arrogance at the common space around them.

  "We are the descendants of the legendary Sarmatian warriors who were the first to create a magnificent civilization in hell!"

  The devil concluded his statement by twirling his long mustache. Justinian managed to glance towards Franciscus, who commented with a simple shake of his head.

  "And what does that have to do with me?"

  "What do you mean, what? Someone like the Grim Judge, who was able to defeat a powerful mountain lord, surely descends from the same warriors!"

  One of the feasters blurted out, after which the rest responded with a loud cheer. A terrible commotion arose again, and the guests returned to heavy drinking.

  Justinian waited for someone to clarify what was really going on, but as time passed, he realized that... they really thought that way.

  Not knowing whether to laugh or cry, he decided to ask for details. Especially since his guests had a tendency to quickly consume the liquor, and there was no certainty how long the conversation would last.

  "So am I one of you now?"

  Rudnicki's loud sigh answered him. It seemed that the topic was uncomfortable for him.

  "Unfortunately, there are still legal trivialities. We have to bring up your nobility with Boruta to be able to proclaim it officially."

  Evidently, the idea was for some reason a bitter pill for the other Noble Brother to swallow, who shook their heads with displeasure—and resignation.

  Justinian understood little of this.

  'Isn't this normal?'

  Guessing what he was thinking about, Rudnicki decided to explain the situation.

  "The beauty of our lineage is that we are all equal. How can some voivode decide who is nobility and who is not?!"

  Murmurs of agreement immediately rose from the other guests.

  "Only blood makes a nobleman!"

  "Each of us is his own master!"

  "A nobleman on his estate is equal to a voivode!"

  None of those present noticed how Franciscus, hearing these arguments, became more gloomy than usual.

  The following hours on the Mountain of Plague and Misfortune passed for the Noble Brothers in truly celebratory moods. After the alcohol started to kick in, they began their ridiculous dances and arguing about politics. Not infrequently a saber was drawn, and many ended up with a broken head.

  Rudnicki especially used this time to his satisfaction, inciting attacks on noblemen who had previously fallen out of favor with him for "offending the honor of the caste."

  Such feasting lasted until morning. It was then, with a heavy hangover, that the whole caravan of noblemen, as well as Justinian and his entourage, set off towards the Mountain of Mists. The only exception who remained on the mountain was Ignatius the Emptyhead.

  "If I rebuild my cultivation base and even reach a higher level, Boruta will surely remove this lousy nickname from me!"

  Rudnicki and his retinue nodded in appreciation of his ambitious dreams and wished him luck.

  In their hearts, none of them believed in the success of his intentions.

  Traveling to the Voivode's headquarters, Justinian rode at the very front with Rudnicki. They were just talking about the "old times," when the boy had visited his estate a year ago.

  "You've changed since then, my dear friend! I bet my head on it, you were as stiff as my deceased father back then!"

  Justinian smiled slightly at these words. From his perspective, it looked decidedly different.

  Before he could answer, however, one of the noblemen rode up to them. The same one who had treated him to various gossips about the state of the dimension at the feast.

  Bowing his head slightly in greeting, he got straight to the matter weighing on him.

  "Lord Grim Judge, you are knowledgeable about law. Can you help me with a conundrum?"

  Hearing his nickname was, of course, irritating, but he refrained from malice.

  "Yes?"

  The devil immediately cheered up and began to talk about a dispute with one of his neighbors, who had failed to meet one of his obligations on time. Not only did he miss the deadline, but the goods themselves were also in poor condition.

  Justinian listened carefully to the details, asked questions about the contract, circumstances, and witnesses. Finally, he gave the nobleman his opinion and a logical solution that reconciled the honor of both sides.

  The nobleman listened with an open mouth, then burst into tears of gratitude.

  "Pure Wisdom! Lord Judge, upon my honor! Thank you!"

  He rode away, raising a loud toast in his honor.

  The boy smiled sincerely. He felt a surge of positive energy.

  'Perhaps my nasty reputation brought something good after all.'

  Rudnicki shook his head in admiration.

  "I swear, my dear friend, you are better than all our tribunals combined!"

  And then, what neither of them expected happened. From the back of the caravan, other noblemen who had heard the entire previous conversation began to gather.

  "Lord Grim Judge! I have a request!"

  "Lord Justinian! My case is more urgent!"

  "No, no! Mine is a matter of honor, Noble Brother!"

  In the blink of an eye, a massive queue formed for him. Some rode on horseback, others ran, just to push their way to the front. The young man, initially excited, eagerly accepted their "cases."

  After fifteen minutes, however, his enthusiasm began to dwindle.

  "Lord Grim Judge, that fellow there... looked at me as if he doubted my Sarmatian descent! That is an offense to honor!"

  "Lord Justinian, Siegfried didn't bow low enough to me when entering the tavern! He must pay compensation!"

  "Lord Judge! My valet served my soup too hot! Isn't this an attempt to poison a nobleman?!"

  Almost all the matters were absolute trifles. What was worse, as soon as a nobleman received a verdict, he immediately returned to the end of the queue with a new piece of stupidity.

  Justinian felt the vein in his temple throbbing. In one moment he had a vision of doing something good, and the world, as usual, turned his hope into a disaster.

  'Don't they have any real problems?!'

  He saw Bogna, riding a little further away, looking at this with a stunned face, and Franciscus diligently noting everything in his notebook.

  "Lord Grim..."

  When another request sounded, something simply snapped in the boy. All red in the face, he glared furiously at the irritating nobleman.

  "My justice does not deal with trifles!"

  He said this loudly and forcefully, to which the heavens answered with thunder a few kilometers away. What was more disturbing, however, was the fact that as soon as he spoke those words, an empty page materialized in the air, which at some point replaced his Ledger of Transgressions and Atonements.

  This page, before the eyes of the astonished devils, began to emanate a white and blue light, spewing out layers of power!