CHAPTER 10 - PART 7 & 8

Part 7

This situation was bad.

"Which means, the accused used 'steal' under the watchful eyes of the public to strip your panties. Is this true?"

"Erm— it is true! But that should be an accident!"

"You just need to confirm this is true, thank you for your testimony."

"Hmm? Wait! I'm not bothered by that incident anymore…!"

Sena concluded the questioning in a hurry and chased Chris out of the court.

The other witnesses were troublesome too…

The one who came from Japan just like me, whose magic sword was stolen by me and sold, swordmaster Mitsurugi. He walked to the front with his two underlings right behind him.

"Mitsurugi-san. I heard your magic sword was stolen by the accused and sold. And the two ladies were threatened by the accused that he will steal your panties if you tried to get the magic sword back. Is this true?"

"Yes, you are right. But that incident was started by me…"

"That's right, he threatened us! He said 'I believe in gender equality, a man who dares to use drop kicks against girls'!"

"Yeah! He also said 'since you are girls, I might humiliate you in public using my 'steal' skill'!"

Mitsurugi's two underlings kept interrupting his words, using this chance to get back at me for threatening them that time.

These two girls probably hated me deeply, sticking their tongue out whenever our eyes met.

Ugh… The gaze of the judge and everyone else is hurting me…

After Mitsurugi and the others left the court, Dust was summoned as a witness for some reason.

I didn't remember doing anything bad to this guy.

If I recall correctly, Dust was the one who suggested swapping teams.

After Dust greeted me warmly, Sena said:

"This man is the defendant of the next court case. I think the court should be familiar with him. He is a delinquent that causes trouble and kept getting sued."

"Hey you jerk, you are the one who asked for me when I was just waiting for my turn in court. I just got here, so stop speaking ill about me! Are you asking me to massage those big tits of yours?"

Sena's words made the short tempered Dust lash out.

As the Judge was frowning because of Dust's vulgar words, Sena pointed at me and said:

"Dust-san, I heard that you are rather close with Satou Kazuma-san here. Is this true?"

"How could there be any doubt. We are like brothers, and drink together often."

After hearing that, Sena turned and said to me:

"Satou Kazuma-san, are you best friends with this unruly delinquent?"

"Just an acquaintance."

"Hey—! Kazuma!"

Dust yelled, but the bell didn't ring under the watchful eyes of Sena and the judge.

"I, I see, pardon my rudeness. I wanted to bring up the point that your friends are delinquents, that's why…"

"It's fine, it's a fact that I am acquainted with him."

"Kazuma—! Is our friendship so shallow—!"

As the knight dragged the yelling delinquent out of the court, Sena turned to face the judge.

"That last witness was disappointing, but the other witnesses should suffice to prove that the accused has a flawed personality. And the accused bored a grudge against the plaintiff. Based on these facts, it is very possible that the accused didn't order a random teleport to be used, and instructed for a normal teleport to transfer the stone to the mansion of the plaintiff, and disguised it as an accident—"

Sena tried pinning me down with circumstantial evidence.

"Those are not evidence at all! I admit that Kazuma has a twisted personality, but I can't accept such a circumstantial charge! Bring out something more concrete! And this trial is too strange! Everything is too forced, don't you find this weird?"

"The defendants are to watch their words, only speak up when granted permission!"

"You want evidence? Very well, I will bring it undeniable proof! They will show without a doubt that this man is a terrorist determined to destroy the town, or is a minion of the demon king army!"

Seeing Megumin becoming agitated, Sena, picked up a piece of paper and read it out loud.

"One! The party led by adventurer Satou Kazuma might have defeated the boss of the demon king army during the fight with Beldia, but extensive damage was done to the town due to the huge amount of water that was conjured—"

Aqua trembled.

"Two! Setting up a giant barrier in the public cemetery, causing the spirits in the cemetery to wander, creating havoc in town—"

I grabbed the hands of Aqua who was covering her ears and facing the back, peeling them off her ears so she could hear what the prosecutor was saying, and…

"Casting explosion spell in the area outside of town day after day, changing the landscape of the territory. Recently, it could be heard in the wee hours of the night, rousing the citizens from their sleep in the middle of the night—"

It was Megumin's turn to cover her ears and turn around.

My defence team was too useless!

"Hey, wait, this is too strange! It's weird no matter how you think about it! The things you listed out have nothing to do with me! Well, they were troubles caused by the members of my team! But you should bring out evidence that has something to do with me!"

In reply to my outburst,

"And also, we have reports of the accused using a skill only available to the undead, 'Drain touch'. If you are not related to the demon king army, please explain why you can use 'Drain touch'— You can't just ignore this by covering your ears!"

Sena pointed at me who was covering my ears like Aqua and Megumin and shouted.

Remain silent! I want to exercise my right to remain silent!

"Finally, the most damning evidence… During the interrogation inside the police station, I asked if you had any dealings with a member of the demon king army. You answered no back then, and the magic item detected a lie. That is the best evidence!"

Oh no oh no oh no—!

I was out of ideas and speechless, at this moment.

"— Hold it!"

This confident voice came unexpectedly from Aqua.

To think this girl would hold a trump card at this juncture…!

"Aqua, tell them! Show them the decisive evidence that proves my innocence!"

"Huh? There's no way I have something like that, I just want to try saying that."

"Remove that person from court!"

"Sorry! I apologize on behalf of this counsel!"

"Ahhh that hurts!"

I grabbed the temple of Aqua and squeezed tightly as I apologized.

Shit, this damn idiot—!

At this moment, someone seemed tired of our games.

"Enough! That guy is definitely related to the demon king army! He's their minion! He sent explosives to my mansion! Kill him! Sentence him to death!"

The plaintiff who had been silent all this while, landlord Alderp stood up suddenly and roared angrily at me.

Well done old man, now's my chance!

"No, I am not related to the demon king army! I am not a terrorist! I do bear a grudge because he made me shoulder that debt, but I didn't send the Coronatite over on purpose! Listen carefully, look at the magic item closely! I am going to say this again! I am not a minion of the demon king army, I have nothing to do with them!"

My words didn't make the bell ring, rendering the landlord speechless.

Sena frowned and bit her lower lips when she saw this.

If a testimony stated in the presence of the magic item could be taken as evidence, my words that didn't trigger an alarm would also be taken as evidence.

The words of the plaintiff landlord helped me out of this situation.

The judge shook his head slowly.

"It is always like this when we use the magic item to detect lies, the results aren't clear. The prosecution motioned for the reaction of the magic item to be endorsed as evidence. But from the results right now, I cannot accept it as legitimate evidence. The circumstantial evidence presented so far is too weak. And so, I hereby judge that the accused, Satou Kazuma innocent from the lack of—"

During this decisive moment when the judge was passing his sentence.

"I will say this again. That guy is definitely affiliated with the demon king army, one of their minions. Sentence him to death."

The landlord who was still standing said that.

In response, Sena said:

"No, no one was hurt for this incident, it shouldn't lead to the death penalty…"

When she said that to the landlord, he just stared at her.

"… No, you are right. The death sentence is the most appropriate… right?"

— Hmm!?

"Hey hey, wait a minute! This is too weird, too weird!"

"Yah, what is with that just now! Why did the prosecutor's argument changed?!"

While Megumin and I were protesting, Sena was reacting strangely too. She was the one who said that, but her face looked confused as she tilted her head.

Aqua suddenly pointed at the judge, Sena and the landlord and said:

"I feel an evil presence! Someone among this group is attempting to twist the facts with evil powers!"

Aqua's unexpected speech made the court fall into silence.

Maybe it's due to her idiotic words earlier, all the eyes watching Aqua was doubtful.

Everyone looked towards the magic item, and the atmosphere changed when it didn't ring.

Aqua was an arch priest, a job with a holy nature.

This made her words more convincing, which made the expression of the judge change.

"Powers of evil… So you are saying someone is using underhanded means to influence this sacred trial?"

"Yes, that's correct. My eyes are more accurate than that magic item! Truthfully speaking, I am a goddess of water with 10 million devotees in this world! Goddess Aqua!"

— Ring.

Aqua's declaration resulted in a crisp ringing sound in the silent court.

"Why—! Wait, I didn't lie—!"

"Defendant, please choose your counsels carefully."

"My apologies, I will reflect on this seriously."

Aqua who lost the trust of everyone was still being noisy as Megumin consoled her; For some reason, the landlord was biting his lips, staring at Aqua with a pale face.

"I get it, it must be because I was acting too vainly. The magic item thought I was lying because of the number of devotees! 10 million is exaggerating a bit, I should had said something in the region of 9.8 million."

Hearing Aqua mumbling behind me, I wanted to retort that her believers probably numbered less than a thousand. But I can't do that now as the judge could give his verdict any moment now.

The judge cleared his throat.

"… Defendant Satou Kazuma. Taking into account your inhumane actions and your disruption of the peace in order to society…"

He started saying something that contradicted his previous verdict.

"I find the sentence motioned by the prosecutor to be adequate. The accused is found guilty and—"

Hmm!?

"— Sentenced to death."

Part 8

"This is weird—! No hold it, wait a minute! What is with this rushed verdict! Bring out stronger evidence! Sentencing a man to death so lightly, there must be something wrong with your head!"

"Defendant! Watch your behavior!"

"Kazuma is right, this is strange, there is definitely something wrong. That's right, Kazuma did bore a grudge for having to shoulder the reparation cost of the flood, likes to complains and hates the landlord, which might lead to trouble one day. But despite all that, he doesn't have the guts to send the coronatite over!"

Hey, are you defending me or getting in my way, make it clear!

As I was wondering how to shut Aqua up, Megumin took off her eye patch and said:

"Very well, since you want to think of Kazuma as a terrorist, I will show you what a real terrorist is like… Hey, what are you doing! Release me!"

Seeing Megumin's crimson eyes glowing, the guards rushed in to subdue her.

"Neh—! This is weird! Too weird! My clear eyes could see evil lingering in the air inside this court! Just wait for a moment I will purify the air right now… Ah! I am not using any suspicious magic, don't get in my way!"

"Usage of spells are strictly prohibited within the courts! It might interfere with the lie detection magic device!"

"Enough, get the both of them out of here!"

Sena stood up, instructing the guards to bring Megumin and Aqua away.

"Order! Order!… I said order in the court!"

The judge finally lost it, roaring as he threw the mallet.

The guards were dragging Megumin and Aqua away when suddenly,

"— Your honor, please take a look at this."

Darkness who had remain quiet without saying a word took something out from her chest.

It was a pendant that looked valuable with an insignia on it.

I don't know what that was, but it was something everyone in court knew about.

"That, that is… You, you are…"

The judge stood up in surprise, staring wide eyed at the pendant.

Under the stares of everyone present, Darkness said softly.

"Pardon me, could you suspend the trial for me? I don't mean getting the prosecutor to throw the case out. I just need time to prove that this man is not a minion of the demon king army, and is innocent. At the same time, I will ask him to compensate the landlord for the mansion.

Sena and the judge stood stiffly as they stared at the insignia presented by Darkness.

Under such a circumstances, only the landlord managed to protest weakly.

"This… But, even if you request for this…!"

"Alderp. As the victim in all this, you could count this as me owing you a favor. If it is within my means, I can do anything for you. I am not asking you to withdraw the charges, I just hope you can wait a while longer."

Hearing what Darkness said, the landlord stood where he was and gulped.

"Anything! An, anything…!"

"That's right, anything."

Hearing what Darkness said, the landlord's eyes shone as he looked at Darkness' body lecherously.

He then sat back into his chair:

"Alright, since you are the one requesting, I will grant this man more time."

— After being granted permission to leave the courts, I asked Darkness who was following behind me:

"What was that just now? Or rather, you knew that old man Alderp?"

"… You could say that. Ever since I was young, he had some kind of obsession towards me. Ever since his wife passed on, he asked for my hand in marriage several times. But my father rejected him due to our age difference."

How terrifying, how persistent is he?

"Are, are you alright, will it be fine to promise doing anything for that kind of old man? From the way he was checking you out, he will probably ask for something horrible."

"… Something, something horrible…"

"You… return my sympathy to me…"

As I was turned off by the pervert who is breathing heavily with her face blushing, I went together with darkness to fetch Aqua and Megumin who were being detained.