21. trial (2)
‘ah… .’
Sylvia almost jumped up from her seat and ran out.
far away
Opening the door on the second floor, Ian was coming toward the jury seat.
‘Ian… .’
He was the way he knew it.
After breaking up with him, Sylvia suffered so much that her body became dry and her complexion pale.
Even though he had changed so much, it was as if nothing had happened to him.
It was like a piece stuffed in ice.
That was very fortunate.
‘Because I’m the only one who suffers… .’
Sylvia slowly followed Ian’s movements.
It’s not like that with this intention.
It even made me think that it was so good that I hadn’t seen it before.
The more you postpone the point of seeing, the more you miss him, the more you will be happy.
Sylvia swallowed the tears inwardly, and also swallowed the inaudible greetings.
‘… I miss you.’
Ian sat in the middle of the jury.
Until then, Sylvia’s gaze hadn’t fallen, and Ian just looked around the courtroom indifferently.
I want to run and say something.
how are you doing
whether it’s been a while
Did Kylie get hurt last time?
I missed you a lot.
I really, really missed you a lot.
such words.
Maybe, I can treat you kindly as if nothing happened.
I even had such a vain delusion.
‘… It can’t be. what did i do… .’
Sylvia’s impression did not last long.
“I will start the trial now. Due to the nature of the case and the defendants, we ask for the understanding of the guests who attended that the proceedings were conducted all at once.”
*
“Two people who will verbally plead the facts of the crime, please come forward.”
At the words of the Supreme Court Judge, Wolfgang and Lazuli’s leader stood before the judge.
The two bowed and greeted the judges, jury, and audience in turn.
The greeting, conducted in a solemn atmosphere, even exuded a sense of reverence.
The first person to speak was Wolfgang.
“I am Wolfgang, the captain of the military police. From now on, I will defend the accused’s charges. Our gendarmerie met ‘Henry Somerset’ in the city of Fiorene a few weeks ago. He is a descendant of the leading figure of the ‘Anti-Imperial Alliance’ who planned the Imperial Rebellion four years ago… .”
Wolfgang explained how the 1st Hero Party became entangled with the Anti-Imperial Coalition, thoroughly based on the facts.
Henry Somerset and Gustav von Brehem.
The 1st warrior party who met them at the Badenberg Banquet.
In the process, he talked about the financial support that came and went, as well as the conversations he had while drinking.
‘Drunk… It’s excusable, but it’s not something that’s recognized very well in this world.’
From Ian’s experience, here, when you have a very important and public conversation, you need a drink.
It’s to the point where they think that a place without alcohol isn’t sincere.
So, Ian is the only one here who is debating whether or not to admit the conversation he had while drunk.
He didn’t want to rebel against common sense here, so he kept listening.
“Also, in the case of Beatrice, she told Henry Somerset that she would voluntarily engage in the mercenary business… . As a result of the investigation, this project was revealed to be a plan for the mobilization of private soldiers of the Anti-Imperial Alliance, and the possibility that the correspondence between them was made in code… .”
“Don’t be ridiculous… ! What nonsense is this… !”
Beatrice intervened in the middle of the argument.
– Right! right!
The judge tapped the gavel.
“defendant. You will have time to defend yourself later, so be quiet.”
“… … .”
Beatrice lowered her head as if in despair.
“… There is a possibility.”
Wolfgang concluded the conversation, and the leader of Lazri took it next.
“Also, Henry and Gustaf, who were in contact with this first party of warriors, were also people in contact with the Holy United State Plan.”
At those words, a small commotion broke out among the audience as well as among the jury.
Yes, the Divine Unification Plan was something that Ian scattered early, and only a few people know about it even within Seonghwagyo.
Didn’t even the emperor know about it recently?
– Right! right!
“Everyone be quiet.”
Ian guessed the emperor and Seonghwang’s intentions.
‘It’s going to be a big show.’
The Divine Unified Nation Plan.
That would mean that the Seonghwagyo tried to overthrow the empire.
Aside from the seriousness of the issue, if the 1st Hero Party was involved, it wasn’t like that.
However, it is easy for the majority of the public who come here to be swept away by the word ‘Divine Unification National Plan’ regardless of the facts.
In the end, the Emperor and Seonghwang are trying to somehow destroy the heroic image of the 1st warrior party.
‘Are you trying to keep it in your hands? But that’s what Kylie and Beatrice’s arms are like… . I’m not sure if that’s a good way. But how did the arm fly off? Did you two fight?’
Lazri continued.
“Those two, Henry and Gustaf, are the people who consulted with ‘Berthold’, one of the main pillars of the Holy United Nation Plan… .”
Starting from hearing Bertolt’s name at Magdalen Monastery, the missing Bertolt Schultz and the remnants of the Holy United State Plan.
and Henry and Gustav.
The explanation of various conspiracies is over.
“… This concludes the defense of the defendant’s charges.”
Whether this is true has yet to be proven.
However, the majority of the audience was already swept away by the public opinion created by the imperial family and Seonghwagyo.
‘Is it my turn to ask questions now?’
The court atmosphere here is quite liberal.
Citizens participating as spectators, as well as jurors, can ask as many questions as they like to the defendant, defense counsel, and accuser.
Of course, the judge can also ask questions, and when all the talk is over, the judge makes a verdict.
The role of the jury here is secondary.
You can choose between guilt, innocence, and abstention, but this does not directly affect the verdict.
Even if all of the jury declares guilty, it means that if the judges agree on innocence, they are innocent.
It’s only in theory anyway.
Even the judges cannot easily ignore the will of the jury.
Because the meaning of the jury is the ‘tendency’ of the majority.
In addition, the more the judgment directly contradicts the jury’s decision, the greater the possibility of appeal.
Ian just contemplated the courtroom, thinking about what he was going to do.
Someone from the jury spoke.
“Isn’t that circumstantial evidence? It is also very indirect. There is little evidence to link the 1st warrior party with the alleged mutiny.”
Even if the reputation of the first party fell and they eventually stood as defendants in court, it did not mean that there were no defenders.
And his claim was even valid.
A few people in the audience also raised their voices as if agreeing with the claim.
Wolfgang replied with a nod as if he had waited for those words.
“You are right. It is difficult to claim that the 1st party of warriors, who had gained prestige as heroes of the empire, participated in the rebellion simply based on this level of evidence. But what if you could see it from a different angle?”
Wolfgang took out another document and shook it.
“This is a complaint prepared by those who put forward the Margrave Friedrich as the accuser group.”
This is not simply a place to judge the rebellion charges of the 1st warrior party.
It’s a place to expose everything they’ve done so far.
‘I’m going to have a poll. Guilt or innocence is not important, it seems like they are trying to control and deprive the 1st warrior party of their autonomy. If that’s the case, the direction of the trial’s outcome must have already been decided to some extent.’
The flow went as Ian expected.
People who were harmed by the dark beer promoted by the 1st warrior party.
In particular, there were even deaths in the military operation area.
He didn’t die from drinking beer, but it is said that he couldn’t show his strength in battle because of the spoiled beer.
“They are not directly related, are they?”
There were still people who defended the 1st Hero Party.
However, the more the Wolf Gang revealed the female crimes of the 1st Hero Party, the more their voices died down.
Killed 4 of Beatrice’s SS class warriors.
It was clearly self-defense, but there was no way to prove it.
On the other hand, the circumstantial evidence that she killed those four people was too strong.
On the other hand, Ian was familiar with the name of one of the four.
‘… Thirteen evils?’
He was one of the 13 evils that ran rampant in Ian’s second playthrough.
‘I was still worried about them, but I saved one.’
Beatrice was not the only woman guilty.
There was also an incident of Kylie’s civilian injury.
“… … .”
Kylie and Beatrice quietly kept their mouths shut.
“It’s not just this. According to rumors, unlike their honor as heroes, they used abusive language against civilians quite often… .”
It had absolutely nothing to do with this trial.
However, public opinion clearly tilted in favor of Wolfgang.
Before becoming a hero, the mass murder that Kylie committed to gather strength was also revealed.
Beatrice’s crimes such as robbery and robbery were also revealed.
It was also revealed that Arya extorted money in the name of donations or embezzled donations from the church.
Ian was a little taken aback.
‘… There are many things I don’t know.’
After recruiting the 1st warrior party, the memories of visiting the victims who were victimized by them in the past, apologizing and making compensation instead came to mind.
“Letters testified by the bereaved families of victims caught up in various serious crimes, including verbal abuse and assault… .”
While Wolfgang finished talking, Ian looked at his party.
It was easy to see where Vivian, Helena, Lucia, Mercy, and Kati were sitting side by side.
Vivian and Helena look shocked.
Lucia and Mercy earnestly watch the proceedings of the court.
And, Kati, who is staring at Ian as if she had been doing it for a while.
Ian unknowingly smiled.
By that time, Vivian, who had noticed her gaze, also noticed Ian, smiled hehehe and waved her hand slightly.
Starting with her, Helena, Lucia, and Mercy.
I looked at Ian in turn.
It was pretty funny to see them looking back at each other.
“… Due to the above events, it cannot be concluded that the 1st warrior party never participated in the rebellion. At the same time, it would be difficult to claim that the preceding circumstantial evidence was indirect. They have been committing crimes with antisocial tendencies even before they became heroes. In addition.”
Wolfgang saw Penny, whom he hadn’t mentioned before.
She crouched in a seat slightly away from the four members of the First Hero Party, and cautiously looked up at Wolfgang.
“All of this happened concurrently with the trust of our new manager, Penny. Our gendarmerie suspects that she actively urged the first party.”
“… what?”
“It was also revealed that it was Penny who accepted the banquet seat and the commission to promote the badnberg stout beer. And she has a history of circulating with famous criminal groups in the past, and has also captured circumstantial evidence that she has committed and covered up multiple murders.”
“uh… .”
Penny couldn’t keep up with her parents.
Ian nodded slowly.
‘Is the 1st party going to cut down moderately and use the penny as a sacrifice? tsk… . Politics is dirty.’
The prince sitting next to him, Oedipus, asked cautiously.
“Does it make you feel uncomfortable seeing it in person?”
Ian said it because he heard a small click of his tongue.
“Nothing. Not really.”
“Still, they must have been precious at one time.”
“It was.”
It was obviously past tense.
“The above concludes the oral argument.”
It was less than before, but there were still people who defended the 1st Hero Party.
It was Penny that they sacrificed.
The argument that Penny is the problem and that the 1st warrior party is rather the victim gained quite a bit of strength.
But Wolfgang didn’t accept it that far.
“It is obviously not the right attitude for those who are called heroes to represent the Empire. Ignorance cannot be an indulgence.”
After that, a small quarrel ensued.
On the other hand, the 4 people in the first party and Penny were quiet.
They had a say, but they had nothing to say.
Sylvia and Kylie were conscious of Ian.
Beatrice simply resigned herself.
Arya hoped that this situation would end soon.
Penny was just out of her mind.
Then suddenly.
“Isn’t that something you should be suspicious of too!”
someone said so
“… ?”
Ian, who had been silent, looked around at the gaze that was focused on him.
Those words were the signal flare.
“right! Hasn’t Ian been with you longer than that bitch named Penny!”
“Rather, Ian might have more to do with it!”
The argument spread like fire.
“So what kind of person is Philip? Are you here?”
“If the 1st warrior party is under suspicion, Philip should be the first to be suspected together!”
“Philippe may have ordered all this!”
For the first time, Wolfgang’s face flashed with embarrassment.
He cautiously looked back and forth between the commotion and Ian.
Ian’s party was also busy turning their heads like meerkat.
“These bastards… .”
Kylie growled lowly, and Sylvia glared at those who doubted Ian with sunken eyes.
“Hmm.”
Ian pondered as he crossed his arms and tapped his forearm with his fingers.
A former manager who had been close to the 1st Hero Party for a long time.
So, the person most likely to know Philip’s whereabouts.
All eyes were on him.
– Right! right!
“Jungsuk… ! Anything unrelated to the hearing process… !”
– Dripping.
Ian pushed his chair roughly and got up from his seat.
He looked around at the crowd with his polite, indifferent face.
from left to right.
again from right to left.
As if he had something to say, he was silent for quite a while.
The murmur died down as if it were assimilated into his silence.
Like gravity, he tugged at people’s gazes and drew in and absorbed the turmoil.
In an instant, the entire courtroom became deadly silent.
It was so quiet that even breathing could not be heard.
Carrying the silence, Ian looked around once more.
In the middle, I met eyes with several people.
Emperor, Seonghwang, Wolfgang, Prince, etc.
The pillars of this empire who knew their identities.
Vivian, Helena, Lucia, Mercy, Katy.
Making eye contact with Ian briefly, they realized what he was about to say.
His seat, towering in the middle of the jury, seemed to be the center.
Breaking the swelling silence that is about to explode.
Finally, Ian’s low voice rang out.
“I am Philip.”