Death, Devotion, Dissonance

Chapter 159 - The Trial

"But damn, you were really cool where you were ordering around that old man. It was so satisfying to see him being put in his place," Elune said, her polite, professional tone turning casual again. "It was so obvious he was just trying to push the blame on your family so he can go wallow in his misery."

"He did look very unreliable," Endra smiled. "Do you have any guess on what inspector will come next?"

"Someone of noble origins, definitely. Most likely a high-standing baron… But I'm kinda worried the new inspector will still take on the two baron's side."

"As long as it's someone who won't be scared of a couple barons, it'll be fine," Endra said. "Then it's just a matter of persuading him, or her."

"Mm," Elune hummed, smiling. "Ah, but I'm so jealous of you, Bella. I knew you'd pick someone special. Ah, if only the people I met were half as cool as you."

Bella nodded, but she was still wearing a frown. 

"Oh, is it true the Viscount's allowed you to act in his place?" Elune asked.

"Not really," Endra replied. "He said we could flaunt our position, but not officially."

"What? Isn't that bad? What if they go asking?"

"I was hoping the Viscount will play along when that time comes," Endra shrugged. "Well, even if he doesn't, we can always say we misunderstood him. He was being quite vague, after all."

"Hmm, I think you should still go talk to him again," Elune said after a pause. "Tell him honestly what you did. And you can tell him about the inspector acting suspiciously as well, making you feel like you had to do something. Actually, let's go there together."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I feel you're acting overconfident since you're young and stupid, but you can't act like that without proper backing. You need to settle your allies first."

The group made their way to the manor again, and had another talk with Viscount Borna. Hearing what Evin did, he turned quite mad. He looked like he couldn't believe that Evin would so confidently act in his name. He only calmed down when Elune and Bella explained to him that there wasn't much Evin could do, considering how the inspector was acting.

After calming down, in true noble fashion, the Viscount decided that they needed a proper excuse for why Evin acted in that way. What's done was done, now they needed to justify it. 

They decided to say that they were trying out the Count's methods. Gehenne dan Carew was letting his brother rule the entire county, so why couldn't the Viscount let his daughter oversee one murder case?

Afterwards, Evin visited Ssatsko and briefly explained everything that's happened. Endra then talked about how Ssatsko probably needed to give the Bureau to give his story once more. The old man, of course, agreed, and they began talking about how they should best handle the situation.

During the talk, Evin suddenly thought of a genius idea. He proposed it to Endra, who agreed that it would definitely help and started discussing it with Ssatsko. The old man had no problems as well. 

Evin was feeling almost glad his family was attacked, just so he could implement this idea.

*****

Four hours later, Endra was lying on his bed, casually watching the dome above him. An old man reading through some documents inside a makeshift trial room. 

The new inspector finally arrived in the Bureau. It was another old man named Alvich, but was of much higher stature compared to the previous old man. He was a baron, who got the title after working for the government as a law expert some two decades ago. Now, he worked as an inspector and sometimes judge for crimes involving nobles or other high-class people.

Inspectors of the kingdom had the ability to do go through the investigation themselves and give out punishments as they deemed fit, just like what happened with Evin when he murdered his father. So, Inspectors had a lot of power.

And, since Alvich was someone who was used to working with nobility, he definitely seemed reliable in Endra's eyes. At least he wouldn't be so afraid of condemning them if he needed to.

Endra was also worried they'd send someone antagonistic to commoners or something, but thankfully, the man looked decent enough. He looked like someone who could be reasoned with, and he wasn't so annoyed at being suddenly called over either. 

"With this, I wouldn't really have to worry too much…" Endra murmured, grabbing some snacks. 

During the past three hours, using Evin's body, Endra managed to finish a lot of work. It definitely wouldn't have been possible if he didn't have the Viscount's official okay. He was really thankful to Elune for persuading Velpin.

Using that time, Endra made sure he did everything in his power to make this trial a success.

From preparing Lora and Ssatsko; to gathering witnesses who saw what happened, or at least claimed to have seen what happened; and then preparing his speech for the inspector and the crowd around.

A crowd had gathered around them, a rather diverse group of people ranging from 2nd grades to some members of nobility, who were pulled in by the spectacle. Endra decided they were budget juries. They were Evin's backup plan in case the new inspector tried something funny. 

In total, there were roughly a hundred people gathered in Jiha Town's main square. They were practically all Endra's allies. 

On the other side, Baron Kasna and Baron Armbron stood with slack jaws, looking quite shocked at the spectacle. Evin didn't know what they did during the previous four hours, but they definitely weren't prepared for something like this. 

'The only thing I'm worried about is whether or not Lyudvik's actually staying at his house…' Endra mused. 'If he's escaped somewhere, then it's going to be really hard to find who ordered them to do that in the first place.'

Endra asked Elune to check on the baron's house to see whether Lyudvik tries to run, and so far, there haven't been much news. But even with that, Endra couldn't control everything. 

'Well, even if he runs away, hopefully we'll be able to catch him later on.'

On the screen of the dome, Alvich finally lifted his head from the files in his hand.

"I've read through the files and I'm now familiar with both sides of the story," Alvich spoke in a calm, sonorous voice. "If you would, please let me summarize the situation, so everyone can get on the same page."

Hearing no protests from the participants, he summarized the events, including Ssatsko's testimony, the two baron's stances, and the Viscount's stance (which was basically just Evin's stance).

"Sir Alvich, I would like to deny these overcomplications regarding my son's murder!" Kasna shouted.

'Sigh… Well, here we go, I guess…' Endra said and prepared himself for the trial.