Revealing that I was an apostle was one of the last things I wanted to do on my list, but as the [Apostle of Order], I was curious about what the title would do for me when standing before a "sinner." Justice wasn't something that I was directly familiar with, though Knight would argue otherwise. Holding it up as my banner so suddenly felt like trying to break in new shoes, straight out of the wrapping paper in the box, on a snowy mountain, without wearing any socks.
I was delaying and I knew it. My floating was going slow while checking in on other people, seeing if the cook was doing fine, the stableman, his assistants, some maids I knew, others that were new, and the like. I had to swipe a few cookies from the kitchen, having run out of my own stash, and leave a new recipe for Tierre as she was frozen over a baking sheet with a few squiggly-shaped things placed on, no doubt, by Adri. A few had a certain spriggan's mana on them, and I had to hold myself back from snickering at their crude forms.
Focus, Firea, focus.
I learned, after touching enough bodies and rifling through the memories of all of those people, that Kiki had deftly dealt with all of the concerning parts. Things fit seamlessly together as if she'd spent hours editing them like a professional memory editor, paid for the work. I couldn't find any noticeable holes that a normal person would be able to point at in their own minds and say, "Something's wrong here."
As expected of my familiar...
All of the servants I encountered only had memories of a very depressing work atmosphere, of the madame suddenly disappearing into the night, of Thérèse disappearing not long after, of the earl going off for business to the north, of Martin and Sarah going off on territorial business, of it being silent for a while as that guy with the name I hated was in charge, of the earl coming back, of him acting strange with his two most loyal knights, of the children returning with the king's aide, of the Church deciding to send a visitor, of the Church acting suspicious, of Magaris disappearing, of the Church deciding to pay them an unwarranted visit, of the servants being rounded up in the manor and guarded by knights, of screaming outside the manor where the nobles and the head servants were taken...
Then, where their memories were edited.
Unlike before, where they knew clearly that the reason the Church was summoned was because the apostle that appeared declared the earl's wrongdoings clearly before them all...they suddenly thought that the reason why the Church appeared was because they were on hyper-alert with all of the Demon summonings and Knight taking all of their thunder when putting down Demon summoners. Someone tipped off the Church saying that the earl was acting suspicious and had been the whole year, and their family was falling in general...and the Church finally thought that they'd do a major bust and not appear inferior to Knight anymore.
As for why the little miss was sealed in her room and no one heard much of her, it was because she'd been hurt by the Church when they came, the king's aide was good at magic and put a barrier on her, and they had to wait until someone "better with magic" came to awaken the little sleeping beauty.
So it was all just one big mistake. The Church was to blame, not the earl, again. Just like how they screwed up with the life of the littlest miss when she was just a babe, they were screwing with their whole noble house because the Church had a grudge against the household that had deprived them of a cardinal years ago.
It wasn't animosity that I felt in that servant, when seeing things from his point of view, but there was certainly anger there. There was also fear, deep in his heart, and distrust. Strong, strong distrust for not only the Church, but those around him.
Who was the one that "tipped off" the Church? Who was the one, in their household, that had unleashed trauma and fear upon them all, just because they thought the earl was acting funny? Of course he was acting strange. His daughter left him. His wife left him. His children would not come back. Of course he was acting strange, but that didn't mean he was doing black magic. That didn't mean that the household had to fall as prey to the Church, again, only to end up with their reputation smudged and their nobles avoided by others in society.
My hand dropped from the servant's shoulder. His boiling, stirring feelings of frustration were ones I was very familiar with after looking at so many other memories.
Kiki...you're truly, truly frightening.
It wasn't false. Most of it, anyway. The part about the earl doing black magic was true, but they didn't know that. The part about the Church having it out for them after a cardinal became a vegetable after visiting our household, after Knight took the glory of the Church by executing her own justice and making them look like sitting ducks, was true. It wasn't something I'd thought of before, so Kiki was terrifying for having been able to piece that together so immaculately and imbed it in their hearts.
And the other part that was true...
There was someone that tipped off the Church to the fact that the earl was doing black magic. I didn't know who it was, since no one was suspicious enough to have a finger pointed at them in any of the minds of the servants.
That was what had caused such strong feelings of distrust amidst them all. Knowing for sure that someone did it, but seeing that no one is suspicious enough for us to know who did it, made them wary of everyone else. They likely would not rest until "that person" was found.
I was kind of curious myself. Someone in the household of the de Libellules, a traitor? Someone with ties to the Church, after all the Church had put them through? Because it wasn't just in Koraco that the Church was making them jump through hoops. It was also at noble gatherings, the few that the earl went to, where he still had to face the shame of having the "Scarred Noble" for a daughter. It was also out to the war front, where priests were the overlords of soldiers, determining who lived and who died with their power to use holy magic to heal and purify and save.
I remembered the first time I met Adoray and he didn't believe that I could heal anyone after that storm. He'd said that healing magic was something only capable of being used by priests from the Church, and that until those priests arrived, they could only use potions and other minor magics to alleviate pain, distress, etc. It was something I'd forgotten somewhere along the way, since I was always relying on my own healing Skills and racial traits to fix it for me, or casting it for other people.
But in that world, the Church which gathered all those that could use holy magic and kept a tight leash on them, was the one that reigned supreme.
That needs to change.
Though, that didn't mean I had any means to change it, or any plans. Knight was taking down the Church bit by bit, but it was without upsetting social settings too much, so it was taking far longer than necessary. I could've just wiped them out in a night if they didn't unleash a bunch of apostles on me, but then Knight would get a horrible reputation, and then the king who contracted with her would suffer for it...and I couldn't do that to him. And I couldn't just end our contract and then go do it, because that was too obvious.
Dang. Makes me wish I'd hit the Church with that blast with Tasega's help instead of firing all of that mana at nothing.
Sure, it got rid of all of those vengeful souls trying to corrode me, and those apostles, but-
I lifted my hand off of the servant I'd touched, trying to see what memories they held next.
But while searching for the memories of that event, the one in which all the servants were rounded up inside save for the head servants...I could not find them.
"I see," my eyes narrowed, looking at the bespectacled young man. "So it was you."
Probably, no one had noticed in the flurry as the holy knights gathered up the servants, but a certain "head servant" was not outside with the few others there, or inside with the majority.
I couldn't say I was surprised. At that point, everyone was suspect. Especially after seeing the memories of a few other servants known for spilling the tea, it wasn't hard for me to guess that it was him, for how he'd treated Magaris. In fact, it was kind of even obvious when staring at his face while frowning up at the ceiling with a kind of dead look in his eyes. Everyone in the manor was still frozen in place, save for the guards that I left alone because it would be bad if something happened and they needed to respond, so I could get a good look at the man that traded the peace of those around him for a reward that would never come.
"Everyone knows the Church is built on falsities. They'd never have given you what you wanted."
Of course he didn't respond. He couldn't hear me either, fainted and frozen as if he was a living statue. So I floated on to the next servant, and the next, and the next, until for sure Magaris was done and I was still delaying. But I learned a lot while looking at their memories, trying to piece everything together. I even went back outside to find Brownie, and found one of my most major shocks there, before capturing Sherfire back in the spell after our awkward goodbye earlier, and finding more there too.
Dang...interpersonal relations are so tangly.
It was a good thing I wasn't particularly close with a lot of people. Everyone I visited, from those I went to see on the Larjulias continent, to those in Zueltina, to those in Chardrent, or Venx, or heck, sometimes even Newone whenever I didn't find a pro-slavery idiot - all of those people were acquaintances that I visited, rubbed shoulders with when necessary, or just had lighthearted moments with when the time allowed.
If I was as involved in my relations as people there were, always in the same circles and dealing the same drama, I'd have gone mad.
So not being alone, but not being too involved. That seems like a healthy balance. And, there are escape routes, too.
It was why I was sighing over the whole separation thing with "my family." If I'd just never gotten as close to them as I had, I wouldn't have been struggling so much to move on, then. If I'd just been a normal isekai protagonist, going off to be a prodigy and then adventure the world, then I wouldn't have had to worry about my background characters at my place of origin missing me because they would either say, "We understand," and wave me off, or want me gone for being as strange as I was...just as they did then.
I see. So this is just an isekai with extra steps.
And even then, I couldn't just separate completely. I had to look after my siblings, having set them down the path that I had. I wasn't sure how the earl would react to finding out that he had not just one Demon child, but three, so I had to be prepared to act for the worst.
I had a nagging feeling that there was something I was forgetting while finishing up my memory searching, and the thought was almost upon me when thinking about my siblings being part Demon and our Demon-summoning father, but that was utterly disrupted when I lifted my hand off the latest maid I'd touched.
"Don't be so selfish."
"Worthless child! Bastard child! Why did you have to be born?"
I pulled away. It wasn't that maid's memories, but my own rising up from deep inside me. The voices were in my head louder than just thoughts, like they were speaking right beside me again, like they were whispering in my ears and misting my face with their breaths.
It was a newer maid, definitely, since I would've recognized one with as turbulent of thoughts and aura as her. I didn't get that far when placing my hand on her shoulder, since her thoughts at the time of me freezing her cropped up and triggered my own.
I couldn't touch her. I didn't dare. If I did-
"You have to be perfect. You have to make up for having ruined my life. If I'd just never had you...if I'd never had you!"
I was on the floor. When my levitating had stopped, I didn't know, but I was at the foot of that maid and curled up into a ball, just trying to make it stop. It felt like I was there again, and I was trying so hard to not be there.
Paivla's torture. Something I'd forgotten until Sherfire just had to mention it-
"Hahhh..." I breathed out, arching my back and looking to the ceiling. It made air swell my lungs, but I coughed when my neck bent a certain way. The metal collar was leaning on my chin, making it even harder, but that was welcome. The pain was welcome. It was distracting.
I blinked away the memories. Every time I closed my eyes...every time...
I couldn't keep them closed. If I did for more than a while, then I would remember. It was like a subconscious alarm that was set to go off every time I wanted a moment's peace.
Looks like I really won't sleep for a while.
And my words to Sherfire were truthful. For the time being, I would have to rely on those few months of sleeping I'd had to be all I'd get for the year.
Wonderful.
I seemed to be losing more than I'd gained, on a trip to pick up my stuff and go back to my own "home."
I left that maid behind. There was no way I was going to even touch a fingertip to her, when I knew exactly what I'd find. The feeling in her heart was similar to the one in mind, so it'd overwhelmed me what I went to dive in...
Hey wait a minute, I struggled on the floor, looking at her face. I recognize you.
And that made it all the more worse. Her face, free of tears, let me see exactly what she looked like on a normal basis.
The girl that had sat alone amidst all of the servants inside the manor, with no one to comfort her when it seemed like the end was near. The one that didn't feel anything while staring out, unable to peel her eyes away from the scene.
The one, I'd just figured out, that was somewhat like the past version of myself. Quiet, unassuming, spoke only when spoken to, trying to do her best, trying not to be a burden to others, and being...
No, I tore my eyes away from her neck. It wasn't in sight because she'd pulled up her collar high enough, and for once had not let her hair down to cover it. No, not like me. I wasn't like that.
My pride was already seeping in and steering me away from her. No, I wouldn't acknowledge that we were alike at all.
I left that life behind when I died. I'm not like that anymore. I'm not there anymore. I'm independent, and strong, and I can defend myself. I'm not weak. I'm not stuck anymore. I'm not who I used to be. I'm not who I used to be. I'm not-...
But she existed. She was there, just looking back over my shoulder from where I'd crawled away in some small, desperate attempt to put distance between me and a sudden living representation of my past. She wasn't just my imagination. She was real.
And I knew exactly how she was in the situation that she was in.
I wanted to apologize to her. I wasn't sure why. I didn't even know her name. She wouldn't hear it anyway.
But I wanted to apologize, and I wanted to make things right.
"Fir!" Magaris called out in the hallway. Her voice got louder with every step she took. I braced myself on the ground and tried to push up in my kimono, onto my geta, while feeling the obi tight around my waist. "Firea!"
Looks like I didn't leave it behind me after all.
"Here." But it was weak. I didn't want her to find me, especially when I had hardly enough strength to lift myself off the floor. It was physical strength that suddenly seemed to be missing, belabored by missing mental strength that was swept out from under my feet in a moment's notice. "I'm...here..."
"Oh, Firea," Magaris came down the hall from behind me. "What are you doing on the floor?"
"Nothing." And there I remained. If I stood up, I surely would've fallen back down. Something in my core was just shaken. "Did-Did you finish?"
"I did." Magaris tilted her head at me, blonde hair swaying to the side while stepping forward. For once, she didn't look pressed to put on a cap, one that was clearly missing from her uniform. Well, it was technically her quitting day, so did it matter? "Oh, it's Deena. It feels like it's been so long since I last saw her."
I was picked up off the floor as best she could, since I didn't exactly have a second armpit to hook under, and held with my legs straight to the ground, since my kimono didn't exactly allow much leeway for holding onto her.
"She was one of your trainees."
Head nodding, Magaris admitted, "She was."
"...she could never wear her cap right, could she."
"She couldn't. Today though, I'm surprised. It takes almost two months after I'm declared missing for her to finally put it on straight."
"I wonder why."
"I've never understood Deena," Magaris turned to the side, eyes still on the frozen girl who couldn't have been more than sixteen years old. There was something about that gaze that told me Magaris was lost in some memory. "Or Tanota, but more so Deena. Oh, well," she sighed out, sounding just a bit exasperated. "At least I'll never make them scrape ice again. They won't miss me too much."
And the maid turned her back on the girl, beginning to walk away. It was normal to not look back over her shoulder, having already said her silent goodbye to the fainted and unaware, but it somehow struck me in the heart when sliding my sight between the girl alone in the hall, and the face of the maid that didn't think much of it.
"Is something wrong, Firea?" Magaris again tilted her head away from me to look at my face close to her neck.
I could not meet her eyes. I only watched that girl with unblinking eyes, which was the least I could do.
"It's so easy to overlook the signs. And by the time anyone realizes, it's always too late."
We turned the end of the hall, going up another floor, and my sight from her departed. Her aura was weak as well, so faint, as if to mirror the plain, quiet personality in her possession, that I had to search for it when we got far enough away. There were other auras brighter than hers drowning her out.
Deena.
And not just her, either. Having looked at almost every servant's memories, there were great tangles of relations, emotions, personalities, and circumstances between all of them. The one carrying me was also part of that fray, and though separating, her business was not finished in the de Libellule household. It was a temporary breakaway, in my eyes. She would come back one day.
Something needs to change.
"Oh, how convenient. They're together."
There was no way they didn't hear the cries of the twins from far away, but it didn't appear that either of them responded as parents normally would, having put up a barrier that would allow for no eavesdropping or distractions - complete isolation. No, instead, husband and wife sat together in his office, on my former favorite couch, and they looked to be discussing something before I froze them in their own reality. There were books spread across the low coffee table, and some even on the floors, all the way up to the desk. Shoes were left at the door, and refreshments were empty. There were enough books for me to wonder at the price of it at, while skimming covers and feeling the auras of those who'd touched them.
These are from the north.
Though I already knew that. The binding style was different from north to south, and the materials used to make books. Also, every servant had confirmed the same story for me that I'd come across.
And, just as had been erased from their memories, there were traces of black magic in the room. Very small, having worn away over the months, and an amount negligent enough to not be detected by just anyone - but present. When scanning other places of the household that the earl had no doubt confined himself to, having had to hide the Black Mark that consumed his body, I found much more in his own chambers.
"You fool."
"What?" Magaris was confused, turning on me as I glared at the back of his head.
Not just "some" anger was boiling up in me, and not just "some" disappointment, and more than a little betrayal. My eyes stung when staring at the back of that curly brown head, zeroing in on the supposedly upright earl that was the least expected to ever do something like that.
Years. I'd spent years hunting Demon summoners, dozens of them across the kingdom, being on alert for anything that sought to disrupt the order of the kingdom I called home. Sleepless nights from work, sleepless nights from the images burned into my head, sleepless nights from the screams of the terrified, the broken, the ruined sacrifices as their lives were eaten up by a despicable psychopathic noble in their attempt for power. So many bodies buried, so many bodies burned. So many nameless faces, so many mangled bodies, so much pain from starvation, from beatings, from being treated as less than human for the ultimate end goal of being a sacrifice.
They would never get their justice. No matter how badly the noble that did that to them, suffered, was tried, was convicted, was executed. That was the easy way out. Nothing could make up for the missed moments of peace of even one single soul. The abused would always cry in vain as those still living free, those that didn't understand or didn't bother to hear and see, turned their backs on them.
Just like with Deena.
Just like with Kaya.
Just like with me.
I snapped my fingers.
"-when the children go back to scho-"
My aura bore down on them as heavy as it had on the first of Decembre. Most of it was still held back, because if it wasn't, they'd have fainted, become crippled, and ultimately died from the pressure on their souls and the lack of strength in their own auras to protect them. I didn't aim to strike fear or anything of the sort into them, keeping it contained to only weigh on their backs and make their heads fall. Magaris stumbled while holding me, reaching back for a wall to stabilize herself after being caught in the fringe of it.
I saw it then, like an epiphany. If my mind could subconsciously set its own alarm to bring up embarrassing memories at the worst moment, then it could also select a carefully-curated pile of those things that could steer my heart into the right direction.
But they weren't even ones I recognized. Or, they were, but not ones I knew. Ones that I felt in my soul, but not ones that my mind recognized. Definitely not ones I could find in the de Libellule house of memories, or even the Itsuki house, certainly, but I had an inkling of their origin.
"Because I have things down here that I must protect."
The black abyss.
So with those memories, the words came from my mouth easily. It guided me to say what I needed to say, while taking my heart out of it.
Justice was impartial, after all.
[Apostle of Order], title installation.
Two periwinkle screens appeared before me, beginning to record verbally and in text the events about to occur. I stared at them, waiting for the trial to start. The clocks on both began to record, marking the time as 1:31:42 in the afternoon on Yuzuie 15th, 982 ŒU. The individuals present marked down were the judge and the plaintiff, the [Apostle of Order]; those to bear witness to the proceedings, [Magaris de Iruieville] and [Anastasia de Libellule]; and the defendant-
"Transgressor Earl de Libellule," I began, reaching out my single hand to wrap it around the back of his neck the best I could. I was out of Magaris' hands and floating over his back, since he was bent over on the couch from the pressure. "You have sinned. Given the current circumstances, your trial shall be swift. For the possession and manipulation of black magic, possession of outlawed literature, manipulation of outlawed botanical elements, infliction of black magic on an innocent party, resounding harm to innocent surroundings, and intentional execution of your actions, you are sentenced as mercifully as you deserve. Five years of house arrest with legal exemptions, Status deduction of three thousand points per statistic exempting health, Status deduction of thirty Skills, Status deduction of three titles, Status deduction of fifty levels, Status deduction of two attributes, and two redemptive tasks to fulfill by the end of the year 982-"
A notification appeared on a third panel. The lines waving on the second panel stopped as my voice cut off, and the first panel was no longer speed-typing the events of the trial.
[An Appeal Has Been Filed]
My hand lifted off of the transgressor's neck, pressing on the file.
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[Appeal By [Teria Shuon]]
- Zuelis' Representative and Goddess of Ventures [Teria Shuon] has filed an appeal to the higher court on the grounds that your sentencing for the transgressor is harsh compared to previous punishments for transgressors with similar transgressions. [Teria Shuon] also alleges that you, the lower court, are emotionally biased in the proceedings. As the [Apostle of Order], you must wait for the higher court to review your ruling.
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"..."
Another notification popped up beyond that one. I moved the first file aside.
[An In-Court Appeal Has Been Filed Against the [Apostle of Order]]
And I opened that one, still emotionally closed. The surroundings did not move.
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[Appeal By [Teria Shuon] to [Proxy of the Goddess of Order]]
- Zuelis' Representative and Goddess of Ventures [Teria Shuon] has filed an appeal to the higher court on the grounds that the [Apostle of Order's] sentencing for the transgressor is harsh compared to previous punishments for transgressors with similar transgressions. [Teria Shuon] also alleges that the lower court is emotionally biased in the proceedings. The [Apostle of Order] waits for the higher court, the [Proxy of the Goddess of Order], to review their ruling.
[Charges]
• Possession and manipulation of black magic
• Possession of outlawed literature
• Manipulation of outlawed botanical elements
• Infliction of black magic on an innocent party
• Resounding harm to innocent surroundings
• Intentional execution of actions
[Context]
- Earl de Libellule, a human from Bytriste Kingdom, is on trial by the [Apostle of Order] for the above charges. A statement has not been taken from the defendant for their actions. The charges are backed by evidence and events. Forty-five days have passed since the execution of the final crime of Demon summoning which remains incomplete. Defendant has since not moved forward with the execution of the crime, as observed, and rather attempts at damage control.
[Requests]
• Take a statement from the defendant.
• Consider a lighter punishment along with rehabilitative action in light of the defendant's statement, past good behavior and clean records, casualties remaining mostly emotional, incomplete state of crime, and predicted character.
• Censure [Apostle of Order] for biased, emotionally-invested, and no-precedent ruling.
• Consider community influence on ruling and community investment required from the defendant.
[Take A Statement] or [No Statement]
[Lighten Punishment] or [Don't Lighten]
[Censure] or [Don't Censure]
[Consider Influence/Investment] or [Don't Consider]
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Teria Shuon.
An unexpected turn of events, but not one I wasn't expecting. I'd noticed that besides the black magic in the manor, there was another strange presence. I must've become far more sensitive, after using the [Apostle of Order] title, to be able to see the blessings in people. The small bit of blessing from the [Goddess of the Wild] in the red-haired witness stuck out like a flame, and the small bit of blessing from the [Goddess of Ventures] in the defendant was like a cool gray flashlight trying its best not to shine in a dark place.
Much must've happened for him to have gotten a blessing from a goddess.
That goddess didn't seem to realize that she was appealing to the same person, seeing how I got both appeals and was the only person with claim to my dungeon.
That's right. It's mine. I'm the judge, jury, and executioner.
Which meant that I had to be all the more careful in how I ruled. It was my view of the facts, and I was a biased party whether I wanted to be or not. I could take my emotions out as much as I pleased, but the fact that I was ruling things still remained.
It was strange, but I did decide to rule against myself. It was only a censure, a formal reprimand. There were no consequences, and it was the least I could do to be a warning to myself in the future.
[Censure].
[The [Apostle of Order] Has Been Censured]
[You Have Been Censured]
I pressed on the first tab, feeling the same thing as earlier, that I recognized the process despite never having done it before.
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[The [Apostle of Order] Has Been Censured]
- You have censured the [Apostle of Order] and the apostle has been notified. Do you wish to take further action?
[Take Further Action] or [No Further Action]
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[No Further Action].
The screen disappeared. The second original panel recording the events as text was scrolling up in blocks as the things I read appeared there, holding every detail.
I selected the second file that appeared after censuring myself.
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[You Have Been Censured]
- The [Proxy of the Goddess of Order] has censured you. A formal rebuke will appear in your files and on the [Circuit of Order].
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[Take A Statement].
My aura lifted. How I'd not noticed it was still on when my face was flushed and it was the most obvious signal that I hadn't shut off my emotions, I didn't know.
A blue screen appeared before the defendant as he breathed, or struggled to, while gripping the edge of the sofa he'd been bent over. A while passed before he was able to straighten his back and lean back against the sofa, viewing the screen. There were multiple in front of him that his eyes scanned as I still floated above, waiting for his action.
When more than ten minutes passed, he'd read all of the screens, and had enough time to think. But still, he did not move.
So I sent him a message. It appeared in front of the screen asking for a statement that he still had not pressed on.
[The [Apostle of Order] Urges You to Make A Statement]
The witness maid behind me was utterly still despite my having removed the force of aura. I didn't look back, focused on the proceedings. The red-haired witness remained toppled over and hadn't moved an inch, though liquid did spill onto the floor beneath where her head was ducked.
Perhaps it was too much.
I'd thought that my anger was controlled and that their bodies were strong enough to withstand it, but clearly not.
They're so weak.
[A Statement Has Been Given]
I pressed upon the statement, having noticed the shaky finger from the defendant press on the first panel he received to see what it held for him.
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[Defendant's Statement]
"I understood the implications of my actions when taking them, and the consequences of my actions before taking them. I understand the charges laid against me and the seriousness of the accusation. I did not mean for innocent parties to be involved or afflicted by my actions, and request that I may serve punishment here to provide reparations for them. All I ask is that I may be allowed to speak to my daughter, whom I resorted to such lengths for in order to meet her again. It was my desperate attempt that has led me to this point, and I cannot apologize enough for it."
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[Consider Influence/Investment].
[Community Influence and Investment Have Been Considered]
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[Community Influence and Investment]
- The defendant, Earl de Libellule, is often considered indispensable for his role as the earl of house de Libellule of Bytriste Kingdom and an officer in the kingdom's army. No legal successors are capable of replacing him. The current countess is incapable of stepping in as the head of the household due to her lacking education in territorial affairs. The previous earl could step down to fill in his place until the next earl, Ruadri de Libellule, becomes of age. However, this would create conflict in the future due to childhood traumatization.
- As an officer, the defendant is also considered indispensable, having led multiple successful campaigns with medium casualties in high-casualty areas. As the tenth most influential family in the Bytriste Kingdom, major contributions are expected when in wartime, which is displayed as recently as less than two years prior.
- Majorly inhibiting the defendant in their primary roles is ill-advised. Considering the multiple levels of community that would be afflicted, and taking into account the defendant's predicted character, it would be better advised to consider rehabilitative action to compensate for a lighter punishment.
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I stared down at the man that didn't move an inch beneath me. We both watched the screen as it recorded what the other files were displaying, jumping up as blocks appeared.
[Deaden Emotion].
I breathed in. It didn't seem like something I'd done much of since entering the room and feeling my fury. Everything closed its doors when I breathed out, from anger, to sadness, to betrayal, to disappointment.
...[Lighten Punishment].
"Defendant Earl de Libellule: in light of your past good records and proper behavior, in light of the fact that casualties remain mostly emotional, in light of the incomplete state of your crime, and in light of your predicted character, your sentence has been reduced and you are under probation of the [Monitor of Order] until your sentence has been fulfilled in its entirety. In the event that you do not complete court-ordered requirements in the given time frame, or you violate your orders, probation will be extended, new rehabilitative tasks shall be granted, and a penalty of a Status deduction of one hundred points exempting health shall be deducted per month from your statistics until a retrial is brought before the [Apostle of Order].
"Your new sentence is this: two years of house arrest with legal exemptions, Status deduction of one thousand points per statistic exempting health, Status deduction of ten Skills, Status deduction of one title, Status deduction of twenty levels, Status deduction of one attribute, five sessions of memory tapping, one session of third party emotional channeling, and three redemptive tasks to fulfill by the end of the year 982."
I leaned down, drawing my hand back across my body, and pressed onto his neck. A metallic band, flexible like a ribbon, appeared and circled around. It was thin, periwinkle, and stuck to his skin like it would be there the rest of his life.
"Today's proceedings can be viewed when summoned with file name [Trial of Earl de Libellule], along with the sentence list that will take effect at 13:59:59 tonight. Your criminal materials are currently being confiscated. If you have any further questions about the proceedings," I drew my hand back, using cleaning magic on it while snapping my fingers for something else. "Please submit an inquiry in the file's last tab."
A periwinkle circle appeared off to my left, suddenly. I didn't know what it was for. My memories-that-weren't-memories didn't tell me either, while my left shoulder rolled in reaction to it.
Something is missing.
So I slapped my right hand on top of it instead, knowing that it needed to be hit, reaching over and narrowly avoiding kicking his head. Logically, not emotionally, it felt right to press off the back of it, but I held back.
The circle disappeared. The recordings stopped. The files stored themselves away in one case, which copied and distributed itself between judge, defendant, and witnesses.
I lifted my head and saw the collection of confiscated things filtering into a room in the dungeon, which finally made sense for why it had so many.
It's finished.
I turned around, going to float past the maid that was standing in place with a ducked head, just inside the room. I couldn't feel anything of whatever mood there was, my spell still in place. I only knew that I did what I had to, and that I'd never felt so right before.
Exiting out of the room, going for a portal I opened up just on the other side, I spoke over my shoulder:
"The trial is over. Justice is served. You are dismissed."