Chapter 74 – 074. Public Trial (1)
“First, before starting the interrogation, I will briefly point out the facts that need to be confirmed. Did the criminal know in advance that the identity of the culprit in this series of raids on aristocrats was the devil?”
“Yes.”
When Eun-hyeon briefly answers the moderator’s question, numerous aristocrats in the hall become upset.
“Do you admit, then, that the devil, the culprit, was left unattended without taking precautionary measures to prevent the creation of new victims?”
“I admit it.”
“How shameless!”
Perhaps because Eun-hyeon’s positive attitude while calmly nodding her head was so calm and serene, a nobleman stood up and started shouting at Eun-hyeon in a fit of rage.
“He must be executed!”
“You’re right! To neglect the nobles who harm the nobles of the kingdom! I simply cannot condone it!”
Following the nobleman who first stood up, other nobles also joined him and raised their voices condemning Eunhyeon.
The cluttered atmosphere quickly fell into chaos, and numerous aristocrats in the hall looked at Eun-hyeon as if they were bugs and did not stop their voices of criticism.
“Uh, what should I do? Miss Illyana! In the meantime, Hyuni…”
“Huh…”
Seeing Eunhyun standing at the center of the criticism of the nobles in the hall, Erin’s complexion turned white and she urgently called out to Illyana, but Illyana just looked at Eunhyun’s back standing on the podium with a strange expression on her face.
“What the hell are you thinking…”
“Yes?”
“Because it’s so different from the way I used to do it.”
“Is it different?”
“Originally, I don’t show myself in front of so many people.”
Eunhyun has always been like that.
It’s so different from Eun-hyun’s usual way of always hiding behind people and plotting things.
It hides its identity so that it does not get caught, and encourages the situation so that many characters can solve the situation on their own by weaving many characters and situations as if they are spinning a spider web.
Illyana and Riod were also people who met and received help from Eun-hyeon and grew up, so they knew Eun-hyeon’s abilities very well.
Normally, he would not have created a situation where he would have to undergo a hearing in such a court.
Illyana thought that if she put her mind to it, it would have been possible to deal with that demon without getting caught and without rumors.
In other words, it means that the fact that Eun-hyeon stood up in public trial like this is also the picture he thought of.
“It’s good that you decided to show yourself to the world.”
Because no one knew his identity, no one knew what he had done and what he had accomplished, so there was no thank you, no reciprocation, or anything in return to Eun-hyeon.
Illyana was also happy when Eun-hyeon showed off her abilities and many people recognized her value and expressed her gratitude or looked at her with respect.
Because the man you have your heart for will finally be evaluated in the world.
That’s because Eun-hyeon’s existence was a very important person in her mind.
She, who usually hates going out, dared to appear at the courtroom was all for Eunhyeon’s sake.
“Why this way?”
Why did he create a situation where he appeared while being criticized by the nobles of the kingdom?
He knew Eunhyeon’s purpose, so he glanced at Erin.
“I don’t think it was because of him.”
“Yes?”
At her sudden mention, Erin opened her eyes wide and asked, but she didn’t answer Erin’s question, and Illyana moved her gaze back to her Eunhyun.
‘What are you thinking? Why?’
“Quietly!”
The hall, filled with angry voices wishing for the aristocrats’ ‘execution of Eunhyun’, became quiet as if Queen Diane, who was in the highest position, had died at once.
The chaotic atmosphere inside was quickly cleared up, and the moderator looked at Eunhyun again and asked.
“Does the sinner admit to the crime of damaging the honor of the kingdom as well as the safety of the nobles of the kingdom through the aforementioned actions?”
Eunhyun smiled at the moderator’s question.
“I don’t admit it.”
“What, what?”
“That cheeky!”
“Behead the author right now!”
Starting from Eun-hyeon’s bombshell declaration, the inside of the judge became turbulent again.
“Quiet! Quiet!”
The poorer emcee had to make constant efforts to mediate the nobles who were shouting for Eun-hyeon’s execution while spitting at Eun-hyeon as if they were going to kill him.
“Sinner! What does that mean! He changed his words when he said he admitted to all the sins!”
Eunhyeon glanced around and looked inside the judge.
Stepped chairs on both sides, the gallows in the middle, and the chairperson’s platform on the opposite side of the gallows, and the king’s throne alone high above it.
‘Where does this look like a judge?’
Trial means to look closely at things and judge right from wrong.
This place is like a place for summary judgment by hanging those who have been confirmed as criminals.
There were no lawyers to defend him, no prosecutors to prosecute his crimes, and no judges to sentence him.
Because it was a system of judicial institutions that existed only on Earth, which was created to judge the rightness and wrongness of the accused’s sins.
There was no such thing as a process of judging the rightness and wrongness of sin and pronouncing it.
This is because Eun-hyeon was already confirmed as a ‘sinner’ here.
In this place, Eun-hyeon only borrowed the name ‘trial’, but in fact it was the same as ‘execution table’.
In the end, the only person who could defend Eunhyeon here was Eunhyeon herself.
So he opened his mouth.
“Then I dare to ask. I knew in advance that the culprit of this raid was the devil. But why is this a sin?”
“The sinner did not inform the kingdom, even though he had been informed of the devil beforehand! Isn’t this practically the same as allowing the devil to continue roaming the capital!”
“What kind of nonsense. In the first place, I know that the nobles of the kingdom also had some clue that the culprit of the raid was the devil.”
“What nonsense! No clues from the kingdom side…”
“At the court meeting a few days ago.”
Eun-hyeon interrupts the moderator and continues his speech.
“I guess you don’t remember that the Marquis of Olivion mentioned the existence of demons as the culprits of the serial raids?”
“… !”
The emcee’s face hardened like stone, and Eun-hyeon’s remarks made the nobles in the hall stir up a stir.
“What? Did the Kingdom already know?”
“What is this sound?”
Most of the buzzing voices were low-ranking nobles of the baron or viscount level, and like the moderator, the high-ranking nobles of the upper ranks who had attended the court meeting at the time and listened to the report of Riod’s investigation all looked at Eun-hyeon with a firm expression.
Their thoughts as they looked at him with stiff faces were all the same.
How could a man who had not attended the court meeting and was not a noble know this?
The moderator somehow hid his embarrassed expression and pretended not to know, and proceeded with the story.
“Hey, stop talking nonsense! At the court meeting…”
“I have definitely reported it.”
“Oh, Marquis Olivion!”
“I heard that too.”
“I remember too.”
“Even Duke Armitas and Marquis Boris!”
Following Riod, who had personally reported, Abros and Bernard began to support Eunhyun’s story.
When a number of aristocrats made statements defending Eunhyeon, the confusion in the hall began to increase.
“Oh, how can you take the side of interest!”
It was not easy to see that a duke and two marquises, not other nobles, supported Eunhyeon’s claim.
As the country’s military minister, Duke Armitas has authority over all military affairs.
Marquis Olivion, leader of the Artia Knights, who boasts as much majesty as the Krasir Knights who protect the royal family within the kingdom.
As the country’s finance minister, Marquis Boris manages all money flows in the country.
Each one has an important position and position in the country, and their aristocratic ranks are also among the top 10 in the country.
The fact that these three aristocrats supported Eunhyeon was like a harbinger of a great upheaval.
“It is strange. I understand that you are in an important position as you are attending the court meeting of this country.”
“…”
“Is that the only time you couldn’t attend the meeting? Or do you have a bad memory?”
“Keugh!”
‘That X meal dares… !’
Seeing a young man who looked as if he hadn’t even eaten half his age, and who looked younger than he was, was blatantly sarcastic about himself, Count Orba, who took the role of moderator, had tendons growing on his forehead and aimed at Eun-hyeon with bloodshot eyes. Saw.
When Eun-hyeon, who met his gaze head-on, met his gaze as if it was not a big deal and snorted, Count Orba’s anger only grew.
‘You dare to face me in front of all the nobles and the Queen?! I will never leave you alone!’
Count Orpah, who was gritting his teeth, opened his mouth again.
“That does not make the sins of sinners light! Isn’t it true that I neglected it even though I knew the information in advance!”
“Under! It’s not even funny!”
“What, what?!”
Count Orba, who was furious at the voice of a woman mixed with ridicule, moved his gaze.
“All, you!”
Recognizing that the woman who had ridiculed her was Illyana, Count Orba, who had no idea why, put on a puzzled expression.
“Hey.”
“What, what… !?”
“You don’t know why he was arrested?”
“…”
Count Orba couldn’t find fault with Illyana’s attitude when she spoke in a way that disrespected him.
As much as she has, her magical talents, her powers, and her personal reputation bring a lot of benefits just by being in this country.
“Ah, because I was at the site where Ashton Armitas, the Duke of Armitas, was attacked by demons…”
“Okay. There he encountered the devil and even saved that man named Ashton. I’ve done this, what? You even abetted the devil’s activities? What was going on in your head, did you come to that conclusion?”
“I, the author, have offered a deal to the kingdom while imprisoned! How could one arrogant commoner offer a deal to the kingdom!”
Count Orba heard about the circumstances leading up to Eunhyeon’s imprisonment in prison from Walter, the leader of the Royal Knights who arrested him.
“Besides, the incompetence of Artia’s leader who couldn’t find the culprit even though he and the author were specifying clues about the devil! How could a young girl from a commoner not be able to solve a problem that could have been solved even though the entire Knights Templar stepped forward!”
“Let me speak straight.”
Eunhyun, who had been silent until now, opened her mouth.
He lifts his handcuffed fingers and begins to bounce once with his index finger and thumb.
With a cheerful sound, the surrounding environment was distorted as if paint had been released into the water.
As the background of the entire court began to change, many nobles began to scream in panic.
The background covering the courtroom was a lush, completely unrelated space.
The ‘authority of cloning that brings the karma of the past into the present’, given by Urud, was activated.
And in the center of the place, three figures began to appear.
Erin and Alex confront each other, pointing their weapons at the bat-winged demon.
A few who had experienced Eunhyeon’s ability a few times looked like ‘Is this it again?’, But to the aristocrats who were experiencing this situation for the first time around the background changing, it was confusing itself.
However, the ‘representation of the past’ brought by Eunhyeon had no intention of caring about their confusion.
– I love this country! No matter how much the aristocrats suffer damage, the high-ranking nobles rush around cheaply because they are in a hurry to hide the fact! Because if rumors spread that demons are infiltrating the capital, the center of the kingdom, the national loss would be enormous! Thanks to that, I can comfortably exploit mana from people. What better environment could there be? Kyahahaha!”
– To my brother… What have you done! You… You made my brother a warlock?!
– Huh? Ah, I think you’re misunderstanding something. It is true that I raised him to become a wizard and gave him the black magic book, but it was Alvin and his will that made the final choice.
– What… ?
– He said he needed the power to protect his brother. Saying that he, as a commoner, has no ability, the Court Magic Division… Was it Magus? Even after joining there, the way he treated himself was the same as when he was in Aether.
– That’s why I wanted more power, and as a result, I dabbled in black magic.
After the ‘reenactment of the past’, the background begins to return to the court.
It was a short time, but there was a lot in the conversation between the succubus Lira and Erin.
Everyone in the hall looked shocked and said nothing.
I am so confused that no one can speak, preoccupied with desperately comprehending the information that has entered my head.
In that brief silence, Eunhyun was the first to speak.
“That demon. I deliberately chose this country. I knew that even if rumors spread that demons were infiltrating the city, you would do your best to cover up the rumors and act like, ‘We’re fine.’”
“…”
“Because it is a country that doesn’t know what the devil is, and even though he knows, he is afraid of losing his reputation or honor, so he closes his eyes and plugs his ears and desperately appeals to acting that it is okay.”
“W-what nonsense! Do not try to seduce the nobles of this country with strange tricks! You must have fallen for the devil’s cunning tricks!”
“Ha, do I mean?”
Eunhyun snorted as if it was absurd.
“Do you really want me to tell you this?”
“What…”
“Because you have stupid and complacent ideas, the devil looked down on you and played with you.”
As soon as Eun-hyeon’s bomb-like remarks are over, the atmosphere in the presiding judge begins to change.
