Pushing a difficult-to-judge trial onto me to tarnish my reputation?
Honestly, this attack caught me off guard—not because it was clever, but because it was so incredibly cliché. It was a tactic no one even attempted in the Empire anymore.
So far, I’d knocked down everything the Sierre and Giovanni noble factions had thrown at me.
But the people here don’t know that well.
They must have heard some rumors at least. Still, they probably never expected me to deliver precise verdicts even in the toughest situations.
Whatever scheme they had cooked up didn’t matter to me.
“Understood. I’ll take on that trial.”
I readily accepted Brahan Soltri’s proposal.
Satisfied smiles bloomed across the meeting room in response. They seemed to think this trial would destroy my prestige. Perhaps they believed they could launch a full offensive using this as a pretext, forcing me to back down.
No, that’s almost certainly their plan.
The nobles’ battles over justification and political maneuvering were no different here than in the Empire.
I had planned to handle things as gentlemanly as possible, but if they wanted to play it this way, I’d respond in kind.
I returned straight to my office and skimmed through the indictment and evidence. As expected, the trial documents were all utterly subpar.
“Just as I thought.”
The prosecutors were all in it together, after all. Since they all wanted me to fall from power, there was no way a proper investigation had been conducted.
In the end, I’d have to oversee everything from the investigation to the verdict myself.
It was a significant challenge, but not an impossible one.
If I investigate, everything will come out.
The most crucial task right now was securing evidence and witnesses.
I immediately summoned all the personnel in charge at the construction site and everyone present at the incident location. At the same time, I focused Feltron’s information-gathering abilities on this case.
It was obvious what the nobles were plotting anyway.
“I can’t waste my precious crows and bats on scum like them.”
—Are they really that precious?
“Of course. You’re basically my eyes and ears. How could you not be precious?”
—Boss, you looked really cool just now.
“It’s not me who’s cool. It’s the friends out there flying around and working hard on the front lines.”
—Whoa!
Feltron looked up at me with sparkling eyes.
It wasn’t an intentional compliment, but the reaction was quite positive.
If I’m not careful, lip service might become a habit.
No matter how effective it was, overusing it would be problematic. I had to give praise sparingly so it would be appreciated. If favors continued nonstop, people would start thinking they were entitled to them.
Still, it seemed fine for now. He was so delighted; it would feel wrong to ruin the mood.
Knock, knock.
“Who is it?”
“Latrel, the construction supervisor for the spiritwood factory, Chairman.”
“Come in.”
Latrel greeted me while removing his yellow hard hat. From his appearance, he had rushed straight over from the site.
I pulled up his character information and asked immediately.
“Where were you and what were you doing when the accident occurred?”
“It was around 3 PM, so I was likely checking the ground compaction. I stayed in that area the entire time after lunch.”
“How far is the incident site from there?”
“It’s the logging area near the lake. It seems the accident happened while they were felling trees.”
“Have you heard any details about the situation?”
“It looks like he was distracted and didn’t hear the warning shout that a tree was falling. Yanik pushed Devante to save him, but…….”
“Did Devante fall off a cliff or something?”
“The slope was steep, but it wasn’t very high. About three meters.”
“Then why did he die?”
“A sharp tree branch pierced straight through his chest. He was simply unlucky.”
He hadn’t heard the warning, of all things.
He fell right where a pointed branch was sticking up, of all places.
And his internal organs were torn apart, leaving no time to intervene before he died, of all things.
It was truly an event full of coincidences.
However, that didn’t make a not-guilty verdict easy.
“I overheard a few things on my way here. May I mention them?”
“Go ahead.”
“The victim’s family seems furious. I heard it was a son they had trouble conceiving.”
“Were they an infertile couple?”
“That’s what I understand.”
“Hmm.”
This made the judgment even more difficult.
If I settled for an appropriate suspended sentence, the family would launch a public opinion campaign. Parents who had lost a child wouldn’t see reason.
No matter how pure Yanik’s intentions were, they would demand punishment.
Moreover, bureaucrats who normally showed no interest would now join in. Their goal was to isolate me politically.
But punishing Yanik is difficult too.
What principles had I upheld until now? Hadn’t I always delivered accurate verdicts to ensure no one was wronged?
I couldn’t abandon my convictions merely to protect my political position.
That was probably exactly what Brahan Soltri wanted.
“Were there any other helpful details?”
“No, I didn’t notice anything special. Oh! I heard people often come and go from the logging site late in the evening.”
“Why?”
“With so many cut trees around, they were probably gathering pieces for firewood. This isn’t very helpful, is it?”
“It’s fine. Thank you for your hard work. Please send in the next person.”
“Yes, Chairman.”
Construction supervisor Latrel withdrew, and soon a shabbily dressed young man entered.
Haggard face and tear-filled eyes. This must be Yanik, the perpetrator of the incident.
“Nice to meet you.”
“Yes, Your Excellency the Chancellor.”
His expression was extremely dark, as if the mental anguish had been severe.
That was understandable. A person had died because of him. How could he be okay?
I tried to comfort Yanik first.
“It might be difficult to recall, but please describe the situation at the time…….”
However, I stopped speaking midway.
The character information window I had casually opened revealed something entirely different from what I expected.
[Character Information]
Name: Yanik
Status: Commoner
Position: None
Relationships: No acquaintances
Condition: Anxious over the fact that he killed a person, good and evil clashing deep in his heart, anticipation of earning a large sum of money, obtained a new house in the Sirion Kingdom.
Traits: Opportunist
Overall Ability: E
What? Was he really trying to save the guy?
Of course, the character information alone couldn’t fully determine good or evil.
But it differed vastly from what I had imagined. At the very least, I expected something about guilt.
But what was this?
Now that I think about it, the system has changed a bit.
Whenever the system functions improved, the status information grew more detailed. This time, a new “Traits” tab had appeared. It felt like summarizing a person in a single word.
An opportunist, huh… Things are getting harder.
I genuinely hoped Yanik was a good person. That way, his claim of trying to save someone wouldn’t come under suspicion.
For now, let’s dig deeper.
I listened attentively to Yanik’s story. However, it wasn’t significantly different from what Latrel had described—just a bit more detail.
Eventually, Yanik left the office with slumped shoulders.
“This is driving me crazy. Did anything come up about that guy?”
I asked Feltron, just in case.
—His reputation at the worksite wasn’t very good. Everyone agreed he’s not the type who would save someone.
“Really?”
As expected, it aligned with what I had gathered.
A short while later, I summoned the victim’s family with a heavy heart.
But the moment I faced them, something quite surprising and welcome appeared.
Heh! This will make things easy.
The small courtroom in the Crawford National Hall.
There were only about thirty seats for spectators. Yet they were all filled, with many more people standing to watch. It felt no different from a crowded marketplace.
As I ascended to the bench, a sigh escaped first. The courtroom was so noisy that even muttering to myself wouldn’t be audible.
In times like this, I had no choice but to demonstrate my specialty.
BOOM!
“Order!”
I slammed the Hector Punisher onto the wooden panel. Even holding back my strength, a tremendous sound erupted.
The courtroom fell silent instantly.
“I will now commence the trial regarding the fatal incident at the factory construction site. All rise for the presiding judge.”
With Law Officer Benny Mitchell’s declaration, the trial began in earnest.
The procedures continued from identity confirmation onward, but the prosecutor showed zero enthusiasm, as expected. He merely repeated that since it was an accidental death, it should be treated as involuntary manslaughter.
On the surface, it seemed like a reasonable claim. To all appearances, it was exactly that kind of case.
The recommended sentence was two years in prison. Their intention to slap on a suspended sentence and wrap it up was blatantly obvious.
That won’t do.
Even though the procedures were nearly complete, I did not conclude the trial.
Instead, I called the victim’s family, who were quietly sobbing in a corner of the gallery.
“Could you please step up to the witness stand for a moment?”
“Yes? Yes.”
The victim’s parents walked forward with bewildered expressions. They clearly didn’t understand why they had been called. The spectators, prosecutor, and defendant showed similar reactions—as if wondering what more there was when the outcome was already decided.
Regardless, I questioned the family.
“Are you Devante’s parents?”
“Yes, that’s correct. I am Gardner, and my wife is Makaila.”
“I heard you were an infertile couple, yet you had a child.”
“Fortunately, Lord Aramid showed us mercy.”
“Devante, who passed away a few days ago—was he an adopted son?”
“……!”
A single, perfectly aimed remark.
As if struck at their core, Gardner and Makaila’s eyes widened. They hadn’t expected me to know that fact.
“Answer the question.”
“Yes? Yes! That’s right. Having our own child was extremely difficult, so we brought him from the slums.”
“I see.”
The gallery began to stir. It seemed no one had known Devante was adopted.
Paying no attention to the reactions, I continued.
“Makaila?”
“Yes.”
“The night before the incident, you met the defendant beforehand. You also secretly visited the logging site. What was going on?”
“Th-that is…!”
She struggled to answer. To anyone, it was highly suspicious behavior.
How did I know? I simply made an educated guess.
The only solid fact was that Devante was adopted. Quite a few people must have visited the logging site at night. Even in summer, the high altitude made it cold. They were likely all gathering wood for firewood.
But the moment I faced Makaila, I became certain.
I discovered she had met with Yanik in advance.
It was plainly written in her status information.
Moreover, she knew the Dapan Group handled industrial accident compensation very generously.
So the answer was obvious.
What do you call this?
It doesn’t exist in this world yet, but there’s a fitting term.
Insurance fraud.