The being that burst into the courtroom was none other than the beast from the mine’s depths, the self-proclaimed God of the Earth.
At the appearance of this unfamiliar monster, screams erupted throughout the hall.
“What, what is that?!”
“A monster! A monster appeared!”
“And it’s carrying corpses!”
The court knights drew their swords and stepped forward.
SHRRRING!
Securing the courtroom was their duty, after all.
But they were forced to halt almost immediately.
An unexpected group had rushed toward the bodies.
“Oh no! My love!”
“Vincent… you came back like this… sob!”
“Waaah! Daddy!”
The bereaved families wailed in utter despair.
Countless emotions must have been crashing together inside them.
This was proof that their claims had been right all along, yet that hardly mattered now.
Deep down, they had probably wished to be wrong.
The last sliver of hope that their loved ones might still be alive somewhere had been completely extinguished.
The God of the Earth passed by the grieving families and walked to the center of the courtroom.
THUD! THUD!
Every gaze in the hall locked onto it.
It was certainly an appearance rarely seen even in the imperial capital.
Yet I spoke calmly.
“What should I call you?”
—I am the God of the Earth.
“No, I mean a name.”
For a moment I nearly face-palmed.
Right from the start, things felt off the rails.
This guy was just that peculiar.
—I have no such thing. I was a god from the moment I was born, and I have lived as one ever since.
“…Fine. Very well. God of the Earth. Can you testify as to why these people died?”
—Of course.
The God of the Earth began by revealing the contract it had made with Viscount Erseth and spilled everything.
How had things gone so smoothly?
I had made a certain deal with it in exchange for sparing its life.
Thanks to that, we were able to locate the bodies without sacrificing a single additional miner.
When the testimony concluded, I turned to Viscount Erseth.
“Defendant, do you have anything further to say? You may make your final statement.”
Of course he had nothing.
With corpses right in front of him, insisting otherwise might get him killed on the spot, beaten to death by the enraged families.
The knights would stop it, naturally, but still.
“No further statement, I see. Then I shall pronounce sentence.”
I paused briefly, sweeping my gaze across the hall.
People’s eyes held a strange glint, probably because I had a habit of delivering wildly unconventional rulings.
Was that anticipation I saw?
Naturally, this time too I intended to deliver a perfectly reasonable verdict.
“The defendant’s crimes are exceedingly grave, including the unlawful detention of investigating judges. I hereby sentence the defendant to twenty years’ imprisonment. For tarnishing the honor of the Imperial House, his position as an official of the Imperial Palace’s Internal Affairs Bureau is revoked. Furthermore, to resolve the wage arrears, his assets shall be seized.”
The mine’s ownership would temporarily transfer to the court.
We would simply sell it and distribute the proceeds as back pay.
Viscount Erseth was finished.
“Next is the sentencing for Prosecutor Kals Avery’s dereliction of duty. The defendant is sentenced to one year in prison and fined two hundred goldens.”
Prosecutor Avery hung his head low.
He had realized there was no hope left.
Right up until the trial began, the Giovanni noble faction had attempted countless lobbying efforts.
None of it had worked on me.
That’s why someone with nothing to lose is terrifying.
“Wooooaaah!”
“As expected, a proper judgment!”
“His Highness Carius’s verdicts always move the soul!”
After I crushed Prosecutor Avery as well, cheers erupted from the gallery.
The bereaved families clapped furiously even as tears streamed down their faces.
They would receive ample compensation, but their sorrow would not vanish.
Still, at least the injustice is gone.
Sentencing a palace official to twenty years?
There probably wasn’t a single precedent for such a mad ruling in the entire history of the Empire.
Normally, the side with power defined justice.
CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP!
The applause went on and on.
I raised both arms to quiet the crowd, then continued.
“Finally, the verdict concerning the God of the Earth. Although it was involved in the mine’s operations, I judge that its intent was not malicious. I therefore declare the God of the Earth not guilty.”
The hall fell silent once more.
Everyone’s expressions turned exquisitely strange.
Though no one opened their mouths, the feeling was clear.
Your Honor… have you lost your mind?
And who could blame them? What kind of verdict do you pass on a monster?
But I had no choice.
This was part of the deal.
“God of the Earth, your honor has been restored. From now on, humans will not interfere with whatever you choose to do.”
—Thank you.
The God of the Earth bowed toward the bench, then offered polite greetings in all directions.
Every single person who witnessed a monster displaying manners wore the same dumbfounded expression.
When had anyone ever seen such a sight?
I smirked and closed the trial.
The imperial capital burned with the strangest topic imaginable.
“They say a monster appeared in the courtroom.”
“Apparently His Highness Carius brought it as a witness.”
“To think he made even a monster testify… just how far does His Highness’s power reach?”
Every conversation revolved around me and the God of the Earth.
Truth be told, the verdict itself hadn’t been difficult.
Even storming the mine and securing evidence had been simple.
That’s how I’ve always done things.
Honestly, this world was far more convenient than the modern one.
With high status and authority, almost anything could be resolved.
This time too, voices of praise rang loud.
The Giovanni faction expressed regret, of course.
But what could they do?
I couldn’t overlook a case where every piece of evidence had already come to light.
“I finished the trial, but one headache remains.”
I looked at the being before me with a troubled expression.
The homeless God of the Earth had followed me all the way back to the mansion.
It couldn’t be helped.
The Erseth Mine would be closed until it was sold.
Where else could a creature that only ate expensive meat go?
If it wasn’t going to hunt for itself, it had to latch onto someone rich.
That was part of the original contract anyway.
The reason the God of the Earth had located the miners’ bodies was simple.
I had promised to take partial responsibility for its living expenses.
In return, it testified in court.
“If we let that hideous monster into the mansion, Your Highness’s reputation will suffer.”
Steward Miller Xavier pointed at the God of the Earth with a troubled face.
Thanks to it, the workers couldn’t focus on their jobs.
“If my reputation can be damaged by something like this, then I never had any to begin with. First, we need to change perceptions. Start spreading the word that it won’t attack anyone.”
“Do you think people will believe it?”
“Look at me. I’m standing right next to it.”
I deliberately walked over and shrugged beside the God of the Earth.
Only then did Miller Xavier nod.
“Yes, understood.”
So the problem was its appearance.
It really did look extraordinarily unique.
When I tried to describe it, one image immediately came to mind.
Adam from Beauty and the Beast.
It felt exactly like that guy.
Meaning, when you looked closely, it was surprisingly… cute?
“First things first, you need a bath. If you want to live among people without barriers.”
—Why must I do such a thing? A god merely reigns above.
“You cried and begged after I beat you, so doesn’t that make me the god now?”
—D-does that follow?
“Is there a god who loses to a human? Stop playing at being a pathetic god and think about how you’re going to live from now on.”
I’ve never even considered that.
“First, let’s give you a proper name. I can’t keep calling you ‘god’ forever.”
I started searching for a suitable name, then suddenly wondered if I really needed to bother.
It resembled a beast, didn’t it?
Then I could just call it something similar.
“Adam will do nicely.”
Not bad at all.
“Name settled. Now the problem is where you’ll live and what you’ll do…”
Hold on, what do you mean “what I’ll do”?
Adam’s eyes widened in clear confusion.
It seemed unable to accept the very concept of having to work.
“In my household, it’s only natural. ‘He who does not work, neither shall he eat.’ Ever heard that one?”
—I was told most nobles don’t work.
“And are you a noble?”
—…No.
If it refused to acknowledge that it had lost both authority and patron, only one fate remained.
Daring to call itself a god, it might face divine punishment from the Temple.
A horde of inquisitors could come rushing in and crack its skull open.
Once I reminded it of that fact, Adam reluctantly nodded.
“By the way, what are you actually good at? Besides finding ore.”
—Physical labor isn’t really my thing. I thought I was going to die just from digging up those corpses this time.
“You’re built like a mountain and pure muscle.”
—That’s just my disposition.
“So you’re just lazy. If we can’t find any other talent, I’ll have you plow fields.”
—N-no, wait! I’m actually good at that.
“At what?”
Making pottery.
For a long moment, I was speechless.
It was so completely out of left field.
Now that I thought about it, I had seen bowls and dishes of various sizes in Adam’s lair.
This fellow was a surprisingly refined gourmet who loved formality.
Of course it would have brought tables and tableware into its dark cave.
Should I start a porcelain business too?
First, I needed to gauge exactly how skilled Adam was.
If the quality was mediocre, I couldn’t sell it anyway.
“What do you need to make them?”
Just materials and space.
“A kiln or something?”
—No need. I’ll procure the clay myself, so just give me a cave.
“It doesn’t have to be a cave, right?”
—Correct.
“Then I’ll give you an entire building.”
Honestly, this was worth investing in.
I immediately decided to assign it a suitably sized warehouse.
Someone would also be needed to look after it for the time being.
“Steward Xavi— wait, where did he go?”
Miller had already vanished.
Instead, an unfamiliar person approached hesitantly.
“Who are you?”
“It is my first time greeting you, Duke Carius. I am Tobias Wilkin, currently training to become a butler.”
Tobias was a sturdy young man with long black hair tied in a neat ponytail.
He had apparently been hired for his clean image, and right now that was perfect.
We needed someone to help Adam adjust anyway.
“Mr. Tobias, please take care of this friend here. Let him use that warehouse over there as his workshop.”
“What about living quarters?”
“He obviously can’t stay with the workers, so we’ll have to convert one of the side rooms in the warehouse.”
“Y-your will be done.”
He nodded at the order, but looked extremely worried.
Well, anyone would feel their vision go dark being told to care for a creature over two meters tall and four or five times the size of a normal person.
Still, what choice do we have? Orders are orders.
There was no better place than here for butler treatment anyway.
I turned away with a small smirk.
Having resolved one major incident, I intended to rest a bit.
Yet only a few days after assigning the task,
An astonishing result was waiting for me.
“You made this?”
—Indeed.
Adam puffed out his chest proudly.
A bowl of impossibly radiant beauty gleamed before me.
I stood there blinking, and a sudden thought struck me.
Viscount Erseth, you absolute idiot.