Her Royal Highness Seems to be Angry

67 Her Royal Highness the Princess says the trial will be heard (Part I)

The sky of the day is pale and clear in pain in the eyes. Under a blue sky of colour unlikely to belong to such a world, Leticiel was riding the boulevard of the Wang capital Nirvaan in a luxurious carriage.

Unlike Luvik, rocked by a carriage driven by an unfamiliar man, and boarding with a strange samurai, Leticiel looks out the window thinking blurredly of the events that would take place ahead of him.

This carriage was sent by the king, and it is also the royal sender who is steering it. I heard that the samurai is also a royal person, but in the end she is a stranger so the inside of the car is always silent.

Early as Leticiel returned from the territory to the King's Capital with the National Army, Oswald summoned the five Grand Dukes and senior officials to trial. Needless to say, about one of this Duke of Philialeggis house.

And today, two days after returning home, Leticiel attends the trial to be held at the Royal Castle as an official. It seems that these trials may take place in public, but since the Filialeggis are still houses that can be counted as the Five Grand Dukes, they are to be held in a place where only the main nobles and central bureaucrats are gathered.

The carriage crept through the main entrance of the royal castle and stopped in front of a building on the property. This carriage is the type with a stand behind it, with a stepping stone prepared by a squire who was on the platform at the same time as parking and escorting him off.

Jumping into the eyes of Leticiel, who got off, was a rigorous three-story building built of thin gray walls and columns. It is the Orthodox Court, the centre of justice in the Kingdom of Platinum.

When dealing with cases such as common people and lower nobility, branches placed in municipalities are used, but when judging senior nobility, royalty, etc. like this one, is it common for this place to be used?

"I've been waiting for you. This way, please."

Upon entering the entrance hall at the front, another bureaucrat came to replace you and guided Leticiel.

Because they are ready for trial, the officers on the road are skipping instructions with one hand, such as materials. Certainly like I've heard that Orthodox Courts are a minority elite type of institution, like no.

"This way. Please wait until the trial."

"Okay, thank you"

It was the guest room on the ground floor that was put through. When Leticiel answers, the bureaucrat leaves the room with a small meeting.

Let's wait here until it's time for the trial. Leticiel decided to crush his spare time with books prepared indoors. It's a small difficulty with all the legal books, but it's a field I haven't really touched on before, so it's fresh.

"Dear Drossel, it's time for you"

How much time had passed, and a man could be heard from beyond the fuzzy knocked door. When I replied, the door opened quietly and a different bureaucrat entered the room again than earlier.

"We will show you to your seat as the trial begins soon"

"Okay."

So he replies, Leticiel puts the book down, gets up from the couch where he was sitting, follows the bureaucrat and leaves the room.

The bureaucrat went up the central staircase to the fourth floor, turning to the left of the corridor divided to the left and right. The square courtyard had a loose arc in the hallway as the building was rounded. Windows are installed at equal intervals on the wall on the left hand side and doors are also lined at equal intervals on the right hand side.

The bureaucrat opened the door to the room in front of the hallway. Leticiel enters the room through the door he opened for me.

"... Um, don't I have to go to court?

Leticiel accidentally expressed such a question in the seat reserved. I thought I was still a Duke and I was going to go to trial.

"Yes, Your Majesty has instructed Drossel to hear the trial from here."

"Really..."

Anything, it seems that Oswald arranged not to go on the table stage of the trial this time, either as the defendant or as a witness, because Leticiel is placed in such a complex position that he was a member of the defendant's family but made a significant contribution to clarifying the situation.

At the end of the conversation, the bureaucrat lowered his head small and left. Not sitting in his seat, Leticiel turned to the front of his seat and looked down from there. This is the so-called box seat, where you can see the courtroom from the front to the bottom.

The courtroom was circular, a space stretching four tiers towards the top. In the centre of the first floor there is a round pedestal, at the centre of which is placed a platform of potung and inorganic marble floors on which perhaps the accused to be judged will be stood.

The overhead of the circular pedestal is blown out, with huge chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. Above the upstairs part, the chair was arranged gurgly so that the defendant could be seen wherever he was.

On the north side of the second floor there is a seat isolated from the other seats, where the King and the Presiding Judge, as well as the judges, sit. And behind the king's seat, there is a giant stained glass that is likely to reach the ceiling, with an angelic figure with a sword and a scale floating in the light outside.

The audience continued to enter the courtroom while Leticiel was watching what was going on around them, and by the time he finished observing all the way through, about 70% of the seats had been filled. Since this trial is limited in audience and small in size, it seems to only use up to the front two rows of upstairs seats.

Khan Khan......

The sound of a bell rings within the courtroom where the little stiffness still doesn't fit. The heavy noise of the doors opening spreads like ripples in a court of silence in an instant. Behind the second floor, the door leading to the king's seat opened, and Oswald and the judges came in.

As the audience watched, each of the Oswalds sat down, and the others lined up in a row between the walls. The arrangement is that Oswald is seated in the king's seat, before him, Your Honor, two judges in clerical positions, one on the left and one on the right.

"The accused will be admitted to court."

At the same time the voice of the presiding judge sounded, the main door opened directly opposite the king's altar, and Scarlo, taken by a soldier with a spear, entered on both sides.

Behind it were also the figures of Deanne and Krista, who still looked so blue that they were likely to fall, while Krista had a calm look. I guess the reason I don't see Fried, the mastermind, is because he's not at trial due to the power of the example.

"Then we begin the trial with this"

The three Scarlos ascend to the central platform. He saw it and stuck to the high ceiling with the sound of metal hitting each other following Oswald's voice sitting in the center of the platform. Something like a little hammer called the King's Hammer held in Oswald's right hand is the audio source, and this sounds like a signal to start the trial.

"First, we will deliberate on the charges of adhesion with the Knights of Black Steel and illegal manufacture of liquor in the Duke's territory"

First the judge stood up, spreading the scroll he had at hand and reading out the contents. Because of the high ceilings in the courtroom and the good repercussions, it can be heard well down to Leticiel, who is on the fourth floor.

"Scarlo Joan Filialeggis, and Deanne Milane Filialeggis. Are there any indications of responsibility for the riots in the Duke's territory and the charges attached to them?

Seeing where there are still two scrolls next to the judge's seat, maybe he's describing a guilty plea for three.

Upon completion of the reading of all the guilty pleadings, the judge rounded the paper back to normal and asked Scarlo. Deanne no longer seems to hear the judge, she just doesn't make it as slight as a doll, she stands on the spot.

"Wow, I don't know that fact!

"Grasping the deeds of those who are their own relatives is also a necessary duty as the Lord. It is stipulated in the laws of our country that it is the responsibility of the aristocratic owner"

It was Scarlo, who tried to argue with a trembling voice, but there also seemed to be no gushing noise in the judge's response.

"Until then, your charges will be filed by the investigating officer in charge of investigating the case."

"Yes."

When the judge tells you so. One man moved forward than next to it. I guess this guy with the papers closed with a string in his hand is the one in charge. Apparently, the judge is just a facilitator.

"First, then, plants, raw materials for illicit drugs, were grown in rose gardens held by Deanne Milaine Filialeggis."

That being said, the investigator put up some small bags. Each of them contains a different kind of leaf or root.

"These are just a few of the things that were grown. Other information provided by Territorial Agent Phantom, as well as evidence, have led to the obtaining of applications for the construction of rose gardens. There you will find not only Fried Tomas Filialeggis, but also the signature of Deanne Milaine Filialeggis"

The audience will simultaneously note the front row of the audience. The closest front row to the judges' seat was the witness stand, where Phantom appeared. He was going around examining the darkness of the territory on his own, which is arguably the most important witness in this trial.

"... is that you"

When he found Phantom, Deanne lifted her eyes kickingly and uttered an unimaginably low voice from her regular girlfriend.

"It's you! You made me look like this! You're conspiring with that infidel to discredit me!? I know!? I don't know what to sign! Apologize! Apologize! Apologize!! Come on, come on, come on!!!

"D, Deanne!?

Peeling his eyes off, Scarlo tries to stop his wife, but Deanne keeps screaming like she's broken. He's no longer even willing to cover his fruit son's fried.

"Be quiet!

Your Honor's voice echoed into the courtroom, and in the wake of it, Deanne hissed and leaked a small scream, finally quiet.

"In addition, from the headquarters of the Knights of Black Steel present in the Duke of Filialeggis, we have also found an autographed contract between Fried Tomas Filialeggis and the Knights Commander. Cultivated drugs were also used to trade with the Knights after processing."

The investigator, who took over the words from the presiding judge, obeys the words as if nothing had happened.

…… I'm sure there's been some mistake... "

"A handwriting appraiser from the Ministry of Justice has conducted an investigation into the handwriting, which has been determined to belong to Fried Tomas Filialeggis. You said the appraisal officer's eyes were cloudy?

"... Gu!

I heard later that the Justice Department, which has jurisdiction over national trials and so on, has bureaucrats who professionally analyze handwriting. Since the job requires a high degree of accuracy, do you think it is necessary to pass numerous exams in order to take office?

In the Kingdom of Platinum, where contracts and transactions take place with signatures, stamps, etc., handwriting would probably be necessary to identify the writer.

Thousands of years ago, there was no such position because the transmission by letters was minimal, and Leticiel, who is not bright in the justice of the kingdom, accidentally thought it had nothing to do with that.

"Oh, that was... F, I was fooled with Fried! Oh, you must be!

One of the bureaucrats who refrained from doing so on the wall comes next to the investigator and gives him the tray he had. From there, watching the investigator take up the evidential contract, Scarlo shouted back as he looked up at him. Do you want to believe Fried's innocence, or are you not being taken for a fact?

"No, it is believed that Fried Tomas Filialeggis was through with the Knights of Black Steel of his own volition"

But the investigator told him so in a pale tone, and he picked up yet another document at hand and put it up. Exactly from the fourth floor, I see nothing in it, so Leticiel looked at the farsighted sorcery at the paperwork against himself.

"This is also the supporting documentation obtained by Agent Phantom. Here you will find details about a deal that I believe was due to take place between Lord Fried and the Knights. But the most important phrase is in the last sentence."

Apparently that was a letter addressed to the Knights Commander from Fried, and the investigator roughly referred to the last sentence.

"" The caravan merchandise I got the other day will be carried as planned to Nirvahn, the king's capital. ""

In one sentence, a twist runs among the audience. Some whispered in a whisper with those around them, while others raised their voices that it was an outrageous act, but quiet again with the sound of Oswald's ringing hammer.

"Other such letters have been discovered, but some appear to have been disposed of. However, a notice has been filed by Acting Phantom regarding the illegal liquor manufacture that was taking place in the Duke's territory and the intensive cultivation of drugs. It's been revealed under the law."

Scarlo nagged and shook his shoulder at the many counts of relentless revelation, Deanne walked into the floor and Krista... no particular change.

"... oh, that stuff!

Scarlo's flipped scream slips in during a moment when the investigator's words are broken. I don't know the expression because Leticiel's seat is on Scarlo's back side, but Scarlo's shoulders were up and down a lot even though he wasn't exercising.

"Something like that! Hey, maybe it's a fabrication...!

Someone raised his hand without a sound in the front row of the hearing room while Scarlo was desperately standing. Scarlo changes his face to the person.

"How are you, Your Highness?"

The gaze of the venue was directed at the person who raised his hand, Third Prince Edelhardt. I never met Leticiel until he went out flat the day after I talked to him in the territory and Leticiel went straight home, but when was he back?

"I'm sorry for suddenly pinching your mouth. But it seems difficult to think of the letter as a fabricated one."

"It seems so, is it also for any reason?

"Yes, I discovered new evidence when I stepped into the headquarters of the Knights of Black Steel to conduct an investigation, but what I found was just before the trial and I couldn't submit it in time. Would you allow me to make a statement on this occasion?

The investigator turns a blind eye to the presiding judge. The judge closed his eyes, put his hand on his chin and silenced for a while, but eventually opened his mouth.

"Fine. I will now allow you to speak."

When your honor gives you permission. Edelhardt lifted his hips quietly. There is a thinly wrapped piece of paper in his hand.

"This is a contract discovered at the Knights headquarters"

That's what Edelhardt tells me to spread the scroll. Leticiel also gazes at the contents of the contract with farsighted sorcery. Apparently that is a contract on trade and trade.

"This is a contract of sale exchanged between Fried and the Knights, which seems like a seemingly uncharacteristic contract, but when we investigated the goods bought and sold on this paper, we found that it was a load of raided caravans"

The blurring became stronger, but no strange wilderness flew because of the gathering of senior bureaucrats and upscale nobles.

"In addition, we know that all of those shipments were transported to the Meyer Chamber of Commerce in Wangdu, where they were sold"

……

To the additional information Adelhardt talks about, Leticiel unwittingly raises a single eyebrow. I knew about drug cultivation and illegal liquor manufacture, but I didn't know there had been a caravan raid. It was something that was dyeing my hands with a lot of evil.

"The Meyer Chamber of Commerce in the Wang capital has discovered an application for the establishment of a Chamber of Commerce written in Fried's handwriting"

Inside the courtroom I was quiet with Sin, and everyone was listening to Edelhardt's words.

"That's not all. The application states the name of Mr. Meyer, who is said to be the founder of the Meyer Chamber of Commerce. But that name is written in Fried's handwriting."

Edelhardt continues his words with the second piece of paper he took out.

"In other words, a person named Meyer is presumably Fried's pseudonym. It also turns out that Fried was funding the Chamber of Commerce in Meyer's name when he conducted a home search after holding the Duke's house back."

I see the Meyer Chamber of Commerce was Fried's dummy company. Leticiel had also been to the Meyer Chamber of Commerce with Luvik before, but I guess the merchandise over there was surprisingly cheap because most of those were stolen goods.

"That's all I'm talking about. Thank you for listening."

"All current information will be accepted as evidence. Thank you, Your Highness."

When Edelhardt finished the whole conversation, he took his seat in a courtesy. The progression of the trial will again move to the presiding judge.

"I ask again. Scarlo Joan Filialeggis, and Deanne Milane Filialeggis. Are there any indications of responsibility for the riots in the Duke's territory and the charges attached to them?

The presiding judge will repeat the question he put shortly after the start of the trial. But Scarlo didn't have the energy to answer anymore, or he didn't react naggingly.

"… then we move on to the trial of the third count"

You took that as an acknowledgement, Your Honor, and you get the last scroll. The trial of the two sins is over and the trial of the Duke's last sin begins.