Miro’s lips, which always curved into an irritating eye-smile, stiffened.
Though the corners of his mouth were forced into a shallow smile, his wide-open eyes were glaring at Liselotte with frightening intensity.
One of the presiding official’s eyelids twitched upon seeing the magic tool.
“A magic tool? This court does not accept evidence other than documentary evidence.”
“A transcript has also been prepared. We will submit it together.”
No sooner had Liselotte finished speaking than Hedmilton hurriedly handed the clerk the document containing the verbatim transcription of the recording.
Receiving the transcript, the presiding official roughly flipped through the pages and shook his head.
“I understand that the magic tool supply contract with the defendant is currently under provisional injunction, with production temporarily suspended. How, then, was the magic tool submitted as evidence produced?”
“Not a single byproduct from monsters provided by the defendant was used. A magic tool certificate is also attached at the very end of the evidence.”
Just as the presiding official was about to open his mouth to speak.
A murmur rose from the back.
When Liselotte turned toward the source of the sound, she saw the spectators standing densely packed together.
Eren, who had been seated, also rose from his place and sent Liselotte a signal.
Through the crowd, Valen was approaching, accompanied by his Imperial knights.
At the appearance of the Crown Prince, the presiding official bowed his head and briefly paid his respects.
Liselotte, who had been looking around briefly because there were no empty seats, met Valen’s eyes.
From the expression where he briefly scrunched the bridge of his nose, she almost felt as if she could hear him asking what was wrong.
‘Why did he come?’
She had given him advance notice of the trial date, but she had never asked him to attend.
Seeing someone seated beside Eren stand up and offer their seat, Liselotte shrugged.
‘Good. The more spectators, the better.’
Thanks to that, the presiding official, who had been about to nitpick, found himself at a loss for words, and for that alone, Valen had done his part.
Taking advantage of the moment while the presiding official was distracted by the sudden appearance of the Crown Prince, Liselotte continued her argument.
“Contrary to the defendant’s claims, the plaintiff repeatedly expressed the unreasonableness of the low-grade monster byproducts that were regularly supplied for the purpose of fulfilling the contract.”
Miro, who would normally have interjected with an objection, merely twitched his hand and couldn’t bring himself to refute it.
He only glanced at the magic tool in Liselotte’s hand and pressed his lips tightly together.
‘It’s hard to object when you don’t know what has been recorded, isn’t it?’
Liselotte deliberately raised the magic tool high and spoke.
“While it is clear that both parties must make their best efforts to maintain this contract, the defendant refused communication regarding unreasonable matters and instead pressured the plaintiff. This magic tool is proof of that.”
Whiiing, light flowed out from the magic tool Liselotte was holding.
As if illuminating something in the darkness, the light shot upward, as though it might reach the high ceiling of the courtroom.
At the same time, clattering everyday sounds filled the courtroom.
It was the sound of wine bottles and wine glasses striking surrounding furniture.
Not long after, Duke Gloria’s voice was heard.
“We could have met in Lergo Village just fine.”
The spectators who recognized Duke Gloria’s familiar voice widened their eyes.
The voice flowing from the magic tool was the complete opposite of Anix’s usual demeanor at banquets and social gatherings, where he pretended to be good-natured and considerate.
It was domineering, a tone that clearly looked down on the other party.
Virki’s awkward voice in reply made that coercive atmosphere even more vivid, as if painting it before their eyes.
“With Grade 5 byproducts, we can never produce a Grade 2 magic tool, without fail.”
The frail, trembling voice was enough to shock spectators who had never seen the Magic Tower Master before.
“The Tower Master… was he that young?”
“No one has ever seen him… Perhaps the reason he avoided meeting people was…”
“When a child possesses great power, those with ill intent are bound to gather.”
Even the presiding official, who had initially found the magic tool distasteful, now had his mouth slightly open as he focused on the recording.
“Six point four billion gold. If the penalty is around that much, I’ll let you terminate the contract.”
“I don’t have that much!”
“I know full well the Magic Tower can raise that much.”
It seemed to be the first time Miro had heard this as well, as he frantically flipped through the documents and read the contract.
There was no penalty clause at all in the contract. It contained only a clause extending the contract.
Therefore, the sixty point four billion gold Anix demanded was a threat to extract money outside the contract.
But even that wasn’t the most important point for Liselotte.
This rest of the recording was the final, decisive blow.
“Lise would never say that! She’s so kind!”
“Just pretending to be kind. For profit, what wouldn’t she do?”
When remarks openly disrespecting a member of the Imperial Family flowed out, the courtroom was visibly thrown into an uproar.
Valen’s expression, which had been tense as he listened to the recording, also cooled sharply at the same time.
A mere noble had not only disrespected a member of the Imperial Family, but gone further and slandered them.
No one paid close attention to what followed after that.
Among the spectators who stared at Valen with pale faces, someone bravely opened their mouth first.
“He, he insulted the Perida Empire! This is a disgrace to the nobility!”
“Th-that is right! How can such an insolent wretch set foot on the continent…!”
In order to survive, the nobles rushed to pour out their condemnation toward Duke Gloria.
If they were to be mistakenly implicated simply for having ties with Duke Gloria, they might have their property and titles confiscated and be expelled for the crime of insulting the Imperial Family.
After sweeping her gaze across the courtroom, which had instantly turned into chaos, Liselotte walked lightly toward the witness stand.
With a brighter smile than ever, she asked Professor Gilly.
“Witness. If a contract is drafted based on the magic tool creation probabilities of magical theory, would inaccurate probabilities not become an issue?”
Professor Gilly, who had been sitting there in a daze, glanced sideways at the presiding official’s expression.
Like someone who had just been struck, she stammered out her words.
“Y-Yes. Since it is still a subject of divided research, I th-think it would be unreasonable to use it as a clause or condition in a contract for which no standard contract has yet been established.”
Snap, Liselotte lightly snapped her fingers and looked up at the presiding official with a bright smile.
“Honorable Presiding Official. This contract replaced several key terms from the pre-renewal contract and, using widely known but inaccurate research as evidence, pressured the socially inexperienced plaintiff into forcibly concluding the agreement.”
Click, click. Stepping forward, Liselotte stood before the presiding official and theatrically placed one hand over her chest, as if performing.
“Despite the contract being unfair, the plaintiff requested corrections in order to fulfill his contractual obligations, but all such requests were ignored, and as a result, he incurred enormous losses over the duration of the contract…”
She paused briefly to catch her breath, then recited firmly.
“We therefore request termination of the contract, along with compensation for damages equivalent to the contract period, in the form of control rights over part of the Eastern territories.”
Control rights meant, quite literally, transferring authority over part of a region for a certain period of time.
Since losses had occurred due to monster byproducts, it meant they would subjugate the monsters in that region themselves and recoup the losses accordingly.
Of course, the Tower Master had no intention of actually hunting monsters. But Liselotte had no intention of missing the chance to legally bring Gelloa Village under her control either.
‘In reality, there are no monsters in that region, but that is something others don’t know.’
Neither the presiding official nor the spectators were likely to be familiar with Gelloa Village in any real detail.
So all she had to do was assert a justification.
‘We did suffer actual losses, after all.’
What form that compensation took wasn’t something for anyone other than the injured party to decide.
She had already obtained Virki’s consent on this matter long ago.
At this, Miro sprang to his feet and shouted.
“Objection! The defendant is the Ruler of the East, and transferring control rights infringes upon the inherent authority of one of the Four Great Houses!”
“Are you saying it is acceptable for a Great House to insult the Imperial Family?!”
“What lunatic would defend a House that insulted the Empire?!”
All manner of objects flew toward Miro from the gallery.
Unable to watch any longer, the presiding official slammed the gavel forcefully.
“Order!”
As if his head ached, he pressed a hand to his forehead and groaned.
“For now… given that there are few precedents for transferring control rights, I will confer briefly with the Senate. The hearing is adjourned for one hour.”
