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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: Their Wounds (2)
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“Se-Sei-an?”
It was a face she knew well. It was Sei-an. Everyone in the academy knew Sei-an, so she, too, recognized his face.
“I have many questions to ask.”
“……!”
Glomi was incredibly curious why he was here, and how he knew she would fall from that spot and waited for her, but she was too flustered to answer.
And what she was most curious about was why she hadn't died.
Glomi was utterly confused as to how she, who had fallen from such a height, could be perfectly fine, standing before him.
“Would you spare me a moment of your time?”
Sei-an, who had caught her fall and then gently set her down, politely addressed the bewildered girl once more.
A conversation with her was crucial, as she knew more about this incident than anyone else.
“…….”
As if resigned to everything, Glomi quietly closed her eyes, tears still streaming down her face.
***
“Damn bitches!”
Jafiro, the director of Juist Academy, felt like his head was splitting due to the two recent incidents.
The thought of those wretched people, living off the money the academy provided, causing trouble and turning his stomach, made him unconsciously curse and grind his teeth.
*Bang!*
“Director!”
“……? What is it?”
Jafiro frowned deeply at the sight of his secretary bursting into his office without knocking.
“It’s serious!”
“What? Serious?”
At the word "serious" from his secretary, Jafiro’s face stiffened, and he shot up from his seat.
“What is it! Did someone jump again?!”
His heart sank, fearing that another student had attempted suicide.
If even one more person died here, the situation would truly escalate.
If that happened, all his plans to live a life of comfort here would be ruined.
“N-No, that’s not it.”
But the secretary quickly shook his head, saying it wasn’t another suicide attempt.
“What? Then what exactly is so serious?!”
Jafiro scowled, looking at him as if he were pathetic, then slumped back into his seat, drained, and urged him to speak.
He glared at him with displeasure.
“The Duke Jaimel’s Family and other noble houses have sent people.”
“What?”
“They’re requesting to oversee the resolution of this suicide case and the handling of Lark, who was caught as the culprit, asking that this matter be definitively concluded.”
“……!”
At the secretary’s subsequent words, Jafiro sprang to his feet again, unable to hide his flustered expression.
The Duke Jaimel’s Family was Illnis’s father’s house, a powerful family in the Chezaros Empire. Now that they knew about this incident, it couldn't simply be swept under the rug.
“Damn it!”
Jafiro grimaced, pacing anxiously.
“Where are they all?”
“They are gathered in the conference room.”
“Lead me there.”
“Yes.”
A moment later, he hastily walked towards where they were.
‘No other facts must be revealed!’
Since things had come to this, Jafiro decided that no other facts should be exposed, and he intended to quickly resolve the matter according to their wishes.
***
“A temporary trial?”
“That’s right. If nobles of count rank or higher, or their representatives, are present, a temporary trial can be held.”
A notice was posted at Juist Academy. It stated that a trial would be held for Lark, who was involved in the recent suicide and murder cases.
“Illnis, that bastard seems to have made a move.”
“Huh?”
“He’s always disliked Lark.”
Illnis always saw anyone who was even slightly better than him as an eyesore, so he had always been displeased with Lark, who subtly but naturally drew the attention of the academy students.
“I heard the Duke Jaimel’s Family made a move this time. They even incited other nobles who are friendly with their family.”
The rumor that Duke Jaimel would go to any lengths for his son seemed to be true.
Given how quickly they acted upon a single contact from their son.
“That’s good.”
“What?”
“We need a stage to conclude this matter, no matter what.”
“A stage?”
“But you seem to be quite worried about Lark.”
“Huh? Me?”
“Yes.”
“No, well… he’s still in the same room…”
Canto was flustered by Sei-an’s words and offered an awkward smile.
Now that he thought about it, he didn’t understand why he was so worked up about Illnis’s attempt to kick Lark out of the academy.
‘Did I get attached to him despite myself?’
Still, after spending almost a year in the same room, he couldn't completely ignore him.
Though, for most of that year, he barely saw him sleeping in the room.
“Since I dislike that bastard Illnis, I guess I naturally side with Lark.”
And it seemed unavoidable that he would unconsciously speak in favor of Lark, the opposing side, due to Illnis's annoying behavior.
“You don’t need to worry about Lark so much.”
“But the problem is that nobles will fabricate charges when it suits their needs.”
If Illnis was determined to involve Lark in this matter, he might even create and present fabricated evidence.
Illnis was certainly capable of such a thing.
“If they bring false charges, we’ll counter them with true ones, so don’t worry.”
“What? True charges?”
“…….”
But Canto looked at Sei-an with eyes full of questions, as Sei-an uttered incomprehensible words in response to his own.
“So, when is the trial?”
“Hmm? Tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow, huh…”
“……?”
However, seeing Sei-an still unwilling to explain the detailed circumstances, Canto could only tilt his head in confusion.
***
“The trial concerning this suicide incident will now begin.”
The temporary trial was held with all the students watching.
The Duke Jaimel’s Family’s representative and several other nobles occupied the seats designated for judgment, ready to deliver the verdict for this trial.
“Bring in the accused.”
“Yes.”
Already treating him as a criminal, Makesha, the Duke Jaimel’s Family’s representative, had Lark brought into the courtroom.
“Did Lark really kill her?”
“Oh my god…”
At Makesha’s words, the students gathered in the courtroom began to murmur amongst themselves, talking about him.
*Thump!*
Just then, a door on one side of the courtroom opened, and Lark was seen entering with academy officials.
“…….”
Despite being accused of murder, his expression and steps as he entered the courtroom were incredibly confident.
“Are you the one who killed Kaysha?”
Makesha mentioned Kaysha’s name, the victim of the second body, and questioned Lark.
“I killed no one.”
Lark simply stated the truth, looking directly into the eyes of Makesha, who had questioned him.
“……!”
Makesha flinched unconsciously, showing a flustered expression, but quickly hid it by coughing and immediately asked the next question.
“We have witnesses. They saw you push her from the roof.”
“…….”
At his continued words, Lark subtly frowned. It seemed they wanted to frame him for this incident.
He could infer that from them presenting non-existent facts as evidence.
“Bring in the witnesses.”
“Yes.”
Makesha gave another order to the academy officials, and as if on cue, the courtroom door opened again, and several students entered.
It was Rubin and his group, who followed Illnis.
“Tell us the truth you saw.”
“Yes, we were there the moment Kaysha fell from the building.”
“That’s right. At that time, we saw that person reaching out his hand on the roof from which Kaysha fell.”
“Before that, we also saw her pleading for her life to him.”
As if reciting memorized lines, they took turns spouting such false testimonies.
‘Haa.’
Lark subtly frowned at Rubin’s group’s testimony and let out a small sigh inwardly. The very situation of being in such a troublesome predicament was irritating.
‘Do I have to reveal it after all?’
There was a very simple way to get out of this situation.
But that would lead to an even more irritating situation in a different sense, so he didn’t particularly want to do it.
Of course, the old man who handed Sei-an the liquor bottle hoped that he would use it to get out of this situation as quickly as possible.
‘Damn it!’
Caught in indecision and deep thought, Lark silently cursed and glared coldly at Rubin’s group, who had spewed out false testimonies.
“……!”
“……!”
Rubin’s group flinched, feeling an inexplicable chill, and quickly averted their gaze, looking elsewhere.
“Can you take responsibility for that testimony?”
“……?”
“……!”
But then, from where the academy students were seated, a quiet but distinct voice began to spread.
Everyone in the courtroom looked with surprised eyes towards the source of that voice.
“……?”
Lark was no exception.
Turning his head at the somehow familiar voice, he saw, as he had expected, a familiar figure slowly rising from his seat.
“Se-Sei-an!”
It was Sei-an.
“You… you, what are you doing?!”
Canto, who was sitting next to him, also seemed to have not expected this. He quickly called out his name and tried to grab him as he moved forward, but Sei-an had already slipped past his hand and was slowly walking towards the front.
‘What on earth is he thinking?!’
Although it was a temporary trial, if he got involved in something like this, Sei-an might be the one to suffer.
The crime of disrupting a trial was considered a very serious offense.
“…….”
However, Sei-an, already receiving everyone’s attention, walked forward and quietly approached Lark, who was still looking at him with a frown.
“You, who are you?”
“My name is Sei-an.”
“I didn’t ask for your name.”
“Don’t you want to get out of this situation?”
“What?”
“I’ll get you out of this situation, so…”
“So?”
“Will you make a deal with me?”
“A deal?”
“Yes.”
