***
“Hmm, the air at the courthouse is refreshing.”
Standing with Eren at the steps of the courthouse, Liselotte took a deep breath.
Whoooosh—
The wind blew fiercely, almost as if it might uproot trees.
Behind her, Hedmilton hugged the documents to his chest like a lifeline so they wouldn’t be blown away, and replied blankly,
“It feels the same as usual to me?”
The area around the courthouse was deserted.
Compared to before, when carriages had been so backed up that no one could even pass, it was so quiet now that not even an ant could be seen.
Peering around, Hedmilton asked,
“I thought there’d be at least some onlookers if the Magic Tower was going to Court. It’s surprisingly quiet?”
“The rumors probably haven’t spread yet, not until the trial date.”
In any case, the trial wouldn’t end in a single session.
There would be opportunities anytime.
‘If you corner someone too much, you never know where they’ll lash out.’
Even a rat bites when driven into a corner. Leaving a bit of breathing room made negotiations smoother.
‘Whether negotiations will even happen, though…’
At House Gloria, they had responded as if any proposal related to monsters had never existed in the first place.
If it were the usual temperament of Duke Gloria, it would have been normal for him to fly into a rage, shouting that the North was the one at fault and asking why they were making demands of him.
‘Something is definitely strange, isn’t it?’
Her hair, whipped violently by the wind, kept obscuring her vision.
Just as Liselotte was about to climb the steps and clumsily tried to tidy her disheveled hair—
“Head down.”
A forceful voice struck her ear.
At the same time, a strong arm wrapped tightly around her shoulders.
Before she could even process the thought that everything around her had darkened slightly, crack— a thunderous crash rang out.
Startled, Liselotte widened her eyes inside Eren’s embrace.
With his solid frame acting as a windbreak, it finally felt like she could see properly again.
Through the tangled strands of her hair, she could make out the line of his jaw.
“Are you all right?”
Eren asked her while still staring fixedly at something.
In his other hand was a sword, drawn at some point she hadn’t even noticed.
On the ground, Hedmilton had collapsed flat, clutching the documents tightly, his eyes wide as he asked,
“Wow, seriously. Your Highness, are you all right?”
Only then did Liselotte realize that a tree had been torn out by the roots and snapped clean in half on the ground.
It was enormous, easily three times the height of an average person.
Hedmilton pointed toward a secluded corner of the courthouse.
“It suddenly got yanked out of the ground over there and came flying. I seriously thought it was some kind of tree-shaped monster.”
“It’s an ordinary tree.”
Eren said flatly as he slid his sword back into its scabbard, decisively defining what it was.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
Eren asked, lowering his head, still unable to pull her away from his arms.
Liselotte shook her head absentmindedly.
“Thanks to you. I knew the wind was strong, but I never imagined it would be enough to uproot such a large tree.”
The dirt clinging to the roots scattered through the air with the wind.
The tree, still split in half, swayed left and right as if it might slowly roll over, or not.
“It would be better to go inside quickly.”
Wrapping an arm around her back as if guarding her, he all but carried her, striding up the courthouse steps.
She was definitely moving her feet too, but for some reason it felt as though they barely touched the ground.
“I can walk.”
“It would be troublesome if you got blown away while walking.”
“I want to say it is not that bad, but I have no basis for it.”
Liselotte glanced sideways at Hedmilton, who was running up behind them in a fluster, his hair tilted to one side, and let out a long sigh.
It was fortunate there were no eyes watching.
***
“Goodness, the wind is really blowing.”
The courtroom.
With short, pale navy-blue hair neatly parted down the middle, standing on end as if struck by static electricity, the presiding official took his seat.
From the spectator seats, Eren, who was seated closest to Liselotte, subtly provided some information.
“Drayden Dos. He is the most famous person in the field of magical theory.”
“If it is magical theory, does that make him a mage?”
If he was a mage, then would he not naturally be under the Magic Tower, making things advantageous?
At the question laced with slight expectation, Eren shook his head.
“No. Because he is a scholar, he is someone who studies magical phenomena, but he has no mana.”
Since this was a special case, it seemed the Senate had designated someone well-versed in magic as the presiding official.
Aside from his hair, the presiding official’s appearance was notably neat compared to the last one.
The presiding official cleared his throat awkwardly and smiled with a good-natured expression.
“I will just tidy my hair for a moment. Is that all right?”
“Of course. The wind was fierce enough that the journey here was quite rough.”
Miro, who was present as Duke Gloria’s representative at the defendant’s bench, replied affably.
Contrary to his words, his neat appearance made it seem as though the wind had somehow avoided him alone.
If not for his slightly wrinkled shirt, one might truly have believed it.
Letting out a hearty laugh, the presiding official roughly smoothed his hair with his fingers as if combing it.
“This really is troublesome. Formal occasions are uncomfortable for this reason. A trial does not necessarily require dressing up like this.”
“I am the same, which is why I always have my clothes tailored at the Brote atelier.”
“Oh, I am wearing an outfit tailored at Brote today as well. You really know your attire.”
For some reason, the conversation between Miro and the presiding official flowed naturally.
Liselotte glanced sideways, sweeping her gaze over Miro’s attire.
‘This is not a design that comes out of Brote, though?’
The sleeves and collar faintly visible between the folds of the presiding official’s robe were unmistakably from the Brote atelier’s designs.
But Miro’s was not.
It was a subtle difference, but Miro’s collar was slightly wider, with sharper ends.
This was far removed from the aesthetic principles of Brote’s tailors, who pursued the softness of clean, structured lines.
They were clearly not acquainted with each other, yet the more they spoke, the more a sense of familiarity seemed to form between the two.
‘Miro Elbark, was it? I felt it from the moment he filed a lawsuit against Hedmilton, but he really is the type who uses every underhanded trick.’
As the atmosphere relaxed, the presiding official cleared his throat and lightly flipped through the prepared complaint.
“Hmm, I see. A lawsuit for termination of a magic tool supply contract… Looking at it, this is a renewal contract, is it not?”
Liselotte slightly raised her head and replied.
“Yes, that is correct. It is a renewal of the previous contract, and the plaintiff agreed to the renewal believing the contents were identical.”
“But according to the evidence, did they not review the contract in advance?”
“The defendant added clauses beneath the contract in a way that could only be seen if one looked very carefully. This also contradicts the defendant’s guidance that it was identical to the previous contract.”
The presiding official nodded as he reviewed the submitted evidence.
From the defendant’s bench, Miro lightly raised his hand.
“Presiding Official. It is not possible to explain every clause to a plaintiff who does not usually show himself. We followed the contents of the existing contract, and since there were changes, we showed the renewal contract with the intent that it be checked, and the plaintiff replied that he had confirmed it.”
“Hmm… The plaintiff claims that with the byproducts provided by the defendant, it is impossible to produce high-grade magic tools. What does the defendant think?”
Miro added further explanation in a sly voice.
“If production was impossible, that is something that should have been coordinated before the contract. The plaintiff supplied magic tools according to the contract until the lawsuit. Claiming impossibility now is nothing more than nitpicking in order to contract with another region.”
In the meantime, the Magic Tower had purchased byproducts of grade two or higher on its own in order to meet the conditions and proceeded with production.
Yet House Gloria was now calling that nitpicking.
‘Well, would you look at that?’
Liselotte watched, curious to see just how far they would take it.
Beside her, Hedmilton subtly tried to call out to her, but Liselotte raised her hand to signal him to wait.
The presiding official now idly replied, twirling the ends of his bangs around his finger.
“Looking at the defendant’s evidence, it appears that not all of it was made with byproducts of grade two or higher.”
Of course, it was possible to produce higher-grade magic tools even with grade-five byproducts. If one was lucky. Theoretically. The probability approached zero, however!
It had to be considered that only a few pieces personally crafted by the Tower Master had managed to break through those abysmal odds.
The presiding official casually skimmed through the documents with a rustling sound and asked,
“Is this all of the plaintiff’s evidence? I ask because there is nothing stating that the defendant failed to perform according to the contract.”
Liselotte, who had been quietly observing the situation, reached a conclusion with ease.
‘It would be better, in the presiding official’s eyes, to invalidate all of the other side’s claims.’
If that was the case, it was rather easier instead.
Leaning back against the back of her chair, Liselotte replied calmly.
“This contract is not a standard contract as the defendant claims. To date, the defendant is the first party to have entered into a magic tool-related contract with the Magic Tower. Therefore, the defendant’s submitted Evidence No. 2, three copies of the statement of fact verification, is invalid evidence.”
