Three hundred people was more than the population of a typical small village.
For the poorhouse to have more people than the entire village population. It wasn’t logically possible.
Ollas pointed that out as well.
“Compared to the size of Gelloa Village, the number in the poorhouse is excessively large.”
“I do not know… I… baby? Since I was a baby, I lived there.”
Perhaps unable to recall the word for when he was young, Kairi formed an awkward sentence. That only made it feel like an unfiltered truth.
In reality, Kairi wasn’t skilled enough to lie convincingly.
“There were many friends there. We ate every day, studied, and played.”
His tone, more innocent than his appearance suggested, caused Ollas’s voice to soften as well.
“What did you study and play?”
“The teacher taught us the scripture. After that, we practiced swordsmanship, and um…”
These were ordinary things typically taught in a poorhouse.
Children who showed talent in either education were sometimes taken early to become apprentice priests, holy knights, or join subjugation mercenary groups.
Though rare, temples and mercenary groups regularly visited poorhouses by season to find suitable orphans.
It could be seen as a kind of special recruitment.
Since nothing particularly unusual had been mentioned, Ollas clicked his tongue lightly and continued his questioning.
“When did you leave Gelloa Village?”
“I never left. My friend is there.”
Liselotte swallowed softly.
When she first discovered him, he had stubbornly guarded the ashes that were all that remained in the shape of a person.
So it had been a friend. Only then did Liselotte realize the truth.
Meanwhile, Ollas, who had never been to Gelloa Village, didn’t fully understand and asked again,
“You say there is a friend? Are there still people in Gelloa Village?”
“Originally, no one lives in Gelloa Village.”
“Ah, you mean no one lives there now?”
“Originally, no one lives there.”
“They used to live there and then relocated?”
“No. Originally, no one lives there.”
As the conversation began to circle strangely, Ollas swallowed his discomfort.
After saying that there had been as many as 302 children in the poorhouse, claiming that no one originally lived there didn’t make sense.
Perhaps thinking he had found a weakness, Miro’s previously tense expression brightened instantly as he listened carefully to Kairi.
Ollas asked once more,
“Then what are you? Did you not live there?”
“I lived there, but we were not people. They called us new… things? That is what they said.”
The Commander of the Conrad knights let out a short, quiet “Ah.”
It seemed she interpreted it as a common symptom of abuse often seen in poorhouses.
The Commander quickly pressed further.
“Were you verbally abused at the poorhouse, witness? Were you subjected to violence?”
“Violence?”
“Ah, that is… Did they hit you or hurt you physically?”
“They wrapped thread around the neck, like this.”
When Kairi made a gesture as though tightening thread around his neck, the gallery stirred.
Because the presiding official’s question had been too vague, he had deftly avoided giving a direct answer.
Kairi tended to answer only exactly what was asked.
It seemed his thinking wasn’t yet flexible.
For presiding officials unaware of this, it wouldn’t be easy to draw out the answer they intended to obtain.
‘Still, at least it proves that House Gloria didn’t properly manage the Eastern region.’
The rest was something she could steer well once she stepped in.
Aside from the excessively large number of children, such things weren’t unheard of, so Ollas nodded.
“Very well. Defendant, you may question the witness.”
Miro sprang to his feet, adjusted his glasses, and approached the witness stand.
At the sight of a man approaching, Kairi’s shoulders shrank slightly, but Miro pressed on without mercy.
“Witness, I have a question. While residing in Gelloa Village, did you ever see a village inspection officer sent by House Gloria?”
Before the question had even finished, a short cry rang out from behind.
“Miro!”
When Miro looked at her, Diana closed her mouth. However, her pale face clearly conveyed that his question had been a mistake.
Meanwhile, Kairi, who had received the question, tilted his head.
“Village inspec…?”
It seemed he didn’t understand the unfamiliar combination of words.
Only then did Diana press her back against the wall.
But the question had already been spoken, and Miro had little room to recover.
“Ah, well. Never mind. Witness. If you do not remember, you do not have to answer.”
“It means the men who regularly came to the village and rummaged around for the first time.”
Emperor Perida cut in, explaining over Miro’s words.
Unable to deny it outright, Miro kept glancing in Diana’s direction.
Having finally understood, Kairi smiled brightly.
“I know! You mean the men who came to give injections, right?”
At the word injection, the Commander of the Conrad knights’ expression hardened.
Miro hurriedly changed the subject.
“W-Witness. Did the head of the poorhouse behave the same way in front of the inspector?”
“Yes. Weren’t those men the ones who did that?”
“Th-Then when the epidemic spread in Gelloa Village…”
Cough. This time, a harsh coughing sound was heard.
It was, of course, Diana at the very back of the gallery, bracing herself against the wall as though she might collapse.
Each time Kairi opened his mouth, Diana signaled sharply with her eyes, leaving Miro unable to proceed either way. In the end, he concluded the witness examination.
“That is all.”
There was something Miro didn’t know.
If one looked only at the documents of House Gloria, everything appeared normal. They would have consistently sent inspection officers, and the inspectors’ reports would have seemed perfectly in order.
That was why Miro had questioned the witness so confidently.
But nothing involving House Gloria could be judged by documents alone.
The evidence was scattered in fragments across various places.
It resembled broken pottery or a shattered statue rather than neat paperwork.
Even if the fragments were pieced together, one couldn’t be certain what shape the reverse side would reveal.
“Plaintiff, you may examine the witness.”
At the presiding official’s instruction, Liselotte approached Kairi.
The anxious expression he had worn while watching others faded, and his face brightened.
Liselotte smiled and nodded.
“Witness, what kind of injection did you receive in your arm?”
“New blood. New blood.”
“Can you explain in detail what new blood is?”
“I do not know well. But when they gave the injection, my friends all lay down and did not get up.”
“Why did they wrap thread around the neck?”
“If they did not get up, they did that. Then sometimes the friends who were lying down would get up.”
“Did your friends seem to be in pain?”
“They hurt before lying down, but after getting up, they were like, like amazing. They talked and did magic!”
Kairi stretched both arms out proudly, as though introducing a remarkable friend.
But the courtroom fell silent.
The Commander of the Conrad knights, her expression grave, whispered to Emperor Perida,
“Your Majesty. This means that in Gelloa Village, they conducted experiments on the children…”
Emperor Perida raised his hand to stop her from continuing.
The smile brimming with composure remained unchanged.
He didn’t say a single word. He merely watched.
The spectators were less restrained than the presiding officials.
Some, who were faint-hearted, lowered their heads and even pressed their hands to their chests.
“If they used magic, does that mean they were artificially creating mages?”
“I have no idea what the East has been doing.”
Liselotte briefly lifted her head and looked at Eren.
Unlike Valen, whose face had twisted in shock, he was as still as a statue.
Silently, Liselotte offered an apology he would never hear. What was about to be spoken would be painful for him to listen to.
“Then, witness. How did they use magic? Did something like a glowing circle appear beneath them?”
“No. If they say it, it just whoosh!”
Kairi swept his hand through the air.
It was accomplished through words.
Word of Command.
The once noisy courtroom became so silent that not even a breath could be heard.
Word of Command was passed down through the blood of the nomads with golden eyes.
No one on the continent could fail to understand what it meant to inject that blood.
Kairi blinked, then pointed at Diana.
“Not a friend anymore.”
Diana glared straight ahead, her eyes bloodshot.
Liselotte turned and faced Emperor Perida.
“The plaintiff submits the blood test results of witness Kairi as evidence.”
