Chapter 944. Trial (3)
“We need to beat that bastard to a pulp until he can no longer stand up again,” I said.
“Don’t go overboard, okay? Commander Jin is in charge of a lot more things than I thought. If we get rid of him without considering those things, things are only going to become harder for us. Don’t bring your personal feelings into business. It's all because of Commander Jin that we have been able to work like this,” Lee Ji-Hye reminded.
“...”
“If we drive Commander Jin out, the dragon mother will become wary, too,” she added.
'She’s right. I’ll feel kind of bad for Dialugia as well.'
“He’s so arrogant. Who does he think he is that he thinks he can become the special prosecutor? What does a guy from the Republic know about the Democratic Country?
"He knows nothing, but he talks like he does. Does he want to be exiled to the Democratic Country or something? Is he that familiar with democratic law?” I questioned.
“I think he’s doing all that to provoke you,” Lee Ji-Hye commented.
“We need to bring him down so hard that he won't be able to step onto a stage again, much less attend any trial in the future. You looked up the laws and any precedents about special prosecutors, right?” I asked.
“Everything you requested is on your desk right now, but things are going to become harder for you if he insists on becoming a special prosecutor,” Lee Ji-Hye said.
'That’s true, but that bastard really annoys me. Just thinking about him raising an objection in court is already making me feel frustrated.'
“Just leaving him alone is the best option, and it's the best choice for you as well,” Lee Ji-Hye suggested.
The best thing to do here was to drag him down from his position as a special prosecutor by questioning his qualifications, as he was a Republican, after all. He wasn't a denizen of the Sacred Democratic Country, so I could definitely use that fact to my advantage.
The problem was the aftermath. I'd definitely be happy to bring him down, but I could already see what Jin Cheong was going to do next.
‘He’s going to take it to the continental court.’
To be honest, Kim Hyun-Sung was the one who had destroyed the city of the Republic, but Templar Gen had also contributed to the city's destruction. The upcoming trial was actually misleading.
The Republic was the one that suffered immense damage, the crime took place in the Republic, and the criminal was captured in the Republic. In other words, there was no reason for the Republic to hand over the criminal to the Sacred Democratic Country.
The reason they did that was to be considerate to the Sacred Democratic Country, as both nations were allies, after all. The trial that was supposed to take place only within the Sacred Democratic Country would become a trial that everyone throughout the continent would witness if I brought Jin Cheong down through nitpicking.
To make matters worse, it was legal.
‘I have to stay calm, but I just can’t...’
The pieces of evidence were with the Republic.
The investigation team consisted of the Vatican’s Heretic Inquisitors and the elite rangers of the Sacred Democratic Country, but the moment the case was taken to the continental court... the desolate building that contained our precious memories would be trampled mercilessly by those scums from the Republic.
'I don’t think they’ll fabricate the evidence, but you never know. Words can have many different meanings depending on how they are interpreted.'
“It’s definitely advantageous to end it within the Democratic Country,” I said.
“You’re right. It’s better to just leave Jin Cheong alone. It’s taking place within the Sacred Democratic Country anyway, so his powers are limited here. There are a limited number of adjutants he can dispatch. I don't think it matters even if he receives support from the Sacred Democratic Country, but the fact that he can't work with his people is kind of—”
“You’re not going to do it? You’ll help me, right?” I interrupted.
“I’m helping you right now,” Lee Ji-Hye said.
“...”
“...”
“You’re not doing it right?” I asked her.
“What am I supposed to do? I have my own work to do, too. Honestly, this is just a fight between prideful kids. Don't you think the trial is none of your business? Just tell Templar Gen or Templar Gwen to tell you everything that he knows and then kill him,” Lee Ji-Hye said.
‘That’s true. It doesn’t matter even if he just dies, but I feel like he can still be useful. It’s not like I had put in a lot of effort into him, anyway.’
'Regardless, I just don't want to see a smile tugging at that arrogant guy's lips. But Ji-Hye noona is technically not on my side as well.’
She didn't want to get involved, so she had a neutral stance about this, but her words basically meant that she wasn't on my side. The way she was carelessly flipping through the documents was unlike her.
I wasn't going to force her, but I didn't really think that she’d be helpful.
‘I lack manpower.’
To make matters worse, I found out too late that Jin Cheong had decided to intervene..
“Sub Guild Master?”
“Miss Kim Mi-Young, I’m glad you’re here,” I greeted.
I had yet to form a proper defense counsel. I thought the trial was going to be easy, so I decided to take my time and have fun. I was also in the middle of recovering, so I couldn't have seen that the cowardly Jin Cheong of the Republic would intervene.
“I have organized all the documents that you requested. This incident is pretty unique, so I couldn’t really find an exact precedent, but there have been cases where the victim had decided to defend the suspect.
"A hundred and eleven years ago, a saintess was kidnapped, but she didn’t want her kidnapper, Holy Knight Barhak, to receive punishment...”
‘But he was torn to pieces despite that...’
Holy Knight Barhak was drawn and quartered. His sin was lusting after the Saintess of the Vatican. It was a cruel and unusual punishment, but perhaps they thought it was the right thing to do at the time.
“There's another case from fifty-four years ago. It's about Princess Charlperia of the Benigoa Holy Empire. She was kidnapped by the Prime Minister of the Union of Kingdoms, and...” Kim Mi-Young trailed off.
He was killed as well.
“Those cases...”
“Yes, they happened a long time ago when the Benigoa Holy Empire still exists. If we argue that those cases aren't exactly the best examples, they won’t be able to find fault with it,” Kim Mi-Young interrupted me.
“Are there no cases where the defendant ended up winning the trial?” I asked.
“Yes, there were no cases like that,” Kim Mi-Young replied.
These past cases didn’t really matter, as the law had changed a lot since then. One thing I was happy about was that the one presiding over the trial wasn’t the Vatican. The Heretic Inquisitors would be the ones presiding over the trial. If a religious trial were to take place, Templar Gen would surely become another Ito Sota.
It was possible that the Vatican would go a bit easy, but it was highly unlikely. They just didn’t want me to resent them, and it applied to both the Vatican and the Sacred Democratic Country.
“Since the Sacred Democratic Country and the Vatican will operate the trial together, there is going to be a jury,” Kim Mi-Young informed.
They didn’t want any of the sides to resent them.
Kim Hyun-Sung wasn’t the only one who welcomed Jin Cheong.
It was the same for Father Basel and Oscar.
“The jury will consist of ten religious officials from the Vatican and eleven denizens from the Sacred Democratic Country, and they’ll be selected at random,” Kim Mi-Young added.
“Who would do the sentencing? The Supreme Court's judge?” I asked.
“A cardinal will do it, too,” Kim Mi-Young answered.
‘Looks like they don't want to take responsibility.’
They probably thought that my obsession with Templar Gen was abnormal. In the end, they’d let the jury decide whether he was innocent or not, and then the Supreme Court's judge and a cardinal of the Vatican would determine the punishment.
‘Having a jury is more advantageous to me.’
The ones who would decide whether Gen was innocent or not would be ordinary people rather than well-educated people. However, the judgements of ordinary denizens who weren't particularly educated had always been a source of controversy, even in countries with jury trials.
‘A jury is great because they can be swayed.’
One could win their favor and make them sympathize with oneself. One could say anything, and they’d believe it. Of course, the Supreme Court or the opposite party could set some restrictions, but an emotional appeal that would bring tears to anyone's eyes would definitely be a hundred percent effective.
Jin Cheong wasn't really used to that. He probably thought that he just had to say whatever he had to say, and that was it. If the jury could be convinced through evidence alone, then they could just sentence the criminal themselves.
However, humans were emotional creatures.
“Do you...” I paused and stared at Miss Kim Mi-Young. “Do you have the jury list?”
‘I’m sure it’s private.’
“I have it,” Kim Mi-Young said.
As always, she was really competent.
If there was going to be a jury trial, then focusing on them was the best option.
Jin Cheong's presence in a normal trial conducted using the Democratic Country’s methods made me feel nervous. Moreover, a religious trial conducted in our style had too many variables, and it was impossible to be prepared for each and every one of them. The jury system, which was decided because both parties would end up going back and forth a lot, was the best for me.
“The first juror is George...” I said.
“He’s known as the Third-Rate Gambler,” Kim Mi-Young said.
'So I just need to pay him a little gold.'
“Kennen,” I said.
“He’s known as the Playboy of Lindel. The two of them have participated in the major wars... Actually, they participated in all the wars you were in so far,” Kim Mi-Young corrected herself.
“Really? The two of them?” I asked.
“They’re in the same party,” Kim Mi-Young said.
I would probably get punished for this, but it wasn’t bad. The fact that they were participants in all the major wars meant that they had worked together in a place that was close to me, the Honorary Cardinal of the Vatican and the Saint of Light.
“Elf Eledian. That’s bad,” I commented.
“That’s right.”
The majority of the elves were a stickler for principles. It was highly likely that they’d side with reason rather than emotion. If Commander Jin brought proper evidence... they’d say Templar Gen was guilty before crying together with the Saint of Light.
“Giselle Garix of Castlerock. She’s an immigrant from the Republic and is currently a citizen of the Sacred Democratic Country,” Kim Mi-Young informed.
'Someone from the Republic is part of the jury?’
Were they really picked randomly?
I skimmed through the list, and I could tell that they were picked in a way that would give me a bit of an advantage. There would always be variables, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle. I wasn’t the one who needed to be worried about the jury.
“It’s Jin Cheong,” I mumbled.
“What?”
“No, it’s nothing, Miss Kim Mi-Young. What about the Supreme Court judge and the cardinal?” I asked.
“They haven’t decided on the judge yet, but the cardinal who will participate in the trial is Sister Jayna,” Kim Mi-Young responded.
“Sister Jayna?” I asked.
“She recently became a cardinal to replace Father Yohan,” Kim Mi-Young informed.
“I see. Thank you, Miss Kim MI-Young,” I said.
Kim Mi-Young nodded lightly and said, “Since we don't have a defense counsel yet..."
“Go ahead,” I told her.
I was sure she’d make one with competent people.
“You heard everything, right? You really don’t want to join the defense counsel?” I asked.
“I don’t. I’m really busy. Since Commander Jin is busy with the trial, I should at least take care of the tasks. Also, I’ve told you this many times now, but stop being so stubborn. All you need to do is get the information and let him die...” Lee Ji-Hye said.
'My pride won’t let me, Ji-Hye noona.'
“Then set up a meeting with Sister Jayna,” I requested.
“You’re talking nonsense again. That’s against the law,” Kim Mi-Young said.
“If you do that, I won’t ask you to join the defense counsel. I’m... in a lot of pain right now,” I told her.
Asking to meet with the cardinal who was preparing for the upcoming trial was illogical, and it wasn't supposed to be done, but I was sure Ji-Hye noona could do it.
I was sure she felt guilty about the fact that she wasn't going to help me, so she’d probably help me with this.
“Don’t you think you’re being really unfair right now?” Lee Ji-Hye asked.
The unfair and wicked ones usually were the winners.
If Jin Cheong ended up beating me in the upcoming trial, I wouldn't be able to have a good night's sleep for quite a long while.
'Does she not know the feeling of getting defeated in one's home ground? If Jin Cheong somehow managed to defeat me, then I'm sure he'll smile meaningfully every time he sees me. I can't bear to see that. I need to help him realize that he got a bit too reckless by stepping into this fight.
'I’m the Sacred Democratic Country, and the Sacred Democratic Country is me. The Sacred Democratic Country is one, so I’m not being unfair here.
'The loser will become the idiot, so...'
“...”
“...”
“Then... please continue with your testimony, the prosecutor’s witness. Is it true that you stayed in the same inn as Father Lee Ki-Young?” the judge asked.
“T-That’s right. E-Every night, I could hear Father Lee Ki-Young’s screams and painful groans. I could hear thud, thud, thud coming from their room. I tried not to listen... but I just couldn’t ignore his painful screams...” the witness muttered fearfully.
“O Benigoa...!”
“O Benigoa...!”
“Sob...! sob... Son of Light...”
I turned to Jin Cheong, and he flashed me a disgusting smile.
‘That bastard...’
“...”
This coward had just brought in a fake witness to the sacred court. He wanted to convince everyone to believe his words through his lies, so I felt dumb for trying to go about this trial in a fair and honest way.