Trial SubterfugeI took Farufa, Sharusha, and even Rosary aboard Laika and headed to Nasukute town.
I’d only be worried if I left my daughters home alone. Besides, Sharusha knew a lot about this country so bringing her along could be helpful.
A squad of solemn spear-wielding soldiers had sealed off Harukara’s factory. They didn’t look like the ones in town so perhaps they were sent from the capital.
There was a person looking anxiously at the factory from afar so I tried calling out to her. She looked to be in her twenties.
“Excuse me, would you happen to have any idea what’s happening with the factory?”
“Yes, I… I’m actually an employee in the factory…”
Nice. A reliable source of information.
“Sorry for the sudden introduction but we’re Harukara’s family. If it’s not too much to ask, may we trouble you to tell us what’s going on?”
The employee took us to her home and told us the whole story when we got there.
“Today was just another normal work day. But sometime in the afternoon a group of people with orders from the governor came to arrest the president… Apparently she was arrested for illegally selling medicine without a permit, or something like that…”
“Harukara onee-san said she applied for one… There’s no way she didn’t have a permit…”
It’s exactly as Farufa said. Not just her, I too had heard from Harukara about her applying for a permit.
Which means someone had conspired to arrest Harukara.
“Governor Golder doesn’t have a particularly good reputation. I’ve heard that he falsely incriminates anyone who doesn’t pay him a bribe.”
“Thanks Sharusha. Do you have any other information? Anything is fine.”
“It’s almost certain that Golder is colluding with the provincial courthouse. It’s said that he can easily force a guilty verdict with the number of judges he has in his pocket… Since his opponents don’t have any means of fighting back, he’s been able to avoid anything troublesome so far…”
“In other words he’s a despicable guy. And now he has Harukara…”
I’m sure Harukara caught his attention since she didn’t offer a bribe. As a foreigner with very little local influence, he probably decided she was an easy target.
Since he could easily destroy whatever doc.u.ments she submitted, it would have been easy to accuse her of not submitting anything.
“So what’s going to happen to Harukara?”
I’ve never had anyone press charges against me before so I was pretty clueless about the whole thing. I’ll depend on Sharusha. At the very least, I’m confident that there’s no way it’ll escalate to a death penalty.
“A trial will be held within the week, and if she’s found guilty, she’ll be imprisoned… They’ll also most likely seize her factory…”
Bam! Leica reflexively hit the table in a fit of anger.
“No way! Harukarsan poured her everything into that factory! Having it seized is just too much!”
“Of course it is. We’ll save Harukara and we won’t let them take her factory either. Although… if we save her by force, we’ll also get caught up in her crime. I think the best way would be to establish her innocence at the trial itself. The governor won’t be able to complain either. Not to mention, if we were to forcibly free her, we’d become criminals too. I’d hate that. We’d be troubling Furata village too.
“How should we go about it then? Unfortunately, I am not too familiar with court proceedings… I will not be of much help…”
“You say that, but I’m not too familiar with it either. But basically, we just need to do something that doesn’t involve using force. I have a solution.”
I turned to look at Rosary.
“Rosary, I’ll need your help.”
“Eh? Me?”
Rosary looked bewildered.
“Yeah, with your help, we’ll definitely be able to win this trial. It’ll be our complete victory. However, winning the trial alone won’t be enough to vent my anger—- so we’ll also be looking for evidence ourselves.”
I clasped my hands together.
“Family, let’s all work together and save Harukara!”
And so, in a house that wasn’t our own, we got all fired up as if we owned the place.
Leica had headed over to the capital Vitamei to find out the date of Harukara’s trial. It was going to be six days from now.
With that much time, there should be no problems. It’s enough for us to accomplish our plans.
While Harukara was being detained, we sent Farufa visit her. Since Farufa looked like a child, we figured they’d be less on their guard.
“Harukara onee-san dejectedly told me that she felt terrible being arrested for a crime she didn’t commit…” said Farufa.
Of course, even though it’s on false charges, getting arrested is nothing but terrible for someone’s reputation. There’s no forgiving the sc.u.m that would do it knowingly.
“Did you tell Harukara that since she’s family we’re definitely going to save her?”
“Yup. Farufa properly did! That we’re all going to save Harukara onee-san together!”
With a rarely seen look of determination on her face, Farufa said so with conviction.
There, there, don’t worry. We’re all going to help her.
I also proceeded with my own plans. First, I used Magic Creation to create a concealing spell that made one invisible.
And then I used it to sneak into a few places. And then I stole a few things.
And then before I knew it, the day of the trial arrived.
The whole family was partic.i.p.ating in the trial as witnesses. We’ll definitely prove Harukara’s innocence. No, we’ll do more than just prove her innocence. It’s for that reason that I did what had to be done.
It’s finally time for the trial to start.
The chief judge came in with four other judges. The chief judge handles the proceedings and the verdict is decided through a majority vote between the five judges. Since a majority of them were in cahoots with the governor, this trial was anything but fair.
On a side note, our lawyer was some big shot that we managed to employ through Sharusha’s connections.
It seems Governor Golder was also present and watching.
I’ll show you what it means to make an enemy out of us.