Chapter 195
Chapter 195
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 195
Chapter Title: Non-Prosecution
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Non-Prosecution.
Elias, seated at the far end of the Hohenzollern bench, and Leo, in the Bayern seat to his left, sharpened their gazes.
The fate of whether our class's professor could return hinged on the success or failure of this gathering today, so it was only natural.
Only the crown prince, who had worn a faint smile throughout, tilted his head with a chuckle. His hand reached for Adelbert beside him, wrapping around his shoulder and pulling him close. Adelbert visibly froze stiff.
"This proposal is based on the investigation results officially recognized by the Investigation Bureau and represents the bureau's judgment. However, I must clearly state from the outset that the final decision on disposition rests with the prosecution and His Majesty the Emperor. I will now outline the investigation process in sequence. One week ago, I visited the Imperial Second Academy to investigate the attempted assassination of imperial family members. Priest Eric Frey of the imperial court and Prince Adelbert Hohenzollern, who participated in the investigation under His Majesty's orders, can testify to my interrogation."
I pointed at them with my hand.
No rebuttals had come yet. It wasn't time for that.
"Divine power interrogation revealed that neither suspect had any knowledge of visiting the victims' rooms or dormitory buildings at the time of the incident. The prosecution conducted the same method of interrogation, so please refer to page 7 of the report distributed beforehand."
The sound of pages turning echoed.
An aide flipped the emperor's report open and placed it before him.
"While the suspects remembered nothing—not their crimes, nor the buildings or locations they visited—they reacted to the question of whether they had heard the detailed warp coordinates of the victims' rooms. Your Highness can testify to this directly."
Adelbert, who had been rigid throughout, rose from his seat and spoke in a dignified voice as if nothing had happened.
"It is true. I personally witnessed Lord Ernst conduct the interrogation in this manner."
"Respected assembly, what possibilities have you considered for this?"
"……."
"They have no memory of where they went, yet they recall hearing the warp coordinates. How could this be possible? Has anyone ventured a guess?"
No one spoke.
Abraham was likely the only thought in their minds right now.
Indeed, this made sense only as Abraham's ability.
"If someone implanted commands into their minds without their conscious awareness, such a thing could occur. Though it borders on the supernatural, magic is an academic field not fully explained, so we must consider this possibility. In fact, we now know that something beyond our common sense occurred to former Vice Minister Marco Schreiber."
The crown prince's golden eyes met mine.
I continued, staring into those eyes that seemed ready to draw me in.
"You might question whether divine power was used to erase memories, but there are no divine power mages at the Imperial Second Academy, and external access was strictly restricted at the time. The crime window for suspect Johannes Ron is estimated between 10 a.m. and noon on January 26, but there are no records of him leaving during that time. Moreover, he was in an emergency meeting from midnight onward, providing a clear alibi against divine manipulation."
I saw bureau members nodding and marking something on their papers.
"At the time, I..."
"Wait a moment."
I turned toward the voice. The crown prince had raised his hand as if to halt proceedings.
"Speak, Your Highness."
"I want firm confirmation on suspect Stefan Trout's alibi."
The crown prince gazed at me with a faint smile.
"I understand the error of bundling the two incidents—sharing the same location and some commonalities—into one vague claim. But given this concerns the empire's security, please answer thoroughly."
"……."
I met his gaze silently before speaking calmly.
"If divine power had affected them, the coordinates would have been erased from their minds as well, Your Highness."
"Hm."
The crown prince stroked his chin and nodded.
His languidly relaxed voice echoed through the vast space.
"Clear enough. You're saying there's no need to leave only the coordinates intact. But... what if they erased key crime details for a perfect cover-up but didn't think to wipe the coordinates?"
"……."
"In short, you may have overestimated the suspects' mental faculties. Can this possibility be ruled out?"
"...It's extremely unlikely, but not entirely."
"Then? Surely you didn't come here without considering such scenarios, Your Excellency."
Is this his way of blocking me?
No, not blocking.
He's testing my limits, prioritizing Hohenzollern safety—whether it's the limit of my ability or my patience. Time will tell.
I nodded.
"Very well. Allow me to explain. The Adelbert Hohenzollern rampage occurred on January 17, and the Elias Hohenzollern rampage followed a week later on the morning of January 24. For this scenario, we need records of Stefan Trout exiting campus between 6 p.m. on January 24, after finishing second-exam supervision, and the Ascanien warp incident on January 26."
I pulled up the faculty gate logs and projected them largely into the air.
"There is one record in that period. It was for purchasing supplies."
"Aides and staff exist for such tasks. Why did a professor go personally? I'm curious."
"We cannot determine the reason."
"I suppose so. Even if it was truly for supplies, he could have met a divine mage while out. What do you think?"
The investigators now watched me instead of their reports.
He's right.
Tracking Trout's outing is impossible.
It's in the past, and if his mind was truly wiped clean, we couldn't extract even confirmation of meeting a divine mage from him.
But failing to address this would sever the link between the professors' coordinate reactions and Abraham's vulnerability, opening the door to third-party involvement.
So, what now?
"...That's entirely possible. As Your Highness says, we have no way of knowing if the suspect engaged in unrecorded activities or met someone while out."
"Hm."
I conceded readily, and Elias and Leo looked my way. The crown prince still wore his inscrutable smile.
"Then let's do this, Crown Prince. Across the empire, there are 93 divine power mages including myself, and 24 of them possess memory-erasure capabilities—half Hohenzollern, half Wittelsbach."
If he asks about something beyond collective ability, this is the response.
I paused a beat, then turned to Leo, who listened intently.
"Dear Leonard Wittelsbach, Crown Prince of Bayern. I know this borders on state secrets, but to resolve His Highness's question and provide a clear answer to His Majesty and the government officials present, I request a full audit of the past month's activities for the 12 specially managed priests among Wittelsbach's 33."
"……."
Leo's lip twitched faintly. Whatever prompted that, he soon nodded with a relaxed smile.
"Granted. Proceed as you wish."
Earlier, I pondered how to handle this.
It's simple.
Approach from the reverse.
If Trout met a divine mage to erase crime traces from his mind?
That divine mage's memory would retain traces of meeting Trout.
'24 out of 100 million.'
No reason we can't investigate that many.
I saw the crown prince's lips slowly curve.
Not offended or flustered—an expression of enjoyment.
Be it or not, defeat is his in this moment.
Smiling, I looked to the Hohenzollerns.
"Your Majesty, Crown Prince. If you allow a full audit of Prussia's 12 specially managed priests, I can provide a clear answer."
Why is it his defeat?
Because this crime is Abraham's.
Even auditing all 24 won't uncover a divine mage who commissioned the crime and erased memories from Trout.
In essence, the crown prince's question solidified that the incident is his doing.
"Hahaha..."
The crown prince burst into clear laughter.
The emperor's face plainly read, "The crown prince's doubt is valid, but why more investigation?" So the crown prince responded to my request in his stead.
"Very well. We'll investigate separately after this meeting. But since we've confirmed Your Excellency's sound logic, please proceed for now."
A fine sight of packaging defeat as non-victory.
I offered courtesy thanks and continued without delay.
"Now, moving on. To check for changes or issues in the suspects, I investigated further and confirmed with the Faculty Management Director that an irregular health checkup occurred in the second week of January. Director."
At my call, the director rose tensely.
"Can you describe the situation as it was?"
"Yes... Well... On January 7, the Imperial Central Hospital proposed an irregular checkup to assess faculty health. We conducted it on January 10."
"Good. January 10—one week before Prince Adelbert was harmed. Searching the hospital, I found a clue to the earlier question. This is material from the bureau at the time."
I projected the binder labeled '1/10 Imperial Second Academy Checkup Records' into the air.
Then opened the mana inspection section on the next page.
Amid the dense text, exactly two fields stood blank.
"As you see, only the two suspects' blood test fields are empty."
"……."
"Judging this unrelated to the earlier mystery would be wrong. Linking the missing blood to the two Hohenzollern students' 'rampage' risk, I inferred Pleroma involvement. Assemblyman Alexander Kluger assisted greatly here."
At my words, the Pleroma assemblyman rose.
Alexander Kluger leveraged his Pleroma ties to feed info to the imperials, bolstering his pro-emperor stance.
He sold non-sensitive church-approved info to maintain positions in both camps.
With Pleroma's secrecy, verification is slow. Kluger and Werner Strauch had long leaked minor details, later proven true, making them valued informants.
His statement itself is evidence.
Alexander Kluger began gravely.
"Pleroma is an antichurch cult promising resurrection and eternal life at their whim. They use 'mission' on church clergy to indoctrinate zealotry swiftly—a power from Gregorio, the mage at Pleroma's founding. That is Abraham."
To survive as a spy, one must thicken their face like that.
"Per my informant, Gregorio has mission targets drink their blood. When Your Excellency asked about Pleroma links to the blood disappearance, I immediately knew it was Abraham's doing. It matches his mission method closely."
Most investigators nodded, jotting notes.
But one—the police chief—raised a hand to pause.
"Who provided the information?"
All eyes turned to the assemblyman.
Unfazed, as if routine, he feigned sincerity.
"As always, I can't disclose. I have a Pleroma spy informant; that's all I can say. Naming them would expose and end our intel flow."
"Ah."
Eyes returned center.
The voice evoked Elias, but it wasn't him.
The crown prince sighed shortly with amused interest and chuckled.
"Quite right. Assemblyman Kluger has long contributed to our empire's peace, and his informant has provided accurate intel for five years. Revealing their identity feeds Pleroma lurking nearby. Let's avoid such shortsightedness."
Kluger lightly bowed in thanks to the crown prince's defense, then the prince turned to me.
"Lord Ernst. Prove Assemblyman Kluger innocent here and now."
"……."
"...Pardon?"
The assemblyman repeated, uncomprehending. Color drained from his face.
Naturally.
The crown prince now demanded I use divine power.
"I—I have always, for the past five years..."
"Assemblyman."
At my call, he looked at me desperately. His pleading expression begged me to do nothing. Even in this dimness, his agitation showed.
Using divine power kills him.
The crown prince knows he's Pleroma and what spell binds him. He's doing this to undermine my claims' credibility.
'Why.'
My abilities defy worldly logic, so to convince, I reorder sequences and fabricate sources as now.
Unable to dent my logic, he's exposing my Pleroma use. His death alone proves affiliation.
"...I'll do it."
I can't ignore the order.
I stepped from the light to the seating. The assemblyman backed away in terror. I pinned his shoe toe and gripped his shoulder to stop flight.
His near-death reaction seemed counterproductive, but unavoidable. I snapped fingers, drew wand, and aimed.
—Enter through the narrow gate. The gate to destruction is wide, and the road broad...
"Aaah...!"
Before the scream finished, his eyes lost focus. I seated him before collapse; silence now filled the space. All watched.
Slowly, maintaining steady mana, I spoke.
"Assemblyman. Everything you said here must be true. Can you swear it?"
He nodded slowly.
'Good.'
That suffices.
Sweat beaded from dual mana-divine operation. I quickly holstered my wand.
"...Hahk...! Heok! What just...!"
He convulsed wildly, staggering.
Gasping, his wildly dilated eyes fixed on me.
How am I alive? his expression asked.
Ignoring, I faced the crown prince and emperor.
"The assemblyman is innocent; his testimony trustworthy. Your Majesty, may I return and continue?"
The emperor nodded assent.
The crown prince, having witnessed something more astonishing, savored the scene with sparkling eyes beneath a serene smile. His gaze lingered on me.
'Fascinating, isn't it.'
A man who should have burst unalive.
Sorry to thwart your plans again.
He couldn't die from the start.
Earlier, I subjugated his core to me—coating it with my mana for control.
Now, I adjusted the mana flow inside him. Before the core reacted to divine power and burst, my mana absorbed the Pleroma curse, buying time.
Lingering longer would have killed him, of course. My mana was buffer, not antidote; once depleted, the curse would spread.
The crown prince's disruption was clever, but...
It's over.
Then, clasping hands, he addressed me.
"Lord."
"Speak."
"After this ends, a word. I have something for you."
His voice differed from usual—whispering, as if peering through something, attention elsewhere.
Leo and Elias turned to him.
Elias scowled from his first word, fine enough; even Leo eyed him probingly, sensing the off tone.
"Certainly."
I agreed readily.
"Now, finally. Assuming Abraham intervened in the professors' minds, I interrogated 69 mid-level or higher staff from Primrose Path's 23 establishments—alongside seven imperial priests."
"Nikolaus Ernst's interrogations and records are flawless, I swear."
A representative divine mage rose.
I displayed the testimony page via magic.
"From yesterday 7 p.m. to dawn 3 a.m., consistent patterns emerged. Most claimed the 'chairman' of Primrose Path 'transmitted orders directly to their minds,' yet didn't know who he was or met him."
I scanned the seating.
"Receiving mission from someone unmet. Akin to professors receiving orders despite staying on campus."
Investigators nodded gravely. This time, the crown prince's aide spoke.
"Isn't Abraham's mission conditioned on empathic contact? The suspects stayed on campus. Abraham used Lord Marco's body then... how did they connect?"
"Indeed, curious."
Someone from prosecution agreed.
'Hm.'
This is serious.
Though lobbed to scratch me, the crown prince's earlier question felt far superior.
He smiled as if dismissing such queries.
I explained slowly, softer than before.
"Unlike blood, mere words suffice for empathy, achievable via another's body. If the body mattered, Abraham wouldn't have sought consents using Lord Marco's."
"Ah, understood."
"So, I had investigators review the suspects' conversations. Gloria Klein, the dorm ops staffer detained for accessing classified coordinates, chatted unusually often with professors. She's also listed as an Abraham victim."
The police chief asked.
"Not just sociable?"
"Either another Abraham target, or Abraham himself socialized via her body."
Meeting the crown prince's eyes, I continued.
"One or the other."
"Hm."
"Thus ends the basis for my non-prosecution proposal. No further questions? We conclude."
Silence.
The crown prince smiled satisfied.
No grounds left for objections.
'Separate from that...'
He's Abraham, as expected.
Fulfilling "I'll be watching" this way—amusing.
Paradoxically, his questions bolstered my credibility. Crisis is opportunity. He wouldn't self-sabotage expecting that—my apologies.
The crown prince, half-resigned, half-amused, eyed the emperor.
"Your Majesty. Best decide now."
The emperor silently raised a hand, signaling halt.
Prosecutors rose; a sound barrier rose between seating and podium. Much later, the meeting's end was announced. I returned to my seat.
The emperor, silent throughout, approached the podium.
Slowly surveying us, he spoke solemnly.
"Regarding the Prussia Investigation Bureau's non-prosecution proposal for this case, our empire..."
* * *
With Leo's aid, I warped to the prosecution detention center.
After brief procedures, we entered the visiting room.
Clunk—creak—
The heavy iron door slid aside. Between two guards, I spotted the arriving mage. Leo unconsciously furrowed at his dark under-eyes.
I approached slowly.
"Professor."
The mage looked up.
The incident had shocked him deeply; in a week, his face was unrecognizable.
"Lord Ernst?"
"You recognize me."
"Who wouldn't."
He smiled faintly, resigned.
As an individual, how could he not? I effectively detained him.
Yet no resentment in his gaze. The near-miss endangering students via his hand, plus a week of grueling investigation over unremembered events, had exhausted him.
Only now noticing Leo beside me, his expression brightened slightly as he greeted.
"And... Leonard, yes? How are our class students?"
"They're awaiting your return, Professor."
The professor shut his mouth, at a loss. Natural, given the uphill innocence battle.
I averted from Leo's troubled gaze down at him, opening the envelope.
"I came personally with news you must hear."
I extended the crisp white paper, red-sealed.
Despite my proffer, he stared blankly at me, only slowly fixing on the desk after ages.
"...!"
His eyes widened.
"His Majesty issued the non-prosecution order."
He snapped up, alternating between Leo and me.
Disbelieving even the report. Smiling at his face, I said.
"You can return to school now, Professor."