Into the Lion's Den (2)
Meanwhile, at the royal castle of the Crossline Kingdom.
Inside a room shrouded in darkness despite the broad daylight, curtains drawn tight against the sun, a haggard man sat in silence before a wall painting.
"..."
He traced his fingertips across the mural, large enough to swallow an entire wall. His sunken eyes drifted down to the memorial plaque set beneath it.
His Highness Prince Lassen Castor
"Lassen..."
He called his son's name once more—a name he had spoken countless times before.
No answer came.
King Leo Castor. Master of all roads, ruler of the world's great crossroads.
He stroked the mural again.
Lassen in the painting was smiling—the image of a cheerful boy with brown hair and green eyes.
King Leo remembered that face as vividly as if it were yesterday.
— I want to become a king like you someday, Father.
— Do you? And what part of me do you want to be like?
He remembered the year his son turned fourteen, the boy declaring his ambitions with brave, shining eyes.
— A king who guards the crossroads of the world! No wait—a Little Beast like you, Father! No, no—a big, a biiiig Beast! That's what I'll be!
— Good heavens, you'd have to be reborn three times over for that. Hahahaha. You'd need to double your training starting today.
— Th-then... I'll be a Little Beast.
Fifteen years had passed, yet the conversation echoed in his head with perfect clarity, as if they'd exchanged the words only yesterday.
"My son..."
He called a name that would never answer again. The one presence that had let him endure the throne out of sheer duty.
King Leo had loved his son not because Lassen was capable, nor because he was docile.
He loved him because the boy had reminded him that there were things in this world worth protecting.
Through his son, Leo had seen that even in a merciless world where the strong devoured the weak, hope still existed—that new heirs would rise, and that there would always be those who carried the torch onward.
That was why Leo Castor had been able to act as a king. As the Little Beast.
But Lassen was dead.
Dead at fourteen, before his flower had ever even bloomed.
And now, just like the mural before his eyes, his time had been frozen at fifteen years ago.
A father who has lost his child.
What is there to say?
What is there to discuss?
What is there to do?
To a king who had lost his ideals, his dreams, and his purpose, none of it mattered anymore.
He simply sank into fleeting pleasures and an eternal longing.
The Little Beast closed his eyes and slowly drifted toward sleep before the mural.
Praying that this reality, too, might only be a dream.
Then, an unpleasant sound broke the silence at the door.
— Knock, knock.
"Your Majesty."
It was the court minister.
Lifeless green eyes opened once more. Leo did not answer.
'No doubt just another plea for me to return.'
Certain the man was about to repeat words he had grown sick of hearing, the king quickly lost interest and closed his eyes again. Silence would be answer enough.
But this time was a little different.
"Your Majesty, the Central Officer has arrived, as decreed by royal command."
Royal command.
At those words, the king surfaced briefly from his memories and fell into thought.
'Did I ever give such an order?'
He supposed he had. He vaguely recalled the Queen mentioning some strange title—Central Officer—in their bed a few days prior.
— There is one wretch who dares to defile the etiquette of our kingdom.
He remembered nothing beyond that. He had no desire to dredge up whatever else she had asked of him.
He had been too quickly lost in the scent of her bare skin and the pleasures of the flesh.
As long as he had that—as long as he could forget this reality—nothing else mattered.
With an air of irritation, not even bothering to turn his head, he murmured:
"...Let it be done as the Queen wishes."
Why report this to me at all? I already washed my hands of it.
"State affairs will be handled by the vassals and the Queen. You are dismissed."
But instead of withdrawing as usual, the court minister added from beyond the door:
"It is the Queen's request. She insists you attend the trial in person, to lend it your weight."
"..."
If the Queen was willing to go this far, she clearly harbored quite the grudge against this so-called Central Officer.
What else could compel her to summon a king who had withdrawn from state affairs?
For the king to attend a trial carried enormous meaning. A single word from his lips would decide the verdict.
'And that, no doubt, is exactly what the Queen wants.'
King Leo slowly rose from his hunched posture.
"If that is the Queen's wish."
He cared nothing for it either way. People died all the time.
What meaning was there in the death of one young man? He would simply show his face and leave.
"Tell them I will observe the trial."
— Rattle, rattle.
Sitting in a carriage bathed in warm sunlight was, quite simply, glorious.
'Under normal circumstances, I'd be buried in paperwork and entry inspections right about now.'
Between the plush seat and the gentle sway of the carriage, I had drifted off without even noticing.
How much time had passed?
"Wake up, Central Officer. We've arrived."
"...Huh?"
When I opened my eyes, the deputy was staring at me—sitting in exactly the same position as when I'd boarded the carriage yesterday morning.
"The royal castle."
"Snk—wha—ah, yes! Getting off now!"
Only then did I wipe the drool from the corner of my mouth and hurriedly climb out of the carriage.
— Thud.
Along with, of course, the [Evidence Locker] box I'd brought with me.
After hauling the box down, I turned my head—and there it was: a royal castle carved directly out of a rocky mountain.
"...Urakim Castle."
A castle situated at the exact center of the continent. The starting point of every road, and the very symbol of the Crossline Kingdom.
Urakim Castle stood before me.
My gaze climbed the spires until my neck ached.
'How long has it been since I was last here?'
The last time had been the Sight Officer's funeral, back when I was first commissioned. It had truly been ages.
Old memories stirred.
Just then, the deputy, who had climbed down after me, spoke up.
"Hurry. The trial begins shortly."
"Wh-when exactly?"
"Everyone has already been informed of your arrival. It will commence within two hours at the latest."
Two hours.
Brutally tight.
'They're not even giving me time to prepare.'
I could feel the iron will to wrap this up quickly and cleanly.
The deputy pointed a finger at the box beside me.
"Before that, I trust you will finish all your preparations."
"Yes, sir."
"Also, there are people waiting to see you. Pay them a brief greeting."
"...I'm sorry, what?"
The moment the words left his mouth, I spotted two figures emerging from the royal castle. They were far away, but something about them looked familiar. One was a tall woman; the other, a wiry, thin man.
'Where do I know them from—'
The moment they saw me, the woman suddenly broke into a sprint.
"CENTRAL OFFICIEEEEEER!"
"Ah."
I recognized her from the voice alone. But before I could react, she had already lunged and wrapped her arms around my head.
At the same time, the distinctive desert-sand scent of the nomad people washed over me.
"My, my, how long has it been!? Our Central Officer, come show this old woman your face!"
"W-wait, no, hold on a moment! Director Hailin!"
Director Hailin ruffled my hair like a woman possessed.
— Scrub scrub scrub scrub.
Her relentless hands shook my vision this way and that.
"Let this old woman see how much you've grown! Have you been eating properly? Any incidents or accidents down south? No need to answer! This old woman already knows everything!"
"Uwaaah. I'm, I'm getting dizzy!"
"Goodness, look how thin you've gotten. You're not a person anymore, you're a skeleton!"
A welcome far too violent for her station left my head spinning.
No, this is stuff you do in private! What am I supposed to do with everyone watching!?
Once I'd barely recovered my composure, I asked:
"But—how did you know I was coming, Director...?"
How had she shown up at precisely the right moment?
The answer came from the man walking up slowly behind her.
"How? Because we had to prepare for the trial, you brat."
"...Minister."
Cartion Grayson. It was my first time meeting him in person since seeing him through the crystal orb, but the deeply pressed monocle was exactly as I remembered.
"Thank you for your encouragement back then, Minister."
"It was an unofficial remark. No need to bring it up."
"Yessir."
I snapped off a quick salute, and he gave a curt nod in return.
At that, Hailin burst out laughing.
"Well done. Khek—finest encouragement a superior ever gave."
"You..."
The Minister of Foreign Affairs glared at Hailin with clear displeasure.
"Director. And here you were saying it was better not to see each other's faces, yet the moment we meet you can't keep your hands to yourself."
"Oh, hush. We desert folk welcome our friends with our whole heart. All the more when that friend is a brave one."
"Friends, my ass. When a subordinate becomes a friend, you're in for trouble."
"Perhaps that's why Your Excellency has no friends, hmm?"
Friends.
A faint smile crossed my lips at the word. I knew it was a joke, but still—it felt good.
'Thank goodness these two are here.'
The tension in my shoulders loosened, just a little. If I'd been alone, the crushing weight of the place probably would have frozen me stiff.
After a few more barbs were exchanged, the Minister caught sight of the [Evidence Locker] I'd brought and clicked his tongue.
"Good lord, you madman. We told you we'd help with the evidence—did you really haul back this much yourself?"
Just as he said, the box was stuffed to bursting with documents, one breath away from splitting open.
"Ahaha... The管理处 people did get a little... enthusiastic."
"Good. The more, the better. Combined with what we've gathered, that'll make quite the pile."
Cartion lowered his voice.
"But don't let your guard down. You're inside the mouths of those people right now."
"..."
He didn't need to specify which those.
I could feel eyes on me. When I turned my head, the people who had been watching me from every corner of the royal castle grounds quickly averted their gazes and went on their way.
"The rumor's already spread?"
"Most everyone who matters already knows. There hasn't been a single royal edict issued recently—that was bound to draw attention."
"That's... troublesome."
Being the center of attention was never a good sign. It meant I'd be dragged up and down the gossip mill, and noise and static were sure to follow.
As the Minister and I stood there wearing grim expressions, Director Hailin suddenly thrust something at me.
"Here, here—eat this first."
A pungent, nose-stinging whiff of spice hit me.
"Wh-what is this?"
"Compressed jerky of a sow, the kind we eat to fatten up back in this old woman's homeland. You need to put some meat on your bones, Central Officer."
"A s-sow..."
Something in my stomach turned over.
A sow...
— Oink.
A certain little piglet I knew floated up in my mind.
"I-I'll pass."
The refusal came out before I could stop myself, and Hailin tilted her head.
"Hmm? The Central Officer this old woman knows is mad for pork, no?"
"It's... not that. Something's come up lately."
I couldn't explain why, but meat just hadn't appealed to me these days.
"Just have one."
"Ah—look at that, the trial time is nearly upon us! We should hurry inside!"
And with a wave of my hands, I ducked quickly into the royal castle.
"Please, sit here."
Following the servant guiding us deeper into the castle, we at last arrived at the courtroom.
"So this is the courtroom..."
I murmured, dazed.
The courtroom was, in a word, resplendent. Desks carved from polished marble, three-story-tall windows admitting just the right amount of sunlight, pillars reaching all the way to the ceiling and covered in every manner of carving. This was no ordinary courthouse.
'Why does this feel like the courtroom they use when traitors or the royal family stand accused?'
Far too lavish a venue for interrogating a mere entry officer.
And yet here I was, to be tried in it.
'They've made up their minds, haven't they.'
I shrank without meaning to, crushed by the pressure. No matter how resolved I was, the oppressive weight of a place like this hit differently.
"Don't be scared."
The ones to break me out of it were the Minister and Director Hailin, seated beside me on the [Defendant's] bench.
"If you're cowed from the very start, you're nothing but easy prey."
"Y-yes, sir!"
"And we have plenty of evidence of our own, so square those shoulders. You're not a criminal yet. And you won't be."
"...Thank you."
Just as he said, I took a deep breath and lifted my head.
My gaze naturally shifted to the people seated across from us.
Opposite the [Defendant's] bench sat a woman in lavish clothing I'd never seen before.
"Hmph."
There was no need for anyone to tell me who occupied the [Plaintiff's] seat.
'Queen Helena Castor.'
The woman who was practically salivating at the chance to have me killed glared at me with open displeasure.
Behind her, the Chief Inspector and several other ministers had taken their seats.
After scanning the plaintiff's side, the Minister spat:
"Bastards. So-called vassals, hitching themselves to that side."
His voice dripped with bitterness.
"The silver lining is that the Queen's side doesn't seem to have any additional witnesses lined up."
"We can manage this, Central Officer."
Right. We could manage.
Whatever they claimed over there, all we had to do was rebut it.
'The evidence and depositions are locked down tight.'
And I had a trump card, too.
A trump card they would never see coming.
'Erzena should be here as a witness.'
Witnesses were typically summoned partway through the trial, so there was no way to confirm whether she had arrived yet.
For now, all I could do was trust her and wait for my moment.
Before long, a judge who looked to be well along in years entered the courtroom and took his seat.
"We will now begin the trial of the defendant, Central Officer Nathan Kell."
— Bang. Bang. Bang.
Three strikes of the gavel rang through the courtroom.
Now it began.
"First, the plaintiff's side—"
And then.
— Creeeak.
Someone pushed open the door and entered.
At the sudden sound, every head in the room turned toward the door.
"Court is presently in session, so kindly withdraw at on—huh?"
And then, everyone was struck dumb.
"...!!!!"
"Gah...!"
I was not the only one stunned.
"Good heavens."
Even Director Hailin's eyes went wide, as if she hadn't foreseen this either.
And the Minister—
"Your Majesty...?"
—shot to his feet as if he might faint on the spot.
Everyone hastily dropped to one knee.
"""We greet His Majesty the King!"""
Flustered voices echoed through the courtroom.
The only one unsurprised was the Queen. She rose from her seat and addressed the frozen assembly with utter confidence:
"Today's trial shall be observed by our sovereign, His Majesty the King."
King Leo Castor walked across the courtroom in silence, step by heavy step.
Then, with a gesture, he stopped the judge—who was scrambling unsteadily to rise from his seat—and sat down himself.
Right beside the Queen.
"..."
"..."
At that sight, the Minister's and Director Hailin's faces hardened like stone.
Lifeless green eyes spoke, low and quiet:
"Begin the trial."
The atmosphere changed in an instant.