Chapter 50
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 50
Chapter Title: Raising the Stakes
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A few days later.
"Therefore, Adrian von Krushtein must appear before the capital court two months from now... The charges are illegal detention of a regular army legion commander and suspicion of treason."
Treason.
That was the charge my wise eldest brother had pinned on me.
Two months.
Trials in this empire were infamous for dragging on forever.
Just like the 40,000-year-old space empire swarming with green monsters that reproduced via spores in my past life, or the courts in India from my previous incarnation.
For ordinary cases, three or four years was standard. Ten or twenty years wasn't uncommon.
But two months?
Someone had paid up, or the higher-ups were pushing it through.
One or the other.
"Treason?! They attacked us first!"
Celine cut in.
"I am merely delivering the summons."
The messenger's response was mechanical.
Sir Heinrich stepped forward.
"Jurisdiction for the trial?"
"The capital court."
"Composition of the judges?"
"It will be announced later."
Short question and answer. Formal, but it gave the necessary information.
Lize stood silently.
The silver-haired girl's one eye scanned the parchment.
"Please sign."
The messenger held out the parchment and a quill.
I took them. The nib touched the paper.
Adrian von Krushtein. Pretty neat for a ten-year-old's signature.
"Receipt confirmed."
The messenger bowed and turned. The door closed, and footsteps faded down the hall.
"What are you going to do?"
Celine spoke first. Her tail twitched uneasily.
I set the summons on the table. The parchment made a dry rustle.
"First, we need to assess the situation."
The man in the corner stepped forward. Werner. My newly promoted staff officer.
He'd been a regular soldier originally. I pulled him up because he could read and was quick with numbers, for handling odd jobs.
I'd executed almost all the previous staff officers.
Three for embezzlement. One more lost his head around the time Lize took over as my proxy.
Only one was left after that. He hadn't committed any corruption, so I figured he was usable enough, but he recently retired to the countryside citing illness.
I'd told him multiple times I had no intention of executing him, but he clearly didn't believe me.
Well, can hardly blame him.
After seeing his colleagues' heads rolling one by one, I wouldn't trust me either.
He was a hasty appointment due to manpower shortages.
"The burden of proof lies with the side asserting the treason charge. They must prove it."
Werner spoke up.
"And us?"
"We just defend. Just defend..."
His hand trembled slightly.
"The treason charge is completely false. Proving self-defense is enough."
Lize interjected.
"What evidence?"
"We have it."
Werner tapped the documents.
"Legion Commander Georg's testimony. He confessed to receiving orders for a preemptive strike. Plus, we secured the 6th Legion's advance records. The timelines and movement paths make it clear who struck first."
"So we win?"
Celine cut in.
"If we prepare the evidence properly, no problem."
Confidence crept into Werner's voice.
He seemed the type to convince himself with his own words.
"Two months is plenty. We organize the evidence and prepare witnesses."
I nodded. Sound logic.
We had evidence. Witnesses too. Legally, we could win.
Lize pulled a sheet of paper from her bosom.
"The summons had the judges' names attached."
"What's odd about that?"
Werner tilted his head.
"Normally, the judges' list is revealed three days before trial. So the defense can't investigate them beforehand. Prevents bribery or threats."
The paper spread out on the table. Three names.
"But two months early?"
"Yes."
Celine jumped in.
"A mistake? Some imperial clerk slipped it in?"
"No mistake."
Lize stated firmly.
"It's a lottery. Judge assignment."
"In principle."
Celine tilted her head.
"Principle?"
"There are exceptions. I read it in the book you gave me, young master. The chief judge can personally assign judges for specific cases at their discretion."
"So..."
"Bribe just the chief judge."
Werner's face hardened.
I picked up the paper from the table. Three names.
"Investigate these judges' backgrounds."
"Already started."
Lize replied, as if it were obvious.
Of course.
"Report as soon as you have results."
"Three days."
Three days later.
Lize entered holding a stack of documents.
"Investigation results are in."
The papers spread across the table. Three names, dense notes beside them.
"First. Karl. Twenty years' experience. Nothing unusual. Clean. No bribery record, no shady connections."
"Next?"
"Muenz. Five years ago, took a loan from Mueller Trading Company. Amount: 300 gold."
300 gold. Not a small sum. Enough for a common family to live on for ten years.
"Repaid?"
"Yes. Full repayment over two years."
"Then no issue?"
"There's a connection. The fact he borrowed from Mueller at all. Why Mueller, of all the trading firms in the capital?"
"Loan purpose?"
"Still confirming. A few more days."
"Got it. Third?"
"Judge Lange. He's the biggest problem. His son works at a Mueller affiliate. Going on three years now. Two out of three connected to Mueller."
"Could be coincidence."
Celine interjected.
Lize tapped the document with her finger.
"Two out of three judges? There are dozens of judges in the empire. Over forty in the capital court alone. Yet two of the three assigned to this trial are tied to Mueller?"
"I see what Ernst's 'ace in the hole' is."
"What?"
Werner asked.
"The judges are the problem."
"You don't mean... the judges would go that far?"
"Mueller loan. Mueller affiliate job. Coincidence?"
"They're bribed?"
Celine cut in.
"Direct bribe or indirect pressure. Doesn't matter. Those two judges aren't on our side. That's the key."
Lize nodded slowly.
"No matter how much evidence we have, it's useless. Judges decide."
I nodded at Lize's words.
"Can't win with evidence. If the judges are bought, no amount of proof matters."
Rule of law.
A beautiful concept.
But rule of law has an inevitable flaw...
No matter how perfect and beautiful the statutes, humans interpret them.
Humans can be bought.
Humans can be threatened.
Humans calculate self-interest.
In my past life, there was the three-hearing system. Three trials. Three chances. Reality? Just bribe three times.
This world is worse. One trial, and the chief judge can handpick the panel.
The system to prevent corruption is more primitive than my past life's.
Of course, I won't die from this trial. The charges are too contrived.
Father's protection too.
But it'll be a hassle.
"At this rate, we lose."
"No weaknesses?"
Lize asked.
"Weaknesses?"
"Mueller's weaknesses."
Mueller's weaknesses...
Plenty come to mind.
But the strongest one?
"That they're a traitorous house. I told you last time, Lize."
"Tell me again."
"One of the main forces in the rebellion twenty years ago. They kept their countship through negotiations because their military power was intact, but lost half their lands. Demoted from duke to count."
There was probably imperial intent to check the rising new powerhouse House Krushtein, but I didn't add that.
Lize touched her fingertips to her lips. Her thinking habit.
"You think that could be a weakness in the capital's political circles?"
"Maybe. If we raise the stakes big enough, sure... but..."
"But?"
"A duke and his son's squabble? Too petty to stir controversy in the capital."
Celine jumped in.
"Petty? Brothers fighting over a duchy? All us siblings are consumed by this."
"You know it's not. Families like ours pop up all the time. The imperial family too. Ours is just a lesser version."
"True... The fight over the throne is the real deal. One player's even a runaway—or assassinated. An enhanced human's sitting in as a body double."
Werner's head snapped toward Celine's mutter.
Like he'd heard something he shouldn't.
No chance he was a spy given his background, so I ignored it.
"What if we raise the stakes?"
"Huh?"
"Big enough to reach His Majesty's eyes?"
"If we make it that big, we could swing public opinion somehow."
Lize smiled. Lips only. Her red eyes stayed coldly still.
"There's a way. To blow the stakes sky-high!"
"What?"
"Kill the judges."
Motion stopped.
Celine's ears perked up. Werner's mouth hung half-open.
"Then reveal the evidence. 'Mueller bribed judges for treason. We just executed the traitors.' Counter-sue for treason."
"No... no... wait..."
Werner.
A man who called a girl half his age 'Chief of Staff.'
A man who'd long discarded his pride.
Even he spoke up.
"Chief of Staff, have you lost your mind?"
Lize didn't blink.
"If the empire's rotten as young master says. If the law isn't fair. Strike first."
"Still, kill judges? Imperial court judges?"
"Ordinary judges have no guards. Someone at Lady Celine's level could do it easily."
"Me kill them?"
"Yes."
Short answer. No hesitation.
"Then plaster it everywhere. 'Mueller's plotting rebellion again. Moved northern legions without imperial permission. The traitor from twenty years ago has drawn his sword once more.'"