The Third Card (1)
“I am the one who distributed it, Your Honor.”
I barely managed to swallow the laugh that nearly burst out of me.
No sooner had I finished speaking than a murmur rippled through the gallery watching this spectacle unfold. Cardinal Basel remained composed, but everyone else looked rattled, as if they had no idea how the situation had suddenly gone so wrong.
That reaction was only natural. If you learned that the neighbor who always greeted you with a kind smile was a drug trafficker, most people would probably make the same face.
It felt a little strange to say it myself, but my image in the Empire was so spotless it might as well have been carved into the sky.
Apparently deciding I had something up my sleeve, Ito Souta hurriedly opened his mouth.
But what the public was waiting for now was not his speech. It was the truth spilling from my lips.
“How shameless can you be, confessing your own crimes with such calm? Your Honor, is there any need to hear more? The plaintiff and defendant have clearly been reversed at this point. Arrest him at once and proceed according to the proper procedure—”
“Arrest? Procedure? It’s true that I distributed it, but I never admitted to any crime with my own mouth. The defendant is still you.”
“If distributing narcotics in a free city isn’t a crime, then what is? If framing an innocent person as the aggressor is also a crime, then I suppose we can call it one.”
“No, what I’m saying is that I have no idea what you’re talking about, Mr. Ito Souta.”
“It’s exactly as it appears, Lee Kiyoung. Didn’t you just testify with your own mouth that you distributed narcotics?”
“And I’m telling you that isn’t what I said, Mr. Souta.”
“If you think you can play innocent—”
“Illusion Potion isn’t a narcotic. It’s not a drug.”
I could feel laughter threatening to spill out again. The look on his face was priceless. He had absolutely no idea what I was thinking, or what I intended to do.
He was probably considering the possibility that this was just bluffing, but the man was too cautious to move without assuming there was something to it on my side.
“Your Honor, the Illusion Potion I distributed is not something that can be called a narcotic. I would like to ask for the opportunity to explain the potion I’ve been distributing to the citizens of the Empire here today.”
“Indeed... this does seem to require explanation.”
“Your Honor!”
“I will permit you to speak.”
Excellent.
“Most of Ito Souta’s testimony is true. It is also true that I created a mental treatment potion in the Cursed Shrine, and that I later used the hints from that potion to make the Illusion Potion. It is also true that Kasugano Yuno and I formed a new guild called Sora and distributed the potion through it. I could not personally confirm whether it was being sold on the black market, but it is highly likely that that part is true as well.”
“Continue.”
“Of course, there are far more statements here that are false than true. The claim that the Lindel terror incident was a war between drug organizations is a lie, and the claim that the dead Kazuma Hiroyuki was a member of the Kage Guild is also false. Naturally, the claim that the attempted assassination incident was my own fabrication is also a lie.”
“Your Honor!”
“The defendant should remain quiet for the moment. As you yourself said earlier, the testimony the plaintiff is about to provide is of great importance in this trial.”
The chief justice, who had maintained good relations with me until now, also seemed to want us to win. Seeing him silently support me like that only gave me more energy.
“Of course, the greatest lie of all is the claim that the Illusion Potion is a narcotic. It is a completely absurd and ridiculous story.”
“Do you have proof?”
“To be precise, the Illusion Potion was created for therapeutic purposes.”
“Therapeutic purposes?”
“Yes. For treatment. Just like the mental treatment potion I used in the Cursed Shrine, the Illusion Potion was also developed for treatment and distributed for treatment. The defendant is claiming that the incidents so far were caused by a territorial conflict between the Kage Guild and me, but the truth is entirely different. The Yamato Guild, which Ito Souta belongs to, has joined hands with the Kage Guild.”
The claim that the Yamato Guild had joined forces with the Kage Guild was an original bit of worldbuilding straight out of my own brain. Of course, I had no hard evidence to submit right this second, but I decided that talking my way through it like this would be more efficient.
“.........”
“I’m sure many of you have heard something like this before.”
Because I’m the one who said it.
“I’m talking about the rumor that Ito Souta’s Yamato Guild is running slave trading, organ trafficking, illegal pharmaceuticals, and even the black market itself.”
“Objection, Your Honor! That rumor has no basis whatsoever, and the evidence they plan to present is also extremely flimsy.”
“The strongest evidence will become clear shortly. Let me begin from the start. Your Honor, the story begins when Kasugano Yuno of the Yozora Guild came to see me. She told me about narcotics that had been illegally distributed in Japan for a very long time. Yes. I’m not talking about the Illusion Potion, but the real stuff—what should properly be called narcotics. By then, the free city of Celia was already exposed to illegal drugs, and she told me personally that many people were suffering because of them.”
“.........”
“What she asked me for was a cure.”
“Ah...”
“Yes. As you’re all probably thinking, the Illusion Potion is the cure for the illegal narcotics that had by then become hard to find in Celia. Our Blue Guild and Yozora didn’t just want to treat the addicts—they also wanted to find out where those illegal drugs were coming from. I think that was around the time things started.”
“What things?”
“The constant assassination threats against me.”
I let the words hang there before continuing.
“It seemed like they didn’t want me getting close to the truth. In addition to the Lindel terror incident, the threats targeting me kept growing. To be honest, we didn’t yet have a clear picture of the group controlling Japan’s drug market, but the repeated assassination attempts told us a great deal. As I mentioned at the beginning of this trial, it was the Yamato Guild that tried to assassinate me. Or perhaps it was the Kage Guild. A Kage Guild member acting on the orders of the Yamato Guild, to be precise.”
“This is all false and nothing but sophistry, Your Honor. The claim that the Illusion Potion is a cure for existing narcotics is baseless. In the first place, how could something addictive like the Illusion Potion possibly serve as a cure for drugs?”
“And why exactly do you say it can’t be a cure, Mr. Ito Souta? The effect of the Illusion Potion has already been proven at the Cursed Shrine. And addictive? Please choose your words carefully. It’s true that the Illusion Potion has a small degree of dependency, but calling it a narcotic is no different from calling wine and other recreational foods drugs.”
“That’s...”
“It was created as a treatment in the first place. If no one had deliberately blocked its distribution somewhere along the way, it would already have been circulating freely. Your Honor, the reason Ito Souta kept threatening me was probably to stop this treatment potion from being distributed.”
“That’s ridiculous. Your Honor, our guild’s alchemists detected a weed-based component in the Illusion Potion that induces addiction and hallucinations.”
Now that was genuinely surprising.
Of course I knew they’d analyze the ingredients if they wanted concrete proof, but I hadn’t expected them to identify one of the catalysts so precisely.
It was clear they’d brought in some fairly capable alchemists, and I could at least respect that.
But even so—
There isn’t a single alchemist on this continent more capable than me.
“So you even finished your ingredient analysis already. That only makes things more suspicious, Your Honor. You’ve completed the analysis, and yet you still call the Illusion Potion a narcotic?”
“If a potion contains weed-based ingredients, what else would you call it, Lee Kiyoung?”
“Mr. Ito Souta, are you sure you analyzed it correctly? If you truly understood the Illusion Potion, words like that could not possibly come out of your mouth. No, they shouldn’t come out at all.”
“What in the—”
“The Illusion Potion is made from holy water, Mr. Ito Souta.”
“......”
“......”
“......”
It wasn’t just him. The entire room went silent in an instant, as if someone had shoved a rat into their mouths.
The situation was getting so funny I was almost laughing out loud. They had clearly realized that this trial had become a little strange.
Ito Souta’s expression was already twisted beyond recognition. I caught sight of him frantically turning his head to check the faces of the churchmen, including Cardinal Basel.
Pfft.
He didn’t look like a power broker who could control an entire city.
“That is how a cure works, Mr. Ito Souta. The weed-based component exists solely for treatment, for no other reason. Holy water bestowed by Goddess Benignore purifies any ingredient that might be even slightly harmful to the body. From an alchemist’s perspective, it honestly made the process easier.”
“......”
“In truth, we didn’t even need to make a separate treatment potion. The Goddess’s holy water alone would have been more than enough to complete the purification process, but the monster consuming the free city of Celia wasn’t limited to illegal narcotics. What the Illusion Potion reveals is the gift the Goddess has granted us, Mr. Ito Souta.”
“......”
“To dare call the Goddess’s gift a narcotic—if that isn’t blasphemy, then what is? Isn’t that right, everyone?”
Several people were still keeping their mouths shut, but it didn’t take long for the once-quiet chamber to be swallowed by frenzy.
That was because Heresy Inquisitor General Helena, who had maintained an exceptionally close and intimate relationship with me, suddenly erupted in a booming voice.
“Blasphemy!”
Once she opened her mouth, the other inquisitors around her were infected by the madness in an instant. Loud voices exploded from every direction.
“Blasphemy! It’s blasphemy!”
“Heretic! Heretic!”
“Blasphemy!”
I did think calling him a heretic was a bit much, but it certainly helped me.
Pfft.
I was enjoying this so much that laughter was threatening to spill out. Ito Souta’s face, now crumpled with panic, rushed to speak.
“Th-this is the result of ignorance! I didn’t know the Illusion Potion was made from holy water. If I had known, I would never have said such a thing. Your Honor—no, Cardinal Basel—surely you know how much faith I have in Goddess Benignore!”
It’s better to make excuses like this.
“Honorable priests, I beg you to forgive my ignorance. I had no other intention.”
Cardinal Basel was indeed the highest-ranking religious figure present. Since only cardinals of his rank could convene a religious trial, it wasn’t strange that Ito kept trying to cling to him. Unfortunately for him, Basel had long since been on my side.
Still, aside from that, his excuse was actually reasonable.
To repeat that the Illusion Potion wasn’t a narcotic would be to negate all the testimony he’d already given. In other words, it was actually more likely that he’d survive by walking back his own statements.
There’s a chance.
If he claimed he hadn’t known, then there would be room for a defense.
The problem is...
That wasn’t the end of what I had prepared. The real twist was that Cardinal Basel had already finished drinking it.
What had he drunk?
The precious wine I’d prepared for him.
And a special vintage at that. Fuheheheheheheh.
The Illusion Potion basically makes you see what you want to see.
Of course, just like at the Cursed Shrine, as the pharmacist I could also make it show whatever I wanted it to show.
Maybe some of the clergy, after drinking the holy water bestowed by heaven, would mistake what they saw for divine revelation.
And our faithful Cardinal Basel was no different.
What do you think Cardinal Basel saw after drinking the wine I gave him, idiot?
He could never have imagined it.
What kind of scene do you think I showed him, huh? You devil-worshipping bastard.
“As of this moment, I judge that this matter has moved beyond the jurisdiction of the Empire’s court. In the name of the authority vested in the Second Cardinal of the Holy Empire’s Papal Curia, I formally request Judge James to open a religious trial here and now.”
“That...”
Only Cardinal Basel and I knew the little secret behind those words.
Devil-worshipper Ito Souta!
It was the heartfelt gift I had thrown at him.
—