A Plausible Plan — Until You Get Hit
It was a plausible plan. Right up until you got hit.
The heavy doors swung open, and an elderly judge with neatly combed white hair strode in.
Trisha leaned close and whispered into my ear.
"Client. That gentleman is Grand Justice Aurelius, who will be presiding over this trial. He's famous for his uncompromising principles. He enjoyed the deep trust of the previous Emperor, and he has a long-standing friendship with the Pope himself… Which is why he's known as the one judge whose rulings simply cannot be swayed by ordinary pressure."
"…Oh?"
My eyes lit up.
Jackpot. What kind of free lunch is this?
A courtroom where neither bribes nor threats would work? This was basically winning the lottery!
At the very least, it meant he wasn't the type to fold under imperial pressure.
I lifted my gaze to study the judge.
Not a flicker of emotion showed on his face. He looked like the sort of man who would be equally blunt with a powerful noble or a common street beggar.
Yes. Someone like him might actually understand how wronged I am.
The judge took his seat.
At last, the trial began.
Trisha told me to just sit there wearing my mastermind smile, so all I have to do is follow orders!
One corner of my mouth curved upward, crimson eyes creasing into a knowing smile—my signature mastermind smirk was already perfectly in place.
From the bench, Grand Justice Aurelius brought the heavy gavel down with three sharp cracks.
"The Imperial Criminal Trial of Celia, proprietress of the Skill Rental Shop, will now commence."
With that solemn declaration, a middle-aged man rose from the prosecutor's table. His pomaded hair was slicked back with enough oil to shine under the lights. The black robes he wore could not hide the arrogance of a man who had long tasted the sweet nectar of power.
"The prosecution will now state the charges."
The moment the order left the judge's lips, the prosecutor unfurled his documents with a wicked smile, as if he had been waiting for this exact second.
"The defendant Celia is a grave criminal who has directly defied the Empire's official judicial system and market order. The prosecution hereby indicts her on three counts."
His voice rolled through the grand courtroom like an announcement at a royal ball.
"First: she illegally circulated unidentified Mythic-grade skills without official Imperial authorization, thereby destroying the established norms of market trade.
"Second: she unauthorizedly modified and raised an extremely dangerous ancient spirit beast, thereby threatening the safety of the Empire.
"Finally: she used an anonymous network account to spread false information, artificially distorting real-estate prices in the Ash Valley district and simultaneously shaking both the judicial system and economic order!"
The gallery erupted in murmurs as the charges were read.
…What? I never did any of that. And what the hell is this "dangerous ancient spirit beast"? Don't tell me he means our Kkamagi?
Our Kkamagi, who gets kidnapped by neighborhood thugs, is a dangerous spirit beast?
I was so dumbfounded I almost laughed. By that logic, every pigeon in the district was a strategic weapon.
The prosecutor lifted his chin arrogantly, clearly savoring the restless stir of the audience.
"This prosecution is fully confident that there is zero possibility of an acquittal in this case. Furthermore, I understand a public defender has been appointed, but…"
He glanced down at the defense table with a mocking curl of his lip.
"…I do find myself concerned whether that individual is even capable of uttering a single coherent word in court."
Snickers leaked from the gallery.
Ha… A prosecutor picking a fight in a sacred courtroom right from the opening bell?
His cheap little scheme to intimidate the opposing counsel was painfully obvious.
Just then—
"Prosecutor."
The judge's voice sliced clean through the gallery's laughter.
"This court exists to determine guilt or innocence. Restrict yourself to the statement of charges."
Grand Justice Aurelius's gaze was as cold as frost.
For the first time, the arrogant prosecutor's expression stiffened slightly.
Oh? The old man's got more backbone than I expected.
The prosecutor cleared his throat, trying to reclaim his dignity, and pressed on.
"…In any case, the defendant's actions were no mere personal deviation. She incited the ignorant lower-class residents of the slums, who possess no legal knowledge whatsoever, and shook the very foundation of the Imperial economy. She disrupted order with some unknown, malevolent magic. Such remnants must be permanently isolated from society without the slightest leniency!"
In a single breath he was painting me as a national-level catastrophe—the mastermind plotting the Empire's downfall.
"Defense counsel, you may now respond to the prosecution's charges."
The judge's heavy voice summoned Trisha.
Hundreds of eyes in the courtroom locked onto the defense table at once.
The prosecutor folded his arms, already tasting victory.
Trisha rose to her feet.
In that exact instant, her gaze—casually sweeping toward the prosecution side—stopped dead on an elderly man seated in the prosecutorial advisory seats.
Neatly combed white hair. Luxurious robes embroidered with dense gold thread.
The smile on his face looked kindly at first glance, yet something deeply hypocritical clung to it.
Who's that old bastard? I feel like I've seen him somewhere…
While I tilted my head, a faint sound reached me from beside me.
Tak. Taktak. Tak.
Trisha's hands began to tremble atop her documents.
In that moment, a fragment of the memory I had seen through my new authority flashed through my mind.
I remember! That old bastard…! Of all days, why did he have to show up here today…?
Former Grand Justice and senior professor of the Imperial Law School—Balthasar Beringer.
The name of the mentor Trisha had once respected more than anyone else. The same man whose voice had threatened her family's lives the night before Mikhail's trial.
A professor threatening his own student? What a filthy piece of work. And of all people, that old man is sitting as the prosecution's advisor?
From the gallery, Balthasar smiled toward Trisha at the defense table.
It was the cold, cruel gaze of a serpent looking down at its prey.
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump!!!
The documents in Trisha's hands began to shake violently.
Her slender shoulders, which had been held straight, instinctively curled inward under raw terror.
Memories of the past and those threats flooded her mind.
Wiiiiing—!
Heartbeat of the Metronome
Detected extreme mental cascade in the debtor. Immediate response initiated.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
The mechanical cadence of the metronome rang fiercely through her mind, trying to force her broken heart into a steady rhythm.
But the very beat that should have restored calm was dragged under by her runaway pulse and began to warp into a grotesque, frantic tempo.
Behind her glasses, those green eyes trembled with pure terror. Cold sweat slid down her cheeks.
"Uh… th-that is… s-so… the d-defendant…"
The mangled voice that escaped her drew jeers from every corner of the gallery.
"Pfft, she really is stuttering! The rumors were true!"
"Hey, even a three-minute KO is being generous. Just hand down the verdict already, Your Honor!"
Heartbeat of the Metronome — Frequency Critical
ticktockticktockticktockticktock—!!!
Metronome has exceeded safe threshold. Collapse imminent.
Inside Trisha's skull the metronome had now passed its limit and was screaming at a frequency about to shatter.
With a face that looked ready to burst into tears, she clutched at her chest and, out of pure survival instinct, forced a single line past the runaway beat.
"I-I… o-objection…! The prosecution's charges… lack… specific evidence… establishing a c-causal relationship… with the defendant's alleged crimes…!"
It was not the argument of a genius.
It was nothing more than the most pitiful paper shield a person could raise while drowning in trauma, desperate simply to keep breathing.
The judge regarded me in the defendant's seat with his usual impassive eyes, then turned the same gaze on Trisha, who was completely broken and trembling.
Grand Justice Aurelius slowly raised the gavel.
"…Given the defense counsel's condition, normal argumentation is judged impossible. In the interest of fairness, this court grants the defense the minimum time necessary to prepare a statement."
The gavel struck the bench with heavy finality.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Court is recessed for thirty minutes. Counsel will use the time until reconvening to prepare her argument. Should she still be unable to proceed thereafter, this bench will continue deliberation based solely on the materials already secured."
The recess was barely declared before a waterfall of disappointed muttering and mockery poured from the gallery.
"What? So in thirty minutes the result's gonna be exactly the same anyway, right?"
"Yeah. Witch-burning show delayed by half an hour, huh?"
I glanced down at Trisha's trembling shoulders as she collapsed into her seat.
Then I shifted my gaze to that white-haired old bastard lounging so leisurely in the gallery.
You smug bastard. You wrecked my exclusive lawyer with nothing but a look?
A stubborn fire lit in my chest. I would make that arrogant old man watch the student he raised destroy him.
"Counselor. Strategy meeting. Now."
Her face, half-buried in her robes, had gone paper-white. Behind the lenses, those green eyes drifted unfocused through empty air.
"I-I'm so sorry, Client… I… I really… can't…"
"Shh."
I raised a finger and cut her off.
"First, let's move somewhere people aren't staring."
The bailiff escorted us to a waiting room and closed the door from outside.
"Counselor, what are you so afraid of? I already told you not to worry about your family's safety."
"Th-that… I know, but…"
"Just as I believe in you, you have to believe in me too."
Unfortunately, "Make Someone Believe in You" was not a skill available for rental.
That wasn't a skill—it was pure sucker energy.
So earning Trisha's trust had now become entirely my problem.
Ugh… Why the hell can't this skill be self-rented?
I muttered under my breath and rechecked the Metronome I had rented to her.
Hmm… Performance is definitely fine…
In the end, it all came down to trust.
"Counselor. How many pages of the Imperial Legal Code have you memorized?"
"…All of them."
"Case law?"
"…Every last one…"
"All that knowledge sitting in your head—if you're not going to use it to crack that old man's skull open, when exactly are you saving it for?"
"……"
Just then—
"Recess is nearly over. Counsel and defendant, please return to the courtroom immediately."
The bailiff.
I stood.
"If you truly can't bring yourself to trust me, I won't force you. But remember this.
If you sit back down again here, the chance to set things right will never come again.
Uncle Mikhail will spend the rest of his life breaking rocks in the mines as the man who supposedly stole mana stones—without ever knowing why.
I'm sorry, but it looks like there's nothing more I can do for you."
With that I turned without a second glance and walked toward the waiting-room door.
My thoughts were a tangled mess.
The plan that had looked so perfect had just fallen apart.
If I received a guilty verdict today, the next step would be…
In the end, was that the only option left?
Jailbreak.