12/08/1320 11:00 AM
Day 1
District Court
Courtroom No.2
Amelia PoV:
Hi, it’s me again! It's the date of my appearance in court, hurray! I’m currently sitting with those two monks at the plaintiff’s table, while those eight bozos are going to have to defend themselves.
Oh yeah before I forget, my Dungeon is closed for today, though I don’t think I can ‘lock’ my Dungeon. The best I did is put a sign on the door. I don’t think that sign is gonna stop anyone from barging in so I told the two guards outside to stop anyone from entering, at least until I return.
Oh man I’m so nervous right now, all I’ve done for the past days up to now just talking with my lawyer about the case. We even talked to those two monks, whose names were ‘Pham’ and ‘Lao’, I dunno, they said to refer to them by their nicknames and they also revealed to be from a far eastern country. Our lawyers agreed to file a joint lawsuit while also trying to remove the charges against us. So Paul Goodwinson, my lawyer, is going to represent us, while the monk’s lawyer is to act as our legal counsel.
Jesus this courtroom is packed, there is even a crowd outside, I can see them through the door that’s partially open. I scan the courtroom, it’s looking like your standard American district court, except it has a mix of renaissance and medieval look. Wow there's even a boxed-in area with twelve seats to the left for the jury, that’s also filled.
“Hey, you think we’re gonna win this? I admit I am unfamiliar with the laws and customs of western countries, I only know history.” Pham asked, turning to me.
I shrugged, “I honestly don’t know, I hope so, I mean we’re clearly in the right here! We just let Paul Goodwinson do all the talking for us and hope he pulls through.” I replied.
“Indeed leave it to me and my colleague. The three of you are in good hands.” Robert Grayson chimed in, oh yeah he’s the lawyer the two monks hired.
I snuck a glance at the defendant’s table and I spotted some religious guy who looks very important like a bishop, and a lawyer from this country. Of course their table is completely packed with ten of them sitting there.
The Judge, who is an old man I’d say somewhere around his late fifties and early sixties, he’s wearing a gray robe, um he’s also bald with a long grey beard an- Hey wait a minute!
Achem moving on… the Judge strikes his gavel on the sound block and signals for everyone to quiet down, as soon as the room becomes quiet he continues speaking.
“Now I want preface this by addressing the elephant in the room, by announcing the presence of this city’s very own Dungeon Core -”
Guys I can feel everyone staring straight at me, making me even MORE nervous than I previously was! So I just gave an awkward wave in response.
“- Which is the first time in history that a Dungeon Core has appeared in any court of law which truly marks this case as historical, no matter how trivial the case may be. Now with that out of the way I would like to remind everyone present that we are trying out a new experimental recording system that our Court Chronicler will be utilizing. So I ask everyone to speak clearly and concisely, do I make myself clear?”
A chorus of ‘yes your honor’ was let out in response, to which the Judge nodded, turning to our table “Good, then the court is now in session. Is the prosecution ready?”
Paul Goodwinson stood up from his seat, “Ready, your honor.”
He nodded, turning to face the defendant’s table, “Is the defense ready?”
Their Defense Attorney stood up, “Ready, your honor.”
“We can proceed, the Plaintiffs, Pham and Lao, have filed a lawsuit against the Defendant who are the Hero Party of Methyr, for ‘Assault’ and ‘Harassment’ ending in a violent altercation outside the Dungeon, the two Plaintiffs are joined by the city’s Dungeon Core. This is in addition to all charges levied against both the Plaintiffs and the Defendant. Moving on, I have with me the written report from the arresting guard, I shall read it now.
‘At precisely 12:01 PM, the station received a request for reinforcements near the Dungeon, by the two stationed Dungeon guards, because a group of ten hooligans were shouting and recklessly discharging spells.
We immediately got on our horses and rushed to the scene as fast as we could. On our way we heard the unmistakable sound of a firearm having been discharged and we had to double time it to the scene before any more firearms could be discharged, when our contingent arrived on scene. We found scorch marks that littered the street, sidewalks, buildings, and even one on the Dungeon entrance.
It was then that I made the decision to arrest everyone present, including one woman in an unusual outfit who I later learned to be the Dungeon Avatar who claimed to have recklessly discharged her pistol in order to prevent the ten hooligans from causing any more damage. It is a miracle that nobody got hurt.
Now after reading the report, would the Defense and or the Prosecution have anything to add to their opening statement?”
It was then that Paul Goodwinson stood up, “Yes I would like to state that the evidence gathered thus far will conclude that my clients are innocent and in the case of two of my clients claim self-defense. Furthermore I have several key witnesses will testify under oath further proving the innocence of my clients, all of whom should be provided to you, as is customary within the Union -”
“Yes, I do have a list of every witness from the prosecution, as well as from the defense. Please continue.”
“Now here are the facts, it is true that my client and the defendants engaged in a dangerous street fight. Yes it is also true that our resident Dungeon Avatar, Amelia Yokakko did discharge her pistol at which point the altercation ended, that is all your honor.” And Paul sat down after making his statement.
In hindsight I probably shouldn’t have drawn my pistol, but god dammit they were pissing me off!
“Would the defense have anything to add?”
The Defense Attorney stood up, “Yes your honor, I will not state out the facts of what occurred as the prosecution has laid them out, only that my clients who have claimed to be heading inside the Dungeon for adventuring prior to the braw, were attacked by the plaintiffs, and are therefore innocent. I believe that the evidence, contrary to what the prosecution stated, will conclude that my clients are innocent, and I have key witnesses that shall testify under oath to prove my case. That is all your honor.”
“Both parties have made their opening statement-” I know nothing about the law, this is actually my second time being in a courtroom, the first time I attended court was watching my dad do Jury duty in America, that was pretty cool to watch. I don’t remember what the case was about to be honest.
“-I’ll start with hearing from the defense.”
The Hero Party’s Attorney, stood up, “Certainly, as you are aware, the Legendary Hero Party from the Methyr Theocracy, would certainly have never so blatantly attacked innocent men and women out in the street, for they have a reputation to uphold, and as such would go against the very notion of them being heroes. In fact the defense would like to call a passerby at the scene, Ms Anne Godbergson, to the stand.”
A woman, with short curly blonde hair, appeared on the stand and the Clerk approached, book in hand. He set it down on the stand as the woman placed her right hand on said book and raised her left hand.
“Do you swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth?” The Clerk asked.
“I do.” The woman calmly responds, looking nonchalant, err at least that's how I can tell.
The Attorney approached her, after the Clerk left. “Now tell me, Ms Goldbergson, where were you on the date of the incident?”
She pondered for a moment, “Well from what I can remember, it was just a regular ol day in Dragdville, till I heard a commotion by the dungeon, so I left my apartment, and when I got outside, I saw those monks and the Hero party were shouting at each other! And then, just when things couldn’t get worse, the monks attacked the Hero Party! I saw the whole thing from start to finish clear as day. That is all sir.”
“Is there anything else you noticed?”
The woman shook her head.
As the Attorney was about to continue speaking, Paul stood up, and interjected. “Your honor, may I ask the witness a question?”
The Judge nodded, “Granted.”
“Ms Anne Godbergson, if I may ask, which floor, and what number is your apartment?” Paul asked, staring straight into the woman’s eyes.
Anne suddenly looked nervous, beads of sweat formed on her forehead, as her eyes darted around the room as she was silent.
After five minutes of total silence, the Judge grew impatient, “Answer the question or I will have you in contempt of court.” He demanded, with growing frustration.
She continued to be silent for another two minutes as she became more distressed. “That’s it, Bailiff, arrest and escort her out of this court!” The Judge ordered, hitting his gavel on the sound block.
A tall woman wearing a morion helmet with a black plume and a chestplate, grabbed the witness’s hands, dragging her to a side door as she was screaming and flailing about. About two minutes later the Bailiff returned.
The Attorney was silent throughout the ordeal, and made a wise decision to sit back down, one look closer and his eyes told a different story. Though what’s really interesting is that Catholic Bishop looking guy glared at their Attorney, though it doesn’t seem like he noticed or cared. If I was that bishop guy, I would not be glaring at my Defense Attorney, that's just not gonna help my case.
“Achem, we’ve heard from the defense, now I want to hear what the prosecution has to say.”
Paul stood up, straightened his waistcoat, “Your honor, if I may, with your permission of course. The prosecution would like to call our resident Dungeon Core Miss Yokakko to the witness stand. I know this is a break of regular protocol, but I believe hearing from a Dungeon Core is most beneficial to the case I’m bringing forward.”
Eh! Me? To the witness stand! Aren’t I the one part of the case? And also why does the Judge look scared?
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“G-granted.”
I stood up, walked to the witness stand, and after making my oath Paul asked me a question. “Now then Ms Yokakko, what were you doing on the date of the incident?”
“Let me see… Right! I was on my first floor making renovations to what I’ve called the ‘bulletin area’ . It was all good till I heard such really, and I mean really loud screaming. So I went outside and BAM! I was almost hit by a stray lightning bolt, which BARELY missed my head. By that point I was getting really angry and I could feel my blood boiling.-” why did everyone in the room, except those eight bozos and that bishop, briefly look terrified, like a giant monster has broken in and is killing everybody? Anyways I continued speaking.
“-I asked the two guards, quote ‘Oi why aren’t you two stopping them.’ They told me that it was just the two of them against ten which I mean fair enough, afterwards I took matters into my own hands, I tried to get them to stop by screaming, twice in fact. Nobody heard me, so I fired my pistol into the sky and sure enough it stopped them alright, and that's when the guards arrived.”
Paul nodded, “Is there anything else?”
Was there anything else? Oh yeah there was, “To me it looked like Pham and Lao were defending themselves, but I’m not 110% sure as I was blinded by rage by that point. That’s all.”
“Thank you for speaking Miss Yokakko, you can take a seat.” Awesome! Feels like I am going to die of nervousness the longer I stand by the witness stand!
“HOLD IT!” Oh drats! Just when I thought I’d be leaving the stand!
The Attorney stood, gazing into my eyes, “Ms Yokakko, Are you certain that what you saw was exactly as you say? I mean after all, you weren’t there from the start.”
“Look, I’m stating that what I saw when I went outside, in fact call the two guards to the stand!”
“T-that’s enough.” Did I just hear the Judge swallow a lump? Seriously, I am not terrifying! I can’t even hurt a fly… without a musket in my hands that is.
“Return to your seat.” I never stood up and walked so fast in my life jeez man I hope that I never enter court ever again!
Paul coughed, bringing the court’s attention back to him. “Your honor, the prosecution would also like to call the two guards, stationed outside of Ms Yokakko’s dungeon at the time of the incident, Gerald Hanefored and or Winston Matterston to the stand.”
A man wearing a simple white tunic and grey trousers stepped onto the stand, oh hey! It’s that same guy I talked to. “If I were to speak the truth, I would be restating what my partner and I wrote in the incident report verbatim. This incident report is required by law to document incidents regarding dungeons inside and outside.”
The Judge stroked his beard, “Hmm, do you have this report?”
“Your honor, I gave a copy to the prosecutor prior to the trial. However I brought a copy with me just in case, and I shall read it you now achem;
Today at 11:02 AM a fight occurred outside the Dungeon, between a group of eight and two monks. At first it was a simple shouting match. Nothing that we couldn’t handle by ourselves.
We observed for ten or so minutes, till my partner decided to confront them and hopefully put an end to this public disturbance when the boy unsheathed his sword, raised it at one of the monk’s neck to which said monk parried the sword away with a staff and the threatened monk retreated five paces backwards.
That's when things turned bad for as soon as the monk back pedalled away, one of the girls in what I presumed was part of the boy’s party. One wearing a witch hat hurled a lighting bolt at the monk. Then more and more of the girls began firing spells, at which point my partner wisely backed off considering how neither of us knew any spells to counter, so we made the decision to sit tight and call for reinforcements. About an hour or so has passed, the Dungeon Avatar appeared inquiring about the commotion.
We explained to her that there’s a fight across the dungeon and how my partner and I are unable to put a stop to the increasingly violent altercation, to which she yelled for them to stop, twice. When it appeared to fall on deaf’s ears the Avatar fired her pistol in the air thus ending the altercation.
This was written right after our shift en-”
“OBJECTION!” The Bozo’s Attorney Interjected, followed by slamming his hands on the table. “This proves absolutely nothing! The plaintiffs could’ve said something to provoke such an attack. This report never explicitly stated what was said during the shouting match.”
“HOLD IT!” Paul countered, as he wagged a
finger, “Not so fast as I have other evidence that supports the guard’s incident report. Bailiff, could you please bring out the evidence.”
She disappeared into the same sideroom that she dragged the witness into, before reappearing carrying a box, and sat it down on our table. Paul opened said box revealing a piece of parchment, and a dagger.
“What’s curious is that I went back to the scene of the crime and I had some local mages analyze the scene for traces of magic, here is the report they finished yesterday, I will read it to you now.
After a deep and thorough Analysis of the mana residue left behind at the scene. We at the Dragdville Mage Association have determined the majority of the magic used is of the ‘holy’ variant and small traces of lightning can be found, but no other variants have been found.
Now in the Union only priests and priestesses and what not, are the only ones that can cast holy magic, no one else can, and we all know that there were no holy figures at that sight. Which then leaves the next suspects to be none other than the ‘Hero’ Party from the Methyr Theocracy. Furthermore Ms Yokakko stated earlier that she was almost hit by a stray lightning bolt, and clearly monks weren’t the ones casting any spells, which only leaves one possible culprit. The Hero Party.”
The courtroom erupted into a loud uproar, which was brought to an end by the Judge hitting his gavel and threatening to end the session for today and continue tomorrow.
“OBJECTION!”
“Overruled, I want to continue listening to this.”
Paul continued speaking once the uproar subsided, and certainly after the Attorney’s attempted objection, “But wait there's more.” He equipped a pair of gloves and took a throwing knife out the box, and the eyes of the Harem Girl wearing the robes grew wide. “Ladies and gentlemen of the court, this throwing knife, commonly used by rogues everywhere, was found at the scene. However, there was only one rogue present. And I wanted to confirm who the owner of the knife was before I made any accusations, so I ordered a forensics analysis again from the same group of mages, and what did their findings reveal? Well why tell you when I can show it.”
At that moment a tall man with a white beard, wearing a blue robe with gold trims alongside an equally matching wizard hat, carrying a large staff with a blue crystal ball at the end. He entered the courtroom after wading through the large crowd outside.
Once he was in front of the Judge’s stand, the wizard kneeled down and then stood up and turned to address everyone in the courtroom. “What I am about to reveal to the court will shock many of you, as it has shocked me. But I tell you now what I am about to show is the truth and nothing but the truth, I swear to Okania the patron saint of mages within the Union.”
He gripped his staff with two hands closing his eyes and the crystal ball began emitting a soft blue glow, he aimed the staff at the floor and a fully 3D recreation of the robe wearing Harem Girl wielding that very same throwing knife. The room immediately erupted into chaos once again, clearly nobody here is accepting the fact that the ‘Hero Party’ and I am saying that with heavy air quotes, just committed a crime.
Whoa man I am impressed that they were able to create an exact illusionary replica of said harem girl based on what I assume to be just finger prints on that dagger.
“Order! Order! There will be order in this court!” The Judge said, hitting his gavel with full force. Once the chaos subsided, I glanced at the Bozos table and all of them looked shocked, well except for their Attorney who’s giving Paul this ‘well played’ look.
Paul continued to speak, “Clearly what the two monks did was self defense, as they utilized no other weapons besides the wooden staff they carried were used, and no magic could be traced back to them. Your honor, that is all.”
“And how will the defense respond?” The Judge said, staring expectantly at the Attorney. But of course no matter how much the Attorney wants to quit, especially against such overwhelming evidence against his client, still he is a Defense Attorney of the Union and he still has the responsibility and the obligation to defend his client till the very end.
The Attorney stood up from his seat, took a deep breath, puffed out his chest, “Your honor, this could’ve simply been fabricated by the Dragdville Mage Association.” He calmly stated.
The Mage standing in the middle of the courtroom didn’t look angry or offended. Far from it, he gave a respectful nod to the Attorney, knowing that any defense he makes is a futile endeavour.
“I have heard enough, Now what is the Jury’s final verdict?”
All twelve Jurors stood up and huddled together, which went on for twelve agonisingly long minutes, seriously it felt like an hour had passed. When one of them a man stepped forward, “The twelve of us has unanimously agreed to give the defendants a guilty verdict on all charges which includes but aren’t limited to; disturbing the peace, assault, assault with a deadly weapon, damage to public, private, and personal property’ furthermore we absolve the Plaintiffs Pham and Lao of any wrongdoing and that any crime they may or have committed at the time of the incident was committed for reasons of self defense.”
Then the Juror’s gaze fixed onto me. “As for Dungeon Core Amelia Yokakko, we shall absolve her crime of quote ‘discharge of a firearm within residential buildings’ as it was committed under the pretext of ending a violent altercation.” And the Juror sat back down on his seat.
The Judge nodded, “I agree, with the Jury’s assessment and verdict. Now normally for any citizen of the Union the sentence could be upwards of life in prison with the minimum being thirty years, plus a maximum fine of twenty-five thousand gold coins, plus another three thousand in restitution for harassment stemming from the lawsuit. However the eight of you are foreign citizens with no ties to the Union as such you eight are hereby banished from this country, and you shall pay the fine, while accompanied by Justiciars of Avdar. They are Paladins in service of Avdar, God of Law and Justice. They are to ensure that the eight of you pay the fine and will depart as soon as the fine has been paid off. You have exactly ten days to pack up your things and leave the country.” As soon as he finished speaking, he hit his gavel one last time marking the end of today’s court session.
Good god man it felt like we've been here forever, people have begun to pile on out of here. I gazed at those eight one last time and hahaha look at the look on their faces! Not so smug now eh? Deserved, turns out harassing random people was such a bad idea who could’ve guessed? Certainly not me! Oh wow now I’m the smug one here.
Welp, I said goodbye to both Pham and Lao, shook Paul’s and Robert’s hand, even if the latter ultimately did nothing in the end. I still appreciate the two of them you know. Anyways man this was such a long week, can’t wait to lay down on a patch of grass in my Core Room.
——————————————————————————————————————————————
Tanaka PoV:
DAMMIT, DAMMIT ALL! HOW could we have lost that case! Clearly the ‘Jury’ and the Judge were influenced by demons! Yeah that’s it, that makes perfect sense, this country is ROTTEN to the core. There was ABSOLUTELY no way as to how I the main character could’ve lost that stupid ‘case’ it makes me so angry!
“AHHHHHHH THIS STUPID GHOSTLY PAINS IS DRIVING ME INSANE!” I screamed into the air, clutching my head. That goddamn dungeon shoving me inside a cannon! Just you wait I will have my revenge! GAAAAAAHHHHHHH THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I FAILED A DUNGEON! You know what it was the demons that did this, yes there’s no possible explanation other than demons acting and actively sabotaging me, I bet you demons influenced that dungeon! Maybe that’s why I failed!
But first this country must be purged, it must be CLEANSED of DEMONS in every corner of this country. Yes that is the only for this nation to gain atonement for I AM THE MAIN PROTAGONIST OF THIS WORLD ALL MY CLASSMATES CAN SUCK IT. Okay deep breath’s Tanaka, deep breaths. The demons time will come in due time, but for now gotta pack up and leave this damned country.
“Bishop Andronikos, I hope you're documenting everything?” I asked as I turned to the Bishop.
The Bishop nodded, “Indeed I am, once the church has received word of this transgression, then divine retribution from the Goddess will be swift and brutal, upon these demons! For we must free these lost souls under the yoke of demons!”
As soon as we neared the Inn, Bishop Andronikos parted ways, eventually though we got back to our shared room, I simply ignored all the snickering from people gathered at the lobby. All the while four city guards accompanied us, my girls gave the two male guards the stink eye. Good these perverts are gonna watch them undress! Well not our watch.
“Are you seriously giving us the eye? You do know we have permission to outright force the eight of you out of this city AND seize your belongings?” One of the male guards said, “And besides, how is the presence of my colleague and I any different to that boy sharing the same room with the seven of you? If anything that just raises more questions on my part, but if it bothers you that much, our female colleagues will enter. Either way you have no choice in the matter, be lucky that I’m even considering this concession.”
Goddamnit I didn’t want any of the guards inside! They’re gonna find out!
The eight of us, plus the two female guards entered the shared bedroom. Almost immediately, the two female guards spotted our planning table located at the far end of the room. And one of them is approaching it, I need to do something quick!
Before I could unsheathe my sword the door opened behind us, “Don’t even think about it.” I turn around and I’m met face to face with a paladin with a blind folded Herculean build, holding golden scales engraved on his chestplate.
“Future Methyr demon exorcism plan for southern Maryura, starting with the Union of Kurz then the Laziran Empire ending with the Ergonese Republic. Once the invasions have concluded, then the real work shall begin.” She stared at us then back at the table then us.
She clutched her halberd tightly, “That’s it the Eight of you! Get out of this country NOW, before I have you arrested as foreign agents!”
“You heard her go, or by Avdar’s might I will cut you down right here right now.”
Yep okay, okay. I could definitely kill everyone here with my cheat skill but I don’t want to have an angry god after me. Damn the invasion plans were found out this early, I’ll never hear the end of it from the High Theocrat. But for now there is nothing we can do as demons have irreversibly influenced and corrupted this beautiful country.