"This world looks like a city that isn't modern but isn't too old either. They have cars but no phones, so I suppose they're on the older side. There is a strange atmosphere that I couldn't explain, I think I'll call it the Mysterious Lands."

After doing her short report, Sepide went to Neige and Silva who were waiting for her.

"You said they were old because they don't have phones but phones are pretty advanced you know?"

"They're advanced for a dinosaur like you." Silva smirked proudly after her answer to Neige's words.

"Yeah, whatever, you're both too used to technology to appreciate how impressive it is." Neige said, pouting a bit. Sepide took a look around, trying to find where they were supposed to go.

"We should probably split up. We can always communicate with our watches if we need to."

"You're right, good luck with your tournament. I should be able to find a courtroom easily."

The three friends cheered for each other before splitting up into groups. Neige still felt worried for his friend but knew they could manage, all he could do now was focus on his task.

Neige made its way to the courtroom, standing proudly in the middle of the city. He barely entered when he was immediately ambushed by a professional-looking girl with long white hair in a suit.

"Neige? Where were you? It really doesn't help your case you know?"

"My... Case?"

The girl stared at him intensely before suddenly doubting herself.

"Wait, you're not Neige. You look like a female version of him."

"I'm not a girl! I just look like one!"

"Really? You're smaller, less muscular, and more feminine than him."

"He's... Like that?"

Neige suddenly felt a wave of fear through his body, thinking about the foe that Silva and Sepide were up against. The girl looked at her watch and glanced around, making sure no one heard.

"Hey, can you help me? I need you to pretend that you're Neige. I can't afford to not have him right now."

Neige felt glad to have such a great opportunity to accomplish his goal but he still tried to act hesitant to not look suspicious.

"Can you at least explain to me what is happening?"

"Oh, right. My name is Alya, I'm a lawyer representing a man named Neige. Too bad for me, he's a total dumbass. He escaped his cell and I have no idea where he is! He's the main suspect in a murder case, you can imagine it's impossible to have a trial when the defendant is nowhere to be found."

"That's quite a complicated situation, were his odds so bad that he ran away?"

"I wish I knew... I should probably tell you all I know about the case. A 54-year-old man named Noir was killed by a bullet in the heart. He was waiting for his own trial and was waiting in one of the cells. A lot of people came to see him so there are a few suspects. The most important ones are his former partner, Payolo, she always was with him and even was the one that proved he was the culprit of his case."

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

"But why would she kill him?"

"I don't know, maybe her sense of justice? The only other real suspects are a nun named Zayda, Neige's best friend, and Neige himself, a former professional boxer. Their motive is quite simple, they were both suspected by Noir and probably held a grudge. But I think you understand that Neige is the main suspect in this case, he's the one being prosecuted after all."

"So we need to innocent me-I mean Neige, right? Do you feel confident about it?"

"Rather yes, if he was actually here that is. That doesn't help that he's away but I could save him. The ballistic fingerprinting isn't the one of his gun so it should be enough to at least make the judge and jury doubt."

"Ballistic... Fingerprinting?"

"Oh, you probably don't know it. It's a recent technology that allows us to know which gun fired the bullet. We now know for sure that Neige's firearm wasn't the one that shot the victim. I'm so glad you're here, we're on the second day of the trial, and it's starting in an hour. Will you help me?"

Neige pretended to think about it but already knew his answer. He nodded his head at the girl, ready to help and find the true culprit for the sake of his mission.

"I'll try my best."

"Thank you so much! I'll take care of everything, don't stress too much."

Neige followed the lawyer, hoping everything would be alright. He never has been in court before and wasn't sure if he would be able to find the real culprit without acting suspiciously.

The pair arrived in the break room, where a woman in a detective uniform was waiting. Once she noticed them she walked toward them and analyzed Neige with her empty-looking eyes.

"Neige? Is that you? You look so different from yesterday..."

Alya, the lawyer, went between Neige and the woman, trying to hide him from her.

"You're just tired Payolo, he's the same old Neige. His memory is just a bit fuzzy." Alya smiled to convince the detective, who still didn't seem convinced.

"His clothes are different, is that his brother?"

"Come on, you barely slept last night. It's Neige!"

"I didn't sleep all night but I can still see it's not him. I trust you so I won't say anything, I'm curious to know what you'll do."

The lawyer bowed at Payolo and quickly noticed the papers in her hand.

"Is that for me?"

"Yes, I managed to get an autopsy report as well as some useful information."

"You're the best!"

Alya and Neige took a look at the autopsy report. There wasn't anything interesting at first glance, the victim died at midnight, almost instantly after the shot. The cause of death was noted as heart failure and two bullets were found in the body.

"The killer wasn't precise..." Noticed Alya "He needed two shots to kill him."

Neige took the paper and stared at it intensely, trying to understand something.

"I thought you knew that the bullet wasn't from Neige's gun." Neige paused for a moment, still not used to saying his name to talk about someone else "Wouldn't you have known that there were two bullets in the body then?"

"Hey, you're right!" The lawyer turned toward the detective, a bit annoyed "Why did the first autopsy you showed me didn't say that?"

"It's because we only analyzed the bullet that caused his death, the one in his heart. The other bullet was caused a few days earlier but since this is the complete one, it was included."

"Oh, so we don't have to worry about it, this wasn't made by our killer."

"We still analyzed where the bullet was from, it's weird for someone in custody to get shot. What's even weirder is that he didn't say anything about it."

"So do you know who shot this first bullet?" Neige asked, curious about the answer.

"No, but the ballistic fingerprint matches the one of the second bullet. I think you might be interested in the second paper I gave you, it will answer some of your questions."

Neige and Alya looked at the second document. It was a list of every suspect's schedule for the two days the victim was shot. Neige quickly noticed that everyone had an alibi for at least one of the two days. The other Neige and Payolo both had an alibi on the first day the victim was shot, while Zayda had a tight alibi for the day of the murder.

"If I'm reading this correctly, it means that none of them could be the killer?"

"Not exactly." Explained Payolo "It means that none of them could have delivered the two shots. As long as we don't find the firearm used, we're stuck. Another person could be involved, or two different people tried to kill him with the same gun."

"It doesn't matter much though." Said Alya "We can find the killer later, all I need to do is innocent Neige."

Neige looked at the paper, lost in his thought. He couldn't afford to stay here forever to find the culprit and knew that he would need to do it before the end of the trial. This case was confusing but he knew the truth was somewhere, waiting to be discovered. The only suspects were Payolo, Neige, and Zayda. It was all too soon for him to draw any conclusion and had to hope the trial would shed light on the case.