The two guards continued their testimony, but the Ogre was still the only one calm and or brave enough to talk.
“First, I took off her helmet and checked it. While I was doing that he took off her armor around her arms. We always do it in that order. Helmets can hide poisons, and vambraces can hide other weapons like knives, so those come off first…”
‘Why is he so hesitant all of a sudden? They wouldn’t execute them for what happened… Which WAS nothing… Right? I’m usually only unconscious for a minute at most right? But… I was tired.’ My heart started to beat faster, but I was able to stay calm to a certain extent.
“After I inspected the gear I turned back to see him taking off the chest piece. When he finished unfastening he checked the inner lining for any other hidden tools, but I told him to wait before he took it off because something didn’t feel right.”
‘Yeah, that’s about what I figured… Then I woke up when they were debating. I mean, even if I look like a man with my armor on, once it came off people tend to realize pretty quick that I’m not.’
He hesitated for a moment but continued. “She was wearing an old worn-out shirt under her armor, which wasn’t uncommon… But she didn’t have any visible body hair. Furthermore, her neck and face were far too slender, and the same went for her waist. I told him what I was thinking, but he thought I was joking, and talked about how I was losing it, because women had breasts, so the person before us obviously couldn’t have been one.”
‘I want to die again…’
“I had a bad feeling. But he had a point. She was covered in blood and sweat, and I’m no expert on humans, so it was hard to tell from just her face, Alden had said she was a guy though, and that was enough for him. To prove his point he lifted up her shirt, remaining unconvinced, saying that she must have just been young still.
I admitted that I had never seen a naked woman before… But it’s not uncommon to see human men without a shirt… And it certainly didn’t look the same. He then explained that sometimes men with a lot of fat looked like that, even after losing weight, and…”
A long silence hung in the air as I slowly wrapped my arms around my chest, hunching over.
“What happened next?”
He cleared his throat. “He then proceeded to group her chest to prove a point, continuing to confidently say there was no way the person before us was a woman… After a short while of doing that though… He quickly started to second guess himself…”
I lowered my face onto the cracked stone table in front of me. “I changed my mind… They can both die…” The girl next to me slowly raised her hand but I quickly pulled it back down. “I wasn’t being serious!”
She let out a small groan. “Are you sure?”
“I-I’m fine. It’s fine it’s not a big deal…” I slowly tried to relax my shoulders, not realizing how scrunched up I had become, my arms shaking. “Seriously though… Being a different species, and being ignorant… They both only go so far you know…” I tried to laugh to ease the tension, but it only came out as an awkward chuckle and didn’t help me feel much better, slowly wrapping my arms around myself.
“And then? What happened next?” The judge slowly said, trying to get them to continue.
“He suggested that… That is to say… Well, in his own words… There is one surefire way to tell someone's gender…”
Chills ran down my arms again as I tensed my whole body. ‘How long was I unconscious!’
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The guard paused, but then suddenly started talking faster than before. “I-I stopped him before he did that though. So in the end nothing more happened. She woke up and broke out of her shackles, escaping like some kind of crazy magic ninja.”
I let out a sigh of relief. I wasn’t sure how I felt about the whole thing… But at least I knew what happened. I was especially thankful to the guard that not only told the whole story but also stopped it from going further…
The ogre slowly turned his eyes to me, clearly filled with regret, and reached up to his head, snapping off one of his horns. “The lady adventurer lost no honor from this, but rather it was the three of us who should be ashamed.”
The pain in my stomach vanished with another set of chills. “N-no You didn’t…” I muttered. He was the one guy I wasn’t mad at. It almost hurt a little to see him go so far.
The other guard simply confirmed everything without even trying to defend himself. When asked for reasoning all he could do was state the biological difference between kobolds and humans. Since they were closer to reptiles they were fundamentally different in every way, so not recognizing gender without the more… Obvious approach was “Understandable.” Seeing as how fat men also had extra tissue in that area… Which… Had to have been the dumbest excuse I had ever heard…
“Should we kill him now?”
“Anyone that stupid should just die…” I groaned.
She raised her hand again, and again I pulled it back down. “No! I was joking again… That’s not… Really something someone should die for, isn't it? Besides… If he gets executed all the money goes to the state. If he gets fined, I get the money, isn’t that right?”
She sighed, rolling her eyes before looking back at the man with narrowed steely eyes. “OK…”
‘She’s a bit… Colder, than she looks…’ “Hey… I’m not… Fat… Am I? I mean, I’ve been leaner before for sure. And I have been eating a lot recently to try and gain some weight…”
“You don’t look it. But you’re wearing armor, so it’s hard to tell. Although, the Ogre said you had a narrow waist did he not?”
I let out a small groan, flinching as for whatever reason I began imagining someone grabbing my waist as well. I pulled her fur cloak tight around my shoulders again and hugged my knees to my chest. It started to feel like his hands were touching me all over until a gentle pat on my shoulder snapped me out of it.
Honestly, I wasn’t sure what I hated more, the gross thing he did, or the fact he thought I was a man while he was doing it… Ultimately though… It was just another reason I needed to get over my panic attacks. Sure, to a certain extent, it felt wrong to blame myself for any of it… But I couldn’t help thinking that none of it would have happened if I could have just stayed conscious and broken out sooner…
The judges then deliberated, sentencing the guard who had assaulted me to a full year of imprisonment in a paid labor camp, under the finding that, unbelievable as it was, it was “Unintentional.” And requiring him to pay me a silver coin as compensation, and more if I was found to have any injuries from the experience following a physical examination should I choose to undergo one.
For once… I decided I might actually turn down money… The last thing I needed was someone else examining my chest… And… Sure it was a little sore, but it wasn’t like I actually got hurt… Not as badly as I messed up my hand a minute ago…
The other guard was found innocent of any wrongdoing, which I was thankful for in a way. Even if he saw me half naked… In the end, he seemed respectful at least. He was just put into a bad situation. Sure he could have stopped the other guy sooner… But I didn’t want to think about the alternative of him not doing anything.
After gathering all the information, the judges quickly began debating the final verdict for the overall charges of Alden and me.
“Verdict. Adventurer Chika is innocent of all charges. Alden, for damage to reputation and compensation for false charges and incompetence Alden Soot will pay reparations equal to the sum of the unreasonable fine. The circle of smoke guild which Alden was… At the time a member of… Will pay reparations equal to the Minotaur quest reward. Finally, the Great Market will provide you with reimbursement of any living expenses incurred while restricted from service, as well as allow you to use services offered by the Great Market for free for the rest of the season as compensation for loss of profit due to previous restriction and time consumption of the trial. Do you have any objections to this settlement?”
My head started to spin so much that I lost track of where my hands were, and I was unable to answer. ‘Wait… So I’m getting… How much money from this?’
“Well, Chika?”
“Uh-y-i… Mmhmm.” I nodded, after twisting my words so much none of them were understandable.
The girl next to me agreed that was good enough. Since she was my representative. After that was settled. I slowly snapped myself out of my daze induced by the sudden dopamine hit of getting richer. ‘That’s still all related to my charges… What about him?’
The judges all signed the same document before the center spoke again. “The trial for Corruption and malpractice will be held tomorrow. Under suspicion Alden Soot will be temporarily held in incarceration, no longer having a representative backing his position, he will be treated as guilty until proven otherwise. Furthermore, due to his line of questioning, he has been found guilty of sexual harassment and will pay Chika a separate fine of 1 gold. This crime took place after he was expelled from the circle of smoke, so they will not have to cover what he can not pay. This concludes the session.”
He slumped back into his chair and rubbed his temples while many of the people from the crow stood up and began to leave.
‘Turned out his mouth just got him in more trouble in the end after all… Serves him right.’ I sighed. “So like… Do I have to come back tomorrow? This whole thing is… Well, it’s a pain you know…” I groaned as the woman beside me stood up as well and stretched her arms.
“Are you ready to go back?” She asked, probably having missed my muttering voice.
“I’m ready for a drink…”