by Pegaz
Adam ordered the other ninety-nine security personnel to get into formation. Cale stood behind the wheelchair, ready to push the prisoner. Looking at the formation of all the security personnel, Adam nodded his head in satisfaction. He glanced over at Jonathan.
“There are many departments inside the Adventurers Guild,” he explained. “They all share information and jurisdiction with each other, but most departments have their own job to do. The security department has five ranks. Guard, Soldier, Captain, Colonel, and General Commander. There are only ten General Commanders inside the department.”
“And one is personally escorting me,” Jonathan interrupted him. “I feel special.”
DING.
Ignoring Jonathan’s remark, Adam continued.
“The enforcers are the people who go out into the universe and track down wanted criminals. They have the authority to subdue, arrest, or kill a criminal so you are lucky to be alive. They number the enforcers from ninth to first rank, depending on their cultivation rank and ability. The people you killed were all first ranked enforcers. The judge who took over your case is the head judge of the justice department. They have lawyers, barristers, and judges, but the head judge is the leader of all.”
“Do I get a lawyer?” Jonathan asked.
“No.” Slanting his eyes, Adam continued, “Barristers are there to present the facts against criminals, and lawyers can’t speak in the courthouse. Why would you get a lawyer?”
“I see.” Jonathan tilted his head. “Do I get anyone to defend me during the trial?”
Adam nodded. “You get yourself.”
Chapter 46
Detector
“Then what does a lawyer do?” Jonathan frowned. “I know what a judge does.”
“Lawyers are there to research the facts and to make sure what the barristers say is true,” Adam continued his explanation as the group moved down the halls of the prison. “There have been cases where barristers have said one thing but the fact showed the complete opposite. This is to ensure a fair trial for everybody.”
“That seems a b—”
“That’s all you need to know anyway,” Adam interjected. “I would like the rest of the journey to be in silence.”
Jonathan sighed. As Cale pushed his chair along with the group, he tried cultivating Life Power. No matter how hard he tried or how many parts of the mind he used, he could not gather any Life Power at all. He was absolutely powerless; it would take even longer to reach Rank 6. In another bout of near-panic, he tried using his physical strength again, but to no avail. He couldn’t generate enough speed and power to even dent the metal around him.
Looking around, he could see only guild staff members.
“Where are we?” Jonathan looked at Adam, who was walking to his right. “Is this the Adventurers Guild’s headquarters?”
“Yes,” Adam replied without looking at Jonathan. “From what I read on the report, Cale brought you here after being locked inside the iron maiden. He asked for reinforcement to transport you to the justice department in case something happened along the way.”
“Cale isn’t brave enough for a Rank 9 first class enforcer.” Jonathan sneered as well as he could. “During our fight, he didn’t even have the courage to cuff me when I had a sword through my stomach.”
“That wasn’t a sword,” Cale replied curtly. “That was your demonic technique. If I had been the one to touch it, I would have died.”
“See?” Laughing, Jonathan proved his point. “You survived because of your cowardice and luck.”
Before Cale could say anything else, Adam spoke up again.
“Ignore his provocations,” he said. “We’ll arrive at the courthouse within five minutes. You’ll never have to see him again when he’s found guilty during the trial.”
Jonathan looked around as he was pushed forward. It was the first time in years that he’d gotten a ride somewhere. The last time was back in the world he first woke up on, where he rode in a carriage. He wasn’t even a Rank E guild member then.
As his mind dwelled on the past, the party arrived at the courthouse. Above the wheelchair ramp was a man wearing black robes; he was standing and watching the escort team bring Jonathan inside. When Adam and the rest saw him and reached the bottom of the wheelchair ramp, they bowed with their right hands on their hearts and exclaimed, “Greetings to honourable judge Grant Rivers!”
Jonathan saw everybody bowing towards the man in the black robes, so he carefully looked at the man’s features.
Blonde curly hair hung over the man’s round face. His bloodshot yet blue eyes sparkled in the light, the only friendly feature on him. The greek nose on his face sat low, perched above his fallen lips. For being such an important person, he stood short among others.
Grant smiled and told everybody to stand up straight. He acted not like a superior but as an equal to everybody here. Jonathan could tell there was something extraordinary about him; perhaps it was his humility. But Jonathan could tell these people took pride in knowing him as a friend while wishing they were more like him.
Out of habit, Jonathan used his Immortal Eye and to his surprise, it worked.
So the skills that don’t need Life Power to activate can still be used. That’s good to know.
Looking around, he first looked at Adam.
Adam Perry
Rank: 9
Level: 9
Sin: 1
Grant Rivers
Rank: 4
Level: 2
Sin: 0
He found the security personnel around him ranged from Rank 6 to 9, but the judge and any lawyers or barristers he saw were all below Rank 5.
Those who have no talent in cultivating learn different professions and have others protect them. But if a situation ever got out of control, then the judges, lawyers, and barristers would become cannon fodder or held hostage against the talented people.
This only proves the point that personal strength is better than external strength. I couldn’t put my life in the hands of somebody else like that. Sarah might be an exception, but that is because she’s my wife. But right now, I have no strength. I’m a trapped prisoner who can only defend himself with words. This trial will be tricky to win, but they should have no proof that my other identity destroyed the Anti-Assassin Sect’s planet.
With this lie detector, it is all about the wording and how I state my case. If I say I’m innocent when asked about the planet’s destruction, then it will show I’m lying. But if I say something like ‘I, Jonathan, did not do it,’ then it will show I speak the truth.
Thinking of the proper wording in a short time after being asked the question while being stared at by everybody in the trial will be tricky, though. Especially if they expect me to answer right away.
If I could get people on my side, I could use it to my advantage. I wonder if people hate lawyers in this universe as they did on Earth? If they do, then I could make the barrister opposing me into a laughingstock. Anybody who’s watching might feel sympathy for me.
After a minute of introducing themselves to each other, Grant, Adam, Cale and the other ninety-nine people all walked into the courthouse. Cale pushed Jonathan up the wheelchair ramp which was in the middle of the wide steps. The entire building was carved from white marble, which Jonathan admired as they entered. When the sun hit the surface, it shone like a rainbow all around.
Inside the courthouse was all white marble, too. After Cale pushed Jonathan through the doors, he couldn’t help but gawk at the metal door frame, each 8 feet tall and 5 feet wide. The people standing on either side had their eyes peeled on him; Jonathan assumed they were security guards and that the metal door frame was like the metal detector on Earth.
“What are those things?” Jonathan asked. “If they’re metal detectors, then get me out of the iron maiden and cuffs. You won’t know if I’m holding a weapon otherwise.”
Adam smiled.
“You’re half right,” he said. “These are mask detectors. We know some
people have a mask with the shapeshift rune inside, altering their face. This detects if anybody here is not who they say they are.”
Jonathan kept a poker face, but inside his heart started beating a million times a minute.
Shit.
There was nothing he could do to stop going through the mask detector now. He made sure he didn’t show it on his face. He kept breathing at a steady pace as he didn’t want them to see he didn’t need to breathe to live, or else they’d want the technique for themselves. He was aware that Adam was watching him and he didn’t want to give anything away.
This could be a normal metal detector for all I know, and Adam was only testing to see my reaction.
The first people to go through the mask detector were Grant and the first half of the security team. Then it was Cale’s turn to push Jonathan through.
He tried keeping a poker face while he was pushed closer and closer towards the mask detector, but his heart kept beating faster and faster. Holding his breath and trying to slow his heart down, he clenched both fists and closed his eyes as they went through. He accepted the fact that the mask detector would uncover his nano helmet. They would all see him for who he was.
Nobody said a word.
Opening his eyes, Jonathan saw no change in the expressions around him. It almost made him sigh in relief, but remembering where he was and what he went through, he held his breath longer.
Did Adam lie, then? Or does this mask detector only work on equipment Rank 9 and below? I made my helmet from nano metal which, from what I’ve heard and read, only transcended people use.
After Jonathan and Cale went through, Adam went next and the rest of the security team followed. Nobody relaxed until the last man went through the detectors without setting off an alarm.
When everybody had gone through, Grant walked further inside the courthouse.
“The trial is being held in courtroom 1.”
The security team followed him while escorting Jonathan still.
Chapter 47
Another?
The floors of the courthouse were white with light red shapes traced all over them. The patterns repeating in squares, giving the illusion of a tile floor despite it all being just one piece. The walls were a bright white colour and made of marble, clean and without any patterns.
“Hey, question?” Jonathan knitted his brows. “What is it with you guys and using white marble? White everywhere, I see. Have you people never heard of colours?”
“It is to represent the purity of the justice department,” Adam replied.
“Yeah? Well, represent it some other way.” Jonathan rolled his eyes. “Seeing only white everywhere has almost blinded me.”
Everybody ignored this statement and carried on walking.
There were three corridors inside the courthouse: one to the left, one to the right, and one straight ahead. There were benches and other seats which made Jonathan assume it was for the people waiting to see the trial. There was also an area for witnesses waiting to testify and even lawyers and barristers waiting to start work. Above the benches were different paintings, but the word ‘justice’ was represented on each painting in one way or another.
Cale pushed him down the middle corridor leading straight ahead.
“I know of a statue that represents justice if you’re interested,” Jonathan chatted idly. “Build it out of white marble and it would look good on top of the courthouse outside. You could even put a smaller version inside just past the mask detectors.”
Seeing that nobody was listening to him, he carried on.
“Fine, the Lady of Justice statue shall forever turn a blind eye to the justice department.” He laughed at his own joke.
“Lady of Justice?” Hearing the name of the statue, Grant turned around. “How do you know that name?”
“Oh, seems like you know it, too.” Jonathan stopped laughing and smiled. “That means you’ve either met a Sider or there’s a Sider inside the Adventurers Guild. I met a Sider during my travels and he told me about the world he came from. The Lady of Justice is one of the most famous statues in that world.”
Jonathan continued to sneer.
“If you know the name of the statue but there isn’t one here, that means that either you can’t build it, it’s currently being built, or you have kept it private for yourself to admire. Which one is it, honourable judge?”
“Shut up!” Grant snapped. “It is being built as we speak, but you will never have the freedom to see it.”
“Ah, that means there is a Sider inside the Adventurers Guild’s management.” Jonathan smiled.
Grant went pale. He had blurted the information out to defend himself. His anger had become his folly. The Adventurers Guild having a living Sider was a big secret, and he had just blurted it out. There was a cold sweat down his back while thinking about how grateful he was that they didn’t make him take a blood oath.
Looking around, Grant saw the widened eyes of all one hundred security personnel around him. Even Cale was wide-eyed from the speculation. The judge could tell they all wanted to ask questions, but he coughed dismissively.
“This is a big secret,” he announced. “I am ashamed I let my anger get the best of me. I spoke out the secret to defend myself from this criminal, but please hold all questions. The information about the Sider will be released at a later date.”
While Grant was apologising, Jonathan was trying to wrap his mind around the fact that there was yet another Sider out there.
Me, Sarah, Luke, and now this new Sider… I’ve also come across Tim’s, Danny’s, and Benigno’s bodies, too. I’ve been in this universe for almost 26 and a half years, and I’ve already found 7 other Siders that were dead or alive.
Including the 2 Siders I heard about when I first got reincarnated, that’s 9 total.
That’s an average of almost finding 1 Sider every 4 years! Aren’t Siders supposed to be rare? Or was that only in my original world? Could Siders pop up in every world?
After everybody recovered from their shock, they walked towards the courtroom again. Jonathan assumed the number one courtroom was at the end of the corridor since they passed by two doors on each side of the corridor; the numbers on the doors were counting down.
The corridor was over 35 feet wide. It was big enough to allow six people to walk side by side with room to spare, benches on both sides of the walls for people to sit and wait. The guards at the front of the formation cleared the corridor of any people as they travelled through. Adam made sure nobody besides those assigned to escort the prisoner came within a hundred feet of him. He ordered a few guards to stand at the entrance to the corridor to stop anybody from getting through. The rest of the men, he had lined up next to any door in the corridor.
This Adam is a professional at what he does. He’s got all his bases covered. If I get out of this iron maiden and escape, I must make sure it’s after he leaves. Cale, on the other hand, is spineless. If I escape, he’ll run the opposite way faster than I can run. The judge is too weak to do anything and could be the best hostage candidate around here, but that’s if he’s needed.
I wonder what the difference is between Adam and Cale, though? They’re both Rank 9, but does that mean their strength should be equal, too? That can’t be right… It’s more likely that I’ve been lucky and haven’t met a genius who could kill people of the same rank like it’s nothing. If I met a genius Rank 9, I’d either die within a few seconds, or escape by the skin of my teeth.
It makes more sense if the Rank 9’s I’ve met so far were those who only cultivated using resources, meditating rather than having to fight for survival. A Rank 9 who isn’t a genius but instead has been through millions of battles to reach where he is will more than likely kill me faster than a genius. I’m guessing within a second because they won’t show mercy.
Those people who fought for everything will not look down on people like what Cale and his teammates did. They will not underestimate an enemy. They will not feel
it’s below them to kill a Rank 5 like me either. At most, after they killed me, they will feel like they wasted a second of their time.
While he was thinking about how to avoid Rank 9 people from now on, Cale pushed him through the brown wooden door leading to courtroom number 1 at the end of the corridor.
As he passed through the door, Jonathan’s eyes took in the room around him. To his left and right were simple wooden benches like those inside an old church back on Earth. There were a few cushions left behind from previous crowds of people. The benches on both sides went all the way to the end of the walls which were over 30 feet away from him.
Jonathan was pushed further along, passing rows of benches. After about 40 feet, they stopped at a wooden railing with two gates attached.
So the benches are for the public, while this railing is only for the judges, lawyers, barristers, the prisoner, and anyone else involved in the court proceedings to cross.
Past the gate, were two big desks on the left and right where the defendant and prosecutor would sit or stand while going through the paperwork or presenting their case. About 20 feet in front of the two desks was a huge wooden structure. In the middle was a raised seat, upon which Jonathan assumed the judge would sit. To the left of this raised seat was a shorter one; Jonathan assumed this was where witnesses would testify.
However, there were no seats for a jury. That meant it was the judge who found the defendant guilty or innocent. Judge Grant had already called him a criminal before the trial even started, which wasn’t a good sign.
Cale pushed Jonathan to the desk on the left.
Chapter 48
The Trial
After Cale pushed Jonathan to the desk, he walked back through the gate and sat down on the bench. Adam had all ninety-nine other security personnel enter the courtroom and stand along the walls, while Adam himself stood near the judge’s seat and in front of Jonathan.
When everyone was in place, Grant walked around the wooden structure, up a few steps, and sat on the raised seat in the middle of the structure. Looking down, Grant could see the top and left side of Adam’s face as he spoke.