3 days after killing 15 Mithril Golems.
Early in the morning after spending a pleasant night with my wives, I went downstairs to change my clothes because there was some noise at the entrance.
There were two armed men there. I saw some outside the house, too. Soldiers.
"What's going on?"
"Are you Grose Hendler?"
"Yes, I'm Große Hendler, and you are?"
"My name is Hendray Breton, and I belong to the guard of this city."
The soldier who identified me said he was a security guard.
"How can I help you, sir, with your security detail?"
"Mmm, you're under suspicion of robbery. Now tie him up."
"What?"
"What are you talking about! Master is not a robber or anything!"
"Yes, there is no way Grose-san would commit such a dastardly act as robbery!"
"Yes, One!"
The wives tried to push the soldiers out.
"Stop it! There's been a mistake. Check it out and you'll see."
I don't think it's gonna work out in my favor if we fight here.
I don't feel good about being taken away, but if the soldiers get hurt, we'll be the bad guys.
"I'll be back with Chan."
"""...""""
They're gonna tie me up and take me away.
And the employees look at me worried. So I tell them not to worry.
I'm being taken to a security guard station, and I'm being interrogated.
It is said that a group of merchants of the Egetnay Trading Company had set out for the city of the Red Tower about four months ago with a full cargo of white sugar, but the group was attacked by bandits and the white sugar was robbed.
Four months ago, that's when I arrived in the city of the Red Tower.
But interesting. If you believe this story, it means that there are other merchants who can buy and sell white sugar in this world.
The guards claimed that I was the culprit because I was robbed of my sugar, and I'm the one who sells sugar to the commercial guild. This is what the guards claimed, but when I heard this story, I thought it was a false accusation of harassment or some kind of intention.
"I have never stolen fine white sugar, nor have I ever robbed a trading party."
My argument has always been this.
You can't admit it. If you do, I'm guilty.
Ins told me that torture is not used in interrogation in this country. He said that if the soldiers had beaten me and forced me to confess, I would have been acquitted by the law of this country.
But there's no time limit on the interrogation, and they can keep me until I confess.
Which makes me wonder what the guy who set me up is up to.
"Then where do you get the top white sugar from?"
"That's a trade secret."
Do you simply want to know where we buy our sugar?
Or is there more to it than that?
For the time being, we have to wait and see.
He's been in custody for seven days now.
You'll be interrogated from first thing in the morning until late at night. The same questions and answers over and over again.
You'll get hard bread and water twice a day, morning and night. ...You think I'm gonna put up with that? !
For some reason, there are no other prisoners around the cage where I'm kept, and soldiers only come to patrol every two hours, so I secretly buy food from [[mail order]] at night and eat it.
And I asked Ins to look into it, and we found out who's pulling our strings. Ins, you're really good!
[( ^ω^ )]
Since Ins can use his skills on my behalf, I asked him to use all my skills to find the culprit who falsely accused me, and he found him.
His name is Viscount Nettley. Ins found out he was behind it.
The connection between Viscount Nettley and me, it's Braham. He's the one who raped and killed Braham's wife.
And he found out I was hiding Braham, and he set me up.
If I'm found guilty, my slave Braham will be deputized to rule the city of the Red Tower and then sold into slavery, and it's up to Viscount Nettley to buy Braham.
[I didn't expect you to pull a move like this, but in a way, maybe the heavens are on my side...]
[Yes, if we restrain the master, this town will be in chaos due to the shortage of his goods. The one who would be in trouble would be the deputy governor of this city.]
[Nettles is backed by his uncle, the Count, and no doubt the deputy is having trouble dealing with Nettles?]
[I'm sure of it. Nettoli is using his uncle's power to do as he pleases. The deputy can't even reprimand Nettley before the Count.]
It seems that stories like this exist everywhere in the world, regardless of time or place.
If this happens, the seeds I've been sowing will sprout. By spreading the goods purchased through [[Mail Order]] on a large scale, the goods are being distributed not only in this city, but also in several large cities including the Royal Capital.
As long as I'm in this cage, my goods will only be consumed, never supplied. Then it's a simple matter for many nobles and citizens to demand my goods.
All I have to do is spend a month or two in this cage, and the deputies will be so pressured they'll have no choice but to let me go.
Well, I have to spend a certain amount of time in this cage so I don't miss my wives, you know.
I have [[space-time magic]], so I can sneak out in the middle of the night and see my wives. If there is a watchman in front of me, I have time to go and see my wives because I only look around every two hours.
Well, I'll miss you whenever I can.
Ten days later, when my trial came, the soldiers took me outside and put me in a wagon.
After a short ride in a carriage, you'll see a number of magnificent buildings that are completely different from the one I was trapped in.
You'll be dropped off at a small building in the middle of it.
Maybe this is a deputy's compound and I'm being dropped off at a soldier's camp.
For the last ten days, the few soldiers who interrogated me didn't try to force me to throw up.
They seem to know that I didn't steal the sugar. Well, I guess they can't say anything because they are my opponents.
But a trial is unusual. Are we just going to ignore all the evidence and convict him?
If that happens, I'll have to make up my mind. Either I'll leave not only the city of the Red Tower but this country, or I'll make it a comfortable place to live by getting rid of all those who framed me and those who oppose me.
Let's just enjoy the trial for now. Hey, am I such a character?
I was sent to a corner of the building and sat on a chair near the doorway.
The room is like a Japanese courtroom, with the judge's seat at the front, the defendant's and plaintiff's seats to the left and right of the judge's seat, a desk in the center where the defendant and plaintiff are supposed to speak, and finally the audience seats.
The audience is already half full, including my wives, Catherine, and the master of the Adventurer's Guild... whose name escapes me.
I winked at the three worried-looking wives, and they blushed and looked so cute.
The short, chubby man sitting on the plaintiff's side is probably the representative of the company that sued me.
I can't help laughing at the fact that he is such a black-hearted representative.
But I don't get a lawyer, do I? You're not that nice.
"Quiet!"
At the sound of his voice, the door behind the judge's seat opened and an elderly man in a pitch-black robe and several other men entered.
An elderly man sits in the center of the judge's seat, with one person on each side of him. Behind him, two guards stand, their gazes sharp and attentive to the room.
"You will now stand trial for the robbery of white sugar."
The man on the right stood up and began to read from the parchment.
To summarize what the man said, he said that about four months before I was arrested, I had robbed the white sugar that was purchased and transported by the Egetnay Trading Company and sold it in the city of the Red Tower.
The more I hear about it, the more I think it's an unreasonable claim, but do the judges know that?
"Große Hendler, before."
I'm standing in front of the desk in the middle of the room when the old judge calls me in.
"Give me your first and last name."
No, you just called my name. I'm not gonna say. I'm just gonna go with it.
"I'm Grose Hendler."
"Then, Mr. Hendler, do you admit to the substance of your earlier complaint?"
I didn't expect you to get to the point so quickly, but I wouldn't admit it.