Rey felt an itch at the back of his throat.

His stomach rumbled as a few beads of sweat fell from his face.

He had been preparing himself for this moment, but now that it had finally arrived, he couldn't help the nervousness that assailed him.

Right now, he was kneeling before the five members of the Royal Council.

Conrad Listrio, as always, sat at the center of the group. His yellow blond hair was long, and it trailed down his shoulders as he calmly stared at the one to be tried.

The woman beside him had a slightly feline smile as she gazed upon Rey.

It almost felt like she was a cougar who desired to devour his flesh.

The other three members of the Royal Council wore neutral expressions. They didn't seem particularly happy or sad.

… Just stern.

'Oof! Tough crowd…' Rey glanced around him and noticed the number of cold-faced guards that currently looked at him.

The pressure was overwhelming.

Rey could see his classmates seated on one end of the room—almost as if they were members of the jury.

Brutus and Lucielle stood right beneath the elevated platforms that the Royal Council occupied.

It was all so strange, but Rey took it all in as calmly as he could.

'I never thought I would get into this sort of trouble so I didn't bother to learn a lot about the judicial system of this world…'

Still, he knew they wouldn't be too hard on him about formality since he was an Otherworlder.

'I also know the punishment won't be too harsh. Not only will Adonis object, but I still have the label of an Otherworlder.'

As long as those two factors existed, he was at least certain of his safety.

"Let the trial begin." Conrad spoke up, and the murmurs instantly stopped.

Absolute decorum pervaded the Royal Court, and everyone stood still.

'Here goes…'

*******

The first thing that happened was the reading out of all Rey's potential crimes.

The fact that he had disobeyed the direct order of the Royal Council stood at the very top of the list.

It was followed by trespass and unpermitted loitering within and outside the Royal Estate.

Conspiracy, Non-Compliance, among other things were also mentioned.

"Potential act of stealing the Monster Cores." Was also added to the list.

Rey wasn't surprised when he heard that, even though he could see Adonis and a few others gasp.

'I mean, think about it. What legitimate way could I have obtained that many Monster Core?'

Sure, he was powerful enough to get even more than the amount he was being accused of, but none of these people knew that.

To them, he was none other than 'Rey The Extra.'

'Honestly, I would have preferred to maintain that than whatever this is…'

Once he was read all the list of potential offenses, he was asked how he pleaded to each of them, and he responded with the only valid option.

"Not guilty."

This was how he was pleading, so he was not exactly making a claim. Therefore, the Truthseeker was useless in that regard.

However, once that was concluded, the real heavy hitters began.

First, all the evidence and testimonies were presented to the Royal Court.

It was essentially a retelling of everything Rey already knew, with a few extra details.

Nothing too surprising, though.

The sack full of Monster Cores was also brought out, and the contents were properly accounted for.

'A total of one hundred and fifteen, huh? Interesting…'

Rey knew there had to be a lot more Monster Cores, which meant that whoever set him up was currently sitting on thousands of Platinum Coins.

'They probably thought that this meager amount of Magic Cores wouldn't mean anything.'

Rey sighed internally.

'I really can't wait till I figure out who this bastard is…'

Stuff like;

"We found his signature on the Monster Cores."

And

"He has no alibi."

Were constantly mentioned.

The opposition had built up a strong case against him, but Rey already knew all of this would happen.

Once they were done with their side, it was finally Rey's turn to defend himself.

"It's not true."

Those were the first words he uttered. The Truthseeker did not display any lies in his words.

"I believe I'm being set up by someone. A lot of what I'm hearing sounds strange and absurd. I would never do a lot of these things."

'Not without precautions. I'm not that stupid!' Rey's thoughts echoed.

Once again, the Truthseeker justified him.

"So are you saying the evidence and testimonies are all worthless?" Lord Conrad asked with a calm tone.

"I am just as confused as you are. You can imagine my surprise when I was accused of all this."

Rey had found a good way to skirt around the issue so far, but he knew this wasn't enough.

The worst was yet to come.

"So are you saying you didn't have that sack of Monster Cores in your possession?"

The moment Rey heard this, he froze.

He couldn't lie that he didn't have the sack since he indeed did.

"Answer the question, Rey Skylar."

Once again, he wasn't being given a chance to defend himself.

Saying the truth didn't need lots of time for considerations and calculations, so if he took too long to answer, he would appear suspicious.

"A sack full of one hundred and fifteen Monster Cores? That sounds absurd! There's no way I would have something like that in my room."

Once again, the Truthseeker verified he was telling the truth.

'All my sacks had at least three hundred Monster Cores in them. I'm not lying… technically speaking.'

Rey could feel his heart slow down in relief, but the next question caused it to spike up yet again.

"What about leaving the Royal Estate? Do you admit to not doing that as well?"

The one who asked this question was the only female member of the council—Lady Vida Origa.

She looked about thirty, with a mature face that anyone would describe as pretty.

Her major appeal, however, was her curvaceous body. Her overflowing chest was a sight to drool over, and her thin waist, wide hips, and heavy buttocks could not go unnoticed too.

Since she was fond of dressing in body-hugging attires, there wasn't anyone in the Nation who didn't know of her amazing figure.

'Goddamn!' Rey himself had thought when he saw her take her seat right before the trial began.

From what he could gather from her two ring fingers, she was yet to be married.

Rey couldn't believe it—no one in the entire United Human Alliance could.

At least, not unless they knew her personally.

'Urgh! Now isn't the time to get distracted, Rey!'

Pulling himself from staring where he wasn't supposed to, Rey thought hard about how to tackle her question.

"I… erm…"

"Come on, boy. It's a simple question." Lady Vida smiled as she pushed her face forward while narrowing her gaze on him.

It seemed she was enjoying every moment of this, especially the way Rey squirmed under her intimidating stare.

'I can't think of a way to really answer this. At least not in time…'

This was already beginning to look like a checkmate.

*

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Thanks for reading.

Looks like we have Milf in the building.

… Or maybe not.