95 – You and I, Us – 4

Summer was approaching.

Was it about time to start serving cold noodles or naengmyeon? He also wanted to make cold soba, but how would he make the buckwheat noodles? No, would making the sauce for that be even more of a hassle…?

Even while having those thoughts, Gi-jun borrowed the lodging’s kitchen to boil soup this morning as well.

This was because among his party members, there was a troublesome person who would become visibly crestfallen if the soup he boiled was not on the breakfast table.

“It is very delicious today too. Another bowl, please, Jun.”

“I figured as much and prepared it.”

This morning’s menu was a smooth, easy-to-eat Italian-style tomato cream soup made by boiling the ingredients and blending them finely.

Watching Tilla receive her second bowl of soup and even diligently dipping warmly toasted bread into it, Gi-jun had no choice but to smile.

Meanwhile, Ji-hye, who sat at the table rubbing her sleepy eyes, admired Gi-jun’s endless stream of soup recipes and asked.

“Gi-jun oppa, hasn’t your recipe collection become much richer than during the tutorial? The only soup I know how to make is instant cream soup. The beef-flavored one.”

“During the tutorial, I just didn’t have the peace of mind to explore culinary pleasures. And I loved that one a lot, too. If there were no side dishes, I would just boil beef soup and mix rice into it, finishing a meal in an instant…”

“What did you say?”

Ji-hye, who was dipping a crisply toasted baguette into her soup, suddenly became serious at those words.

“Mixing rice into soup? Oppa, are you crazy?”

“What’s wrong with that? If you only look at the ingredients, it’s similar to cream risotto.”

“Risotto… No, it’s different, okay? It’s completely different!”

“You didn’t fall for that.”

While the two of them were eating and talking about instant soup that only Earthlings, or more accurately Koreans, would know, Tilla, who had finished her second bowl of soup, looked back and forth between the two of them and asked in a low voice.

“Now that I think about it, you two said you came from the same civilization.”

“Ah…”

Ji-hye wore a startled expression at Tilla’s words.

Although all of the party members now knew that her misconception had been corrected and the misunderstanding had ended, it was still a delicate matter to mention it so openly.

Yet, she had ended up openly showing off her close relationship with Gi-jun right in front of her.

As Ji-hye hesitated, Tilla asked boldly.

“Did you know each other since before coming to Leta?”

“A-Ah, no. It’s not like that… We met in the middle of the tutorial.”

“Aha… You two looked close, so I thought you had a long history. But I guess not.”

Tilla calmly nodded at her cautious reply and smiled faintly.

Ji-hye blinked her eyes at the sight of her appearing much more normal than expected.

Since Gi-jun knew that Tilla no longer obsessed over his race, he shrugged his shoulders as if he had expected this.

“Well, we do have a long history, though.”

It would have been better if she had just left it at that, but Ji-hye unnecessarily added more words.

It felt almost like a provocation.

Gi-jun glared at her to warn her not to say useless things, but she pretended not to see it and continued speaking.

“The tutorial was extremely long, you see. So we were together for easily ten years. If we look close, isn’t it because of that?”

Tilla’s eyebrows twitched.

“…The tutorial was long? Even though Jun was there?”

“Back then, oppa hadn’t awakened yet. If he’s in his complete form now, back then he was almost at an infantile stage?”

“Ha.”

At that point, Gi-jun, who had given up on making Ji-hye shut her mouth, let out a sigh and intervened.

“Could you at least make it childhood?”

“It just shows how much stronger you’ve gotten, oppa. Besides, I was at an infantile stage back then too. The only one who could make use of their abilities was Min-i.”

“Min-i certainly… was like that.”

“At a growth phase stage.”

“Right, growth phase.”

No matter how much Earthlings lacked innate abilities, there were still those among them who were born with a natural talent for combat.

Gi-jun’s party members possessed particularly blessed talents—and among them, Ye-min was special.

This was because she was not only exceptionally talented in combat but also possessed an amazing ability to manipulate mana.

On top of that, she was born with high charm, so if only a single Hero were to be chosen from Earth instead of a million, shouldn’t it be Ye-min and no one else?—Even during the tutorial, Gi-jun used to seriously have such thoughts.

‘She was strong, upright, and beautiful. Surely, now she is even more…’

Even now, having grown this much, recalling her seemed to vividly revive the deep feeling of resignation along with the admiration he had held for her—

“…Hm?”

When he came to his senses, all the party members gathered around the table were looking at him.

Not only Ji-hye and Tilla, who had been talking with him, but even Lora and Unica, who had been quietly eating with exhausted faces from their early morning training.

Ah—excluding Gin, that was.

“What’s wrong with everyone?”

“Is she a special person?”

Tilla asked abruptly.

Gi-jun belatedly realized who her words were referring to and nodded.

“Of course. She was the leader of the party that Ji-hye and I were in during the tutorial. She was strong and charismatic. She was someone you could rely on.”

“Is that all?”

“Why…?”

For a moment, flames seemed to flare up in the eyes of Tilla, who was supposed to be disguised as a human spirit summoner.

What on earth was this tension subtly hovering in the air?

Why were even Lora and Unica wearing serious expressions?

Gi-jun, who did not fully understand the situation, signaled with his eyes to Ji-hye, asking for help, but she only wore an amused expression.

“Good morning, nya!”

Fortunately, Boots appeared at the perfect timing and broke the strange atmosphere.

Behind him, knights clad in splendid full plate armor engraved with the emblem of the Gratia Royal Family stood lined up in perfect rows.

“A delightful day of the trial has dawned, nya! The Ruler of Benevolence and Grace has personally taken his seat as the judge, so all those who tried to hide their crimes before the fully revealed truth will receive heavenly punishment, nya!”

“You look delighted, Boots.”

“Of course! Many people have made efforts to set up this occasion, nya!”

Boots winked at Nabinya—who had been rolling around on Gi-jun’s lap like a cat but hastily put on her shoes and stood on the floor when he appeared—and approached him, speaking.

“But before we depart, can I also get a bowl of soup, nya?”

“Help yourself.”

After eating breakfast and finishing his preparations, Gi-jun headed to the courtroom under the supervision of the Royal Knights along with Boots.

The party members naturally wanted to go with him, but since they had been completely cleared of suspicion thanks to Boots’s testimony, they could not enter the courtroom.

“Jun, if anything happens, I’ll go to help you right away.”

“I told you, the thing you’re worried about won’t happen.”

Gi-jun responded to Tilla’s excessive worry with a bitter smile, but he could not stop her from placing Rodim on his shoulder.

Unica, who approached right after her, held Gi-jun’s hand tightly and whispered.

“My father… the Lord of Turis, is participating as a juror. Miss Bella is also scheduled to appear as a witness, so it will be fine.”

“Thank you for looking out for me, Unica.”

Lora and Gin also offered words of worry for him.

“Jun-nim, Jun-nim is always right…!”

“Jun-nim, if you need me, please just call me!”

“Like I said, there won’t be any fighting.”

Ji-hye also gave him a firm look.

“Is there really no reason to fight, oppa?”

“Ah—even if there is, it will end with me. Don’t worry.”

“I knew it, your face didn’t look like someone just going to receive a trial.”

“Nyat!”

Grabbing and lifting Nabinya by the scruff of her neck as she tried to slip after Gi-jun while pretending to be a normal cat, she said.

“Then we’ll be waiting. Finish it quickly and come out.”

“Yeah, it’s about time to resume your training too. Isn’t your Strength close to a rank up?”

“I wasn’t really waiting for those kinds of words.”

The trial was held in the special conference room on the third floor of the city hall, located in the center of Cor.

As Boots and Gi-jun entered, gazes poured toward them from all directions.

Not to mention the Goblin Honeypup—who had intended to judge them but ended up standing in the courtroom in the same position as them—and the alliance’s human representative who had come in place of the deceased human representative Christian.

There was the vampire who had been captured by the party and submitted as ‘evidence,’ and the human who would testify to what Christian had done to them.

Added to that were the nobles already filling the jury box, and even the beautiful woman sitting in a seat placed slightly higher than the jury box, glaring directly at them.

Boots noticed where Gi-jun’s gaze was directed and told him her identity.

“She is Io Defect, the noble who was supporting the alliance, nya. Her rank is countess, nya.”

“If you list it starting from her surname, is it ‘defectio’? Her name is certainly clear, which is nice.”

Originally, that woman was scheduled to sit as the presiding judge for this trial, but as the King of Gratia intervened, her position was automatically demoted.

So now… she was in a position similar to a prosecutor, so to speak.

Gi-jun made eye contact with the woman and let out a low sigh.

Although he had already gotten a sense of it when a great noble supporting the alliance opposed them even though three of the representatives currently constituting the alliance had gathered their wills.

As expected, that was…

“His Majesty the King is entering!”

Everyone who was seated stood up from their spots.

Gi-jun also stood up with Boots, thinking to himself that meeting the king of a country already was incredibly fast.

“Everyone, please be seated.”

The king who appeared in the courtroom was unexpectedly a young man.

Like most of the citizens of this country, he looked similar to a human on the outside, but uniquely, a curved ink-colored horn grew from his left temple, and his pupils were vertically slit like those of a reptile.

Appearing with escort knights, he walked in leisurely, sat in the seat of honor, and spoke to the countess sitting below him.

“An interesting case. The one who first proposed the trial was Countess Defect, correct?”

“That is correct, Your Majesty.”

The countess, who had been glaring at Gi-jun murderously, turned to him with a sweet expression and replied.

Snorting in disbelief, Gi-jun saw an elderly man sitting in the jury box smiling as if recognizing him, and nodded back.

It was Monoceros, the Lord of Turis.

Given that Bella was not there, it seemed the witnesses would appear later.

“Review the details. Why have those standing before my eyes ended up in this place?”

“I report to you, Your Majesty. The Flame Human Jun caused a disturbance here in Cor, the heart of Gratia, harming a good citizen of Cor and a member of Demander, the summoner species guild union loyal to Gratia, as well as Christian, the master of the guild Union—”

“Ah, he is fine.”

“…Pardon?”

The countess dared to question the king’s words.

But the king ignored her, rested his chin on his arm which lay on the desk, and spoke while looking down at Gi-jun.

“Flame Human Jun, they say you are an outsider without citizenship.”

“That is so.”

Gi-jun nodded and answered.

Starting with Countess Defect, who went wild as if she had expected his informal speech toward the king, many people grew excited and raised their voices, but when the king lightly tapped the desk with his fist, all the noise ceased.

“Then, answer.”

A pair of sharp reptilian eyes glared at Gi-jun.

Come to think of it, was the king’s disposition still an unknown factor?

Unica had discussed the king sitting as the presiding judge as the best possible outcome, but wasn’t that merely advantageous for establishing countermeasures against the vampires, and something that should be considered separate from the king’s attitude toward Gi-jun himself—

Such thoughts completely vanished upon hearing the king’s next words.

“Why did you, who are not even a subject of Gratia, throw yourself into stopping the overflow that struck the small city of Turis, which you have no connection to?”

“…I do not know what kind of answer you want, but I had no noble intentions.”

To think that stepping up to stop the overflow would bear fruit all the way here.

He felt both somewhat absurd and pleased at the same time, but he had absolutely no intention of adapting his true feelings to suit the situation.

“Turis was the most advantageous place to block the overflow, and that is why I simply headed there.”

“They say you risked your life to fight, drew the attention of all the monsters, and protected many people.”

“I only did what I could. I didn’t sacrifice myself for others; I just didn’t want to see people die before my eyes.”

“…Excellent.”

The king, who smirked and said so, released his chin and slowly began to clap.

As the Lord of Turis smiled and clapped as if he had been waiting, the other nobles had no choice but to follow the two and clap as well.

Before long, as the clapping subsided, the king spoke again.

“Did you hear that, Countess Defect? He said he didn’t want to see people die. Those people are my subjects.”

“Your Majesty, the overflow and this case are separate matters. For that person to commit a crime in front of a crowd, and moreover, to kill Christian, who is a law-abiding citizen of our Gratia and a loyal knight, is clearly—!”

“A law-abiding citizen? As far as I know, he was not.”

The king’s voice grew lower.

“A law-abiding citizen does not secretly build a hideout under Gratia.”

“Your Majesty, that is a slander against them!”

The countess shouted in surprise.

It was probably because the king had abruptly brought up the part she wanted to push back to the very end.

“In fact, I was intending to speak about that… but it is a fabrication, a frame-up! The construction of the hideout is nothing more than a scheme concocted by the other representative species, centered around the Cait Siths, in order to expel the humans and Goblins from the alliance!”

“Concocted?”

“That is correct!”

No, why were the two of them just chatting after calling people for a trial?

To Gi-jun, who wore a dumbfounded expression, Boots winked and whispered from beside him.

“Didn’t I tell you then that we wouldn’t be the only ones standing on the judgment stand, nya? Thanks to His Majesty the King stepping in, the number of people on the judgment stand has increased by one, nya.”

“Boots, you knew from the start that it would proceed with this kind of atmosphere.”

“Nyaa. Still, weren’t you a little nervous before the trial started, nya?”

“Hmph.”

He had been thinking of smashing everything if things went sideways, though.

Even while Gi-jun and Boots were whispering, the king’s interrogation continued.

“Then, naturally, the countess would have been unaware of the existence of the hideout.”

“Of course! If I had known, I would have arrested those traitors long ago!”

“Did you all hear what the countess said?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Your Majesty, I understand this is not a session to interrogate Countess Defect, so why—”

“Let the witness enter.”

At the judge’s declaration, the door to the conference room opened and a woman entered.

She was a beauty with striking pointed ears, Bella, the sub-master of the Ars Mercenary Guild.

“Beautiful.”

“It seems nymph blood flows in her… Indeed, she is fitting as a witness.”

Amidst the whispering heard from here and there, Bella, standing before the witness stand, bowed respectfully to the judge.

The king smiled faintly while looking at her nymph ears and said.

“Witness, state your case. You found something strange in the inventory list of the Defect house?”

“That is correct, Your Majesty. It is about the goods they purchased in large quantities and supplied to the Demander Alliance.”

“How dare a half-nymph, not even a pureblood, mouth off about the affairs of a countess’s house?”

Ignoring Countess Defect, who shouted in extreme rage, the king said.

“Continue.”

“They used fairy merchants to prevent information from being exposed, but they failed to destroy the inventory records of the countess’s house.”

“That is—a crime! You criminal!”

Countess Defect’s eyes flew wide as Bella waved the documents in her hand.

Most likely, the one who actually obtained those documents was Nabinya, the cat in flat shoes who was gradually opening her eyes to intelligence work.

Since he had seen her moving with Viv the day before, she had probably entrusted the documents to Bella, who was appearing as the witness.

The fairy merchants knew very well that the reliability of information changes depending on the messenger.

“By obtaining the records with the help of a collaborator and cross-referencing them with the Defect house’s cash flow, we confirmed that goods repeatedly purchased in large sums were supplied to the alliance.”

“What are those goods that make you say so?”

Bella smiled brightly enough to leave everyone watching mesmerized, and answered.

“It is premium chocolate.”