By Zephyria The Judge, who had readily passed on the right to speak, did not say a word until the hall was in an uproar. After a long silence, he asked to confirm.
“…Do you wish to speak?”
Leonardo’s gaze, which had been directed at the councilor, shifted to the Judge. It was an expression that said, ‘I pressed it because I wanted to speak, why else would I press it?’
But what came out of his mouth was a formal answer.
“I will speak.”
The battalion commanders, the councilors, and the spectators all stared at his face in an unexpected situation.
A moment later, the Judge’s permission, “Speak,” was given, and an Amplification Magic Circle appeared in front of Leonardo. If it were normal, he would have immediately retorted, telling them not to talk nonsense, but today he started with a calm question.
“Councilor, do you know what a battlefield is like?”
A fair-skinned young man with bright yellow hair who looked like he hadn’t even stopped smelling of milk yet. But there was a certain weight to the voice of such a person. The voice of the sinner, which echoed through the hall, was surprisingly sincere and sweet, so even those sitting in the last row were momentarily captivated.
The councilor was flustered by the question that was thrown at him in a seemingly impudent yet respectful manner, but he cleared his throat slightly and opened his mouth.
“Of course, I know. The battlefield is an extreme situation filled with ruthlessness, pain, and despair. But at the same time, it can also be said to be a stage of history that achieves the purpose of victory, going beyond the noble courage and dedication, honor, and military success of protecting the Empire and its citizens. Is that answer sufficient?”
The councilor, satisfied with his eloquence, clasped his hands together with a relaxed face and asked back. Leonardo looked at him and laughed, making a sound like air escaping.
“Yes, well. It’s not wrong.”
The moment he dared to judge what was right and wrong with ridicule, the councilor’s expression twisted like an angry toad.
“It’s not wrong, you say?”
“It also means that it’s not a perfect answer. At least, as far as I know.”
Leonardo smiled and clearly opened his eyes, which he had been lowering. The atmosphere, which had been pretending to be gentle, became sharp in an instant.
“Courage and dedication, honor, a stage of history…. It’s true that those are the things that come after the war is over. But that’s only the perspective of people who see the battlefield from the outside. To the dead or the survivors who know the tragedy, it’s just a useless facade right now.”
Power was put into the end of the fluent voice. Thanks to the effect of the Amplifier, everyone in that place could feel it.
“I don’t speak well like the councilor or the people gathered here, and I’m not highly educated either. But I know it well because I’ve lived more fiercely than anyone else for a time that is short if it’s short, and long if it’s long.”
His grip clenched the end of the armrest.
“A battlefield fair to both the living and the dead is a wasteland where reason and order have collapsed, a hell filled with screams and wails. There, there is only blood-soaked mud, flesh splattering like shrapnel, enemies you wouldn’t feel sorry for tearing apart and killing, comrades being violated by such bastards, and my own broken mind.”
“……”
“Do you know the fear of a person who crawls under the bodies of comrades with their intestines and brains flowing out, covering themselves in the stench of rot to spend the night, in order to avoid the barrage of light beams and shells, or to hide from monsters sniffing around like wild dogs? Do you know the resignation to the desire to live of a person who rises with a broken gun and sword, thinking of the homeland that will become a ruin like where they lie if they don’t stop them, if they don’t become a bullet shield to buy time?”
The gruesome scene of that day, recited with bloodshot eyes and labored breath, tinged the heat-filled hall with a chilling sensation. The council member, overwhelmed by the force, did not answer the question. It wasn’t that he would know, and it was because he was speechless at the weight of the statement.
“You probably don’t know. If you did, you wouldn’t be able to speak so easily about support troops or being prepared to sacrifice your lives in front of the injured here.”
Leonardo didn’t seem to expect it in the first place.
“Everything is raw on the battlefield. Victory and conquest? Emotion? That kind of thing only comes from the mouths of those sitting at desks like you. ‘We’ shout for our homeland to become indifferent to death. Even though the homeland has driven me and my comrades to our deaths, we brainwash ourselves and arm our bodies and minds, which are on the verge of collapse, with loyalty. Because we have to survive first.”
Leonardo did not mention acknowledging his achievements or the strength of the enemy that inevitably caused casualties. Instead, he mentioned the pain itself that everyone who participated in the subjugation would have experienced.
“I believe that you, a smart council member, know what I mean. It doesn’t matter how you judge ‘me’ in this subjugation. Just don’t easily talk about the resolve of the warriors who were desperate, as if they were chess pieces.”
A flash of fire sparked in the warning Gold Eyes.
“There is no honor on the battlefield. At least not the kind of honor you spoke of.”
After he finished speaking, the hall was silent for a while. Not even a small murmur could be heard.
The person who was closest to war than anyone else, the Empire’s war hero. The horrors of battle and the respect for the warriors that came from his mouth gave a fresh shock to everyone in the courtroom.
The members of the subjugation force recalled themselves on that day that Leonardo was talking about, feeling both pain and a strange sense of pleasure. That was probably because he was representing ‘our’ situation rather than ‘me’ and was angry on their behalf. Like a spark being lit, it caused small cracks and a sense of elation in the hearts of the members who were sitting powerlessly.
Likewise, the bereaved families who had lost their families a few days ago also watched a young man who seemed to understand their hearts. Seeing their blood relatives who had become stars on the battlefield in him, they gradually took off their colored glasses and became honest with the compassion that arose within them.
Loren, who had been holding a dagger to cut the connection circuit of the lighting on the 2nd floor railing behind the chairman, also quietly lowered her arm and quietly looked down at the hall.
‘The atmosphere has changed.’
She tilted her head as if she was quite impressed and decided to postpone the sabotage for a while. It wouldn’t be bad to watch until this atmosphere continued.
Leonardo, who was at the center of everyone’s attention, leaned back in his chair as if he was going to end his speech. Sitting in a dignified posture again, he scanned the audience and glanced at the defense team.
He blinked one eyelid without making it obvious. The lawyer, who had been standing on the platform with a dazed face, received the signal and hurriedly came to his senses.
It was a sincere punch from the person being judged that was more effective than a hundred words of defense. The lawyer, with a bright smile, turned his head towards the judge’s seat with an enthusiastic face.
“I would like to request a witness examination next.”
A noise-filled sound flowed from the small speaker installed inside the VIP room. Although there was a delay of about 10 seconds, Hugo was receiving a fairly vivid transmission of the situation in the hall.
He, who had been staring out the window, let out a bitter laugh filled with complicated emotions. He was worried that they would be trembling with anxiety in his absence, but it was a voice that was so confident and dignified that he was a little disappointed.
Furthermore, even though he was only guessing from the sound, he could feel that the atmosphere in the hall had changed. The guy always showed the abilities that someone had been training for decades as if he was born with them.
Hugo lowered the corners of his mouth, which had risen with pride, and returned to the face of the Grim Reaper, looking down at the presiding judge he had captured.
“The person being judged is standing up to it like that even in an unfavorable situation, but are you, who even took an oath at the inauguration ceremony, still planning to hold out?”
“Y-you… I’m saying this again, but it’s better to stop here. I’m saying this for your sake. I’m under the protection of the Empire.”
The presiding judge, who was sitting in a chair in front of the large table and bound by a stream of water, kept making incomprehensible noises and trembling his cheek. Hugo, who sighed as if he was frustrated, looked up at the ceiling and then coldly lowered his eyes.
“I see. I understand that you are the same as them. I won’t ask for a fair judgment by talking about justice and conscience because there’s nothing more to be disappointed about. However, I am now proposing a negotiation. I don’t want to use force either, so please cooperate―.”
“W-why are both sides doing this to me! You can’t even agree among yourselves, so what do you want me to do!”
Suddenly, the presiding judge screamed as if he was fed up and tightly closed his eyes. Hugo’s eyes narrowed at the words ‘both sides’ and ‘agree’ that he heard at that moment.
“It seems there are other forces putting pressure on you besides me.”
He asked with sharp eyes.
“Who is it? What did that person order?”
The judge shouted boldly, but then quietly closed his mouth again, fearing the aftermath. Hugo crossed his legs diagonally as if he was sitting on a pool table and stared intently at the judge.
Soon, he picked up a long ice spear as if it were a cue stick and slowly got up from the table top he was sitting on. He pushed the empty judgment and quill in front of the judge with the end of the ice spear. The objects naturally slid with a rattling sound because the table top was frozen solid.
The blank sheet of paper spread out on the velvet material stopped only after hitting the judge’s solar plexus. Hugo dragged the ice spear across the floor with a rustling sound and asked quietly.
“Is it Gladias Agrizendro who ordered you to hand over the position of presiding judge?”
The judge flinched for a moment. In the meantime, Hugo went behind the chair, pressed down on the backrest, and asked again.
“Esteemed Judge. In this situation, whose words do you think you should listen to first?”
“……”
“Who is holding your family’s honor and money?”
“Legion Commander, sir… please don’t do this privately….”
The Legion Commander, who had been polite until now, was gone. Hugo put aside formalities for a moment and returned to the Duke of the Empire.
“Private? It’s public enough.”
He felt like he finally knew the reason why he had been unyielding even after continuing to put pressure on him and trying to appease him. If you were an old man who had been eating political things for a long time, you couldn’t not know that Gladias Agrizendro’s power was stronger than Hugo Agrizendro’s in the Council.
In the meantime, Hugo had never gone against her direct orders, even for the sake of peace between the Great Mother and himself. However, just as he exercised his veto power over the order to handcuff Leonardo, there was something more important to protect now than his position.
A large hand landed on the presiding judge’s shoulder. Soon, he applied force and firmly grabbed it.
“You must know exactly who you should serve.”
Blue light shone eerily over the frozen table top.
“Count Heimbert, don’t make me angry.”