By Zephyria 
It was bitter, but I had no choice but to accept reality as it was. It would be absurd to expect someone to blindly trust and push forward with me—a mere mediocre district attorney compared to Nathaniel Miller. The bereaved family’s choice was perhaps only natural. No, it might even be the far wiser choice. In the end, there was only one best course of action left for me.
To extract as much as possible.
Thinking coldly, it was a rational conclusion. The Chief Prosecutor’s reason for inviting me to such a party was likely guilt or some similar emotion. Even though there was no need to go that far for a subordinate.
The Chief Prosecutor was a fairly good man. He was moderately righteous yet not entirely devoid of tact, which made working with him quite comfortable. I just hadn’t expected him to employ that tact in this manner.
The fact that he saw potential in me and wanted to give me an opportunity was a good thing. If I could just ignore the current feeling of filth, it might actually lead to a positive result. Right, in the end, as long as the culprit is properly punished in some way, isn’t that what matters? From Mrs. Smith’s perspective, the important thing is that Davis is punished.
Phew. I exhaled a long cloud of smoke as a substitute for a sigh. Recalling the Chief Prosecutor’s words, he would likely let me rest until the weekend. Of course, I had no intention of going to the party. I planned to spend the entire day buried in bed, reading books and sleeping. And I would bury this sense of defeat.
Just as I reached that thought, there was a knock, and the door opened. I waited for the assistant prosecutor, who had carefully brought coffee, to set it down on the desk before greeting her.
“Thank you.”
She smiled back, but showed no sign of leaving. Having regained some composure, I gave her the shortest explanation possible.
“Mrs. Smith doesn’t want a trial, so we’ve agreed to move toward a plea bargain. That’s what the Chief Prosecutor wants as well, so since it’s inevitable, I’ll have to focus on getting the maximum possible terms.”
“I see…”
Only then did the assistant prosecutor nod in understanding.
“It can’t be helped. It was an overreach from the start… Ah, I don’t mean your skills are the problem, it’s just that most people go for a plea bargain. Holding a trial is always a difficult decision.”
At her hurried addition, I simply replied, “Yes,” as if I already knew. Since I was feeling the situation myself, hearing it from someone else didn’t particularly change my mood.
Now that her curiosity was satisfied, I thought she would turn and leave, but unexpectedly, the assistant prosecutor lingered, showing no sign of moving. Seeing her hesitate as if she clearly had something to say, I looked up with a smile instead of a sigh.
“What are you curious about?”
“Actually.”
Her face brightened instantly, as if she had been waiting for the opening.
“About that party… I’ve heard things about it.”
I blinked in silence at the unexpected comment, and the assistant prosecutor whispered rapidly, her cheeks flushing slightly.
“They say it’s a gathering of high-ranking legal officials and socially influential figures. There are former legal professionals in high positions within politics and the government. In other words, people with power in all fields. They say if you become a member of that circle, your path to promotion becomes clear. You’ve basically succeeded.”
Immediately after, she leaned her upper body over the desk, fixing her gaze on my face.
“You’re going, right? Of course?”
I gave a bitter smile at her confident question.
“I’m not used to those kinds of gatherings…”
“What do you mean by that!”
Before I could even finish my sentence, the assistant prosecutor raised her voice, placed both hands on her hips, and looked down at me with a serious expression.
“You can’t possibly be unaware of how important that seat is, can you? Think about it. The Chief Prosecutor specially inviting you means he wants you to make an impression on the people gathered there. What does that mean? It means that once the Chief Prosecutor retires, you’re next!”
She spread her arms wide as if performing in a play, but my view was different.
“It’s far too early to think that far ahead.”
I attempted to calm her excitement with a cold tone.
“The Chief Prosecutor still has a long way to go before retirement…”
“My god, you really don’t intend to go!”
Cutting me off before I could say more, the assistant prosecutor shouted almost like a scream. Without giving me a chance to respond, she slammed both hands onto the desk with a loud thwack, leaned in abruptly, and poured out her words rapidly.
“Prosecutors are practically dying to go to that party, and yet you—you have absolutely no ambition! This is not the time to calmly say ‘maybe next time’! Are you going to spend your whole life buried in documents like these? You need to look higher! How long are you going to stay glued to this desk, just chasing trials!”
“Someone has to do it.”
“Prosecutor!”
She looked down at me, sitting there, with a stern expression I had never seen before, speaking as if issuing a threat.
“I am being very serious. I’m telling you that it’s time you faced reality.”
I already understood her point well enough. Being old enough to have grandchildren, she had worked at the court before I did, and thus she was intimately familiar with how things worked in the legal world. So, it was only natural that she found me frustrating. The path upward was clear if one just learned a bit of social maneuvering, yet here I was, failing to do so.
But even so, what was I supposed to do when I simply didn’t feel like it?
I looked up at her with a bitter smile. Whether it was because I was ill-bred or simply lacked tact, I was utterly incapable of flattering people. I couldn’t speak smooth-talking nonsense like Doug, nor did I have a gregarious personality. The only saving grace was that I had no ambition for success. If I had possessed a desire that didn’t suit my personality, I would have been miserable. Fortunately, I didn’t desire more than what I had and was satisfied with my current situation. Therefore, I had absolutely no intention of going to a place where I didn’t belong and struggling to act like a clown. Of course, the assistant prosecutor thought the exact opposite.
“You must go, Prosecutor. This opportunity may never come again.”
“I appreciate the sentiment, but…”
“Actually, when you chose a trial over a negotiation, the sentiment among the other prosecutors wasn’t great.”
She dropped an unexpected comment just as I was about to decline again. As I paused and looked at her, the assistant prosecutor continued with a determined, serious expression.
“They were asking why you went as far as a trial instead of tactfully persuading them into a negotiation. They said it would have ended easily if you’d just negotiated, but now that Nathaniel Miller has personally stepped onto the stage, what are we supposed to do? There was a huge uproar, saying that if we lose such a definitive trial, the entire organization will be stained with disgrace. Of course, you probably had no idea.”
“Ha.”
A hollow sigh escaped me in sheer absurdity. She was still looking down at me with a frown, but I had nothing particular to say.
“It’s fine. I don’t care what they chatter about behind my back…”