Greeting me on the other side is a large room, specious enough to hold around 100 people without issue. The far end of the room held a table, which at around 20 meters in length, held 10 chairs with 12 people sitting in them. Looking at the people behind the table, I saw 7 people whom I'm acquainted with, the other's being people I've never met before. All of whom have an air of seriousness around them.
{I guess this won't be as easy as I thought.}
I make my way to the center of the room where a lone chair sits in the middle of the room. Standing on both sides are two girls who I saw just recently. Still fully equipped are Elea and Astrid, who seem to be the bailiffs of this trial. Smiling to both, I make my way to the chair and sit down, making sure to sit up properly to not get the prim and proper all worked up. Now that I've taken a seat, the people behind the table finally start off the interrogation.
"Well then, let us begin. We, as representatives of Noble society, have been called together to pass judgment on the accused. Shin Okamoto has been accused of deliberately inhibiting the rescue of the teaching staff that left on the first day, resulting in their death's. He has also been accused of assaulting a fellow student to the point of severe injury. The victim accuses Shin Okamoto of unprovokedly assaulting him. Therefore, the crimes Shin Okamoto is being charged with are 2-degree murder for the former, assault with a deadly weapon for the latter. Shin Okamoto, how do you plead?" [Daichi]
{Huh. Not as bad as I thought. I figured destruction of property, arson, grand larceny, terrorism, and treason would be up there, maybe it's not as bad as I thought.}
"To the first charge, I plead not guilty. For the second charge, I plead not guilty." [Shin]
Hearing my plead of not guilty, Daichi gives me a slight sneaky smile, making me think that he was both expecting and looking forward to that answer.
"The defendant has plead not guilty to both charges. Let the trial begin. The accused will be given time to explain both charges against him. We reserve the right to ask for clarifications if things are not clear." [Daichi]
{Here goes nothing...}
"Ladies and Lords of High society, I would like to thank you for allotting your time to provide your insight and pass your judgment for this issue.
On the first night after we were summoned here, I heard that there would be a security detail to guard over the rest of the people within the fort as well as the perimeter to ensure that nothing strange happened during the night. I was convinced that my knowledge on military matters, could be used so I joined with the intent to aid the night watch. In all honesty, I simply wanted to help everyone." [Shin]
"Is it not true that you oversaw this night watch? You were not simply a part of the group, but the nominated leader, correct? Did someone nominate you for the position or did the group agree on your leadership?" [Daichi]
{I should have expected this. He's trying to get other people involved. He should know who gathered the night watch together since I'm sure that Ms. Garcia told them."
"I informed them that I had some prior knowledge concerning these things and that my father who was in the military briefed me on tactics, combat and logistics. Once I did, they seemed to listen to what I had to say so I'm unsure how to properly answer your question." [Shin]
"The proper answer to my question would be whether Ms. Garcia put you in control of the group or not? Having a teacher, who's not from the nobility, appointing someone in a position of power is a great concern for us. Furthermore, to put such an unstable and unreliable person in charge would naturally make her, your guarantor, responsible." [Daichi]
"Put me in control of the group? I would have to say no. I believe I stated earlier that I heard the night watch was missing personnel, so I volunteered." [Shin]
"Heard, from who?" [Daichi]
Before I have the chance to answer his increasingly annoying questions, help comes from a fellow member of the committee.
"Daichi, that's enough for now." [Prince Eren]
"My Prince, his story is lacking in clarity so I'm purely asking for confirmation." [Daichi]
"Daichi, your interruptions are causing a greater lack of clarity than his testimony. I believe that he should at least finish his explanation of events before any questions are asked. Any objections?" [Prince Eren]
Prince Eren Looks left and right along the table to determine the nobilities' opinions. Seeing that no one raises their hands or suggests otherwise, Prince Eren looks back to Daichi.
"We'll be continuing his testimony without interruptions. You are permitted to continue." [Prince Eren]
The look on Daichi's face is like that of an abandoned puppy. Never seeing this kind of expression of his before really takes its toll on me as I muster every ounce of my willpower to not laugh at his face.
Taking a breath, I begin explaining from where I left off.
"I decided to split the group of into 6 teams of three: two watching the ward, two watching the keep, one watching over the gate, the last watching over the guardhouse. My group was the one positioned by the gate. Late into the night, I decided to inspect the guardhouse, so I left the other members to watch over the gate. I told them that I would be gone for 20 minutes at most and to grab one of the teams on ward patrol to fill my spot. While I was still in the guardhouse Alex, one of my team members, came and said there were people at the gate. Hearing this, I ran out to see what was happening. When I arrived at the gate, three heavily injured teachers were on the other side of the gate. Form the amount of blood, I knew they wouldn't last long. Sensing something was wrong, I looked around and saw a couple pairs close enough to the gate to become an issue." [Shin]
"From the distance they were keeping, there was no way of opening the gates and rescuing the teachers without allowing the monsters to attack. The other's wanted to open the gates regardless, no matter how much I tried to convince them of the situation. One member told them to go ahead and that he would keep me from interfering. After they left, he, Vilmos, attacked me with his axe, almost killing me. Naturally, I moved to protected myself which ended up with him unconscious. During the fight, I heard an explosion at the guardhouse so after the fight with Vilmos I left him there and rushed over to the scene. Entering the building to look for any injured people, I met with Prince Eren shorty after where he can attest to the rest. That finishes my summary of the events that transpired." [Shin]
Following my explanation of events, the entire room falls into an uncomfortable silence. The first person to break the silence is Daichi, who says,
"Then, since we have heard his story, we will now begin the cross-examination. Please raise your hand if you would like to ask a question. After each question is asked, the accused reserves the right to respond accordingly." [Daichi]
The first hand gets raised before Daichi has the chance to sit back down. A person who've I talked to on a couple of occasions.
"When you said, "convince them of the situation", what were you convincing them of exactly? You claim that saw these monsters, but there were no confirmed sightings let alone proof that they held malicious intentions. Were you not trying to convince the people of your view on the situation?" [???]
"Bode, a person part of the night watch can corroborate my testimony. If you do not believe him, perhaps you could ask Sechnall and Seisyll. They were present throughout the whole endeavor, yet they stayed up on the wall, not helping anyone. I believe that you are acquainted with them are you not, Lord Parker Guðbrandr? Shouldn't they be brought here before this committee as well since they did nothing to help those teachers?" [Shin]
"Watch who you talk to, you second-class person. Your accusations mean nothing in the name of the Grand Goddess' plan." [Parker]
Several eyebrows get raised from this statement. Interest turns from me to these new people being mentioned, followed by Parker's fanaticism.
"Shin, could you elaborate on that point?" [Prince Eren]
"Before I entered the guardhouse the first time, I saw two people up on the wall. With the moonlight, I recognized them as people I've seen with Lord Guðbrandr." [Shin]
"Whether they are associated with I or not, listening to the ramblings of a criminal should be beneath you, you Highness. The Grand Goddess would never allow pandering to the corrupted." [Parker]
"I see… Looks like we will be adding those names to the list. Now continue answering his question." [Prince Eren]
"Why…" [Parker]
"Enough. Shin, continue." [Prince Eren]
"You said that I was pushing my own viewpoint onto the others, correct? There were a pair of eyes in the distance keeping out of the light form the torches, not aiding the teachers in the slightest. Since the teachers were mortally injured, I'm convinced that they were allowed to return to us rather than them escaping from their assailants. Therefore, I concluded that the pair of eyes were responsible for killing the two teachers that were missing and following the teachers back with some aim in mind. My goal was to protect the people within the walls, not the ones who abandoned us and left from their own volition." [Shin]
The nobles broke into a quiet murmuring as I mention the last part, remembering that these people abandoned the group.
"Yes, they were those that left so they got what came to them." [Member #1]
"Why should they expect our protection after disregarding it?" [Member #3]
The only person who seemed to disagree was one who already thought of me as a "criminal."
"Shin, didn't you say that it was only natural to save someone when you saved Astrid when she fell. What happened to that mentality?" [Lady Róża]
"Ah, I believe that I said, "It's only natural to save someone if possible." In this case, it wasn't possible to save them." [Shin]
"What about opening the gate and summoning the school by ringing the bell? That way we could have all gathered and helped." [Lady Róża]
"Maybe I could have thought of that if Vilmos didn't stand in my way and a bunch of armed students went to the guardhouse to force open the gates." [Shin]
"That brings up a more important question. Why were these students armed and where did they get these weapons?" [Member #2]
"To answer your question, I asked a group of the night watch to gather some weapons to protect ourselves. The Grand Goddess stated that there were monsters in the vicinity so before I could confirm their presence, I decided that obtaining weapons would aid us if there were any that broke through our defenses. In hindsight, this may have enabled the situation to escalate. However, between needing them and not having them, or having them and not needing them, I chose the latter." [Shin]
"So, you agree that you were the main cause behind arming these students?" [Daichi]
"The other members of the watch unilaterally agreed with obtaining weapons. If you have concerns about us possessing weapons, why don't you ask Lord Guðbrandr to return the weapons he poached from the armory?" [Shin]
Now, about half of the heads on the other side of the table turn towards Parker, who's face is red with anger. Almost visually able to see the switch flick in his head, he draws a short sword from under his clothes and leaps across the table.
"YOU! I simply gathered them in the name of the Grand Goddess. For your questioning of her decree, I'll have your head." [Parker]
Drawing his sword in one fluid motion, he rushes to me and swings down, ready to cut off my head. Halfway through his swing, his sword begins emitting a bright yellow glow, most definitely from some sort of Skill. In my last moments, the passage of time seemed sluggish and lazy, making every millisecond noticeable.
{Thanks adrenaline, but you're not really needed right now.}
*CLANG*
The sound of metal on metal reverberates through the hall. Blocking the impact of the sword is a tall tower shield seemingly made from a part of night itself. The collision of yellow and black creates sparks of green, which peter into the air.
As eager as he is, he seemed to have forgotten two things:
First, there are two people beside me who are there to guard the proceedings.
Second, I was planning on him doing something this stupid.
A couple seconds later, chaos erupts in from both sides of the table. Some nobles jump across the table to aid Astrid who's struggling to hold off his attacks, while others simply continue sitting either indifferent or too shocked to intervene. After a couple minutes of intervention, Parker is successfully restrained and guided off to who knows where, leaving the committee members unsure how to proceed. Some even disparaging Parker.
"What unsightly behavior from a Noble." [Daichi]
"I knew since the Grand Goddess descended that he was troubled."[Member #1]
"I was quite close to him before, how did he end up with these barbaric viewpoints and tendencies?" [Member #3]
{There it is! Now, time for part two}
"I would like to thank the members of the noble community for both aiding me and witnessing these events as it will likely convince you of what I'm about to say." [Shin]
Pausing for dramatic effect, I continue.
"I believe that several people are under some sort of effect that influences personality and increases violence. You have all heard that students have been fighting amongst themselves and even teachers have assaulted students. Maybe you've acquitted their behavior, blaming stress or other variables. Unfortunately, Ladies and Lords, I believe we will all descend into his madness." [Shin]
…
The result of this announcement?
Complete pandemonium.