For awhile there was nothing but darkness and when he opened his eyes again. Barely conscious, eyes groggy he found himself in the middle of a room that resembled an outdated courtroom. The very first thing he noticed was that he felt smaller, his body felt awkward, more delicate, lighter even. There was no mass of overweight fat that clogged his formerly fat hands.
Where was he? What happened to him? Was this the afterlife.
"Mr august! You were asked a question, please answer it immediately!" An old man in the center of the room demanded that he speak.
He pointed at himself, visibly confused.
"Uhh…me?" he asked dumbfounded.
The crowd started murmuring in outrage, there were many strange individuals in the room. He swear he saw more than one women with elf ears. The people that sat in the upper part of the courtroom, wore crowns, and there were armed guards standing watch at every corner.
"Is there another Mr August! In the room. Did you or did you not have have a coerced sexual encounter with the 2nd princess."
"Uhh what…I don't even know what you're talking about?"
The crowd blared up again, agitated by his response, someone threw him with a tomato that went splat in his face.
"So you feign ignorance, you did not forcefully press the 2nd princess to have sex with you."
"No! I don't even know what's going on here. The one moment i was in the room…"
"Stop! Mr august. You have already faked amnesia once, it was disproven by magic, I assume you deny the allegations against you."
People everywhere in the crowd looked at him in disgust. All manner of folks, he saw three particular people staring at him with disappointment. Two women and one man, they all wore clothing that he would describe as cosplay. The one girl, a blonde look liked she was on the verge of crying.
Just what the fuck is going on here. Was this a simulation, it sure as hell wasn't the gates of heaven.
It was then that he realized his voice had changed as well, he started having a sneaky suspicion as to what might have gone wrong here. If his suspicions were correct, he may have been isekaid.
Isekaid and fucked right off the bat. Where was the magical goddess who would grant him special abilties.
He tried feeling for something, he felt something massive swell inside him like a source of energy. Maybe he could use it to escape this situation, maybe blow the whole court up if he could. He knew his body was special that there may be a way out afterall.
He starts concentrating on that energy, when one of the three cosplayers jumped down towards his seat. The knights were on edge, drawing their blades, and the muscular man, that resembled the king stood up as well.
"Don't even think about using your abilities, you will atone for your sins or you will die. My former friend."
His friend, a man with bluish spiky hair stared him down, his sword thrown at his neck.
Theodore calmed himself or was it August now?
He really didn't understand what was going on and the last thing he needed was to lose his head.
Everyone settled down, and went back to their positions.
The 'judge' or 'magistrate' whatever he was started hammering the hammer on his overly high desk, it made him feel small seeing all these people judging him for something he didn't do.
"Order! Order! Order! May the 2nd princess come up to the stand once again!"
'The 2nd princess' as she was called, walked slowly down the steps, her father holding her hand and letting go. Tears were welled up in her face, but Theodore saw right through her. Those tears were feigned.
He already knew.
'This bitch was lying.'
The princess bowed her head, awaiting to be questioned by the judge.
"Princess I apologize for having to call you up here again but we need to affirm one more time. What had happened before we closed with the sentencing."
"What but i just got here! I barely saw this thing play out."
"Be Quiet! One more word out of you and and I'll have prematurely sentenced." The judge said, pissed off.
"Now princess Adelheid, please reaffirm these question before the court decides on it's decisions. Did the hero August, force you into breaking into the Kingdom's treasury."
Hero?
"Yes he did." she said with soft voice. He would have called it cute if he wasn't on trial because of her.
"Did he or did he not, do indecent sexual acts with your maids under pretense of bribery?"
"He did sir."
"Did he or did he not, coerced you into a sexual relationship.
"He did sir, he threatened to murder my father, the king if i didn't comply."
Theodore started tapping his legs, biting his nails. he was getting anxious, this was not how his Saturday was supposed to go.
"Thank you princess you may return to be seated. Now for the verdict!"
As she walked away, she glanced in his direction. He could see in her eyes, that she was playing pretend, acting all cutesy.
"Wait can't we extend the trial, i didn't even have time to defend myself."
"You should have thought about that when you chased away your lawyer."
This was a sham trial, he was thrust in a situation he had no control over. His mind started racing. This felt like a setup, and without his original body at the scene, he was not going to convince anyone.
A few minutes pass, Theodore shivering in dread and confusion. Started breathing heavily, he wondered what they would do. It seemed like he ended up in a medieval fantasy world, and if medieval meant anything is that they were needlessly cruel. He was definitely hanging.
"The court is at a crossroad, therefore it is up to the people and the nobility to vote."
They handed out pieces of paper to everyone, he glanced off someone sitting not too far away from him. There were multiple options: life in prison, sold off to slavery, indentured servitude and even the death penalty. Repayment and atonement for his crimes.
What did the last one even mean?
A few minutes pass as all the papers are collected. He bowed his head, expecting the worse.
"August, despite committing sexual debauchery, stealing from the royal treasury, and attempted conspiracy to murder the king. The kingdom and the republic in it's dual identity has decided to take mercy on you. You have after all saved the kingdom from the demon threat years ago. You will repay every sum of money you stole within the next 5 years or face death. Which is 100 000 000 million gold. You are not to step within 5 kilometer of the noble district or faces additional punishment. You will be sold to handler who will aid you in accomplishing this task. Your powers will be stripped and you will have to start from scratch.
Theodore tweaked. 100 000 000 million gold or death.!!!
"Why my powers, you mean i can't use them to at all. You're setting me up for failure here."
"Five years or death!"
The judge slammed the hammer down and walked away. The crowd went absolutely crazy. People were shouting and hurling insults at him.
"You degenerate!" "traitor." "Feminine bitch."
Was he really all that feminine. He was certainly frail.
He took note once again of the three cosplayers, one of the girls consoled the other, and the daredevil that threatened him earlier stared him down. What was there problem, did they know him or something.
The guards put heavy iron shackles on his wrists, the cold of the metal biting his skin. The cuffs were tight even on his now skinny hand.
As he was taken away from the guards, one particular women caught his eyes. Her eyes were as dark as her hair, she wore a suit. She was smiling on him, did she had a role in this, there was no way to know, there was no way to prove anything, there was no time.
He was blown apart by a nuclear blast and now he was going to be slave to the state. Then there was the powers that he was never able to use. He was also a hero it seemed. It was all so much, and very little time to process it.
They had taken down a long hallway, put a blindfold on his head and lead him outside. There were crowds of people forming in the street, he could hear them even if he couldn't see them. If the guards let him go now, they would certainly try to kill him
They loaded him up in something., and made him sit down.
A carriage?
He was being taken somewhere, but he was too afraid to ask.
His thoughts rested on what happened earlier, the draft…the nuke, away from his apartment. He would never have his vr eroge games and worse he was sexual deviant, people were going hide their daughters because he existed.
August really, this body couldn't have a better name?