Chapter 32: They Kept Asking Questions!

A maid came with a tray filled with food for Alicia, offering a course meal. Sitting on a nearby chair, still inside the Justiciar room.

The meal was lavish. Starting with a salad dressed in mayonnaise. Then, a warm chicken soup to stimulate the appetite. The main menu was the steak with a generous sauce splashed on it. Then came the dessert: three slices of apples, four slices of oranges, and a cake. The meal made Alicia feel like she was inside a luxury restaurant, not a prison.

“Thank you.”

“You are welcome, Mage Alicia.” The maid bowed. Soon after, one of the Justiciars came in—the one with a white robe.

“Hello, Alicia.” He smiled. He didn’t sit on the judge’s seat, but next to Alicia. “Did you enjoy your meal?”

“Yes. It was delicious. But why was the trial not done? Is there anything you want to ask me, Lord Justiciar?”

“No need to call me Lord. Call me Hanibal. Alicia, you are a mage, and a mage needs to be respected.” Hanibal smiled.

“I see. My apologies Lord Hanibal, but I am a commoner. It would be impudent of me to call you without honorifics.” Alicia had learned etiquette, and Count Shadowstep had hammered it into her that everyone here was a noble.

“Well. I guess that is fine. Formality is good. We are inside the capital, not Slane Dukedom. But if you find the decorum of other nobles tedious, you are always welcome in Slane Dukedom.”

I see. I now know why my interview ran longer than even my father’s. They didn’t care about the case. They care about me.

Alicia’s two brain cells finally made a connection about why she was being held here. She then countered, “The capital might be tedious, but I find my life in Shadowstep quite fulfilling, Lord Hanibal.”

“They might be more lax in rural areas, but I doubt they have food like this there, right?”

“Yeah. They don’t.” Alicia nodded.

“So, it would be best if you moved to Slane Dukedom. You can enjoy food like this every day.”

Alright. That was too blatant. Eli’s father had warned me about this. Let’s see. How should I refuse him politely again?

Alicia thought hard.

“Lord Hanibal, Shadowstep is my home. That’s where I am needed. The goddess sent me there so I can be the shield of the empire against monsters. I thank you for your warm welcome, but I must refuse.”

“I’m sure there must be work from the goddess inside Slane territory too. We have rural areas to develop—not just Shadowstep.”

“Are you done poaching mages from others, Hanibal?” another Justiciar, the one in the blue robe, came in. “Alicia is a perfect knight. I see that Count Shadowstep has taught his subjects well. It is true, as she said—she is needed on the frontline, not pampered in Slane territory.”

“Lector, surely that can come later. Just look at how young Alicia is. How could you burden a child with war? She’ll attend the academy in two years. She should stay on Slane territory in the meantime. After that, she may carry out her mage duties.”

“...” Lector could only glare at Hanibal for his perfect excuse.

“See, I’m right. For the greater good of the empire, we must protect Alicia. She is a level 8… no a level 7 mage. Alicia, fighting monsters must be scary, right? Let’s go to Slane Territory—there are no monsters there to harm you.”

“Lord Hanibal. Are you saying you’ll protect all of Shadowstep territory? All five thousand of them, including the several hundred in Shadowstep Crossing? I didn’t know Slane Territory was so powerful.”

Alicia beamed. Her smile was radiant.

Little did everyone know—it was all just an act.

“…Huh? What do you mean? If it was just your father, we could. But why all of them?” Lord hanibal blanked for a moment at Alicia’s question.

“Hahaha!! Excellent! I must raise my evaluation of Shadowstep’s knight. And Hanibal, stealing another territory’s knight is a crime. Don’t push your luck.”

“I apologize. You are right. I simply wish for the safety of our little mage here.”

“And that’s what we are about to do. Speak of the devil.” Lector glanced at the door, and the man in the golden robe, who had been silent all this time, came in.

“Hmph! If you are a knight, you must do your duty, including paying your debt and its interest.”

“Yeah. A debt of over 1000 gold, even though the principal is only 1 gold,” Lector scoffed.

“You should not burden mages with debt, Lexar. I need to remind you where all our riches come from. Without mages, we would still be living in caves right now.”

“The contract still stands. A merchant’s life is in the contract.”

“Say that when you are at the receiving end of unjustified debt,” Lector scoffed again.

“If you must put a limit, you must say so within the contract. It is your father’s fault he didn’t put a limit on the debt he owed. And so, in my opinion, Alicia must work off her father’s debt and repay it in Luca’s Dukedom.”

“Eh, but I don’t want to. I read the law a bit. Lady Elidranthia and Count Shadowstep told me that debt cannot be inherited. You cannot be faulted for something you didn’t sign, right?” Alicia answered. She wanted to save her father if she could, but there was no way she would sacrifice everything for him. She had barely known him for a month.

“...Are you saying you will let your father shoulder all the debt?”

“I mean. I don’t want to be a slave. I heard most mages only receive one gold per month, so a debt of 1000 gold with 20% interest per month is unrepayable even as a mage. So… I have to cut my ties to my father in the worst-case scenario. I know when to give up.” Alicia shrugged.

“Yeah. Sometimes, in war, we must sacrifice our allies. But don’t worry, Alicia. Hanibal and I will do our best not to let you make such a hard decision.”

“Protecting mages is our duty.”

“Hmph!” The Justiciar in the golden robe went silent. Then, the last Justiciar, who donned a black robe, came in. Alicia expected another solicitation, but the man did no such thing.

“The recess is over. We have reviewed your case. Now, Alicia, what kind of justice do you seek? Do you seek punishment for the moneylender who made your life miserable?”

Alicia tilted her head. “I guess freeing my father from his debt should be enough.”

“...Understood. You seek liberation from your father’s debt. We shall review your cause, match it with what your father desires, and then hear back from Allegory Company. Then, you may stand the trial which will be held in two days. Fellow Justiciars, is there anything else you would like to add?”

“None.”

“Very well. The review process has been completed. The trial shall be conducted in two days. Alicia and John may now leave the House of Justice. Of course, should they wish, they are welcome to remain in the guest room until the trial is over. But we will no longer bar you from meeting anyone. Meeting dismissed.”

Everyone stood up and left. Alicia tilted her head at how different the court procedure was here compared to modern Earth.

She was absentmindedly led outside the room, meeting John on the way.

“Alicia!” John hugged her. Thanks to the new shirt gifted by Count Shadowstep, Alicia no longer gagged or felt revulsed when hugged by him.

“Papa!” Alicia hugged him back. The soft fabric caressed her thin arm.

“You’re fine. Good. I wondered why they kept you that long inside. Did they do anything to you?”

“They asked me whether I wanted to move to another territory, and I said no.”

“Good girl.” John patted her head. “Our review is done, we should meet with Count Shadowstep and report back to him.”

“Yes! I want to meet with Eli!”

“Sure. Let’s go.”

Alicia skipped her steps out of the palace. She was finally outside! Despite the opulent manor, Alicia couldn’t help but feel the palace was too restrictive. She finally understood what it meant to be inside a gilded cage and why many heroines in novels hated it.

“John! You are finally out! We were worried about you.” A Shadowstep knight waved from outside the inn where Eli and her father stayed.

It felt like forever, but it really had only been two days. In a private dining room, John knelt before Count Shadowstep, delivering his report.

“Hm… Alicia, what did those Justiciars ask you? John said you were in the room far longer than he was, even though he was the one who had his case reviewed.”

“There are three Justiciars. I think they wanted to recruit me. The one who wore a white robe wanted me to move to Slane territory, while the asshole with the golden robe wanted me to move to Duke Luca’s territory.”

“Alicia. Language.”

“But he kept saying that it is my duty to pay Papa’s debt! Intimidating me to move to Duke Luca’s territory to pay his debt.” Alicia could not contain her irritation. “I would prefer the white guy. He seemed nice, saying mages should be respected and whatnot. But his fervent attitude is a bit off-putting. The blue guy seemed the best.”

“I will let your language slide for now. I have talked to Duke Bron, so it is expected the Justiciar of the arm would heed our cause. But both the Justiciar of Commerce and the Justiciar of Faith wanted you as well, huh? If someone like Alicia could sense it, they aren’t very subtle. But you haven’t talked about the Justiciar of the Crown. They should wear black. Did he speak to you?”

“Yes. Well, he reprimanded me for my crude language. But that’s all. He didn’t seem to care much about me,” Alicia said.

“Does this mean the Crown has no interest in Alicia?” Rodrique asked Count Shadowstep.

“We can assume that. As long as Alicia is inside the kingdom, they could still call upon her in case of an emergency. So, there is a reason for them not to care. And they could always start their solicitation in the academy,” Count Shadowstep nodded.

“The trial should be as good as won, right? Do we have anything to worry about?”

“Even if we do, there is nothing else we can do right now. All we can do is present ourselves to the best of our ability in the upcoming trial.”

“What do you think the Allegory Company will do, Milord?”

“Who knows? They will most likely stand back. If anything happens in the trial, they will be extinguished. Desecrating the Justiciar process is not a laughing matter, no matter how powerful you are,” Shadowstep said.

“Alright. Thank you for the report. Alicia, John, you may return to the palace. I will also attend the trial tomorrow.”

“Eh, I don’t want to sleep in the Justiciar guest room. It’s stuffy there,” Alicia pouted.

“Huh? I heard it was just a bit shy of the King’s bedroom. Has the quality dropped because you were commoners?”

“It is indeed luxurious, Milord. I guess Alicia felt bored staying there. Too silent and with nothing to do, Milord.”

“For your safety, you should stay there. Just because we are in the capital doesn’t mean there are no bandits.”

“Tch! I wanna stay here with Lady Elidranthia. Ouch!” Alicia scoffed, which was met with a slap of a wooden plate on her already empty head from Shadowstep. An imaginary clanking sound could be heard from it.

“Later! And watch your language, twerp!”

“Yes…”

“The trial seems to be in our favor, but remember, nothing is certain. Don’t let your guard down.”

“Yes.”

And so, Alicia had to spend the night inside the gilded cage once more.