The Extra Villain's Second Chance: A Hero's System-Chapter 47 - 46 - The Trial

"I don’t know the meaning of your question. Why are you asking that?"

Seeing Harlequeen put on a cold face with no change in expression, Lev assumed that his guess was wrong. What he had thought, that Harlequeen had gotten memories of her previous life, did not seem to be true.

"Hahaha, that’s fine. If I may assume, are you in love with me?"

"Unreasonable assumption."

"You said it by yourself earlier that I make you feel strange. Does your heart race?"

"Enough."

"Ha-ha-ha."

Lev issued the pep talk so that Harlequeen would not think too much about his previous question.

In the end, Harlequeen left him when she was almost at the courtroom. "You just go straight, open the big door over there, and you will enter the courtroom."

Following Harlequeen’s instructions, Lev walked down the corridor filled with guard soldiers along the hallway.

His left hand moved the cane Harlequeen gave him along the way. When his cane touched the metal, he knew that he had arrived at the door Harlequeen was referring to.

He opened the door and his brain received quite an amazing image.

People on earth often say that a courtroom is a battlefield that can be very tense and psychologically stressful—especially from the perspective of an accused.

What Lev felt was not much different.

There weren’t many people in the courtroom, just a few people in knightly attire and some nobles. He knew the knights’ job was for the security of the courtroom, but what the nobles were doing in the courtroom was a question for him.

Sitting on the judge’s table was the king of the Dragomirov kingdom, King Vlasdislav. The king’s seat was at the far center of the room and his position was above everyone else.

The translucent glass that shot out sunlight was right behind King Vlasdislav’s body. Lev didn’t need to use his hexaesthesia skill to know because the sunlight hit his skin from there.

"Let’s start the trial today."

***

"Hey, I heard there’s going to be a trial for one of the nobles today."

"That’s right. If I’m not mistaken, it’s from the Razanov family, right?"

In the middle of the most densely populated area of the capital city of Frostgard, many people could be seen talking.

Everyone seemed to have stopped in the middle of the city square.

Some came alone and sat on benches by the side of the road, some stood in the middle of the road joking with their friends, and some came with their entire families.

In the middle of the crowd, there were newspaper vendors selling their newspapers.

Today, there are more newspaper sellers than usual, from old people to children, as if they have suddenly changed professions to become newspaper sellers.

In accordance with the law of reciprocity, with so many newspaper sellers, the crowd gathered in the main square of Frostgard’s capital also holds newspapers in their hands.

The newspaper sellers managed to sell their newspapers because there was breaking news about an event that was the talk of the city.

On the front page of the newspaper was written, [The trial that will determine the future of the Razanov family begins today.]

"Is that news accurate?

"You fool. Don’t you ever read the newspaper?"

"Hey, instead of wasting money on newspapers, I’d rather use it to buy alcohol. More importantly, do you know anything about it?"

"Look at this. I bought this earlier. I also bought two newspapers from two months ago before this news spread."

The news from the newspaper two months ago that people were talking about was about the son of the Razanov family who killed his own father.

[Lev Razanov, the eldest son of the Razanov family, beheaded his own father, Duke Andrei Razanov. It is suspected that Lev Razanov summoned a demon to do it.]

A news story with such a striking narrative had been sold two months ago.

At first, no one wanted to buy a newspaper with such unclear news. Moreover, the company that published the newspaper was a new company that no one had ever heard of.

Black Quill Gazette was the name of the newspaper publisher that had recently become famous.

Buying a newspaper was not easy; people had to set aside money from their monthly income to purchase one.

The price of a newspaper was not cheap because a publisher needed a magician who could perform duplication magic to copy a handwritten news article.

In addition to the high price of newspapers, the unreliability of the news was also a factor in the lack of buyers. Therefore, it was natural that at first, no one paid any attention to the Black Quill Gazette.

However, that only lasted until the truth spread from mouth to mouth.

Two months ago, people were saying:

"Did you hear that something happened at the Razanov family mansion?"

"What happened?"

"I heard that undead monsters appeared there. But strangely, no portal appeared."

"What? Wasn’t that reported in yesterday’s Black Quill Gazette?"

"You mean the newspaper publisher with the vulgar headline?"

"Yes, I accidentally bought it. Even though I was skeptical and didn’t believe it, I read it so my money wouldn’t go to waste."

"Then, did it mention what happened in more detail? I only heard that undead monsters appeared there."

"Okay, I’ll tell you guys..."

Starting from there, people who accidentally bought the newspaper, or people who had extra money to buy the Black Quill Gazette out of curiosity, began to tell others what they had read in the newspaper.

As if they were superior people with exclusive news, they began to tell the story proudly.

Therefore, people who felt inferior and were reluctant to listen to other people’s stories began to buy copies with their own money.

And now, or a few days ago, when the latest news about the Razanov family case, in which Lev was going to stand trial, was printed in the Black Quill Gazette, people flocked to buy it.

Perhaps because news about the nobility was rarely disclosed to the public—especially regarding the downfall of a Duke-level Noble—not many newspapers dared to publish it, or they did not have enough information.

"Come to think of it, how did the Black Quill Gazette find out so quickly about Young Master Lev Razanov beheading his own father?"

"Who knows? Maybe they got the information from Duke Razanov’s family?"

The people’s discussion continued in the main square of the city.

However, something unexpected suddenly happened.

A group of soldiers from the royal palace arrived.

They walked in a neat formation. In the middle of the formation was a soldier carrying a crystal ball. Some of the people gathered in the city square recognized what it was.

Memory Orb.

The soldier was carrying Memory Orb.

One of the soldiers—a magician wearing a robe and carrying a cane—was seen fiddling with the Memory Orb.

Soon, a hologram appeared in the air, showing the entire courtroom inside the palace.

"Hey, hey, look at that. Are they planning to broadcast the trial live?"

"It looks like that."

"Maybe it’s because the news of the Razanov family’s destruction has spread, so they’re broadcasting the trial live to us."

Everyone looked surprised and excited at the same time.

Usually, the Memory Orb was only used for public announcements when the royal family had something important to say. For example, when the king gave a speech to rally the troops.

However, since everyone had read the news in the newspapers they had bought, it seemed that the royal family knew that today’s trial was important and had to be broadcast publicly.

A trial for a nobleman was not an ordinary event.

Generally, when a noble family had a conflict, whether external or internal, they would resolve it among themselves so that it would not require the royal family to hold a trial.

However, this time was different.

Perhaps it was because people had been informed that one of the noblemen’s children, Lev Razanov, had been in contact with the demon, humanity’s greatest enemy, that the trial had to be open to the public.

This would also allow the royal family to clear themselves of any suspicion that they were protecting a nobleman who dared to associate with demons.

Everyone who has read the news must think that today’s trial will result in Lev Razanov being sentenced to death.

However, there are some who think differently.

Indeed, among those people, there were those who felt sorry for Lev Razanov and did not believe that he was somehow connected to the demon because he had saved them from an exploding furnace or from being hit by a horse-drawn carriage, but they were not the ones who would influence the trial.

"We have to do something."

"We must testify that Young Master Lev is not guilty, but that it was Duke Andrei Razanov himself who was involved with demons and kidnapped us."

Those who would have a major influence on the trial were the victims who had been kidnapped by Andrei.

They had already taken their places among the large crowd.

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