123 Trial part 1

Clothes were soon found for the frail Galana and Palonia helped her dress. Emp kept his back turned from her for modesty reasons and once they were done, everyone moved out of the mansion. They brought the books and Galana with them as well as they were all important proofs for Emp's story.

Because there were so many books however, they had to call in some more guards to carry everything. Emp would have picked up everything in his bag but he was conscious that they might say he added more than there originally was if he did so they had to transport everything the old fashioned way.

Palonia was the one to carry the weakened Galana on the way. She let herself be carried without complaining because she did not feel like she could walk by herself. This and also because she felt too much shame to face anyone right now and preferred to hide in the arms of her old friend.

She didn't feel like she had any control over anything anymore and she just let herself be dragged along by the rest of them. From her point of view, nothing much was making sense anymore. Emp was here but he wasn't anything like she remembered. Adding on to that the fact that he couldn't possibly have reached the city already after having received her letter, she was almost convinced she had gone insane in her cell under the castle.

Before this man pretending to be Emp and Palonia showed up, everything had progressed pretty similarly to what she had expected.

Galana had felt desperate when Balpoisson himself showed up at her store to take her. She had clutched the dagger tightly and seeing him from the window with his devious smile, she hoped she would manage to take him down.

She had hid herself just at the side of the door, her back pressed against the wall and waited patiently. They knocked and knocked but of course she did not open the door for them.

Believing she was hiding somewhere in a corner, they kicked the door open and the moment she saw the tip of a boot pass the door frame at her side, she spun in front of them, jumping out of her hiding spot. Holding the dagger with both of her hands, she didn't wait for them to react and stabbed straight at the one leading.

Sadly it wasn't Balpoisson but just one of the traitorous junk that escorted her parents in the woods. The man reacted with surprise and fear by flailing at her, hitting her on the shoulder and knocking her to the ground. Thankfully however, the dagger had already went through his windpipe and blood flowed in a waterfall from his throat.

Galana shuddered and the sight and scrambled back to dodge the blood spurting forth from his dying gurgle. She had never tolerated to see injuries like that, a bit of blood from a paper cut or old scars were fine but so much gore disgusted her to no end. She screamed at herself to jump back up and take the dagger again while the men behind the dying one cursed and screamed but her legs would not follow her orders and just pushed her further back.

After the guy finally died, capturing her didn't take more than a moment. The mercenaries looked at her with hatred and wanted to beat her up but Balpoisson objected because he wanted to keep her in good condition.

She insulted him profusely, calling him a rancid fish ass and a retarded rodent with slime for brains as well as many other things.

She didn't manage to anger him at all however because he knew he had already won. His mood only soured when the guards showed up and decided to bring her to prison for the murder she just committed in broad daylight.

She laughed at his face while the guards brought her away and was soon locked in a cell.

At first, she was very happy to be here instead of in the custody of the man she hated but her conviction grew blurrier and fainter every day she spent there. The count Staedler had to take a decision for her sentence and only two possibilities existed as penance for her crime. It was either execution or a life sentence of slavery.

The count didn't have any patience with a murderous woman and didn't see what good she'd be with forced labor so he was more inclined to hang her. Because of this, she was barely given any food or water to sustain herself. What was the point of nourishing a dead person after all?

She spent her days in the dark, with humidity to make her shiver but not enough to provide her with something to drink. There was nothing to lay down on but stone and she felt worse everyday from hunger and tiredness. She felt miserable but at least, Balpoisson was denied his victory.

She didn't cry or complain for the whole time she was there. She just stayed laying on the floor of the cell awaiting her end.

At that time, she wondered if her letter had reached Emp, she tried to imagine his reaction to it. She remembered exactly what she wrote but she couldn't decide how he would react to each sentences, always picturing two different set of reactions. One where he was saddened or angered and another where he laughed like a noble, amused by how she misunderstood him so badly. She sincerely hoped her first set of reactions was closer to the truth than the other but she couldn't help but doubt.

Then, Balpoisson showed up again.

She had felt so defeated when she was finally handed over to him anyway but she had no strength left to resist anymore. She wanted to insult him some more, she wished nothing more that to strangle him right away but she could not. She only watched helplessly while they carved the seal onto her forehead. It was very painful but she didn't have the strength to oppose them.

She believed that she had finally lost for good but not even hours after, she was brought back out of his house in the arms of Palonia and the ownership of her was transferred to the father of Balpoisson. It took hours to be done because the whole magic circle for transferring ownership of a sealed slave had to be made specifically for the current owner and he had to do the finishing touches himself.

She still felt doomed but there was now a small light of hope dangled in front of her. There was Palonia and the wrong Emp fighting for her it seemed.

She was conflicted about this. She had not wanted to worry them, she had not wanted to place them in trouble and she felt pathetic right now, she wished Palonia didn't see her like this. Deep inside however, she felt so happy that they came to help. She desperately wanted their help even though she felt like she couldn't ask for it and didn't really deserve it.

As for the man wearing the somber armor pretending to be Emp, she didn't know what to think of him. Everyone seemed to believe it was him but it just seemed wrong to her. First of all, the timing was impossible, even if the caravan carrying the letter moved without wasting time, they should have just reached Bêtéclair where he was supposed to be. His mere presence was the proof that it couldn't really be him.

When she took a glance at him, his face seemed familiar but the rest of him didn't have the right height or shape. She understood hat people grew up but aside from his height, he had also become broader of shoulders and looked way more serious than before.

His actions were completely different than what she remembered of him. The Emp she knew would have walked in alone with a naive outlook of things and just asked to pay off her debt politely. Even if he was told no, he would have proposed more and more money until they changed their mind. This Emp stormed in followed by guards and threatened to erase the whole Balpoisson house out of existence if her tormentor didn't pay for what he did. This other Emp was intimidating and decisive where as the old one was foolish and simple.

As they were walking back towards the castle to have an audience with the count, she shared her doubts with Palonia.

"Are you really sure it's Emp?"

"Of course I am, don't you recognize him?"

"No..."

Palonia shook her head in a mildly amused way. She might have found it funnier if Galana wasn't in that state.

"He's got the same face, he's wearing an armor my sister made and the guards saw his card. Plus, no one is stupid enough to impersonate a Muracier."

That was sort of true but she also knew that Emp had never really been a Muracier in the first place, he had told her so himself.

The aura of mystery surrounding him only got worse when they met the count later. Emp showed him the letters. The impossible was somehow happening right in front of her, he couldn't have them yet he did. Was it a miracle or a strange trick of fate? Whether it was him or not, there was nothing she could do about it in her current state.

She just remained motionless in Palonia's embrace and listened to the conversation happening in the petition hall.

"I have already found proof of his wrongdoing in the form of all the books he stole from me." Emp was saying. "All of them are mentioned in my letters to Galana Whisryba over there and all of them were signed by my hand so there is no doubt that they are indeed mine. I have Palonia Gladius here and the guards as witness that we found them in his father's office too. I request a third party expert to evaluate the books so that we can know for sure what the value of what he stole me was. Plus, those books were supposed to be used to repay the debt of Galana towards him, that debt was of fifteen red dragons but if you allow her to speak under an order to say only the truth, I intend to prove that fifteen dragons was an exaggerated amount and that she should never have been marked for enslavement in the first place. Finally, again with her testimony and those of the mentioned mercenaries, I intend to prove that this man Maurice Balpoisson arranged the murder of her parents and stole the fruit of their labor."

The lord count Staedler was a bit taken aback by the words of Emp and looked at the gathered nobles with an air of perplexity. Around them, guards, knights and other petitioners where looking with curiosity at the strange scene happening in front of them.

"Are you... really sure you want to go forth with all those accusations?"

"Of course I am."

The count scratched his head and turned around towards the viscount.

"Viscount, do you have anything to say?"

"I will try my best to convince you of my son's innocence at the trial my lord." he answered simply.

"I see..."

The count still seemed at a loss on what was happening but did as he should and placed all the books under lock until the trial he set to be held two days from now.

The next thing that happened was that Emp requested Galana to be held away from her current owner for the time being because she knew many of his and the Muracier's family secret.

The count seemed skeptical but Emp affirmed that she knew the current location of the great general, same for his brother, what they were doing and many of his secrets including some even the emperor wanted to keep hidden.

"In light of this, I can't allow for the possibility of anyone using the seal to force information out of her. I need to be present at all times when her current owner, viscount Balpoisson is close."

So in the end, was this why he came? Not because she was a friend but simply because he couldn't afford to let her talk. She should have known from the start.

"Far from me to criticize how you handle this sort of information but why would a common girl know all this?" The count asked hesitantly.

"She's my oldest friend and I trust her with the information. I just never expected her to fall because of such a convoluted scheme. Even then, I gave her a dagger to defend herself in case something happened. I was rather disappointed when I learned she had only gotten one of her aggressors, I would have killed them all."

The count made a small frown.

"Yes, I have no doubt you would have. Fine then, I will allow her to remain here for now."

"But my lord! I need to interrogate her so that I can build a proper defense for my son."

The viscount Balpoisson protested.

"You could just ask your son to tell you what he did. You don't need Galana. Anyway, I'm not asking you not to talk to her, I'm saying I need to be there if you do to make sure you won't ask for an information you should not have."

"The young Muracier is right, this shouldn't cause you any problems. It will also stop you from ordering her to lie at the trial." The count cut the argument. "You can all go now except the witness. We'll all see each-other at the trial."

Everyone walked out the way they came and Galana was left alone in the petition hall. Soon after a guard came to escort her to a room. She had been extremely worried that she might get placed in a cell again but with a Muracier calling her his oldest friend, the Count didn't take any chances and had her stay in a proper room.

She stayed there until the trial but this time around, she was well fed and a healing mage even came to examine her. By some sort of fated coincidence, it was the same mage who took care of Emp's leg and arm that came to give her some tonics and check on her health. His name was Bernard Forcore, Galana didn't remember it but the mage reminded her right as he stepped into the room.

The mage had forgotten her name too and just called her "guide of the Muracier". He was very talkative but Galana was in no mood to answer to any of his words. She just let him examine her from head to toe and drank whatever he told her to consume.

"You are less nagging than last time we met, I still don't understand what the Muracier finds interesting enough in you to try to get you out of this. Also, you should take better care of yourself, you are malnourished and suffering from mild dehydration. I'll give you something to make you feel better but you must eat properly from now on. And you should also do some exercises to reawaken your muscles."

As if it was her fault! She'd have argued back but she didn't feel strong enough to do it. Instead, she did as she was told and did some light exercises in between long sessions of rest.

Everything he had her drink to fix her starvation problem had a horrible taste but at least, she felt much stronger by the time the trial began.

In the end, the viscount never came to ask her anything.

*-*-*-*

After Emp left the castle, it was already getting dark but he still followed Palonia back to her shop to meet with Tiberius and tell them both what happened with him and Marcellia.

Tiberius was very similar in appearance with his sister except that he was manly and rough. He had a wide beard and a deep booming voice. He reminded Emp a lot of Strength.

His uncle also had the same way of speaking than Marcy.

"Who are ya exactly? Will ya two explain what ya did all day?"

Emp started by introducing himself as Emp Muracier and as expected, Tiberius didn't sound impressed at all. Like Marcy he kept strong memories of a past where he saw Chijou often so as long as Emp didn't act overbearingly, he would threat him as just anybody else. There was also the fact that he was still angry about Chijou disappearing on his sister without a word.

Emp decided to tell the two of them most of the story to let them understand better how he felt about Marcy.

He told them about how Chijou died and Chinui left and how the emperor himself wanted no one to know about this. Tiberius and Palonia made some sad expressions but they had expected his death so that part still wasn't that shocking.

The next part was much harder to understand. He told them about how he wasn't actually born but instead made from a part of Chinui, the soul of Chijou and something else he chose to not disclose.

Then, he told them how he met her and didn't know about her relationship to Chijou and everything that happened until it all evolved into their current relationship where he called her mom.

"It makes sense for me because neither Chijou or Chinui got married in the end and neither had kids. Marcy should have been the wife of Chijou and her child should have been the heir. Since I have no human mother, it's only fair to call her mom because she would have been it if I was born the normal way."

The two had a hard time believing that strange story but as always, it came back to the fact that the Muraciers never lied. If he was one like the card suggested, then his story should be true. But if the story was true, could he truly be considered a Muracier, was he human at all?

"Does it really matter? It makes Marcy happy when I call her mom and she's been teaching me a lot."

"I guess not but it doesn't change how I think this whole thing is strange. Why didn't she tell us and why don't she just find another guy and have her own kids instead."

"Tibi, that's rude!" Palonia said.

"I'm just saying!" He said raising his hands over his head.

Emp didn't know at all how to answer their concerns so he decided that it was probably time to leave and find himself a room at an inn somewhere. He excused himself after saying goodbye and went to look for the place he stayed at last time.

"See? He left because of you."

"He didn't! I've got nothing to to with this."

Emp heard them argue as he left. Whether Tiberius appreciated him or not or whether he believed his story or not, Emp didn't think it changed his relationship with Marcy at all. he'd probably feel better once he talked to his sister properly. Emp believed he was in the wrong for springing this on him out of nowhere. It would have been much more strange if he just accepted it without complaints.

He found the inn he last stayed at without problems and the pregnant lady at the desk wasn't pregnant anymore. He paid for a room and like usual, he slept like a log.

He feared that he might be too angry against Balpoisson to sleep properly but he was wrong. Because of how things went today, he believed that on the day of the trial, the young man would get the punishment he deserved.

In the next few days, Emp didn't remain Idle and made sure he found everything he needed to properly crush Maurice Balpoisson at the trial. He found and had the mercenaries that were hired arrested to be accused along the noble, he sent Bernard to heal Galana so that she would be able to speak properly at the trial, He put the letters in order to easily find the relevant passages, he had the books evaluated by two different experts to know for sure what the total value of them was and he found death seekers and mercenaries who often went out in the wild to expose what the amount of the debt should have really been instead of the fifteen dragons Galana was asked for. He even went back to the merchants guild to ask for information on where old artifacts found in ruins could have been sold, tracked down all these places and had them look for written traces of possible transactions with things the traitorous mercenaries might have brought back from their murderous trip.

He left nothing to chance and came fully prepared for the trial.

Town criers had announced this everywhere as Muracier against Balpoisson and a large crowd gathered for the promised entertainment. For the common folk, it did not really matter if Maurice was found guilty or not, all they cared for was how entertaining it would most probably be. That and also, everyone desired to see what a Muracier looked like. Whatever reason they chose to come, all of them were driven by curiosity rather than a thirst for justice.

Emp understood he shouldn't be showing himself in front of a whole city like that but at this point, he did not really care much for secrecy. Anyway, the people of Red-water saw him before already. He had made no efforts to hide the name the first time around so hiding it now was pointless, those that already knew would recognize him anyway and spread the word.

Since his name could help with the current situation, he didn't worry about spreading the news too swiftly. He would only worry about the duke and Blackbull scolding him once it was done. For now, he just needed to get Galana out of her predicament and erase Maurice.

Using that as an excuse to feel better about showing himself in front of so many people even thought he had been careful to stay hidden, he came wearing his suit of armor like last time. He held the helm under his arm to show his head and didn't shy away from the large crowd.

Emp had never seen so many people at the same place before. He had expected many to show up but this was just exaggerated. The crowd was so immense in fact that the count had no choice but to hold the trial outside on the central square instead of in the petition hall like he usually did. A stage was quickly erected and a rope made of guards kept the public at bay while everything was put in place for the event. The crowd filled the whole square and went on into the large streets as far as he could see between the buildings.

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At the back of the stage, in an elevated central position was sitting the count Staedler and one of his wives. At his side, his first son and his own wife were sat together a bit lower. On the other side of him, a place had been reserved for Emp himself as not only was he the main accuser he was also the highest ranked individual present.

There was also the Balpoisson family present of course as well as the viscount Rougefond and his own family that came to assist to the trouble of their long time rivals.

In front of them all, the ten accused stood in a neat row surrounded by guards. There where nine mercenaries Emp hadn't bothered to hear the names of and Maurice Balpoisson.

On his side of the stage, Emp had also brought the experts he wanted to testify for him, the evidences and the witnesses, including Galana herself. She was still as thin as paper but at least now she had regained some color, could stand on her own and she wasn't naked. An eel wearing a ballgown was now drawn on her forehead for all to see, the symbol of the viscount replacing that of his son. Emp was pretty angry to see it there but there was nothing he could do about it, Galana probably wanted to hide it much more than he did but she couldn't do so here and now.

Emp walked up on the stage with the crowd pointing his way in curiosity and buzzing chatter. He didn't pay attention to what they were all saying and after a half bow towards the count, he sat on his reserved place and dropped the helm beside his leg.

Soon after, the count rose from his own seat and addressed himself to everyone with a loud voice. All the discussions died to let him talk and the trial started.

He first welcomed everyone and thanked them for their presence. He then presented Emp as the accuser, making a point of stating his full name and title, and did the same with the accused.

He listed the crimes Emp wanted to place on their heads and asked them each if they wanted to contest the accusations or confess their wrongdoings. They were all denied the trial by combat because the evidences against them were too many to waste everyone's time with such a farce. The only way for them to request the trial by combat would be to make the crowd and the count doubt the evidence against them enough to blur the line between guilt and false accusation.

Emp believed he could take them all on and he might even be glad to but he didn't intend to let anyone have any doubt on their guilt.

The ten man all contested the accusations weighting on them and following their answers, the count asked Emp to provide evidence of their guilt. For each piece of information or evidence, the accused would all get a chance to defend themselves. They could also ask for the testimony of friends or their own experts to vouch for them or breakdown their opponents arguments.

Emp might not have been a good player when it came to all the schemes running rampant in the noble society of the empire but here, in a trial, he felt that truth should hold all the power and he was very confident in himself when it came to that sort of things. Muraciers never lie after all.

Emp started with the easiest thing in the list to prove. He presented to the crowd all the books he had found in Morice's father office as well as those they got from his own room and had the count read aloud the passages in the letters he sent to Galana where he mentioned them. The books where all opened and in each, his name was found on the last page.

Experts were called on the stage and expressed their own opinions on the total value of the stolen collection. Out of the three, the lowest estimate was of two hundred and thirty red dragons worth of books. The crowd gasped at the ridiculous amount of money stated. 23,000 golden crowns for books! When Emp had been told that the books would gain in value if he signed them, he had not expected their worth to swell so much.

Maurice defended himself by saying that he had just bought them all to a travelling merchant.

Emp explained again in return that all those books had been sent by caravans from Bêtéclair months apart. If he had truly bought them all, he would have had to meet the same travelling merchant multiple times and this man would have had to sell every single one of the books to him and never to anyone else. This just seemed impossible, at least one or two should have been found in the possession of the said merchant or anyone else but they had all been found in their home.

The viscount defended his son by saying that he was a big fan of the Muracier and especially requested to be sold books with his name signed in it.

The crowd booed but the count seemed to think it might be possible. Emp argued back in frustration pointing out that neither of them knew he existed before he showed up the other day and the name Muracier wasn't written in any of the books, Only his surname, Emp, was present. They couldn't even name the supposed merchant or have him brought here, because according to them, the merchant had already left town. It was clearly a bold lie.

However, he had no way to prove that they didn't know of his existence before that day and he couldn't prove that the merchant didn't exist either. Despite this small setback, the evidence against them was still overwhelming and he was confident that his next witness would destroy their defense.

He waited for the nine mercenaries to claim one by one that they had nothing to do with this and that none of the books were even in their possessions and called a man on the stage. It was the caravan leader, the mustachioed man that escorted him and his wife to Dark-glint just before. Funnily enough, the man had no recollection of him even if he traveled along with them but he did remember the nine mercenaries as they picked up a package from his caravan every time he went to Red-water.

He firmly identified them and even said there was one missing, when asked what they were picking up, he answered it was books, every time, when he had any. He had been in the caravan business for long so he had made many a trip from Red-water to Bêtéclair and back so he forgot most of the people that rode with him. However, the same ten mercenaries stopping his caravan on their way into the city to pick up books from the delivery carriage so many times was odd enough for him to remember clearly.

The mercenaries turned pale and one even screamed in panic that it was a lie. They had no way to defend themselves from that aside from denying everything in block. In contrast, it was Maurice's turn to claim it had nothing to do with him.

Emp was just getting started however, now he had to explain everything else he was accusing them of and doing so, expose the strange motives of Maurice for doing all this.

Emp proceeded to explain to the crowd and count what he was sending the books by caravan for. He told them all that he was sending them as gifts to Galana in order to help her repay her debt. He pointed out that Maurice was the owner of that debt and emphasized how curious it was that the valued items he sent his friend ended up in the house of the one she owed money to without ever reducing her debt of fifteen RD.

They claimed it was simple coincidence but now even the count was frowning at the obvious connection.

Now was the time for the most important part, he needed Galana to take the center of the stage and answer the questions of everyone present. If everything went well, her words would be damning for the culprits, if it went wrong, everything could be lost.

Presented as the one supposed to receive the books, his friend, the crowd stared at her hard and gasped when everyone clearly saw the seal of Balpoisson on her forehead. It was one thing to turn someone a slave but to place the seal in such a place was unsightly, who would do that?

The viscount shot a frustrated look at his son once more for doing something so crude and under the request of the count, he ordered Galana to only say the truth from now on. Compelled by the seal, she would be unable to lie to those present for the trial.

Emp felt that everything was in the bag now, he only had to ask the right questions and Maurice would be found guilty. He had not expected that the count Staedler would put a large crack in his strategy right from the beginning.

Because he was presiding the whole thing, the count was allowed to ask his own questions whenever he pleased and decided to start with a very simple one.

"So, you are the friend of Emp Muracier sitting beside me?"

"I... Am unsure." She answered on the most uncertain of tones.

Emp felt everyone in the crowd stop breathing just like him. Never before in his life had he ever wanted to scream idiot with his whole being but he now found himself struggling to stop himself from doing just that.