Theft

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!

As the gavel came down three times, the deployed barrier technique enveloped Xuan completely. He formed a hand sign with one hand, Hollow Wicker Basket's energy wrapping around him, but even so, he was bound to the defendant's stand by the domain.

Hollow Wicker Basket... had no effect?

I see. Because this was not a purely "sure-hit" domain, but an unprecedented functional domain...

Then there was no need to keep outputting cursed energy.

Dispelling Hollow Wicker Basket, Xuan braced one hand against the defendant's stand and looked straight at Hiromi Higuruma.

The domain's inherent rules had already told him how this functional domain operated. As long as he presented a not-guilty defense before the court, he could win this battle.

But before that...

"Hey, you're Hiromi Higuruma, right?"

"That's right."

There were some things they needed to discuss.

"You suddenly expanded your domain around me for no reason. What exactly are you trying to do? As the defendant, shouldn't I at least know why I'm being accused?"

"In the brief span of three days, you killed more than thirty-five people... Under modern law, that would already constitute a serial murder case. As a public prosecutor, isn't it only natural for me to bring charges?"

"Oh? Why are you so certain that I killed over thirty-five people, rather than over one hundred and seventy-five?"

Looking at the faintly "suspicious" look in Higuruma's eyes, Xuan had more or less grasped what the man was thinking. Perhaps he had not fully accepted it yet; his expression was completely different from the one he had worn after fighting for more than ten days in the manga.

"After Hajime Kashimo added the rule, I kept a close watch on your 'points.' Every time they changed, they increased in multiples of five. Once or twice might have left room for doubt, but it was obvious."

Higuruma gripped the gavel in his hand and pointed it at Xuan.

"Judging by the massive energy field you displayed when using your supernatural ability just now, you are completely different from the people I encountered before."

"Wait—how did you infer that I was the one who added the first rule?"

"Only two people added rules. After the rule was added on the second day, Hajime Kashimo had only zero points left. Meanwhile, your points rose several times during the addition of the rule. That was my basis."

"Your logical reasoning is impressive. Just what one would expect from someone capable of being a lawyer."

"So... before the trial begins, I want to ask you a question."

"Go ahead, Mr. Lawyer."

Xuan tried to circulate his cursed energy. He succeeded, but if he tried to expand a domain in response, the technique attached to the domain would be judged as an attack. Therefore, an offensive domain could not be expanded within this domain to clash against it.

Furthermore, if he summoned Mahoraga now—no, the moment he began chanting the Furube incantation, it would probably be judged as an act of aggression. So that was out as well.

"Fifty-seven points."

"Those are the points I earned. I killed eleven sorcerers sentenced to death, as well as two ordinary people who, under the law, should have been innocent."

"Oh? So?"

"I tried communicating with Kogane and restricted the search targets to the people you killed. That led me to the following conclusion."

Higuruma paused slightly, then pulled out a slip of paper.

"Zenin Ichi, 9 points... Kon Miriu, 4 points..."

"Among the sorcerers you killed, quite a few had scores that were not multiples of five. Although I have doubts about whether ancient sorcerers like you possess the goodwill of modern people, I watched your fight with Fumihiko Takaba from afar just now."

"Did you get absorbed in watching it?"

The corners of Xuan's lips lifted slightly.

"If it had been outside the barrier, that performance would have been worth the price of admission, full of fantasy and impossible scene changes... But this is inside the barrier—of course, that has nothing to do with what I am about to say."

"Then what are you trying to say?"

"I infer... that your primary criterion for choosing whom to kill is 'the degree of harm they pose to ordinary people.' Under current law, such conduct would waver between righteous intervention and intentional homicide, but it would ultimately fall under intentional homicide."

"I can tell that you're quite dissatisfied with Japan's current laws, aren't you?"

"You're like an ancient Japanese chivalrous warrior."

After saying that, Higuruma fell silent for a moment.

"What was the question you wanted to ask? You've gone on for so long, yet the question itself still hasn't come out. Isn't that a bit much?"

"...If a sorcerer killed someone because they were provoked by an ordinary person, or rose up and killed because those in 'official' positions had undermined fairness and justice, would you consider that sorcerer someone who must be killed?"

"Ah... that's a difficult question. If something like that really happened, I suppose I'd first find out the details before making a judgment."

Xuan clapped his hands.

"You killed two important figures in a courtroom, yet you came to ask an ancient sorcerer like me because you are unsure of your own true feelings—you really are..."

Clang!

"Far too lacking in confidence."

Clang!

After two strikes of the gavel, Higuruma spoke again.

"Judgeman, begin."

Gen raised his head and looked at the "shikigami," its white face emerging from a black mass of cursed energy.

"Zenin Gen is suspected of stealing food and drinks from a KFC in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, on the morning of November 1, 2018."

Gen was briefly stunned twice by the charge.

First, because of the name Zenin Gen.

Second, because of the crime itself.

"What the hell?"

Gen stared speechlessly at Higuruma, who held a folder and looked coldly at him.

"..."

"I get it, I get it. You want me to make a defense of innocence, right? Then I need to prove something."

Gen raised both hands and spoke helplessly.

"First, I didn't steal anything. I just borrowed a little."

"Second, even if I wanted to pay, I had to find an employee first, right? I even left an IOU."

Gen raised his hands as he spoke in exasperation.

Across from him, Hiromi Higuruma's expression remained unchanged as he opened the file folder in his hands, revealing the "photographs" inside.

They showed Gen instructing the two Divine Dogs to take items from the store. The pictures clearly captured Gen himself, as well as the supposedly "stolen" food. A large bag of burgers was slowly sinking into the shadows, while the Divine Dogs had grilled chicken wings clenched in their mouths.

"...Based on the photographs, your statement can be considered almost certainly untrustworthy."

"Hey—at least include the IOU in the picture! This is perjury!"

"..."

"Look, even your shikigami has gone silent! It must be because it committed perjury! Hey!!!"

"Guilty. Confiscation."

As though responding to Gen's words, the shikigami immediately opened its mouth. The words it spat out shattered the "self-respect" Gen had only just managed to muster.

Why did it have to be the one thing I couldn't possibly deny!!!!!

This was way too embarrassing!

What should I do? Should I silence them here?

But if I silenced them, I'd only look petty!!!!

Amid Gen's fierce internal struggle, the domain slowly cracked apart and dissolved.

Immediately afterward, the enlarged gavel shot violently toward Gen. Gen instantly pulled the cursed tool from Kogane, and a shadowy Japanese sword appeared at once, blocking the incoming gavel.