Don Quixote's Reverie (6)
The scenery unfolded before my eyes.
Behind the door we had thrown open, a pure white space waited for us.
Ding!
[Apostle ‘Grand Justice of Old Winter’ gazes at you.]
[Your trial begins.]
It was a courtroom.
A courtroom that looked as though it had been carved from winter itself.
Frost lingered here and there, and scattered snowflakes hung in the air with quiet dignity.
‘This is way more...’
Way more intimidating than I had expected.
As if biting my chilled lips, I quietly let out a deep breath.
“Aha...”
A long white flower bloomed with my exhale.
The air inside the courtroom was colder than on any other floor.
Still, that cold solemnity suited the essence of a trial.
I raised my gaze slightly.
“......”
Only one figure stood inside the courtroom.
The thing seated behind the scales, atop the judge’s bench.
Something wrapped in robes looked down at us.
It had the outline of a human, but we instinctively knew it was not human.
Ding!
[Name: Grand Justice of Old Winter(The Archjudge of the Withered Winter)]
-Race: Ghost
-Classification: Boss Monster
-Description: A judge who has guarded this temple for a long time. It is a lingering thought left behind by the ancient sage ‘Lumiera,’ and pursues an extreme form of justice. Antagonizing the Grand Justice is not a good option. Show proper manners and comply with the trial according to their guidance.
Noise filled the inside of the robe, making it impossible to see what lay beneath.
The old lingering thought silently held a gavel.
No prosecutors or defense attorneys were visible nearby.
Only the Grand Justice draped in winter, and two young defendants, stood there.
““......””
A razor-thin tension held the space.
The one who broke that silence first was none other than the judge.
A strange voice rang from the lingering thought.
<Defendants, present yourselves for trial.>
A gaze that seemed to pierce flesh.
Even while seated, the judge’s presence filled the wide hall with crushing pressure.
“Uht...?”
Ranne flinched at that alien force.
Had she been overwhelmed by the Grand Justice’s presence?
Her hand tightened hard around the spear she held.
“Miss Ranne.”
“......I am fine.”
Still, perhaps because she remembered my warning, she kept deathly quiet.
To ease her nerves, I patted the girl’s golden hair a few times.
Then I whispered softly by her ear.
“It’s all right. Follow me slowly.”
The judge waited for the defendants.
I stepped forward first.
“Activate. Armor.”
Charrreuk.
I put away the pitch-black scythe, then straightened my clothes.
I also removed my mask and carefully tucked it inside my robe.
A person had to dress properly in a courtroom, after all.
Crunch, crunch.
Then, without hesitation, I stepped onto the ice.
I approached the center of the courtroom, across from the judge’s bench, and stood there.
Only a few steps away from the large scales.
“Defendant, Viktor. Present for trial.”
<Attendance acknowledged.>
This was where the defendant stood.
Ranne hesitated behind me for a moment before following and standing at my side.
“......Defendant, Ranne Kihano. Knight name, Don Quixote de La Mancha. Present for trial.”
<Attendance acknowledged.>
The Grand Justice accepted the attendance of both defendants.
The scales creaked.
<The trial begins.>
Bang.
The gavel carved from ice struck the block.
After that clear cracking sound, cold air writhed around us as if casting a spotlight.
Ding!
[Chain Quest]
-Title: To Live, Perhaps to Die.
-Objective: Receive a verdict of innocence from Apostle ‘Grand Justice of Old Winter.’
-Failure Penalty: Execution
-Success Reward: ???
The trial began.
From now on, we had to secure an innocent verdict from that lingering thought.
We could not allow the ‘Execution’ written under the penalty.
‘Then... what are we being tried for?’
What this trial judged was not sin.
What would be judged here was one’s worth as a human being.
‘The qualification to be human.’
The ancient Grand Justice, Lumiera.
She believed that if someone was human, they had to carry at least one value they considered more important than their own life.
She said prioritizing life alone was the way of a beast, and that only by pursuing value could one become truly human.
‘It would have been fine if she had stopped there...’
The lingering thought left here was an ego where Lumiera’s belief had been pushed to an extreme.
If the subject failed to satisfy the condition, it treated them not as a human, but as a beast.
Innocent meant human.
Guilty meant beast.
‘And... wild beasts cannot enter a sacred courtroom.’
If a guilty verdict was handed down, the judge would remove the target with full force.
That was Execution.
‘It’ll be fine.’
Neither of the two defendants standing here were people who deserved a guilty verdict.
I shook off my useless nerves.
A desk stood before each defendant.
On top of each desk sat a silver cup, as if prepared for us. And a knife.
“......”
The trial format was simple.
The scales before our eyes.
On one side, place the metaphor of life. On the other, the metaphor of value.
Then check which side the scales leaned toward.
‘Do you have a value you cherish more than your life?’
That was the question it asked.
<Defendants, place your life in the cups.>
The Grand Justice’s instruction rang out solemnly.
As if giving a demonstration, I picked up the cup and knife on the desk first.
A cup about the size of a soju glass.
I had to fill it with my own blood.
The place used to draw blood was the part with which humans committed the most evil in life.
‘The hand.’
Sssk.
I cut a straight cross into my palm and drew blood.
Red. Proof of life dripped down.
The small cup filled to the brim, close to overflowing but not quite.
Once I was done, I placed the filled cup and knife back on the desk.
“Miss Ranne.”
“Yes.”
Ranne went through the same process.
On each of our tables, each of our lives sat alone.
<Affirmed.>
The judge looked down at the cups filled with red.
The first life to be placed on the scales belonged to the golden-haired girl.
Srrk.
When the lingering thought flicked its hand, the cup floated into the air.
The rippling contents settled quietly onto one side of the scales.
<Defendant, Ranne Kihano.>
The lingering thought called the defendant’s name.
<What will you place on the opposite side?>
<State the value you consider important, the one you believe weighs more than your own life.>
The question was rather cold.
But Ranne did not tremble. She spoke the word she held in her heart.
“......Goodness. To be precise, I would call it altruism.”
<Affirmed.>
Scratch, scratch.
After hearing the girl’s answer, the judge moved its pen.
Then a piece of paper covered in elegant handwriting folded itself.
Altruism.
The paper, folded into the shape of a crane, flew over and landed on the opposite plate.
Both the metaphor of life and the metaphor of value had been placed on the scales.
Creak, creak.
The scales swayed from side to side.
They tilted up and down again and again.
““......””
In the end, the side containing the paper crane sank.
The judge confirmed the scales.
At the same time, it tapped the gavel in its hand.
<Ranne Kihano, innocent.>
Bang, bang, bang.
The cold air wrapped around Ranne loosened.
Of course, it did not end there.
The trial immediately moved on to the next turn.
<Next.>
<Defendant, Viktor.>
The same question was given to me.
I thought for a moment, then smiled and answered.
“Faith. I’ll go with faith. Faith in people.”
<Affirmed.>
The judge’s pen scratched across the paper.
Another paper crane folded itself.
Faith.
The crane flew through the air.
The scales tilted just as they had before.
It took longer than it had with Ranne, but the tilt clearly pointed toward the crane.
‘Joasu.’
I stood there, inwardly relieved.
That much of a tilt was a passing grade.
Ranne’s case, where the scales just sank completely, was the unusual one.
As I quietly waited for the verdict, the Grand Justice’s voice rang out.
<The scales have tilted.>
<It has been proven that you possess sufficient qualification to live as a human.>
<Therefore, this judge declares defendant Viktor innocen......>
<Wait.>
At that moment, the air suddenly changed.
The atmosphere of the courtroom, which had begun to loosen, froze over again.
The judge was looking down at me without striking the gavel.
<The defendant’s claim is suspect.>
<Therefore, for a clearer judgment, a second trial shall proceed.>
A unilateral notice.
I could only stare blankly.
‘......What?’
This was an unexpected development.
No, even in the original story, this pattern had never appeared.
The judge’s outline had been dyed pitch-black, looking completely different from only a few seconds ago.
‘That isn’t the judge...!’
It looked as if something had possessed it.
The texture of its presence had changed, and it was absolutely not an aura that should have come from this place’s boss.
A gut feeling that something had gone wrong dragged thickly down my spine.
Ding!
[Apostle ‘Judge of Old Winter’ is watching you???]
Ding!
Ding!
Di҈̧͓̟̗̖̪̂͊̒͞ng҉̢̯̮̗̦͔҇͒̉̿̏̔̆-!҉̨͍̭̜̜̝͇̣҇̓̒̅̑̓̑̈ͅ
[Apostle ‘Ju҈̜͕̫͇͔̘̝͒̀̉̿͑͜͝dge of Old Winter’ is wat҈̡̜̱̳͓̒̄̕ching yo҉̨̛̣̭̓̊̍͊̎u?҉̭̟͍͚̩҇̈̃̾̆̂͢ͅ??]
[Apo҉̪̠̪͓͇҇̉̈̿̅͌͛̔͊͜stle ‘■■■ of Ol҉̧͍̖͛͐̏̚͠ͅd҈̧̬̙͍̫̰͆̊͌̎̈́̊͡ Winter’ is watching yo҈̡͎͚̟͇͐̇̈́͂͋͝u?҉̡̖͖̙̪̜̲̆́̕ͅͅ?҈̨̙̜͔̲͉̲̯͔̓̌̈́͞?҉̭̟͍͚̩҇̈̃̾̆̂͢ͅ]
[Apostle҉̞͇̳̤̘̈́̄̍̑̇̆̃́̕͜ͅ ‘■■ of ■ter’s ■udge҉̨̪̘̫̲͎͖͖͗̏̓̔͐̕ͅ’ is watch҉̡͔͉̰͍͇̭҇̓̃̃̂̑̐͒́ing҈̩̟̭̲̪̲̇͑́̎͛͜͝ ■■■???]
[■■ ‘■d ■■■ Ju■■’ is ■■■ ■■■̴̸̴̢̛̬͎̩͇͈̞̠͍̰̪̰͙̦̤̭͖͇̣͉̫͒̉͂̋̇̾̿̒̈̕͜͜͝]
[■■ ?■d ■■■ ■■■?■ ■■ ■■■ you■■■]
[■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■]
The status window turned pitch-black as if going berserk.
At some point, a noise-filled shape sat atop the judge’s bench like an error.
The black haze that had swallowed the judge opened its mouth.
“Kim Muro.”
A name I had thought I would never hear again.
The curtain on the trial I had thought was over had only now risen.
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