Chapter 123: The Trial in Progress (Part 3)
"Cheer! Applaud! My dear people, you are about to witness a moment that will be etched into the very history of Fontaine!"
"I, the Hydro Archon, Furina, accept this trial!"
"And I shall interpret true justice within this very courtroom!"
I will protect you all... I swear it... Furina placed a hand over her heart, her other arm extended grandly toward the roaring audience below.
"And now, let a momentous chapter in Fontaine's history commence! The trial of the deity, Focalors—is about to begin!"
The announcement was met with a thunderous, deafening wave of applause that shook the Opera Epiclese to its foundations.
"This Hydro Archon is quite something," Haibara remarked, her own hands joining the applause. "To remain so calm and composed in a situation like this... I have to say, I'm actually a little impressed."
Ayumi nodded vigorously beside her. "Yeah! She didn't really act like a god before, but the way she just spoke... it felt really powerful!"
Mitsuhiko chimed in, his eyes wide with admiration. "Exactly! It was so stirring!"
Conan glanced at his friends, all clapping with genuine enthusiasm, and felt a surge of exasperation. 'Honestly, you guys,'he thought,'could you at least try to remember whose side you're on?'
Still, he had to admit, Furina's performance was masterful. In terms of commanding a crowd and manipulating the emotional atmosphere of a room, she was undeniably skilled.
As the applause subsided, Neuvillette turned his gaze from the defiant Archon to Conan's group. "May I ask," his voice was a calm, steady baritone that cut through the lingering excitement, "what is your reason for initiating a trial against the Hydro Archon, Lady Furina?"
"Wait..." Furina interjected sharply, her voice ringing with authority. "Allow me to make one thing clear. It is perfectly normal for mortals to fail to comprehend the ways of a god. That, in itself, cannot be used as grounds to convict a deity."
Conan and the others exchanged a look. As they had previously agreed, Natsume stepped forward to be their spokesperson. In a situation this grave, it was far more persuasive for an adult to present their case. Besides, if she faltered, the rest of them were right there to provide support.
Natsume took a small step ahead of the group, her gaze locking with Furina's. "We are aware of that," she stated, her voice clear and firm. "Therefore, our reason for putting a god on trial is this—you, Furina, are no god at all!"
A wave of shocked and confused murmurs rippled through the audience.
Neuvillette's piercing eyes shifted back to Furina. "Lady Furina, do you admit to the charges brought by the prosecution?"
Following the Chief Justice's question, every eye in the courtroom—including Natsume's—fixed upon the woman on the stand. They saw it clearly: her head dipped, just for a fraction of a second.
Akai raised a single eyebrow. "It seems our guess was on the mark. That 'Hydro Archon' must be panicking. The Chief Justice had to ask twice before she finally issued a denial."
But Kaito was still on edge. "Are we absolutely sure we haven't made a mistake? If we're wrong, this whole game..."
"Don't worry," Conan reassured him, his voice a low whisper. "Based on all the clues we have, the probability that she isn't a god is extremely high. We have to use this chance to force the truth about the prophecy out of her. It's the only way we can clear this world."
On the stage, Furina crossed her arms, a dismissive scoff escaping her lips. Having finally answered Neuvillette, she turned her sharp gaze on Natsume. "You think I'm not a god? Hah! How utterly ridiculous. Pray tell, what is your reasoning? And while you're at it, please explain this: if I am not a god, how have I managed to live for five hundred years?"
"Living for five hundred years doesn't necessarily prove divinity," Natsume countered smoothly. "Chief Justice Neuvillette has also lived for five hundred years. Perhaps you are simply a member of another long-lived species. Or, perhaps, you are a human in a... special situation. Under a curse, for instance. Or a blessing."
Conan seized the opening, his voice piped with childish innocence. "Yeah! Don't fairy tales always talk about a prince or princess who's cursed to live forever until they get a true love's kiss? Is that what happened to you, Lady Hydro Archon?"
Through his various interactions with Furina, Conan had grown increasingly suspicious of her divine status. The question of her longevity, however, remained a puzzle. He had leaned toward the theory that she was simply another long-lived being, much like Neuvillette.
But it was Haibara who had proposed a different view. She believed Furina was human. Her reasoning was that Furina didn't exude the same subtle, non-human aura that Neuvillette did. The Iudex carried a faint but distinct sense of being fundamentally different from ordinary people—an otherness that Haibara's keen senses had immediately picked up on.
Furina, in contrast, did not. Despite her exaggerated mannerisms and theatrical speech, she felt entirely human to Haibara.
Surprisingly, Akai had agreed with Haibara's assessment. Even Ran, relying on her intuition, felt that Haibara's guess was the more reliable one.
The minority had yielded to the majority. Bolstered by Ran's uncanny intuition, they had ultimately adopted the theory of Furina being a cursed human and structured their questions accordingly.
What truly solidified their conviction was when Neuvillette had later indicated that he did, in fact, sense the aura of a curse upon Furina, indirectly confirming Haibara's hypothesis.
Furina, however, seemed unbothered by Conan's pointed question. She spread her hands in a gesture of magnanimity. "Fine. Let's say, for the sake of argument, that I do bear some so-called curse. That still does not mean I am not the Hydro Archon."
Her voice rose, projecting to every corner of the opera house. "A god is a god because they can achieve what mortals cannot! So, setting aside the matter of lifespan, I present to you all the Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale! This divine miracle, an apparatus that no mortal could ever conceive, should be more than enough to prove my identity..."
"But you can't prove that you are its master," Natsume shot back. "If you are, then please explain the voice the Magician heard coming from near the Oratrice's core?"
"Hmph, how should I know?" Furina retorted with a flick of her head. "And how can you be certain he wasn't lying? It may be proven that he wasn't the culprit in the Serial Disappearances of Young Women, but it is an established fact that he is a foreign spy. Perhaps he is merely spouting nonsense to cast doubt upon the Oratrice!"
"Then what about the case itself?" Natsume pressed, her voice growing colder. "As the so-called Queen of All Waters, People, and Laws, how could you not know that the young women of Fontaine were being dissolved by primordial seawater, their very essences turning into Oceanids, right within the Fountain of Lucine?"
"As far as I know, Oceanids are the familiars of the Hydro Archon, and the Fountain of Lucine is just a stone's throw from this very opera house. If you truly are the Hydro Archon, why did you never notice this anomaly whenever you passed the fountain? Why didn't you find the culprit sooner?"
Natsume deliberately omitted the fact that they, too, had heard a mysterious voice near the fountain. Since no one else had heard it, it was an unprovable claim.
But what she had said was more than enough. A nervous, agitated murmur began to spread through the audience.
"She's right... If Lady Furina really is the Hydro Archon, why didn't she discover the problem with the Fountain of Lucine sooner?"
"Indeed... If it had been discovered earlier, maybe so many young women wouldn't have gone missing..."
"No... it can't be. Could Lady Furina... really not be a god?"
Hearing the seeds of doubt sprouting among her people, Furina felt a knot of anxiety tighten in her stomach. Yet, she masterfully controlled her expression, refusing to let a single crack appear in her flawless, divine facade.
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