"That guy... that guy was planning to scam us out of a Succubus package from the very beginning!!" Kazuma let out a defeated whimper, clutching his hair with both hands. "I'm such an idiot! Why did I ever trust him?! Dust, you bastard! You're no Knight. You're a pure-bred con artist!!"
Kōichi was trembling with rage too, the hand he pointed at the stage shaking uncontrollably.
"He actually... he actually used our conscience against us! That bastard slept with the Prosecutor in his dream, tricked his brothers in reality, and now he's biting back?! Dust, I'm going to kill you! I'll personally drag you back to that dungeon!!"
But the performance onstage had only just reached its climax. Dust shouted at Sena with a face full of righteous indignation.
"Prosecutor Sena! In your rush to close the case, you led me, a confused little thug, into turning myself in without even using the Bell of Truth! This is a blatant forced confession! A desecration of the law! I, Dust, may only be a lowlife, but I'm still a citizen with dignity! I demand an immediate reexamination to prove that I am not a Demon King's General. I'm just a simple, kind-hearted fan willing to die for the heroes I admire, meaning Kōichi and Kazuma!"
Sena shook with rage, her pretty face twisting almost beyond recognition. She snatched up the Bell of Truth from the table and practically roared.
"Fine! Fine! Dust, answer me. Are you a Demon King's General or not?! Have you colluded with the Demon King's Army or not?!"
(Ding.)
The Bell of Truth gave off a clear, melodious, perfectly steady chime.
That was the sound of "truth."
The entire square fell deathly silent.
Dust shrugged and spread his hands with an innocent look.
"See? I told you I wasn't. I'm just an ordinary Adventurer who likes going to the Succubus Shop. As for colluding... well, I'd love to, but unfortunately, the Demon King's Generals wouldn't spare a small fry like me a second glance."
Since Dust really was not a General, the Bell of Truth had no reaction at all.
Under the eyes of the entire crowd, Sena was actually forced to announce Dust's acquittal on the grounds of improper procedure and insufficient evidence.
Watching Dust swagger down from the execution platform, even casually swiping a whetstone from the executioner on his way down, Kōichi and Kazuma felt their hearts bleed. But then something even more terrifying happened.
Sena's murderous gaze cut through the crowd and locked precisely onto Kōichi and Kazuma, who were just about to sneak away.
"Kōichi Hayashi. Kazuma Satou." Sena's voice was as cold as if it had come from the underworld. "Since Dust was not the one you colluded with, then let us return to the previous question. Which Demon King's General are you two actually colluding with? Judging by how informed and cooperative you were during Dust's performance at the execution ground, I have reason to suspect that you are playing games with the court!"
"Clang!"
A squad of fully armed guards immediately blocked their retreat.
"W-wait! Sena-san! This is a misunderstanding! We're victims too!!"
Kazuma let out a despairing scream as the guards dragged him toward the center of the trial platform like a dead dog.
Kōichi looked at Dust, who was standing nearby, waving goodbye to them and even mouthing, "See you in my dreams tonight." His vision nearly went black.
The atmosphere on the trial platform grew tense to the breaking point. Kōichi and Kazuma stood back-to-back. Although their legs were still trembling, their eyes held the desperate resolve of men who had already given up on shame.
Sena slammed her staff of justice hard against the ground. The sharp sound instantly silenced the commotion below.
"One last chance! Kōichi Hayashi, Kazuma Satou! Have you two ever reached any agreement or understanding with a Demon King's General for some unspeakable purpose?!"
Kōichi took a deep breath. His mind spun faster than ever before, carefully avoiding the specific individual named Wiz as he shouted:
"The two of us may indeed be a little perverted, a little greedy, and sometimes even eat and run to save money, but what flows through our veins is the hot blood of humanity! We have absolutely never, and will never, conspire with the Demon King's Army to overthrow this nation!!"
Kazuma immediately followed up, his voice so tragic it sounded like he was marching to his death.
"That's right! From the very first day we came to this world, our mission has been to defeat the Demon King and save the world! If that is a crime, then where is justice? Where is the law? Where is the dignity of the Axis Order?!"
(Ding.)
The Bell of Truth rang with an exceptionally clear, flawless chime.
The whole crowd erupted.
The Adventurers below began whispering among themselves.
"See? I told you those two menaces may be annoying, but they don't have the guts to become traitors."
"True. If the Demon King's Army recruited those two, they'd probably be headed for bankruptcy."
Sena gritted her teeth. Her face was full of unwillingness, but faced with the Bell of Truth's judgment, she had no way to argue.
But just as she was about to adjourn the hearing, Lord Alderp, seated in an ornate chair on the high platform, suddenly let out a cold laugh.
This lord, as fat as a meatball, swept his venomous little eyes through the crowd before fixing them firmly on Darkness, who stood below the platform, watching the two with worry written all over her face.
"Hmph. What a splendid defense. However..." Alderp's voice was hoarse and greasy, carrying an unsettling greed. "Although you did not conspire with anyone, your actions did indeed lead to the destruction of the Lord's Manor. That is an undeniable fact. As compensation, if you cannot pay that astronomical sum of Eris, then..."
He deliberately paused, his gaze greedily roaming over the curves of Darkness's armor.
"I hear that Miss Lalatina from your Party seems quite willing to sacrifice herself for her companions' lives. If she is willing to come to my estate to settle the debt, I may consider dropping the charges against you."
Darkness's body gave a violent tremble.
Her face, which had been full of worry moments ago, instantly flushed bright red. Her breathing grew ragged, and her eyes shone with an extremely strange light mixed with shame and excitement.
"What...? Go to that fat pig lord's estate... be treated as a slave to repay a debt... humiliated and ravaged however he pleases...?" Darkness hugged herself tightly, her voice trembling from excessive excitement. "Such... such a vile, shameless demand... it's... it's simply wonderful!! Please... please let me go!!"
Kōichi and Kazuma nearly fell right off the platform.
"Hey!! What the hell is that perverted masochistic Knight saying?!" Kazuma roared frantically toward the crowd below. "Darkness! Snap out of it! This isn't some humiliation play. That old man really wants to take you home and use you as a toy!!"
The noise beneath the trial platform cut off at that instant, as if someone had hit mute.
Darkness took a deep breath, and most of that panting, perverted fantasy look vanished from her face.
She yanked open her collar and pulled out a pure-gold family crest that had been hanging against her chest. It caught the sunlight and reflected a blinding gleam.
It was the crest of House Dustiness, the family of one of the kingdom's highest nobles, the kingdom's Chief Military Advisor.
"Stop, Lord Alderp!" Darkness's voice no longer trembled. Instead, it carried a dignified authority that could not be violated. "My name is Lalatina Ford Dustiness! In the name of the eldest daughter of House Dustiness, I hereby vouch for these two Adventurers! Although their personalities are vile, their conduct is degenerate, and they frequently do things that make one want to call the police, they are absolutely not accomplices of the Demon King's Army!"
The entire square went silent.
The guards looked at one another in bewilderment, and even Dust, who had been about to slip away, stopped in his tracks. The whetstone in his hand nearly fell to the ground.