The speed at which she confessed was simply too fast.
Neither Wu Xiaomi nor the Judge was prepared for Lulutina’s sudden admission.
“I admit it. On the night of September 10th of the Empire calendar, which is the day commonly known in the Manggu Mountains as Mirror Night, I stole quite a few things.” The girl shrugged and leaned against the bars of the cage.
“What was your motive?” the Judge pressed.
“Of course, it was to survive.”
“Please explain more clearly.”
“…………Let me explain!”
Wu Xiaomi stopped Lulutina.
It wasn’t that she distrusted Lulutina’s reasoning—this little girl was mature beyond her years, and she would surely be able to explain what happened that day.
It was just that the phrase “I confess” had startled Wu Xiaomi.
She did not want to see a second fool willing to sacrifice themselves appear beside her.
This matter could not end with a pawn sacrificed to save the king, with Lulutina taking the fall.
Huff—
Thinking that this might be her last time appearing as the original body outside, Wu Xiaomi decided to be a little more composed.
Her gaze grew determined and calm.
“Judge, I wonder if you’ve heard of Mirror Night.”
“Hmm, I have. It’s a disaster that happens every year in the Manggu Mountains.”
“That’s right. For thousands of years, Mirror Night has taken the names of tens of thousands of innocent lives in the Manggu Mountains, and we put an end to Mirror Night. The museum theft case is an indispensable part of our operation.”
The Judge tapped his wooden gavel lightly. “Your contributions, Narlifa will remember. But right now, we need to discuss the Raiders’ violation of the rule of law. Please don’t stray from the subject.”
The crowd was restless.
“Judge, these two matters are closely connected. If you want to explore our motive for the theft, you have to understand the Mirror Night incident.”
Swallowing…
The Judge pondered for a moment before nodding, “Alright, then please describe the cause, process, and outcome of the theft in detail.”
“The incident happened the day before Mirror Night began. We learned of the danger posed by Mirror Night and the intelligence related to our next mission.”
“After discussion, the four Raider organizations in the Manggu Mountains—Xinhua, Arche, Jifeng, and Bi An—decided to take action against the impending disaster.”
“During this time, Arche members chose to escape the Manggu Mountains by hot air balloon. Xinhua and Jifeng members, lacking enough Strategy Points to arrive early and either escape or convince the locals to spend the night together, decided to stay in the wilderness and face Mirror Night head-on.”
“And the theft originated from Bi An’s plan. We discovered that to fight Mirror Night, we had to use the Resonator………….which was hidden inside the museum.”
All of this was part of Xinhua’s public mission records on Polopolo and not a secret. Wu Xiaomi was merely restating the facts.
Someone had to explain the situation.
“So, you decided to infringe upon the property rights of local citizens just to save your own lives?”
A man stood up and demanded.
He was the prosecuting attorney.
True to his profession, he threw out a question that was a trap—answering either way would be problematic.
If they said yes, it implied that Raiders would continue violating local citizens’ property rights when faced with danger.
Naturally, this would provoke resistance from the citizens and make the Raiders enemies.
If they said no, it would be blatant denial of an already proven fact.
Facing the hostile gazes around her, Wu Xiaomi hesitated briefly before speaking,
“I will not justify my choice. Yes, if another event like Mirror Night occurs, when faced with a choice between citizens’ property and lives, we will still choose to survive without hesitation.”
“Because in our world’s ethics, life comes first. Every person’s right to life is above all else.”
“But this is Narlifa, no longer your land.”
Seeing Wu Xiaomi step into the trap, the prosecuting attorney smiled slightly,
“Your current actions resemble a band of barbarian invaders who wage war out of hunger and poverty……… From your perspective, it’s justice. But to us, you are the invading enemy.”
“We are not invaders, because invaders do not fight for their enemy’s right to life.”
Wu Xiaomi leaned forward, confronting the prosecuting attorney,
“In fact, we saved most of the innocent beings dragged into Mirror Night, granting them new lives.
We thoroughly ended the Mirror Night crisis so that no one in the Manggu Mountains will ever suffer from it again.
Not only that, we severely weakened Mang Gu, the evil spirit who broke the seal, preventing the destruction of all life in the region.
You call us invaders, but we have always been dedicated to protecting the lives of Narlifa’s creatures! Protecting your lives and property!”
“Enough!”
The Judge slammed the wooden gavel heavily.
“Back to the case—so, defendants, you openly admit to the theft? If the facts are true, given the amount stolen, you face a life sentence.”
…
Lulutina slumped back exhaustedly.
Though she’d been imprisoned many times before, it didn’t mean she wanted to spend life in jail.
But the fact was clear—if they didn’t want to make enemies of all Narlifa, someone had to take responsibility for this theft.
“Now, we will begin the second case, the Wilson Manor murder.”
“Do you admit to entering Wilson Manor on the evening of September 29th and killing seven manor servants and one butler?”
“I admit it~”
Lulutina gave up and raised her hands, “I’m the one who killed them, so come after me if you want.”
“Damn it! Why are you so quick to confess?!”
Wu Xiaomi quickly held the girl’s hands down and explained,
“If I remember correctly, Imperial law states: if a target is found to be a believer in the evil spirit cult, performing summoning rituals or the like, anyone has the right to kill the cultists at any time, right?!”
“Yes, that is true.” The Judge nodded.
“We have evidence showing that Wilson’s butlers were involved in releasing Mang Gu and related events.
This time, those we killed were merely cultists.”
“Evidence? Then please present it.”
The crowd stirred.
Heh~
Wu Xiaomi had already prepared the evidence.
There were testimonies from Narlifa’s parents and interrogation recordings of captured servants after the butler’s death.
All the evidence was enough to prove that the people in Wilson Manor were the culprits behind releasing Mang Gu!
The courtroom fell into silence.
Wu Xiaomi and Lulutina stood so long in the cage their legs had gone numb, while the Judge and jury finished reviewing all the evidence.
“The evidence is conclusive. It sufficiently proves that Wilson Manor is a cultist stronghold,” the Judge nodded.
“Next, we will launch a criminal investigation into Wilson and all his affiliated properties.”
“Great!”
“But, we’ve reviewed all the materials and you didn’t mention how you discovered these facts.”
“Huh?”
“Before you decided to kill, how did you confirm the butler was a cultist?”
Uh-oh.
“We… just followed the Strategy Guide…”
“So, you had no idea whether the butler was an ordinary person or a cultist before you acted? You simply attacked without hesitation because the Strategy Guide told you to?”
The prosecuting attorney almost laughed out loud.
This was a totally self-inflicted trial.
“Everyone! These are just a group of madmen acting on mission orders! As long as the task demands it, they can kill anyone, whether it’s you, me, or even…”