I took Farufa, Sharusha, and even Rosary aboard Laika and headed to Nasukute town.
Iâd only be worried if I left my daughters home alone. Besides, Sharusha knew a lot about this country so bringing her along could be helpful.
A squad of solemn spear-wielding soldiers had sealed off Harukaraâs factory. They didnât look like the ones in town so perhaps they were sent from the capital.
There was a person looking anxiously at the factory from afar so I tried calling out to her. She looked to be in her twenties.
âExcuse me, would you happen to have any idea whatâs happening with the factory?â
âYes, I⊠Iâm actually an employee in the factoryâŠâ
Nice. A reliable source of information.
âSorry for the sudden introduction but weâre Harukaraâs family. If itâs not too much to ask, may we trouble you to tell us whatâs going on?â
The employee took us to her home and told us the whole story when we got there.
âToday was just another normal work day. But sometime in the afternoon a group of people with orders from the governor came to arrest the president⊠Apparently she was arrested for illegally selling medicine without a permit, or something like thatâŠâ
âHarukara onee-san said she applied for one⊠Thereâs no way she didnât have a permitâŠâ
Itâs exactly as Farufa said. Not just her, I too had heard from Harukara about her applying for a permit.
Which means someone had conspired to arrest Harukara.
âGovernor Golder doesnât have a particularly good reputation. Iâve heard that he falsely incriminates anyone who doesnât pay him a bribe.â
âThanks Sharusha. Do you have any other information? Anything is fine.â
âItâs almost certain that Golder is colluding with the provincial courthouse. Itâs said that he can easily force a guilty verdict with the number of judges he has in his pocket⊠Since his opponents donât have any means of fighting back, heâs been able to avoid anything troublesome so farâŠâ
âIn other words heâs a despicable guy. And now he has HarukaraâŠâ
Iâm sure Harukara caught his attention since she didnât offer a bribe. As a foreigner with very little local influence, he probably decided she was an easy target.
Since he could easily destroy whatever documents she submitted, it would have been easy to accuse her of not submitting anything.
âSo whatâs going to happen to Harukara?â
Iâve never had anyone press charges against me before so I was pretty clueless about the whole thing. Iâll depend on Sharusha. At the very least, Iâm confident that thereâs no way itâll escalate to a death penalty.
âA trial will be held within the week, and if sheâs found guilty, sheâll be imprisoned⊠Theyâll also most likely seize her factoryâŠâ
Bam! Leica reflexively hit the table in a fit of anger.
âNo way! Harukara-san poured her everything into that factory! Having it seized is just too much!â
âOf course it is. Weâll save Harukara and we wonât let them take her factory either. Although⊠if we save her by force, weâll also get caught up in her crime. I think the best way would be to establish her innocence at the trial itself. The governor wonât be able to complain either. Not to mention, if we were to forcibly free her, weâd become criminals too. Iâd hate that. Weâd be troubling Furata village too.
âHow should we go about it then? Unfortunately, I am not too familiar with court proceedings⊠I will not be of much helpâŠâ
âYou say that, but Iâm not too familiar with it either. But basically, we just need to do something that doesnât involve using force. I have a solution.â
I turned to look at Rosary.
âRosary, Iâll need your help.â
Rosary looked bewildered.
âYeah, with your help, weâll definitely be able to win this trial. Itâll be our complete victory. However, winning the trial alone wonât be enough to vent my angerâ- so weâll also be looking for evidence ourselves.â
I clasped my hands together.
âFamily, letâs all work together and save Harukara!â
And so, in a house that wasnât our own, we got all fired up as if we owned the place.
Leica had headed over to the capital Vitamei to find out the date of Harukaraâs trial. It was going to be six days from now.
With that much time, there should be no problems. Itâs enough for us to accomplish our plans.
While Harukara was being detained, we sent Farufa visit her. Since Farufa looked like a child, we figured theyâd be less on their guard.
âHarukara onee-san dejectedly told me that she felt terrible being arrested for a crime she didnât commitâŠâ said Farufa.
Of course, even though itâs on false charges, getting arrested is nothing but terrible for someoneâs reputation. Thereâs no forgiving the scum that would do it knowingly.
âDid you tell Harukara that since sheâs family weâre definitely going to save her?â
âYup. Farufa properly did! That weâre all going to save Harukara onee-san together!â
With a rarely seen look of determination on her face, Farufa said so with conviction.
There, there, donât worry. Weâre all going to help her.
I also proceeded with my own plans. First, I used Magic Creation to create a concealing spell that made one invisible.
And then I used it to sneak into a few places. And then I stole a few things.
And then before I knew it, the day of the trial arrived.
The whole family was participating in the trial as witnesses. Weâll definitely prove Harukaraâs innocence. No, weâll do more than just prove her innocence. Itâs for that reason that I did what had to be done.
Itâs finally time for the trial to start.
The chief judge came in with four other judges. The chief judge handles the proceedings and the verdict is decided through a majority vote between the five judges. Since a majority of them were in cahoots with the governor, this trial was anything but fair.
On a side note, our lawyer was some big shot that we managed to employ through Sharushaâs connections.
It seems Governor Golder was also present and watching.
Iâll show you what it means to make an enemy out of us.