Mikkael rubbed his eyes as he awoke. Bright and early, just as he needed. Philena was already up and gazing out the window. She turned her head and greeted Mikkael with a soft, "Good morning."

Greeting her in return, Mikkael remembered that it would soon be Yule Day, and people would be giving one another gifts. He wondered if Philena wanted anything in particular, but made efforts to simply prepare for the day. After all, it was time to prove innocent a client. Mikkael readied their files, and as he was heading out, Philena grabbed hold of his hand.

"Wait." She beckoned, "I need to know something, Mikkael... I know it may be out of place for me to ask but... I really need to know, so-"

The girl hesitated and he reassured her. "Go ahead. You know you can ask me anything."

"Well, you see... You're friends with so many girls and all... Do you, well, like any of them?"

Mikkael chuckled and answered, "I thought I told you already. No matter, I'm not particularly close to anyone... Well, maybe one person." He gave Philena a wink and then continued on his way, with her still holding his hand as they made their way downstairs.

Meeting with Yemhelch and Natsuki, he gave a small wave. "Mornin' to you all!"

_________________

Yemhelch had been trying to get his complexion to return to its regular hue, but with no luck. Resigned to his fate, he slowly helped himself to some meat sticks in brine. His internal monologuing was interrupted when he spotted Mikkael and his trusty sidekick (*SNORT*) walking into the tavern.

"Ah hey. It's almost time for that eeerrr.... thingamajig, isn't it?" he asked them over the meal. "So... we gotter game plan yet?"

_________________

"Well," Mikkael began, then mentally stumbling for a moment before answering in the most honest way possible, "Who cares?"

Philena's jaw dropped at the expression.

"If our client is innocent, we will be able to show it, and thus, the truth shall set her free."

Philena merely stood there in disbelief for a moment before seriously questioning Mikkael, "Really? You both have no plan at all?"

"I wasn't entirely telling the truth either. See, all we need to do is establish a case against another potential suspect, the only issue is first proving innocence, and then providing a suspect and showing how such is the case." Mikkael answered, with a smile of confidence, though, it seemed he was the only one with any smile.

"So who do you suspect?"

"..."

"..."

"... Wait, you want me to answer that?" Mikkael laughed.

Philena's palm made impact with her face as she asked, "YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU'RE DOING, DO YOU!?"

"Cut me some slack, it's up to Yemhelch to piece together the truth. I'm used to literally cutting people up, not figuratively cutting people out of legal trouble."

Philena sighed and the two began snacking before the trial would start.

_________________

"Well, I hope you're ready to cut down an entire mob of people." Yemhelch chuckled darkly. "Y'know, just in case."

With that, he stood up and paid his share of meal to the waiter. "Well, time to head out."

-

It took a little while, no thanks to the crowds that had come to the festival of the Lily. But at last, Yemhelch, along with Mikkael and Philena stood before the Pagoda. Natsuki had stayed behind after a short discussion over the meal - apparently she had something important to attend to.

"I guess it can't be helped..." he sighed, and then perked up as he spotted the woman - one Paladin Commander Karliah. He waved to her.

_________________

Mr. Yemhelch..." She greeted. She was wearing different clothing from the day before, a set of dress pants and shirt, along with a suit jacket. Her hair was styled the same, but the look she had was much more formal. "I do hope you're not seriously considering going into court like that."

She shook her head, "In any case, I bid you good luck, for I expect no mercy from you." She gave him a friendly smile before leading him and the others into the court. "Come. You'll be fine as is... I suppose."

Leading them through the winding halls of the pagoda, they entered a new building styled as a wat. Clearly, this was the hall of the monks. The style of paintings and such were different from the pagoda's, but they had less time to admire the works than in the pagoda. Karliah had then led them through another set of doors, far to the back, where people were moving into the various audience seats through two adjacent doors to a large set of double-doors.

"Yemhelch, are you ready? You may only take one person with you through these doors as an assistant. Who will that person be?"

_________________

"I put on my clothes wrong side out again, didn't I..." he muttered at her jibe. "Fine, if you insist, I'll use this coat that I legally purchased, and not lifted off some moron aiming to make a trophy outta my head." Saying so, he reached into his rucksack to pull out a rough leather duster from way back. It was slightly crumpled, and the burn marks still remained from his time in Cyndar as an apprentice in the Magus Guild, but it was better than wearing the tattered tunic he wore now.

Hm... as an assistant... Mikkael and I have similar observation abilities, so I'll have to make sure to have a fallback opinion that's different from mine.

"I guess I'll go with either you or Philena, Mikkael." Yemhelch nodded. "What do you think?"

_________________

"Fine by me." Mikkael agreed.

"In that case," the prosecutor continued, "Your other assistants will remain in the audience. That said, without further ado..."

The prosecutor opened the double doors to the main courtroom. To either side were elevated areas for the audience to observe the court proceedings. A railing separated this area from the front of the courtroom, with two tables with chairs for both the prosecution and the defense. Other raised portions were present for the jury, absent from the trial. Perhaps it was a case where a jury would not be needed? At the very front of all this was the judge's pedestal, where he sat high above the rest of the courtroom, and to the left and right of his platform were areas for witnesses to sit, the position of each being respective to the defense and prosecution.

Sitting at the defense's table was the defendant, a bailiff standing right beside her, and two open chairs for Mikkael and Yemhelch. Mikkael took the spot next to Hiroko, and Yemhelch took the one closest to the central aisle. Karliah sat at the other table. As the rest of the observers filed in, so too did the judge from behind his platform.

"ALL RISE!"

It had begun.

--------------------------------------------------


Link


After the various oaths were made, and the judge now having sorted through his parchment, he looked over at Yemhelch and then Karliah.

"Is the prosecution ready?" The elderly judge asked, intensity in his voice.

"The prosecution is ready, your honour."

The judge nodded then asked, "Is the defense ready?"

_________________

"The defense stands ready..." Yemhelch let his voice trail off into a gravelly cough, making the judge raise an eyebrow at him as he raised his hand to cover his mouth. "...your honor."

_________________

"Very well, will the prosecution please give its opening statement?" The judge asked. Karliah nodded and began to read from some documents of her own.

"As of only a few days ago, the body of one Reizei Cynric'dair was found in her room in the Samurai's Pagoda.

The body was impaled through the back with a two-handed katana, while she was wearing her full daimyo wear. The body was not discovered until the morning when the housekeepers couldn't get into her room. The body was thus found by the Jounin leader and the housekeeper in question.

We arrested the defendant, Hiroko Hajima, her apprentice, since her blade was reportedly missing that day. Given that the defendant is a samurai, it falls within her expertise to use such a weapon to murder her master."

"I see... This seems like a very open-and-shut case. However, I believe it would be best if the court knew more about the scene of the crime." The judge stated. "Will the prosecution please call upon its first witness."

"Yes your honour." Karliah responded. "The prosecution calls to the stand the housekeeper."

--------------------------------------------------

An elderly woman in a maid dress appeared in the prosecution's witness stand.

"Your name, miss housekeeper?" Karliah asked.

"Rose is my name. I work as housekeeper for the samurai here."

"Can you tell us about what you saw when the body was discovered?" Karliah instructed. The woman nodded.

"I will to the best of my ability."

-----WHAT WAS SEEN-----

Link


1. "I remember quite clearly that morning, I was going to gather the laundry of lady Reizei."
2. "However, I couldn't get in, and usually she would be up by that time, with the door unlocked for me."
3. "I still needed to do my job, so when lady Kazeko happened by, we opened the door together using her lock picking skills."
4. "She was laying on the ground, stabbed in the back by a blade!"
5. "I then went ahead and notified the other samurai about what had happened with great haste..."

"I see. Well, will the defense plase cross-examine the witness?" The judge instructed of Yemhelch.

"This is it. We should either press her for info or try and point out contradictions." Mikkael noted.

_________________

"Interesting... we were told that the lock was so sophisticated in design - designed in particular to withstand bash attacks meant to loosen the pins... that only a key could have been used to open it. So, I suppose even that lock could be opened without a key to match... if one had the skills..."

"Please excuse me, Lady Rose." Yemhelch made a polite bow, his tone suddenly very affable and formal. "I realize that asking to do so may be frightening - but for the sake of the truth, please try and remember; the blade that was used to deliver the killing blow... do you know anything about it? Would you be able to recognize it when it is brought to inspection by the court?"

_________________

"Indeed," the judge agreed, "Please add to your testimony more info about the blade."

"Certainly." Rose nodded.

1. "I remember quite clearly that morning, I was going to gather the laundry of lady Reizei."
2. "However, I couldn't get in, and usually she would be up by that time, with the door unlocked for me."
3. "I still needed to do my job, so when lady Kazeko happened by, we opened the door together using her lock picking skills."
4. "She was laying on the ground, stabbed in the back by a blade!"
5. "The blade was a black metal, with white wrappings on the hilt."
6. "I then went ahead and notified the other samurai about what had happened with great haste..."

"Hmmm... That doesn't fill us in any more than what we have. But... I can't help but feel that something is off." Mikkael noted, looking to Yemhelch. "If we expose one point, the rest topples, but we should also try to keep focused on trying to prove our client innocent."

"Precisely," Karliah agreed, speaking directly to Yemhelch, "in order to be accurate, everything should be explored, but it is important to not be led astray by minor details."

-----OPTIONS-----
Object: Use a piece of evidence to expose a contradiction.
Press: Gather more info on a particular point.
Submit: Agree that the testimony is accurate. <WARNING: May be detrimental to your case.>

_________________

>Press the Prosecution to gather details on a particular point.

Yemhelch nodded sagely as he waited patiently for Rose to finish her testimony.

"As Lady Karliah noted in her opening statement, the victim was found dead - impaled by a two-handed nodachi. According to the prosecution, the victim was wearing full regalia of her position as Daimyo when Lady Rose and Lady Kazeko found the scene of the crime."

"It is here that the Defense must humbly ask the Prosecution - distasteful as it is, to reveal information on her autopsy report." he turned to Karliah's bench and made a short, respectful bow. "I did not carry out an inspection on her body yesterday, for I found it both in bad taste and manners unfit for a Lady's presence. Lady Karliah, please tell the court of what your investigation found - we know that the death was almost instant; exactly where was Lady Reizei stabbed that would have killed her instantly?"

_________________

"Why, that's simple," Karliah answered, "In the back, through the chest, the spinal cord was severed and the heart was impaled. Clearly, the death would be instantaneous."

Mikkael's eyes shot open and he smiled, muttering, "Now's our chance. We can object here with one piece of evidence or a relevant profile to help prove our client's innocence."

-----EVIDENCE-----

-Victim File: Reizei Cynric'dair, 23, Human Fire Draco, was stabbed by the two-handed katana which lead to instantaneous death. The murder occurred on the third day of the Festival of the Lily.
-Two-Handed Katana: The weapon used to murder Reizei. It's actually ornamental, and belongs to a statue in her room, with a white wrapping over the black metal. It looks like it takes a bit of strength to get loose from the statue's grip.
-Hiroko's One-Handed Katana: A black metal katana with a white wrapping. Swapped with the two-handed katana at some point.
-Damaged Daimyo Room Key: The key to the Daimyo's room. It is one of a kind, and was likely damaged when Reizei was stabbed.
-Dilated Eyes: The eyes of the victim were dilated, indicating magic, strangulation, or drugging.
-The Armor: The armor Reizei was supposedly wearing when she was murdered. Matching stab wounds, but little blood or will evaporation presence.
-The Will Evaporated Wound: The victim's wound is smaller at the front of the chest, and thicker at the back, indicating a stab from behind. There is will evaporation surrounding the wound and going down her front and back.
-Folding Screen: A folding screen in Reizei's room. It has evidence of will evaporation on both sides.
-Furnace: A heating furnace in Reizei's room, used to burn her clothes post-mortem.

-----PROFILES-----

-Reizei Cynric'dair: Master Daimyo and the victim.
-Hiroko Hajima: Apprentice Samurai and our client, the defendant.
-Rose: The housekeeper who had found the body.
-Kazeko Mizuo: Master Jounin who had helped open the door to Reizei's room.
-Arisa Urushijima: Master Jiu Duan, working with the prosecution.
-Yemhelch: The defense attorney, a soldier.
-Mikkael Altans: A meridian spellsword working with the defense.

_________________

"There are two problems with the crime scene that turn this case far from an 'open and shut' case." Yemhelch replied. "One - the reason why my client was considered a suspect is on the sole reason that her blade is missing. I am a stranger to this part of the world - but I know there are many skilled samurai in this magnificent city alone." He paused to cough, politely covering his mouth before proceeding. "Lady Karliah, were there any witnesses who saw the killer - and more importantly, was Lady Hajima's sword ever recovered?"

"The second problem..." he paused as he shifted back and looked the judge in the eyes. "...would require me to present and demonstrate the murder weapon to the court. Your honor, while the Prosecution testifies in regards to the questions I have posed... I would like to ask for your permission to present the nodachi in question to the court."

_________________

The judge nods, "By all means go right-"

"HOLD IT!"

Karliah points towards Yemhelch, "If the defense is going to try and point out that another samurai is to blame, then they will need to show which samurai that is."

"This is true," the judge adds, "I will allow the defense to present the nodachi in question, but only if a major problem is pointed out."

Mikkael silently maintains an intense look, gazing at Yemhelch.

"So, what is this major problem regarding the nodachi?" The judge asks.

_________________