Chapter 95
Chapter 95
There was an obvious reason why the Emperor chose Sehet Temple as the hearing venue.
Sehet Temple was open to everyone.
Regardless of status, anyone could enter.
Not only that, but it could accommodate an enormous number of people.
“In other words, they want to show and imprint the connection between ‘ice cream’ and ‘demonic beasts’ across the entire empire.”
Well, I heard it could hold tens of thousands of people at once.
Think of it as a kind of circular arena.
When something is imprinted on this many people, it becomes a permanent mark, whether it’s truth or lies.
“Isn’t that too risky?”
Isiel asked with a tired face.
I shook my head.
“No, the more people, the better.”
Because it means we can definitively turn public opinion around.
At the same time, it will be an effective means of promoting ice cream.
“I’ve been working hard selling ice cream at stalls, introducing it at parties, and doing all sorts of promotion, you know?”
“I know.”
“But it’s most famous now. Marquis Cloi is helping me achieve what I’ve been working so hard for.”
There’s no one in the empire who doesn’t know about ‘ice cream’ now.
Moreover, while originally no one knew of my existence, now everyone knows ‘Irina Seike.’
Though it seems I’ve become notorious as some kind of villain or witch, that can change later.
In this world without ‘Star’ or ‘YouTube’-like social media, where information and rumors spread slowly, being famous is advantageous even if it’s infamy.
Besides, after the hearing, all the infamy will disappear!
All the stigma attached to our ice cream will be thrown away!
And I’ll convert the notoriety into brand recognition for ‘Lu & Cream’!
“Our Irina really has guts…”
After hearing all the behind-the-scenes details, Isiel spoke in a somewhat deflated yet relieved tone.
“Cas, you weren’t like this before either.”
“These days I just live. It’s not bad.”
Isiel looked back and forth between me and Cassis and sighed again.
“They say sighing makes your luck fly away.”
“Yeah, but even if all my luck disappears, I’ll still have more than you two.”
“…”
[…]
[…That’s too accurate.]
Indeed.
The statement was so accurate that I just kept my mouth shut.
“Anyway, are you well-prepared? His Majesty the Emperor is already taking Marquis Cloi’s side. Are you confident enough to turn things around even in this situation?”
I nodded confidently.
“Of course.”
* * *
“I don’t like it.”
“What?”
“Why is big sister getting criticized when she didn’t do anything wrong?”
“Because I’m famous?”
Seiren was pouring her divine power into the ‘Philosopher’s Stones’ she had been carefully crafting.
Currently, she had successfully completed and infused divine power into 5 ‘Philosopher’s Stones.’
Since they were all relatively low grade, we decided to prepare just 2 more.
“Amazing. You managed to craft these hard things.”
Isiel picked up a stone, examined it, and put it back down.
“Right? They’re so difficult to craft that Cassis broke a few trying to cut them with his sword.”
“These expensive things? Are they cheap because they’re low grade?”
“They’re all C to D grade, but they’re not cheap.”
“Really? How much?”
“About 700 jurang each?”
We bought about 10 of them.
Cassis and Seiren broke 3 of them while trying to craft them with sword and divine power.
And successfully crafted 7.
“700 jurang? That’s cheap!”
At Isiel’s words, Seiren laughed out loud, and I turned my head from watching a Lemiere mage adjusting magic circles.
“So we raided Isiel’s storage.”
“What?”
“I raided big brother’s storage!”
“…”
Ding.
[SYSTEM | ‘Philosopher’s Stone (C/D)’ charging (10/10) completed.]
[SYSTEM | Preparations for the ‘Hearing’ quest are complete.]
Just then, all preparations were complete.
“Seiren, are you done?”
“Yes!”
“I’m finished as well.”
Perfect timing.
Just as Seiren finished infusing divine power into the ‘Philosopher’s Stones,’ the mage also seemed to finish adjusting the magic circles.
“You finished quickly.”
“Thanks to the Miss and Lord Luka Humbly’s thorough preliminary organization.”
For reference, while Seiren designed the magic circles, they had many flaws due to her lack of magical skill, so we were in the process of reconstructing them.
We received help from professional mages for this part.
<Luka, it’s been a while since I’ve had to draw magic circles.>
<…Why me?>
<Irina said she’d give you Sheriff’s cat food if all this goes well.>
<I’m heading to the workshop right now.>
Of course, after confirming that hiring mages would cost an enormous amount, we actively sought help from Luwin’s surplus healer, Luka.
The Lemiere mage was in the process of installing the magic circles completed by Seiren and Luka.
“But is it okay for these Philosopher’s Stones to be such low grade?”
“Yes, that level should be fine for today.”
“Really?”
“We’ll need higher grades later when we make more money and the ice cream demand increases.”
[Didn’t you say they were really expensive?]
[Let’s ask Cassis to buy them.]
[Let’s ask him!]
‘Cassis doesn’t have money, so we can’t.’
[Aww]
While I was talking with Seiren and occasionally Isiel, Cassis kept worrying about me.
“Lord Cassis. Please stop worrying.”
“Are you sure it won’t strain your body?”
“Yes. Seiren is working this hard precisely so I won’t strain myself.”
I stood in front of Cassis, looked up at his worry-filled face, and stared at it.
Who would think this face belongs to the Grand Duke of the North?
This isn’t northern, isn’t ducal, it’s just… isn’t he just a softie?
After hesitating briefly, I reached out and gently brushed his jet-black hair.
Cassis didn’t avoid my hand and quietly waited for me.
“You’re not avoiding it.”
“…Irina, don’t overdo it.”
“Okay.”
“Don’t get hurt, and don’t try to take responsibility for everything.”
I grinned.
Cassis continued regardless.
“Since ‘Lu & Cream’ is ultimately Luwin’s business, if anything happens, I should be responsible, not Irina.”
“Yes, don’t worry because I won’t try to take responsibility alone or handle everything by myself. Really!”
After finally calming Cassis down, I checked the time.
Five hours left.
That’s the time remaining until the free promotion provided by the state.
If we had to pay for advertising at such a good opportunity, it might cost tens of millions of jurang per second.
So my goal today is to do my best during the given time to imprint ‘ice cream’ in everyone’s memory.
And to reveal ‘Lu & Cream.’
* * *
The hearing was unexpectedly scary.
Yes, with so many people, it couldn’t help but be frightening.
I didn’t expect this huge outdoor circular arena to be completely filled with people.
When the massive Colosseum-like structure was packed with people… the pressure was immense.
So I immediately retracted what I’d told the System earlier about being fine today.
The System said “oh dear” and drastically lowered the resolution.
[SYSTEM | Switching to administrator mode.]
[SYSTEM | Adjusting ‘resolution’ from ’80’ to ’30’.]
The world at resolution 30 is much more comfortable and less realistic.
Even with the audience murmuring and filling the massive hall in front, I felt nothing.
They seemed like beings existing beyond a screen.
Beings that don’t really exist.
It’s the same when being interrogated at the hearing.
“Lady Irina Seike! Answer!”
Even at words close to shouting, I wasn’t moved at all.
I reached the point where I could think about other things while just saying what needed to be said formally.
‘I should probably focus a bit more.’
If I don’t focus properly, I might do something strange, even at truly important moments later.
Like failing to show an impressive scene when needed…
“Irina, you seem particularly distracted today.”
“What?”
“Are you alright?”
As if we were criminals on trial, or perhaps to apply psychological pressure, Cassis and I were standing at the very bottom of the circular arena-like space.
“Yes, I’m fine. Just a bit spaced out.”
Since my spacing out was entirely thanks to the System, it wasn’t really a problem.
Instead of worrying about myself, I was more worried about Cassis.
Surely Cassis is human too, and since this is his first experience with something like this, he must be scared.
He must be trembling with fear.
However, the person I was facing could worry about me instead of himself with unwavering eyes even in this situation.
Wait, but why is he so composed?
“Are you really okay, Lord Cassis?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“…How? There must be some pressure.”
Cassis tilted his head slightly.
Then he answered casually.
“When I first went to war, I was truly afraid. I had just become an adult and didn’t know anything yet.”
“War would be scary even if you went now.”
He responded, “Is that so?” to my answer and continued.
“Back then, while I was trembling with fear, Roen told me that with the debt accumulated by our family, I shouldn’t be afraid of anything in the world.”
“Ah…”
“Because we had nothing to lose, we should be even less afraid.”
[That’s not wrong, but Roen…]
[Yeah, he really raised his boss to be strong.]
That’s for sure.
“So since then, whenever I find myself in a situation where I might tremble with fear, I think about the debt accumulated by our family.”
“…How much was the debt again?”
Ding.
[SYSTEM | The current debt to be repaid is-]
‘Stop being tactless and get back in there right now.’
[SYSTEM | Yes, understood.]
Cassis looked at me and smiled.
“So when this opportunity came to me, someone who had half given up, there’s nothing to be afraid of.”
While Cassis’s smile might look completely gentle at first glance, knowing what was behind it made it seem somewhat manic.
“I just think I’ll be fine as long as Irina doesn’t get hurt.”
“Yes…”
“So don’t get hurt. So I won’t want to give up.”
This is scary.
While Cassis and I were having our small talk, it seemed Marquis Cloi had finished appealing to the Emperor.
“Try refuting this! His Majesty the Emperor and all the people are here to witness your crimes, so choose your words carefully!”
It’s like a play.
That long-winded explanation and those lines meant to intimidate me.
A play to show my alleged guilt to countless people.
In fact, every time Marquis Cloi emphasized some pointless statement, I could hear the audience murmuring.
I raised my hand and said the obvious.
It was time to end this nonsense.
“…I object. The relationship between ‘ice cream’ and ‘demonic beasts’ is all conjecture. The evidence is insufficient.”
