Episode 79

A trial in Nostrum rested in the hands of the lord.

The judge was the lord.

In the kingdom, the so-called ‘prosecutor’ was a knight.

And there was no defense attorney.

One must prove their own innocence.

However, here arose a problem.

-I request a duel!

To prove one’s innocence through a duel.

To be exact, not innocence, but to prove that one’s abilities were too valuable to die in such a situation.

Nostrum believed that ‘strength is justice.’

This belief was somewhat related to how Nostrum had survived until now.

-If a hero commits a crime, is it right to punish him?

-Shouldn’t we overlook minor crimes and value their contributions to saving the country more?

-What if we kill someone hastily, and that person turns out to be a national hero?

Heroes emerged in times of crisis.

The secret to Nostrum’s survival through numerous plagues.

A hero would survive the prosecution and prove their skills in a duel against a knight.

Through a duel.

-That prisoner… awakened mana just before death!

In a life-threatening crisis, a hero might awaken their talent.

‘Though the nobles make better use of it.’

If a prisoner proved themselves through a duel, that should be the end, but the nobles created a law for a ‘proxy’ in duels.

When was it?

‘A few generations ago.’

One of Nostrum’s heroes was a commoner female magician, who burned a noble trying to assault her with magic.

Later, she became known as the strongest magician in the kingdom, but at that time, she was considered just a pretty-faced low-ranking magician.

The one who prosecuted her was a senior knight.

A low-ranking magician fighting against a senior knight in a trial, in a wide place like a courtroom, winning was next to impossible.

Then, Sir Kadian stepped in.

Sir Kadian, having no connection to the common woman, claimed he was an accomplice and caused a commotion, offering to fight the duel in her stead.

This incident sparked the culture of proxy dueling.

About 200 years have passed since then.

The culture of becoming a ‘dark knight’ for a loved one, a friend, or a lover had degenerated.

‘Buying a proxy for a duel with money.’

Calling upon a knight stronger than the one entering the duel.

Or summoning the knight’s senior or a knight from the same region.

Or hiring a retired knight from the central knight’s order who has moved to the countryside as the first proxy.

It could be said to be a thoroughly vulgar culture in many ways—

‘Through a duel, if 1,000 die unjustly, but one hero emerges, that’s all that matters to everyone.’

Nostrum was such a country.

Indeed, they had triumphed over empires, plagues, demonic beasts, and disasters through such means.

‘So when it was occupied by the empire, all the knights were shattered.’

Without needing to think hard, merely swinging a sword, the moment knights suddenly stood in the empire’s court.

-What?! There’s no duel in the empire’s court?!

-The defendant will keep silent.

-If you’re a prosecutor, draw your sword!!

-This prosecutor is not that kind of prosecutor. Sigh, this is why with Nostrum…

Many knights knelt before the solemnity of the law.

The concept that only strength was justice existed in the empire too, but not to the extent that it was the top priority as in Nostrum.

“That’s why there were no objections when my father slaughtered the maids.”

The day my father declared his intent to commit treason.

He killed several maids.

Officially, it was announced that the maids had leaked crucial secrets of Gibraltar, but of course, murder was murder.

However, no one accused my father of any crime.

If a noble, a regional judge, committed a crime, the king should judge them, but even the king couldn’t bring the Margrave of Gibraltar to trial.

It would be futile to accuse him.

If the Margrave of Gibraltar were to fight a duel, it would rather be the accusing knight who would lose his head.

“The victor is meant for great things. Thus, they won, survived, and will someday become a hero for Nostrum.”

This was the prevailing belief—‘common sense’—among the people of Gibraltar.

However.

It’s widely acknowledged that this was the manner in which trials were conducted.

“Would criminals be deterred from committing crimes by the fear of being executed as fraudsters?”

A trial only occurred if a crime was detected.

“If it’s not detected, that’s the end of the story.”

If you committed a crime and weren’t caught, that’s where it ended.

Even if you found yourself in court, the Margrave wouldn’t personally engage in the duel.

With such trivial concerns, the festival site was now teeming with swindlers.

First,

“Come, come! This is directly imported from Serene!”

“Is this an orange?”

“Absolutely! Kid, do you have the money? This is a special product sold in Serene, an oooorange.”

Here, someone was deceiving people by selling merchandise.

“Do you want to take a look at this? Wow, see how red it is?”

“Wow—!”

Incredible.

“Why is this color red?! Is it really an orange?”

“Of course! It’s a premium fruit, a red orange, produced in very limited quantities in Serene!”

“How much is it?”

“This is 10,000 gold—no, I mean 100 Somnus.”

“Do I only need one?”

I handed over a Somnus gold coin engraved with the number ‘100’, concealed behind a piece of wood.

“Yes! Wow, did you come to run an errand?”

“Yes! My grandfather gave me a lot of money and told me to experience the market!”

“Oh, I see. Your elder is already teaching you about the economy.”

The merchant looked at me with admiration and placed one red orange and one regular orange into a paper bag.

“Uh? I bought one, right?”

“It’s a bonus! Take it home to your grandfather, will you?”

“Wow! Thank you!”

I bowed deeply, at a 90-degree angle, with the paper bag containing the two fruits and expressed my gratitude.

“Take care!”

The merchant waved cheerfully.

“What’s this? The orange is red?”

“It came from Serene? Let’s see…grown at the Glafados farm…?”

“Is there such a farm?”

“How would we know? Let’s see. It’s expensive, but…”

Was it because I shouted so loudly that people around started murmuring and gathering one by one?

“Welcome! Come on! Hahaha!”

The merchant quickly forgot about me and was busy selling red oranges to the crowd of customers that had gathered.

“Wow.”

So,

“Shameless as trash.”

He didn’t hear my remark from a distance.

“…….”

I glanced around sneakily.

A boy, startled and jittery, was seen near an alley, and I dashed towards him.

“Hi, hiik…!”

“You’re number 45, right? What are you doing here?”

“Ah, ah…!”

A girl, not a boy, hiding her white hair under a bread hat—one of the Whites, number 45—looked at me and rolled her green eyes side to side.

“That, that’s….”

“Don’t you think that merchant is quite conscienceless?”

“……You are the young master, right…?”

“Yes.”

45 kept looking me up and down.

“Why? Don’t think it’s me?”

“It’s just that, when you were in front of that man earlier….”

“When did you notice?”

“When you said, ‘Wow,’ and called him trash…?”

“Good. That was meant to be noticed.”

I took the red orange out of the paper bag and handed the bag with the orange in it to 45.

“Take this. Have it as a snack on the way.”

“Me, me…?”

“You might have had plenty of grapefruits, but you probably haven’t had a real kingdom-grown orange.”

“Well, that, that’s….”

“How much does a grapefruit usually cost in the empire? The articles don’t list the price per piece.”

“…About 50 cents each….”

“50 cents.”

Click, click.

“So, that merchant is selling something worth about 650 for 10,000 each?”

“That, that’s….”

“So, you popped out because you were frustrated.”

“…….”

I patted 45 on the shoulder.

“Well done. You don’t need to record it. I’ll sort it out myself when I collect the Somnus gold those people brought, in person, during the settlement.”

“If you send someone else for the settlement…. Oh, that! I’m not doubting your memory, young master…!”

“It’s okay. I’ve recorded it.”

I pulled a new Somnus gold from my inner pocket.

“This is a special Somnus gold I made.”

“Is, is that okay…?”

“Of course. I’m the producer of Somnus gold.”

In this market, I could produce currency in real-time.

Of course, so could others.

“Excuse me, young master. Isn’t that, like, a scam…?”

“Scam? Hmm. Well, if you smuggle grapefruits from the empire through Serene and then come all the way to Gibraltar to sell them at a high price.”

I split the red-orange—sold as a 10,000 gold grapefruit—in half, took out the pulp, and then shoved the peeled skin and the rest back into the bag.

“Eat the rest too. It reminds you of home, but you must have wondered why it’s sold so expensively.”

“Ah… so, young master, you…”

“That’s why I only bought one. Among the 10,000 gold I spent, it includes the experience of tasting this empire’s fruit for the first time.”

A different sour taste from the oranges of southern Nostrum.

“Next time, I won’t buy it for that money unless I’m a fool-”

“Hey—! Come over here!”

I heard a familiar shout.

“Pick anything! I’ll buy it for you!!”

“Oooooh—!”

“Noir! Noir! Noir!”

“…….”

A fool has appeared.

“Young master.”

45 pointed seriously at the black iron plate Noir was holding up in front of the merchant.

“Is it really okay to let him scratch that freely…?”

“Yes.”

The merchant happily wrote his name, the item sold, and the price on the plate with an iron stylus, looking forward to the deal.

“The more foolish a swindler is, the more they’re blinded by the small profit in front of them and easily caught.”

Noir was currently busy gathering information.

“Hahaha! I, Noir Gibraltar, will remember your name!”

“Seems like acting can’t beat the real thing.”

“An orange the same color as our youngest’s eyes! Ah, truly a gem!”

“The kid is kind. The kid is.”

I shoved the remaining grapefruit into my mouth as was.

“45.”

“Yes, young master.”

“Take good care of him.”

“You’re not asking me to marry him, are you?”

“…….”

“Ah, not that I don’t want to get married—”

“Do as you wish.”

I straightened 45’s disheveled bread hat before turning away.

“Keep up with the information gathering. No need to ask directly, just stay safe.”

“Yes…!”

Currently, some of the Whites were disguised and wandering the streets.

“I’ll find and report all the imperial goods that are commonly not seen in Gibraltar…!”

Which merchant brought in goods from the empire.

Festival, 11:55 AM.

Gibraltar’s festival timing was a bit unique.

While festivals typically started around 4 PM and went until midnight, thinking of a night market-

-It’s noisy.

My father enforced the festival to end by 8 PM to respect my mother’s early bedtime.

Instead, the event started early in the morning, and now, the festival atmosphere was just beginning to warm up.

‘It’s almost lunchtime.’

Knowing that the peak of the evening’s fireworks was what everyone waited for, merchants tried to sell as much as they could before then.

If there’s something indispensable at the festival, it’s obviously food.

From imported agricultural products and manufactured goods lined up, a section was set aside where the smell of savory food wafted through.

From bread to fried meat in oil.

‘You don’t have to buy goods, but when you’re hungry, you need to eat.’

Even those who were determined not to spend money, when confronted with the smell of food on an empty stomach, ended up opening their wallets.

Of course, what came out of the wallet would be Somnus Gold rather than gold-

“Excuse me, customer.”

“Why?”

“This….”

“Ah, geez. What? It’s the right amount of money, isn’t it?”

Gradually.

“I’ll return this to you, could you possibly pay with gold instead?”

One by one, those thinking ‘maybe that’s okay’ begin to show up.

“In exchange, I’ll only take 10% of the food price.”

“Oh, really…? Well, that’s good for me. Ahem.”

A man who had his lunch early received back Somnus Gold from the merchant and took out gold coins to pay for his food.

“That’s how it goes.”

The introduction of a new currency, Somnus Gold, brought inconvenience and hassle.

Given Nostrum’s conservative nature, it was unlikely to be embraced from the start.

“Even if it’s a one-time event, people can’t stand inconvenience.”

Such minor issues were deemed too trivial for reporting or arrest.

“But it’s still worth keeping an eye on.”

It fell within the expected scenarios, so it’s not exactly a problem.

“Is everyone being cautious because of my father?”

The question arose whether the fear stemmed from the possibility of my father being the judge if anyone was caught, yet there hadn’t been any significant crime as anticipated.

“If this were the empire’s market, child disappearances, counterfeit money, and disputes over market rights would have already occurred.”

-Our child has disappeared.

-Isn’t this money counterfeit?

-Who gave you the right to sell here?

“I kinda understand why those who miss the innocent Nostrum say such things.”

Among the few revolutionaries captured by the traitor Lord Grey, there were those who said,

-Life in the empire is too complicated and difficult for us to follow, and the imperials always take advantage of us based on that.

“Still, something more stimulating—”

“Ah.”

I saw it.

“Wow.”

In front of me.

“Ahem, everyone.”

In a spot devoid of stalls, a man in an expensive suit was gathering many children and speaking to them.

“Kids, you get it, right? Not gold, but collect a lot of these?”

“Wooden sticks are too sharp at the ends, making them difficult to pull out…”

“Why not just steal gold? If we’re lucky, a thousand, no, ten thousand gold could be ours.”

“Shhh…! This has a much higher chance! The lowest is worth 100 gold…!”

Pickpocketing, a common occurrence at festivals or crowded places, is expected.

“How mundane.”

Was Somnus Gold created and Somnus flowers sacrificed just to encourage petty theft, leaving me feeling a sense of self-disgust—

“Collect as much Somnus Gold as you can. They said they’d cash it in, buying it cheaply. Whether stolen or bought, we’ll gather it all.”

Oh.

“What if it becomes unusable in the market?”

“By then…hehe.”

The man smirked slyly, pointing towards the sky.

“By evening, it’ll be dark, hard to see, right?”

“Yes.”

“And there’s still plenty of time before the sun sets.”

Oh.

“In the meantime, have the kids produce these, and tell the merchants to accept them as payment when selling their goods at a discount. Got it?”

“This is fake.”

“Fake or not.”

Finally.

“The one who is fooled is at fault.”

The movements of swindlers, who had abandoned honesty and thrive on deception, started to make my heart race.

Still.

“Shhh….”

Slowly.

I was hoping for someone with an empire-like flair to appear, but sadly, no one caught my eye.

“Wouldn’t anyone do something bold….”

Or maybe sell counterfeit Somnus Gold.

“It looks like I’ll just end up enjoying the fireworks.”

Well, actually.

“After all, it’s unlikely that real con artists would come to such a scene.”

But that’s okay too.

“Here—! Selling handmade jewelry! Beautiful jewelry made from carved gems! Gift it to someone special on the eve of the festival!!”

“…….”

“Oh, you want to buy? This is quite expensive….”

“Give it.”

“Ah…! Yes, yes! I’ll get it for you right away! Do you need a bag-”

“Don’t need it.”

To further promote the circulation of Somnus Gold, it seemed I needed to distribute more Somnus Gold.

“Thank you!”