Tsukasa was wearing a tight skirt and a nice blouse that gave off an “otherworld office lady” vibe. In this tribunal, neither the judge nor the assistant needed to wear the standard black court robes, and the proceedings had felt less serious than usual from the start. She was trying to loosen the tension that had built up from the prosecutor’s strict questioning.
“We talked about it at the beginning, right? You have the right to remain silent. You don’t have to tell us anything you don’t want to. And staying silent won’t have any disadvantage to you, nor will we get angry about it. I can promise that much to you.”
Her tone of voice was kind and polite.
I was impressed. This was my first time observing a juvenile case, and I rarely saw my sister be so sweet to a male who wasn’t her little brother.
“…”
“Are you maybe a little afraid of me? If that’s it, I’m sorry. You see, the court isn’t always just about wanting to punish bad guys. You’re only twelve, and I know you haven’t done anything bad before now, okay?”
She was right.
I looked at Gobta Boucher’s criminal record that was displayed in the court record window. It was totally empty.
“I know it sounds like a big deal since we’re calling what happened an ‘incident,’” Tsukasa continued, “but you didn’t hurt anyone, and no one here is trying to pin you with some kind of severe punishment. We just want to know why you broke the law, and I want to hear it from you directly.”
The reason why this boy was here in front of us today was written in the referral under the section titled Grounds for Hearing:
The suspect entered a building under the jurisdiction of the Royal Cabinet of the Chiyodaku Kingdom without permission…
I swiped through the record in my window. In the arrest report, it said that about one month ago a police officer had caught Gobta leaving a building that was marked NO TRESPASSING.
And it’s not like he stole anything, either.
I started examining the photos of the inside of the building. It looked like it had been abandoned for years. Large items of trash had been left inside, and mud had accumulated on the floors. Maybe someone had broken in and done this, but there was no evidence proving that it had been Gobta, even after the forensic investigation for fingerprints and hair at the scene.
The police had searched Gobta’s belongings, too. He had nothing but his school things on him.
The only thing that we know for sure is that he was seen leaving the building. It’s an interesting case.
Just like when Japan had adopted the European legal system, the Chiyodaku Kingdom had imitated and adopted the Japanese legal system. If this boy had broken into a building, he’d probably be charged with trespassing.
But, like Tsukasa had said, no one was really pushing to punish this kid. Yet this persistent, mysterious silence continued.
“If you don’t tell us something, Gobta, this incident will never get resolved and will remain in your record, hanging over your head. And if it comes up again in the future, we might not be able to protect you.”
“…!”
I could sense his resolve wavering.
<<How am I doing? It’s not weird, is it?>> Tsukasa asked me telepathically.
<<You’re golden. Keep going.>>
Her attempt at convincing him seemed to be working.
“Can we just talk? Please?” she urged Gobta.
She leaned forward. Even watching her from behind, I could see her huge breasts sway.
“Uh…”
My sister, age twenty-eight, who upon being summoned here had been reverted to the body of her fifteen-year-old self…all except her huge boobs.
I guess it had been too much for little Gobta to process. He stared at them with his mouth hanging open.
“The foundational principle of the family court is ‘Peace in the home, hope for the children.’ Let’s think about your hopes, together.”
“Er… Uh…”
No good. He’s only focused on her chest. Or I dunno, maybe that’ll work?
“Hey, Gobta. Hurry up and say somethin’.” Gobta’s father, Goburo Boucher, who had been sitting quietly to the boy’s right this whole time, started poking him. “Are you really gonna sit here and make this pretty lady say all this crap to try to get you to talk? You’re no boy of mine!”
“Shut it! I got nothin’ to say!”
So much for that plan.
The trust Tsukasa had been building came crashing down.
“He’s been like this the whole time. To think even you couldn’t crack him, Miss Judge…,” Ileana said, looking concerned.
“Arrrgh, you’re nothin’ but trouble, you li’l brat!”
Goburo was forty-two years old. His slightly overweight body was shaking with anger.
This looks bad.
I visualized moving my magical window to the side.
“Come on, spit it out already, you little—!”
Wham!
Goburo’s hand smacked the letters on the window with full force.
He cradled his left hand and moaned in pain. The hand had already turned red from the impact.
“O-ouch…”
“Please restrain yourself from any acts of violence while you are in the courtroom,” Tsukasa told him.
Here we go again…
I’d started to get used to this kind of situation. We had worked on a few cases so far where one of the people in question had flown into a rage. Each time, I would block them by moving around my windows. And each time, the text’s incredible sturdiness had kept the window fixed in its place right in the spot where I had positioned it.
“B-but! He can’t just keep sittin’ there sulkin’ like that!” Goburo protested.
“The court cannot trust words which have been extracted by force.” The judge switched over to a strict tone of voice. “Would you like to be tried for child abuse?”
“No, I-I’m sorry…Miss Judge, and Mr. Akuto the Window Mage…”
Goburo did a one-eighty and started apologizing instead.
Next to him, Gobta said quietly, “Th-thank you…Mr. Window Mage…”
“Window Mage”? Is that some kind of new nickname that’s catching on?
I wasn’t sure how I felt about that, but I was just glad that I had been able to protect Gobta.
Tsukasa changed the subject. “Mr. Goburo, was your wife not able to be present today?”
She had a good point. I had a feeling this wasn’t going to go well with just the father here.
“…There’s no way Lyra would come.”
Goburo started to explain with a dejected look on his face.
“About a year ago, she joined up with that church and hasn’t returned. At this rate, we’re probably gonna get divorced.”
✦ ✦ ✦
When I returned home, my head maid, Shiro, was there waiting for me.
“Welcome back, Master.”
As usual, she was perfectly poised. These three weeks, I always found her standing in the exact same place, repeating the exact same lines as if they were pre-recorded, bowing her cute head with her cute dog ears.
“Good to be back.”
“Miss Judge is in the bath. Shall I prepare the usual for you?”
“Yes, please.”
My sister and I had been living in an apartment within the courthouse complex. While the rest of the building was pretty imposing, our area had been renovated as the princess’s villa and was surprisingly comfortable to live in.
The living room was filled with Japanese-style furniture. I sat down on the sofa and let out a sigh.
“Your royal milk tea.”
Shiro had already prepared me a drink, seemingly at the speed of light.
I took a sip from the mug she handed to me. The drink was sweet and the perfect temperature.
“Delicious as always, Shiro. You really pay attention to every detail. Thank you.”
I could feel myself relaxing from the inside out, and my exhaustion began to dissipate.