The station that served as the entry point to Starhold was right at the center of the city. The council was only a short walk away from there.
Freddy fully expected that the investigators would load them up on some kind of floating thingamabob, as it didn’t seem like they were the type to waste even a moment walking somewhere. But he was wrong. Rather, they walked out and headed the way of the council building the old fashioned way.
Well, it was pretty close.
And Freddy wasn’t opposed to taking the scenic route, anyway.
Starhold was incredible. It was also nauseating, and more than a little overwhelming.
The street was full of cars, many of which were loud and awfully flashy. The people on the walkway weren’t holding their auras back in the slightest, and for some reason, everyone was wearing a small collection of various badges. Music blared at ungodly volume from a number of directions.
None of the cars looked cheap. There were some that, other than their significantly larger wheels, looked the spitting image of famous pre-Rift car models, but the majority of the population had settled for something… flashier.
Some of the cars genuinely looked like they were trying to minimize the odds of anyone involved surviving any kind of accident. Spiky, jarring edges, a far greater size than was at all reasonable, and…
Freddy squinted. Did that guy mount an actual fucking sword to the hood of his car?
But the cars, while attention-grabbing, were far from the most bewildering thing in his surroundings.
Freddy knew what it was like to be surrounded by a number of powerful archhumans. But Starhold was something else.
Usually, in most cities in the empire, flashing your aura full-force in public was considered rude at best. Some places might even arrest the offender if they did it in crowded areas.
But this practice was mostly due to the large number of mortals, or even weaker one-stars, who could experience severe distress at getting flashed like that.
Starhold clearly had no such hindrances on the streets. In fact, Freddy could barely even see any one-stars, let alone mortals. The vast majority of the people walking about were peak two-stars, and a not insignificant number were three-stars.
And everyone was flashing their aura as hard as humanly possible.
To call the experience bizarre would be an understatement. Freddy would compare it to walking out on the street and seeing everyone there shouting from the top of their lungs while also standing on the tips of their toes to seem taller.
Not even the investigators held back, and as they relieved the hold on their souls, it became obvious why everyone there was doing it.
The people before them parted, keeping their heads down as they let them pass undisturbed.
Freddy sighed as all desire to live here rapidly abandoned him.
If this was the kind of dick-measuring one could expect from walking down the street, he could only imagine how bad it got in other social scenarios.
His attention slid back to the badges everyone seemed to be wearing. They came in a number of shapes and colors, usually emitting an ether signature of their own, and even though Freddy couldn’t tell what any of them meant, they were no doubt another method of peacocking.
For his part, Freddy kept his aura nicely tucked inside his pants. With his soul damage, it was best not to go whipping it out in public.
Nobody got in their way during their short walk, but for some reason, people kept shooting Freddy venomous glances. It wasn’t hard to guess why. No badges, restrained aura, all while being escorted by four-stars.
Either they thought he thought he was better than them, or they thought he was garbage who was just pretending to be better than them.
Shaking his head, he focused on keeping himself calm and mentally present as the council building came into view. It was a majestic piece of architecture. The marble building was covered in carvings from top to bottom, and the inside was a rustic interior from Valhalla’s wet dreams. Mural upon mural, seemingly retelling the history of the post-Rift American Empire, depicting the rise of its greatest heroes and the fall of its foulest villains.
Ah, there’s Silver Heart, too.
Freddy and the adjudicator were taken to a small waiting room.
“Wait here,” the lanky investigator said. “You’ll be escorted once you’re up. Do not leave this room until then. The penalty for roaming in the council building unsupervised is death. Keep that in mind.” And with that warm warning, the stony-faced man turned on his heel, shutting the door and leaving the two of them alone.
Freddy slumped in a chair.
“How are you holding up?” the adjudicator asked.
“Honestly? I’m about ready to die from stress.”
The man chuckled. “I wish I could say I’m faring better.” He sighed as he sat in the chair next to Freddy. “Remember, you have to stay calm. Do not protest anything they say until you’re given permission to speak. Be as respectful as you can. Keep your voice level, and never, ever try to explain anything to them unless explicitly asked to do so. They have read all the reports, and if they have a misconception about what happened, you won’t change their minds with your words. But they do not look kindly on speaking out of turn.
“And finally, feel free to wax your words a bit… patriotic. I know it sounds cheesy, but it works. Be a bit of a suckup, if you can stomach it.”
Freddy sighed. “I understand.”
“Good. Now, try to rest a bit.”
That was the last thing Freddy remembered before suddenly appearing in the middle of a court, with the trial already underway.
Sweat instantly bathed him, and he tried his best to calm down.
“Is something wrong, Mr. Stern?”
Freddy looked up.
He was currently standing at a podium in a small room, with three four-stars seated at the judge’s bench, looking down at him. To his side was the adjudicator, who was keeping a straight face, and to his left was a two-star man standing on a lower platform, writing stuff down.
The person who referred to him was the middle four-star, a man with fiery red hair and somewhat vulpine, crimson eyes. To his left was a cyan-haired woman who was squinting at him, and to his right was a bulky man with voluminous brunette hair and shimmering golden eyes.
“I…” he stammered, trying to get himself together. Thoughts were churning through his mind in a storm of questions, and his mouth worked, words refusing to put themselves together.
“Mr. Stern, did you perhaps lose recollection of where you are?”
Freddy gave a terse nod. “I apologize, Your Honour.”
The man sighed. “I suggest we adjourn the trial until Mr. Stern’s condition stabilizes.”
“Denied,” the woman said.
“Denied,” the other man added. “I do not believe his condition is relevant. We have all we need to conclude the trial, and I don’t think further stressing the kid out will accomplish anything.”
The middle man sighed. “In that case, let us continue.” He looked back at Freddy. “We are still on the first subject, which is the part you’ve played in the killing of Nahar Kraven. The evidence has been summarized, and we are to proceed with the ruling. Do you understand?”
Freddy nodded.
“Good.” He gestured to the woman. “Judge Lissia, please repeat your previous statement.”
With a mildly irritated sigh, the woman said, “I do not believe there is sufficient evidence to prove Mr. Stern had a significant role in the death of Nahar Kraven.”
Freddy’s stomach dropped, and his eyes widened. An intense urge to shout in protest nearly overwhelmed him, but somehow, despite that, he managed to get himself under control, keeping his posture still and expression as neutral as it could be, given the circumstances.
“Elaborate,” the man in the middle said.
“There are no reliable testimonies of what happened when Mr. Stern allegedly offered his soul through an Unholy Blessing. Even Mr. Stern claims to have no recollection of what transpired. The evidence suggests that the injury left by Repentawa’s Adjudicator was greater than he originally estimated, and ultimately, it was Emily Umbra who, through the use of expensive items granted to her by her family, managed to finish him off.”
“Permission to speak.” The man on the other side calmly requested.
“You may.”
“Emily Umbra’s testimony suggests that Nahar Kraven was evidently infuriated—and possibly humiliated—by whatever Mr. Stern had done. I believe this is enough evidence to suggest that Mr. Stern had caused some degree of serious harm to Nahar Kraven, either through injury or exhaustion. Furthermore, Miss Umbra suggests that she was only able to act after Mr. Stern created an opening.” He settled back in his chair, indicating that he was finished saying his piece.
“Judge Lissia, do you have anything to add?”
The woman nodded. “Nahar Kraven was reportedly highly mentally unstable. His behavior was too erratic to be used as concrete evidence. And the validity of Miss Umbra’s testimony is compromised by a conflict of interest, given her engagement to Mr. Stern.” She settled as well.
“Judge Ramson?” the middle four-star called.
“We know for a fact that Mr. Stern had, with full knowledge of the risk involved, decided to combat a dangerous four-star threat with the ultimate goal of giving others a chance to escape. And we also know that Mr. Stern had lived through the ordeal, while Nahar Kraven hadn’t. The evidence is sufficient to prove that there is a possibility Mr. Stern had played a critical role in the takedown of a significant threat.” He leaned back.
“Judge Lissia?”
“Intent and accomplishment need to be treated separately. A mere possibility isn’t enough. I am not against granting Mr. Stern a medal for his heroic decision. But contribution to the death of Nahar Kraven is a significant enough deed that anything less than evidence beyond reasonable doubt cannot be used to justify a reward.”
“Judge Ramson?”
“According to numerous reports, Mr. Stern had repeatedly showcased an exceptional level of combat prowess. Enough that the combination of a burnout serum and a major Unholy Blessing sacrifice would make it possible to cause significant harm to a wounded four-star. I consider this evidence enough.”
“Judge Lissia.”
She scoffed at that. “I disagree.”
“Judge Ramson?”
“I have nothing else to add.”
“Judge Lissia, is there anything else you’d like to say?”
“No, Judge Albert.”
Judge Albert straightened. “I am partial to Judge Lissia’s arguments. A contribution on this level cannot be treated with anything less than the highest level of scrutiny. However, there isn’t enough evidence to conclusively claim that Mr. Stern hadn’t made significant contributions to the outcome, and for such an accomplishment to go unrewarded would be a great injustice.
“I suggest that the reward handed to Mr. Stern be appropriately adjusted to account for the uncertainty of evidence, with special consideration that, should Mr. Stern accomplish more notable feats in the future, his performance will be used to adjust the estimate of what he’s capable of, and whether a retroactive adjustment to his reward is justified. All in favor, raise your hand.” Judge Albert raised his hand. The other two did not. “Motion rejected. Judge Lissia, what is your suggestion?”
“I’m in favor of considering a retroactive reward, should Mr. Stern continue to accomplish great things. I am against granting a partial reward before his purported combat excellence can be proven.”
Judge Albert nodded, before turning to face the other man. “Judge Ramson?”
“I am against granting Mr. Stern a partial reward without taking his opinion into consideration. Some consider several smaller rewards to always be lesser in value than a singular greater one. If Mr. Stern would prefer to get a whole reward at a later date, after proving his combat potential, I will vote for Judge Lissia’s suggestion.”
“Mr. Stern,” Judge Albert called. “Which outcome would you prefer?”
Freddy was caught back by the way things were playing out. Oh, sure, it was frustrating as hell that they were doubting him when he sacrificed his damned soul to get that win, but at the very least, they weren’t dismissing him outright. Hell, Judge Ramson was even batting for him, and pretty hard at that.
The ever-cynical part of him couldn’t help but notice that they were aware of his engagement with Emily Umbra, and he couldn’t deny the possibility that they were taking it into consideration.
Pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind, as it really wasn’t the time for them, he chewed on his words for a moment.
What was it that the adjudicator said? Wax it a bit patriotic?
Freddy smiled, straightening his posture. “I have no intention of making this my last contribution to the empire. Let the next one be proof of my loyalty.”
He’d worked in retail for years. If there was one thing he had plenty of practice with, it was sucking up to entitled customers.
“Very good,” the man didn’t seem particularly impressed, but Freddy had a sense for this kind of stuff. The adjudicator was right. This shit worked.
“Let us hold it to a vote—all in favor of retroactively granting Mr. Stern a reward based on future accomplishments?”
Three hands went up.
“Very good.” Judge Albert smacked his gavel and picked up another paper. “Let us move on to the next subject.
“Based on the evidence collected during the investigation, Mr. Stern has been found guilty of misleading an imperial adjudicator to receive the deed to a city in subordinate territory. We shall now consider the arguments against the death penalty.”
All blood drained from Freddy’s face.