I'll Be His Attorney

At the present time, Xander was being guided to the room where he was going to be talking with the supposed criminal. He had been given permission to interrogate the person, which wasn't too difficult to attain considering his official profession.

From what he had gathered and concluded thus far from what he found at the crime scene, he already had a good idea as to what went down. However, to confirm his conclusions, he still needed some finer details and information to make it solid.

Evidence is one thing, but if you can't properly connect them together, then they become rather useless in the end. If he managed to get what he wanted here during this conversation, then everything else should be easy.

"Detective, please wait here." The guard who was guiding him spoke as he gestured inside of the room whose door he had just opened. "We'll be conducting the investigation here. Please wait inside, the accused will be brought here shortly."

"Understood, thank you."

With a small tip of the hat, the guard walked away as Xander calmly made his way inside before closing the door. Looking around, it looked like your pretty standard interrogation room. A relatively small room with no ways to escape aside from the door, such as windows.

Set up in the room was a firmly secured table that seemed to be attached to the floor with a number of bolts, along with two chairs that were placed facing each other, meaning they were placed on opposite sides of the table.

"Looks pretty secure, not bad at all." Xander smiled faintly as he tapped his knuckles against the sturdy walls of the room. After inspecting the room for a bit, Xander quietly took a seat on one of the chairs. "Interrogation, huh? I wonder if I'm really up to it..."

[With how intimidating I've seen you be. I'm sure you'll be fine, Xander]

The new voice that seemed to suddenly sound in his head had a rather deep and somewhat distorted tone, though Xander didn't seem to show any reaction whatsoever to the sudden emergence of the voice. Well, aside from a single blink of surprise.

'Oh, so you're finally awake?' Xander's moment of surprise quickly went away as a small smile crept up at the corner of his lips. 'Are you ready to spring back into action with me then, Karma?'

[Certainly. Do you require my assistance right now?]

'Not just yet, but it's nice to know you're ready to assist me when needed.'

As Xander thought this, what looked to be a black and blue liquid mass seemed to emerge from his back before moving forward and stopping to his front right. The strange liquid looked similar to that of a tendril, except liquified and constantly in motion.

Soon, the end of said 'tendril' quickly morphed into what looked to be a face, though certainly not one belonging to a human. This one had rather sharp and somewhat twisted white eyes and no visible mouth.

[Where are we?]

'Can't you look at my memories?'

[I could, but it is far easier to simply ask]

'Can't deny that.' Xander merely gave a shrug as Karma continued to look around the room with a not-so-obvious look of curiosity. 'I'm currently doing some investigation for a case. I'm waiting for them to bring in the supposed criminal for me to question.'

[Ah, so that's why you were talking about interrogation before. If you still doubt if you can properly interrogate them, would you like me to assist then?]

'No, thank you.' Xander deadpanned a bit before crossing his arms over his chest. 'If I let you appear, then I'd be concerned whether or not the criminal would just die from fright and I'd be charged with murder. Plus, I don't he's the killer.'

[No?]

'That's another thing you should get wrapped around your head, Karma. Even if someone is accused of a crime, don't just take it at face value. If I'm not mistaken, then the murderer should be none other than my client.'

[And you're certain about this?]

'Certain is a word I rarely use, and it will also not be used here. At least... not yet. Until I get some more information, I will not set my conclusion in stone.'

If you hadn't already figured it out, the strange entity currently conversing mentally with Xander was a symbiote, otherwise known as a Klyntar. For those who were not aware, they were a unique race from the Marvel series.

Karma, the name to which he decided to give this symbiote, was a gift from the system which he managed to attain from the system's 'starter pack' if you will. Thankfully, Karma was a symbiote that came right out of the factory.

Basically, he was not an offspring from the Venom lineage. He was a completely blank canvas with no prior host to Xander, which was very good since Xander did not want a potentially bloodthirsty parasitic lifeform inhabiting his mind.

Of course, this also had its pros and cons, but the pros certainly outweighed the cons in his opinion.

[Whoever the criminal is, will you be able to handle it on your own?]

'Of course, remember that even without you taking form I still possess strength far beyond normal humans thanks to you. This case is only a 1-Star in danger, and no doubt the danger level is amongst the lowest of 1-Stars.'

[Very well, but don't come crying to me if you get your ass kicked]

'I see you have even started to develop some of my snarkiness, not sure if that's a good thing or not.' Xander scoffed slightly as he heard Karma's words. 'Also, could you stop popping your head out right now? They should be back soon.'

[Got it, got it. I'm starting to get hungry, by the way. Make sure to buy some chocolates when you can]

'Yeah, yeah. Shoo, now.'

Xander waved his hand as Karma's head retreated back into Xander's body, to which Xander just went back to sitting down silently as if none of what just transpired happened at all. He wasn't lying though, they might be back at any moment, and them seeing Karma was the last thing he wanted right now.

Fortunately, he did so as the sound of the door opening soon entered Xander's ears, to which he calmly turned his head to see three guards and a man in his mid-thirties with a pair of sturdy handcuffs tightly secured to his wrists.

The man had an annoyed and complicated look on his face, not surprising considering his current situation. As one of the guards brought the man over to sit down, the other two closed the door before most likely standing guard just outside.

'System, time to begin the investigation.'

『Scanning Area』

『...』

『Scene Detected』

『Investigation Start』

『Available Evidence: 1』

Xander blinked when he saw the notification. 'Only one piece of evidence?'

"Greetings, detective." The guard that remained in the room tipped his hat to Xander. "I'll be staying here during the investigation to ensure your safety should the accused try anything funny while he's here."

"Much appreciated." Xander nodded as the guard stood behind the supposed criminal, who right now was looking down and to the right of the table. Xander kept his arms across his chest as he silently observed the male. "Your name is Raoul Kostall, correct?"

"Yeah, what about it?" The man named Raoul responded with a rather distasteful tone in his voice, glancing up at Xander with a hint of frustration on his face. "I already told anyone else what I know, I can't tell you anything other shit!"

"Fiesty one, aren't you? With that attitude, it's hard for people to see you as innocent." Xander smiled faintly, not a single hint that he was either angered or annoyed by Raoul's tone. If anything, he was amused. "Xander, a detective. A pleasure to meet you."

"..."

"I'm sure you already know why we're here. But before I ask you any questions, I want you to first know that I don't see you as a criminal, at least not yet." Xander spoke as Raoul raised an eyebrow at him. "Emphasis on the 'not yet'. I have a rule I follow, and that's that everyone is innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt. Therefore, I see you not as innocent nor a criminal."

"Where are you going with this...?"

"The reason I'm here is to get the final crucial pieces of information needed to either prove your innocence or guilt. For right now, I'm leaning more towards the former. Tell me, Monsieur Raoul. Did you kill Maxwell Garnege?"

"I didn't kill him...!" Raoul quickly snapped after hearing the question, though leaned back in his chair quickly after realising this. "It was just unfortunate timing! H-He was dead before I got there...! It wasn't me!"

"How come you ran away when Elaine saw you?"

"B-Because she obviously thought I was the killer...!" Raoul grabbed both sides of his head with his still-cuffed hands as he placed his elbows against the table. "I-It's normal, isn't it? Why wouldn't I run away?!"

"Calm down, Monsieur Raoul." Xander responded calmly. "I can understand where you're coming from. However, it certainly doesn't exactly paint a good picture in the end. Anyway, you basically mean to say that you were simply there at an unfortunate time?"

"E-Exactly!" Raoul nodded his head firmly. "If I simply didn't accept her invitation, none of this...!"

"Hold on, go back." Xander narrowed his eyes after immediately noticing Raoul's words. "What did you just say? Do you mean to say that Elaine had personally invited you over herself? Am I correct to assume that?"

"H-Huh? Yeah..." Raoul nodded after hearing the question. "She told me that she wanted my help in... releasing stress. N-Naturally, I decided to agree, and yeah..."

'I can already figure out what she meant by releasing stress, and I hate that I'm picturing it right now. Obviously, this is a form of cheating I guess, except the bloody kind. If cheating was a crime here, I might've been sending two people to the Fortress of Meropide...'

To be honest, he was actually surprised that Fontaine didn't have a rule against people cheating in their relationships. With how many insignificant and trivial crimes there are, you'd think something like cheating would be a crime.

That or the citizens have never actually cheated or been caught cheating, thus the crime against it was never made a thing. That would mean the citizens are all loyal and faithful people to their lovers... yeah, bullshit.

"When did you receive this invitation exactly?"

"Well, I think around midday."

"On the same day?"

"Y-Yes..." Raoul sighed at this. "Can't believe the timing was this awful..."

'Awful timing? Sounds like a fucking setup if you ask me, bro.' Xander scoffed silently in his head before speaking. "I'd like to confirm that you are absolutely certain about all this. You're not lying to me in any way? Because if you are, your sentence should you be found guilty will be far more severe."

"I-I'm telling the truth, okay?!"

"Then you wouldn't mind writing it down and signing it?" Xander spoke as he slid a small piece of paper along with a pen over to Raoul. Even with his hands tied, writing shouldn't prove too difficult with the size of the paper. "Doing so means you stand with what you write, no changing."

"I-I'll write it!"

『NEW EVIDENCE: Raoul Kostall's Affidavit』

『...』

『A Shattered Mystery - SCENE: Interrogation Room (1/1)』

➢ Evidence 1: [Raoul Kostall's Affidavit]

"Alright, I think I've got everything figured out then. I believe I have everything I need from you, Monsieur Raoul. Before I go though, I'll need another favor from you, I assure you that it's nothing much at all."

"...?"

✦----------------✦

After completing the interrogation, which he thankfully didn't need to actually try and act intimidating for, Xander waited for Raoul to be escorted out before walking out of the room himself. A satisfied look on his face as he did so.

'That went better than I thought.'

[I assume you got what you needed?]

'Isn't it obvious? Are you becoming blind perhaps?'

[Heh, as if]

"I see that you have finished your interrogation, Mr Xander." A new voice suddenly sounded as Xander turned his head to see who it was, and when he did, he saw a tall male figure walking toward him through the hall. "I certainly hope it proved useful."

"Indeed it did, Monsieur Neuvillette."

The person who walked down was none other than Neuvillette, the person serving as the Chief Justice of Fontaine, more commonly known by some as the Iudex. Essentially, he was the person who was the judge over court trials.

Neuvillette was a rather tall individual, with pale skin and long white and blue hair that fell down all the way to his waist. Looking closer, you could also see that his ears, unlike normal human ears, appeared to be pointed.

As the Iudex of Fontaine, Neuvillette was naturally someone of significant importance.

"If I may ask, how did the conversation with the accused go?"

"Oh, much more helpful than you can ever believe, Monsieur Neuvillette." Xander chuckled a bit as he swung his jacket back over his shoulders in the same cape-like fashion he always does. "Speaking of the accused, there is some more investigation I need to do in regard to the case. Also..."

"Yes?"

"I don't believe that Monsieur Raoul is in fact the murderer, he's being falsely accused."

"Is that so?" Neuvillette looked thoughtful about this after hearing Xander's words. "If that is indeed the case, then things have certainly become more complicated. What exactly do you have in mind for this, Mr Xander?"

"The trial that is going to be held for this case..." Xander spoke as he began walking past Neuvillette, to which the latter curiously turned to watch as Xander did so. "I want his innocence proven then."

"Then Mr Raoul will require an attorney to defend him, doing so on his own will be far too diff-."

"I'll be his attorney."

Xander cut off Neuvillette's words after having stopped walking, to which he then glanced over his shoulder to look at Neuvillette with a small smile on his face. Blinking, Neuvillette didn't say anything and just waited.

Raising one finger to point at Neuvillette, Xander spoke with a clear and certain tone.

"At the trial held tomorrow at the Opera Epiclese, I'll stand as Monsieur Raoul's attorney. I will prove that he is innocent, and I'll expose the true murderer. With that, the case will be officially closed."

Not saying another word, Xander walked off as Neuvillette stared in silence.