Case Closed

"Greed can come in countless forms. All sentient beings that walk the land, swim the seas, and even fly in the skies possess a certain level of greed toward something. This is the undeniable truth of all sentient beings."

As Xander spoke, his voice was clearly heard throughout the entire opera house as he turned his gaze to stare down at Elaine, a small frown present on his face as he did so. His next words hit Elaine rather severely.

"Mademoiselle Elaine, you killed your own husband and attempted to frame an innocent man. I'm sure you know more than even I as to why you did this." Xander then narrowed his eyes as his gaze pierced into Elaine. "After all... this isn't the first time, is it?"

These words immediately sent the entire audience into a frenzy as they seemed to immediately catch onto what Xander was insinuating, no surprise there considering the way he worded it was pretty obvious.

"When I did a background check into your history, Mademoiselle Elaine. I came across a number of things that struck me as odd." Xander spoke calmly as he produced yet another piece of paper before calmly holding it in front of his face. "Prior to Monsieur Maxwell, you had married two times. Both of which ended due to the deaths of the husbands, and it is rather important to mention that all three men that you married were all from former rich families here in Fontaine."

"This...!"

"It also happens to be that Monsieur Raoul is also from a middle-class family. According to his affidavit, you invited him over that day for some 'fun', if you catch my drift. I'm very glad that you came to me to 'assist' you, Mademoiselle Elaine. Otherwise, I may have been too late to be able to use this... tell me, have you heard the saying 'Once is a happenstance, twice is a coincidence, and thrice is a pattern'?"

As Xander said his quote, everyone noticed how he had taken out a single piece of mora as he began casually tossing it up and down with one hand. Xander let his words settle in for a while before catching the coin and gripping it tightly in his hand.

"Money, that's the reason." Xander bluntly stated. "One of the biggest sources of greed to ever exist. If you recall, I used the word 'former' not too long ago. Each of your husbands were the last members of their dying families, each of whom you killed. With your own two hands, you brought about the end of three entire bloodlines. Since you were married to them, all of their remaining properties and inheritance were given to you. Quite impressive that you weren't caught."

Obviously, Xander's words had a huge effect on the audience as they all seemed to give nasty looks down at Elaine who didn't even seem to register said expressions as she looked up desperately and lividly at Xander.

"Y-You have no idea what you're talking about! I didn't kill them! I DIDN'T KILL ANY OF THEM!"

"You can keep denying it all you want, but the facts speak the truth! Had you managed to successfully commit this crime, you not only would've gotten Monsieur Maxwell's inheritance but also a heavy compensation from Monsieur Raoul's family. Don't you feel guilty at all?"

"Shut up! SHUT UP! You don't know anything!" Elaine seemed to have finally lost it as she began screaming like no tomorrow, and when the guards began to restrain her, she flailed around continuously. "Let go of me this instant!"

Although it took some effort, the two guards got a proper hold of Elaine as she continued to struggle while both her arms were tightly locked behind her back by the guards. No matter how she struggled, she couldn't break free.

"It's just a shame you ended up coming to me. Had you let things play out instead of wanting harder evidence of framing Monsieur Raoul, perhaps you might've succeeded. I suppose this is what you'd call digging your own grave."

Under the pressure of Xander's words, along with the countless whispers from the crowd, and of course the scales of the Oratrice now completely leaning in Xander's direction. Elaine couldn't only fall into despaired silence.

"Your Honor, I believe this trial has met its climax."

"It would seem so." Neuvillette couldn't help but nod his head in agreement after hearing Xander's words to him. He then turned his head calmly to look at Floyd, who had been silent for pretty much this entire time. "Mr. Floyd, do you have any objections to this?"

"...no, Your Honor."

"Very well. As there are no objections, then as the Chief Justice of Fontaine, it is my duty to recall the full sequence of events." 

Prior to the events of the crime that night, the true culprit of the crime Elaine had invited Raoul over for the night, intending to use him as her escape to avoid any possible charges that may be placed on her under suspicion.

With her scapegoat in order, Elaine proceeded with her intended operations that night first by sounding a record on the phonograph that produced a sound akin to the shattering of glass.

In response to this, the unfortunate victim Maxwell Garnege descended to the shop's front room where he was ultimately killed by Elaine using the hammer. With that same weapon, she shattered the glass window of the shop before quickly leaving the scene.

Just as the appointed time had arrived, Raoul too arrived at the scene, only to discover the victim's corpse lying on the ground. Due to seeing such an unexpected scene, Raoul could only stand in silence.

With everything in place, Elaine made her appearance once more, revealing herself to Raoul and delivering an act convincing enough that Raoul had no choice but to quickly run away in a panic.

During his escape, Raoul had been detained by the Gardes who happened to arrive on the scene just in time.

"From this reconstruction of the events that transpired, I hereby declare the defendant Raoul Kostall as innocent." Neuvillette spoke clearly as Raoul visibly gave a sigh of relief while Elaine sunk down even further. "The final decision, however, will be handed over to the Oratrice."

As Neuvillette said this, one of the guards seemed to insert some kind of metallic cartridge or folder into the slot at the base of the Oratrice. They all then watched as the Oratrice produced a bright blue light that soon engulfed the entirety of the room.

This light thankfully didn't last too long as it soon began to dim into nothingness, with the same folder/cartridge ejecting itself up and out of the slot that was present in front of Neuvillette where the judge's throne was.

Without saying a word, Neuvillette retrieved a piece of paper from the item before looking down at it. "With the Oratrice's decision made, I can officially declare that the defendant Raoul Kostall is 'Not Guilty'."

Instantly, the audience seemed to give great applause as Elaine was escorted out, and of course, struggling all the while. Raoul was no longer being held as he could now move freely, and Xander simply gave a small tired sigh.

[Well done, Xander. You actually did it]

'What, you didn't think I could?' Xander replied to Karma after hearing the symbiote's voice ring in his mind. 'Maybe I should take Floyd's advice and just go back to the field, this was way more tiring than it needed to be. Knowing my luck though, I'll somehow find my way back to this courtroom...'

[Yep, as a murderer probably]

'Your dreams are interfering with your reality, Karma.' Xander scoffed before turning and making his way out of the booth. This was his first time ever being in a trial, and as a defense attorney at that. 'I'm taking a break for the rest of the day, a trial is way more tiring than I thought.'

.

『COMPLETED - Weekly Case』

➢ Case Name: A Shattered Mystery

➢ Difficulty: ★★☆☆☆

➢ Difficulty Criteria: [Danger: ★☆☆☆☆] [Sanity: ★★☆☆☆] [Duration: ★★☆☆☆]

➢ Completion Reward(s): [300,000 Mora] [Tier-1 Prize Box (x3)] [Tier-2 Prize Box]

.

'Not a bad reward, at least for a 2-Star case.'

Xander didn't show much of a reaction after seeing the completion screen, the reward was rather unremarkable. As far as he was aware, the so-called 'Prize Boxes' came in five tiers, and anything gained from boxes Tier-1 and Tier-2 were usually just everyday items.

When he was first given the system, he had been given a prize box to start off with, a 'starter pack' if you will. The box was registered as a Tier-4, and that was where Xander had gotten Karma from.

Naturally, not everything within the same tier prize box was equal in value, some items/abilities may surpass others by a considerable margin. Basically, the quality of the possible rewards within a single tier can vary greatly.

"Xander!" As soon as he arrived in the front room and was preparing to leave, he turned around to see both Lyney and Lynette running over from one of the other halls. "That was a wonderful display you showed us in there! You did far better than I thought you would!"

"I agree, it was very well done."

"Much appreciated, it certainly was a first for me though." Xander merely shrugged his shoulders with a small smile as he responded to their compliments. "I was expecting more of a challenge though, considering that prosecutor was apparently a veteran in the court."

"You probably were expecting far too much..." Lyney gave a small laugh after hearing Xander's words. "From what I know, that prosecutor has only ever attended trials where the defendant hasn't been able to acquire a defense attorney, thus forcing them to try and defend themselves in court."

"Huh... Suddenly my accomplishment of kicking his ass in court just plummetted faster than Lyney's self-esteem when I figure out his magic tricks."

"Hey..."

"We can't really deny it."

"You too, Lynette?!" Lyney gave an exaggerated look after hearing Lynette's words. With a heavy sigh, Lyney could only slump his shoulders before continuing. "You always seem to take his side, Lynette. Even against your own brother..."

"He simply speaks the truth."

"And that is also true." Xander chuckled before saying this. "So, what are your plans after this? Going off to devise yet another magic trick that I may or may not end up cracking in less than thirty seconds like last time?"

"You just have to keep mentioning it, huh..." Lyney gave a wry smile before shaking his head with a look of helplessness on his face. "We were actually wondering if you wanted to join us for a bite to eat, we were thinking of heading over to Café Lucerne."

"Don't see why not." Xander nodded. "I was already thinking of closing business for the day anyway. So, we heading off now?"

"That was indeed the plan."

"Then let's go, no wasting sunshine."

✦----------------✦

Just as they had used to arrive in Erinnyes, the trio rode back to the Court of Fontaine using the aquabus of the Navia Line. Upon departing from said vehicle, they wasted no time in making their way over to the cafe.

At the present time, the three of them could be seen sitting down at one of the circular tables while waiting for their order to arrive. From the looks of it, Xander appeared to be holding a small open book in his right hand.

"How did this new novel ever get onto the shelves?" Xander frowned heavily as he seemed to flick through the pages and his eyes quickly scanned over the words. "It's pretty much identical to literally any other mystery novel you can possibly find here in Fontaine."

"Really? I gave it a look and found it rather interesting, the main character was capable of deducing many of the crimes very quickly!"

"And I deduce that you have poor tastes." Xander deadpanned as he glanced up from his book. With a sigh, he lightly smacked the book closed and placed it on the table in front of him. "There's no build-up! Where's the character depth of them saying things like 'Why did you do this?!' or the 'Tell me it isn't true!'."

"Well, people feel like that stuff is rather overused." Lyney shrugged as he gave his answer. "They want something new, something that moves away from the usual things that they read in such novels."

"Overused? It's overused because they're the basic and fundamental waffle of characters in crime novels! Also, new? I can assure you that eighty percent of this novel is the same as the others I've read, and I'm being generous."

Lynette also chimed in. "That novel has been rather popular lately though."

"I can certainly attest to that." Lyney gave a small laugh as he said this. "Perhaps you're a bit too old school, Xander."

"Old school?" Xander muttered blankly before deadpanning. "Like hell. The people in this continent are the last ones I want calling me old school. Mondstadt over there is in their medieval age, and Liyue is rocking it through the Song Dynasty! Then we have Inazuma who's in the Edo Period but was moving like North Korea not too long ago! We of course can't forget Fontaine here, we're swimming our way through the industrial revolution!"

"Uhh... I'm not really sure what you're talking about and I didn't really get any of it, but okay." Lyney sweatdropped after hearing Xander's little rant. "Actually, you've never really mentioned anything about where you came from. Also, you really do act differently when you're off work."

"What? Can't a dude let himself loose when he isn't slaving away?" Xander gave a shrug as he responded. "In regard to my home, let's just say that I come from a very faraway place. Far away enough that there's no way you'd know about it."

"Oh? Try me!"

"Nah, I'm good." Xander responded bluntly as Lyney almost fell off his chair, and Lynette gave a small amused smile as she silently watched their interaction. "Oh, seems like our order is here... wait, you're having tea again, Lynette? Don't you ever get anything else to drink?"

"You always drink coffee."

"Touche."