Marco's trial was less straightforward than the others. Like his friends, he would be tested for conviction, but this trial was carefully designed to make him hesitate, and fail.

When Marco entered the room, he was met with a tribunal-like setting. A judge stood on a podium to his right wearing a long robe and holding a gavel in his right hand. Meanwhile, in front of him, a long walkway with a series of lights shined upon it extended for a few meters.

"Is someone going to be tried here?" Marco wondered, still assessing what this trial would ask of him exactly.

The judge, a middle-aged man with red-hair, hit a block with his gavel and called for attention. His tone of voice, more than impassive, seemed entirely disinterested. "Challenger. A criminal will approach very shortly. Their crimes will be listed to you, and you will be presented with a choice. Either the criminal lives, or they die."

Marco nodded. A question formed on his tongue, but something about the judge's tone made him keep it to himself.

From the walkway, a man dressed in black wearing a hood with its eyes carved out dragged a woman in chains behind him.

The judge's gaze shifted to the criminal momentarily, then back to Marco. "This woman's been found guilty of embezzling royal funds, hence her being sentenced to execution."

He then leaned back, and said not another word.

'Right to point, huh.' Marco thought with a hollow laugh.

"So… what am I supposed to do exactly?" He pointed to the man dressed in black. "Is he the one who's going to execute her?"

The judge leaned forward, slowly, lazily. "You only have one decision to make. Whether or not she deserves to die, then we'll proceed from there."

The judge then leaned back onto a railing, standing some distance away from the podium. Marco wasn't even sure what to say. The judge had explained it so casually, but what he had said was anything but casual.

He was supposed to decide if she deserved to die?

Simply basing himself on what the judge had said?

Marco scoffed. "Can I at least ask her a few questions?"

The judge scrunched his nose in annoyance and waved a hand as if to say 'Do what you want, I don't care'.

With a sigh of disbelief, Marco turned his attention to the woman.

She was short, and while everyone looked short beside Marco, this one seemed shorter than even Hoshino.

She had short auburn hair, and her skin was tanned, only slightly lighter than Marco's.

Marco studied her carefully. She was strangely quiet for someone on the verge of execution, and at first glance, she did not even really have the appearance of a criminal. Bound by chains, she sat in the lotus position on the walkway, staring back into Marco's eyes as he analyzed her.

Her expression was so neutral that Marco found it hard to understand what was happening behind those bright viridescent eyes of hers.

Awkwardly, Marco decided to initiate a conversation. "So…Embezzlement, huh? Can you tell me why?"

"I am Shanri. What are you called?" she said, completely ignoring Marco's question.

Marco laughed. "Ah! Of course, that was rude of me. My name is Marco. It's… nice to meet you, Shanri."

Shanri nodded. "The investigation has already revealed my motives. They are nothing grand," she began. "Women of my house have been chief royal treasures for generations, but that position is nothing but a title. It provides next to no monetary return, beckons little respect from the high society, and it comes with crushing responsibility."

Her teeth clenched. "My… house was falling. I passed the chief treasurer examination as expected of me, but nothing else had flourished in our house for decades. No heirs to inherit it currently exist, and no talents have emerged, whether it be in scholarly matters, combat, or magic."

She lowered her head. "Hence… I diverted funds to support it. I did it so my house would survive." A sliver of shame crept into her voice. "And now I am no longer even allowed to speak its name. Ha…"

Marco frowned. To his common sense stemming from the twenty-first century this story was certainly not one deserving of execution, but he had come to, if not understand, at least try to respect the rules of this world in the ten months he had spent here.

Even he knew that the royalty was supreme, and that any affront to them meant death, without exception. Marco understood that, and in the one time he'd come across someone in that position, he had… looked the other way.

Even now, thinking back on it, he wasn't sure if he regretted it, or if he felt any guilt. Marco was an optimist at heart, but he was no fool. There was no merit in antagonizing the Crown, especially for a criminal.

Life was not a matter of right or wrong, but of survival, or at least that's what Marco had been telling himself these past few months.

'Right… both are criminals in the end… they knew the laws, yet broke them intentionally. There's no sense in putting myself in danger to save them.'

Right, that is what he thought, but then he turned his head toward the judge.

"Judge, if I were to stop her execution, would that be going against the law?"

The judge shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe not. The Emperor's will is the law, and I do not dare say I understand the workings of his mind."

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Marco clicked his tongue. The reassurance he needed did not come.

He turned back to the lady. "How can I believe what you say is true?"

She smiled softly. "How should I know, Marco? Whether you believe me or not is your choice and yours alone. All I can say is that I have spoken my truth."

She was calm, too calm. As calm as someone who had made peace with death, someone who knew that their last day had come. She did not beg, did not bargain, and she did not try to manipulate Marco, which made his decision all the much harder.

Marco frowned. He wanted to believe that this trial was another fabrication, that this whole thing was fake, but simply taking one look at the woman sitting before him, he knew that could not be the case.

He had to make a choice.

Whether she died, or whether she lived.

Being a bystander was easy.

Looking the other way was easy.

Pretending to not have seen it was easy.

But here and now, Marco was the sole deciding factor. He could not be a bystander.

His conviction was being tested. Could he make a choice, and wholeheartedly believe in said choice?

Verity could.

Felicia could.

Hoshino could.

Could he?

The judge hit the block with his gavel. "This is taking too long. Make your choice, challenger, or fail this trial in the next few moments."

Marco stared into the woman's eyes. "Shanri, wasn't it?"

"Yes, that's right."

"...Tell me. How could you make such a decision? Surely you knew you'd be found out eventually, and you knew what would happen when it would come to that."

Shanri took a moment before replying. "Yes…you're right in what you are implying. It was foolish of me."

She chuckled hollowly, pressing her fingers together, and raising her head high to meet Marco's gaze with confidence. "But I believed that it was necessary. My brothers, sisters, cousins, parents, they needed a way to live, and I have obtained for them. Chief treasurer comes with dangerous knowledge, and so I have forced the crown's hand. They will execute me in the most painful way possible, but they will not touch my family, nor what they have gained through me in return for my silence."

Her smile widened. "If I traveled back in time… I would do it all over again."

A strange expression formed on Marco's face. "I see." Then, he laughed. "Haha! This is almost hilarious when I think about it for a second! Look at you, and look at me! A giant, and a small woman, yet you are much stronger than I have ever been. Hahaha!!"

Shanri tilted her head, and she chuckled softly. "Indeed. Quite comical."

Marco passed a hand over his face and exhaled sharply. "I'm ashamed… but maybe I don't have to stay that way."

He crossed his arms and lifted his head. "I've made my decision. I do not want Shanri to die."

The judge hit the block with his gabel again. "Hphm. Interesting choice. Guard. Do it."

The guard raised a large axe, ready to bring it down on the woman's neck.

Shanri closed her eyes, as if accepting her end.

Of course, before anything could happen to her, a large shadow had already enveloped her tiny frame.

Marco appeared between the two, and the guard's axe shattered on his skin, not even leaving a scratch.

The guard groaned as the impact reverberated throughout his body, and he seemed ready to retrieve something from the inside of his robe.

CRACK

A hand the size of his head landed on his shoulder, instantly fracturing his collar bone. "Let's just stop this here, yeah? If I'm really going to be punished for this, then you should go get someone stronger."

The guard stepped back, stumbling to the ground, and then he crawled away while holding onto his shoulder.

Marco smiled with satisfaction. He'd done what he considered a good deed.

Damned be the consequences. As Shanri had said, he felt he would have done the same if he was made to repeat this trial.

This feeling was new, and yet not unpleasant. Unlike the last time, there was no inexplicable heaviness in his heart.

He turned, hoping to offer her one last word. Maybe even a smile, but before he could, a silky voice emerged behind him.

A tear splashed onto the marble walkway.

"I'm… sorry."

Shanrin's restraints came undone, and she pulled a dagger from her inner garments. A dagger she had been given for this trial.

A dagger that if used to stab the challenger's heart and their life, would guarantee her family's survival.

Indeed, Shanri had lied. The Crown did not compromise. She claimed that she had struck some sort of deal, but that was not the truth. The truth was that her family would be razed to the ground no matter what.

Except if she succeeded here and now.

The First Prince had sworn on his title that they would thrive if she accomplished this single task.

Her younger sister flashed through her mind, and she raised the dagger. 'If it's for you… I don't care what I have to do…!'

This dagger was a masterwork level item. Shanri had confirmed it herself, and so, it would pierce even Marco's skin.

Her lips parted."I'm sorry, Marco… but you–"

As Marco turned around, and his eyes widened at the sight of the dagger, it plunged into his chest.

"Fail."

Marco staggered, and Shanri took a few steps back, the dagger held firmly into her hands.

'Ah damnit. I've been had…'

Marco let out a hollow laugh. He thought of himself as someone who was not foolish. Had he been wrong?

He placed a hand over his chest, where a gashing wound dripped with blood, and then he looked at Shanri.

He scoffed with what seemed like a hint of pity. "Sorry… but that won't be enough to kill me."

The room was silent. Shanri and Marco could only look at each other with complicated expressions, and eventually–

CLANG

The dagger fell to the ground.

"Ha… hahah…hahaha….HAHAAHAH!"

Then Shanri followed suit, falling to her knees, hands spread over her face. "It's over…It's all over… I failed.. There will be nothing left of them."

She clutched her hair, and she screamed, venting months, perhaps years worth of frustration all at once. "AAAHHHHHHH!!!!"

The judge pointed to Marco. "So? What will you do? Do you believe she still deserves to live? No matter what you say, she tried to kill you."

Step by step, Marco approached her.

Shanri looked up at his towering figure. She smiled. It was over. She had now truly, and completely given up. "Do what you must, Marco."

He raised his hand, and Shanri made peace with it all, steeling herself to leave this world. Tears welled in her eyes as Marco's hand rose higher and higher…. And higher, and higher?

A look of confusion spread across Shanri's face as Marco's hand was now raised to the sky.

With a swift movement, Marco raised his head, and he looked at the ceiling. "Hey you piece of sh*t!! I know you're out there watching somewhere! You think it's funny to play with people's feelings like this!?"

Shanri tugged at his pants. "W-what are you doing!?? Stop it!! Just kill me! You don't even know who you're speaking to!!"

Marco ignored her. "It sounded strange from the beginning. The royalty that I've come to understand doesn't make 'deals' with criminals, especially if they stem from threats… but for entertainment, I wouldn't put it past you lot."

He continued, his voice booming throughout the tribunal. "So, if it's entertainment you want, I'll give you just that!! Let's make a deal, right here, right now, you useless royals!"

Shanri listened with wide eyes.

He inhaled. "If I win this whole tournament, you'll pardon Shanri and her family of their crimes and… oh yeah, GIVE HER A BETTER JOB DAMNIT!!"

"Marco!! This isn't someone you can talk to in this manner! Please, stop this at once!!" Shanri pleaded.

Even the judge seemed to show something akin to disgust. "What makes you think anyone would ever agree to this stu–"

Something buzzed in his ear, and his face hardened. "...I see. It seems his highness the first prince is interested in the wager…"

Marco smiled. "Great! Then—"

"But… he wonders what you will offer if you lose. The First Prince has need for… very little, after all."

Marco laughed. "Hahaha! That's easy! My life! My body, my soul! I am the Martial Emperor's disciple! My body is the same as a living treasure, and if I lose, it will be all yours!"

Streams of tears fell down Shanri's cheeks. "You do not have to do this for me!! We do not know each other! Stop it Marco!"

Marco ignored her again, staring at the judge for a reply.

The judge scrunched his nose in displeasure. "The First Prince… agrees to the wager, and swears on his honor that he will make good on his end of the bargain.. If you succeed."

Marco's lips curled into a grin. 'Wow, I cannot believe that actually worked haha…' He thought behind the grin.

The gavel hit the block. "Tsk. Pass, now get out of my sight." He turned his gaze to beyond the walkway. "And guards, drag the criminal back to her cell."

Shanri was promptly dragged away. It happened so fast that the only thing she could do was ask herself one question.

Why?

Why would anyone do this for someone like her?

She inhaled, and she shouted. "MARCO!! I WILL REPAY THIS DEBT ONE DAY! I SWEAR IT, SO WIN THIS TOURNAMENT AND SHOW THAT DAMNED FIRST PRINCE WHAT DEFEAT MEANS!"

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