■ Summary Judgment □
Count Bisbaden, panting after running, discovered me leaning on a crutch and immediately erupted in anger.
“How dare you wreak havoc here! Do you know where you are?”
“Oh, this old man seems to be in pretty good health.”
I marveled at the fact that despite his age, he was still spry, pointing at the ground with my finger.
“Since you’re here, come over and bow your head.”
“Huh? What did you say?”
Because I showed no signs of fear, the count seemed even more flustered.
Well, it seems until now, yelling loudly had worked for him, but today, I had no intention of letting him off easily.
“How dare you, a nobody, order me around like this! Can you even do this without a warrant?”
“Uncle, you don’t seem to fully grasp the situation. You’re plotting rebellion, so bow your head quickly.”
At this, Count Bisbaden’s face visibly paled.
“Who said such a thing? I swear to the heavens, I’ve done nothing of the sort!”
“Then are all those protesters in front of the Governor’s Headquarters lying? They all said it was you who instructed them.”
“Slander! I hold no such subversive thoughts!”
While stroking my chin, I turned to ask the people behind me.
“What do you think about that?”
The first to respond was an employee who had previously been criticized by Count Bisbaden.
“How about we take him away, rough him up a bit, and then slowly uncover his crimes?”
“That’s not a bad idea.”
However, there was one problem: since the count was quite elderly, if he were tortured and died, there would be no way to reverse it.
“Uncle, think carefully. These days, things have improved, so they won’t exterminate three generations of your family. If you confess and go quietly, your family will be spared.”
“…Bring me a lawyer!”
It was clear that he intended to fight this to the end, so I chose the simplest and fastest method.
“Speak the truth.”
The words of a mage carry great power.
This is called a verbal command, and typically, those who cannot sense mana often fall under the spell of a mage’s simple commands without resistance.
Under this spell, the count confessed his crimes with a dazed expression.
“…In truth, I planned to make my grandson king. Even though she’s a concubine, my daughter bore a son who inherited King Oscar’s bloodline…”
“Father!”
At this, the count’s daughter, who had arrived late, exclaimed in shock.
I looked around at the members of the count’s household and asked.
“What do you think about that?”
In response to my question, a middle-aged man standing next to the count shouted.
“Don’t try any tricks! You’re using sorcery to make Father give false testimony, aren’t you!”
“It seems the guilty always accuse me of using magic when they run out of arguments.”
As I shrugged, the middle-aged man issued orders to the soldiers of the family who had just arrived.
“You there! What are you doing?! We don’t pay you to let these rude guys live!”
At this, the captain of the guard hesitated and spoke.
“We haven’t heard any talk of participating in a rebellion…”
The middle-aged man pressed further.
“This is just his unilateral claim! Besides, only this guy has heard what Father said, so if we kill him here, there will be no problems!”
Hearing this calm plan to kill and destroy evidence, I sighed in disbelief.
“So, not only are you plotting rebellion, but you also intend to kill high-ranking officials?”
Faced with behavior I could no longer tolerate, I took out the brass knuckles I’d kept in my back pocket and put them on.
“We’re starting summary judgment now. Anyone who tries to stop me will end up dead.”
As I stepped forward, the middle-aged man yelled anxiously.
“What are you doing?! Stop him!”
The count’s soldiers, surrounding me, reluctantly moved to block my path.
My subordinates, sensing danger, hid behind me.
“I already warned you. If you block me, you’ll die.”
With that, I slowly walked toward Count Bisbaden, who was still under the spell. One of the soldiers cursed and charged at me with a spear.
“Whirlwind Blade Bone”
The whirlwind generated from the knuckles wrapped around my arms and legs.
I easily deflected the spearhead that came close to my nose and punched the soldier’s face with my knuckled fist.
Thus, teeth flew out.
I jumped lightly over the soldier collapsing in a pool of blood and continued moving forward.
“Uaaaaaaaah!!”
Perhaps trying to overcome their fear, three men wielding tower shields charged together this time.
Though shield charges can effectively suppress opponents, they’re useless against someone like me.
“One Clear Wind”
The blue blade shot from my toes cleanly split the shields they held and left deep scars on their armor.
Had I not controlled my strength, their bodies would have been severed, but I saw no need to take their lives, so I exercised restraint.
“Hiieek!”
“Monster!”
After narrowly surviving, the three scattered and fled, leaving no one willing to block my path.
“You there! What are you doing?! If you stop him, I’ll offer a huge reward! … Huuik! Don’t come closer!”
No matter how loudly he shouted, no one listened. The man drew the sword from his waist and swung it around threateningly, but it looked clumsy to me.
Clang! Clang!
I clashed the knuckles on both hands together and said,
“Uncle, I already told you. Anyone who blocks me will die.”
“Shut up! Wretch! Just because you threaten me doesn’t mean I’ll flinch… Gahk!”
Before he could finish his sentence, I struck his right cheek with my knuckles.
His red swollen cheek.
But I didn’t care about mercy as I hit his other cheek too.
“You! How dare you! Enough! Stop hitting me!”
The middle-aged man, who had tried to intimidate me by asserting his authority, began sobbing and flailing his arms after receiving five facial massages from my knuckles.
It seemed the effect was extraordinary even though I made sure not to knock out his teeth.
As the forcibly re-educated middle-aged man retreated crying, I finally turned to Count Bisbaden, who had just snapped out of the spell.
“How about it? Are you feeling better?”
The count glared at me and asked,
“What have you done to me, you scoundrel?”
I touched the mask on my face and replied,
“Nothing special, just got a confession out of you.”
The count, still defiant, shouted loudly,
“Do you think the court will accept evidence obtained by forcing me to speak through your magic? That’s a big mistake! The legal system of this country isn’t dead yet!”
Still having much to say, the count glared at me while shouting confidently. I struck his cheek with my knuckled fist.
Bang!!
“Cough! Cough!”
White teeth fell out along with blood spilling onto the floor. His teeth were already weak, so they fell out easily with just one slap to the cheek.
“What… What are you doing?”
“No, it seemed like you weren’t fully conscious yet, so I helped you out a little.”
Saying this, I grabbed the count by his hair.
“Have you forgotten who I am? It’s me, Partarth. Partarth, the second-in-command of the Governor’s Office led by Ozma. At least concerning treason, I can kill you right here without any issues. What do you think about that?”
The count forced a smile and said,
“Hmph, go ahead and try. Do you really think such a trivial threat will make me submit?”
Even in this situation, he maintained his pride, clearly showing that he was nobility.
Rather, I became curious about what made him so confident, leading me to change my mind.
“Bind.”
Instead of handcuffs, I used binding magic to restrain him so he couldn’t resist anymore. To prevent suicide, I gagged him.
“Father!”
“Tsk.”
Seeing this, the middle-aged man attempted to charge again, but stopped hesitantly when I slightly raised my fist.
“Let’s deal with your crimes once we get to the Governor’s Office. For today, let’s end this dispute here.”
Saying this, I looked around and ordered the trembling captain of the guards to bring a carriage.
When the carriage was ready, I boarded it with the count to prevent any trouble and assigned one of the subordinates who followed me to act as the driver.
“Let’s go!”
As I pounded the wall of the carriage, it slowly started moving.
I smiled happily while looking at the count whose eyes still gleamed with hostility, pondering how much tax revenue I could recover this time.
Since plotting rebellion is one of the most serious crimes, if handled well, confiscating all his assets for the treasury is entirely possible.
‘What should I do with the bonus this time?’
I was already looking forward to a few days from now.
