Volume 1 Chapter 72 Genderbend Female Knight, Encountering Unreasonableness
"Huh? A trial?"
"Yeah. Because we dumped the body."
"But if he came to kill us and we killed him, isn't that self-defense?"
"That's not the only problem. It could count as harassment against the church. Or they might say it spread disease or caused corruption. It could be seen as interfering with their work."
Trying not to scream, Why is the law this strict in a place that feels like the Middle Ages?!, they started thinking about whether working for God counted as a business.
Lord Cesare, who brought the news, went on.
"About Simon's case—we'll testify clearly. With Baron Poniète's support, they'll probably accept it as self-defense. But dumping the body was a mistake. Leaving it outside the church is going to be a big problem if that becomes the main issue."
"So saying 'I dumped it because I was mad' won't cut it, huh."
"And if they say it caused plague or corruption, it might not happen right away, but it would still be serious. It all depends on what the judges say."
"Isn't there a chance we could be punished too much if someone bribes the court?"
Cesare looked at Eleonora and answered.
"There is. But if someone finds out, the judge would lose his job forever. No one wants to risk that."
"Even a 1% chance is scary."
* * *
As a minor noble, Eleonora often thought of ways to destroy her enemies if she had to. That's why she always stayed close to the Grand Duke—so no one would dare. But this wasn't about murder; it was about hiding a body and messing with the church, so she told herself it wouldn't go too far.
Still, she didn't know that she—or more accurately, the whole Kamitafira Knight family—was already caught up in royal politics. Prince Arlecchino, the next leader of the royal family, trusted them. The Grand Duke did too.
And ever since the war ended, people from the old noble groups and rich families started to hate hearing about "female knights" supported by commoners and soldiers.
"Do you swear to tell the truth in this court, in the name of God?"
"I swear."
"I swear."
Three legal bureaucrats sat with the Minister of the Interior, who also acted as judge. He was leading the trial.
The Archbishop of Ashreach was there as the accuser. Eleonora stood as the accused—and as her own lawyer.
(Why do we have laws but no real lawyers?)
She kept thinking that this whole situation was weird, like the country was stuck between "solve it yourself" and "let the law fix it."
"The accused, Eleonora di Kamitafira, is charged with killing the late Mr. Simon, who used to be the archbishop, and leaving his body at the church. Do you deny this?"
"I'm not a real knight, just a stand-in, Your Excellency. And no, I don't deny it. It's true."
"Your Excellency! She admits it! She should be punished hard!"
The archbishop yelled, and the questioning continued.
"Why did you do it?"
"Why did I kill him? Because Simon—he used to be a priest—asked my friend, Baron Poniète, to kill me. The Baron told me. I just defended myself. That's normal, right?"
"What!"
"Witness, come forward."
Baron Poniète had already been approved as a witness. He walked into the courtroom, raised his right hand, and gave his oath.
"She's telling the truth. He came to me to arrange her death. He was angry that Mr. Simon got blamed and fired during the siege of the Holy Capital."
"Why did he tell you?"
"A hero should die with honor. Idiots don't deserve to be killed for their dumb ideas."
He smirked as he looked around the church. After that, they told him to leave.
"I see. I believe this was self-defense."
"No objection."
"W-wait! Even if he used to be a priest, he still got hurt—"
"But he tried to hurt someone first, didn't he?"
The accuser had no comeback. So they moved on to the next part: dumping the body.
"Still, why did you leave the body at the church?"
"He wasn't from our land. I didn't know who he was. He used to work for the church, so I thought they should take care of him."
"He's not part of the church anymore. If you brought him, it would just be trouble."
"Even if he's no longer a priest, he wasn't kicked out. If he had killed someone, the church of the Holy Cross should still give him a peaceful burial."
The judge listened to Eleonora's back-and-forth and gave a small nod.
"Your point makes sense. Still, doing it without asking first is your mistake."
Eleonora let out a deep sigh. The archbishop let out an angry grunt.
"Then, defendant Eleonora, Acting Knight of Kamitafira, you must go to the Maro Papal States and give a formal apology."
"Wha!?"
She shouted without meaning to. The courtroom filled with laughter.
"W-wait, Your Honor! I just led an army against them not long ago! If I go, they'll kill me!"
"That's a concern, yes. I'll send guards with you. Archbishop, do you agree?"
"...If I get a real apology."
"Then court is over. You may leave."
With a loud bang, a trash bin tipped over. Garbage spilled across the floor.
"Lady Kamitafira, please stay calm."
"...I'm sorry."
Cesare held Eleonora back as she tried to vent in the waiting room. She sat down with a long sigh.
"A formal apology in the Papal States? For something like this?"
"Maybe the church planned it."
The group was suspicious. The ruling came too easily. It felt like a setup.
"If they wanted to trap us, doing it in the Holy City would be too obvious."
"But still... would they really go forward with this after admitting a former priest tried to kill someone?"
Cesare's argument made sense—and that was the problem.
If they couldn't trust anyone, they'd just have to wait and see. But the church had power for a thousand years, and that made it hard to think clearly.
"If we don't walk into it, we'll never know. So let's go."
When Eleonora said that, calm and clear, the tension in the air snapped.
"You'll get through this, I know it..."
"The problem is who's going with me."
She wasn't going alone. The third prince, Marquis Horthes Moreno and Holy Maiden Silvia would come too.
Prince Horthes was just doing a pilgrimage. People were surprised when he suddenly demanded to go, but there was nothing wrong with being faithful. Every good follower of the faith wanted to visit the Holy City at least once.
The issue was Silvia. She was the one who caused the broken engagement. People didn't know how to treat her. Some said she was half-commoner and should be executed.
Even her own father thought that.
He blamed her completely, bowed deeply to the nobles above, and treated everyone below him like dirt.
He was desperate. His whole family could be ruined. But the way he acted only made him look worse.
"Lady Kamitafira, are you going on foot?"
"I've got a military horse I borrowed from the academy. I thought I'd give it back and use it."
* * *
That night, after the trial, a meeting was held in a quiet corner of the palace. The finance bureaucrats were still cleaning up after the war—and stirring up trouble.
"So, are the plans ready?"
"I've gathered some mercenaries and old Loriengita soldiers."
One of the aides answered. The finance minister, Duke Tovennebe, gave a satisfied nod.
"That saint has to die. I can't believe she went after the Crown Prince..."
"What will the church do?"
"Thankfully, their power is fading. At least in this kingdom. That female knight helped with that. Still..."
He took a slow sip of water and leaned back in his chair.
"A good hero is one who dies—and stays quiet."
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!