Majo no Tabitabi - Volume 10 - Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

Witch Trial

“Court is now in session.”

I regained consciousness to the sound of these words being issued from a judge’s bench.

“……Huh?”

For some reason, I was in handcuffs, standing in the center of a room I had never seen before.

Well now, where could this be?

I surveyed my surroundings.

The room had an atmosphere of strict ceremony. There were long tables to my right and left. When I looked forward, a familiar face was peering down at me from the platform. When I turned around to try to escape that piercing gaze, I saw a lot of people looking up at me from the other side of a simple railing. A commotion ran through the crowd.

“That’s the famous Elaina…?”

“Tch! Don’t look her in the eye! She’ll make you fall madly in love!”

“She sure does look like a criminal…”

“She looks like she would commit international fraud.”

The many whispered comments that were flying about pierced me like knives.

Every person there was directing their hostility toward me.

But I was just confused. I had no idea what was going on. I didn’t understand what on earth I was doing in such a place.

I know I went to sleep in the inn yesterday, and then…

“Silence!”

The strike of a wooden mallet rang out sharply, followed by silence. I had been about to sink into a sea of thought when the sound brought my conscious mind back to the room.

It was then that I finally realized this was a place for judging crimes.

I was in a courtroom.

That must make the person up on the platform the judge.

“First of all, I ask the defendant,” the judge said, staring at me, “what is your name?”

The defendant…? Is that me?

Leaving aside the question of whether I committed any crime, I don’t have any memory of being dragged into court…?

“Um…Elaina.”

But the authoritative atmosphere compelled me to answer the question.

“Your occupation?”

“…Traveler.”

And immediately after I answered…

“Objection!”

…someone stood up behind the long table to my left.

“The defendant is giving false testimony. I do not believe that ‘traveler’ is her occupation.”

The woman who made this clear declaration to the judge was an adult with long black hair. She was striking a particularly pompous pose. She wore a black robe and a triangular hat, and upon her breast, she had a star-shaped brooch.

She was a witch.

Actually, she was Miss Fran.

“Counselor.” The judge scowled at Miss Fran. “Now is the time for questions to establish the identity of the defendant. Please take your seat. Besides, it is the prosecution’s job to expose any falsehoods.”

The judge was seriously angry.

“…I’m sorry. I just wanted to say it; I wasn’t thinking.”

Miss Fran shrank suddenly and sat back down.

“Defendant. Where are you from?”

“The Peaceful Country of Robetta.”

“I see. Thank you very much.”

I didn’t really understand what was happening, but the questions seemed to be over.

Just then, I realized something.

“Stare……”

The prosecutor was looking at me. Boring a hole right through me, staring so hard I could practically hear it.

“…………”

“Staaare……” The girl sitting in the prosecutor’s seat had a familiar face. She had sleek white hair and a ribbon on her head. She looked like she might be a little bit younger than me.

And for some reason, she was just as familiar to me as Miss Fran.

“…Huh?”

In fact, she was Avelia.

Why is she here…?

What is going on?

I looked behind me again.

Looking carefully at the other side of the railing—the people sitting in the spectators’ seats all had familiar faces.

“Ah…there are so many girls here…!” There was a bespectacled archaeologist, looking around her with her eyes sparkling for some reason. Viola.

“Indecent.” Beside Viola was a tan-skinned mage who spat out that single word. Atolie.

“Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh…” A goth girl was fondling an apple with a wide grin on her face.

“If ghouls got in here, there’s no doubt they would turn us all into the living dead…” Anna was there, vigilantly watching her surroundings with a serious look.

“Elaina…I believed in you…” There was a red-haired student, crying for some reason. Ariadne.

“The sins of humans run deep…” I saw a girl with white hair and a faraway look. Luciella.

As far as I could see, the entire crowd was made up of my acquaintances. I knew the names of everybody who had come to watch the trial, and I wasn’t even sure where it was being held.

All the people I had met on my journey so far were there, in that room.

“…So that’s what’s going on, huh?”

I still had no idea what in the world I could be on trial for, but in that moment, I realized one thing.

This is a dream, right?

This has to be a dream, right?

“Now then, moving on to the trial…”

“Objection!”

“Counselor.”

“Sorry.”

Apparently, this tedious dream was going to feature a trial for my crimes.

“I will read the indictment.”

Avelia stood up behind the long table to my right. She was wearing an extremely serious expression.

“The defendant has been staying in this country since last week, making sudden advances on girls as they walk around town. Moreover, not satisfied with simply causing those girls to fall madly in love with her, she has been stealing money from them by asking for loans, promising to pay back double, and then disappearing into the casino, never to be seen again.”

“Wait, I don’t remember doing any of that…”

Who the heck is she talking about?

“The defendant has repeated such conduct all around town, defrauding dozens of victims. The total amount of damages in the week leading up to today is about one thousand gold pieces. She is the lowest of scoundrels.”

“That’s awfully harsh!”

“Considering the facts of the case, the death penalty seems to be most appropriate.”

“Why would you have to recommend the death penalty for such flimsy reasons…?”

But the judge paid absolutely no attention to my question. “Understood. Thank you very much, prosecutor.” She bowed once.

Whoa, apparently the judge won’t listen to my objections…

Well, that’s fine with me.

By the way…

“Why are you wearing cat ears, Avelia?”

“Shut up.”

Avelia’s cat ears bobbed as she sat down abruptly. It seemed that since I was in a dream, things that would be impossible in real life could easily happen.

…I mean, to begin with, the accusation that I’ve been going around town seducing all the girls is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.

“Defendant. Are the contents of the indictment accurate?”

The judge looked down at me.

No, nuh-uh, no way.

“They’re complete nonsense. First of all, I may get hit on sometimes, but I have never seduced anyone.”

“…So you deny the charges. Is that what you’re saying?”

“I guess it is. First of all—”

“Objection!”

Miss Fran stood up, striking a commanding pose as she interrupted the conversation between myself and the judge. “Elaina, just a second. What do you mean, you’ve gotten hit on before? Won’t you tell me all the details?”

“Counselor…” The judge narrowed her eyes.

“Specifically, how often are people making passes at you? And has anyone ever offered to buy you a meal or anything?”

“Counselor!”

“Your Honor, I’m just curious.”

If possible, I would prefer to just move on…

“Well, yes. Actually, I’ve grown a bit curious as well.”

The judge, too…

As a strange atmosphere descended on the courtroom, a hand shot into the air from my right side.

“Your Honor.” Avelia stood up. “I’ve invited the victims who were defrauded by the accused here today as witnesses. I request a witness examination.”

Avelia completely ignored what was going on.

The judge groaned. “Hmm…”

“Oh no…” Miss Fran frowned, looking a little disappointed.

You’re really curious…? You’re really that curious about my love life…?

I feel like you could tell I’m not really with anyone just by listening to the stories of my travels…

Wait, but…

Did she just say “witness examination”?

“…So if I’m not mistaken, you’ve summoned all the victims?” I asked.

Avelia nodded to me in the affirmative. “Most of them, yes.”

Then the judge struck her mallet. “Very well, we will begin the witness examination—”

“Objection!”

“Counselor!”

“Sorry, I thought it might be getting to a good time to say it…”

“Seriously, I will throw you out of here.”

“…………”

I ignored Miss Fran as she got scolded rather sharply by the judge and instead turned and looked behind me. It was obvious that everyone in the room was an acquaintance of mine. Well, since it was a dream, since they were pulled from my memories, that only made sense.

…………

Based on how things have gone so far, I’ve got a bad feeling about this…

Once the witness examination was underway, I was dismissed. I took my seat next to Miss Fran.

“Miss Fran, what is all this?” I asked, tugging at her sleeve.

She turned to me with her usual cheery smile and answered, “Well…it’s a dream, isn’t it?” Then she picked up again where she had left off. “So how often would you say you get hit on…?”

What are you going on about?

“Do I have to answer you right here and now…?”

Even I have some shame, you know?

“As your counsel, don’t you think I ought to know everything about the person I’m defending?”

“But, miss, surely you already know most of what there is to know about me?”

“What do you mean?”

“We’ve been together for a whole year. In fact, we’re still traveling together now. At this point, there aren’t any big secrets I’m hiding from you!”

“Goodness…”

Miss Fran’s cheeks softened a little.

“Your Honor, the defendant and her counselor are flirting.” Avelia the prosecutor scowled harshly at us.

“Seriously, I will throw you out of here.”

The judge scowled at us, too.

Why are they so relentless toward me if this is my own dream…?

I let out a sigh at the nonsensical situation created by my own mind, but Miss Fran must have misunderstood me somehow, because she patted me on the shoulder.

“It’ll be all right, Elaina. I’ll try to prove your innocence,” she declared, full of confidence for some reason.

…Actually, I don’t care whether I’m guilty or not right now. What I’d like at the moment is to wake up from this dream.

Not long after that, the witness examination began.

The first person to be summoned to the stand was a girl with purple hair whom I remembered from somewhere. She was wearing an extremely gaudy robe, along with a star-shaped brooch.

“I’m up first!”

She wore a self-satisfied expression.

After introducing her as Sharon, one of the victims, Avelia began the direct questioning.

“Sharon. Do you recall being hit on by the defendant over there?”

“Yes.” Sharon nodded effortlessly. “So listen, when I was walking around town, right? Suddenly, Elaina came up to me like, ‘You’re so cute, Sharon, you’re really cute, oh-hoh-hoh!’”

Who was that supposed to be?

“And then, you see, I turned her down, like, ‘Stop iiit, what the heck, Elainaaa?!’ but…”

You don’t even sound like yourself. Are you going through a crisis of characterization?

But she maintained her humorous spirit as she began her testimony.

To sum it up, this was basically her story:

Apparently, the version of me in her recollection had put my arm around her shoulder and jerked her toward me, asking, “By the way, Sharon, I’ve got a good money-making scheme going just now… How about it? If all goes well, it could be a chance to get rich quick…”

“Huh?! Get rich quick…? What? I’m intrigued!”

“Oh-hoh-hoh! I bet you are. But there’s a little problem with this scheme, you hear me…? I can’t pull it off without your magic. Not without the magic of a brilliant witch like you, got it?”

According to Sharon, I had then proposed gathering up all the stones lying around nearby, using Sharon’s magic to transform them into jewels, and selling them off at the pawnshop. It was a very questionable scheme.

“See, I may be a witch, but I don’t think I can do that kind of magic… I’m not as powerful as you, Sharon, so I don’t think it would turn out well at all…,” I had whined in defeat.

“Heh-heh-heh.” Sharon had put on a proud expression. “I see, it sure sounds like you need the power of a brilliant witch like me. Elaina, for a witch, you really don’t have much power compared to me, do you?”

“Hey now, Sharon, even I get angry, you know? Sheesh,” I said, adding in a quick flick to Sharon’s forehead.

“Heh-heh-heh!”

“Oh-hoh-hoh!”

According to Sharon’s recollection, after I enlisted her help turning all the rocks into gems, I had told her that I was going to sell them all off. But apparently, I had never returned.

At the conclusion of Sharon’s retelling, Avelia spit on the floor and said, “The lowest of scoundrels!”

…………

There are so many holes in that story, though…

First of all, Sharon can’t even use magic, can she? Am I dreaming of a world where she can?

“Anyway, my story is basically about how Elaina caused me a lot of trouble.”

Sharon gave an exaggerated shrug. Her direct examination ended there. It goes without saying, but I didn’t have a single memory of anything in her testimony.

Miss Fran stood up and began cross-examining Sharon.

“Before the cross-examination, let’s begin with some small talk. Sharon…you are a witch, is that right? That brooch on your chest certainly offers proof that you are. My pupil also became a witch at a fairly young age, but you’re outstanding, too. Really incredible.”

The cross-examination was off to a shaky start. There was no tension at all.

“That’s right. I guess I’m just the type of person who’s blessed with a lot of talent,” Sharon answered with a self-satisfied expression.

“Oh, that’s wonderful!” Then Miss Fran set a wand down in front of Sharon. “By the way, if you don’t mind, could we ask you to perform some magic here for us today?”

It sounded like she was just curious. Maintaining her cheerful expression, Miss Fran asked Sharon again, “I don’t do so well in this formal atmosphere…could I ask you to cast one spell, just to liven up the room? Please?”

“…Huh? A spell? Now, right here?”

“Yes. Won’t you be so kind?” Miss Fran stepped closer to her.

“…………” Sharon was silent.

“Hmm? Whatever is the matter?” Miss Fran came even closer.

“…………” Sharon turned away.

“Is there some reason why you can’t do it…?” Miss Fran put her hand on Sharon’s shoulder.

“…………” Sharon jumped in surprise.

“Sharon…?” Miss Fran whispered, “I’m asking to see you use magic, you know? If you’re a witch, you can do that for me, can’t you?” Miss Fran chuckled meaningfully.

I knew Miss Fran better than Sharon, though—well enough to know that she always laughed like that.

“…………”

Sharon’s face grew stiff.

She had never been a mage to begin with, just an ordinary person who yearned to be a witch and was copying the aesthetic.

When Miss Fran placed a wand in front of her, the look on her face said: “Has this woman realized that I’m not a magic user…?”

The drops of sweat trickling down her face were showing her inner thoughts clearly. She was so easy to read.

I bet she couldn’t even use magic in her dreams.

“…What’s the matter?” Miss Fran peered down at Sharon.

Sharon curled up on herself even more under Miss Fran’s point-blank stare.

Her face contorted like she might burst out crying at any moment, as if she was thinking: Wh-whaaaaat do I do…?! I can’t use magic…ahh…!

Miss Fran examined her face and said, “Oh…? Don’t tell me you’re…not feeling well?”

“…!” That was the lifeboat Sharon needed. She nodded dramatically several times. “Th-that’s right! I’m a little under the weather!”

“Goodness…that is a problem…” Miss Fran frowned. “And there you are standing at the witness stand, despite feeling unwell. I don’t think you’ll be able to give accurate testimony like that, do you? You must be struggling, your mind in a haze, right?”

“That’s right! I might collapse any moment!”

“Indeed, indeed. I suppose you’d like to go home already?”

“I want to go home!”

The courtroom grew noisy.

I doubt that it was Miss Fran’s intention, but the result of her cross-examination was that the accuracy of Sharon’s testimony was cast into doubt, and one way or another, any evidence she had offered was disqualified.

This was more or less how the rest of the eyewitness questioning proceeded.

The second witness was a girl who had her chestnut-colored hair tied up in two pigtails behind her head.

It was Yuuri.

“I, too, was seduced by the defendant.” Unbelievably, she hopped up to sit on top of the witness stand, and what’s more, she crossed her legs, and furthermore, she sniffed the aroma of her coffee and took the time to say, with a composed expression, “Pairing a day in court with a good cup of coffee sure is…wonderful…” After letting that cryptic statement hang in the air for a moment, she finally began her testimony.

“Right, so it happened two nights ago, as I was drinking my coffee in my usual hard-boiled way.”

“…? I’m sorry. How in the world does one drink coffee ‘in a hard-boiled way’?”

“…………”

Yuuri was silent for a little while in the face of this unexpected quip from Miss Fran.

She sat perfectly still, not moving a muscle, for thirty seconds.

“Right, so it happened two nights ago.” Ultimately, she nonchalantly started over from the beginning, as if she had never been interrupted. “I was drinking my coffee in my usual hard-boiled—”

“Huh?” Miss Fran tilted her head to one side.

“And so I was saying…hard-boiled—” Yuuri quickly became flustered.

“Um, excuse me. I’m not overly familiar with such things, so I must ask you to please educate me… What, specifically, do you mean by ‘hard-boiled’?”

“Huh? What is hard-boiled…? Ummm…” Yuuri was obviously perplexed. “I guess…it refers to things that are like my present self?” Consequently, her answer was in the form of a question.

“I see. So in short, you’re saying that rudely drinking coffee on top of a table makes someone hard-boiled? That everyone in the world who gets called hard-boiled has the poor manners to sit down on top of the table to drink their coffee, is that it?”

“Uh, no, I just kind of thought this looked cool, so…”

“…? Why would drinking coffee on top of a table be cool?”

“Well, um…”

Basically, there was no great significance to Yuuri’s actions; she had just gotten a wild idea to sit on top of the witness stand. Yuuri’s face was already flushed red.

“Well!” Miss Fran frowned again, seeing her reaction. “Your Honor! It appears that this witness is also not feeling well.”

In the end, for one reason or another, Yuuri’s testimony was also disqualified.

“Miss Fran…that was amazing.”

“Oh? What was?” Miss Fran tilted her head curiously.

She didn’t seem to realize what she was doing. But if Miss Fran continued with her carefree cross-examinations that were at odds with the serious atmosphere of the courtroom, the pool of witnesses would likely run dry before too long.

I was hoping to wake up before that happened, though.

After that, the witness examination continued.

The next person to take the witness stand was a blond-haired princess wearing a dress.

It was Chocolat.

“To begin with, Elaina hit on me while I was out strolling by myself.”

Miss Fran nodded approvingly as the princess began her testimony. In her hand, she was holding some documents about Chocolat.

“Got it. By the way, Miss Chocolat, I see that there is a woman you are presently dating…”

“No, I’m not dating a young woman currently.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“We’re married.”

“My goodness. Then that makes it adultery, doesn’t it?”

“Elaina taught me how to flirt in a manner unbecoming of my station…”

Chocolat stared at me as her face reddened.

Wait…but I don’t remember…anything like that…

I averted my eyes with all my strength.

Just then…

“Objection!”

The roaring voice came from the spectators’ seats.

“Princess! What are you talking about, Princess?! You never told me about this!”

A woman with red hair was walking toward me with her sword drawn.

She was a knight who had a very close relationship with Princess Chocolat. She was Rosamia.

Oh my, this isn’t good.

Of course, even in a dream, there was no way she could swing a sword around in a courtroom without getting in trouble, and she was arrested on the spot by the security guards.

“Princeeeeeesss!”

Rosamia was slowly dragged away.

“So cool…”

Chocolat broke into a wide smile as she gazed after Rosamia. Somehow or another, her testimony concluded that “In the end, Rosamia is wilder and cooler than Elaina.”

Even though nothing had really happened, her testimony ended with me feeling like I had been unceremoniously dumped.

“…Oh, Elaina.” Miss Fran clapped a hand down on my shoulder.

“That’s not very comforting, so please stop…”

The next girl to take the witness stand had short, light green hair. She was wearing a light green coat, and for some reason, she was holding a piece of mail in her hand.

She scrawled some words on the back of the envelope.

I am Gardenia. I was seduced by Elaina just the other day.

“Huh? Why don’t you talk?”

“…………” Gardenia made a very annoyed-looking face and ran her pen over the paper again.

Before long, she produced a single sentence.

This is my identity.

“Ah! Hang on! That’s my signature phrase! You ripped me off!”

For some reason, Sharon, who had slipped into the spectators’ seats, started making a fuss about having her signature phrase stolen, but Gardenia must have misunderstood her somehow.

Is it plagiarism for me to be the type of character who communicates by mail? All right then, I’ll use this. She held up a sketchbook.

That’s not the issue.

That’s my identity!

Someone added their own objections from the gallery. It was Eihemia, the Quicksand Witch, whom I had met previously in the Country of Truth Tellers. She was another person who used a sketchbook instead of speaking out loud.

That’s also my signature phrase! You ripped me off! was written in her sketchbook.

Then Sharon held up her own sketchbook. For some reason, she looked awfully belligerent. After that, the three of them ended up making a big fuss about which catchphrase belonged to whom, and what identity belonged to whom, and so on, and Gardenia’s testimony was also clouded.

“I think I can probably see the future.”

The next girl, who sounded awfully uncertain for someone claiming to see the future, was Anemone. Dressed in stiff, formal clothes, sure enough, as soon as she took the stand, she told the court, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, “I, too, was seduced by Elaina, probably.”

Avelia, who was in the middle of examining the witness, nodded. “And what does that mean, to say you were probably seduced? Is your memory of the past hazy in exchange for being able to see the future?”

“No, probably not. This is probably just a verbal tick. Since I can see the future, probably, you might say I’m certain about the facts; that’s probably what it means.”

“A tick…so basically in the same vein as me ending my sentences with ‘you know’?”

“Yeah, something like that, probably.”

“I get it, you know.”

“Probably.”

“You know.”

“Probably, probably.”

“You know, you know.”

“Probably, probably, probably.”

“Your Honor, that’s basically what’s going on here, you know?”

Avelia looked around the room, wearing a confident expression for some reason.

“I didn’t follow any of that,” the judge replied ruthlessly.

Maybe because the judge at this sloppy trial was very sloppy herself, or maybe because Avelia the sitting prosecutor was sloppy, all the people who took the witness stand backed down after just a little conversation, without pinning a single crime on me.

The next witness was the same way.

“…Why should I have to testify, huh?”

She had blond hair. Dressed in a white robe, she kept her pipe in her mouth as she let out a puff of smoke.

She was the Midnight Witch, Sheila.

“Sheila…you…” Miss Fran was dumbfounded. “When did this happen? When on earth did you develop such a relationship with Elaina? Be honest, spit it out!”

“Oh, I don’t recall getting seduced.”

“So then did you seduce her?!”

“I didn’t, and I also don’t recall lending her any money.”

“Is that so…? That must mean…you were so engrossed in the affair that you don’t even remember…” Miss Fran had a distant look on her face.

Sheila was wearing her own distant look. “You really go on the offensive when your pupil is involved…” Actually, it was more like a look of scorn.

I knew I wasn’t supposed to be allowed to interject freely during witness testimony, but I was in a dream, after all, and I had figured out from the proceedings so far that anything was fair game, so I raised my hand.

“Miss, I don’t go for smokers.”

“I see.” Miss Fran nodded firmly. “Well then, it must have been some kind of mistake that you were brought here. Thank you for your time.”

“Ah, sure…” Sheila sighed and blew out a cloud of smoke with it.

“By the way, smoking is prohibited inside the courtroom, Sheila.”

“Shut up.”

In the end, Sheila was removed from the stand after paying a steep fine.

After her, more girls took the stand, one after another, but not one of them had any plausible testimony to offer.

It was enough to make me think they were doing this for fun.

Or maybe…

If this was all happening in my head…

All the people I hadn’t thought about in a long time were coming to take the stand.

“I’ll go next.”

A blond girl of about ten suddenly appeared on the witness stand. Priscilla.

“Have you ever seen the defendant before?” Miss Fran asked, pointing at me.

Priscilla nodded readily.

“What is the nature of your relationship?”

“A depraved, adult relationship…yes.”

Priscilla’s cheeks flushed.

She glanced over at me, looking embarrassed.

…………

What is she talking about?

“An adult relationship…?” Miss Fran’s voice trembled slightly. “What kind of relationship is that, specifically…?”

“Specifically, you ask…?” Wriggling her body around pitifully, Priscilla answered, “Well, we vowed to spend our days together in a drug-addled haze.”

“…………”

Miss Fran was staring at me with a blank expression. She had gone right past contempt—it was like she was looking at something that wasn’t even human.

I really don’t want to be misunderstood here…

“Um, I don’t have any memory of that, but…”

Though I do recall being somewhat unilaterally dragged into a similar situation. I do not remember consenting to participate.

“How cruel! You did play with me, and you know it!”

Priscilla ran out of the courtroom, crying as she went. There was a bottle of eye drops lying on the witness stand after she left.

The next person to take the stand was a girl with coral-colored hair and youthful features.

“I’m Little Matryoshka, meow!”

“Hold it right there.” Avelia the prosecutor interrupted the girl on the witness stand. “We’ve already got one cat character, and that’s me, so you’re not allowed.”

Avelia had a strange sense of pride about it.

“Um, Little Matryoshka isn’t really trying to be a cat character, though…”

Matryoshka was bewildered by the unexpected blame cast on her by the prosecutor, who was supposed to be on her side.

“Anyway, it’s not allowed,” Avelia insisted. “You don’t have permission to talk like that.”

“Uhhh…I’m not really sure what to do, even if you say it’s not allowed…”

“Anyway, you’ve got to stop.”

Avelia hit her with a firm “No.”

This is the most absurd thing ever…

“…………”

“…………”

The door to the courtroom had been left ajar. I could see Lucie, who I had once encountered when I met the Divine Cat, and Misty, who had worked at the cat café, peering through the gap with concern on their faces.

“…Seems like they’re not allowing more than one of the same type of character.”

“…Well, I guess we’re not welcome, then.”

The two of them looked at Avelia’s cat ears and then left, discouraged.

And then Miss Fran began her cross-examination of Matryoshka.

“Um…excuse me, but according to these documents, Matryoshka, you are over one hundred years old, but…”

“That’s right. Little Matryoshka has been alive for about a hundred years.”

Matryoshka suffers from the curse of immortality.

In short, she can’t age, and she can’t die.

“Your skin is quite smooth for someone who is over one hundred years old.” Miss Fran launched into small talk without knowing anything about Matryoshka’s situation. “Um, would it be all right for me to just touch your cheek?”

“Huh? You’re making me blush, no way!” Matryoshka demurred, but it was an act. Miss Fran took her behavior as an affirmative and stroked her cheek without reservation.

“That’s incredible…! How are you able to maintain such lovely skin?”

“Huuuh? Is it reeeally…? Oh, stop it!” Matryoshka sounded displeased, but she was suppressing a smile.

“I’ve never seen such lovely skin on a hundred-year-old!”

“Eh-heh-heh-heh…”

“How on earth do you maintain such youthfulness?”

“Let me see, I suppose dying at regular intervals is the secret.”

“Huh?”

“Hmm?”

Matryoshka made her exit, leaving behind a strange sense of discomfort. She hadn’t really had any testimony. She had just gotten her cheeks stroked.

And then the last person to take the witness stand for the day was—

“I have experienced being seduced by Elaina.”

A girl with white hair that went down about to her shoulders and a headband. She was dressed in the uniform of some chivalric order.

“Witness, your name?” Avelia asked the girl, whom she actually knew better than anyone who had taken the stand so far.

And the girl answered, “Amnesia.”

…………

I had a feeling she would be trouble.

As part of her direct examination, Avelia asked Amnesia, “When were you seduced by the defendant?”

“I think…it was yesterday.”

She placed her hand over her mouth and hummed thoughtfully, then after retrieving the memory, she answered, “Yesterday, yes. When I was walking along by myself, Elaina called out to me. It had been a while since we’d seen each other, so I remember clearly how we stopped and talked by the side of the road for a while.”

“I see. So you two had a secret rendezvous when I wasn’t around.”

Avelia bit her lower lip and whined.

Don’t look at me.

I’m begging you, please, don’t look at me with those eyes…

“And then, while we were in the middle of our conversation, Elaina suddenly announced, ‘Right now, I’m actually out of money.’ From what I know of Elaina’s personality, it’s very unusual for her to run out of money, so I asked her—what happened? And then—”

Allow me to relay the events that followed as I remember them based on Amnesia’s testimony.

According to Amnesia, I had said something along these lines to her the day before:

“I kind of lost all the money I had gambling… My wallet is completely empty… What will I do…? As things are, I—I…”

Apparently, I had said something like that, crying as I spoke.

Amnesia testified that she had felt her heart skip a beat, seeing me in a rare moment of weakness and vulnerability.

Avelia clutched her chest when she heard that. Probably for some unrelated reason.

It should go without saying that because of who I am, it’s unthinkable that I would ever lose all my money gambling and then get depressed and cry about it. But since I was in a dream, I figured there was probably no point in objecting too strongly.

“A-are you all right? Elaina, how much do you need?” Amnesia had pulled out her wallet while trying to comfort me.

As I wiped my tears, I’d replied, “Tell me, how much have you got right now?”

“Huh?”

“How much do you have?”

“Um…about ten gold pieces.”

“Then ten gold pieces is what I need.”

“Um…if I give you that, then I’ll be—”

“Sniffle…”

“Ah, sorry, Elaina! Please don’t cry, okay? I’ll give you the money.”

“Yay, thank you so much! I’ll pay you back twofold!”

Then, according to her, I had disappeared into the casino, tossing out that line as I dashed off.

And then, as I’m sure you can imagine, I never came back.

Goodness, what an awful woman Amnesia had been with.

Who could that have been?

That’s right, it was me.

…………

No, it wasn’t me, but…

They were talking about the bad things I had done in the dream world. But even so, the viciousness of Dream Elaina was beyond words.

Avelia was angrier than I had ever seen her before. “I demand capital punishment after all! That’s all I have to say! F@#$ you!”

That concluded her direct examination.

Then Miss Fran stood up.

“Hello, Amnesia. I am Elaina’s teacher. My name is Fran.”

Miss Fran walked slowly toward Amnesia. “After listening to your story just now, I have one question—what is the nature of your relationship with Elaina?”

“We’re friends.”

“Friends? I see, so you’re friends?” Miss Fran sounded a little unconvinced. “But if you really are friends, wouldn’t that be inconsistent with the testimony you just gave?”

“…?”

Amnesia cocked her head.

Miss Fran stared directly at the confused girl and pointed out the inconsistency.

“Earlier, you testified that your heart skipped a beat when you encountered Elaina. Would you say that is an appropriate feeling to have toward a friend…?”

…She pointed out something that seemed unrelated to the trial.

Is that really important? Must we really establish that clearly?

“…………”

Amnesia winced for a moment at this unexpected line of questioning. But right afterward, she opened her mouth to speak, though still perplexed. “Ummm…” She looked awfully embarrassed. “Uh, well…maybe she’s a little different than an ordinary friend…”

“Big sister… Auuugh!” Avelia groaned and banged her head against her desk.

Scary…

“I see.” Miss Fran remained utterly composed. “When you say ‘maybe,’ that means it’s true, without a doubt. You see, your teacher has been studying you.”

But, miss, you’re not even her teacher…

“…………” But Amnesia seemed to confirm it, glancing at me and then casting her gaze downward.

“Big sister…!”

On the other hand, in her seat on the other side of the room, Avelia groaned again, and this time she fell over onto the floor. “Auuughhh!”

“Your Honor, the prosecution has had enough,” I interjected, but Miss Fran continued with her questioning.

“So in what ways specifically is Elaina different from an ordinary friend?”

“Well, Elaina and I have done some traveling together, and back then, Elaina was very kind to me, so I have slightly different feelings toward her than toward an ordinary friend, I guess…”

“I see.”

Miss Fran was composed as always.

“Big sister…!”

From where she lay on the floor, Avelia extended a trembling hand toward Amnesia.

“Your Honor, the prosecution is spitting up blood.”

But the questioning continued.

“In other words, there’s a part of you that holds significant, special feelings for the defendant over there, isn’t that right?”

“…………” Amnesia nodded silently.

“I see.”

Miss Fran nodded, too.

“…Ohhh!”

Avelia lost consciousness.

“Your Honor, the prosecution has lost consciousness.”

Ultimately, Avelia was carried out of the courtroom.

I thought it would be nigh impossible to resume the trial without the prosecution, but actually, there was already a mood of closure hanging in the air.

While Amnesia was still behind the witness stand, some of the people in the gallery started to gather their things, and a few of them even stood up to leave.

It seemed like it was finally over.

“Elaina, we did it, eh?”

Miss Fran chuckled by my side.

“We sure did.”

All I wanted was to hurry up and wake up so I could completely forget the dream had ever happened.

If we could just wrap everything up here without incident, that would be great.

But of course, it wouldn’t be that easy.

“You there, the witness, Amnesia!”

It wasn’t over.

Someone appeared, determined to resume the witness examination without the prosecution.

“A moment ago, you said you have a special relationship with the defendant. Is that true?”

The question was fired off from directly opposite Amnesia.

The person who was looking down over the entire court from her podium—the judge—asked personally, “Is it true?”

Wearing a broad grin, the judge repeated the question.

The judge.

She was a girl with black hair that went down to her shoulders. A girl whom I would know anywhere. A girl who worked for the United Magic Association.

Saya was sitting in the judge’s seat.

There she was, wearing an intimidatingly large smile.

“…………”

Apparently, the real nightmare was just beginning.

Saya looked extremely angry as she banged her gavel over and over again.

“Hang on! What is the meaning of this, Elaina?! Are you cheating? You’re cheating, aren’t you?! I’ve kept silent this whooole trial because I’m playing the role of the judge, as far as it goes, but now! Don’t you think you’ve been seducing a few too many girls?! How many conquests will you have to make before you’re satisfied?! You philanderer!”

“What an awful thing to say!”

“But I don’t hate you for being a lady-killer!”

“Well, which is it…?”

“When you’re with someone for a long time, you learn to accept everything about your partner, no matter their faults…”

“I thought I knew what was going on, but I have no idea what you’re talking about…”

The Saya in my dream was the same Saya as always.

Well, maybe she’s not acting exactly like Saya does, but she certainly looks like Saya anyway.

“What’s going on here, Elaina?! What kind of relationship do you have with her?!”

“It’s a long story…”

“You’ve built enough of a relationship that it’s a long story?! What’s the meaning of this?!”

“…………”

She’s going to get mad at me no matter how I answer her, isn’t she?

I didn’t know how to check Saya’s anger anymore. She was bursting into flames with the fires of jealousy.

“Elaina and I traveled together for a time.”

Amnesia dumped oil onto the blaze.

“Together?! Travel?! Seriously?!” She took the bait with tremendous force. “But Elaina and I never even did that!”

“Well, I mean, that’s just sort of where our story took us…”

It’s not like we decided to travel together because we already had a deep connection or something, you know?

No, really.

But Dream Saya wasn’t listening to any such arguments.

“I want to go traveling with Elaina, too.”

The only thing she was doing was puffing her cheeks out in a pout.

“Wait, um…listen, the circumstances being what they were back then, we just got together…” At that point, no matter what explanations I gave, she wasn’t going to hear anything but excuses.

“You’re so mean, Elaina… So your relationship with me was all business, huh…?” Amnesia said.

“Don’t say it that way; you’ll give people the wrong idea.”

The inside of the courtroom was reduced to chaos. It wasn’t just Saya—even Amnesia was acting weird.

Things were already out of control.

“Elaina.”

In the middle of the chaos, Miss Fran grabbed the sleeve of my robe for a moment.

She looked at me with an expression of fondness, then said, “I’m currently traveling with Elaina, too, you know?”

“Why are you entering the fray, Miss Fran?”

“It seems like fun…”

The mood in the courtroom got silly.

And in a silly atmosphere, generally, once an idea catches on, it tends to get out of hand, so…

“Fine, then let’s decide who will go traveling with Elaina next.”

Saya made this puzzling proposal.

“Makes sense to me.”

“No argument here.”

And then Amnesia and Miss Fran agreed, like it was no big deal.

“Um, what about what I want…?”

Are you ignoring my wishes? Don’t I have any human rights here? This is my dream!

The three of them huddled up and began an intense discussion.

“First things first, let’s decide who is going to travel with Elaina next.”

“I’ve already gone traveling with her, so I’m not as ravenous for it as you are, Saya.”

“Me too. I’m actually traveling with Elaina as we speak, so I don’t really…”

“Well! Then it’s all right if I travel with her?”

“No, not exactly.”

“I’d be concerned for her safety if you two were alone together.”

“That’s an awfully harsh estimation of me, isn’t it?

About as harsh as the way you’re treating me here, wouldn’t you say? Wouldn’t you say that’s the case? Aren’t I being left entirely out of the loop?

“Ah! I just had a great idea!” Amnesia had a flash of inspiration in the middle of their debate. “Let’s make it so the person who can list the highest number of positive things about Elaina gets to travel with her.”

“Wait…”

What are you saying? Are you out of your mind? Seriously? Are you an idiot?

But Miss Fran nodded. “Sounds good.”

Then even Saya nodded. “Good idea.”

No, no, no, no.

“Um, seriously, what are you talking about? Listen, all three of you…”

But by the time I tried to stop them, it was already too late.

The real nightmare had begun.

“All right, I’ll go first! Her face is cute!”

“Okay, I’m next. She’s very kind.”

“Next is me. She’s stingy with money.”

“Wait, you’re only on the third turn and you’re already listing bad points?!” I cried.

But there was no way the three of them could hear me butting in; they were so engrossed in their conversation.

“All right, next! She’s good at magic!”

“She gets up early in the morning.”

“She likes bread.”

Then the three of them went on endlessly praising me. Right in front of me.

Of all things, right in front of me.

“And, um…she’s unexpectedly shy!”

“Uh…her hair’s pretty!”

“Um…she’s young.”

“And, uh…cute!”

“Um…she’s cute.”

“Right, she is cute.”

…………

“Cute!”

“Cute.”

“She’s cute.”

……………………

“Cute!”

“Cute!”

“She’s cute!”

………………………………

Unable to restrain themselves, they surrounded me, repeatedly chanting, “cute.”

“Huh? Doesn’t Elaina look like she’s blushing?”

“She is blushing. How cute.”

“You’re right, she is cute.”

“…Um.”

“Cute!”

“Cute!”

“Cute!”

“Cute!”

“Cute!”

“Cute!”

“No, come on…seriously, stop it…”

My face was on fire. It was unbelievably embarrassing to be called cute over and over again to my face. I’ve called myself a beautiful girl and other things before as a joke, but this was unbearable.

Naturally, it was a nightmare.

There could be no crueler torture.

“Um…”

Averting my eyes from the three of them as hard as I could, I said, “I think I’d prefer the death penalty, please…”

Then I woke up.

I was looking up at the simple ceiling of an inn room. A peaceful air wafted in through the open window, and I could hear the hustle and bustle of the people of the town outside.

It was morning.

I had finally been released from that nightmare.

“Elaina…are you all right? You seemed to be having quite the nightmare…,” said a gentle voice.

When I sat up in bed, Miss Fran was staring at me as she sipped her coffee.

Unlike the Miss Fran in my dream, who had repeatedly called me cute, the Miss Fran before my eyes was her usual mellow self.

“Did you have a bad dream?”

Miss Fran chuckled quietly.

I answered her with a heavy sigh. “I had a terrible dream…”

“My, my. What kind of dream?”

“A dream where I cheated a bunch of girls and ended up getting sentenced to death.”

“What kind of dream is that?”

“A nightmare.”

“My, my…” Miss Fran set her coffee cup down, then sat on my bed. “But there must have been a little something good about the dream, too?”

What are you talking about?

“It was the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever been put through, so I don’t think so.”

“Oh really? Is that true?”

Huh, what a strange response.

“Why do you ask?”

Miss Fran smiled. “You looked like you were sleeping very peacefully early on. You seemed to be having a very good dream.”

You say that, but…

“…………”

I bet it was a happy experience for me to be able to see people who I will probably never meet again, even if it was in a dream.

I may have been getting called nasty names in my dream, but here in the real world, I probably looked quite content.

Miss Fran must have seen me like that.

How embarrassing.

It makes me wish even harder for that death penalty.

“But you were making a terrible racket there at the end… I’ve hardly ever seen you make such expressions. It was cute.”

…………

Cute, you say…?

“Miss…”

I gazed out the window.

Staring into the endless distance, I said, “For the time being, just for a while, I’m going to ask you to treat the word cute as a dirty word when you’re with me…”