Chapter 159
"Ugh... What is going on? Why do I have to go through something like this? What did I even do...!"
In the military police station located in the royal capital, a man sat slumped over in despair.
Muttering to himself in a cell underground was none other than Areiji Shawett, a former teacher who had taught magical theory at the Royal Academy.
Shawett had been arrested by the military police a few days prior and thrown into a cell.
He had also been dismissed from his job at the Royal Academy and was now a jobless criminal in custody.
"Is leaking information about that man really such a crime? No, of course not. In the first place, it's wrong for a man who got into the academy on the coattails of that Saint to call himself a teacher. Is correcting a mistake a crime? No, it is not. What's wrong is the society that accepts a man like him, and the shrine that recognized him as a Saint. In other words, I am the true cleric who tried to correct the mistake, a person who should be praised..."
Mutter, mutter, mutter...
Shawett endlessly spun words in his own defense.
Shawett had originally been a court magician... but due to his gloomy and sarcastic personality, he clashed with his colleagues and had to leave the royal palace.
Even so, he was a talented magician, and someone who regretted wasting his potential arranged a position for him as a teacher at the Royal Academy... but he had lost that as well.
The crime that led to Shawett's arrest... was leaking information. He had passed on personal information about his colleague Clael Byrne to a gang.
The gang, who had been targeting Clael, took notice of Shawett, one of the teachers, and approached him.
Shawett gave them the information they asked for and received monetary compensation in return.
If he had been coerced into revealing the information, there might have been room for leniency.
However... Shawett had actively leaked Clael's commuting hours, return times, and even his outing schedule submitted to the staff dormitory. There was no way to justify it.
"Ah, this is wrong. Yes... it's wrong. This is all wrong. There's no way someone like me should suffer like this. For the sake of that man, an elite among elites like me being ruined is unthinkable. Yes... unthinkable."
Biting his nails nervously, Shawett continued to grumble complaints.
He had been like this ever since being locked up in the cell.
By now, his throat should have gone hoarse, but... he didn't seem to care and kept muttering to himself.
"Areiji Shawett, step outside."
But... even that time eventually came to an end.
A military police officer appeared in front of Shawett's cell and ordered him to come out.
"Finally! You really kept me waiting...!"
Shawett, who had been slumped over, sprang up like a spring-loaded mechanism.
It seemed that the time for his release had come.
Although leaking information was a crime... it wasn't something that warranted spending years in prison.
He wasn't the head of a house, but he was still technically a noble and financially well-off.
Fines, bail... and if necessary, even bribes—he could afford all of it.
"Ah, you really kept me waiting. How foolish this is. To lock me, a chosen elite, in a cell for days... I must lodge a complaint with the military police. Yes. I'll go into every detail, from the meal menus to the treatment I received, and highlight the foolishness of people like you and the difference in our status..."
"Shut up. Get out already!"
"Eek!"
Startled by the shout, Shawett jumped up.
He left the cell as ordered and was led up the stairs.
"T-The nerve of a mere military police officer to speak so rudely to a super-elite like me... That's yet another point to add to my complaint. Yes."
"In."
Shawett muttered complaints under his breath again... but the place he was brought to was not the outside, but an interrogation room.
"This place... Why am I here? I thought I was being released?"
"Just get in already."
"Guh...!"
Glaring resentfully at the military police officer, Shawett entered the interrogation room as ordered.
Inside was another officer, who forced Shawett into a chair.
"Now then... Areiji Shawett. We're going to begin the interrogation."
"What are you talking about? I already told you everything I know, didn't I?"
"We've uncovered additional crimes."
The officer replied curtly and laid out documents on the table.
"Bribery, leaking test questions, indecent acts toward female students... You've been hiding quite a few misdeeds, haven't you?"
"Wha—!?"
Shawett recoiled in his chair.
"I-I don't know what you're talking about. Surely this is some kind of mistake?"
"Unfortunately... the evidence was submitted anonymously. Witnesses have also come forward."
The officer's tone was icy.
His stone-like expression made it clear—there would be no room for excuses.
"If it had only been the information leak, depending on the trial, you might have gotten off with just a fine... but with all these additional charges, that's no longer possible. You'll be eating prison food for ten years at the very least, so prepare yourself."
"Wha—!? Y-You're saying someone like me, an elite, should be thrown in prison!? That's just... that's tyranny!"
Shawett slammed the table in front of him and shouted.
"To imprison a super-elite like me for ten years—this is a loss to society! It's wrong... it should never happen!"
"Sorry... but letting a criminal run free is the real wrong here."
The officer snorted mockingly.
"If you really are a super-elite, then serve your sentence and start over. If you're truly exceptional, you'll succeed even from there."
"Grrrrrgh!"
Shawett let out a voiceless scream.
Shawett didn't know.
That the evidence in the officer's hands had been anonymously submitted by someone.
That the witnesses had all experienced strange dreams, in which an angel with the face of a bear delivered a divine message telling them to report Shawett to the military police.
Knowing neither of these things... Shawett was subjected to a merciless interrogation.