I believe in Sebestian's strength.
No, anyone in the Empire would believe in Sebestian.
He is the head of House Ebenholtz and, at the sa ti, the Emperor's sword.
If Dieter Schmidt had single-handedly propped up the Empire's collapsing finances, then Sebestian had single-handedly held together the Empire's crumbling front lines.
However, Sebestian had clear limitations.
Because he himself stood at the pinnacle, he never looked after those around him. He underestimated threats from beyond the Empire's borders, and he existed solely as a sword devoted to one single person.
In other words, Sebestian had, at so point, abandoned politics entirely. He closed the eyes that might have watched over the Empire's interior, and he lowered the hands that might have reached into distant places.
It was clear he should not have done so─but perhaps, like , he felt nauseated by politics.
"He has reportedly arrived at the Relic Passage with a trusted adjutant."
Schatz said. I smiled faintly and nodded.
"I hope he likes the gift."
Sebestian would easily defeat Zentra's leader and snap the necks of their subordinates without trouble.
It was a sha I couldn't have it for myself, but the Arcane to be found there would surely please the Emperor as well.
"Still, there's been a lot going on in the Empire lately."
I had received a rat??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????her interesting piece of news.
[A Trial on Habeas Corpus Relief]
Oswin Mason. A professor at Zestfall Mage Tower and a nobleman of distinguished lineage, he had formally filed a Habeas Corpus Petition with the Imperial court to save a student who had been unjustly taken away by the Imperial Guard.
"......"
Before my regression, this had been known as the "Zestfall Reaction". An incident where countless professors, students, and young people of Zestfall were arrested en masse for teaching about the Citizenship Law, or seized without cause, then tortured, executed, and imprisoned.
The initial progression itself was similar, but I didn't know the details.
Because of dia suppression, I didn't have many mories related to it.
To be honest, I hadn't cared, either.
In any case.
Those Imperial Guard bastards would take all of Oswin's actions as an attack on their organization.
How they would respond going forward was sothing even I would have to watch and see for myself.
...
That afternoon, I visited the courtroom of the Imperial Central Court. Wearing a hat and plainclothes, I sat in the very back row of the gallery.
"We will now open the hearing on the Habeas Corpus Petition regarding the detainee Oliver Müller."
The judge entered first and took his seat, then struck his gavel to declare the hearing in session.
Though it was a hearing on relief for a thought cri, the party in question, Oliver, was not present in the courtroom.
Most likely because the Imperial Guard had refused his attendance on the pretext of "national security".
"Your Honor."
Attorney Oswin rose from his seat, suppressing his anger.
"My client was suddenly branded an anti-state criminal one day and was unlawfully taken into custody. Yet at neither the site the Imperial Guard raided nor my client's residence was any material evidence found to prove seditious ideology."
He also pulled an official docunt from a thick case file and submitted it as evidence.
"This is my client's Genealogy Certificate. It proves that he is a pure-blooded citizen of this Empire whose roots in this land trace back to his grandparents' generation, aning he is an Aran without a single drop of foreign blood."
The Genealogy Certificate. At this point in ti, with the Imperial Citizenship Law having been introduced, it was the most powerful, and also the most dangerously potent, piece of evidence.
"Therefore, this is clearly a case of wrongful enforcent, and the Imperial Guard's tolerance of it constitutes an abuse of the organization's power!"
Seated on the opposite side were mbers of the Imperial Guard. Even in the face of Oswin's impassioned argunt, they sneered with brazen confidence.
The judge skimd through the Genealogy Certificate Oswin had submitted with an indifferent expression, then asked the Imperial Guard's side.
"What are your thoughts on the petitioner's claims?"
An Imperial Guard mber nad Hans rose from his seat with a lazy drawl and scoffed.
"It is most incomprehensible, Your Honor. There is a strong possibility that the Genealogy Certificate itself has been forged, and even if the blood were pure, should that rotten head of his be brimming with seditious ideas aid at overthrowing the Empire, then that man is already an enemy of the Empire more dangerous than any foreign bloodline."
Oswin sprang to his feet at the sophistry.
"That's absurd! Are you saying you can prove what's inside soone's head?!"
Oswin Mason. He was, by all accounts, a good man. As a nobleman of a distinguished family, he was sticking his neck out for sothing he had no obligation to do.
"This Empire belongs to the Aran! How can a nation that exists to protect and safeguard the Aran trample upon an innocent Aran youth and make him bleed?!"
His booming voice rang through the courtroom. But it was a resonance that would not reach the judge.
"Furthermor??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????e, on that night, apart from my client, there are dozens, hundreds of innocent citizens the Imperial Guard seized without proper procedure!"
"Hundreds, my ass! You don't know what you're talking about!"
One of the Imperial Guard mbers leapt to his feet and jabbed a finger at him.
"Then disclose it transparently!"
Oswin glared at the guardsman and fired back without an inch of retreat.
"Who you took, how you took them, where you took them, and on what charges! And what objective evidence you have to substantiate those accusations, lay it all bare...!"
* * *
The first session of the first trial ended without any real outco. The judge deferred the hearing to the next date without reaching a clear conclusion, and Oswin gathered in a eting room with other lawyers who had co up from Zestfall.
"...The number of university students unjustly arrested that we've identified so far exceeds forty."
Oswin said, roughly yanking his necktie loose.
"In the end, the Genealogy Certificates will be what matters. The docunts?"
"We've secured verified ones for thirty. The remaining ten... shall we try fabricating convincing ones?"
"Absolutely not."
Oswin shook his head firmly. In tis like these, forging a Genealogy Certificate was a capital offense that ant gambling with your life. Those who had recently been caught producing shoddy forgeries had, without exception, been put to death.
"...Every docunt we submit must be genuine. Not not rely close to genuine — actually genuine."
The most likely force behind the "Imperial Citizenship Law
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