Interstellar Era of Gossip

Chapter 58 [Who is he]

Who else was in the room at that time?

　　"Perfect wording." The chief's voice rang out in the courtroom. "That is indeed not grounds for conviction."

　　Nalun stared at the floor below, his eyelashes covering the light of triumph in his eyes: Yes, this unprovoked disaster should have ended long ago. He was innocent to begin with, and so far, he had not even touched the edge of the scepter, but only touched the belly of a few gold-eating beetles.

　　"...But it is not a basis for exoneration."

　　Nalun looked up sharply. What does that mean?

　　The old man looked directly at Nalun, and his words were very weighty.

　　He accurately pointed out Nalun's flaws: "From beginning to end, you have been denying the crimes with arguments, but you have never talked about where you were and what you were doing when these crimes were committed."

　　Nalun's pupils shrank and he quickly realized that something was wrong.

　　When a person is told for no reason that "he did something at a certain time", his first reaction should be to recall "what he was actually doing at that time", rather than refutate by saying "what you said has no evidence and is false".

The old man continued, "Even if your rebuttals are all true, everything is a coincidence, and even this trial is an innocent one..." He gave a comprehensive summary of Nalun's previous rebuttals and said, "But some things cannot be avoided."

　　Nalun pursed his lips which were a little dry due to talking too much, and realized one fact - the chief's attitude had never wavered, and he remained sober throughout his seemingly reasonable rebuttal.

　　Nalun was well aware of his weaknesses, and at this moment, the things he had always "avoided talking about" were asked to be made public.

　　How can this be?

　　He was in Xerxes' bed the day the scepter was stolen.

　　The figure on Longton Street was indeed himself.

　　Even the time he had a secret conversation with the Storm Insect was because he had become so suspicious that he was "famous on the Insect Star".

　　...

　　These are holes that need to be filled with lies.

　　The chief said: "A dispute of words cannot prove anything. The trial still needs to be based on the facts."

　　As he spoke, he took out a pair of gold-rimmed glasses from his pocket and began to look through a document at hand.

　　"On the day of the princess's dinner, you were walking in the garden and saw Mr. Bonnard having a tryst with his lover, but Mr. Bonnard denied it."

　　This was Nalun's confession during the first round of questioning.

　　The chief said, "Perhaps you should communicate with him first."

　　Nalun said: "It is better to frame someone with a bad reputation than to frame someone with a bad reputation."

　　The chief nodded—it was true, Bonnard's denial was full of holes, but: "He claims you only pulled him out to cover up your own scandal."

　　Nalun narrowed his eyes, as if in deep thought.

　　As he was talking, Bonar was brought into the courtroom with a dark face. When he passed by Nalun out of the corner of his eye, a dark fire flashed in his eyes.