Ito Sota’s trial was getting closer. The sentence was simple, but it had a big meaning behind it. The chaotic citizens of Lindel clinked their drinks while cheering that this was justice while the citizens of Celia were confused by the sudden news. Even though Ito Sota himself was the one that asked to stand trial, the citizens of Lindel and Celia wouldn’t know about this. We didn’t think it was necessary to tell people that Sota requested it himself and even he believed it wasn’t necessary to tell the people of Celia.

Since I was the victim last time, he was the victim this time, but the only thing that mattered to us was Sota was on trial, and thanks to Kasugano Yuno, she was already somewhat stopping the Japanese from fabricating lies to manipulate public opinion.

‘Assailant…’

There wasn’t a need for the people to know the inside story. All they needed to know was that Sota was on trial because he was the assailant and the innocent Lee Ki-Young had been arrested and tried for attempted murder.

‘This is more than enough.’

The trial wasn’t going to proceed normally. The content of the trial that was publicly announced was regarding Ito Sota’s level of punishment for being the assailant that harmed Lee Ki-Young, but the important figures in this trial knew this was a political fight and that was the reason why Lee Ji-Hye was feeling anxious.

“It happened all of a sudden so I’m not sure if I prepared everything, oppa,” Lee Ji-Hye said, anxious.

“It’s more than enough, Ji-Hye noona. You spoke with the judges and the people at the Vatican weren’t that bad either,” I said, comforting her.

“I’m anxious, but I have an idea as to what you’re hiding. Even though you have insurance, I’m still worried since there’s no guarantee it’ll actually work… the trial could just be an excuse since the trials here are a bit different from the modern world. If you think about what he’ll say in order to defend himself… isn’t it natural for me to be worried?” she asked.

“No need to worry. Ito Sota-san is smart,” I told her.

Lee Ji-Hye looked at me quietly; this was the first time I saw her like this. She seemed like she knew something, but it was fine. The fact that Lee Ji-Hye had discovered my plan meant that Ito Sota should somehow know about it too.

“I’ll trust you,” she said with a determined look.

“You can trust me, noona.” I smiled.

Even though she felt anxious, she seemed like she had made the decision to forget about it. It was great because if Lee Ji-Hye decided not to get involved it meant that everything was going as planned. She was curious as to what Ito Sota was going to do to me, but I had already calculated everything and the reason why I set up so many traps was that I was trying my best not to get caught. However, she couldn’t help but ask about my plan since she still had a lot of questions in mind. Waiting for the trial was boring anyway, so she thought it wouldn’t be bad to know about it before it happened.

“Are you curious?” I asked.

“I would be lying if I said I wasn’t. I’m just not caring about it because you told me not to, but I know that’s how you set up traps. You’re not implying that me moving around freely is getting in the way, right? I’ve been doing that because people will become suspicious if we move in a group,” she said.

“That’s not what I meant. Normally, it would be better if you helped me because I’ll be able to create an even more perfect trap. The reason why I was working on my plan without you was that I wanted to show Ito Sota that I was being cautious and that’s my insurance. What do you think? How do you think my plan is going? Actually, let me ask this first. How far do you think a simple conviction can take you? What do you think my original plan was?” I asked with a smile.

Lee Ji-Hye slowly answered after thinking for a while. “The first thing is…”

“Yeah?”

“...Is to bring an end to Ito Sota’s political life. After isolating him from both the pope and the emperor, I’m sure you’re planning on ending him ever so slowly. The method…” Lee Ji-Hye slowly said.

“Yes?”

“It’s the potion you’re currently distributing in Japan. I’m sure there are others, but I think the rest are just ways to grab everyone’s attention since the rumors about the slave trade and organ trafficking are all fake,” she remarked.

“You knew?” I asked.

“I don’t have any evidence, but based on the flow and conviction… I thought that’s what happened and of course, I’m the only person that knows. I didn’t do any investigation and even if I did, there would be a limit to how much I can find out since my movements are limited. Wasn’t it your plan to use drugs as evidence and tie it with his other offenses to bring him down?” Lee Ji-Hye asked, doubtful.

“Explain it simpler, noona.”

“Your original plan was to bring down Ito Sota using fabricated information by telling people that his guild, the Yamato Guild, was distributing drugs in Celia,” she explained.

“Right, that’s the first part and why do you think I didn’t tell you or other people about this plan?” I asked her.

“Because you need to be careful. I’m sure there are other reasons, but that’s the best reason I can think of,” she answered.

“You’re not wrong, noona. But as I told you earlier, the most important part of this plan is for me to look as cautious as possible. It’s to make people think that I’m preparing such a heavy blow that I didn’t even dare to tell my most trusted agents about it for fear of an information leak ruining everything,” I explained.

“That’s…”

“The information that I fabricated is also a heavy blow and the attempted murder case of Lee Ki-Young is nothing more than a rite of passage. If Ito Sota doesn’t realize the fact that there’s a new potion being distributed within the city, he’ll get hit hard with drug trafficking charges and he’ll be framed for distributing illegal potions. That’s the first method,” I told her.

“I understand,” she commented.

“There’s another variable here and it’s under the assumption that Ito Sota knows about the potions,” I said.

“Okay…”

“If he becomes suspicious of the potions that I’m currently distributing and realizes that it’s a trap, he’ll start an investigation and personally, I think this will most likely happen since he had requested to stand trial on his own.”

“I agree.” Lee Ji-Hye nodded.

“It'll be difficult for him to find anything because this information is something only Kasugano Yuno and I know about. If he was competent, he could obtain or fabricate the information, but I’m sure he would be anxious during the investigation. As I mentioned before, you weren’t involved in this plan at all, so I’m sure you were thinking about different things while investigating. You probably thought it was strange because there was no evidence. For example…” 

When I remained quiet for a moment, Lee Ji-Hye quickly spoke. “For example, the fact that this was the only plan you had?”

“That’s right,” I answered.

“I think I understand now, but what if Ito Sota does know about the potions? He’ll know that you’re trying to bring him down using the potions and he’ll know your plan after that, so what are you going to do if that happens?” Lee Ji-Hye asked.

“What do you think my next move is?” I asked her with a smile.

“If I were you, I would put the blame on Kasugano Yuno because I think tying her with Ito Sota and bringing them both down is the most reasonable method. If Ito Sota told the court that the potions being distributed in Celia were Kasugano Yuno and Lee Ki-Young’s doing and not his, then using her is the only way for you to get out of that mess, right?” she asked.

“Pffft.” I chuckled.

“Lying and bringing them both down is the best method, but abandoning Kasugano Yuno like this is a bit unfortunate, oppa. If I guessed right, then it’ll be better to change your plan right now. I understand that you’re angry, but wasting that shaman on that crazy bastard isn’t worth it,” she said while shaking her head.

“Am I that much of a scumbag for you?” I asked with a frown.

“I was just thinking about what I would do if I were in your place because that’s the most reasonable choice for me,” she answered.

“You’re right. It’s the most reasonable choice, but I don’t plan on abandoning Kasugano Yuno. Let’s pretend Ito Sota really did succeed in investigating the potions and told the court during his trial that I was the one distributing the potions, which would place me in a dangerous situation,” I said.

“Okay...”

“His assumption would be wrong from the start, noona,” I told her.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s not a drug.”

“What?” she asked, dumbfounded.

“It’s not a drug. If I say it’s a drug, then it’s a drug, but if I testify saying it isn’t a drug, then it is not a drug,” I explained.

“Oh…”

“If Ito Sota doesn’t know about the potion, then the potion will become a drug and he’ll immediately be labeled as a drug offender and will either lose his head or eat a heavy blow. On the other hand, if he finds out about the potion distribution and calls me a drug offender, then those potions won’t be a drug,” I added.

“How is that possible?” Lee Ji-Hye asked, shocked.

“Why is it not possible? I’m the only one that can detect the ingredients because there isn’t a single third party on this continent who knows about alchemy better than me, noona. Those potions are my original work and unless they open my head, they’ll never know the recipe,” I answered.

“Oh…” Lee Ji-Hye gasped.

“I’ll tell you a secret…”

“Sure,” she said, nodding.

“Do you know what catalyst those potions are based on?” I asked her.

“...”

“It’s holy water,” I answered.

“What?” she asked surprisingly.

“It’s holy water. It’s the same holy water that’s officially being used in the Benigoa Holy Empire. The moment Ito Sota says that those potions are drugs, it’ll be checkmate. Calling a potion made from holy water a drug is basically blasphemy. Hahahaha. What is he going to do even if he discovers the potion? There’s nothing he can do and he’ll never know that the potion’s made from holy water,” I explained.

“...”

“Hahahaha. It’ll be better if he doesn’t know anything and just dies as a drug offender. The moment he tries to flip the situation by telling people that I distributed drugs, the heresy inquisitors will come marching over to him! Hahaha. Cough, cough. I do acknowledge the fact that he’s smart, Ji-Hye, but so what? Whether Ito Sota is smart or dumb, the moment my potions entered Japan, it was already game over since that bastard isn’t an alchemist,” I told her.

“I see…” she commented.

“Everything has already been set. Hahahaha! That’s why I said he made the worst choice, noona. If he tries to attack me by using the potions I distributed, then he would make the worst decision. The inquisitors will wipe out his family and guild members since this is the Holy Empire,” I added.

I noticed Lee Ji-Hye staring at me quietly and I was sure that she was organizing her thoughts. Even though there were a lot of possible decisions Ito Sota could make, there were only two that would most likely happen.

First likely scenario was if Ito Sota had no idea about the potions. What I prepared for that was fabricated evidence that the Yamato Guild was distributing drugs, so his life would end by being labeled as a drug distributor. Second scenario waws if Ito Sota knew about the potions and brought over evidence to show that I was the drug distributor, then I could show the potion’s recipe. Afterward, I could then calmly say that I was the one that distributed this great potion, so basically, it would be blasphemy on his part. No matter which decision he would make, he would still be going to hell.

I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Hahahahaha!”

Naturally, I thought about how I had been laughing often nowadays and Lee Ji-Hye’s face turned red as she looked at me. 

“Oppa,” she called out.

“Yeah?”

“You’re really sexy, oppa,” she complimented.

“You just have a weird taste in men,” I told her.

“You’re definitely shitty, but you’re still really charming,” Lee Ji-Hye complimented once more.

“...”

I was at a loss for words hearing her call me shitty.

When I looked at my watch, I noticed that a lot of time had passed and it was time to go to court. When I spoke as I stood up, Lee Ji-Hye nodded.

“Let’s finish this, Ji-Hye.”

“I'm really looking forward to it, Ki-Young oppa,” she said.