A Drop of Justice 2 (Patreon)

A Drop of Justice 2 - Or ‘Playing Ace Attorney has never been so French!’ (Genshin Impact AU, Lawyer!SI)

It was lunchtime, and I was almost done with the paperwork I had been so looking forward to seeing done before the end of the month.

While it was odd for a lawyer of my status to be dabbling in documentation of this kind without a case to worry about, this batch of files and reports was, in truth, something that went beyond what any trial could ever conceive.

It was the plan for a constitutional reform. Not a massive overhaul, but something in regard to the pseudo-habeas corpus that existed in Fontaine. Too many times it happened that cases started negatively in my role as a defense attorney due to the audience being influenced by details that bore hardly any importance to the trial, but that still forced me to put more work than I should on ‘freeing my client from the trouble of assumed guilt’

So, due to my reputation and the fact I was regarded as a relevant attorney, I wanted to present this paperwork to Monsieur Neuvillette and, hopefully, get this topic studied by the legal commission.

I wasn’t expecting it to pass at once, but my hopes were high that a few months from now would see my burdens lessened to some extent. A smile adorning my face, I left the stack of papers to rest on the desk as I strolled for the dining table by the kitchen.

Maeve was eating her meal with a giddy look, distracted enough for me to reach for her exposed head and ruffle her hair a bit. She jumped, eyes aimed now at me with an irked glint.

“R-Really?”

“Sorry, I am just so happy, Maeve. This paperwork is going to mean less workload for us both~.”

“But would it be good for… you know, everyone?” The Melusine asked, nomming on her salad. “After all, a reform means that you can safely say that no one loses in terms of individual rights.”

“Which is why it took me so many weeks to get this one done right,” I answered strongly. “I took under consideration all potential loopholes and crossed them out with some clauses. It should prevent future troubles with sneaky morons trying to play around it.”

That seemed to be enough to put Maeve in a calmer mood. “Glad to hear that then, boss.”

I sat down in front of her, the meal I had cooked having lost some of its warmth but being delicious nonetheless. At this point, we were taking a break from the work hours, and it was something stuck in the work schedule set right outside the entrance door to allow any potential client to know when to check and when not to.

The only times I would accept any cases in non-work hours was when this was a relatively big emergency that requires my expertise. And it was such a rare occurrence that I hardly was ‘mentally prepared’ to deal with that.

So, I was a bit surprised when today-

Ding Dong!

Proved to be the day this rare occurrence unfolded. Maeve and I were still in the middle of lunch when the doorbell rang, and we shared a brief look before quietly shifting out of the kitchen to check on what was going on. She was the one that opened the door while I walked up to my office, taking a seat as the customer- or rather, customers, entered the room shortly after.

The first two I did recognize on the spot as Lyney and Lynette, the renowned Magician and his assistant. The third one was someone I have seen around in the Court, but I wasn’t aware was connected to those two.

After exchanging some brief greetings, the trio sat right in front of me.

“Monsieur Bukharin, thank you for receiving us. We are aware that you are not usual to receive people at this hour, but it’s urgent,” Lyney spoke up, the magician retrieving some papers he quickly set on the desk. I picked them and looked into it, studying the paperwork itself. “We believe our brother was wrongly accused of this crime.”

Freminet Snezhevich, that was… House of the Hearth. Fatui. I held back from gritting my teeth at that troublesome issue as it was going to influence the people’s perception of this trial from the very beginning of it. It was a Gardes report that I was reading, which was never good news and it was indeed a criminal report for murder.

“There’s a witness that saw you around the area,” I remarked, turning to the boy himself. “Do you understand I need to know the absolute truth of what is going on through your own recollection of it?”

The blond nodded. “I am innocent, sir- I mean, Monsieur.”

“Sir is fine too,” I assured, “To make it clear, I am not your enemy, nor am I trying to undermine your survival rate. I just need to have something to tell the opposition that they are stupid and wrong.”

For some reason my words gained a bit of an awkward flex on the faces of the trio.

“It’s not going to be simple,” Lynette remarked flatly, causing me to frown as I turned to her brother.

“I doubt Monsieur Bukharin will dare to offend this particular prosecutor.”

…

I looked back into the report, aware that I have a bit of a flaw in looking into my opponent’s name after accepting a case but… fuck, this one was a big surprise alright. I mean, it was rare for the Hydro Archon, Lady Furina herself, to claim the role of prosecutor for a trial.

Could it be for serious reasons or was she just… trying to piss me off, or something? No, she doesn’t know I am their lawyer at this point so… what the hell is this?!?

I scratched the back of my head, looking some more on the report as I felt something just didn’t feel right about it. And as I finished reading it, I couldn’t help but frown at the autopsy presented by the Gardes. The victim died by stab-wounds, yes, but the way those were delivered made it clear it wasn’t a sword or a weapon that was easy to conceal.

“Is that sword your primary weapon?” I asked at Freminet, and the boy nodded. “You don’t have others.”

“He doesn’t. Why?” Lyney inquired, curious over the sudden line of questioning.

“The autopsy highlights that the weapon used to commit the crime was a large one and with a wide frame. Not as slim as that sword and definitely not as small,” I elaborated, this time feeling like this didn’t make any sense. “I will take the case. Has the court told you when it will unfold?”

Lynette answered, “In three days from now.”

I tensed up a bit at this announcement.

“Surely this is a mistake,” I argued, looking at the papers again but frowning at the date. The cat-girl had not lied. It was indeed set to happen in three days. “This… is wrong. Very wrong.”

“Monsieur, I don’t believe we are following you now,” Lyney pointed out, bringing me out of my thoughts.

I sighed tiredly. “There is a procedure on how to handle the dates of trial. Minor cases demand a week at the very least. Murder cases demand two weeks due to various reasons tied to investigations. If the trial is indeed set to happen within three days from now… I need to speak with Neuvillette about this.”

The trio looked surprised.

“W-Would Monsieur Neuvillette really be interested in talking about this case? Freminet inquired nervously and I nodded.

“The issue is the date. It’s… It’s too early for this to be a proper murder case. Something doesn’t feel right,” I answered calmly. “I will take the case. But I need to check this matter with the proper authority on the constitutional exceptions, and that is Monsieur Neuvillette.”

“Got it, Monsieur Bukharin. Thank you for the help.”

“None of that, Lyney. I believe this is a battle that has yet to be won,” I admitted dryly, but saw them leave the flat as I stopped by Maeve.

The Melusine was mostly in the dark with what was discussed, but appeared baffled by the pure irregularity that this case was building upon. Something wasn’t being said about it. Something crucial, or Monsieur Neuvillette had not been made aware of it.

After getting some papers ready, Maeve and I left to check his office and see if he was available. Much to my relief (which was soon to turn into a chagrin) he was indeed there.

But as I entered his office, I was greeted by a degree of unease from his part. He was a good actor, so most of it was masked, but he couldn’t hide away that this case I was bringing to his attention was one he had been bracing about for some time.

“I am afraid there’s more to it, Monsieur Bukharin. Under the clause of Armed Conspiracy, the time can be lessened for a faster trial-”

“While depriving the defense of the means to build some foundation. It’s ridiculous- and why the original report didn’t mention this bigger charge?”

“I am unsure, it will be investigated, but it will take… time,” Neuvillette remarked and I slammed my hand on his desk. It was a most disrespectful gesture, but warranted by this outrageous development. “I would advise you to quit.”

“...Then I advise her to have a strong case because I am planning to demolish it,” I replied dryly, surprising the Iudex with that murderous rebuttal. “Let me put it this way, I firmly believe that anyone should be given the decent right of ‘innocent until proven guilty’, and I know all this mess comes from a single witness’ testimony. It should not be enough to warrant this mess of a case.”

“It’s bigger than it looks, John. I praise your duty to justice, but you have to drop it-”

“I made my decision, Iudex. I hope she is ready to leave that trial with nothing.”

Neuvillette didn’t answer or stop me as I left his office with the most infuriated look I could have mustered. Maeve was waiting for me outside, and she looked surprised by my current expression.

“I-It didn’t go well.”

“Something’s fishy, Maeve. We can’t trust the Iudex and the Gardes for this case,” I pointed out angrily. “Which is why we will have to check on an old acquaintance of ours for help.”

The Melusine was a bit perplexed by this, but then realized where we were going and she looked less worried on how this case was going.

After all, if the Gardes were not going to do their job right, then Navia’s Spina di Rosula will have to do for us.

—-------d-d-d-d—------

AN

It’s not Linney on the stand- It’s Freminet! Poor kid got stuck in the worst situation possible and he doesn’t even know how big of an attempt this one is. Still, Furina trusts the source… even though she shouldn’t. Forgery is a thing, especially by those that have a hatebone on the Fatui in general.