Those who commit sins shall be punished. It is a very simple proposition, so obvious that it cannot even be doubted. It is often regarded as a sublime deed carried out according to the natural order.
However, fundamentally, a sin is an act. Punishment is the evaluation of that act. The expression "something that should not have happened" is negated by itself the moment it occurs.
It is the same even for vampires. The two must be clearly distinguished.
Between things that cannot happen, and things that shouldn't happen.
"Let me ask once. What was the defendant's motive?"
To my question, the Ain answered promptly.
"Revenge for Lily, who was my mother. As she herself said."
"Revenge? How interesting. Do you remember the wind from your human days, Harpy?"
I naturally called out a name no one had taught me. Logically, it was an impossible thing, but Harpynis assumed I had heard it from somewhere. Naturally. Who would think I learned the name through telepathy.
Harpy answered.
"It has nothing to do with this matter."
"Of course. It's none of my business what happened before you became a vampire. What use is the past before death to someone who experienced death once and was revived by flowing blood?"
I shrugged my shoulders and continued.
"You said that Lir attacked Ruskinia to continue her revenge, holding a grudge from her lifetime... That's what you said, right? But isn't that overestimating a mere Yeling?"
"Lir is not a Yeling. She was classified as a Yeling for receiving Lily's blood, but if you consider that Duke Ruskinia also shared his blood..."
"Well said! Even creating such a bastardized lineage without roots was Duke Ruskinia's intention!"
She must have brought it up wanting to rebut, but I had been waiting for those words.
A war of words is not a fight between me and my opponent. Making the opponent fight against themselves is a true war of words. You wait for them to make a slip of the tongue by clutching at straws, and then drag out that mistaken statement and pit them against themselves. One can face an enemy, but one cannot face oneself.
"Mr. Ruskinia made Lir attack him, making her go against the Lord. Well, I don't know if that aligned with Lir's will or if she was forced... Regardless, it's something that wouldn't have happened unless the Elder himself intended it. Am I right?"
"...There is a possibility that Lir escaped the Blood Fetters through some method."
"Through what method?"
"The method, you say? That is something Lir herself must explain."
"No. You said it yourself earlier. Merely presenting a possibility is not enough."
Catching her slip of the tongue, I relentlessly pressed my opponent.
"Until now, vampires have operated under a strict hierarchy in the name of the Blood Fetters, haven't they? Lir's case is an exception, and my argument is the most rational and logical explanation of that possibility. Yet you claim that some method to escape the Fetters exists, but you fail to present what it is."
Even to my sarcastic response, Harpy still had something to say and protested.
"She uses bizarre powers. When it comes to keeping people alive, she is superior even to Duke Ruskinia. It wouldn't be strange if she had an unknown power."
"There is a power no one knows. She committed the deed with that power. That's a devil's proof. Honorable Judge, what do you think?"
If the other side just insists on it, there's no answer, but this space is a courtroom. The judge, Tir, is very favorable to me. She would listen even if I made unreasonable demands, so she wouldn't dismiss a valid statement that fits logic. Tir nodded and answered.
"The defense's argument is valid. It seems impossible for her to plot treason without Ruskinia's implicit or explicit permission. Also, the circumstances suggesting Ruskinia intended it are sufficient."
The other vampires were the same. Although vampires are not 100% rational, cold blood does not let empathy cloud their judgment. They couldn't care less about the emotions of an Ain, who is not even an Elder.
Harpy, now at a disadvantage, shouted desperately.
"Even as retainers, we do not move solely according to the Lord's will! Like me, when the Lord disappears or falls asleep, the retainers can move freely! Therefore, Lir is not free from responsibility!"
"Then even less can she be 'killed'. If the Lord's permission is not given."
"The Lord would not have ordered her to take the True Blood!"
Ooh. It's improvisation, but she dug in well. She changed the point of argument from motive to result.
"As the beloved concubine said, it could have been Duke Ruskinia's intention. Of course, there's a possibility it wasn't. That is something we cannot know."
We? Well. I know.
"Whether intended or not, the Elder's True Blood is something only the Progenitor should handle. Taking the True Blood after the Elder suffered True Death is undoubtedly treason! Strip her of that blood!"
"Couldn't that also have been Duke Ruskinia's intention?"
"I will return the words you said earlier right back to you."
Merely presenting a possibility changes nothing. I know. I didn't plan to let it slide so easily either.
"That's right. Regardless, the one holding the True Blood right now is the defendant, and that alone is a crime."
"Exactly!"
"...Then!"
I spun around and looked up at Tir. Perhaps it was a pretty good entertainment, as Tir was looking at me with a subtle smile.
As the vampires thought, arguing right and wrong in this trial has little meaning. Facts and logic are merely ways to persuade the Progenitor; all decisions are made by the Progenitor, and no one can go against them.
Because the Blood Fetters exist.
"This is no longer a trial for the Elder's murder, is it? The board has changed. This trial was not about pursuing and punishing the criminal who killed the Elder. It will become a ruling on where to place the Progenitor's True Blood."
And I am the Progenitor's beloved concubine. If it comes down to pillow talk, I win everything.
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Here, Harpy's face, realizing her defeat, crumpled mercilessly. It was no lie that retainers without a Lord find freedom. Look. How free does she look?
"Honorable Judge, it seems the point of contention in this trial has changed. From finding the criminal who killed Elder Ruskinia, to discussing how to deal with his death."
"And?"
"If the point of contention has changed, preparations fitting for it are needed, so I propose a recess here."
It's a bit long, but the more I stall for time, the more advantageous it is for me, so let me push for it. But Tir asked back with a puzzled look.
"One day? Can you rest for such a short time?"
"...I'm not sure if that is indeed a short time, but it seems necessary."
"Hmm. If so."
Anyway, I am the concubine and Tir is blatantly on my side. Nodding, Tir stood up and declared.
"We opened this session not to resolve Ruskinia's grudge. It was to grasp what happened to him and prepare countermeasures."
Vampires are sensitive to the death of their kin simply because it is a rare occurrence. The other vampires also partially agreed with the Progenitor's words.
"However, listening to the story, Hui's words make sense. It is clear that Ruskinia plotted treason, or conducted an experiment equivalent to it. Even throwing away his own life. If Ruskinia acted with some intention, asking him would be the most certain thing... but the one who suffered True Death cannot answer."
The dead tell no tales. So the living guess what the dead would have said and try to resolve their grudges.
However, vampires are those who have died once. They have no interest in such heartwarming stories.
"Then, the story must now change. Whether Lir Nightingale is qualified. How to handle the True Blood. Let us take a short recess and discuss it again."
It was a declaration cold enough to chill the heart, but that is a vampire. Mourning and grieving the dead is something ordinary humans do.
Right, like Harpy right now, who can't control her emotions.
The feathers that had stood up during the trial sank down as if wet with water. Harpy, who looked three or four times smaller than the first time I saw her, clenched her sharp fingers and spoke.
"...O Progenitor. Do you abandon us?"
"I have never abandoned you."
"Lir Nightingale is a Yeling. She inherited Duke Ruskinia's blood, mixed blood, and twisted blood. We Ain cannot serve a Yeling who inherited Duke Ruskinia's blood as an Elder."
It was a remark that went beyond the meaning of "we do not want to." If a Yeling becomes an Elder, and if Lir, whose hierarchy was twisted with a bastardized lineage, ends up governing their True Blood... just like Lir's case, the vampires would also be bounced out of the Fetters.
It wasn't for nothing that Ruskinia's Ains wished for Lir's death. If Lir takes the True Blood, the Ains, who would become the retainers under Lir as their Lord, would become heterogeneous existences in this duchy. Just like Lir Nightingale, who was forced to cast off the Fetters by the Elder's will, the entire bloodline would escape the Fetters.
Looking at the appearances of the Ains trembling with anxiety, I made a guess.
Perhaps, Elder Ruskinia... might have planned even this scene.
"That, too, is not for you to decide. It is the content to be discussed in this hall tomorrow. I will decide after hearing the stories of all involved parties."
Tir's verdict dared not allow a rebuttal. Harpy lowered her head in distant despair and answered.
"...I shall obey."
It seemed there was nothing more to say. Today ended with this. I shouted, representing everyone.
"Then, this court is adjourned!"
Thud. The trial stopped with a heavy sound.