I Raised A Black Dragon

Penelope had deep respect and admiration towards Kyle. He was never a man to commit an offence and a man who would rather jump off the top of the Imperial Palace than fall in a forbidden love with a criminal.

All actions performed by such a thorough and obstinate dignified man were bound to be followed by reasonable reasons.

Penelope turned off the recorder after a moment of thought. An investigator should not make any judgment anchored on personal feelings during an investigation, but she decided to keep quiet about it first.

Perhaps she would discover the reason for Kyle’s actions after the trial of Eleonora Asil. Moreover, if a scandal were to break out between the General Manager and Eleonora Asil, the  Bureau of Investigation Security, which was already struggling to cope with heaps of cases, might collapse. What good would it bring?

Night shift…

Penelope sent the images to the inspection team, a kind smile on her lips, and then locked the chip containing all the records inside the desk’s drawer. At the same instant, someone knocked on the door of her office. Penelope’s mouth thinned and she wore a blank expression, calling out. 

“Yes. Come in… Minister?”

A smiling man burst into her office. His hair was a glittering blonde that instantly enlivened the dull office. “Long time no see, Penelope.”

“Oh, what brings you here?”

“Oh, nothing else. Just because the latest train terrorist attack on Central Edman revealed that our side was involved.  I came in person because you said it was confidential, but I don’t think the general manager is here now?”

“The captain is currently interrogating. It’s an unwritten rule not to call during interrogation. Would you like to wait a little?” asked Penelope.

“Okay. Can you find out how long it takes?”

“Yes. Just a moment…” Penelope approached the wall on the right, grabbed the phone and contacted an investigator in the interrogation room.

Meanwhile, the man circled the office and approached the window. Then, he sat on the window frame and casually inserted a key into the lock hole in the drawer across the window and turned it around. A slender, delicate hand took a nail-sized chip out of the drawer.

“Yes, Paul. When do you think it’ll be over? It’s nothing else, the Minister of Magic is here right now. Yes, because of that terrorist incident. Ah… yes.” Penelope returned the phone and turned around. “I’m sorry, Minister, but today…”

“Oh, is it difficult?”

“Yes, I’m sorry. It’s an issue.”

“That’s understandable. Your opponent is Eleanora. The boss is always in trouble.” Adrian grinned and hoisted his body off the window frame. “Tomorrow was the trial? Then I’ll be back the day after tomorrow.”

“Yes. Do you have anything else to say to the captain?” 

“It’s all right.” Adrian stepped out into the hall. The chip bounced into the air over his head and then disappeared back into his grasp.

And the next morning, the trial of Eleonora Asil began.

*

Noah felt like she was going through a lot of things that she had never experienced in her previous life. She sat in the defendant’s seat in the middle of the court and thought things over.

I’ve been in the interrogation room for a few days, and the judge isn’t very scary to look at…

Worried that Noah might break down and cry again, Kyle kept reassuring her that the trial was only a formality as he brought her to the court. He even wrote the expected progress of the trial, as if his encouraging whispers weren’t enough. 

“Don’t use magic with anger. Don’t think about anything, just answer the questions as you have memorized, okay?’

The trial was said to be conducted under the Emperor’s observation, with the Justice Minister taking the position of judge. The prosecutor seeking her sentence, of course, was her exclusive investigator, Kyle Leonard. Lastly, the one who would defend her was a specially hired lawyer named Jenald.

Of course, the trial was likely to end in thirty minutes at the earliest, as there was a tacit agreement between the three leading judges.

Noah looked around and found the Emperor in a splendid cloak on a two-story seat, which overlooked the presiding judge. The tip of his brunette hair was curled up elegantly. 

Soon, she found a boy standing proudly on his feet with a cape on his back. Muell looked around and found Noah waving from the bottom, and immediately clung to the railing.

What, why do you have a tail?

A black arrow-shaped tail was sticking out behind Muell’s butt. He wiggled his tail excitedly at Noah, and bit the emperor’s hand that was trying to dissuade him.

“Uh-oh!”

Noah thought she heard a faint scream, but shrugged it off. She couldn’t figure out whether she ought to laugh or cry upon seeing the Emperor’s vivid fear to touch the dragon. The Emperor rubbed his bitten hand and opened his mouth solemnly.

“Now… Everybody be seated.”

It wasn’t until the Emperor was seated that all the people in the room sat down. The Justice Minister issued a formal courtesy to the Emperor before declaring the start of the trial.

“Then, I will begin the trial. First, a full-time investigator. Sir Leonard, start questioning.”