Because I've Been Reincarnated as the Piggy Duke, This Time I Will Say I Like You Chapter 154

Published at 14th of December 2022 09:10:35 AM

In the quiet early afternoon, armor-clad soldiers rushed into a luxurious shop crowded with noble wives and daughters, looking totally out of place as they did.

“Everyone, don’t move!” the captain yelled. “This store is under suspicion of patent infringement and theft! Bring out the person in charge!”

The aristocratic wives and daughters cowered in fear of the soldier’s sudden presence.

“Goodness, gracious… you’re being pretty rough, aren’t you…?” a middle-aged-to-elderly man said as he came out. “I’m the General Manager of the Royal Capital Branches, what do you need?”

“You! You’re coming with us! Capture him!” the captain yelled.

As the subordinate soldiers approached him, the man suddenly yelled,

“Don’t vandalize the store!”

“Woah…!” the soldiers ransacking the shop cried out.

At the commotion, the captain was startled and scowled.

“Bastard! Are you going to resist!? I can cut you down right here and now!” the captain cried, drawing his sword at the man.

But, he didn’t move.

“When did I try to resist?” he countered. “Please stop making false accusations.”

“Wha…?” the captain said. “Didn’t you just shout and threaten me?! Don’t think you can get away with something like this in front of so many witnesses!” he roared, his eyes burning with hatred and the blue veins of his head popping.

“I don’t know what you’re misunderstanding here, but you said our store is ‘under suspicion’, didn’t you?” the man said. “If it’s ‘under suspicion,’ there shouldn’t be an order of arrest, but an order of appearance, you have no right to capture me. And this store is not subject to suspension of operations. This is our right guaranteed by the laws of the Kingdom. Nevertheless, if you cause trouble to our customers and interfere with our business, damaging our store and products, you’re committing a crime. We’re prepared to take legal action, including claims for damages, but are you prepared to do the same?”

“Ngh… thi-this is just quibbling!” the captain said.

He’s not quibbling, he’s insisting on his legitimate rights and treatment, but the captain who was only ordered to, “Arrest these criminals!” doesn’t get it. However…

“That’s right! You barbarian!” one of the noble ladies yelled. “This store would never do such a thing!”

“That’s right, that’s right!” another called out. “Anyway, if you did a little research, they’d have been proven innocent right away, so don’t think you can get away with doing this without consequences!”

“I will also tell my husband to conduct a proper investigation of this incident!”

“Wha…? Huh…?!” the commander sputtered.

All these surrounding customers… are piercing the soldiers with their gazes. From the point of view of the customers who were watching the situation objectively, it was obvious who was at fault. And this store is visited by many noble wives and daughters. There is no need to think about who has a stronger position, a mere soldier or a noble’s wife.

“First of all, I will contact the president of our company about this,” the man said. “Will that be alright with you?”

“Uh? Uhm…?” the soldiers went, crippled by the intense blowback from the ladies around them.

When the man in charge gave a signal to a clerk, the clerk nodded and left through the back door. If it happened during their initial rush, the soldiers would have followed and arrested them together with the manager. However, the situation no longer made it viable.

“Dear Customers, I apologize for the trouble,” the manager said. “As an apology, please take home a sample of this product today. It’s a new ‘face pack’ we’re planning to launch at our company. It conditions your face’s skin to keep it soft and supple.”

And with those words and a signal, the clerk from earlier pulled a wagon out from the back. It’s loaded with packages of said face pack.

“Kyaa!” one of the ladies squeals. “Really?”

“It’ll keep my skin soft and supple, you said?” another said.

“I definitely want to try it, too,” a third go.

The store was in chaos, but the customers had already forgotten about the soldiers and rushed to the wagon. It is difficult to say whether the confusion the soldiers sowed was uprooted and suppressed, or they’d just replaced it with an entirely new confusion that overpowered the first.

“Well then, shall we head out?” the man said to the commander.

And so, Hugo, General Manager of Caanza’s Royal Capital Branches, headed for the royal castle with the soldiers.

It was after the lunch rush, the crowds had eased a little as the customers then got their fill, but even so, the Crepe Cafe was still crowded with huge numbers of people, and now was being inundated with soldiers in armor, too.

“Bring out the person in charge of this store! This establishment is under suspicion of patent infringement and theft! If you don’t obey, I may have to cut you down!” their captain threatens.

The guests didn’t give way to the soldiers and just looked at them in annoyance. The soldiers didn’t realize it, but they were clearly unwelcome here.

“I’m the person in charge?” a young woman says as she comes out from the counter.

She certainly looks different from the rest of the crepe-making and serving staff. But no matter how you look at it, she doesn’t look like someone in charge.

“How can a young woman like you be in charge?!” the captain snapped. “Hiding them won’t help you! Hurry up and call the real person in charge!”

Of course, they would not think this young woman was the manager. Now, they were shouting, indignant “the real one” was being hidden. Although… they were already shouting from the start…

“As I said, I’m in charge of this store,” the young woman said.

“Enough with this nonsense! Do you think such a lie will pass!?!” the captain yelled even louder.

He was so loud she frowned at the excessive noise.

“Bianca just told you she is this store’s manager!” a customer said, annoyed.

“Have this country’s soldiers completely lost their ability to understand words?” another complained.

“If you did a little digging, you should know who the store manager is, right? So you came a~ll the way here to arrest someone without even knowing that much, did ya?”

“Threatening a young woman so loudly… how terrible…”

“Yes, truly… these soldiers act so high and might, acting as they please… have you ever been of any use to anyone?!”

“Wha…?! Yo-You bastards!” the captain sputtered.

The customers in the crepe cafe began to whisper. Realizing they were completely out of their home turf, the soldiers were a little confused.

“I am the manager of this store,” the young woman said. “If you’d had checked our registration, you’d at least know who I am, right?”

“Uuu…” the Captain choked.

It is implicitly proving that they have come to arrest someone without even investigating. No arrest should have been made without investigating your target. If you could have captured someone without any prior research or investigation, the soldiers would have simply run amok.

“I’m not going to run or hide,” the young woman said. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“We’re with you, Bianca!”

“You bastards tried to do something horrible to Bianca! The citizens of the royal capital will not let this stand!”

“Did you seriously not do any investigating?”

“That’s right, you know…? They were like this from the start… were they trying to frame someone?”

“Uu… ngh… hey! This is not a show! Get out of our way! Move, move!” the captain yelled.

And with Bianca silently obeying, the soldiers took her to the royal castle.

In a solemn building inside the royal castle, Hugo waited in a courtroom before he heard a door open behind him and see the other person had finally arrived.

“Mr. Hugo,” Bianca said.

“Hey, hey… you keep saying you’re the manager… how many times have you told us this crap? You’ve gotta have realized it’s not working, right?”

Neither Hugo nor Bianca seemed nervous. As Duke Alto von Bayen watched such an exchange, he sniffed like he wasn’t amused. At the same time, however, he smiled sadistically, wondering how long they would be able to keep it up.

Alto’s victory was confirmed when he arrived at this place, and the loss of the man and woman who were standing in the defendant’s seat confirmed it. All that’s left is to wait for another person to come, and when they arrive, his victory would be declared.

While Alto thought about it, he calmed himself down, thinking that the sight of the commoners making a fuss was adorable.

A little while after the young woman entered the court, the door opened again, and a small man with a cloak all the way over his head entered. The judge raises his voice after confirming that the three are in the defendant’s box.

“Then, from now on, we will hold a trial regarding the crimes of Patent Infringement of Duke Bayen’s patent and Theft of his household property!”

It’s kind of strange at this point. First of all, those who are standing in the defendant’s seat have not even been interrogated to begin with. They are made to stand there as soon as they are brought in. There was no investigation or interrogation, and it was not even announced beforehand the trial was to ever take place. It was a set-up from the start.

Audiences and the court observers were unrelated nobles who hadn’t attended Duke Bayen’s soiree. Even if a noble of Bayen’s Faction is observing, there is a possibility of corruption, so they’d call people who are totally unrelated and have no conflict of interest. But even so, Alto thinks it’s enough.

This is not the place to reveal the truth. It is a place to condemn those who stand in the defendant’s seat according to the script decided from the beginning.

Both the judge and the prosecutor move to Alto’s orders. And the flow of the trial and the verdict have already been decided. The rest is just a show of convincingly convicting the accused in front of the audience and witnesses.

Normally, according to the laws of the Kingdom of Ploiss, the accused would be arraigned, interrogated, and if they were to be brought to trial, they would be informed when they would be brought to trial, and lawyers and witnesses would be prepared for the trial. Opportunity must be given to ready their defense.

But this time, no such process is undertaken and is completely omitted. They were arrested and thrown straight into court. In such a situation, there is no way you can properly investigate, interrogate, or build a defense for the defendants or even defend the accused.

But the audience and Bayen’s witnesses have no way of knowing that. Witnesses who are simply asked to testify as they are, when questioned, only speak about what they have seen and heard about the proceedings. Also, the observers just listen to the trial and see if it was fair, and they have no knowledge of the investigation methods, the process of the investigation, or the behind-the-scenes dealings of the judges and prosecutors.

“Defendants Hugo, Bianca, Floto, step forward,” the judge said.

The three are called to the front. Although it’s called the defendant’s box, there are no seats. They remain standing throughout the trial.

“And you over there at the end… take off your cloak,” the judge said.

Of the three people brought before the court, the one who was wearing his coat up to his didn’t take it off even with the judge’s order.

“He says he can’t take it off for various circumstances,” Bianca said.

“What…?!” the judge said. “Do you think that kind of excuse will work?! Take it off, now!”

Though surprised at the refusal, the judge insisted.

“He doesn’t have to take it off. Let him continue as is,” a voice said from the audience.

All eyes in the court focus on him.

“Y-Your Majesty the King?!”

“What is His Majesty doing in a place like this…?”

At that moment, the bystanders noticed and were shaken. The judge and prosecutors also panicked and looked at Duke Bayen. But they can’t stop now. Alto jerks his chin, telling them to continue.

“Is it so strange for me to be here?” Wilhelm said. “Judicial power has always been included in my royal authority. Since I cannot conduct all trials by myself, I have only entrusted that power to the judges. Are you saying I can’t stand to observe this trial?”

“No, that’s not what we’re…”

The audience and observers were surprised at this unexpected guest, but they did not object to his presence. That they panicked was that the King wasn’t expected to be there. Duke Bayen, the judge, and the prosecution had already sent signals to each other and made up their minds, so the turmoil had subsided.

“Then…Defendants Hugo, Bianca, and Floto, and the firm run by or employing you three, are manufacturing and selling a product called pudding that was developed by Duke Bayen and registered with the Patent Office without his permission,” the judge read out. “At an evening party hosted by his House, the accused colluded with a certain individual in the party, entered Duke Bayen’s residence without permission by posing as delivery people, and then stole a large quantity of Hexen White Porcelain pieces owned by Duke Bayen. The defendants have already admitted these facts today. We shall now hear testimony to corroborate and render a judgment.”

“Hmm~…” another voice interrupted. “That’s certainly strange, isn’t it? I’ll be happy to act as the defense. Since it’s a trial, they’ll need an attorney, won’t they?”

As they wondered who it was, they turned to look and found…

“Prime Minister Dietrich…!?”

“His Grace is their defense attorney?!”

Before the three defendants now stood Prime Minister Dietrich.

Chapter end