Regressor Instruction Manual - Chapter 135. Lies Mixed With Truth (2)
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Chapter 135. Lies Mixed With Truth (2)

‘He noticed!’

If he was an idiot, he probably wouldn’t have noticed what was going on around him, but I knew Ito Sota would catch on since he was a cautious person. The timing wasn’t bad either. Before we could bring him down using the potions, he mentioned it first, so it was the perfect timing for us. Seeing that arrogant look on his face made it really hard for me to hold in my laughter, but of course, I made sure to have a grim look.

‘I’m surprised…’

I had to hypnotize myself.

‘I’m in a crisis right now.’

Displaying a frustrated expression wasn’t easy…

‘Maybe I should take acting class?’

I was certain that I could find an acting school or an actor if I searched through Lindel.

While I was having different thoughts, all the while holding back my laughter, Ito Sota continued as if he was about to deal a decisive blow. He must have felt everyone looking at him because he looked at the audience and seeing him full of confidence made it difficult to label him as a sinner. I saw one of his agents taking out a small potion and without a doubt, it was the potion I made.

“This is the fantasy potion that’s currently being distributed in Japan,” Ito Sota said.

“Please refrain from making remarks that are not related to the trial!” the Chief Justice yelled.

I was glad I told Lee Ji-Hye ahead of time.

Lee Ji-Hye slammed the table as if she was flustered and her actions and expressions made it seem as if she had been caught red-handed.

“Objection! Your Honor, that man is making remarks that aren’t related to this trial!” Lee Ji-Hye yelled.

“That’s not true, Your Honor. What I’m about to tell you will definitely play an important role in this trial and it’s the key issue. Your Honor, please allow me to make my statement,” Ito Sota requested.

The Chief Justice shook his head at Ito Sota’s request, but I guess there was a judge that was on his side. When that judge whispered to the Chief Justice, they nodded as if they didn’t have a choice.

“I’ll allow it,” the Chief Justice said.

“Thank you…”

‘Nice, nice.’

“As I’ve explained before, this potion called fantasy potion is currently being distributed in Japan. It hasn’t been that long since they started selling this, but this potion has been selling on the black market for a long time now. It costs 20 gold per bottle and to some, it may be cheap, but to others, it may be expensive,” Ito Sota explained.

“So, what’s the issue, defendant?”

“The issue is the effect of this potion. Your Honor, just like its name, the potion allows people to see the illusion they want to see, so it’s a type of hallucinogen. Not only that but it’s very addictive,” he added.

“Objection, Your Honor,” Lee Ji-Hye said.

“Please continue…” the judge on their side said.

Her timing to interfere with his statement was perfect. Lee Ji-Hye frowned as if she was angry and her acting was so good that I would even believe her if I had no idea what was going on. Ito Sota looked at Lee Ji-Hye’s expression for a moment before continuing. “Yes. This potion is addictive and it’s almost like a drug.”

‘Bingo!’

Good job, Ito Sota!

I actually wanted to cheer him on.

Now, the problem was how he was going to connect this potion to us. If he was going to forcefully make the connection, then he would be making the wrong choice, but based on his expression, I think there was something more to this, so I decided to continue watching for now.

“The Yamato Guild has been keeping an eye on this potion ever since it started selling on the black market and we worked very hard to figure out the source of this potion. It’s not an exaggeration to call this potion a drug and not only did we find out that this potion had given them an unfair advantage, but we were curious about who was trying to sicken the free city,” Sota explained.

“...”

“We first found a trace on October 1st when the Lindel terrorist attack took place. The plaintiff pegged us as the criminals, but it was a misunderstanding because after our guild investigated it, we found out that Kage, a small guild in the Free City of Celia, were the ones that attacked Mr. Lee Ki-Young,” he said.

‘He sure is talented in talking bullshit.’

“Are you saying you have evidence related to this issue?” the Chief Justice asked.

“I do, Your Honor,” he answered.

Seeing the Chief Justice read the document Ito Sota had carefully prepared made me think that it was very well-made. I was sure it would be difficult for him to fabricate information about a small guild named Kage in a short period of time, so it was likely that he was using the guild as a scapegoat.

“Kage is a guild full of criminals that distribute and make money through illegal items and potions. They’re located all around the city, so they’re considered a troublesome guild within the Free City of Celia. At first, it was just a simple assumption, and even though we were unable to find out why the Kage Guild targeted Mr. Lee Ki-Young, we discovered a small hint about it,” Sota explained even more.

“And that is?”

“We found proof that the Lindel terrorist attack wasn’t a simple terrorist attack but a turf war between drug groups,” he answered.

‘Wow…’

“Defendant, are you saying that…”

“That’s right! The person that smuggled this fantasy potion into Japan, turned the power struggle between drug groups into a terrorist attack, and is the owner of the new guild, Sora, is none other than Mr. Lee Ki-Young,” Sota answered.

‘This is perfect.’

That was the most perfect blow. It was true that I was the owner of the new guild, Sora and it was also true that I was the one who smuggled and distributed the fantasy potion into Japan. The only part that wasn’t true was what he said about the Lindel terrorist attack being a power struggle between drug groups. The way Ito Sota mixed lies with the truth was very familiar to me.

Now, the issue was whether the judges were going to accept them as evidence, but the evidence they had provided was certainly of good quality.

“Mr. Lee Ki-Young, who’s currently sitting in the plaintiff seat with a frown colluded with Kasugano Yuno of the Yozora Guild and created a new guild. The name of that guild is Sora. The only reason why he brought in Kasugano Yuno was to officially distribute the potion and only sell it on the black market. Their plan worked out brilliantly,” Sota said.

‘Correct.’

“They created a system where they could legally distribute this drug called fantasy potion by tricking people that it was a medical potion,” he added.

‘It’s not a drug, but you’re right...’

“In less than a few days, they succeeded in making a net profit of tens of thousands of gold,” he sprinkled some more.

It wasn’t just tens of thousands of gold. We had already obtained a large amount of money, but anyway, this was a surprising situation. I had never imagined that he would find out so much information within a short period of time. It was also a shocker how he had fabricated all these while his movements were restricted. He was definitely a competent person.

When I slightly frowned, Ito Sota continued talking as if he was enjoying it.

“I’m sure you know that the holy knights and our guild had done a separate investigation regarding the recent Juliena incident and based on the investigation, we found something interesting. Kazuma Hiroyuki, who got killed by Juliena, was actually trying to kill Mr. Lee Ki-Young. As such, it’s true that Juliena attacked Kazuma Hiroyuki because it detected him threatening its owner,” Sota explained.

“Defendant, are you saying that you admit to the crime that was committed in the Juliena case?” the Chief Justice asked.

“Yes, it’s my fault for not managing my guild members correctly. Kazuma Hiroyuki had two identities while he was in the Yamato Guild, but since he had been a part of our guild, it’s only right that I receive the punishment for it,” he answered.

“So you’re saying…”

“Kazuma Hiroyuki was also part of the Kage Guild. When the assassination in Lindel ended up being a failure, he tried to assassinate Mr. Lee Ki-Young within the castle and I’m sure the Kage Guild had no choice but to do that. It’s exactly what you’d expect from conflicts between drug groups because if the fantasy potion successfully landed in the market, then the drug the Kage Guild was trying to sell wouldn’t sell at all,” Sota said.

“...”

“I’m sure they wanted to kill Mr. Lee Ki-Young of the Sora Guild no matter the cost,” he added.

What a well-written script. The storyline was so great that he could be called a playwright. He was making the two assassination attempts seem like it was a fight between drug cartels and anyone would enjoy listening to this story.

“Do you have proof that Mr. Lee Ki-Young created and distributed the fantasy potion?” the Chief Justice asked.

“Of course, honorable Chief Justice. The fantasy potion is a variant of the mental healing potion that the Blue Guild used while they were taking control of the Cursed Shrine. If you read the Cursed Shrine control log that the Blue Guild is selling, you’ll see that there’s a big portion that talks about the fantasy potion,” Sota answered.

“Go on, defendant.”

“According to the Blue Guild’s control log, the Cursed Shrine dungeon inflicts hallucination and auditory hallucination after a certain period of time and Mr. Lee Ki-Young believed that to suppress those hallucinations that made people crazy, making them see a different hallucination was the answer. That theory was what led him to create this fantasy potion. The only difference between the potion they used in the Cursed Shrine and the fantasy potion is that the latter’s addictive,” he pointed out.

“Objection, Your Honor! The defendant is trying to cleverly exclude the assassination attempt by changing the subject. The main topic of this trial is the assassination attempt at the social gathering, not the fantasy potion.” Lee Ji-Hye pointed out.

“That’s not true, Your Honor. I’m certain all of these are related and I swear on the Benigoa goddess that I wasn’t behind the assassination attempt that happened at the social gathering. It’s difficult to tell why that happened to Mr. Lee Ki-Young’s body, but I believe this incident is also related to the Kage Guild. If you consider the connection between this fantasy potion and Mr. Lee Ki-Young, it wouldn’t be strange for them to target him. The reason why Mr. Lee Ki-Young framed me and my guild was that he knew we were investigating the fantasy potion. I think we should consider the possibility that the assassination attempt had also been planned by him,” Sota explained.

‘Great…’

“I know this trial isn’t a trial about the fantasy potion, Your Honor, but the fact that this potion is related to all of these is something that can’t be denied. Additionally, if you can consider how dangerous this potion is, I believe we need to hear from Mr. Lee Ki-Young about what the truth really is,” he suggested.

Ito Sota was perfect and I guess he was greatly satisfied with what he had done because he nodded. Naturally, the audience started sympathizing with him and I understood why they reacted that way because the evidence Ito Sota had presented showed that I was the bad guy. I couldn’t say that all of the evidence was fabricated because half of it was true. I wasn’t sure how he was able to get so much information about me, but I wanted to applaud him for digging deeper and deeper to eventually come to this conclusion.

Now, it was my time to talk. When I glanced at Ito Sota, I noticed him smirking and he looked as if he was certain that he had already won this trial. Obviously, I was no longer frowning. Instead, there was a smile on my face.

‘Pffft!’

I looked at him with a smile and nodded as if I was thanking him. The way he looked flustered the more my expression changed was amusing to watch and the moment I started talking with composure, Ito Sota frowned.

“It’s true that I distributed them, Your Honor.”