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

I tried my best to hold in my laughter and as soon as I finished my sentence, I noticed the audience talking amongst themselves. Father Basel looked calm, but the others were surprised by the sudden change in the situation. It was a natural response because if people discovered their kind neighbor was a drug offender, most of them would react that way. I was a bit embarrassed to say this, but my image within the empire was extremely good.

I guess Ito Sota thought I had something up my sleeve because he quickly started talking. “How shameless are you to confidently confess your sins? Your Honor, is there a need to hear any more words from this man? The defendant and plaintiff have clearly changed so let’s arrest him and follow the procedure…”

“Arrest and follow the procedure? It’s true that I distributed them, but I have never confessed my sins. You’re still the defendant,” I pointed out.

“If selling drugs in the free city isn’t a sin, then what is? I guess you can say that making an innocent person an assailant is a sin as well,” Sota said.

“What I’m trying to tell you is that I don’t understand what you’re saying, Mr. Ito Sota,” I told him.

“It’s just like I’ve explained earlier, Mr. Lee Ki-Young. Didn’t you just confess that you distributed the drugs?” he asked.

“So what is it that you’re trying to say, Mr. Sota?” I asked.

“If you’re going to pretend…”

“The fantasy potion isn’t a drug. It’s not,” I said, interrupting him.

I wanted to laugh so bad when I saw Ito Sota’s flustered face. He had no idea what my thought process was or what I was going to do at all. He probably thought about the possibility of me bluffing, but since he was cautious, he was making his move based on the possibility that I had a plan.

“Your Honor, the fantasy potion I distributed can’t be considered a drug. Please allow me to explain to you and everyone here about the fantasy potion I’ve been distributing,” I requested.

“We… definitely need an explanation,” the Chief Justice said.

“Your Honor!”

“Please explain…”

Awesome.

“The majority of Ito Sota’s testimony is correct. I created a mental healing potion while I was in the Cursed Shrine and it’s also true that I created this fantasy potion based on that healing potion. I created a new guild with Kasugano Yuno and have been distributing the potions through that guild. I can’t confirm whether the potion has been sold in the black market, but I’m sure it’s most likely true,” I started.

“Please continue…”

“Obviously, there are more lies than truth in a testimony. Sota lied about how Lindel’s terrorist attack was a fight between drug groups and he also lied about how Kazuma Hiroyuki was a member of the Kage Guild and of course, he lied about how I planned the assassination attempt,” I explained.

“Your Honor!” Ito Sota yelled.

“Please be quiet, defendant. Just like your testimony earlier, the plaintiff’s testimony will be important to this trial as well,” the Chief Justice said with a frown.

After maintaining a good relationship with the Chief Justice, I guess he wanted our side to win this trial, and seeing him discreetly rooting for me energized me.

“Sota’s biggest lie was his absurd statement about how the fantasy potion is a drug,” I told them.

“Do you have proof?” the judge asked.

“To be exact, the fantasy potion was created with the goal of treating people,” I added.

“Treating people?”

“That’s right. Just like the mental healing potion I used in the Cursed Shrine, I created the fantasy potion and distributed them with the goal of treating people. The defendant testified that the Kage Guild and I were fighting over territory all this time, but that’s not the case. Ito Sota’s guild was actually the one that joined hands with the Kage Guild,” I explained.

The story about the Yamato Guild and Kage Guild becoming allies was the story I originally planned on telling and even though I didn’t have proof I could submit right now, I thought that talking about it would be more effective.

“...”

“I’m sure all of you heard it from somewhere...”

‘Because I’m the one that spread it.’

“The rumors about the Yamato Guild being involved in slave trade, organ trafficking, illegal drug handling, and managing the black market.” I continued.

“I object, Your Honor! It's a groundless rumor and the evidence to be submitted isn’t enough to be used as proof!” Ito Sota yelled.

“You’ll know about the biggest evidence later because this is just the beginning. Your Honor, I’ll start from the time when Kasugano Yuno of the Yozora Guild came to find me. It’s a story about a drug that was being distributed illegally within Japan for a very long time now and yes, it’s actually called a drug and not a fantasy potion. The Free City of Celia was already exposed to this illegal drug and Kasugano Yuno told me that many people had always been in pain because of it,” I explained.

“...”

“She came to me asking for a remedy,” I added.

“I see…”

“That’s right, the fantasy potion is a remedy for the illegal drug, which is now difficult to find in Celia. Not only was the Blue Guild and Yozora Guild curing the drug addicts, but we also wanted to find out where this illegal drug was being distributed from. That’s probably when it all started,” I said.

“What are you saying, plaintiff?” the Chief Justice asked.

“The reason why they constantly threatened to assassinate me was that they didn’t want me to find out the truth. Aside from the Lindel terrorist attack, I’ve received many threats as well. We were having a hard time finding out exactly which group was managing Japan’s drug market, but thanks to the assassination attempts, I realized many things. As it was mentioned at the beginning of the trial, the Yamato Guild were the ones that tried to assassinate me, but actually, it could’ve been the Kage Guild. I’m referring to the Kage Guild member that received the order from the Yamato Guild,” I added.

“Everything is a lie, Your Honor. There’s no proof that the fantasy potion actually cures the existing drug circulating in Celia and I’m curious as to how the addictive fantasy potion could cure people addicted to that drug.” Ito Sota objected.

“Why are you claiming that it can’t cure it, Mr. Ito Sota? The fantasy potion has already proven its effectiveness in the Cursed Shrine and what do you mean by addictive? Please watch what you say. The fantasy potion is a little bit addictive, but calling it a drug is the same thing as calling wine a drug as well,” I told him.

“That’s…”

“It was originally released as medicine and if someone didn’t intentionally stop the distribution, then it would have been distributed to everyone already. Your Honor, the reason why Ito Sota constantly threatened me was that he was trying to stop me from distributing the fantasy potion as a medicine,” I proclaimed.

“That’s absurd, Your Honor. The alchemists in our guild found weed components in the potion which turns it into an addictive hallucinogen.” Ito Sota defended himself.

I couldn’t help but be surprised. I knew they were going to try and reverse-engineer the potion to find out its ingredients, but I never thought they would actually find the catalyst I used. Seeing them utilize competent alchemists was worthy of applause, but there wasn’t an alchemist more competent than me on the continent.

“Since you’ve already discovered the ingredients, I can’t help but be doubtful about your actions. Your Honor, despite discovering the ingredients, he’s still calling the potion a drug.” I pointed out.

“The potion contains weed, so what else should we call it, Mr. Lee Ki-Young?” Ito Sota asked.

“Mr. Ito Sota, did you thoroughly investigate the potion? If you did, then you wouldn’t be able to say the words you said just now; no, you shouldn’t be saying them,” I told him.

“What…”

“The fantasy potion was made out of holy water, Mr. Ito Sota,” I declared.

“...”

“...”

“...”

Including Ito Sota, everyone became very quiet and I wanted to laugh because of how funny the situation was. They finally realized that this trial had become a bit strange. Ito Sota started to panic and I noticed him looking at Father Basel as well as the other religious figures.

‘Pffft!’

He didn’t seem like someone who had the power to control a city.

“That’s what medicines are, Mr. Ito Sota. The weed component was included for the purpose of treating the effects of the nasty drug circulating in Celia. Nothing more, nothing less. The holy water that the Benigoa goddess has provided purifies harmful elements in our bodies so as an alchemist, it made my work easier,” I explained.

“...”

“There’s no need to make a different medicine. The goddess’s holy water does more than just cure one’s body, and the monsters in the Free City of Celia did more than just consume illegal drugs. We can also prove that the fantasy potion is a gift from the goddess, Mr. Ito Sota,” I said.

“...”

“How dare you call the goddess’s gift a drug? This is blasphemy! Don’t you all agree?” I exclaimed, asking everyone.

A few remained quiet, but it didn’t take long for the people to start an uproar because Helena, the heresy inquisitor I was close to, yelled.

“It’s blasphemy!”

The moment she yelled, the other inquisitors did the same and everyone started yelling.

“It’s blasphemy! It’s blasphemy!”

“Heresy! Heresy!”

“It’s blasphemy!”

I thought maybe heresy was a bit too much, but they were helping me.

‘Pffft!’

The trial was so fun that I wanted to laugh and the panicking Ito Sota quickly tried to explain.

“I-I was ignorant for not knowing that the fantasy potion was made out of holy water. If I knew that, I would have never made that statement, Your Honor. Father Basel, you know just how much I believe in the Benigoa goddess, don’t you?”

‘It’s better for him to make excuses like this…’

“Honorable priests, please forgive me for my ignorance and know that I didn’t have any other intentions,” Ito Sota quickly explained his side.

Father Basel was the religious figure that currently had the highest rank and as the cardinal, he could hold a religious trial, so it was understandable for Ito Sota to constantly beg in front of him, but unfortunately, Father Basel had long been on my side. 

Well, apart from that, Ito Sota’s excuse was actually reasonable. His comment about how the fantasy wasn’t a drug was denying everything he said so far, so basically, he believed denying his testimony would give him a better chance of survival.

‘It’s possible.’

If Ito Sota said he didn’t know, then there was room to make excuses.

‘The problem is...’

This wasn’t the end of my preparations. The twist was that Father Basel had actually taken a dose of the potion already.

What did he take? It was the precious wine I prepared for him...

‘And it was an extra fine brand, too. Hahahahaha.’

The fantasy potion allowed the person to see what they wanted to see and as the pharmacist, I had the privilege of letting them see what they wanted to see, just like when we were in the Cursed Shrine. It was possible for a few religious figures to think that they saw divine revelation after drinking the holy water from the heavens and it also applied to Father Basel, who was a very religious person.

‘What kind of illusion do you think I made Father Basel see? Huh? You demon worshiper.’

“As of now, this case is beyond the jurisdiction of the imperial court and under the authority of the Holy Empire’s Vatican second cardinal, I officially request Chief Justice James to open a religious trial here.” Father Basel announced.

“That’s…”

This was a small secret between Father Basel and me.

‘Demon worshiper, Ito Sota!’

I hope you liked my heartfelt gift to you, Ito Sota.