Trial

On the way to the trial, Yoshi lamented his situation.

Stuck in this unknown world, he could trust not a single soul. Especially not ones with the same appearance of what he feared the most.

Here he was, captured by one of them with no escape in sight, being dragged to a trial which accused him of being a human spy attacking someone who was allegedly a member of the royal guard.
Did he actually attack it? Nope. He was the one who was attacked.

Only in self-defense did he fight back, although that didn't really end well for him either.

Rescued by someone who had mistaken him for a helpless street rat, or so Yoshi had thought, until he was tricked into revealing his identity, which further strengthened their claim of Yoshi being a human spy.

After all that had transpired, you could only call his situation lamentable.

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The footsteps of a couple of guards walking alongside two very ordinary people didn't really startle the spectators, as they went by with their daily lives.

This feeling of being arrested was kind of new for Yoshi, although he hadn't quite been arrested yet. He thought the civilians would pay a little more attention to them, warning their kids to not be like him, or whatever. But the reception was absolute disinterest.

Maybe this was a common occurrence. Yoshi wasn't too happy by the idea, but he also couldn't care less.

Anyways, getting back from all the distraction, the problem at hand was to get out of this situation somehow.
Yoshi didn't want to be found guilty, because he really wasn't. However, he had no way to explain the situation.

According to what the 「thing」 that was sheltering him temporarily had told him, apparently, entry to the capital is forbidden to humans.
Meaning the only way to get into the city would be infiltration, which shouldn't be a feat normal humans would even attempt.

Plus, the fact that he had a robe that hid his true appearance truly was no means something a normal human could obtain, either. At least from the reactions Yoshi invited.

However, it was not as if he had absolutely no idea what to do here.

Assimilating all the information he had gotten from the 「thing」, he knew that he would tested with the help of a lie detector.
Of course, if it was some judge or whatever else they would use in this bizarre world, they could just ignore his pleas and judge him to be guilty.

But a lie detector is a machine.
It can make mistakes in judgement. However, whatever it declares to be the truth shall undeniably be accepted as fact. In fact, if they didn't accept the result, he would have to resort to using his last wish and hopefully get out of the situation.

If it worked in the same way as what he expected, Yoshi had a way out.
He could bluff through this situation.

And if it it didn't work, he would have to wish for something that would help him escape, hopefully straight out of the kingdom. That would be the dream, but Yoshi had his doubts on whether it would work.

He didn't want to get to that point in the first place, but this situation was just one wrong step away from disaster, so he had to be ready for anything.

The annoying thing was, careless lies would get him no where, as in when he attempted to deceive the 「thing」. He would have to come with a completely different lie that could explain the entirety of this situation without revealing the fact that he doesn't belong in this world.

The 「Goddess」 hadn't specified any penalties for what would happen if he were to reveal this, but that didn't mean that anything goes. Besides, he had an ominous feeling that he shouldn't really talk about that topic at all.

Anyway, lie detectors usually function on the principle that people get nervously excited when they lie. It would measure his excitement and where there would be spikes, what he said at the time of the spike could be assumed to be a lie.

...Or so he remembered seeing in a video.

If what he had seen could be applied to the lie detector he would be going against, to fool it would be no mere task.
Not only would he have to come up with a lie, Yoshi had a very vague and dangerous area he was allowed to tread. Any blatant lies would hurt his chances of survival, and any careless truth would bring out unforeseen consequences.

And if he couldn't carry out a perfect execution, he was as good as dead already.
The unbelievable amount of pressure that he could not make a single mistake automatically made him really, really nervous.

But Yoshi could not falter here.
He could not die here.
And he definitely couldn't ask for help from the 「Goddess」.

He set it to be his final resort if everything went wrong, and he had to run again.
He had to save at least one wish for emergencies, as he still had seven years of turmoil ahead of him.

So he would use every single piece of information he had gotten.
He would squeeze his brain of every drop of his intelligence.

And he would give them what could only be called...

「The Perfect Lie.」

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The room was really dark and gloomy, with the only natural light peeking in through the netted windows. Not to mention that there was a really strong lingering scent all over the place.

Yoshi didn't realize that it wasn't a single scent, but rather a multitude of scents mixing and meshing together, forming a mismatching amalgamation.
For him, it was simply a violation of the sensors in his nose.

Now, why they were conducting this trial in a clinic rather than the royal court was completely unknown to Yoshi. He didn't really know if there actually was a royal court in this country, but he thought that there should be one at least, if they had a criminal justice system.
Unless, there wasn't one, but that would contradict the current situation.

He hypothesized that it was to keep a low profile and not cause too much uproar amongst the public. After all, if you see this situation from a civilian's perspective, you wouldn't want to live in fear of the possibility of a spy breaking in illegally.

If the civilians found out that a human was actually wandering the streets of the capital, it would surely lead to a big chaos. Yoshi was even asked to put on his cape for the time being.
Although, the more confidentially this would be handled, the more convenient for Yoshi.

He would not have to worry about telling lies in front of a large audience, which may or may not indirectly lead to undesirable results.

They had Yoshi sit down and pulled out something that looked less like a machine, much less a lie detector, and more like a gramophone with a seismometer attached to it.

- Can't say I expected that.

"Here, meet my good friend, Doctor Tot. He is the one who healed you up and helped you rehabilitate after I found you all beat up in the alleyway. He will be lending his lie detector for your trial."

He looked up to get a good look, but once again, all he could see was static. He was sick of looking at them and his eyes hurt, so he averted them immediately.

"It's not a lie detector. It's just a device that can also serve as one. I would like for you to stop barging in here and repurposing my instruments."

The demi-human who this guy referred to as "Doctor Tot" looked at him intently, and unbeknownst to Yoshi, made a satisfied face.

"I see you have recovered. It makes me happy to see kids like you up and running again. Though, you should probably stop picking fights with people you can't take on, you know?"

"I wasn't the one who-"

"I figured. Telling me won't help you. That's what these guys are for."

Tot turned to the guards, and signaled them to sit down for the questioning.
And so began the trial.

"We will ask questions until we are aware of the whole situation, and only when the doc says you're all good is when we let you go, got it?"

"...Understood."

The guard, who to Yoshi sounded formal, smirked.

"Good, you seem to know who you're talking to. Alright, ready or not, first question. Wait... you're a human, aren't you? First off, take off that disguise of yours."

As much as he was unwilling to, he had to comply, so he took it off, and gave it to the guard sitting in front of him.

"Say, where did you get this thing? It looks really well-made, doesn't it? A robe that makes you look like a demi-human, is something pretty unheard of, don't you think?"

"...I was given one."
"By whom, exactly?"
"I don't really know them."
"I see... what's the read, doc?"

"Based, on the graph, he doesn't seem to be lying so far."

"Can't be helped then, huh? So, state your name and age."
"M-My name is Yoshiharu Takamori... and I am 17 years old."
"And, where do you come from exactly?"
"...From my village. It's pretty far from the capital... near the m-mountain range in the to-top-east corner... of the map."
"I see... what do you do for a living?"

Yoshi could tell that these were both for extracting information, and to calm him down.
However, this was the part where he would have to start lying.

"...My dad's a... farmer. I-I was to follow... in his footsteps."
"So, son of a farmer who was to follow in his footsteps, how did you end up in here?"

Up until now, he had been looking down facing forward. But at that question, Yoshi averted his eyes.

"Gulp... I have been... told to keep it a s-secret no matter what. Do I have to speak?"
"Sorry, but rules are rules. Can't have a human in the capital, not even with special permission. The only one who can allow one to enter the capital is the king himself."

At this point, the other guard spoke up.

"If you refuse to comply, we will have to assume that you are a spy and throw into a cell until further instructions. So, if you want the best for yourself, you better speak out the truth right this instant."

- Well, it was worth a shot. Should have figured it wouldn't work.

"...I understand. I will talk."

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Being left with no other choice, Yoshi agreed to tell his fabricated story.
He really wanted to avoid all of this, because most of it was a lie.

"...It was by an accident."
"Accident?"
"They chose me as... a living test experiment."
"For what purpose?"
"They wanted to test something called 「teleportation」."

Maybe because they had never heard of the word before, Yoshi received surprised and confused looks. Yoshi wasn't prepared for this, so he tried to explain in a panic, forgetting what he was meant to do.

"Y-You see...! It is teleporting... I mean...! You... uhhh... go from one place to another without actually... going there?"

It was no surprise that they were only further confused by that.

"Eh... What is that? Never heard of it, don't get it."
"In fact, even you seem confused as to what it is?"
"I... also didn't get it at first. But... I swear! I was back there and suddenly... it was like Fwushh!... and I ended up here!"

...That was a terrible explanation.
But it seemed like they somewhat understood.

"So... it's like you move from here to there... without walking through it physically?"
"I b-believe so, y-yes... Sorry, I don't get it either..."

Yoshi knew he could count on the nerdy sounding Doctor Tot to understand his words... Well, he didn't, but he would take what he could get gladly.

"That's some absurd talk, isn't it? Well, we aren't really that good with our brains, so..."
"It's why we got stuck with this job that pays like shit..."
"I... I see... That must be rough..."

- I don't know what is going on anymore...

"But is such a thing really possible? I can't imagine any magic to be capable of this... uhh... teli...tele... teliporta... shon?"
"Never mind the name, really does sound like an impossible feat. I could understand you were just going really fast with something like 「Wind」 magic. But transportation without moving?"
"Human minds are truly beyond our comprehension. They come up with things we could never see even in our dreams."

As everyone in the room bar Yoshi pondered on what they had been told, Yoshi himself wondered if he had accidentally stepped into a landmine.
Was it ok to speak of such a thing?

It wasn't fully a lie, because it was really like Fwushh! as he entered into this world.
But still, this could result into a lot of chaos if word got out.
Yoshi didn't really care too much as long as he could get away with it, but that was what he was worried of the most.

What if he couldn't get away with this?
He was messing with both the 「Kingdom of Humans」 and the 「Kingdom of Demi-Humans」 with this lie of his, both of which would corner him if the truth got out.
Even if he couldn't speak the truth, this could probably end up having worse consequences.

"Anyway, as interesting as this topic is, this must be new technology developed by humans. If what you're saying is really the truth, this is big news. What does the machine say, doc? Is such a thing possible, or has this boy gone insane?"

"Hmmm.... such a thing... maybe through... but is it really possible? To wish for such a power... and to be able to get it..."
"Uhhh... doc? Anyone home?"

Doctor Tot seemed to be spacing out... or rather, he seemed like he was deep into thought.
The guard pinched his nose, maybe to snap him out of his trance.

"?! Oh... umm... sorry, I got lost in thought. It truly is amazing how such a thing can be possible. Teleportation, huh? I'll be sure to keep that in mind."
"That's not... what we're talking about? We need to know if the boy is telling the truth. Also, we kinda need you to be here in this room, if possible."
"Let's see... there is one spike in the graph."

Yoshi's hair stood up in place as he got goosebumps hearing that.
Not noticing that he raised his guard fearing that he might have gotten caught, the guy who had temporarily sheltered him spoke out.

"A spike means that he was lying, right? When was it?"
"Uhhh, no... I mean, yes you are correct about that. ...But this is just an immediate spike that falls back down immediately. Too short for... Takamori, was it? For him to be lying, I think there's a low chance."

"So, he isn't lying?"
"Probably a fault of the device. Maybe it got a sudden jolt or something..."

Yoshi breathed in, and then out...
- AAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!?!?!?!?!????!!!!
... As he screamed inside.

His heartbeat was actually going crazy.
Triple digits was left behind seconds ago. Metaphorically, of course.

"Ah. It is spiking again."
"Eh, what? He isn't saying anything, though?"
"Probably his heart rate freaking out. Wouldn't put it past him, given this situation."
"!! You're ok, see?! Don't freak out, please!"

The guard went into a panic as well when he heard Tot's hypothesis.
- It's all you guys' fault I'm going through this in the first place?!
Yoshi wasn't having any of it internally, but he steeled himself.

"...Sorry. I... just don't want to die."
"Mmm, yeah. We got that covered, so loosen up, ok?"

Everything aside, it seemed that the brainwashing convincing was working so far.
The guards, along with the guy who sheltered him, who now seemed to have a clear understanding of the (made up) situation, seemed to pity him.

"Anyway, please keep this conversation in this room, and don't tell anyone else, please? I will probably be killed if they find out."
"You've been saying 「they」 for a while now. You don't know who they are?"

- Well now, this isn't something I through very well, did I?

"I don't know who exactly they were... but they had the royal crest, so we couldn't go against their wishes."

Yoshi had no idea what to say, so he made up something on the spot.
Such types of experiments are usually conducted by someone like a royal scientist who went mad in the quest for knowledge, right?

Maybe he should have said something about getting kidnapped for an illegal experiment?
Too late for that now.
Would have earned him some more pity, though.

"Anyway, regarding your request from earlier..."
"?"
"Sorry, can't really keep silent about it, can we?"
Yoshi's ears jumped up as he heard something that sounded like it would cause a lot of trouble.

"Rumors about a human appearing in the capital have already spread, and there are just too many witnesses. They'll surely ask for answers."
"And if the people start asking for answers, our king has the duty to answer."
"Meaning we have a duty to report to the king."

What the guards were saying is that there was no way this matter doesn't reach at least one other person. That is, whether the king would choose to divulge the same information to the people, was ultimately up to the king himself.

Yoshi really did read the room and realize that this was a duty the guards had to see through to the very end. But he couldn't help but be scared of it.

"But then... what will happen to me?"
"Don't worry about that part. We'll try to convince the king not to take harsh action towards you. You can count on us for that, right?"
"Yeah, we won't let someone innocent get caught up in national affairs."

That was a relief, to say the least.
These guards, who seemed to not care the least about him, and were rather angry, now were his biggest ally.

Yoshi really didn't want his lies to reach unpredictable, influential, and potentially dangerous people, but that was an ideal too far away from his reach.
For now, he had to settle with this, otherwise who knows what reactions would be waiting for him.

"...I understand. Thank you for your help."

Well, with that, the case should have been closed.
It should have been, but...
There was one final surprise waiting for the unexpecting Yoshi, who was breathing a sigh of relief as the kind doctor slowly put away the lie detector.

"Man, now that all's well and done, and I have heard your side of the story, I kinda want to apologize to you... My bad for going at you back in the alley."

"Eh?"

"Yeah... me too. Sorry for throwing that knife at you earlier. Feel like I hit a bad spot back there."
"What?"

So... were the two guards the reason for his plight back in the alleyway?
Realizing that he was in the same room as the things who were trying to kill him, he was struck by a worse fear than when he thought he was found out.

Completely shocked out of his mind, he nearly fainted.
Or he would have, if he didn't accidentally bite his tongue as he was falling.
He planted his face right into the table, before getting back up.

"Ouch... It hurts."
"Why did you do that? There's blood coming out of your mouth..."

Tot shook his head, as he held Yoshi's face and examined it closely.

"Wait did you cut your tongue?! Don't do thigs like banging your head on the table so suddenly, you're going to hurt yourself real bad, you know?"

He said as he brought his hand close to Yoshi's face.
A warm light blossomed from there, as Yoshi felt like he were being gently caressed.
Slowly, the pain washed away, as the wound faded into oblivion.

"Is this... 「Healing」 magic?"
"Correct. I used it to heal your wounds back earlier too."
"Never mind that! You guys were trying to kill me, you know?!"

Remembering the situation he was in, he forgot the fact that he bit his own tongue on accident and snapped at the guards. He didn't have any right to, and he definitely didn't have the high grounds when it came to combat.
But he just couldn't take it. He had to say it.

"We weren't really to kill you. We were just trying to apprehend you."
"You said that you had to resort to extreme measures when the boy started dodging your attacks, didn't you?"

"Oh yeah. I didn't think you would put up that much of a fight, so I had to up my game too."
"Speaking of which, what did you do if you got this guy to get serious? Humans aren't really that strong, you know? And if I recall correctly, you said you were the son of a farmer, right?"

- Uh oh.

Now this was a difficult task.
Why, oh why was he not allowed to have it easy for one second?
Yoshi could only laugh at himself by now.

But he didn't have the time to mock himself and his fate.
He had to say something, anything. If he were to say something right now, they were more likely to believe him than if they brought this up in the beginning.

But how could he do it?
How could he explain the miracle of a Goddess?
Thinking about it, Yoshi decided to completely honest about it, except he wouldn't mention the Goddess specifically.

"I... felt like I had been taken over by something... like my body was moving on its own..."
"That sounds... extremely creepy if you ask me."
"Sounds like something humans would come up with. Is it another thing this robe can do?"

...What kind of things were humans coming up with in this world?
Yoshi felt a chill up his spine thinking of the monstrosities humans were creating in order for such a thing to not be considered a miracle.

- Maybe they're just evolving in a different direction?

Yoshi wished from the bottom of his heart that he didn't get to be a part of any of that.
But that went contrary to his wish of going to the 「Kingdom of Humans」.

"That aside, you should probably stay in this guy's house for the time being."
"We'll do the whole reporting thing, and tell you of the king's decision, and you can decide what you want to do next after that."

The guards wrapped up the trial, and started to get ready to leave.
"With that, we'll be taking our leave, so you should take care too, alright?"
They then left without a trace, as quietly as the wind.

And with that, Yoshi finally hoped for things to settle down a little.
It had been a hectic ride, from the very beginning in the forest to this very moment in the clinic.
He had to face a lot of ups and downs, although the balance between the ups and the downs was really one-sided, if he were to be completely honest.

Only one thing left to do, before he would have to go back.
Yoshi turned to the guy who had saved him from the guards' onslaught, and sheltered him for 3 days straight while he was knocked out unconscious.

"What's your name again?"

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Author's Corner:

You ever have that feeling where you have hundreds of ideas in your head about how the scenario is going to progress, but when you sit down to compile it into a manuscript, you got nothing? That's been me for the past year.

That said, about the chapter. This sort of thing is probably more separated in an arc, like the complex situation building up, with the solution near the end. But the resolution ended up being early (it's been what, 4 chapters?). I had no choice though, I couldn't have him imprisoned before the trial because he would probably die of boredom.

Also, I just realized how big of a moron I was, and added chapter numbers to my chapter titles, not realizing they are added automatically. Tee-hee.