The Trial Continues

Earth land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Crocus.

April 18, x785.

Shortly after he finished his opening statement, Alfonzo took his seat. However, the man representing the Magic Council in this trial took his time to get up. And when the people in the court room saw his face, it was obvious to see why.

Apparently, he was not told of all the things the Magic Council had done to wrong Fairy Tail. Or rather, the more likely truth was that he was told a watered down version of the events.

Still, he eventually stood up and made his opening statement, as well. Though, it was clearly not as impactful as Alfonzo's.

Then, after the opening statements were made, Fairy Tail was given the right to summon their first witness, Yajima. And everything went downhill from the Magic Council for there.

Alfonzo asked Yajima about the incident when the Magic Council fired the Etherion on the island off the coast of Caelum. In response, Yajima explained that the idea was put forth by Jellal Fernandes, who was going by the name Siegrain at the time. He explained that he was against the firing of the Etherion from the start, and how he voted against it when it came to that, as well.

Yajima also explained that out of all the members of the Council, that he was the only one who voted against firing the Etherion. He also went on to mention that because he was a former member of Fairy Tail, his opinions on most matters were often dismissed without getting much in the way of consideration.

Then, when Alfonzo was done with his questions, the Magic Council's representative cross referenced him. And honestly, there was not much to ask. Especially since there were reports about everything that Yajima said submitted as evidence. So, after a few meaningless questions, Yajima was allowed to leave the stand.

The questioning of all the other witnesses Alfonzo called followed a similar pattern. Alfonzo would ask some questions, the witness would reply with answers backed up by evidence, and the defense would ask a few questions that had little to no effect on the trial's outcome.

Eventually, Alfonzo called Gran Doma to the stand. And after he was sworn in, Alfonzo asked his first question.

"Chairman Gran Doma, please tell us, why were the naval fleet and the Fourth Custody Enforcement Unit anchored off the coast of Tenrou Island during the most recent S-Class Promotion Exam." Alfonzo requested.

Before answering, Gran Doma took a deep breath, then he shot a glare at Org, who was seated among the rest of the members of the Magic Council. Though, they were also glaring at him contemptuously.

"*Sigh* It's because not even the Magic Council was made aware of Grimoire Heart's attack on Fairy Tail until the day of the attack." Gran Doma replied, sounding ashamed of what he just said.

Hearing Gran Doma's response, Alfonzo could not help but feel anger bubbling up to the surface. Of course, he had seen the evidence the Magic Council side submitted. So, he knew that Org had taken it upon himself to hide the information about Grimoire Heart's attack. And that meant that Org had jumped straight to the top of his shit list.

"If that's the case, then why were the naval fleet and the Custody Enforcement Unit anchored there?" Alfonzo asked.

"Because they were ordered to do so by Org, who had hidden the information away from the rest of the Magic Council." Gran Doma replied.

"I see…" Alfonzo replied with suppressed rage. "Then, I guess we'll have to wait until Org comes up to the stand to get the full story."

Though Alfonzo wanted to question Gran Doma about it, the last thing he wanted to hear was "Objection! Hearsay!" from the other side of the court room. Especially since he had yet to have the chance to shout "Objection!" himself.

Then, after a few more questions, the defense was allowed to cross examine Gran Doma, which ended like the other witnesses did, with little to help their case.

After that, Alfonzo questioned all the guild masters and former guild masters in attendance as character witnesses, which painted a rather bad image of the Magic Council. Basically, they stated that the magic Council never really took the complaints from the guilds seriously. Instead, they threatened to disband any guild that made too much of a ruckus about a ruling or law that they found unfair.

And like before, the Magic Council's representative could not do much to prove otherwise.

"The Prosecution rests." Alfonzo said after all the witnesses from his side had been called.

"Very well." Toma said from his spot on the high platform. "Then, we'll use this opportunity as a chance to break for lunch. Report back here in an hour. At which point, we will resume the proceedings."

With that, the trial went into recess. However, nothing of note took place during the break. So, after an hour, everyone reassembled in the court room.

"The defense may call its first witness." Toma declared, officially resuming the trial.

From that point, the man representing the Magic Council called forth his witnesses, which were all members of the Magic Council, former and present. And during his questioning, he asked questions that painted the Council in a positive light.

However, when Alfonzo got his chance to cross examine, his questions highlighted the Council's incompetence. For example, with every witness, he asked the same question.

"How is it that one man, by himself, could stem the information flow about a group of the most wanted criminals on the continent?"

Needless to say, none of the members of the Magic Council had a proper answer to that question. Which led the people present in the court room to believe Alfonzo's claim that the Magic Council, as an organization, was incompetent and corrupt.

Then, as the last witness, Org was called to the stand. No one was sure why he was called. But they all guessed that it was in an attempt to paint his actions in a different light. Unfortunately, because Org had been imprisoned in the Magic Council's prison for the last four months, he was less than cooperative. As a result, it only made the Magic Council's standing in the people's eyes even worse.

Eventually, the Magic Council's representative ended the questioning early to cut his losses. And naturally, that gave Alfonzo the opportunity to cross examine Org.

To everyone's surprise, however, as soon as Alfonzo stood in front of Org, the man lost it.

"Damn it!" Org shouted. "None of this would have happened if your group of ruffians had simply allowed yourselves to be disbanded!"

Org's hysterical shouting naturally caught everyone off guard. Especially since most people could not understand exactly why Org had been so against Fairy Tail despite the fact that they had cleaned up their act over the past few years.

"And what gives your guild the right to have a wizard like the Maiden of the Sky?" Org continued. "With a wizard like her as one of my subordinates, so much more good could have been done for Ishgar. And I and the rest of the Council would have been able to remain healthy longer to continue serving the continent."

At that point, Doranbolt, who had been tasked with kidnapping Wendy during the S-Class Promotion Exam, had the opportunity presented itself, blanched. From what Org told him, she was to be saved from losing her life during the Grimoire Heart attack so that she could be sent to give relief to those hurt in disasters, whether natural or manmade. But it seemed that org only wanted to keep her as a personal healer for himself and the Council.

Meanwhile, Ur, who had taken Wendy in after the truth about Cait Shelter was revealed, was seething. Her loss of emotional stability was even causing the temperature in the court room to drop drastically.

"Mom, calm down." Ultear whispered in hre mother's ear while wrapping her in a tight hug. "Thee's no way Alfonzo is going to let that guy off the hook for that."

Still, Org, as if he were unaffected by the fluctuations in temperature, continued ranting.

"And you!" Org shouted while pointing at Alfonzo. "Why couldn't you just die? You're like a cockroach. Not even the Etherion or Grimoire Heart could kill you. If it had, those patents would have been the Magic Council's. And they would have been put to much better use than to line the pockets of a ruffian from a ruffian gild! But no---"

After reaching that point, the room was washed over by a potent killing intent, causing Org to finally faulter. But not only Org, but almost everyone in the room was also affected in one way or another by the killing intent. And when they finally tracked it to its source, they found Elicia glaring at Org with the promise of death in her eyes.

"Calm down, Elicia." Alfonzo, the only person not affected by Elicia's killing intent, said calmly. "He's going to get what's coming to him. And there's no way around it. Not after that outburst."

Hearing that, Elicia's killing intent slowly receded. However, she continued to glare at Org with hatred.

"So, you're telling me that because I had no next of kin, you had been targeting me for my patents." Alfonzo asked, seemingly unbothered by everything that just happened.

However, Org remained silent, refusing to answer Alfonzo's question. As it turned out, Elicia's killing intent was enough to bring him out of his madness. Unfortunately, it was too late.

"Well, I guess the prosecution rests." Alfonzo said as he turned away from Org. "Since he basically answered all my questions before I had the chance to ask them."

With that, Org was allowed to leave the stand. And he did so with his head lowered. Meanwhile, the rest of the Council looked at him as if they were disgusted that they shared positions in the same organization.

And with Org's testimony, the defense had no more witnesses to call to the stand. As a result, Toma called for another break in the proceedings to have dinner. Then, after another hour, the court reconvened.

And with the trial commencing once again, both sides were given the opportunity to give a closing statement, with the Magic Council representative going first. Though, he really did not have much he could say to save his clients.

Then, once the magic Council's representative was finished, Alfonzo once against stood from his seat, straightened his tie, and strode to the center of the court room.

'Damn it, we've been at this all day.' Alfonzo grumbled internally. 'And I didn't get the chance to shout Objection even once.'

["Quit crying and just bring this shit show to an end!"] riot shouted in annoyance.

["For once I agree with the kid."] Bedlam added. ["Just end this so we can put that old man to work. Hehehe."]

["Who the hell are you calling a kid?"] Riot growled.

["Who else?"] Bedlam replied with a chuckle.

["I'll kill you!"] Riot Shouted angrily.

Ignoring his [Soul Armament Spirits'] usual antics, Alfonzo continued walking towards the center of the room without changing his expression.

"Ladies and gentlemen." Alfonzo said as he reached the center of the room. "I'm sure I don't need to say much more about the Magic Council's apparent incompetence, as they said enough about it for themselves. But that's not why I'm here, anyway. For now, at least. Instead, I'm here to seek justice on behalf of my guild."

With the beginning of his speech, Alfonzo quickly gained the undivided attention of everyone in the room.

"In firing the Etherion on that island, the members of the Magic Council who voted in favor committed no less than five counts of attempted murder." Alfonzo continued. "And that only refers to myself and the four other wizards that accompanied me to stop the atrocities that were taking place on that island. But if we consider all the innocent people who were forced into slavery to complete the tower, that number grows exponentially."

Immediately, the members of the Magic Council along with Crawford Seam's expressions fell. When the crime was just dereliction of duty and incompetence, they were not too worried about the punishment they would receive. At the very worst, they would be heavily fined and dishonorably removed from their positions.

But when terms like "attempted murder" were thrown around, things became much more serious. And if they were convicted, fines would be the least of their worries, as prison time would be what they were looking forward to.

"And as I said before, Fairy Tail seeks the maximum sentence allowed under the law." Alfonzo said in a firm tone. "And I hope that you take into account that Crawford Seam, the former chairman of the Magic Council's punishment should be heavier than the rest in this matter, as he should be held to a higher standard than the rest of the Council as its chairman."

Hearing that, Crawford Seam paled even further. AS a former chairman of the Magic Council, he was quite clear about what kind of punishment he should receive for not stopping the Etherion.

"As for Org." Alfonzo continued while shooting a disgusted glare at the man in question.

At the same time, Alfonzo thought he heard the sound of excited female panting while he glared, but he decided to write it off as a figment of his imagination.

"On top of taking part in those cases of attempted murder, he also engaged in the attempted kidnapping of a minor, colluding with a Dark Guild, and attempted coercion." Alfonzo continued after tearing his gaze away from Org. "And I implore you to take that into consideration while deliberating his punishment."

Again, Alfonzo finished his speech with a bow to the rulers sitting on the highest platform before returning to his seat.

"And with that, today's proceedings have come to an end." Toma announced once Alfonzo had taken his seat. "I as well as the King of Caelum and the Prime Minister of Isvan will take the evening to deliberate on this case. Then, we will all gather once again tomorrow at noon for the verdict. Until then, dismissed."