Synthetic Survivor: Machine Age - Chapter 143

“Let me cut to the chase. The moment I became absent, you lot tried to undermine the system I made for your own personal wealth and gain?” One, was undeniably unhappy with what he needed to handle.

A couple of influential persons, several of whom were from the noble and merchant families who had their heads of the house executed for exactly the same reason they were being tried now, attempted to commit the exact same crimes as their fathers did.

But instead of an execution outright, One decided to hold a trial the evening after he returned to the Fortress City.

One ordered William to round up those who were accused of misconduct and maltreatment of the system of rewards and work put in place by One.

There were a total of 7 accused.

One found two of them to be not guilty of their crimes but instead were accused solely because some of the peasantry bore a grudge against their entire family and weren’t satisfied that only the head of the house was executed during the uprising.

The trial was being held in the throne room with permission from Wog, well, as if he had the courage to disagree with One’s suggestion.

A hundred representatives from the outer and inner districts were invited, William was appointed head guard along with Jorn and Toby. Patricia and Stacy were instated as juries although they did not have any real power.

The seven accused had their hands bound behind their backs and were knelt down in the middle of the throne room in full view of everyone.

Wog was sat on his throne room, despite being king, he actually had no say in the trial except for being the king and watching his vassal do all the work for him.

Exactly as One intended.

[You made quite an illusion of power here] Hailey said in One’s mind.

One was standing right next to King Wog to the left of the throne.

A tense atmosphere filled the throne room, dampening the mood for everyone. Everybody was serious, although the trial was expected to end with them being convicted guilty and their heads rolling, One had other ideas.

Courtesy of Hailey.

The trial even began with One holding his hand up and gesturing for everyone to silence themselves.

“The trial shall begin,” One said.

“You lot kneel there, accused of crimes punishable by death, you are aware of that? Right?” One said.

The seven sweaty accused nodded.

“Good, then, I would like to ask the heads of the Borne and Fidel families to stand up,”  One said.

Hearing this, the heads of the Borne and Fidel families, John Borne and Joseph Fidel stood up.

One then looked at the crowd to see their expressions.

Hailey claimed to be an expert in psychology and so, asked One to look around so that she could see the reactions and facial expressions of the representatives.

Most actually looked displeased. Displeased that these two were standing amongst the five true criminals.

However, two representatives looked quite pleased, albeit they looked as if their plans were succeeding.

[Those two, dear] Hailey pointed out.

How did she point the two representatives to One? Well, One’s eyes were lick a computer’s thag displayed information across his vision. Using this, Hailey drew a box around the two so that her husband could pinpoint them quickly.

But they did not own the land, instead, they were tasked to carry out One’s system of management with fairness to pay for their families’ previous crimes of exploiting the peasantry.

Clearly, out of all the families, these two new heads were actually genuine in reforming themselves according to One’s observation anyways.

They would always be present where the farmers were, guiding, and teaching them the methods One introduced. Making sure the paperwork was done and not overlooked.

But grudges ran deep and sometimes, some still clung to the past, in turn, destroyed their future.

“I wish for the persons accusing these men to present their evidence in front of this ȧssembly,” One announced.

He then turned his head towards the two representatives. The smiles they had on their faces quickly faded when they realized that the entire room was now focused on them.

Where were there evidences?

They had none.

They didn’t expect that a real trial will be held.

One had no biases except for his plans. They thought they’d accuse the families they so hated and leave with clean hands.

The two were then brought to the front by the guards after failing to do so themselves.

One then looked at them both.

“Present your evidence,” One said.

Then one of the representatives spoke.

“Your majesties.. these two men were embezzling the coins you specifically ordered to be used as the workers’ fair pay. But a few farmers have come to me complaining that their pay were cut in half and fȯrċɨbŀƴ taken from them by the goons of the Fidel and Borne families!” He said, his confidence came back.

The entire room was then filled with gossips.

One raised his hand and the room was again silent.

“Bring me these people, I will treat them as witnesses,” One said.

‘O-of course milord! But they’re currently not here,” The man said.

“Mr.. what’s your name?” One asked.

“Trent milord, Trent Yuhin,” Trent said.

[A Yuhinite] Hailey said.

[If his last name is Yuhin then that would mean he is a relative of the Yuhinic Royal Family] Hailey added.

Things just got interesting.

“Sir Trent, you are aware that this is a trial, right?” One asked.

“Y-yes,” Trent replied. He was getting nervous again.

“Then why aren’t your witnesses here? If that’s the only evidence that you have then you should have brought them to this ȧssembly as evidence against the accused. The others all have paperwork as their evidence and a couple of witnesses from related departments,” One pointed out.

A flurry of conversations erupted between the representatives as the two accusers were now facing the growing ire of the ȧssembly.

John Borne and Joseph Fidel were now feeling relieved.