Guilty.

  The feeling that consumed Heron even though the judge had yet to speak.

  Heron had never felt guilt like this in his life. Except maybe that one time—which was the last time—he told a serious lie in grade school when he had cracked open a new container of modeling clay when he wasn’t supposed to. And when the teacher asked him what he was doing he ended up stuffing the piece he was playing with into his mouth and shut the lid.

  He was a fool for putting it in his mouth instead of back into the bin. There were consequences to being a big fat liar. Like clay in his mouth.

  And it seemed like his second life was a bad influence to his goody-two-shoes identity of being an honest man considering this was already the second time he’d lied since he reincarnated. The first time being when he had to have forgotten his paperwork at home when they spoke to the guard at the front gate of the kingdom of Morningstar.

  The second time he lied? In this courtroom.

  It was a good thing the judge hadn’t asked him to swear under oath, otherwise he might have vomited from the sheer audacity of being a lying scoundrel.

  I’m okay, I’m okay. Lucifer sniffed as it shifted in its chair, plopping its paws back on the wooden table as it sat on its hind legs.

  Heron had almost bursted out laughing after watching Lucifer sneeze the most ridiculous rabbit sneeze he’d seen in his life. The little creature had flopped backwards completely after the storm of a sneeze. But Heron didn’t burst out laughing; he was about to find out if the judge thought he was innocent or guilty of a crime he had completely lied about during his back-and-forth with Alice.

  And Heron had totally gaslit the hell out of Alice–

  Clearing her throat, Judge Julie adjusted her glasses once more before continuing where she had left off. “As I was saying, the ruling shall be…”

  CLACK.

  “Innocent.”

  Heron let out a sigh of relief.

  “Until proven guilty.”

  Heron sucked back in his sigh of relief.

  Setting her gavel down, Judge Julie looked sternly at Heron. “I see no clear evidence that you have committed the alleged crime.”

  “But your Honor,” Alice protested, standing up rapidly. “If his claims are true and he is from another world, he cannot be trusted—“

  “What makes you more worthy of being trusted?” Heron countered calmly, folding his hands on the counsel table. “I might not be from around here but that doesn’t have any correlation to whether I am trustworthy or not.”

  “I am a knight of the kingdom of Morningstar,” Alice hissed, flicking her head towards him. “It’s clear I’m more trustworthy than a criminal—“

  “Technically, you’re an intern.” Heron couldn’t help himself from rebuking Alice.

  CLACK.

  “Enough. Order to the court.” Judge Julie clacked her gavel once more, her young but stern voice ringing out.

  Heron watched as Alice reluctantly took her seat, her expression unreadable but her body was stiff and her jaw clenched as she turned her attention to the judge.

  Maybe the comment on her being an intern was a low blow.

  “As Heron has stated—if he is truly from another world—regardless if he committed the crime or not, he cannot be held to the same standard that this universe holds its residents to.” Judge Julie declared, taking a seat in her judge’s chair once more.

  Heron sighed in relief, unfolding his hands and wiping his sweaty palms down his slacks.

  “But that does not mean he is innocent. It just means he is innocent until proven guilty.” The judge continued. “And I see no malice in his intentions towards the kingdom.”

  “But he committed the crime anyway,” Alice insisted. “It doesn’t matter why he did or if it's fair, he still built a cabin and stayed on Planet-C5 without the kingdom’s permission.”

  “Allegedly so.” Heron coughed, leaning back. “You can’t really prove that I squatted. Maybe it was someone else’s cabin. Maybe I was kidnapped and placed on the planet. Which is also technically the truth. And before Serafina says anything,” his eyes flicked to the black dragon. “It’s still my word against yours. There really isn’t any way that you can prove that I committed the alleged crime.”

  He does have a point, Alice. Serafina agreed calmly which only made Alice pout even further.

  “Besides, if I am understanding how things work correctly, it’s a greater crime to waste everyone’s time,” Heron said slowly. “Which means instead of bickering between ‘he said, she said’, why not just call it a day and let me be on my way?”

  Yes, we must be on our way in order to conquer the universe—

  “What Lucifer meant was that we should be on our way to the Farmer’s Guild so I can put my profession to good use and be a good little farmer.” Heron chuckled nervously, giving the judge a polite smile.

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  Judge Julie nodded, a thoughtful expression on her face. “That is acceptable, I believe the court can be adjourned.”

  Heron was a free man. He was the Debate King. He was ready to conquer the world—no, the Farmer’s Guild with Lucifer—

  “On the condition that you’ll be completing community service hours towards the kingdom of Morningstar.”

  Heron was not a free man, he was now bound to society with free labor. This was an outrage.

  From the table across, Alice crossed her arms as her lips curled at the corner with a brow raised in victory. Heron didn’t need to read her mind to know what she was thinking.

  “And Alice,” Judge Julie continued. “Since you seem very interested in keeping Heron accountable, I hereby assign you to being his warden.”

  “WHAT!?” Alice slammed her palms into the table, standing straight up.

  A warden? Was that a specific terminology in this world–

  Yes, a warden is who you will be reporting for your community service. Serafina’s voice rang in his head.

  Oh, so basically a probation officer.

  What’s a probation officer? Lucifer wrinkled its nose.

  Clicking her tongue, the judge clacked her gavel. “My decision is final. Heron will complete the community hours that will be delegated to him. And you, Alice, will be overseeing that he completes his assigned service.”

  “But—“

  “The court is adjourned.” Judge Julie said firmly with finality.

  Standing up from his seat, Heron picked up Lucifer and turned to Alice. “Looks like you’re stuck with me,” he grinned. Alice simply scowled in return.

  Turning to the judge, Heron gave a polite bow as thanks. The judge nodded before speaking, “Heron, you will find the details of your community service within a few days time. Please ensure you complete them diligently, or else your case will no longer be in my hands.”

  …Whose hands would the case be in?

  The king. Serafina mused as it shifted off its seat.

  Oh boy, Heron did not want that. The king sounded a little trigger happy with the guillotine.

  Yes, a little bit. It really keeps things orderly.

  Orderly was one way to put it. Heron cleared his throat before waving goodbye to the judge and thanking her one final time. Alice stormed ahead while Serafina nudged Heron along as Lucifer sneezed in his arms. The four of them headed out of the courtroom and out of the courthouse.

  Judge Julie stared at the closed doors of the courtroom before a small smile slipped on her face.

  “The gods have a way of picking their favorites, hm?”

  Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

  Munch. Munch. Munch.

  Crunch. Munch. Crunch. Munch—

  “Will you stop that?” Alice snapped as she whipped around.

  It was still bright out when the four of them had left the courthouse. The streets were still bustling, and the scent of freshly cooked meals wafted through the air as Heron had followed Alice and Serafina as they headed towards the Farmer’s Guild. As they walked, Heron and Lucifer conversed amongst themselves and came to a conclusion together.

  They were famished. Starved. Dying of hunger. So they started snacking on carrots.

  “What?” Heron responded with a mouthful of carrot.

  Alice placed her hands on her hips, scowling. “Eating while walking is quite rude. And the two of you are ridiculously loud for only chewing on carrots.”

  They’re very crunchy, want some? Lucifer blinked as it chomped on another while holding it in its paws.

  “No, thank you.” She responded curtly before sighing. “I suppose we should stop for a meal.”

  “Oh, go on ahead of us. Lucifer and I won’t mind.” Heron summoned another carrot for both him and Lucifer.

  Clicking her tongue, Alice crossed her arms. “No, Serafina and I can’t leave you behind. I can’t be having you run off. You’re still a criminal even if you swayed the judge into agreeing with your ridiculous nonsense.”

  “Doesn’t seem so ridiculous to me if she agreed,” Heron shrugged before grinning.

  “You are impossible—“

  Perhaps we could stop by a cafe? Serafina offered, swishing her tail. Alice, are we not close to your favorite one?

  Alice froze mid-speech as she scowled some more, “I suppose we could.”

  Spinning on her heels, Alice trudged away without another glance back. Heron looked down to Lucifer who was still crunching on a carrot and shrugged. It shrugged in return. Without another word, the party of four headed to the cafe.

  The cafe was a cute and dainty little thing. With flowers adorned on the small standalone building, the place was cozy with large windows and a welcoming sign that said, ‘House of Dreams’. With decorative carvings on the wooden walls, the front door had chimed softly when the four of them had entered into the cafe space.

  Alice had gone ahead and ordered while Heron struggled to read the menu. What the hell was ‘Fruity Spooty’ and ‘Sugary Lovary’ and so on and so forth? He never went to one of these fluffy and sweet cafes before. In the end, Serafina had suggested that he get a ‘Pototos Coquette’ and ‘Sippy Whippy’ whatever those meant.

  Once they received their orders, they settled at a small round table with a pleasant view of the streets outside the window.

  “I’ll pay you back when I get my first paycheck,” Heron smiled sheepishly as he placed Lucifer on the empty seat next to him and set their dishes on the table.

  “Don’t bother.” Alice responded, clicking her tongue. Her arms and legs were crossed as she appeared to be glaring at a potted plant nearby as if it had just insulted her ancestors and family line.

  Heron chuckled nervously as he leaned back in his seat. He had an inkling as to why Alice seemed to be in a foul mood—at least, more than usual. She’d been cold to him since the very moment she had woken up in his cabin, but now it was clear she was peeved off at him.

  Maybe he shouldn’t have been munching on those carrots so loudly—

  That is not why she is upset. Serafina clarified as it used its paw to neatly fold a napkin, placing it onto its lap.

  Uh, maybe Alice wouldn’t be happy to know that they were speaking about her when she was literally sitting right across from them—

  Private DMs, remember? Serafina mused as it began to cut its steak with its cutlery.

  Ohhh yeah, I forgot those were a thing. Lucifer began mixing its salad with the dressing while using a fork.

  No, Lord Lucifer. You are still speaking to all of us. Please remain quiet while I speak with Sir Heron.

  You can’t tell me what to do—

  Heron plopped a tater tot in Lucifer’s bowl. “Eat and we can discuss world domination later.”

  Very well, I must keep my strength up so we may plot.

  With a small sigh, Heron peeked over to Alice who was still turned away but was now eating her strawberry crepe.

  As I was saying before, Alice is not upset because you were eating carrots. But I will not explain why Alice is upset as that is not any of your business.

  Well, that was helpful. Not.

  Let me make this clear. Serafina wiped its mouth with a napkin. If you speak of her status once more, no matter the circumstances, I will deal with you.

  What did that mean?

  It means that if Alice ever has to think what she thought when you mentioned her internship as a knight, you will not get another opportunity to speak again.

  Heron almost choked on his tater tot. He had only mentioned that Alice was an intern because it was the turning point in his case. With it being his word against hers, he had to appear as trustworthy as a knight intern even if that meant bringing her down a peg. After all, he was just some plebian that had been isekai'd into this world.

  And now was Serafina threatening to eat him as it cut its steak threateningly!?