"First of all, I’d like to thank you for coming. This means a lot to me."
Geneva’s speech was a lot more polite than I recalled. Was she simply that moved by the fact that I was planning on helping her out?
She gave me a meaningful look as she walked ahead.
"Because of the current circumstances, I can’t go ahead and tell you all the details. It’ll have to wait until after the current hearing. This one is rather important, and I have no choice but to attend it. Since you’re here, it’ll also be a good opportunity for you to see it. Not many people get to witness a hearing live."
"...Alright."
In all honesty, I didn’t know what she was talking about.
This was the first time I had heard of a thing like this, but looking behind me and seeing the others react normally, I figured that it was very likely just me who didn’t know.
’It can’t be helped. There’s just a lot of things that I don’t know.’
Thankfully, the walk wasn’t a short one. As we made our way down the massive hall, large wooden doors lined either side, with people dressed in suits moving about. Geneva’s voice rang out as she began introducing me to the place.
"As you’ve probably noticed on the way in, this building wasn’t always a Guild. Long before Royal Chambers existed, this place was called the Tribunal Annex. It belonged to the Bureau."
She gestured lightly at the walls around us as we walked.
"Back when the Union was still new, somebody had to decide what to do with all the anomalies that got captured. Whether they’d be locked away, put to use, or destroyed. Those decisions were made here. Our founder was one of the people who made them. In fact, you could say she was one of the first to do so."
"...And now?"
"Now, we make a different kind of decision."
Geneva slowed slightly, nodding toward one of the people standing by the wooden doors as we passed it. Unlike a normal office, there was no name on the side of the door. Just a long string of numbers etched into a metal plate.
<strong>[R - 108] </strong>
"You know the five classes, right?"
Geneva posed the question to me.
This one, I knew.
"Sigl, Elcid, Melas, Thrall, and Kermite."
"That’s right."
Geneva nodded calmly as she continued ahead, her heels clicking against the marble floor beneath, the stale smell of paper reaching my nostrils.
"Everyone learns them in the academy. What they don’t teach you is where the rankings actually come from. For example, Elcid is the name of the first person to have discovered anomalies in this world. Pretty near, right?"
Geneva paused for a moment, looking ahead with squinted eyes while muttering,’Ah, it looks like today is going to be quite a messy one.’
I followed her line of sight, spotting the numerous people crowding around one of the doors in the distance. From reporters to figures that seemed to belong to the major Guilds, there were quite a lot of people gathered.
"For the small cases, the Bureau handles them on its own. Sigl and Elcid get stamped at some field office without anyone batting an eye or looking at the file twice. But anything measured at Melas or above? Something like a contested case? Maybe even a reclassification? All of them end up here."
Geneva pointed right at the people in the distance.
"Evidence gets presented. Testimonies get heard. And at the end of it, the bench hands down a class. The Bureau signs off on the result, and that’s a hearing for you."
’...So that’s what she meant.’
I glanced into the distance as I waited for Geneva to move. In the meantime, I stared at each door, noticing that each one carried its own plate. Its own number.
Rather than rooms, they felt closer to files.
"Is it really that serious? It’s just a ranking at the end of the day, no?"
I asked, mostly to keep her talking. The more she explained, the more this place started to make sense.
Geneva let out a small laugh.
"Just a ranking, sure.... Then let me put it this way. A Melas verdict means only the Guilds on the island can touch the case. The moment it becomes a Thrall, international Guilds gain the right to interfere. And if the bench ever calls something a Kermite..."
She paused.
"The whole world moves."
"...I see."
"A single class decides who gets to act, who profits, and who has to admit that things went beyond them. Guilds argue for higher classes because a Thrall capture pushes them toward the King Grade. The Bureau argues for lower ones because an escalation means admitting they lost control of the situation or that they’ve been negligent. Everyone who walks into that room wants something."
"And your Guild?"
"We hold the gavel."
Geneva’s lips pulled into a smirk.
Her answer was simple, as if that explained everything.
In a way, it did.
’A Guild whose product is judgment, huh.’
No wonder the building looked like a courthouse...
But looking around, something within my mind started churning. I couldn’t quite put it into words, but the more I looked at the place, the more my heart itched.
’Judgement...’
Reaching the end of the hall, we turned, and the space finally opened up. A pair of towering doors stood at the far end, guards posted on either side. The crowd was even clearer now, their voices and whispers reaching my ears.
"The Grand Gallery. Today’s hearing will be held there."Geneva introduced, her hand fiddling with what looked like a pack of gum.
"...What kind of case needs a room that size?"
Geneva didn’t answer immediately. Her eyes stayed on the doors ahead, her eyes squinting as she muttered her next words.
"A reclassification."
<strong>CLANK⎯</strong>
All of a sudden, the guards standing by the door pulled the doors open, and the noise of the crowd washed over us for a moment before dying down just as quickly.
"Let’s go."
Under the watchful eyes of those standing outside, Geneva moved forward whilst I followed her from behind, alongside my team members.
All heads turned in our direction.
I felt the stares the moment I stepped through. Some were out of curiosity, others with clear caution. A few reporters raised their cameras, only to lower them right after as the guards shot them a look.
"...Isn’t that Seth Thorne?"
"Why is he here? Those are his team members, aren’t they?"
"Quiet. Don’t cause trouble here, of all places."
The whispers followed us in, but I paid them no mind. I was used to it by now.
Rather than the people, my attention was on the room itself.
The Grand Gallery was massive. Rows of dark wooden benches descended toward the center like an amphitheater, enough to seat several hundred people with ease. The ceiling stretched high above, and the air carried that same stale smell of old paper, as if it had soaked into the stone itself.
At the far end stood a raised platform, and on top of it were five tall chairs.
All of them were empty.
Beneath the platform, two long tables faced each other. One side was occupied by people in gray uniforms, the Bureau’s emblem stitched onto their shoulders. The other side held figures wearing emblems I didn’t quite recognize, their expressions stiff as they organized stacks of documents.
And in the very center of the room, between the two tables, sat a circular platform surrounded by thick metal pillars.
It was empty.
’...That’s not a witness stand.’
I didn’t know what it was supposed to do, but somehow, I felt that I’d find out soon enough.
"This way."
Geneva led us up the side, toward a section of seats marked with the Royal Chambers emblem. Only after we settled down did she lean in slightly, her voice dropping.
"A few rules. Once it starts, don’t speak. Don’t stand. No matter what happens, and no matter what enters this room. There’s..."
She stopped before repeating.
"Just stay put."
"...Okay."
She gave a small nod before straightening her back, her hands resting on her lap.
The pack of gum was nowhere to be seen.
Did she decide not to take one?
The hall slowly filled behind us. Guild representatives, Bureau officials, reporters guided into a sectioned-off corner. Hundreds of people, and yet the noise only seemed to shrink as the seats filled, conversations fading into murmurs before they faded into nothing as well.
By the time the last row was seated, the Grand Gallery had gone completely silent.
<strong>Ding—</strong>
A bell rang once, echoing off the walls.
A side door opened, and four figures walked out in a line, each dressed in a long dark coat. Without a word, they climbed the platform and took their seats.
The center chair remained empty.
"Rise for the Bench."
A voice called out, and the entire hall stood in unison. Guild masters, Bureau officials, reporters... All of them rose without exception.
I followed suit, my eyes fixed on the platform.
Then, I heard it.
Footsteps.
They were heavy. Each one pressed with a presence that seemed to press down on the room itself, and from the side door emerged a mountain of a man. Broad shoulders. A thick beard. A dark coat that looked a size too small for the body it was wrapped around.
He didn’t look at the crowd, his gaze straight and unaffected by those around.
The pressure rolling off him filled the hall on its own, and I noticed several people around me stiffen, their breaths turning shallow.
<i>’...I presume that’s the Guild Master of Royal Chambers.’</i>
Magnus Hale.
The man climbed the platform without a word and lowered himself into the center chair, the wood creaking under his massive frame. His gaze swept across the hall once.
Then, he reached for the gavel.
<i>Bang!</i>
The sound cracked through the silence like a gunshot.
<i>Bang!</i>
"The hearing begins."
At those words, the entire hall seemed to hold its breath.
And deep within my chest, that faint itch stirred once more.
Judgement...