The monastery was crowded far beyond its usual numbers.
But those that had gathered there came neither for prayer nor to celebrate a holy day.
Monk: My Lady, I received no notice from the abbot. Were your actions sanctioned through the proper channels?
Monk: To gather such a large number of the faithful here, we need some authorized reason.
Dikke: Those gathered here are not just the faithful of your monastery.
Dikke: They are perpetrators and victims both, trapped by rumors and prejudice.
Monk: But...
Dikke: We will proceed with the trial immediately.
Dikke walked straight to the altar, and the hushed conversations below her fell into a fearful silence.
Dikke: Chester, a brother of this monastery is dead, I stand here to contend that he was killed, and I shall preside as the prosecutor of this case.
Dikke: The accused is—
Dikke: —everyone present.
Dikke's voice wasn't loud, more like a sword raised slowly before an execution.
Her words echoed between the monastery's gray walls and stained-glass windows, a distant thunder in the ears of the gathered crowd.
Crowd: ......?!
Dikke: Let us present the first witness.
Civilian I: My Lady, you promised to protect us!
Dikke: I am here now, protecting you, am I not?
Dikke: Protecting innocent people plagued by fear and rumors.
She glanced coldly over the crowd, subduing countless pairs of terrified eyes.
Civilian I: ...
Dikke: You believed he was a ghoul.
Civilian I: That's what the rumors said... We came to warn him, that's all.
Civilian I: They... They all said so...
Dikke: Your claim is that you had a simple argument with the deceased, "only advising him against wandering around the cemetery with wild notions," is that so?
Civilian I: ...Yes, that's right.
Dikke: Yet the deceased doesn't appear to agree with your version of these events.
Dikke: Now I will call for the second witness.
A withered corpse was presented. To the shock and horror of those assembled.
Malachi: Lady Dikke, you have committed a grave sin! To desecrate our brother's corpse like this ... this ...
Malachi: This is a serious violation!
Dikke: Your concerns are noted.
Dikke: Yet my actions strictly follow the methods described in Brother Chester's "Mysteries of the Human Body".
Dikke: Which I undertook to honor him.
Malachi: You're desecrating the corpse...
Malachi: I must report this to the authorities immediately!
Malachi: My lady, forgive us.
Her actions were decisive, just like everything she did.
Dikke: The trial will proceed.
Dikke: Observe on the deceased here multiple blunt force injuries, skin lacerations, and at the wound sites, remains of soil and dry grass.
Dikke: Do you plead guilty?
Civilian I: ...
Crowd: ……
Civilian I: I confess, we did hit him... but he didn't die! We saw him rise from his fall alive.
Civilian I: When we confronted him, he was in the midst of moving a body! He's a ghoul, just as the rumors claimed!
Dikke: And yet, my trial continues.
The priest trembled on his feet, closing his eyes and muttering desperate prayers of forgiveness.
Malachi: Dear God, forgive me...
Dikke: Now, I turn to you, Father Malachi.
Dikke: On this night, was your meeting with Brother Chester in the tower mere happenstance?
Dikke: Or was it a planned encounter?
Sharp and incisive, Dikke swiftly honed herself upon the latest of her accused.
Malachi: He ... had invited me to discuss an important matter ...
Dikke: He wanted you to mobilize everyone in the monastery to copy the guide he had written and spread it to all our followers—he claimed to be bringing a revelation to the people ...
Malachi: My Lord, how could I trust the words of such a wizard, especially when he stood to blame us for our previous inaction during the great plague?!
His legs were trembling, teeth tightly clenched.
Dikke: So it was that you refused his request yet still took the wine he offered.
Malachi: It was a gift...
Malachi: What he said was hard to believe... I simply gave him a test!
Malachi: Were he truly a capable wizard, he should have easily been able to remove the dust from the clock on the roof of the building, right?
Dikke: So he fell to his death.
Dikke: And you went back to drinking, as usual, in "moderation".
Malachi: ...
Malachi: Please... please forgive me...
The dark cloaked lady ascended to the highest point in the room.
Dikke: I will now pronounce judgment.
Dikke: This was a silent murder to which all are guilty.
