The much-anticipated Dragon Island Auction would be held in one day.
There, EeDechi would finally have a chance to find Longfellow Campbell and ask the elderly mage how to repair the skyship.
After a brief discussion, EeDechi and Barrett decided to return to Dempsey's home first and share the good news with Franco, Cheeko, and Kilua.
Their carriage soon arrived at Dempsey's luxurious villa. The moment they reached the entrance, they saw Kilua standing outside with Cheeko in her arms. They made a lonely, forlorn pair.
"What happened?" EeDechi asked, sensing something was wrong. "Where's Franco?"
Kilua pouted and indignantly told them what had happened.
That morning, one of Dempsey's maids had entered the master bedroom to clean and found Franco lying naked on the bed, barely conscious.
The maid had been horrified. After all, that was the bedroom of Dempsey and his wife, Jenny. She immediately reported it to the butler, who flew into a rage. Convinced that he had caught Franco having an affair with Jenny, the butler had Franco beaten and dragged off to a nearby courthouse.
Because Franco's affair with Jenny had caused such a scandal, the butler had also thrown Kilua and Cheeko out.
"Franco didn't fight back?" Barrett asked in surprise.
With Franco's strength, dealing with a few dozen ordinary people should have been effortless.
"How should I know?" Kilua frowned. "He looked like he didn't have the strength to resist."
"Huh?"
EeDechi and Barrett exchanged puzzled looks.
Just then, a middle-aged man with gray streaks in his hair emerged from the villa. He was formally dressed, with a hard, mean look on his face.
"You're Franco's companions, aren't you?" he said to EeDechi. "I am the butler of the Dempsey household. Your companion had an affair with Madam Jenny! I had him sent to court!"
EeDechi scratched her head, at a loss for words.
Barrett hastily stepped forward. "We're terribly sorry. Franco is indeed a man of questionable character."
Kilua snorted. "It takes two to tango."
EeDechi smacked her lightly on the head. "That's enough out of you!"
Barrett continued apologetically, "May I see Mr. Dempsey and apologize to him in person?"
The butler glared at him. "The courthouse just sent a summons for Mr. Dempsey. He's already there, and Madam Jenny is with him. If you want to apologize, go to the courthouse!"
EeDechi pressed a hand to her forehead and sighed helplessly. "Fine. Let's go. Franco was caught sleeping with another man's wife, so I suppose he got what he deserved."
And so, the three of them and one cat hurried to the courthouse.
They soon arrived at an imposing marble building. The public gallery inside was packed, and the entire hall buzzed with excited discussion.
In the City Alliance—the capital of commerce—residents were allowed to sit in on trials in the name of fostering a democratic atmosphere. Naturally, whenever an entertaining case came along, spectators packed the gallery.
EeDechi and Barrett forced their way through the throng and looked toward the raised judge's bench. A stern, white-bearded judge sat there with a wooden gavel in hand, presiding over the case.
Below the bench were separate areas for the plaintiff and the defendants.
EeDechi and Barrett first looked toward the plaintiff's side, only to find it completely empty.
They turned to the defendants' side instead—and saw Franco, Jenny, and Dempsey all standing there together!
"What's going on?" EeDechi exclaimed.
By all rights, Dempsey should have been the plaintiff.
More strangely, Franco looked listless and hollow-eyed.
Given his carefree personality, he should have cast a spell and escaped long ago. He was a mage above level ninety. No one in the City Alliance could possibly hold him if he wanted to leave.
"Ahem!"
The judge loudly cleared his throat and swept a sharp gaze across the hall. The noisy crowd immediately fell silent.
"I shall now announce the verdict," the judge declared. He glanced at the twelve members of the jury beside him. "This is a tangled case, however, and the offenses are difficult to sort out. I ask the jury to offer its considered advice."
He drew a deep breath, then spoke in a strong, ringing voice.
"Franco had an affair with Jenny.
"Jenny was unfaithful to Dempsey.
"Dempsey raped Franco.
"Who harmed whom? And who is guilty?"
EeDechi and Barrett froze in shock.
Dempsey had... raped Franco?
The judge went on to explain the details.
That morning, the butler had dragged Franco to court, and Jenny had been brought in as well.
The judge had been preparing to punish the cheating pair when Franco burst into tears and claimed that he, too, was a victim.
According to Franco, Dempsey had drugged him unconscious and then raped him.
The judge had carefully examined the injured area, fallen silent for five seconds in sympathy, then erupted in fury and ordered Dempsey to appear in court for trial.
EeDechi and Barrett stared dumbfounded, feeling as though their entire worldview had just been turned upside down.
"Good grief." EeDechi rubbed her forehead, unable to think of anything else to say.
The spectators around them whispered excitedly. The stranger the case became, the more excited everyone seemed.
A merchant noticed Barrett's outfit and asked curiously, "You're adventurers too, aren't you? I heard the unlucky mage in the defendants' stand is also an adventurer. Are you his companions?"
"No, no, no! We barely know him!"
EeDechi and Barrett shook their heads frantically, denying it at once.
The merchant smiled. "I came here from out of town on business. I've heard that the City Alliance's laws place the highest importance on honesty and contracts, and that the courts never favor locals. Since I happened to stumble across such an entertaining case, I thought I'd stay and see how the judge rules."
The judge stroked his snow-white beard while the twelve jurors engaged in a heated discussion. At last, they reached a decision.
"All three are guilty! After discussing the matter and consulting the three victims, we have reached the following judgment! To keep this mess from disrupting their lives any further, the three offenses shall cancel one another out!"
In the end, the judge declared all three not guilty and released them on the spot.
EeDechi and Barrett hurried to the rear entrance of the courthouse to meet Franco.
He still looked listless and hollow-eyed, as though his soul had left his body.
When he saw EeDechi and Barrett, a glimmer of life finally returned to his dull eyes. He threw himself into EeDechi's arms and began sobbing his heart out.
"Captain, I got fucked! Waaaaah... I'm not pure anymore! I've only ever fucked other people! No one's ever fucked me before! My ass hurts so much... Waaaaah..."
EeDechi had no idea what to say. All she could do was hold him in a warm, firm embrace and gently pat his back to comfort him.
"Oh, dear..." Barrett let out a long sigh.
...
The next day, it was finally time to leave for Dragon Island.
A grand ship was moored at the harbor of the City Alliance. Hades had sent it to carry them to the mysterious island, where they would attend the Dragon Island Auction.
Franco remained completely withdrawn. He huddled in a corner like an empty shell. The ordeal had devastated him both physically and mentally.
Barrett now understood why Franco had not resisted at the courthouse. He had shut down mentally. No matter how much power he possessed, he had been in no state to use it.
Archmage Raffaelli came to see them off. The kindhearted old mage took one look at Franco's hollow-eyed face and let out a heavy sigh.
"Dempsey had plenty of other ways to take revenge on Franco," Barrett said, unable to understand. "Why did he choose something so extreme?"
Archmage Raffaelli gave a bitter smile. After glancing at the dejected Franco, he lowered his voice and spoke to EeDechi and Barrett.
"You're both decent people, and I trust you. I'll tell you a secret I know, but I hope you won't repeat it."
"What secret?" EeDechi's eyes widened.
"Dempsey is gay. He's attracted to men, not women. His father arranged a marriage for him, and Dempsey became an adventurer because he wanted to escape it.
"Later, he decided to return home and claim his inheritance. But because he didn't want his sexual orientation exposed, he married Jenny, the daughter of a wealthy family.
"Naturally, they had little in common and were rarely intimate. Poor Jenny was nothing more than a cover for Dempsey's true preferences.
"Jenny was young, beautiful, inexperienced, and full of pent-up desire. Eventually, she and Dempsey developed a twisted arrangement.
"Many outsiders come to the City Alliance for business. Whenever Dempsey met a handsome young man, he would invite him home. Jenny would seduce the man and satisfy her own desires.
"Afterward, she would drug the man unconscious, and Dempsey would rape him. The man had been assaulted, but because he had knowingly slept with another man's wife, he could hardly speak out without exposing his own adultery. He could only swallow the humiliation and slink away in disgrace.
"This couple has ruined quite a few handsome young men that way. Franco was merely their latest unlucky victim. If the maid hadn't walked in on them this time, the matter would never have reached the courthouse.
"Outsiders all believe Dempsey assaulted Franco in a fit of righteous fury. In truth, the entire thing was a trap the couple set together."
EeDechi's jaw dropped. She clutched her head and cried, "Good grief! This world is too depraved!"
Barrett was equally speechless. Then something occurred to him. "So Dempsey already had this planned when he invited us to stay at his house? If you knew things were likely to end badly for Franco, why didn't you stop us?"
Archmage Raffaelli smiled. "If Franco hadn't let lust cloud his judgment and willingly slept with Jenny, none of this would have happened. In the end, it was his own fault. He couldn't keep it in his pants, so he got what was coming to him."
EeDechi sighed helplessly. "I suppose Franco can treat this as a lesson."
HOOOOONK—
A long blast from the ship's horn echoed across the harbor. The vessel bound for Dragon Island was about to depart.
EeDechi and Barrett bade farewell to Archmage Raffaelli, then hauled Franco, still limp and listless, to his feet. Kilua followed behind with Cheeko in her arms.
Together, they boarded the ship and set off for Dragon Island.