## Tower of My Home, 66th Floor - "Court"
"I hereby commence the trial of the defendant Eriel Tricia!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"No, wait! Calm down, Zergos!!!"
"The defendant will remain silent! The trial has already begun!"
Tricia protests, but Zergos dismisses her easily.
And the Guardians sitting in the audience area begin to murmur—
"I made sweet and sour pork, would anyone like some?"
"Yes! I want some!"
"Give me one too!"
"Wow!!! It's delicious!!!"
They were just being noisy because they were eating sweet and sour pork!
But Zergos continued the trial, completely unfazed.
"Then would the witness please come forward."
After calling for the witness, a brief silence followed—
...and Zergos moved to the witness stand.
"I will testify. According to the System, Tricia was... a 'man' in her previous life."
At that moment—
The courtroom atmosphere... literally exploded!
"You weren't a woman in your past life???"
Starting with Azmo Lilithis, who froze in shock.
"Eh? Really?"
Ju Ji-ye, considerably flustered.
"Hoeeng...?"
Wang Jjin-ppang, without much thought.
"You didn't know? I didn't know either!"
Even Rukki didn't know this fact.
"Uh......"
Yurining, frozen with her brain buffering.
"??????????????????????"
Shephid, experiencing a full-body error from the tremendous shock.
"...Eh?"
And finally Flora, the last to react.
All the Guardians present stared at Tricia with eyes demanding a proper explanation, but—
"......"
Tricia avoided their gaze and exercised her right to remain silent!
As a result, all the Guardians fell into collective mental breakdown!
"Tricia was a man in the past!? I can't believe it!"
"How could someone as cute as Tricia be a man!"
"Suddenly switching to the TS genre!!!"
"But Tricia is genderless now, so is this still considered TS?"
"Either way, her gender changed, right? So it's TS."
"Genderless? Anyone can see she's a woman! She acts like a female! She just doesn't have the g*nitals to r*produce with, she's practically a woman!"
"Wow, who said such vulgar words?"
"Lilithis said it."
"I guess she really is a succubus...?"
As if her succubus blood couldn't be denied, Lilithis, unable to overcome the shock that Tricia was a man, began to unleash her primal instincts.
In the past, no matter how much she used her "Enchantment" authority, Tricia never responded. What if it wasn't because she had no sexual desire?
What if the authority simply didn't work on her?
When her thoughts reached that point, Lilithis flew toward Tricia with a lewd expression!
"Grrrr I can't hold back! Tricia, come hereeeee!!!!!!!!!!"
"Lilithis, you calm down too!!! I can't do that kind of thing anyway!!!"
"Then we'll explore new sensations!!!!"
"Eeeek!!!"
Just as Lilithis, excited by Tricia's unusually intense reaction, was about to forcibly remove her(?) clothes—!
"Quiet."
"?"
-CLANG!!!!!!!!!
Lilithis, hit on the head by Zergos's gavel, fainted on the spot.
"Please maintain silence in the courtroom."
"......"
As the atmosphere calmed down, Zergos climbed back onto the judge's bench and declared:
"From now on, we will have time to freely discuss this matter. However, please refrain from excessive commotion."
And so, the Guardians began to share their opinions on the subject of Tricia's past life gender.
"I don't quite understand. You say she was a man in her past life? Then why is she genderless now but dresses like a woman?"
"Isn't this what Tricia sometimes calls 'female corruption'?"
"Ah~ I see! So Tricia underwent female corruption!"
Ju Ji-ye and Yurining reached a somewhat plausible conclusion.
"That's quite a Cyan situation, such Cyan!"
"What are you saying, you awful Keeb."
"Who's Keeb? My name is Rukki~ Eheheh."
Even in this situation, Rukki was teasing Cyan.
"Shephid, are you okaaay?"
"...Are you really okay?"
Shephid had completely lost her mind, staring into space with empty, unfocused eyes.
Wang Jjin-ppang held her in his arms and stroked her comfortingly, but she showed no signs of improvement, so Flora also stood beside her, concerned.
Then, Rukki, as if she'd thought of something amusing, giggled and said:
"By the way, don't you all think you're missing something important?"
"Yeah, what is it?"
"So... we're all basically 'eternal' 'companions' with Tricia, who was a 'man'? Isn't this totally Tricia's harem?"
"......"
"......"
"......"
A moment of silence.
Rukki inwardly cackled and thought:
*This will definitely get a huge reaction from everyone.*
All she needed now was a delicious reaction, but.
"...I don't particularly mind."
Starting with Cyan, who responded as if it wasn't an issue.
"I agree! She's genderless now anyway, right?"
Yurining, saying the past and present are different, so it doesn't matter.
"Right! It's not like we're being forced to have children!"
"Isn't that a bit of a dangerous statement...?"
Ju Ji-ye suddenly blurting out something strange, with Flora objecting beside her.
"Gender isn't important, because Tricia is still Tricia, both then and now!"
Wang Jjin-ppang, holding Shephid tightly in his arms, affirming Tricia's existence.
*...Huh? This isn't right...*
When the reactions were completely different from what she expected, Rukki made a dumbfounded expression.
And then Lilithis, with a bump on her head, got up again and answered:
"Harem? I love it even more!!!"
"You need to step outside."
Rukki and Yurining dragged Lilithis, who seemed about 90% less intelligent than usual and dominated by instinct, out of the courtroom.
As she was being dragged away, Lilithis struggled and shouted:
"Arghhhh! Tricia-! I'll definitely corrupt you into a female soon-!!!"
"Wasn't she already corrupted into a female?"
"Ah, is that so?"
Hearing those words, Lilithis's expression became incredibly serene...
"......"
Tricia, who had been watching the situation all along, thought:
*Yes, no matter how much I'm a genderless angel now... the fact that I was a man in my past life doesn't disappear...*
Though it was too late, she thought she should sincerely apologize to everyone and tried to stand up—
"Lady Tricia."
Cyan, who had somehow approached Tricia's side, grabbed her shoulder.
"...Cyan."
"I can roughly guess what you're trying to do, but there's no need."
"But, I..."
"Actually, everyone was half-aware of it, you know?"
"...?"
"Did you think we wouldn't know?"
Starting with Cyan, who suddenly wore a victorious smile.
All the Guardians around nodded, affirming Cyan's words.
"Wait, then why this trial...?"
Hearing this, Tricia, deeply shocked, asked Zergos.
"Your reaction was fresh and amusing, so I played a little prank. Living a long life, one experiences all sorts of things."
"...Hey!!!"
As it turned out, this trial was a play set up from the beginning to tease Tricia!
Realizing this, Tricia shouted at Zergos, but inwardly she was relieved.
"So you all knew?!"
"Honestly, it would be harder not to know, you idiot!"
"Of course, I've actually been aware for 10 years!"
"I knew from the beginning~"
After Rukki, Ju Ji-ye, and Wang Jjin-ppang spoke.
"I was a bit uncertain... but I had some suspicions..."
"When you told us stories about your past, there were many parts that suggested you were male, so I was a bit curious!"
Flora and Yurining also said they had half-expected it, and the atmosphere completely reversed.
"So... I was the only one who didn't know...?"
The fact that everyone had known her secret all along was somewhat embarrassing, but...
More than that, the fact that they all stayed by her side despite knowing her secret.
It was so thankful, touching, and moving.
"Hic...sniff..."
Finally, the emotions welling up deep in her heart turned into tears that streamed down Tricia's cheeks.
Rukki and Cyan approached and stroked Tricia's back, but the tears continued to pour like a broken dam.
The fact that they still accepted her for who she was.
It was just, joyful.
It was so, happy.
"Everyone... thank you...!"
As Tricia tried to raise her head to thank everyone—
"Stay still, you'll waste precious tears!"
"Oh come on."
The touching moment was completely shattered by Rukki, who was collecting Tricia's tears in a bottle.
In the end, Cyan scolded Rukki with a serious expression.
"...Rukki, do you really have to do this even in this touching atmosphere?"
"What, you want them to fall on the ground? These aren't just any tears, they're tears of emotion! They're much more potent!"
"When you put it that way, you're right..."
"See?"
"Right about getting hit."
"?"
Suddenly, 'Cyan Nightmare' pulled out a giant hand from the 'Dream Boundary'.
And immediately delivered a super-powerful forehead flick to Rukki!
-KWAAAAAAANG!!!!!!!!!!!!!
...Let's not ask why a forehead flick sounds like an exploding bomb.
Everyone laughed at Rukki, saying she got what she deserved, and Rukki quickly got up and started teasing Cyan again.
And so, a warm and boisterous time passed for a while.
...
...
...
After the enjoyable banter ended.
Zergos slowly declared, holding the gavel:
"I will now pronounce the verdict of this trial."
The result of the trial was, of course:
"The defendant Tricia is not guilty. This trial is hereby concluded."
Bang! Bang! Bang!
And so another incident ended—
Tricia and the Guardians were able to return to their normal daily lives.
Through this incident, everyone realized once again:
That Tricia was always, just Tricia.
...And.
"Ufufufu...♡"
Lilithis, who learned for the first time today that Tricia was a man in her past life.
She was laughing at the thought of trying various things with Tricia from now on—
"...??????"
While Shephid was still sprawled in the same spot, unable to recover from the shock...
