Chapter 84
"What are you talking about?" Yolin asked, leaning on the wall. "She apprehended her on suspicion of attempted deicide. The perpetrator has confessed, thus her rights are irrelevant from the moment Natasha was poisoned. While there could be grounds for scrutiny due to the evident difference in power, you can’t simply look away from the fact Sussanna tried to kill a Halve. She can’t report Pokh’Orra."
"Does the fact she was threatened to do it influence anything?" I asked.
Sussanna closed her eyes and resigned herself to fate. I stood up and scowled at her. If she ended up going to prison, I hoped she’d rot in there.
"No, it doesn’t," the Oni replied with a shake of her head. "She should have gone to the Watchers. If, let’s say, she was killed after reporting it, that’d be a different story. We can’t operate on hypothetical scenarios, though."
I nodded, that made sense to me.
"Sure," Alyssa interjected, standing up and turning to Yolin. "But the fact that Pokh’Orra acted without concrete evidence remains. People can’t just act based on hearsay. We’d have people killing each other claiming they heard the other party say they’d kill a Halve all the time if that was the case."
"True," Yolin nodded with a serious face, which was quite pretty. "That’s why suspects are to be kept alive for interrogation. Natasha, a Halve, has just conducted it and Sussanna confessed with six witnesses. You can’t get more legal than that. No matter the court, they will see Pokh’Orra’s actions as justified now that the truth came out. A few broken bones are ’fair game’ for a crime like that."
Okay, this... is pretty complicated. Why are we talking about law? I want some hugs and kisses. Someone tried to kill me, you know? I grumbled in my mind. I’m not an unfeeling husk.
The rest were listening to the exchange, nodding every now and then. Pokora’s eyes were wide open, apprehension evident in her expression.
"Yes, that’s the case," Alyssa replied, crossing her arms under her chest. "But that applies only if the difference in level is less than ten percent. Any kind of violence against people under that limit is not justifiable, and is a crime regardless of intent and result."
"You’re right, Alyssa," Yolin said with a smile. "But this is not just murder we’re talking about. The law treats deicide differently, especially attempted deicide and those responsible. If what you say was the case in any circumstance, Halves wouldn’t be able to keep people in check due to the massive difference in level."