I'm back again, with another delay, but better than the last time...
Thanks to my beta reader Floodmaster16
CHAPTER 25: Second accusation
"Order, order!" The dragoness ordered, and the room fell into instant silence, faster than when Drac roars. She gave a look at some nearby papers and continued, "Proceeding with the second issue. Owing to leaks in the Hotel Transylvania security that could compromise the safety of the guests, we requested the closure..." But as soon as she uttered that last word, the disapproving boos of the audience prevented her from going any further, so much so that she was forced to give three hammer blows to restore the silence, "Prosecutors request the closure to the public of this hotel and the immediate termination of all activities related to it. "
"You can't do that!" Mavis snapped, standing up.
"Oh, yes I can, my request is more than legitimate, and supported by other members of The Order of the Dragon. According to Amendment 174 of 1899 that your father himself, as a member of the Order, wrote: 'human-free zones are areas or buildings that allow the presence of monsters without requiring them to be afraid from humans. Guaranteeing security and privacy (against humans) of these places and hosted monsters, will be the direct responsibility of the manager. If there were to be shortfalls in the security and / or privacy, the license on the human-free zone will be withdrawn and all the necessary measures to hide the evidence of the previous activities must be taken'. Your father was quite clear, so, either this place is safe or it will be demolished. "
The young vampiress moved her eyes to her father, who sighed worriedly without reciprocating her gaze, making her understand that Ryu was right. Mavis gritted her teeth and sat down heavily. She could feel the satisfaction of the dragoness, and, she hated to admit, she had made a big mistake to blurt out that way.
"At this point, if there are no more interruptions, I call architect Hyde as a witness."
The little man stood up from the stands and went up on the stage, and then he was accompanied by the gremlin granny on the witness stand at the center of the stage, in front of the Judge Shin Ryu.
Mr. Hyde loosened his tie anxiously, he was sweating cold.
The little monster had no time to sit, Ryu immediately began with the questions, "Do you swear to tell the truth, regardless of your historic friendship with the accused, Vlad III Dracula?" Draghessa said, emphasizing the relationship between Dracula and Mr. Hyde.
Mr. Hyde stopped, looking up at the Dragons' queen right above him, "Yes, I swear" he replied with a trembling voice.
"You are Mr. Hyde, isn't it?" She continued
"Y-Yes..."
"And you are a man-made monster of human origins. Even now, your human side takes your place under the name of Dr. Jekyll."
"Y-Yes..." The monster answered again, finally sitting up.
"It would seem that the project of this building has been entrusted to you by Vlad III Dracula." The dragoness continued.
"That's right, I am the architect."
"So, this castle, deliberately built to be a safe structure for monsters, was commissioned by Dracula, who is an ex-human, designed by you, who are an ex-human, and built by zombies, who are ex-human."
"Objection!" Mavis said out loud, standing up. Although it was her first process, her voice was strong and sure, "Witnesses cannot be asked questions for the sole purpose of discrediting them. Moreover, the judge can't make accusations or make personal judgments, which is the prosecutions' task"
Ryu grimaced bitterly, "And when did you become a lawyer?"
"By rule, I should be sitting in the place of Mr. Hyde to answer your questions, but I'll make an exception. Let's say I took a crash course." The young vampiress replied with a calm that made the dragoness more nervous.
Ryu could not help but remain silent, letting Nessie take the prosecution's word, "Mr. Hyde, as an architect, did you prepare sufficient escape routes to a mass escape in case of emergency?"
"Y-yes madam, in the design phase there were doors and secret trapdoors, indistinguishable while closed, which led to many underground tunnels. A few of them ended at the lake."
"Indistinguishable while closed you say?" The blue-haired woman continued, "So in case of evacuation, how did the hotel's guests know where to go?"
The monster muttered something unintelligible.
"Sorry, can you speak up?" The lake dragoness insisted.
"They didn't know." Mr. Hyde snorted, too scared to lie or try some excuse, "No one knew exactly where the secret passageways were, where they led, and how to open the hidden doors. Many were included during construction without updating the blueprints"
Drac facepalmed, and, knowing that after the renovations the reality had changed, he was ready to argue the point, but his daughter stopped him by taking his arm, "Stop, dad. Hal says that we can't ask for an objection now, it would be overruled. We should point out the safety upgrades we've done when it's our turn to ask questions."
"So, you're saying that for over a hundred years, this hotel would have been a death trap in case of an attack?" Nessie continued.
Mr. Hyde was silent for a few seconds, "It's true." He replied through gritted teeth.
From the stands came the murmur of stunned and worried comments of the spectators.
"The prosecution has no more questions." Nessie said, leaving the witness to the defender's questions.
Mavis stood up from the dock, coming up to Mr. Hyde, "Miss Mavis, I'm sorry, but I didn't know what else to say..." The little monster said in a low voice when the vampiress joined him.
"Don't worry, you did the right thing to tell the truth." She answered low enough to be heard just by him, then she continued in higher tone, "Let's start with the questions. Mr. Hyde. Is it true that after Jonathan the human's arrival there was a modernization of Hotel safety systems?"
"That's right, the hidden exits, in case of emergency, will automatically open, and in the underground passages there are clear indications on where to go. In addition, the blueprints have been updated, and now include the safety exits. Finally, I want to point out that the whole Hotel Transylvania's staff, including me, has been trained on the procedures to follow in case of any kind of danger. " He concluded.
"On the veracity of the facts in question, most of you are witnesses, am I right?" The girl exclaimed, turning to the spectators, who remembered well the amazing job done by all of the staff to hide guests and stop the humans a few days before, "Therefore, I ask the jury to disregard the old, and now solved, security inaccuracies of this hotel."
"Request denied!" Allister the leprechaun urged, "As head of this safe structure, Mr. Dracula is still guilty of serious negligence, and must undergo adequate punishment."
"Request granted." The judge Shin Ryu said.
The green-dressed leprechaun made a smug grin, but his happiness did not last long.
"I demand that the prosecution present the evidence of such negligence" The young vampiress countered, crossing her arms in defiance, "You know what? I'll find it for you." She continued with a fearless tone of defieance ,and then turned back to the spectators, "Can any of you declare with absolute certainty that the emergency exits were not sufficient for an emergency evacuation?"
Obviously, none of those monsters came forward.
"Are you kidding?" Gojira said with his typical Japanese accent, visibly irritated, "No one can testify to the inefficiency of hotel security because there are have never been dangerous situations."
"Ah-ha!" The young vampiress exclaimed, pointing to the human-looking dragon, then she crossed her arms behind her back, "THAT is a testimony. There have never been security problems in the past, and when there were, we were ready for everything."
"If there had been..." Gojira spoke again, but Mavis interrupted him, "Objection! To make an accusation you need evidence, not suppositions that cannot be proved."
"Sustained." Shin Ryu, despite herself, was obliged to agree to the girl.
Council members muttered to each other for several minutes, which for the three defendants seemed interminable hours.
Mavis herself wanted to ask further questions to Mr. Hyde, and maybe even call her father to testify, perhaps even herself, but, on Hal's advice, she said nothing. After all, if the prosecution has no evidence, they can't condemn anyone.
Suddenly, Shin Ryu stood up with bitter reluctance, "To charges of security breaches in the safe structure called Hotel Transylvania, under the responsibility of Count Vlad III Dracula, we, Councilors of the Order of the Dragon, find the defendant, not guilty due to lack of clear evidence."
At the words "not guilty" the attending crowd began to applaud and shout of joy, so much so that the female dragon had to raise her voice to finish the sentence, before beating the wooden hammer strongly to calm the monsters.
"HOWEVER!" Ryu continued when she managed to restore order, "The Order of the Dragon reserves the right to resume the prosecution of the case if, after a thorough investigation, other security problems were to be discovered in this building. The case remains open. "
The first two charges had been overcome better than Drac, Jonny and Mavy could hope. The help of Hal was crucial, because Mavis herself didn't even know exactly the meaning of what she had said few minutes ago, but she played her part well, and the important thing is that it worked.