A Drop of Justice 8 - Or 'Playing Ace Attorney has never been so French!' (Genshin Impact AU, Lawyer!SI)
Liyue Harbor was deemed, reasonably so, the biggest and wealthiest city-state in Teyvat.
Albeit one could make a case that Sumeru City was close enough to be just as big, the truth was that the central tree which the entire city developed from was not to be deemed as 'part of the city itself. By perimeter of recognized 'city-owned terrain', Liyue Harbor was the biggest.
The fact that it was a major trade port and one that was the main producer of Mora also meant it was among the richest, followed closely by Snezhnaya and Fontaine, meant it was a huge hub of traders and travelers that sought out the cheap expenses of organizing trips to Inazuma and beyond.
To Maeve and I, Liyue was-
"Oh my! Is that an Adeptus?!"
"An illuminated beast!? Here in the Harbor?!"
Once that would have been kind of nice and cute, but the last year has been particularly interesting in Liyue.
First, Rex Lapis 'died', then the Fatui made a huge mess that stopped the production of Mora, and despite the human-Adepti front to face Water God Osial and his divine snake wife, tensions between mortals and 'divine beasts' have been particularly frisky.
"No, she is my assistant and she is from Fontaine, so kindly stop breathing against our face, kid sirs and ladies."
Calm was pushed through with gritting teeth, and the palpable dread we were experiencing through the path to our ship was indeed unpleasant. I expected the process to take the ship and go on our merry way to Inazuma to be an expedited process since Neuvillette had all paperwork signed and prepared to go beyond the normal controls.
We were VIPs, so we could skip on the bureaucratic bullshit and-
"Nope."
"What? The papers say-"
"The paper may be right, but we ain't going to take in an Adeptus thingy and we have legal reasons to 'be concerned'."
I growled at the sailor, the guy narrowing his eyes at me as I was at my wits ends with this racism I was dealing with. Not only was it getting on my nerves, but seeing Maeve expressing a degree of self-bashing over her situation was pissing me off to no end.
"I will get fucking papers to tell that she isn't one of those damn Adepti, but pray tell I don't give you a scathing review to you and your guys' shitty atttitude."
"You dare to-"
"Buzz off, I think I will just pay for another boat for this bullshit," I left with the foulest mood possible, the air chilling all around as I just marched away and towards the Qixing's location.
Maeve walked beside me, skipping quietly and yet with sagging shoulders. "Sorry."
"Not your fault, Maeve. Just don't let these cretins get to you," I muttered with a forcefully calm tone, reaching to pick her up.
"What are we going to do?"
"Get proper paperwork to set you apart from Adepti. Hopefully this will be enough."
It should have been enough, which is why I expected things to go smooth from this point onward. As one with a calmer mindset would expect from previous interactions, it wasn't the case.
"The Qixing is busy with an emergency meeting, I am sorry but-"
"Why?" I half-snapped, the secretary flinching as she picked up some files. "What's going on to demand the full government's attention away from basic bureaucracy?"
"...A trial against an Adeptus."
"That's- what?" Instead of telling me more, the young woman handed me a paper with a proper program regarding today's trial against... Legal Advisor Yanfei.
Thinking back about this name, I realized that she was technically the most honest lawyer in the place. Only chance for this huge lawsuit to be filed against her would be through a mix of corruption and ignorance being exploited for the sake of bringing down a legal hurdle between any anti-Adepti to push away any of those 'beasts' living in the Harbor.
Considering the importance of the trial, I could see how the Qixing in the fullest was required to preside over the matter, but I was actually upset that the details over the matter seemed to paint a rather one-sided legal mess.
Self-representation was not a thing in Liyue, and considering that no one had offered legal assistance to Yanfei meant that the situation was so shitty that no one here wanted to have their heads ripped off their bodies by a ferocious crown.
Sadly, that also meant I would have to step in and make a mess myself. I felt murderous enough to see some cruel retribution delivered anyway.
"The trial is in two hours, yes?"
The clerk appeared surprised by the sudden question, especially since it was delivered with a quieter tone and then followed by a grin.
"I wish for me and my assistant to be assigned to the case. We are registered lawyers."
Maeve frowned at the turns of events, but she said nothing as the poor woman could only nod as the law did allow for foreign lawyers to pick up the slack if none of the local ones offered assistance. While I had focused in studying Inazuman laws, it is also true that some of the legislation established by the Raiden Shogun took a large inspiration from the Liyue's own set of laws.
So, while I wouldn't say I was masterful on the topic, I had enough time to smooth out any dilemma I had on the matter and ravage my opponents. By the time that bunch of paperwork was signed, Maeve and I moved to the closest library with books on laws.
"You... you are doing this for me."
"Us," I argued, but then nodded. "But you primarily. Those ignorant people get on my nerves and... what better way to make our names known beyond kicking some racist asses?"
Despite the promise of committing lawyer-style rip-&-tear stuff, Maeve offered a tentative smile and soon we were diving nose-deep on paperwork about the general laws and what we could find on Yanfei's personality and exploits.
As the two hours came by, it was time for the huge show to start and... that's a lot of birds in the Adepti's rows...
Unlawful.
Yanfei's mind could stick to that one word in regard of what was going on. A trial- one against her. It was such a sham that it disgusted her on a deep level. As someone that had ventured deep into the legality and fairness of some laws, the half-Adeptus was familiar with the fact that laws weren't always perfect.
She had made it a personal mission to fix all loopholes she found, to help people that required assistance no matter how far she would have to go through the difficult terrains of Liyue. A hardworker, a strongwilled girl, and a dedicated lawyer- Yanfei could tell she didn't deserve to be the defendant of such a trial.
The case itself was a joke. Not even a glance into the 'long' list of accusations, and Yanfei found several errors. But the issue was less on the matters of what was true or not, but how the public opinion had shifted into such a dreadful paranoia. The kind of paranoia that was keen to deeply influence the court of justice as it softly blended with the court of public opinion.
She had heard of stories akin ot this one from Madam Ping, about when hysteria after the formation of modern Liyue saw a few mistrials being pushed forward to kill those 'deemed' dangerous by the people. Time has passed from that time, a long time, but Yanfei had been warned this may be her own case.
The presence of the other Adepti didn't soothe the worries of the people that had been rallied as jury and even the Qixing looked wary as they all took a seat. She was already sitting before anyone did, reacting to the unpleasant circumstance and neverending feeling of approaching doom with a sense of formality and obedience to the rule of conduct with the role she was stuck with.
Nonetheless, a surprise or two were expected. For one of those to be that her lawyer was of Fontaine, it sure left Yanfei baffled. The young man was roughly a few years older than her, pacing smoothly and yet eyeing around with a hint of chilling displeasure as he took a seat by the chair beside hers. With him came a tiny creature, a 'Melusine' called Maeve.
Part of her found it slightly ironic that the casual racism leveled on the cute-looking creature due to her 'Adeptus-like appearance' may be what had given her the chance to have representation. From what her current lawyer, John Bukharin, was willing to tell her:
1) They were the only ones that volunteered for this 'free job';
2) They had a rough experience with both locals and the bureaucratic halt that came through this trial;
3) These two were not going to spare any mercy to the accusing party.
Despite the large faction of lawyers working together in a chaotically-mixed group, Yanfei could tell these stood no chance with someone that had 'nothing to lose here' in matters of reputation. And as the 'game' started, she was surprised of what kind of spectacle she was exposed to.
Many times she had tried to browse into Fontaine-based laws, but the way those were structured tended to leave her head spin. Yanfei doubted her current legal protector was better at that sort of knowledge-keeping, but his actions made such an effort unwarranted.
Usually, Yanfei would just dismantle any issue and let the two sides sort it out if it was possible. John's pattern went further beyond by outright razing the opposition. He dismantled, wreck and then countered with legal requests.
It was expected within the legal framework, but hardly used in normal trials. Yet 'this was an exceptionally important trial to define an end to the potential mistakes made by ignorance and bigotry' as John presented it. The prosecution opened a door, and John passed through it with the brutality of an enraged Geo Lawachurl.
Five long hours went by, with numerous witnesses being weeded out and exploited.
The Adepti such as Cloud Retainer and Moon Carver were capable of providing reasonable 'characterization' to exclude the 'case of misplaced loyalty' due to her intervention with the legal system.
Accusations of treasons and mistrials were handled by attacking all those that raised the offense and tried to turn the events back on her. John shredded though it all, denounced liars and demanded counter-accusations to be issued on their names and... in Yanfei was silent.
Part of her original plan if she had gotten an inexperienced lawyer to her side was to coach him as it would have been legally feasible. Difficult, but doable. Yet, as John started to roll a small ball of snowy trouble, it would then turn into an avalanche that cracked at the 'solid front' established by the prosecution.
Five hours and a verdict was reached that freed her of any accusation. She was free, and the damage those attacking her suffered was enough to bruise the growing antipathy against the Adepti. The Qixing would continue to work the efforts of 'dealing with the Counter-Accusations', but those would be handled by the Qixing and not her lawyer.
John merely returned her 'thank you for helping' with a nod and he just left with Maeve to 'get on that blasted boat to Inazuma'. It would take a hour for her floaty mind to retrieve the common sense it was missing, and by the time she did so, he was gone and... her cheeks were still flushed.
How embarrassing! It had been the first time she allowed someone else to defend her like this, and the way this was handled was both 'flawed but pleasant'. It was interesting to peer into the mind of a fellow lawyer who, by all means, was there only to expedite the process of drawing paperworks to resume his trip to Inazuma.
So, why did she feel like part of her wanted him to stay a little longer?
AN
Ah yes, Yanfei and her legal lady-boner.