In the midst of a profound astonishment that enveloped everyone in the hall and the beautiful horizon city alike, the cosmic judge responds to the puppeteer saying:
"I will agree to your request since the laws allow it, but do not think that your killing of this poor creature will go unjudged."
The puppeteer, sarcastically:
"Ha! Poor thing! I don't think you mean this chopped octopus; I just wanted to prepare it for cooking."
The judge, agitated:
"I know what you mean; the accused is innocent until proven guilty."
But he quickly regains his composure and adds:
"You will face your trial after this... good luck proving he deserves the death penalty."
The attendees among themselves:
"Did you hear! The puppeteer will be tried again."
"They didn't succeed in previous attempts to prove anything about his crimes."
"Yes, but this time is different; it happened right before the eyes of the court."
The cosmic judge strikes lightly with his gavel to restore calm and then resumes his work, saying:
"We return to you, Mr. Shiny, what do you defend yourself with now?"
Shiny:
"Believe me, Your Honor, I myself am about to believe that I stole it, but for personal reasons, I cannot disclose the truth of what happened then."
The cosmic judge:
"I'm sorry, but with that, the first charge against you has been officially established."
The cosmic judge strikes his gavel on the judges' table, officially announcing the confirmation of the first charge against Shiny, causing all the residents of the Beautiful Horizon City to cheer joyfully at this victory. The cosmic judge then addresses Dayas, congratulating him after winning the first case:
"Congratulations, human! Our court has never seen such an entertaining case before, but now you will have to appeal the second case."
Shiny, annoyed:
"Damn, I hate losing."
Dayas to the cosmic judge:
"Sorry, but I am waiting for an important person to arrive."
The cosmic judge:
"I can help you summon him with my gavel, as you know."
Dayas:
"Thank you sir, but I will choose to give him some time to arrive... despite his delay."
Simi enters directly through the courtroom door right after Dayas finishes his sentence, heading toward him while saying:
"His delay! I've been behind the door since your victory announcement, waiting for the right moment to enter."
Dayas:
"Finally, did you bring what I asked for?"
Simi:
"Yes, of course, it's in my bag. Luckily for you, my speed is cosmic; otherwise, I wouldn't have made it in time. You owe me your thanks later."
Dayas:
"Thank you! Don't forget that everything happening now is because you disclosed my secret to everyone."
Simi:
"Oh yes, I haven't told you yet... the person who leaked your secret to everyone is someone who usually stands to your left, just like he is now."
Dayas turns to his left to find Scorpy smiling a lukewarm smile and saying:
"Heh, sorry my friend."
Dayas, angrily:
"So you are the traitor who exposed me."
Scorpy:
"I'm not a traitor; if I hadn't done that, you wouldn't have moved to regain your feelings. It was for your own good, brother."
Dayas, recalling the past:
"But... what about the two men in front of the academy and Gorky and..."
Scorpy:
"Yes, yes, all of that was part of my plan."
Dayas:
"Did you have to spread that among everyone?"
But he rethinks and adds:
"Well, you know, I don't have the right to be angry; in the end, everything that happened was in my favor."
At that moment, Simi spots the puppeteer in front of the octopus's corpse and adds to Dayas:
"Hey, what is the puppeteer doing with you in front of the court? I hope you weren't chased with him over something."
Dayas:
"Huh, why? He wants to help me with the case."
Simi:
"Your help! Do you know who the Puppeteer is?"
Dayas:
"Not really, but aside from his appearance, he seems like a good person."
Simi:
"Of course you don't know, you're from the first universe, but the rest of the universes know him well... The Puppeteer is known by this name because of his terrifying powers that allow him to turn people into moving wooden puppets and manipulate them as he wishes after killing them. It is said that he only targets criminals, especially notorious murderers and corrupt officials and bribers, or "the corrupt" as he likes to describe them, and it is also said that he holds entertainment shows for people using them after killing and transforming them, believing that he helps the corrupt in this way to atone for the sins they committed in their lives."
The cosmic judge interrupts Dayas and Simi, saying:
"Ahem, shall we return to the trial now?"
Dayas, smiling:
"Of course."
Then he turns to Simi and adds:
"Could you give him the document?"
At that moment, Simi flies to the judges' table and pulls out an old white paper from his bag, placing it in front of the cosmic judge, who looks at it in surprise, asking:
"What is this?"
Dayas:
"This is the adoption document for Scorpy, proving that my father legally adopted him about thirteen years ago."
The cosmic judge enlarges the document with his gavel to fit its size and then begins to read it, concluding with the words:
"This document is legally sound, and with this, you win your brother, but now the matter of your shadow remains."
Arenas sighs in relief after reading the words of the cosmic judge in her book when suddenly Professor Qwiz enters, carrying a small television under his arm, loudly saying:
"I got tired of watching TV at the café, so I thought to myself, why not come to your place to watch it together... I just hope there's an electrical outlet in this old place."
Arenas replies firmly:
"Today is a workday; I can't leave my academic duties to follow the events of that ridiculous court."
Professor Qwiz:
"The ridiculous court! Where did you hear that? I thought you didn't have any TV or radio in your office."
Arenas, flustered:
"Uh, I heard that from one of the students."
Professor Qwiz:
"Which students! There's no one at the academy; everyone is either in the town square or at home watching the court events."
Arenas, changing the subject:
"The power is on over there; you can set it up."
We return once again to the cosmic court where Dayas addresses Shiny after the cosmic judge acknowledges the legitimacy of the document, saying:
"What do you think about you giving up Alndor and I will give up the first case?"
Shiny angrily:
"Never."
Dayas to the cosmic judge:
"Your Honor, can I know the penalty for the first case against the defendant?"
The cosmic judge:
"The ruling will be made later after consulting with my advisors, but he will certainly have to return what he stole."
Dayas seriously threatening Shiny:
"Think about it carefully, my feelings... or Alndor?"
Shiny takes his time to think deeply and then replies laughing:
"Come on, you've already defeated me, what a clever young scoundrel you are."
Then he turns his gaze to the court and adds:
"Your Honor, I give up Alnidor."
The cosmic judge:
"Then it is a friendly solution."
Then he strikes his gavel on the judges' table one last time while adding:
"Court is adjourned."
Everyone in the city cheers joyfully for Dayas and his brother while the attendees in the hall applaud in respect and appreciation for them, especially for Dayas's clever handling of the case. Among them is the puppeteer, who claps half-heartedly, saying:
"But I haven't defended him yet."
In that great atmosphere, Dayas approaches Simi, saying confidentially:
"Thanks for the bribe you gave to that octopus to testify with me."
Simi:
"It's good that the puppeteer killed him; you're really lucky. Otherwise, I would have faced a problem with that octopus later... Haha, I promised him I'd find a planet full of people for him to devour."
Dayas, smiling with a wicked grin:
"Haha, what a fool."
Scorpy notices his brother smiling that smile and wonders to himself:
"This is the first time I've seen him smile like that; it looks exactly like Alnidor's smile."
After all these events, Dayas, Scorpy, Simi, and cinnamon return to the city of beautiful horizons to find everyone welcoming them warmly at the swan fountain in the city square. The man with the heavy bag steps forward from the crowd, calling out to Dayas and Scorpy:
"Hey Dayas, Scorpy, I'm here here!"
Dayas and Scorpi turn to the source of the voice to see their uncle, and they say happily in unison:
"Uncle Frank, what are you doing here?"
Uncle Frank:
"I was tasked by your mother to bring you back to the family home."
A few days after the cosmic court event, Shiny goes before a massive throne floating on the water in a dimly lit place. Near that throne stands a giant servant in clothes glowing with strange white light, smiling quietly. Suddenly, a woman's voice, echoing like a reverberation from the direction of the throne, says:
"I want you to bring that human to my palace."
Shiny:
"Who? Are you referring to Dais? Hah, interesting, there's only one entity left who doesn't care about him."
Then he adds, questioning:
"But which palace do you mean?... As you know, you have many of them."
That voice:
"I plan to make him a guest of the palace."
Shiny:
"Oh, that palace, but doesn't that mean..."
That voice:
"Yes, he will become the first supreme human."
Shiny:
"Your command... O entity."
Shiny says this and leaves the place, then the radiant servant responds to his lady after his departure, saying:
"Lady, may I know your purpose in making a human a sublime being?"
Voice:
"The matter is not about that; that human is the puzzle that was missing from my palace."
Servant:
"Do I understand from your words that he is the fifth master you have been searching for?"
Voice:
"Yes, for Dayas represents the final sin I have always sought... He represents pleasure."
Servant:
"Lady, forgive my slow understanding, but how can pleasure be a sin?"
Suddenly, a wide smile appears from the throne and replies:
"Oh, I'm sorry, I mean the gluttony of pleasure."