LTSV - Harbingers of Change - 46 (Patreon)

The adjudication session started on a weird note.

The Elf woman at the head table waved away her cloud of attendants at the exact moment the clock hit the beginning of their scheduled hour. She stood and lightly brushed off the front of her floor-length watered-silk gown. She wore her pale lilac-blonde hair down and unadorned, save for a simple silver circlet at her brow.

She stared at each other people arranged in front of her and the only one who got the slightest hint of respect from her was Syrith, to whom she made a slight bow. Then she rested the fingertips of both hands on the table before her and addressed the room at large.

"Good afternoon. I am Lady Celebrana of the Altiviri Triumvirate. I serve as the System-appointed Triumvirate representative for San Aurelio city and the Estrella Foothills region," she intoned. "You will address me as 'my lady' or 'ma'am' for the duration of the adjudication meeting. Failure to comply will result in your removal from my presence. There will be no warnings or second chances. This session will be recorded through the System and copies will be provided to the relevant parties. No other recording devices will be permitted now that I have called this meeting to order."

There she nodded at an elf standing by the door who was dressed in light armor and had the look of a bailiff. He went straight to Viola and lifted her from her seat by one arm.

"Excuse me!" Viola shrilled. "Let go!"

"Your livestream is at an end, Miss Bellamy," Lady Celebrana said without inflection. "Your viewers will have seen nothing more than a black screen starting from the second I rose from my seat. You race is unfamiliar with System oversight and my research has indicated that this is a commonly accepted practice among you even if it is not officially condoned, so I will not levy a fine against you at this point. Further infractions will not be so easily forgiven."

She turned her attention to the armored bailiff.

"Remove her."

Once Viola was gone, Lady Celebrana held up two manila folder. "I have received confirmation from the System that all parties relevant to this dispute have appeared, so we will proceed. I have reviewed the petitions submitted to me by the Bellamy family and by Samira Bellamy herself."

She looked back and forth between the tables with cold eyes.

"The stories told by these petitions could not be more different. One paints a picture of a troubled young woman who cannot be trusted with even the smallest of personal decisions, much less the considerable wealth bestowed upon her by her maternal family. The other tells the tale of a woman who has been exploited by her self-appointed guardians who have used their custody of her person to enrich themselves."

She put down the fat folders.

"Normally, I would refer this case back to your civil courts. It would be beneath the sight line of the Triumvirate, except for the fact that the woman in question is your race's Archmage and a first generation Gate Hunter who has already distinguished herself in the service of protecting her homeworld and educating her fellow Hunters."

Lady Celebrana turned to address Mira. "On a personal note, the video tutorials that your team submitted as part of your character testimony show rare insight into spell construction and application. I applaud your decision to make your work publicly available to those in need," she turned to face the majority of the room once again. "Furthermore, after having reviewed Miss Bellamy's school records, I do not see any evidence of the supposed learning disabilities and behavioral issues that her parents claim she suffers from in their affidavit. As a result, I have appealed to the System for a full audit of the true support provided to Miss Bellamy over the years, including who has had access to her accounts and the income from her properties, who received the goods and services purchased in her name, and Miss Bellamy's reliable access to food and shelter since the order of protection was put into place."

She looked directly at Virgil.

"I am not pleased with the report I have received. The accounting you submitted to my office details private schools, luxury goods, multiple automobiles, and a luxury apartment located overseas all purchased in Miss Bellamy's name and for her sole use. The System has found no evidence that she has even laid eyes on any of these items, nor has she even had access to her passport since she turned fourteen. There are multiple liens against her properties and you appear to be in talks to with a developer for the sale of a parcel of land south of San Aurelio that was gifted to Miss Bellamy by her great-grandmother and was specifically earmarked for the eventual construction of a private family home once she married."

Lady Celebrana gestured and an enormous System window appeared behind her, visible to all present. The screen showed a financial report that Mira was too far away to read in detail, but Lady Celebrana was still speaking.

"Furthermore, this is a record of Miss Bellamy's current earnings from her work as a Gate Hunter and the spells she has provided to the System's universal spell codex," she said, pointing at a particular line item. "She has received royalties in excess of 250,000 GP. When traced, the funds appear to have been diverted to the account of Miss Violani Bellamy where they were used to purchase gear, consumables, and weapons for members of the SunBlade Guild. I have no record that Miss Samira Bellamy authorized this expenditure, nor was she even made aware of it."

Mira froze in her seat. She had been sort of counting on the System to prevent Virgil from draining her wallet so that she could eventually turn those funds over to Adra, so he could use them to do pretty much the same thing. She'd been planning on presenting it to him as her buy-in money to make her half-official leadership position in LivingShadow real on paper as well as in practice.

Soneares had said that the System could force restitution, but could it do that when the money was already spent?

Syrith put a reassuring hand on her arm. "It will be alright," she said quietly.

Mira took a deep breath through her nose, let it out, and forced herself to keep listening. She stole a quick glance at Virgil.

He had turned a dark shade of red and his shoulders were turtled up around his shoulders while Helena was holding onto his sleeve, looking pale. He kept starting forward like he wanted to say something, but then his lawyer would hold up a hand to forestall him.

"I am now ready to announce the verdict," Lady Celebrana concluded and dismissed the screen with one hand.

Soneares had warned Mira in advance that they probably wouldn't get to say anything, that Triumvirate representatives tended to rely on the neutral testimony of the System above all things and that the papers they submitted in advance would probably be the only argument that Mira could make on her own behalf, which was why they'd included footage from her unreleased 'The Gate Hunter's Guide to Magic' web series as part of her testimonial.

No one had warned Virgil's side, apparently, because his lawyer stood up abruptly.

"Ma'am, I object. We haven't been given the opportunity to make our case!" he cried out.

"You made your case here," was Lady Celebrana cold reply as she held up the fat folder on her desk. "This document is so riddled with inaccuracies and outright lies that I cannot accept anything your side says as unvarnished truth. This session was never intended as a place for you to argue your case before me. It was meant as a place for you to receive my judgment. Sit down, counselor and hear my words."

Virgil grabbed his lawyer's arm and hissed something into his ear.

"We will appeal!" the lawyer blurted out. "This is not a proper court of law!"

"You are welcome to make the attempt," Lady Celebrana allowed. "In the interim, my judgment is as follows: under Triumvirate law, I recognize Miss Samira Bellamy's request for a change of guardian. She and her interests will be represented by the King and Queen of the Demon nation beginning now. In the absence of her primary guardians, decisions on her behalf will be made by their governing Council of Wise Ones until her order of protection expires according to local statutes. The System will restore all disputed funds, properties, and belongings to her with the exception of any debt that has been taken out in her name, but not in her best interests. That debt will revert to the individuals who applied for the loan and received the funds. In the case of non-material wealth, such as gifts made by her former guardian to outsiders or payments for services she did not receive, the full value of those gifts and services will be returned to her via System action from that former guardian's personal assets beginning with liquid cash and escalating to either partial or total ownership of any or all properties in his name. Any salary her former guardian has paid to themselves from her assets will also be returned to her, backdated to the first instance of fraudulent behavior. If Virgil Bellamy's personal assets and properties are not sufficient to cover the debt, all funds he earns through the System will be garnished until such a time as Miss Samira Bellamy is made whole."

She paused for a breath and continued.

"This office cannot issue further punishments against the Bellamy family for the physical harm they have inflicted on their daughter, but I have submitted a testimonial to be logged with the System that will automatically be presented to any criminal court that Virgil and Helena Bellamy appear in front of as part of discovery. I find your idea of 'appropriate care' to be abhorrent and I have lived on worlds where you would have been flogged to death in the street following the conclusion of this meeting. Be grateful you do not live on such a planet."

Two System windows appeared in front of Mira's nose.

[Congratulations! You have successfully won your appeal. The System now acknowledges Her Grace, Queen Alanamira the First as your legal guardian and representative.]

[Congratulations! You are now the legal guardian and representative of Hunter Samira Bellamy. Please review the attached overview of the recent automatic seizure action taken on her behalf and familiarize your ward with her holdings.]

Mira snoozed the windows.

Virgil was already up and arguing, but Mira honestly couldn't be bothered to listen. Syrith stood and Mira's party got up from the spectator's seats to close ranks around them so she didn't even have to look at her 'father.'

"Sammy!" Helena called out. "Sammy, come here right now!"

"That was vicious," Alan commented right over Helena's histrionics. "I can't wait to find out what they have left after all this is over. Do you think he even had a real job or was the entire family living off your money?"

Mira thought about it as Mister Green and Mister White hustled everyone out before Virgil could redirect his angry at Mira and someone had to kick his ass in public about it. After all, she was supposed to be the wronged party and they had to be seen taking the high road—at least for now.

"I think he does have a few businesses, actually," Mira mused. "I feel like I remember him talking about a few car dealerships he inherited from his father. The Volante might have come from one of them, now that I think about it. Of course, he would have never paid full sticker price for one of my cars."

"I will be interested to see if the new list of your assets now includes those car dealerships," Syrith commented and the party, save Mira, froze as though they'd forgotten she was there. She smiled at Mira. "We will meet later to review your winnings. For now, go celebrate with your friends."

Alan waited until Syrith and her escort were well out of earshot. "Is it just me or is she really scary without trying to be?"

"Something like that," Cece murmured, watching Syrith leave with a crinkle in her brow. "Something like that.