“Hey Seti, I’m here to pick you up.”

“Welcome, Will. You came quickly?”

When Seti, who was sitting in the underground jail of the sheriff’s office, greeted me warmly, the fruit shop owner who had been nagging just moments ago—demanding to know why I was going to the sheriff’s office and insisting I take her there immediately without wasting time—stood with her mouth agape.

“What… what is this…?”

“You asked me to take you to where the cat-folk girl is, right? So here we are.”

“Ah, my goodness~ Sheriff, really now, when did you arrest her and put her in jail? You could have at least told me about it~”

The fruit shop owner completely changed her attitude the moment she saw Seti in the jail cell, giving the sheriff a sly smile.

“Weren’t you the one who refused to listen when I tried to explain, insisting we raid her lodgings?”

“Anyway! You did well, truly. As expected, a veteran sheriff with 30 years of experience is different! Serves you right, you little thief!”

“Seti didn’t steal anything.”

“How dare you lie with those wide innocent eyes! I saw it clearly with my own two eyes!?”

“Now, now, both of you quiet down.”

When the sheriff clapped his hands to get their attention, the fruit shop owner, who had been glaring at Seti as if she would have slapped her if not for the bars, turned toward the sheriff with a triumphant expression.

“Was it this girl who stole an apple from the fruit shop and ran away?”

“Absolutely! If I were 20 years younger, I would have chased and caught her myself. But how could someone like her escape safely not once, but twice?”

“Kuhuhut.”

“…What’s so funny, young man?”

I couldn’t help laughing at the idea that this plump lady could have caught Seti if she were 20 years younger.

If Seti had really darted out from an alley, snatched some fruit, and run away, this woman wouldn’t even have known what happened, let alone catch her.

“Let me confirm one last time. Are you certain it was this girl who stole the fruit? Is there any possibility you might have seen wrong or misunderstood…?”

“Come on, I’ve been doing business in that alley for over 15 years—you think I can’t recognize people who come and go? I’m absolutely certain!”

“…I see. Then there’s no choice.”

When the sheriff pulled handcuffs from his back pocket, the fruit shop owner briefly wore a victorious expression before it changed to bewilderment.

She must be wondering why he needed handcuffs for someone already in jail.

But before she could ask, the sheriff’s strong hand grabbed her wrist, and with a heavy metallic click, the handcuffs were fastened.

“Mrs. Margaret Marcel, I’m placing you under arrest. You’re charged with staging a fake crime and committing perjury to frame an innocent adventurer.”

“W-what is this!? Sheriff, what are you doing!?”

“For your information, Elem Lu Seti has been in that jail since last night. Do you understand what that means?”

“Well, if she committed a crime, of course she should be in jail… Wait, what?”

“Lady, looks like you finally realized something’s off. How could someone who’s been in jail since last night steal fruit from your shop?”

When I interjected with a smirk after watching this farce unfold, the fruit shop owner could only stare in shock at the sheriff, me, and Seti in turn, stammering without being able to form a coherent response.

“This is truly regrettable. While we can’t help that some citizens harbor hatred toward the cat-folk, I never imagined someone would try to frame a licensed adventurer for a crime.”

“This proves Seti’s innocence, right?”

“I suppose so. Though we still need to catch the actual thief.”

“Interrogating this lady should reveal that. She must have hired someone nimble enough to steal without getting caught.”

“Thank you again for your assistance with the investigation. I apologize for the trouble this caused Miss Seti.”

The sheriff took out his keys, opened the cell, and let Seti out, then pushed the handcuffed fruit shop owner inside before locking it again.

The sound of the lock clicking seemed to bring the fruit shop owner back to her senses, and she grabbed the bars, pleading with a trembling voice.

“I-I’m sorry, Sheriff! Thinking about it again, maybe it wasn’t her after all…”

“I asked you twice to confirm, and you insisted it was her. I cannot accept a retraction of testimony simply to escape an unfavorable situation.”

“What will happen to that lady?”

“For conspiring to frame a license holder with a staged crime, she’ll face at least a year of labor service. Half her wages will be deposited into Miss Seti’s account as the victim, and her license will be suspended during her service period, meaning her shop will be closed. Even after completing her service, a downgrade of her Frontier License is unavoidable.”

As the sheriff explained, the imprisoned shop owner’s face gradually turned pale.

The damage would be considerable—not only would she have to live as a slave for a year, but her shop would be forcibly closed.

She tried to ruin someone’s life over the value of two apples and is now paying a heavy price. We could end the case here, but…

“Sheriff, is there no way to reduce that sentence?”

“Unless there were extenuating circumstances, her xenophobic motive isn’t grounds for leniency—quite the opposite, it warrants a harsher punishment. The minimum service period is one year only because the victim holds an F-grade license. If Miss Seti were an A-grade adventurer, it could have extended to over ten years.”

It was the first time I’d heard that criminal sentences varied based on the victim’s Frontier License grade.

Considering that license grades are determined by contributions to the frontier development project, the intent seems to be to punish crimes against more socially valuable individuals more severely.

As someone who lived in a country that claimed all citizens were equal before the law, this felt somewhat alien to me.

“Well, while we can’t change what’s legally mandated, the charge of conspiring to frame Seti with a staged crime assumes this lady was the mastermind, right?”

“That’s true. If there’s another culprit and she merely cooperated with the plan, her punishment could be lighter.”

Upon hearing this, the imprisoned fruit shop owner desperately shook the bars as if she’d found hope in the depths of despair.

“Y-yes! It wasn’t my idea! It was that old hag! That Laila hag who’s always stirring up trouble pestered me until I gave in!”

“Laila?”

“She means the old woman who was shouting about arresting the cat-folk when you first arrived here.”

“Ah, the one they say is mentally unstable…”

As I suspected, the mastermind behind this incident was the cat-folk-hating old woman we encountered upon entering Riverside.

I don’t know how that seemingly deranged old woman managed to persuade the shopkeepers and find accomplices, but even considering her tragic past of losing family to the cat-folk, this crossed a line.

“Mrs. Margaret Marcel. Can you repeat this statement in court? That Laila Bolter is the true culprit behind this conspiracy, and you merely cooperated?”

“I can! I swear! I’ll never listen to that crazy old hag again, so please!”

“If this statement also proves false, perjury, obstruction of investigation, and attempting to frame Laila will be added to your charges.”

“It’s true! It’s really not a lie! If you check the safe in my shop, you’ll find a sapphire necklace I received as payment for helping with this!”

There seemed to be genuine sincerity in the fruit shop owner as she knelt in the cell, pleading desperately.

“I should go arrest the real culprit. Would you like to come along?”

“I’d like to go back to our lodgings and bring my other companions, if that’s alright?”

“I’d prefer if you didn’t bring more people than the guard detail. It wouldn’t be a good sight for the townspeople.”

It seems that regardless of the circumstances or justification, having newly arrived adventurers marching behind the sheriff to arrest a town resident—an elderly one at that—would give the impression that the town’s order was being dictated by outsiders.

“Well, I guess it can’t be helped. Just me and Seti then… No, Seti should probably wait at the lodgings.”

“No. I want to go too.”

“That old woman will spout all kinds of vile things when she sees you.”

“It’s okay. If her grief made her that way, I’ll let her say whatever harsh words she needs to.”

Seti spoke with a composed expression.

To be honest, I didn’t want to bring Seti along to arrest Laila.

That old woman has lost her rational judgment due to anger over losing her family to the cat-folk, living solely on hatred and rage toward them.

I have no desire to sympathize with or pity her circumstances, nor do I want Seti to hear the harsh and vile words she’ll undoubtedly spew.

But looking at Seti’s face now, I realize that this conflict between settlers and cat-folk isn’t something that I, a drifter who only knows bits and pieces, should interfere with.

Although Seti herself has never harmed any settlers, her determination to face the conflict between her people and the settlers head-on is something I shouldn’t casually judge.

With that thought, I could no longer dissuade her.

“OK. Then just the two of us will go.”

Having decided, Seti and I followed the sheriff toward the residential area of Riverside.

Well then, time to bring this case to a close.