Having traversed countless realms, can you possibly be as clever as me?

"But—if he can't control himself, and truly believes that he is the only god qualified to judge everything, and makes any foolish and presumptuous choice that exceeds the status I have given him."

"He will face the judgment and trial of the law for his arrogance and overstepping his bounds."

"After all, death is not the end for me, but merely a 'punishment' that accompanies the trial."

"Let me see what you can do, Light Yagami at thirty. Are you willing to join forces with justice, or choose to embark on a path alone?"

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

P.S.: The intercom is finally back online—and continuing from my previous idea for Subaru, I was thinking of writing a short story with two chapters, but I feel like a few ideas aren't quite right, like Aqua or a character with a Demonic Void physique, etc. If they're too strong, it'll be too easy to push things around and I won't be able to properly support Subaru; if they're too weak, I might as well not write them at all. Also, I think it'll be easy to portray Subaru as a workaholic (staring into the distance).

866

585. Yagami Light and Hikari Hikari

As the noren curtain of the izakaya was lifted slightly, a handsome and mature young man bent down and walked in. Hiromi Higurashi had already drunk half a pot of sake by himself.

"Senior Riche." The young man sat down opposite him, his suit jacket off and draped over his arm, his tie hanging loosely at his collar, looking tired as if he had just finished get off work.

"Sorry I'm late. I spent an extra half hour signing the minutes for the search meeting. I've been quite busy lately."

“Our Inspector Yagami is personally handling fieldwork. Aren’t your men embarrassed?” Hiromi Higurashi poured a glass for his junior, Light Yagami, his tone carrying the teasing and mischievousness typical of close friends.

Light Yagami smiled, took the wine glass and placed it on the table, but did not drink it immediately. He carefully examined Hiromi Higurashi—his most respected senior from his student days. At this moment, Hiromi's eyes were sunken, and his stubble cast a bluish-gray shadow on his chin. His once sharp and piercing aura seemed to have been stripped of its backbone.

“I’ve heard about it,” Light Yagami said without beating around the bush, “about what happened in court.”

Seeing that no one responded, Hiroshi Nichisha downed the rest of the wine in his glass in one gulp. His Adam's apple bobbed up and down, as if he had swallowed something even more bitter than alcohol.

"Japan's conviction rate for criminal cases is 99.9%," Hiromi Hizawa said with a mocking tone.

"I should have known this would happen a long time ago, shouldn't I? It's truly a case of reaping what you sow, and in the end, you've made yourself look so pathetic..."

Light Yagami didn't say anything, but silently poured a glass of wine for his senior.

The senior in front of him was the one he respected most at the University of Tokyo. He was also an absolute genius, having passed the bar exam on his first try and become a nationally selected lawyer.

He didn't become a prosecutor or join a large law firm, even though both could have brought him immense benefits. Instead, he resolutely chose to become a public defender, a thankless and demanding job.

The so-called public defender is a lawyer dispatched by the government for those who cannot afford to hire a lawyer. In other words, they handle all the cheap and difficult cases that are both unprofitable and difficult.

Therefore, having chosen this extremely difficult path, he inevitably had to frequently clash with prosecutors.

To reiterate, in Japan, the conviction rate after criminal prosecution is as high as 99.9%, which basically means that once you are criminally prosecuted by a prosecutor, the probability of being convicted and imprisoned is almost a certainty.

Even so, the man named Hiromi Hitsugaya stubbornly challenged this system time and time again, like Don Quixote rushing into a windmill, endlessly cycling between failures and occasional successes.

The case he recently took on was just like that. The suspect, Keita Oe, who was accused of murder, clearly had an alibi, and was even acquitted in the first trial thanks to Hiromi Hishashi's efforts. However, in the subsequent second trial, everything took a sharp turn for the worse.

The prosecution didn't even present any new evidence; they simply made absurd factual findings and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

In fact, in Light Yagami's opinion, his senior had already done a very good job, even unbelievably so.

Given that the prosecution had already established the basic facts of the crime, it was a miracle that the defendant was acquitted in the first trial. After all, Light Yagami, who had entered the police department as a professional under his father's patronage, already knew everything about this country.

In Japan—or rather, in most countries that follow the civil law system—the principle that "the prosecution is justice" has long been accepted as a fact, which contrasts sharply with the common law system where "assets are justice."

Criminal cases are inherently unequal, with the defendant often appearing in an individual capacity while the prosecution acts as an organization, leading to a cruel situation.

The prosecution cannot afford to lose. In such an unequal litigation, any defeat by the prosecution is not only a disgrace to the prosecutor himself, but also a disgrace to the entire prosecutor's office.

Even if the prosecution's verdict is correct most of the time, is it possible that out of a hundred cases, there won't be one genuine wrongful conviction?

Obviously it is impossible.

Japan's conviction rate in criminal cases is 99.9%, which means that even if the defendant is truly innocent, the organization will use all its resources to prove the defendant guilty.

Fabricating evidence? Absolutely unnecessary. Although judges and prosecutors are not in the same system, their relationship is similar to that between a school and the education department.

When one system is expected to be promoted to another, the two are essentially one entity.

"They didn't even bother to submit any evidence before sentencing him to life imprisonment."

Hiromi Hiroshi placed his wine glass on the table, the porcelain bottom making a dull thud as it hit the wooden table, and chuckled self-deprecatingly.

866 >>

"They just wanted to give me a warning, so I was kicked out for disturbing court order... I only got what I deserved."

Looking at his senior, Light Yagami felt a strange impulse brewing within him.

“Hichiro-senpai, you didn’t do anything wrong,” Yagami Light said. His voice was gentle and restrained, the kind of comfort that came just right, but his light-colored eyes shone strangely in the dim light of the izakaya.

“It’s most disgusting that everyone is right,” Hiromi Hiraka said softly.

"There is no justice in this country, Yagami. We law students understand best that what's argued in court isn't right or wrong, but rather which outcome best suits everyone's desire..."

Silence spread between the two. Light Yagami was perhaps destined to be unable to understand Hikami Higurashi, because he was an idealist, while Light Yagami was not.

No—it should be said that Light Yagami is also an idealist, but he is a completely different type from Hiromi Higurashi.

"That's enough," Light Yagami told himself. They should go their separate ways. No matter what, they could never be on the same path.

This is not to say that there is a difference in social class between him, as the son of a high-ranking official in the Metropolitan Police Department, who is destined to become the Superintendent of Police, and Hiromi Higurashi, a "wild dog lawyer".

Rather... Light Yagami knew that having already taken that step, he no longer had the right to speak righteously in front of Hiroshi Higurashi.

Suddenly, Light Yagami chuckled.

“Senior Nichisha,” he picked up the glass of wine that hadn’t been touched, swirled it between his fingers, and looked at the slightly swirling liquid in the glass, “Do you remember what the professor wrote on the blackboard in the first jurisprudence class when we were at Tokyo University?”

Hiroshi Nichiro frowned slightly, then replied.

Don't get lost while following the book, bookmark http://

“A system of behavioral norms formulated or recognized by the state, which has universal binding force and enforceability.”

"But we all know that the law is essentially just a set of rules that serve the interests of a minority, keep the majority in a cage, and maintain the legitimacy of the ruling class."

Light Yagami raised his eyes, and the light in them was no longer the restrained gentleness from before, but a deeper, colder emotion, like an undercurrent surging beneath the ice.

"What we believe in has never been justice in its essence, Senior Nichisha. It is merely order, a tool to keep society functioning at a minimum. It is inherently designed to serve a minority, and this core has never changed from Roman law to modern legal codes."

He paused for a moment, then downed the wine in his glass in one gulp.

"True justice has only one possibility." Light Yagami put down his wine glass, his voice low, as if he were stating a secret that belonged only to the two of them.

"That is the power that transcends all of this. It is an absolute power that is not bound by procedures, not bound by rules, and not subordinate to anyone."

Hiromi Higurashi looked at the junior in front of him. Light Yagami still had that impeccable elite appearance, with handsome features and a calm demeanor, but his words were like a fine needle, precisely piercing the newly opened wound in his chest.

“…What you’re saying doesn’t quite align with your stance, Tsuki,” Hiromi Hiraki said.

"Ha, it seems I'm one of the few, right, Nichisha-senpai?" Yagami Light chuckled, a slight smile playing on his lips.

"But I must defend myself, senior Nichisha, I am actually a complete idealist."

"And you must admit, senior, that there are indeed forces in this world that now transcend the law and government..."

Hiroki Higurashi fell silent for a moment. He knew what Light Yagami was talking about, or rather, everyone knew, but everyone pretended not to know.

The terrifying video of Crimson King, the invisible giant demon in the sky that many people could feel even if they couldn't see it, the Tokyo political elite being destroyed along with their buildings, Kira's terrifying declaration—these are all things that cannot be ignored by simply covering your eyes.

However, thanks to Japan's peculiar social habits and the requirement from higher levels of government to keep quiet, discussions about the existence of 'demons' were managed to remain largely undiscussed in Japan, where they originated.

Even though the internet outside is already raging about it, they can close the door and go about their lives in their own little world, covering their ears.

Even with the near-total loss of the current prime minister's team, Japan's political system has not collapsed. It's unclear whether this is due to the perfection of their system or the continued support of their invisible, intangible government for basic social functioning.

Of course, this is only on the surface; in private, the news has already spread far and wide.

"All I know is that religious organizations in Tokyo have been excessively active these past few days."

866>>>>

"But can they make the world a better place? Human governments alone are not qualified to measure that."

"That demon killed many innocent people," Hiromi Nichisha said, frowning.

“But—in reality, he didn’t kill any innocent people.” Light Yagami smiled as he poured himself a drink, looking at the astonished Hiromi Higurashi.

"This is classified information that I obtained through my father. In fact, during the rampage of the gun demon, there are many cases of people being shot but not dying, and only falling into a coma."

"This means that his power does indeed have a filtering effect on good and evil—of course, it certainly doesn't follow our laws, but his own."

—According to the principle of territoriality, one must abide by the laws of another country when one comes to another country. Hiromi Nichisha wanted to say this immediately, but he couldn't get the words out.

"...Are you trying to say he's right, Yue?"

“I didn’t say that. I just said… if new laws are inevitable, should we follow the new rules and establish more efficient and fair laws, or should we stick to the old rules that will inevitably be phased out?”

A hint of almost arrogant sharpness flashed across Light Yagami's face, but it quickly vanished as if it were an illusion, and he returned to his gentle and harmless demeanor.

"Haha, just consider this me venting to you, senior. Don't take it to heart."

He raised his hand and called over the waiter to add two more dishes, casually shifting the topic to his old college days.

They chatted for almost another hour. The topics were trivial: who had gained weight, who had gotten married, which professor had retired. But Hiromi noticed a detail: throughout the night, Light Yagami's phone screen lit up three times. Each time, he glanced at it briefly before turning it away, his expression completely unchanged, as if he knew the news was irrelevant to him, or as if he had long anticipated its arrival.

When it came time to pay the bill, Light Yagami insisted on paying, saying, "Senpai's not in a good mood today, you can treat next time." He put on his suit jacket, straightened his tie, and said goodbye to Hiromi Higurashi at the entrance of the izakaya.

“Senior Riche,” he took two steps forward and then turned back, the neon light falling on his face, cutting his expression into fragments of light and shadow.

"When you can't figure something out, try looking at it from a different angle—if the rules themselves are wrong, then the person who breaks the rules might be the one closest to being right."

"We should all adapt and change. Laws evolve with society, and we should adapt and change accordingly. Whether it's God or the devil, since they want to establish rules, we can also use rules to achieve our justice."

With that, he turned and walked into the Tokyo night. Hiromi Nichisha stood there, watching his tall figure gradually disappear into the neon lights and crowds. Light Yagami's steps were steady, his back straight, and he walked with his chin slightly raised, like someone who was deeply convinced of everything he was doing.

"...Right or wrong?" Hiromi Higurashi turned up the collar of his coat and walked in the opposite direction. His expression was still dejected, but some of his thoughts seemed to be gradually changing.

Back in his cold, solitary apartment, Light Yagami checked his room, making sure no one had come in, from the angle of the doorknob to other details.

Then he turned on the TV, and the news channel was broadcasting nothing but entertainment news that glossed over the truth.

A cold smile appeared on Light Yagami's lips before he returned to his room.

Sitting at his desk, Light Yagami opened a drawer and took out a dark notebook with two words written on the cover—

DEATH NOTE

867

586. Kami, who was not a chuunibyou (a person with delusions of grandeur), and the downfall of the Zen family.

[Takuma Saito died from a sharp weapon piercing the back of his head. Ten seconds before his death, he used his brains and blood to draw the pattern of the Crimson King.]

[Sato Wataru died from massive vaginal bleeding; before his death, he tried his best to frighten those around him with his gruesome appearance.]