The case ended without any more problems. Since Harukara was declared innocent, she was released soon after.

“I, I’m saved… I was so scared…”

Harukara started tearing up when she saw me. She was doing her best all alone this whole time after all. It must have been terrible.

I pat Harukara on the shoulder and gave her a hug.

“It’s alright now. The bad people are gone.”

“Thank you so much… master…”

Behind me were the rest of the family, all of whom were looking at Harukara anxiously.

“Hey Harukara, it wasn’t just me you know. Everyone worked together to save you.”

Everyone did their part. Sharusha contacted the professors, Laika took care of transporting everyone in her dragon form, Rosary possessed the judges to expose the governor’s wrongdoings, and Farufa visited Harukara to keep her spirits up.

This was a victory made possible by our family’s team play.

“From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much everyone… I’ve been taught the harshness of society”

It was actually the harshness of working life but close enough… [1]

Harukara went to Leica and hugged her.

Leica wasn’t one for physical displays of affection but it looks like she made an exception this time as she willingly accepted Harukara’s hug.

“Justice has been delivered unto the wicked. There is no one left to harm you now Harukarsan.”

“Everyone, I love you all! Family sure is a precious thing isn’t it…”

Farufa and Sharusha were also swept up in a tight embrace, each of them nestled in one arm.

“You did your best didn’t you Harukara onee-san!”

“You too Farufchan, thank you! The pancakes you brought were delicious!”

“I’m glad you’re back unharmed…”

“Sharushchan too, thank you so much for your help!”

Yup, this is our precious family time. We went through a lot of trouble, but looking back on it, it was clear that our family had gotten a lot closer.

— oh wait, there was one more person.

“Aneki… it must’ve been hard for you.”

Standing there was some random old dude.

Wait, who is this guy? He looked like a really important person too.

Oh yeah, he was one of the judges. But why would he call Harukara aneki? Oh… I see.

“Excuse me…? To whom am I speaking to?”

Harukara asked, confused.

That old dude was being possessed by Rosary… There’s no other explanation.

“I’m so glad you’re safe! Thank goodness!”

Still as the old dude, Rosary went to Harukara to give her a hug.

“Gah! Hold on a moment! I’m not mentally prepared to get hugged by a man just yet!  Guh, this scent… the smell of old people…”

I mean, he is an old guy…

“Rosary, wait, hold it! You’re not you right now! You’re still in someone else’s body!”

I panicked and yelled at Rosary to stop but she was too caught up in her emotions that she couldn’t hear me. Rosary just might be an even more sensitive person than Harukara. This girl is real sympathetic isn’t she…

“I’m so glad we could save you… It hasn’t even been that long since I caused you so much trouble and I was really truly worried… I really am glad!”

“It hurts, it hurts! You’ve been grinding your beard against me and it hurts! What is this, a new kind of mental attack!?”

Yeah, I don’t think anyone would come out unscathed if some random old dude came up and started grinding against them. No, wait, this isn’t the time to think about this…

“Huh… That’s weird… I’m feeling really strange…”

“Uhm, Rosary-san, what’s wrong…?”

“It’s like… my body is kinda getting warmer just by cuddling Harukaraneki… If I’m being honest, I’m really turned on right now. This isn’t like me at all.”

Well you really aren’t you right now.

“Is this love…? No, but we’re both girls, there’s no way… But I really do feel like cuddling aneki like this for hours and hours though…”

“Just a thought, but it’s probably because you’re a man right now! It’s something that comes natural to all men! Please, don’t come any closer–!

“A man…? Ah, I’m still inside the judge’s body… Aneki, I apologize!”

Rosary then went to the well to dump water over her head and successfully split off.

Harukara kept ma.s.saging her cheek for a while after that.

“*sob*… Grinding is dangerous… If they had tortured me like this I would have confessed right away…”

“Harukaraneki, I’m terribly sorry… Please hit me!”

Rosary kept bowing her head down over and over in deference to her superior.

“You’re a ghost so I can’t hit you in the first place, and even if I could, I wouldn’t. You helped me out so much today after all.”

If all the judges were the enemy, then why not force them to our side? Rosary did her best to help make that a reality.

Every piece of evidence against the governor had been distributed to the public so if there were any incriminating pieces of evidence against the judges and all the other accomplices then they’d probably all be punished as well. The governor’s political enemies were probably especially vigilant for any signs of foul play so covering things up right now would be difficult.

“Right, well, it’s about time to say goodbye to this courthouse. Let’s go home.”

We only visited the capital for the trial after all.

“Yes, let’s… The prison bed was so hard…”

Harukara dejectedly reminisced about the poor conditions of her cell.

“But before we go, I really want to say thank you again.”

“To whom?”

“In a word, ‘Everyone"”

Outside the courthouse, the villagers and townsmen who hastily gathered here just for today were waiting.

They were carrying banners with phrases like “Harukarsan is innocent” and “The governor is a criminal” written on them.

“Look, it wasn’t just our family. Everyone here was on your side.”

“Ah… This is something that’d move anyone to tears…”

Harukara gazed happily at all her supporters.

And in one voice, all her supporters cried out:

“Harukarsan, thank you for doing your duty!”

“… No, no, I was completely innocent okay!? Please don’t get the wrong idea okay!?”  [2]

[1] She says 社会の厳しさ which literally means harshness of society but is usually used to refer to the harshness of working life

[2] The villagers use the phrase おつとめご苦労様でした (lit. You have gone through hardships to do your duty). In a work context, this is usually said by a superior to his/her employee for a job well done. However, another ‘common’ usage of this phrase is by members of a crime syndicate after a high ranking official from the organization is released from prison. Harukara misunderstood this as the villagers thanking her for ‘doing her time’.