What benefit was there for him in selling them out?
If Mekt could shoulder all the charges alone, and as long as they managed to retain their official positions, then as allies they could still look after and promote Mekt's family in the future.
As for the so-called hard labor, for privileged officials like them, it would only take a bit of maneuvering behind the scenes to have someone else take their place.
Yet they had never expected that their ally would, right there on the platform, sell them out simply to reduce his family's punishment.
Thus they all began to speak up, attempting to stop him.
Unfortunately, Mekt was completely unmoved.
In his heart, he bitterly resented their "betrayal." Now, he held no hope whatsoever of any consideration from these "allies."
Those who betrayed me, let them all become offerings to Sobek alongside me!
At this moment, Nitocris finally responded.
"During the trial, no unrelated person is permitted to speak to the accused. Otherwise, you will be treated as accomplices!"
Her stern words finally silenced the officials. Only then did she look toward Mekt.
"Very well, I agree," the Pharaoh said.
"Your willingness to expose your accomplices shows an intention to repent.
If the information you provide is sufficiently useful, I will naturally treat your family with leniency, I may merely reduce them to commoners, sparing them from hard labor."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
"However," Nitocris warned, "do not think to fabricate baseless accusations against others. Believe me, my magecraft can discern whether what you speak is truth or lies."
Mekt trembled upon hearing this, and certain dark thoughts in his heart were immediately extinguished.
Even so, there was still much information he could provide without fabricating anything.
Mekt kissed the ground before him in a display of reverence to the Pharaoh, and then he began his grand revelations.
"Financial Officer Bata, my colleague, he XXXXX…"
"Additionally, I know that General Hernon XXXXX…"
"My subordinate, the financial clerk Heras, he also XXXXX…"
Very quickly, the crimes of no fewer than dozens of individuals poured from his mouth.
Though not as detailed as the charges against himself, they were enough to provoke wave after wave of astonishment.
The people of Egypt already knew that these noble officials were skilled at lining their pockets, but who could have imagined just how skilled, how utterly corrupt they were?
Among them were quite a few who, in the eyes of the people, had seemed rather decent, now exposed for bribery and embezzlement.
Within the ranks of officials, many faces turned dark.
They simply could not understand why Mekt would go this far.
Although there had always been factions and rivalries among them, since the founding of Egypt's dynasty, such competition had gradually developed into an unspoken system of "fight without breaking."
Under such circumstances, even if some of those Mekt accused were his political enemies, it had never been to the point of life and death.
What neither side knew, however, was that all of this was part of the design of Alaric and Nitocris.
In truth, Mekt's belief that his colleagues had betrayed him and secretly reported his crimes to the Pharaoh was entirely fabricated.
Nitocris had obtained his crimes purely through magecraft, hypnotizing his household servants, his political rivals, and even his colleagues.
As for why he felt betrayed, that was due to Alaric's suggestion spell.
Do you remember those golden eyes?
Golden pupils were a characteristic of dragonkind.
The so-called eye contact within Mekt's illusion had in fact been the very moment Alaric cast the suggestion spell upon him.
To ensure its effectiveness, Alaric had partially transformed into a dragon, using draconic pressure to further shatter his mental defenses and strengthen the spell's influence.
In fact, even with the assistance of magecraft, these past few days had only been enough to uncover the crimes of a handful of officials.
But that was sufficient.
By publicly recounting those charges, Nitocris successfully shattered Mekt's mental defenses.
Alaric then seized the opportunity to implant the thought: My colleagues betrayed me; I will take revenge on them.
At one point, Nitocris had considered using hypnosis openly in front of everyone to force confessions from all.
But that would not do. Such a method was far too extreme.
Although hypnosis was highly effective for extracting crimes, for anyone, having their will controlled was unacceptable.
Even if Nitocris could purge the current bureaucracy in one stroke, it would leave the people in fear and unrest.
Suggestion, however, was different.
Unlike hypnosis, suggestion could not forcibly alter a person's thoughts or conjure ideas from nothing.
Changes had to follow logic; it could only influence thinking through subtle inducement. Its limitations were considerable.
But its advantage was that its effects emerged subtly, without leaving traces. Those under suggestion generally could not perceive it, they believed the implanted thoughts arose from their own hearts.
Moreover, those under hypnosis would appear dull and unnatural, obviously manipulated. Those under suggestion, however, showed no outward abnormalities.
For example, under the suggestion spell, Mekt developed the belief: My colleagues betrayed me; that is how the Pharaoh learned of my crimes.
On the surface, this reasoning seemed perfectly logical.
But upon careful consideration, flaws would appear.
After all, if one or two colleagues betrayed him, that would not be strange.
But for everyone except himself to have betrayed him and sided with the Pharaoh, that would be bizarre.
Not everyone was destined to be that unlucky.
Yet under suggestion, Mekt noticed nothing at all.
That was the superiority of suggestion.
Thus, the two ultimately chose suggestion and set this plan in motion.
And so Mekt dragged others down with him.
But this was only the beginning.
After Mekt, those he had accused were brought onto the platform one by one.
Under Alaric's suggestion, these individuals "figured out" the reason for Mekt's betrayal: Mekt had long since struck a deal with the Pharaoh.
The public reading of his crimes was merely an act. After all, aside from himself, who could possibly investigate all of Mekt's crimes with such precise detail?
Thinking this way, everything made sense.
Perhaps the Pharaoh had promised him some benefit.
Perhaps she had threatened him in some manner, forcing him to sacrifice everything and stand on that platform, putting on a show as he stabbed them all in the back.
And if one thought even further, how could the Pharaoh possibly have only Mekt as her hidden piece?
Following this chain of logic, those accused by Mekt also fell into despair. One after another, they recklessly began exposing others.
They did not know that their own logical reasoning had also originated from someone else's suggestion.
And so, just like a contagious disease, betrayal began to spread among the officials.