OBS Chapter 46 Even a dog will be fined 50 gold coins.
Chapter 46 Even a dog will be fined 50 gold coins.
"Quiet!"
Master Jiawei slammed his gavel down, and the lawyers on both sides finally stopped arguing.
"Now I'll ask, and you answer."
He spoke to the plaintiff, the woman who accused her husband of marital rape.
Was your marriage a voluntary one?
"It wasn't voluntary; he forced me!"
Very well, it's a lie.
At this moment, the mage Javier had already cast Detect Lies. If this spell were used on a professional or other mage, its effectiveness might be greatly reduced, but it would generally not cause any problems for ordinary people.
What are your reasons for accusing your husband of marital rape?
"Because he forced me."
It's still a lie.
Turning to the defendant, Master Javi once again released his detection lie, preparing to hear the defendant's statement again.
"Did you really rape her?"
"I didn't! Your Honor, I'm innocent..."
It was the truth. He ignored the man's long string of complaints and then asked again.
Do you still love him?
"I love you."
The truth.
What a sycophant! Even after all this, he still loves her. He deserves to go bankrupt.
Master Jiawei's expression was not good. The words "marital rape" were already enough to challenge his values, but the fact that the man still loved the woman made him even more irritable.
"you……"
Just as Master Jiawei was about to ask again, he was suddenly interrupted by a sharp shout.
"Master, I'm reporting him! He's a believer in a deity!"
The sound was naturally made by the plaintiff. Seeing that the situation was unfavorable, she decided to slander the other party in order to gain the upper hand.
"Testing Faith"
In an instant, upon hearing the woman's accusation, the two mages beside Jiang Shuzhou began indiscriminately releasing tests of faith, sparing not even themselves.
The test was completed, and the result was that no one in the entire room was a believer in any deity. Everyone was emitting a gentle white light, which was a manifestation of their lack of faith.
Some might wonder why a believer in a deity would make two sorcerers so nervous.
The reason is simple: in the Mage Alliance, accusing someone of being a believer in God is a very serious accusation.
Regardless of their identity or status, even if they are mages, if they are found to be believers in gods, they will suffer an extremely tragic end.
The laws of the Mage Alliance clearly stipulate that believers in gods have no human rights; they are merely slaves of the gods, who are the enemies of mages. Therefore, slaves of the gods are, in the eyes of the mages, slaves of the enemies.
Besides, he himself wants to be a slave, so how can you not satisfy his good intentions?
If it were anywhere else, it wouldn't be so bad, but in a country where faith is completely forbidden, the Mage Alliance actually has people who believe in gods. Isn't that a slap in the face to mages? How could they possibly get away with that?
In conclusion, the Mage Alliance has directly deprived believers of their human rights.
The faith test was developed under this background. Its principle is very simple and can be roughly summarized in four words: the covenant between man and God.
The Covenant between Man and God was a conclusion drawn up by the Mage Alliance itself, which the Alliance of Saints did not recognize, instead regarding it as blasphemous.
The covenant between humans and gods clarifies the relationship between gods and humans. This relationship is more like an agreement. For example, if a person believes in a certain god, he will choose to offer his faith to the god to show his loyalty. The god can obtain the power of faith through his faith, and then the god will give gifts to the believer.
Most of these gifts are extremely small, at most only able to slightly improve the believer's immunity and reduce the probability of him getting sick, but there are some exceptions.
Because of their special souls and extraordinary talents, they expend a great deal of faith and receive more rewards than others. These people eventually become the spokespeople of the gods, that is, the clergy.
Those who have faith will receive a response.
Of course, the gods cannot give gifts to unbelievers.
This is the underlying logic of the covenant between humans and gods. The principle of testing faith relies on this underlying logic. It does not delve into a person's heart, but rather examines whether there are divine gifts within them.
If not, it will emit a soft white light; conversely, a dazzling red light will guide the sorcerers to the location of the believers.
However, the situation in Velisco was rather special. The believers were allowed to become refugees, and they were taken in by the mages in refugee camps. We'll talk about that later.
Seeing that everyone present was bathed in a soft white light and that none of them were believers in the gods, the two sorcerers visibly breathed a sigh of relief, while their gazes toward the plaintiff grew increasingly hostile.
Some people may not know that the Mage Alliance supports reprisals for certain serious crimes, and becoming a believer in God is certainly one of those serious crimes.
Furthermore, this trial was led by a monk, unlike secular trials where a countersuit is required.
The sorcerers can try the plaintiff in court, and even the lawyers can be tried. If you displease these living fathers, you can be sentenced even on a jury.
That's pretty incredible.
Shaking his head, Jiang Shuzhou was also very dissatisfied with the plaintiff's reckless behavior; the death penalty was now a foregone conclusion.
While the law does protect the weak to some extent, let's not forget that for a nation like the Mage Alliance, composed of truly powerful individuals, the law is based on their compassion, and abusing the law is abusing their compassion.
The reason why the Mage Alliance is different from other countries and still has a certain legal concept is because most of the mages, as scholars, have retained a certain conscience.
When their conscience runs dry, some people will suffer.
"Meeting adjourned! Court will begin in five minutes!"
Dude, do you even know the basics? That's called a court recess, not an adjournment!
Left with no other choice, Jiang Shuzhou spoke up to defend Master Jia Wei.
"Court will adjourn for five minutes."
The three monks then stood up together, preparing to leave the courtroom.
Although Master Jiawei had no legal knowledge whatsoever, he was still a rather experienced man. He gave the guard captain beside him a look, and the captain immediately understood.
Why didn't Master Ji'an do that?
Because he and Jiang Shuzhou both wore hoods, even if the captain tried to spot him, he probably wouldn't be able to see him.
The guards who had been acting as a backdrop suddenly moved, holding down the plaintiff, the defendant, and their lawyers to prevent them from escaping in the chaos.
Perhaps out of pity for the defendant, the guards did not use much force, merely supporting him, their eyes filled with compassion.
Oh, what a pitiful person.
Meanwhile, Jiang Shuzhou and the two monks were hurrying towards the secret room to prepare for negotiations.
If it weren't for the requirement to take this step, they would have loved to make a judgment in court on the spot. There was still some controversy, but unfortunately, the plaintiff's accusation of false accusation directly sealed her fate.
The so-called five minutes is just enough for a round trip between the darkroom and the courtroom, and at most a minute of discussion. This is also the judges' hint to everyone that they have already reached a consensus on this trial, and the so-called recess is just to complete the procedure.
Five minutes passed quickly, and the three mages entered the arena again. This time, Jiang Shuzhou announced the results. This was mainly because the remaining two mages were not in a good mood and their values had been shattered, so they wanted to take a break. As a result, Jiang Shuzhou, the newcomer, was pushed forward.
The old man is too old; he has no resilience at all, unlike me. After experiencing the era of the abstract internet, I can only grumble a few words and then remain unaffected.
While thinking to himself, Jiang Shuzhou didn't stop talking.
"After deliberation with the two judges, we have reached a consensus, and the judgment is as follows!"
"Sentence the plaintiff to return the illegal gains and impose the death penalty! Execute immediately!"
"The plaintiff's lawyer shall have his/her lawyer's license revoked."
"The defendant is hereby fined 50 gold coins!"
"Does anyone have any objections?"
Looking around, Jiang Shuzhou focused his attention on the jury. In this situation, only a unanimous vote from them could change the outcome.
However, to Jiang Shuzhou's disappointment, the jury was clearly composed of intelligent people, and they certainly wouldn't object under such a reasonable circumstances.
In fact, Jiang Shuzhou himself had some objections. Why was BYD even punishing the defendant?
However, considering that the defendant is a wealthy person, otherwise he wouldn't have been targeted and would have been asked to leave the marriage with nothing on the grounds of marital rape.
This is why he insisted on appealing. If he didn't appeal, he wouldn't get a single penny and would instead go to jail.
Fining him 50 gold coins this time is a small punishment to teach him a lesson. Hopefully, he won't be such a sycophant in the future.
This incredibly outrageous case finally came to an end in the hands of three eccentric sorcerers who knew nothing about the law and relied entirely on their own naive moral compass to conduct the trial.
Despite the twists and turns of the process, which was incredibly difficult, resulting in the conviction of not only the plaintiff but also the plaintiff's lawyer and the defendant, the final outcome was positive, and justice was served.
It's a case of doing good with bad intentions.