Chapter 176: Chapter 141: Judgment_3
"Master, you’re so knowledgeable!" Little Zi exclaimed sincerely.
"Thank you!" Long Yi didn’t explain, just patting Little Zi on the head and quietly waiting.
Then, the court doors opened, and Long Yi and Ai Lin took their seats as onlookers.
Long Yi spotted Joseph, sitting in the defendant’s seat with a calm expression. Upon seeing Long Yi appear, his expression flickered briefly. Then, he shot a provocative smile to Long Yi.
Long Yi stretched his mouth into a grin, returning the smile and casually sliced a finger across his throat. Joseph’s smile became more prominent when he made a ’come on’ motion with his hand. But then he turned his head away; Long Yi didn’t see that Joseph was already so nervous his hands were trembling!
Because he saw Little Zi!
In this world, when it comes to mental magic, probably nothing could surpass a Female Demon, their control over mental magic is instinctive!
Joseph glanced at his lawyer, a slick, fat man. He was a famous lawyer in the Imperial City. This fat man was also looking at Little Zi. As soon as he saw Little Zi, he immediately knew what cards the adversary was playing!
The other party intended to challenge some piece of their evidence!
Among all the evidence presented by both parties, there was one crucial piece – the assessment of Joseph’s mental magic’s effect on girls from the Imperial Magic Research Academy. According to the Academy’s statement, Joseph’s magic was not strong enough to force someone to fall in love with him, meaning that any girl who fell for him did so of her own free will. His magic merely made them love him a little more.
Based on this, the court ruled that in a world where love is free, a girl who voluntarily gave herself to Joseph out of love could not be considered rape, but rather a willing relationship with some hesitation.
This judgment, while not sufficient to entirely absolve Joseph, could reduce a potential capital offense to merely a financial liability.
For the Hagrid family, a problem that money could solve was not a problem at all.
Now, the joint appellants, starting from Long Yi and the Female Demon, intended to challenge the Imperial Magic Research Academy!
Sure enough, not long after, the doors of the court opened again, and several researchers from the Imperial Magic Research Academy entered. Among them was an individual Long Yi recognized - the Magic Tutor from Second Year!
Since the incident with the spy from the Black Dragon Empire, the Magic Tutor from Second Year had been replaced. The former Tutor had returned to the Imperial Magic Research Academy to continue his research. Seeing him now, Long Yi barely recognized him. The once flamboyant individual was haggard, unshaven and scruffy.
That being said, Long Yi still didn’t know the tutor’s name. It seemed that at the Dragon Knight Academy, the tutors and instructors deliberately minimized their names, preferring to be referred to as ’Tutor’ or ’Instructor’, or ’Dean’. Apparently, this was a rule established by the Dean himself, a man who was like Gandalf. He believed that not knowing each other’s names would prevent excessive familiarity and cause less heartache when parting ways.
However you heard it, this artsy rule didn’t sound like something that old Dean would come up with.
As soon as the Magic Tutor saw Long Yi and Ai Lin, his eyes immediately lit up. However, when he saw Little Zi at Long Yi’s side, his eyeballs nearly fell out!
It wasn’t just the Magic Tutor. The researchers who originally looked half-dead and drained, as if they’d been squeezed dry, suddenly had their eyes gleaming as soon as they saw Little Zi. They immediately started heading towards her. If it wasn’t for the Court Guard holding them back, these unkempt men might have lunged straight at her.
"Humph, what’s the big fuss about a Female Demon? They must have thought that I looked cute. These creepy old men just couldn’t resist their inner beast!" Little Zi sneered, looking disdainful.
Long Yi couldn’t help but give a bitter smile. Of course, being a Female Demon herself, Little Zi wouldn’t feel anything special. But for us humans who rarely see Female Demons, anyone who recognized Little Zi as a Female Demon would be shocked!
Finally, the Court Guard forcefully hammered his ceremonial sword three times.
"Silence, His Honor has arrived!"
Immediately, the whole court quietened down. Anyone who dared to continue making noise at this time would be charged with contempt of court, beaten, fined, and then expelled from the courtroom. The specific punishment would depend on the judge’s mood.
To Long Yi’s excited anticipation, the Judge finally made his appearance. Much to Long Yi’s surprise, it was the Chief Justice with whom he’d had a disagreement at the opening ceremony!
This man, he would certainly uphold justice, right?
"The court is now in session!" The Chief Justice, who resembled a hawk, brought down his gavel, and the courtroom formally opened.
What followed was a cacophony of back-and-forth arguments between the two lawyers, neither willing to give ground, each reflecting off the other. But it was basically a repetition of the previous court sessions. The real drama came next.
"Your Honor, in order to prove our point, we have finally found an eyewitness to the incident on that day, Mr. Long Yi!"
"I object, Your Honor! The other party has decided to use a new witness without notifying us. It’s illegal!"
"Objection overruled, under Empire Law, when it comes to serious cases, to protect the safety of witnesses, the other party can use a new witness without notifying the defendant!" The judge said.
Yay! Upholding justice! What a decent man!
Long Yi sat on the witness stand with a glowing smile.
"Then, Mr. Long Yi, please take your oath." A Court Guard beside him held out a scroll. On it were dense lines of dragon language. Long Yi placed his hand on the blank spot below and read out the dragon language.
"I swear to speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth."
The scroll hummed and turned into a golden light, disappearing.
This wasn’t some purposeless ceremony; after taking the oath, if one lied, they would immediately be punished by Divine Power. At best, you could lose all your power, at worst, you could be struck dead on the spot!
"Then, Mr. Long Yi, please describe the events of that day."(To be continued. If you like this work, please come to qidian.com to vote for recommendation and monthly tickets. Your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users please read on m.qidian.com.)
