"Amia?" Frey Derick hugged the rabbit tightly. The boy was still very young, not much older than the rabbit. When he heard his mother give the rabbit a name, he excitedly hugged the rabbit and kept shouting, "That's great, Amia! It's called Amia! It's mine from now on!"
Emilia frowned. The Countess of the Empire thought that rabbits were very smelly and difficult to raise. Was her son really going to raise this thing?
Emilia was not an ordinary noble of the Empire. During her years of exile, she had learned a lot of basic knowledge from the Blood Axe Mercenaries. She also knew how to raise a rabbit.
Why did Karl-franz give her son a rabbit?
Because of her experience, Emilia could not trust many people. Even Karl-franz was not completely trusted. The Countess of the Empire did not agree. She got up, washed up, and changed into a set of casual clothes. She also put on some light makeup. Then, she called for her master engineer, Wagner. "Where did this rabbit come from?"
Wagner told Emilia that when they went to the palace, Emperor Karl-franz had just gotten up and was preparing breakfast. The boy ran into the kitchen and saw the rabbit being used as an ingredient. He saw that the rabbit was cute and insisted on bringing it. The palace chef had no choice but to give it to him.
Before Emilia could make any arrangements, little Devenhill, who was crawling on the ground, struggled to stand up. He pointed at the rabbit in his brother's arms and shouted, "Donkey! Donkey! It's a donkey! "
"Ah?" Emilia felt a little strange. The maid looked at Laing and Suria's son and thought that she had to be fair. So, she took the rabbit from Frey Derick's hands and said with a smile, "Devenhill, this is clearly a rabbit. Why do you say it's a donkey?"
"It's a donkey! It's a donkey! " Devhill did not wipe his mouth clean. His saliva dripped onto his clothes. The five-month-old boy was very determined. He reached out and pointed at the rabbit's brown ears. "It's a donkey!"
"… This is the Rex rabbit, Devonshire." Amelia patiently explained, "This rabbit is a typical meat rabbit. It's a cross between an imperial rabbit and a Brittanian rabbit. It's just that its ears are very long and erect, a bit like a donkey's ears, but it's definitely not a donkey!"
"Donkey!" Little Devin Hill stood up and reached out to grab the rabbit's ears. He tugged hard. "The donkey's ears! Donkey! "
The little rabbit's ears were pulled by Devenhill, and it cried out in pain. The sound of the rabbit's cries attracted Laing and Suria. Suria quickly picked up her son and held him in her arms. "Alright, Devenhill, that's a little rabbit. That's Amiya. At most, it's an Amiya."
"Donkey, Amiya donkey!" The little guy seemed to have a bone to pick with this matter.
"Haha, calling a rabbit a donkey." Laing could not help but laugh. He seemed to have no intention of arguing with his son on this matter.
However, a terrifying image appeared in the Duke's mind.
Twenty years later, his two sons had grown up. They were arguing over whether a rabbit was a donkey or a rabbit.
"It's an Amiya donkey!" Behind Devhill were the Grail Knights, the old guards, and the army of knights.
"It's an Amiya rabbit!" Behind Frey Derick were the Armoured Nur, the steam tanks, and the Empire's army.
As he thought about it, Laing could no longer laugh. He quickly said, "Alright, stop arguing. It's meaningless. Let's eat, let's eat."
It's over. The Amiya rabbit has become an Amiya donkey! Emilia shook her head helplessly. She gave up. After all, the rabbit was not her son. She felt that it was inconvenient for her to intervene. She could only signal the Armoured Nur to take the rabbit away. They would talk about it later.
The next morning, Laing and the rest visited the Empire's court.
The laws of the Empire and the Brittany were somewhat different. However, there was no doubt that the laws of these two human countries, or rather, the entire human country of the Old World, came from the legacy of the Elves. That was the Elven Code written by the Elven Empire.
It was a massive codex that required dozens of carriages to carry. The details of its contents were enough to ensure that no ordinary human would be able to fully understand this codex in their lifetime. Even with the lifespan of the elves, it would take at least a hundred years to fully read and comprehend this astronomical codex and become a qualified elven judge.
Humans could not do it. After Charlemagne established the Empire, he immediately ordered his courtiers to spend countless hours translating and condensing the works left behind by the Elves. After the Great Calamity, the entire Old World was actually in a state of illiteracy or semi-illiteracy. Except for the priests, almost no one could read. The low-level priests were also very weak and lacked education.
In order to change this situation, Charlemagne gathered the best priests in the entire Empire to restore and establish schools and libraries. They desperately absorbed nutrients from the remains of the glorious civilization of the Elves and Dwarves. Religious and educational institutions began to appear, and human civilization gradually developed.
This period of history was called the "Carolingian Renaissance."
The laws of the Empire were both written by the Elves (the written law) and the Dwarves (the case law). The laws of the Brittany were copied from the Elves and "improved" (more inclined to the written law). But in general, they were similar. The "Knight's Code" of the Kingdom of the Knight King strictly stipulated the difference between knights and serfs, and corresponded with different legal constraints.
The core of the Brittany law was that "Knights have the right to the serfs, but they must also bear the obligation to protect the serfs."
The core of the Empire law was that "Everyone in the Empire is responsible for their duties and fight to protect the country!"
But obviously, under the supervision of the Lake Fairy, the knights had adhered to the spirit of chivalry for thousands of years, and the Empire collapsed after adhering to this principle for nearly a thousand years. Then came the all-out civil war in the era of the Three Emperors, the Vampire War, and the famous and popular Holy War.
After the Holy War, the new Emperor of the Empire, Ludwig, the Savior, amended the laws of the Empire and added a new clause: "Everyone has the right to be paid for their labor."
Today, Laing and the others were watching a trial by a judge of the Empire. The subjects of the trial were some citizens of the Empire who had broken the law.
A man was sentenced to twenty lashes for theft and intentional assault, and he was asked to pay compensation for his losses.
A male nobleman caused trouble on the streets after drinking too much. He also said blasphemous words and was sentenced to fifty lashes. But because he paid enough bail and a high fine, his sentence was changed to two hours of public display in the "Sack of Sins." He was not allowed to eat for the whole day and could only drink water.
A few cultists were found to be believers of the Evil God of Chaos. They were sentenced to death and immediately executed without bail. As soon as the sentence was passed, a few executioners went up and cut the bodies. Blood splattered on the ground, and then they were dragged out and burned.
Laing and the others watched the series of sentences. He asked the attendant sent by Emperor Karl-franz, "Now that we know how the Empire's court works in Brunswick, what about those who are not in the city?"
"It's the circuit court, Lord Laing and Lord Suria," the attendant replied respectfully. The Emperor's attendant replied respectfully, "The city regularly sends out circuit judges, leading a group of guards to the countryside where there are no judges to rule on matters until a permanent judge takes over the duties of the circuit judges. But I have to say that this is not a good position."
"Not a good position?" Laing lowered his head and thought for a moment. He asked, "Why?"
"It's too dangerous, Lord Laing." The attendant hurriedly told Laing everything he knew. "The circuit judge has to travel back and forth in the wild, holding circuit trials in different places. Even in Brunswick, it's a very dangerous job. After all, no one knows what's in the Dark Forest. And … compared to the huge risk and the arduous journey, the circuit judge's salary is not that high. They are often seen asking for payment and offerings from the local nobles and farmers, and those who provide food and money can openly join the jury."
"Hmph …" Emilia snorted softly, but she did not say anything.
"How can it be like this?!" The Lake Fairy who controlled Suria said unhappily. She wanted to say something out of habit, but she quickly realized that they were in the Empire. She snorted and changed her words. "So many crimes can be forgiven as long as the fine is paid?"
"Yes. Except for some unforgivable crimes, almost all crimes can be offset or forgiven by paying a high fine." The attendant immediately said, "In fact, many of the fines are an important source of income for the circuit judges."
"It's better than relying on the village elders to solve the problems themselves." Laing laughed a little self-deprecatingly. "Who are the circuit judges?"
"Most of them are lawyers who can't make a name for themselves, or unlucky people who offended the local law society." The attendant continued, "There are also devout believers of the Lady of Justice, but no doubt, as long as there is a chance, they will do everything they can to return to the city."
The Lady of Justice was the name of the Goddess of Justice and Law, Pharena. Pharena was concerned about real fairness, not the kind of fairness that served certain people. She and her believers had always been against tyranny and oppression. Just as Pharena represented wisdom and education, the priests of her religion were more active in practicing magic compared to the clergy of other religions in the Empire.
However, justice was never the same as justice. The Church of the Impartial Goddess would demand legal compensation and justice from the nobles for the sake of the commoners who were being bullied by the nobles, but at the same time, the Church of the Impartial Goddess would also punish and suppress the commoners who broke the law. Even if the commoner was wronged or innocent, the Church of the Impartial Goddess would not show mercy or mercy. Faced with the same punishment, the nobles could pay a high fine to avoid or reduce the punishment, while the commoners would have to accept the punishment if they couldn't pay. The Lady of Justice also agreed with this.
The Empire was a bit more open in this regard. The so-called openness was reflected in the fact that money could be used to solve a lot of things. Generally speaking, almost all crimes could be solved by paying a fine. If it couldn't, then it must be because the fine you paid wasn't enough. The Gods treated both commoners and nobles equally, and that depended on whether they had money or not.
The Church of the Death God Moore was the same. When the Priests of the Church of the Moore came to hold a funeral, the more money they paid, the better the deceased's treatment would be. If there were only a few copper coins, then they would simply recite a prayer and arrange for cremation. If there were two silver coins, then they would be buried in a small grave. If there were two gold coins, then the deceased would be given a corner in the Moore Garden. If there were twenty gold coins, then they would even have a sarcophagus. The more money they had, the better the Church of the Moore could do. Most of the time, how well the deceased would be treated didn't depend on the Priests of the Church of the Moore, but on how much the deceased's family was willing to pay.
In this regard, Laing also expressed his understanding. After all, the Church of the Death God also needed to earn money. The Church of the Death God could rarely collect tithes. Their main income was from funeral expenses and donations from the nobles.
Most of the people who believed in the Lady of Justice, Valentina, were the residents of Brunswick and Nur. Most of them were upright bureaucrats, enlightened nobles, scholars, wizards, and those who had a certain level of education. Valentina was also the wife of the God of Death Moore.
"Okay." Laing was also preparing to start the circuit trial system. After listening to this, he knew what to do, so he didn't say anything more.
After visiting the Empire's court trial, Laing and others entered the Empire's Palace and had lunch with the Emperor's family.
In the afternoon, it was snowing heavily. Along the snow-covered slate, the Emperor and the Rick Guards led Laing and others to the Brunswick Royal Zoo.
Karl-franz was wearing a purple and gold shirt and breeches. On the outside, he was wearing a gorgeous Emperor's silk robe. The Rune Fang of the Rick Territory was hanging on his waist. This was the symbol of his status as the Great Prince of the Rick Territory. As for the Divine Hammer, Gail Maraz, he didn't appear. It was said that this Divine Hammer was worshipped in the Cathedral of Justice when the Emperor wasn't out on expeditions or declaring his authority as the Emperor.
"The last time you came to Brunswick, you said that you wanted to visit the Royal Zoo." Emperor Karl-franz laughed: "In the end, when I arranged for people to let you visit, you were in a hurry to leave. In the end, you didn't get to visit. Why were you in a hurry to leave? You made it seem like you had a purpose. "
"Hehehe, at that time, it was Sir Tegris who told me that he was ready to go back." Laing was a little embarrassed. He immediately used Tegris as an excuse: "He said that he had been in the Old World for a long time. The High Elf Kingdom of Safri, the Horseshoe Tower Magus Council, couldn't be without a great wizard like him for long. Since he left, I don't think I should stay any longer."
"I see." As expected, the Empire Emperor had an instinctive admiration and affection for Tegris. After all, Tegris' contributions in the great holy war and the contribution of establishing the Royal Wizard Academy had brought great benefits to the Empire. Hearing that it was Tegris' intention, the Emperor did not say anything more. He began to introduce the history of the Empire's Royal Zoo. "The Empire's Royal Zoo was established by Emperor Delt IV of the Empire. At that time, it was still a long time before the great holy war and the establishment of the New Empire. This is the home and collection place of the most dangerous animals in the Old World. At the same time, it also provides enough mounts for the Empire's army."
After saying that, the Emperor suddenly smiled meaningfully: "The zoo is also the most important place to produce the Empire's warhorses. These warhorses mainly come from Avel Hill, which is a plain full of warhorses … Laing, you and Madam Suria came here on your own mounts this time, right? Are you interested in bringing them here for a stroll? We have a lot of beautiful mares here. "
"As long as Grape likes it, I have no objections." Laing also smiled: "But I won't force my mount to do anything. I have to remind you that Grape has a bad temper."
"Good mounts are always scarce." The Emperor understood Laing's implication. He shrugged: "Of course, my mount, Death Claw, is here too."
"Your Majesty Karl-franz." At this time, Suria, who was holding Laing's arm, opened her mouth and asked with interest: "I heard that there is a dragon in the Empire's zoo?"
"This …"
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