A mage's journey begins with a battle mage.

Chapter 45 The Court is Open!

"Venerable Navis, please go to the court with the other two mages to complete the verdict."

This was the first message Jiang Shuzhou received after learning the Dharma Master's mark.

It was four o'clock in the afternoon, and during this time no one disturbed Jiang Shuzhou's study of magic.

Unfortunately, happy times are always short-lived, and soon Jiang Shuzhou received a mission.

One who receives the emperor's bounty must serve the emperor faithfully.

The pay was all set, and Jiang Shuzhou hadn't done much all day. Even though it was close to the end of the workday, as long as the pay was good enough, working overtime occasionally wasn't out of the question.

"Sir, the courtroom is here."

A guard led Jiang Shuzhou to the courtroom, during which time Jiang Shuzhou finally understood his mission.

He's going to be a judge!

Upon learning this, Jiang Shuzhou was speechless. Not to mention that Jiang Shuzhou himself had the potential to be a lawless outlaw, he had never even read the laws of the Mage Alliance and had no idea how to be a judge.

Speechless as he was, Jiang Shuzhou wasn't nervous at all. After all, besides him, the newcomer, there were two senior colleagues who would also be there, so it was very likely that the seniors would mentor the newcomers, with the two seniors taking the lead and him just supporting them from the sidelines.

Thinking of this, Jiang Shuzhou felt no pressure at all. However, in order to appear more professional, he also brought along a legal explanation book so that he could look up any legal provisions he didn't understand.

"Sir, this is your badge. Just put it next to the mage badge."

A guard standing nearby held a badge in his hand and respectfully addressed Jiang Shuzhou.

"Okay, I understand."

He took the badge and casually pinned it to his chest.

Jiang Shuzhou was supposed to have a uniform, but it's still being made and might not be issued until tomorrow. Today, he can only wear a badge to identify himself.

A moment later.

Jiang Shuzhou sat with the remaining two mages, preparing to complete the trial together.

None of the three mages were wearing arbitrator uniforms; they were all wearing mage robes with badges pinned to their chests.

"The plaintiff and the defendant enter."

The mage in the middle casually gave an order, but the way he addressed him seemed a little off.

Not the defendant and the plaintiff?

Is your court legitimate?

"Relax, we have a lot of discretion. It doesn't matter if you don't understand the law, I don't either. Just rely on your intuition when the time comes."

Seemingly sensing Jiang Shuzhou's nervousness, the middle monk spoke.

The judge doesn't understand the law? Even underground courts aren't this outrageous!

"Let's get acquainted. You can call me Master Jiawei."

"Ji'an".

"Navis".

After the three introduced themselves to each other, the awkward atmosphere finally dissipated.

And so, the three monks, who knew nothing about the law, started chatting on the judge's bench.

Three minutes later, the plaintiff, the defendant, the witnesses, and the jury finally arrived.

"Now, in my capacity as arbitrator, I hereby declare the court in session!"

The gavel in the hands of the sorcerer Javi slammed down, announcing the start of this far-from-formal trial.

The three documents were then presented to the three monks one by one, ignoring the back-and-forth between the lawyers on both sides. Those were meant for the people in the jury. The monks only looked at the evidence and facts, and at most added some reasonable conjectures.

Perjury does not exist. Detecting lies is one of the spells that almost every arbitrator must learn. Jiang Shuzhou did not learn it simply because the bureau had not yet issued it, and he naturally did not intend to waste money to buy it.

The documents in front of me clearly record what happened, and also include information from the previous trial.

The Mage Alliance does have judges who understand the law, but most of them are mortals. The learned and talented formal mages do not need to study a law that only applies to mortals; they only need to remember some legal provisions that are effective for them.

This trial is the second instance. Generally speaking, mortal cases in the Mage Alliance rarely go to a second trial; it's usually mortals judging mortals. However, this is not always the case, as is the case here.

The defendant was not satisfied with the first-instance result and insisted on appealing for a month. He also voluntarily gave the three judges a large sum of money as a reward. After some maneuvering, the second-instance trial was finally approved.

"What's BYD? Has it somehow gotten into another world?"

As soon as Jiang Shuzhou opened the case file, he was shocked by the four words "marital rape" that were clearly stated at the beginning.

"Master Navis? What's wrong? Don't be so surprised. I've seen many cases like this. That's how mortals are. As long as you work in the Arbitration Bureau long enough, you'll discover that there are many things in the world that you can hardly imagine."

Are the people in this Mage Alliance really that ruthless? They're even more diverse than humans in the real world!

Master Jiawei said with a smile, then took a sip of tea and slowly opened the documents.

"puff."

The tea he had just drunk immediately returned to the teacup. Looking at Master Jiawei's expression, Jiang Shuzhou smiled with relief. So you didn't even look at the information after all, and you still looked like this was nothing special.

Are you the one who's ignorant? You're from another world! You've never experienced the diversity of human society!

"What! This isn't a printing error? Then explain to me what marital rape is?"

Master Jiawei's face was quite a sight at this moment, changing from green to white and sometimes even a little red, making him a veritable chameleon.

"Perhaps we could develop a camouflage-like spell," Jiang Shuzhou thought for no apparent reason.

The monk Jian, who was standing to the side, also opened the documents. Having learned from the previous experience, he had prepared himself mentally, so he did not show any obvious reaction. However, he still gasped several times, making the monk Jiawei next to him seem a few degrees hotter.

"Death penalty, to be carried out immediately."

"Death penalty, to be carried out immediately."

Before long, the two sorcerers, Gian and Javi, reached a consensus: let's just give her the death penalty. This is no ordinary criminal; we must strike hard and teach this woman who dared to make false accusations a lesson.

No, are you online judges? Although you really know nothing about the law, please try to follow the law a little while you're sitting here.

Judges must understand the law.

"Twenty years in prison, and the return of the embezzled property."

As the most legally knowledgeable of the three, Jiang Shuzhou still delivered a relatively fair verdict.

The Mage Alliance's trial system is divided into two types. The first is a court composed entirely of mortals, where judges make reasonable judgments based on the law and complete the trial, just like in the real world.

Secondly, there's the type of trial that Jiang Shuzhou is currently conducting, where three sorcerers and a jury jointly conduct the trial. The opinions of the three sorcerers, who are essentially three judges, account for 50%, and the opinions of the jury account for 50%. The trial is completed by majority rule.

In such cases, the monks usually have the decisive power of judgment, because during recesses, the three monks would go to a private room for intense discussions until they reached a consensus.

Most of the jury members were strangers to each other, and with so many people, it was impossible for them to reach a consensus. Unless the mages' verdicts were so outrageous that the entire jury rejected them, the mages' verdicts would generally take effect.

This time was no different, except that the three monks were ready to deliver their verdict in court right then and there.

The three ignored the lawyers on both sides who were engaged in a heated verbal battle below the stage. As the saying goes, the monks never listen to what the lawyers say. The monks only recognize the facts. You ask how the facts came about?

Why not just use magic to interrogate them and find out? After all, there's a spell called Lie Detection.