Kapitel 157: Fair Trial
"Let me cut to the chase. The moment I became absent, you lots tried to undermine the system I made for your own personal wealth and gain?" Saying this, Artemis was definitely, undeniably unhappy with what he needed to handle.
A couple of influential persons, several of whom were from the noble and merchant families who had their heads of the house executed for exactly the same reason they were being tried now, attempted to commit the exact same crimes as their fathers did.
But instead of an execution outright, Artemis decided to hold a trial the evening after he returned to the City of Diedel.
Artemis ordered Reinhard to round up those who were accused of misconduct and maltreatment of the system of rewards and work put in place by Artemis.
There were a total of 7 accused.
Artemis found two of them to be not guilty of their crimes but instead were accused solely because some of the peasantry bore a grudge against their entire family and weren't satisfied that only the head of the house was executed during the uprising.
The trial was being held in the throne room with permission from Wart, well, as if he had the courage to disagree with Artemis' suggestion.
A hundred representatives from the outer and inner districts were invited, Reinhard was appointed head guard along with Jord and Toby. Pandora and Silvanna were instated as juries although they did not have any real power.
The seven accused had their hands bound behind their backs and were knelt down in the middle of the throne room in full view of everyone.
Wart was sitting in his throne room, despite being king, he actually had no say in the trial except for being the king and watching his vassal do all the work for him.
Exactly as Artemis intended.
[You made quite an illusion of power here] Caitlyn said in Artemis' mind.
Artemis was standing right next to King Wart to the left of the throne.
A tense atmosphere filled the throne room, dampening the mood for everyone. Everybody was serious, although the trial was expected to end with them being convicted guilty and their heads rolling, Artemis had other ideas.
Courtesy of Caitlyn.
The trial even began with Artemis holding his hand up and gesturing for everyone to silence themselves.
"The trial shall begin," Artemis said.
"You lot kneel there, accused of crimes punishable by death, are you aware of that? Right?" Artemis said.
The seven sweaty accused nodded.
"Good, then, I would like to ask the heads of the Dorne and Fridell families to stand up," Artemis said.
Hearing this, the heads of the Dorne and Fidell families, Jon Dorne and Joseph Fidell stood up.
Artemis then looked at the crowd to see their expressions.
Caitlyn claimed to be an expert in psychology and so, asked Artemis to look around so that she could see the reactions and facial expressions of the representatives.
Most actually looked displeased. Displeased that these two were standing amongst the five true criminals.
However, two representatives looked quite pleased, albeit they looked as if their plans were succeeding.
[Those two, dear] Caitlyn pointed out.
How did she point the two representatives to Artemis? Well, Artemis' eyes were linked to a computer that displayed information across his vision. Using this, Caitlyn drew a box around the two so that her husband could pinpoint them quickly.
Artemis also knew Jon Dorne and Joseph Fidell a little bit personally since they were the ones he gave positions as overseers of the northern and eastern fields. The northern fields under the management of the Dorne family and the eastern fields under the Fidell family.
But they did not own the land, instead, they were tasked to carry out Artemis' system of management with fairness to pay for their families' previous crimes of exploiting the peasantry.
Clearly, out of all the families, these two new heads were actually genuine in reforming themselves according to Artemis' observation anyways.
They would always be present where the farmers were, guiding, and teaching them the methods Artemis introduced. Making sure the paperwork was done and not overlooked.
But grudges ran deep and sometimes, some still clung to the past, in turn, destroyed their future.
"I wish for the persons accusing these men to present their evidence in front of this assembly," Artemis announced.
He then turned his head towards the two representatives. The smiles they had on their faces quickly faded when they realized that the entire room was now focused on them.
Where is their evidence?
They had none.
They didn't expect that a real trial would be held.
Artemis had no biases except for his plans. They thought they'd accuse the families they so hated and leave with clean hands.
The two were then brought to the front by the guards after failing to do so themselves.
Artemis then looked at them both.
"Present your evidence," Artemis said.
Then one of the representatives spoke.
"Your majesties... these two men were embezzling the coins you specifically ordered to be used as the workers' fair pay. But a few farmers have come to me complaining that their pay was cut in half and forcibly taken from them by the goons of the Fidell and Dorne families!" He said, his confidence came back.
Hearing this, the entire room was then filled with gossip.
Artemis raised his hand and the room was again silent.
"Bring me these people, I will treat them as witnesses," Artemis said.
"O-Of course milord! But they're currently not here," The man said.
"Mr... what's your name?" Artemis asked.
"Talon milord, Talon Atiran," Talon said.
[An Atiran] Caitlyn said.
[If his last name is Atira then that would mean he is a relative of the Atiran Royal Family] Caitlyn added.
Things just got interesting.
"Sir Talon, you are aware that this is a trial, right?" Artemis asked.
"Y-Yes," Talon replied. He was getting nervous again.
"Then why aren't your witnesses here? If that's the only evidence that you have then you should have brought them to this assembly as evidence against the accused. The others all have paperwork as their evidence and a couple of witnesses from related departments," Artemis pointed out.
A flurry of conversations erupted between the representatives as the two accusers were now facing the growing ire of the assembly.
Jon Dorne and Joseph Fidell were now feeling relieved.
It seemed like Lord Erik was on their side after all.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
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Rangliste 
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Stein