Miss Witch, please don't leave your fragrance everywhere

"You mean... a mother killed her child with her own hands?"

"Yes. This is a notorious and vicious case that is being tried by our chief justice. The child was really poor. He had difficulty walking and was pushed out of the second-floor window by his mother and died on the spot."

"Why do this?"

"The child had been in poor health since birth. His mother must have been tired of taking care of him and thought that the child was a burden, so she had the heart to kill him. May the child's soul go straight to heaven."

Angelica did not comment. Although it was indeed a serious murder case, it had nothing to do with her.

When we arrived at the open-air execution ground, we saw a dozen criminals forced to bend over 90 degrees, with their necks fixed by their wrists and wooden shackles, unable to move. They maintained such a tiring posture, enduring the wind and sun in the open-air square.

Abigail asked curiously, "What mistake did they make?"

"That one is a thief who even stole other people's life-saving money; next to him is a wine merchant who diluted the wine he sold with water and sold goods that did not meet the price; behind the wine merchant is a man with a history of domestic violence, even assaulting a three-year-old child at home; next to him is a painter who has age restrictions on the content of his paintings."

"Huh? Is this considered a crime?"

Angelica was a little surprised, because "Orc Slaves and Elf Queen" was also a best-seller in human territory, and the content inside was also very radical. It is true that some places would ban similar books, but the laws of most kingdoms only prohibit public promotion, not private possession, and selling is also legal.

"Not really. There's something wrong with the content of his paintings. The heroines in his paintings all wear black stockings."

"It's normal."

Angelica herself likes to dress like this.

"But it's only on the cover, there's nothing inside!"

"Oh, that is indeed an unforgivable sin."

"I do not understand……"

Abigail's little head couldn't understand, so Angelica patted her shoulder earnestly.

"Stockings are a man's romance, how can you deceive everyone's feelings?"

By the way, it is said that stockings were originally designed for men.

42 Citizens' Tribunal

The squire introduced the criminals on the open-air execution ground to Angelica and Abigail one by one. Among them was a man whose face was covered with rotten eggs and tomatoes discarded by the citizens. He called out if anyone was willing to give him a sip of water, but people looked at him with disgust.

"What mistake did he make?"

"Murder. The man was a highway robber. He didn't get a satisfactory reward during a robbery, so he killed a poor passerby in anger. God, he didn't escape punishment in the end. He was caught and escorted here. He was sentenced to death, but he must pay for his sins before the execution. I am honored to be a member of the citizen jury that tried him."

"Citizens' jury?"

Abigail heard a new word. When the squire mentioned the jury, he could not hide his pride.

"The Citizen Tribunal is an advanced system adopted by our City of Justice. We all know that judges are forbidden to be bribed, but what is the actual situation? Nobles and wealthy businessmen often bribe judges and use their power to save criminals who should have been sent to the gallows from the death penalty. This is really unreasonable. Shouldn't the judge's gavel fall with justice? Under the improvement of the wise Mr. Richard, our City of Justice has given the power of judgment to citizens."

"Eh? Citizens have the right to judge?"

"Every time a case is tried publicly, twelve citizens will participate as a citizen jury. After the defense lawyers on both sides express their opinions and present their evidence, the citizen jury will collectively discuss the results. The judge is only responsible for knocking down the gavel to announce the results of the citizens' trial. We have sanctioned many criminals who almost escaped through the citizen jury system. Some time ago, a priest used the church as a cover to commit unforgivable acts against children. After the church knew about it, it even wanted to cover up. The judges would be afraid of the authority of the church, but the citizens of the citizen jury would not! We finally sanctioned the priest who failed in his duty..."

"gentlemen."

Angelica interrupted the squire's speech with a lack of interest.

“We are here to find someone who will accept us.”

"Oh, sorry, the citizens watching are all kind-hearted people with a sense of justice in their hearts. There must be a spare room in their house among them."

The squire began to question the citizens at the open-air execution ground, but no one who was willing to take in Angelica and Abigail had any extra rooms, as everyone's home was full of guests.

The City of Justice pays great attention to its image, so there are no greasy uncles who look sloppy and make people doubt whether it is safe to live there. The only thing to worry about is whether there are tenants with vacant rooms. The squire asked more than a dozen citizens, but still got regretful answers.

The three of them came to one of the fixed racks, and saw a haggard middle-aged man staring at the empty rack in a daze.

“Why is there no one here?”

Abigail then realized that this was the only place on the open-air execution ground where there was no criminal being punished. After blurting it out, Abigail realized that she had asked a very stupid question. No one stipulated that there must be punished criminals on the frame. In a sense, the fact that there was no one on the frame was a proof of good public security.

But the squire gave a clear answer.

"Someone was originally punished here, but the citizens' hatred for her exceeded the effect that the punishment should have. If she is not brought back to the prison for guarding in time, she will be beaten to death by the angry citizens before the execution. This criminal is the vicious mother who killed her own child with her own hands that I mentioned to you before."

"……wrong."

A hoarse voice came from the man standing in front of the fixed frame.

"Kelly, she didn't do it... She was wrongly accused."

"Brand, no one wants to see this happen. You have to learn to accept reality. We live in the most just city. You love Kelly very much, but she has fallen into murder."

"I will give Kelly back her innocence."

"There are no wrongful convictions in the City of Justice, Brand."

The man's name is Brand, and he is the criminal who killed his own child: Kelly's husband. Brand, who lost his beloved son, not only did not blame Kelly, but seemed to have been insisting that his wife was innocent and that this was a wrongful case.

"By the way, Brand, do you have any spare rooms in your house?"

"I'm not in the mood to entertain guests right now... huh?"

Brand wanted to refuse, but his eyes passed over the squire and noticed Angelica's dress.

"You are a magician?"

"Genius beautiful magician, Angelica."

After receiving Angelica's affirmative answer, Brand thought about it for a while, changed his previous attitude, and decided to agree to let Angelica and Abigail stay overnight. The matter was perfectly resolved. Angelica thanked the kind squire and followed Brand back to his house.

"Won't you discuss the accommodation fee, Mr. Brand?"

"I will waive your accommodation and food expenses, and I don't even mind paying you some money."

During the journey, Angelica took the initiative to mention the issue of accommodation fees and received an expected answer. When Brand changed his attitude, Angelica guessed that Brand definitely had something to ask of him.

"I hope to entrust Miss Magician to save my wife Kelly. She has been wrongfully imprisoned. If she doesn't think of a solution, she will definitely be sentenced to death."

Brand and Kelly are ordinary residents living in the City of Justice. Kelly is a housewife, and Brand is the proud apprentice of the town's armorer. His skills have reached the level of a master. However, a city obviously does not need two armorers unless it is at war.

Brand and Kelly got married and raised a son and a daughter. Unfortunately, their son was born with congenital muscular atrophy. Although their daughter grew up healthily, their son's incurable disease always troubled the family. Brand and Kelly did not give up on their son. Brand worked hard to make money, hoping to find a famous doctor to cure his son's disease one day.

To outsiders, this is a family that has encountered misfortune but still loves each other.

Until a month ago, when his son, who had muscular atrophy, fell from the second-floor window and died, there were very few cases of death of residents in the city of Justice, so it instantly shocked the entire city of Justice. From collecting evidence to taking confessions, everything was handled openly, even if it was just a simple accident.

If the process had gone smoothly, the death of Brand and Kelly's son should have been closed as an accidental fall.

"The problem was in the public confession process, where my wife was suspected of being the murderer of my son."

Brand said sadly that public confession-taking is the process of the City of Justice, which is open and transparent. It proves that law enforcement officers do not use any violent means, and it also proves to the citizens the unchanging legitimacy of the City of Justice since ancient times.

"Because she didn't cry when she was giving her statement."

43 She Didn’t Cry

When Brand returned home and opened the door, a little blonde girl holding a teddy bear rushed up to him.

"Dad, why hasn't Mom come back yet?"

"Eva, be good. Daddy will bring mom back. Just wait patiently for a while, okay?"

Brand squatted down and hugged Eva tightly, touching her head lovingly. Their second child was healthy, but the eldest son was not so lucky.

Brand first prepared a bedroom for Angelica and Abigail to rest, and then invited them to the restaurant. Brand took out the best pizza and cheese in his home and treated Angelica as well as possible. In his opinion, the magician from a foreign land was his last hope to save his wife.

Along the way, Abigail still couldn't figure out what Brand said.

"Why was Aunt Kelly suspected of being the murderer even though she didn't cry? Does the law of the City of Justice have such a provision?"

"Yes, Abigail."

Angelica seemed to be accustomed to this.

"People have the impression that a mother who has just lost her son should be sad. If a mother who has just lost her son appears calm, she will be suspected. Am I right, Mr. Brand?"

Brand nodded sadly. Everything was just as Angelica said.

"My wife Kelly is a very strong person. She never cries because of the child's illness and always works hard to take care of him. I'm not afraid that you will think I'm useless. The night after I learned the bad news, I escaped to the bar and drank heavily, trying to numb myself with alcohol. Kelly dragged me back when I was drunk. After I sobered up, she advised me that we still have a daughter and we can't fall like this. But Kelly's strength hurt her instead. I was still very sad when the evidence was publicly collected. Kelly has walked out of the shadows, and it has become an opportunity for people to accuse her."

Brand was very upset. He even felt that it was his own fault. If he had been stronger, would he not have pushed Kelly into the abyss?

"Because Kelly was so calm, the people watching began to doubt whether Kelly was really sad. What nonsense! We are the ones who are most sad about losing our son...!"

The reason people accused Kelly of being a suspect was simple.

During the public testimony, she did not show any sadness at all, which was inconsistent with people's inherent impression of a mother who had lost her child.

She should have covered her mouth and cried, and when she saw her son's belongings, she should have asked them to be taken away first and calmed down.

Kelly did not do so. She accepted the public evidence process with a calm attitude.

People were whispering, was she really the mother whose son had died in an accident? Did she know that her son would fall to his death?

"After collecting evidence, the judge told me that there was no problem, it was just an unfortunate accident. But the next day, the suspicion that Kelly was the murderer swept the entire city. The neighbors looked at us with strange expressions. They said that Kelly had a clear motive because our poor son had been sick in bed for more than ten years. They said that Kelly was tired of taking care of him day after day with no end in sight, so she killed him!"

What Brand didn't expect was that the judge had told him that their son's death was an accident and there was no doubt about it. However, after the theory of Kelly's murder spread rapidly, evidence against Kelly emerged like mushrooms after rain, and public opinion completely stood on the opposite side of Brand, and the newspapers in the city were full of criticisms of Kelly.

Under pressure from public opinion, the law enforcement officers had to take Kelly away. Brand found it unreasonable. The law enforcement officers comforted him, saying that if there was insufficient evidence, Kelly would be released. The City of Justice would not wrongly accuse any innocent person. Detaining Kelly was a stopgap measure to quell public grievances.

As a result, Kelly was found guilty not long after, and now she is just waiting for the final trial to determine her sentence.

Brand ran around trying to clear his wife's name. He believed that the untrue public opinion put invisible pressure on the judges. In the city of justice, there was an atmosphere of bringing criminals who almost committed perfect crimes to justice. No one paid attention to Brand. Brand couldn't find out who started the rumor, and all his efforts were in vain.

"I have a slightly offensive question. Your son must be suicidal, right?"

"Yes, Kelly and I have devoted all our love to our son, but we have not been able to cure him. The muscles in his legs cannot support him to get out of bed and walk, but his hands have some strength and he can eat by himself. He has asked me more than once if the environment at home would be better without him."

Brand and Kelly were either angry or sad. They told their son that he was the proof of their love and they would never give up. But the boy who lay in bed all day didn't think so. He didn't go to school to receive education, but he was not stupid. He knew that his father would take out a large part of his monthly savings to treat his illness. The family could only live a tight life, and the investment in treatment was like a bottomless pit, with no sign of improvement.

"He told me that he wanted to move his bed next to the window so that he could enjoy the view when he was alone. My silly child! He had already thought that by doing this he could climb out of the window when no one was noticing."

Brand and Kelly's son chose to commit suicide. He climbed out of the window with his hands, which had some mobility, and resolutely chose to understand himself, ending his life. Maybe he was lucky at the last moment. He had a great chance of being saved after falling from the second floor. He hit his head on the ground and broke his neck and died on the spot.

This further intensified the suspicion. Brand was out at work and not at home, but Kelly was a housewife. She was at home at the time but did not notice the movement on the second floor. This became an important foothold for Kelly's murder theory: people firmly believed that Kelly had a motive and sufficient time to commit the crime.

“It’s basically what I expected.”

"Uh... Could it be that Miss Magician has had a similar experience before?"

Brand calmed down and suddenly realized that Angelica seemed to be indifferent to Kelly's experience. Angelica looked very young, and it was hard to imagine that she had such rich experience.

"It's good to have experience. You don't want to be a half-baked person to save your wife, do you?"

"That's right."

Angelica certainly has experience, and it's not her first time to come to the City of Justice. The transformation of the Kingdom of Lair into a city of justice where law is supreme is the work of Angelica's old friend Richard.

"Let's go see the Chief Justice together tomorrow. I have a way to see the Chief Justice."

44 The Crowd

The next morning, Angelica and Brand came to the court of the Kingdom of Lier, while Abigail stayed at Brand's house to play with Eva. Even though Brand and Kelly lived frugally, they were never stingy in their love for their children and bought many cute dolls for Eva.

The guards at the entrance of the Great Court stopped Angelica and Brand.

"No one in front of you please stop, please move elsewhere or show proof."

Brand watched Angelica's performance with great anticipation. She claimed that she had a way to meet the Chief Justice. Ordinary citizens could not meet the Chief Justice. This was not to give the Chief Justice a privilege, but to prevent someone from contacting the Chief Justice privately and causing trouble.

Angelica took off her wizard hat and looked into the eyes of the guard. The guard was a young and strong man. He looked away awkwardly after being stared at by a beautiful girl who was unmatched in the country of Leer.

"Madam, if you want to enter the Great Court, please show your ID. If you don't have it, please go back."

"Eh? You won't let me through?"

Angelica was troubled instead.

"Normally speaking, shouldn't a beautiful girl like me have a hard pass to go everywhere?"

"The method you mentioned is about face recognition?!"

Brand admitted that Angelica's beauty was indisputable after she took off her hat, but she actually thought that she could enter and exit any place with just her pretty face. Brand felt fooled.