The laws in Avenella are as straightforward as any west coast country.
The way it determines whether a person is guilty is by asking other people whether they think he is guilty or not. The number usually used as an indicator is three. As long as three people accuse you of committing this crime, then you must have committed it.
The standard is higher than this for matters involving life and death. The death penalty generally requires five people to prove that you committed the crime before it will be handed down.
Of course, there are also quite a few special circumstances. If the person who declares you guilty is a credible figure, such as a bishop or a captain of the local garrison, then you can be sentenced without any other testimony. death penalty.
There are many ways to execute people. For ordinary petty thefts, they are usually tied up and publicly displayed on the street - the purpose is to tell everyone that this guy looks like this and you'd better be careful if he wanders around your house.
The punishment for habitual offenders and larger thefts or even robberies is far more severe than the former. They usually involve cutting off an ear or cutting off a hand. This method is not only a punishment for crime, but also a proof of identity.
A local may be able to tell which nearby big city you are from based on your clothes and accent, and a person who often interacts with foreigners can also tell which country you are from to some extent - but No one can ever tell you that you are a criminal just by looking at you. This has also led to the fact that before this, thieves and robbers usually only needed to go to another city to continue committing crimes.
The punishment method of artificially making you physically disabled is the "solution" born in this situation. After all, a person who is missing a hand or an ear can still be easily recognized by others. .
Henry and the others were sentenced to death.
Two hours after he was imprisoned, someone came over to inform him of the incident, and an hour later the soldier in charge of the execution came over with the sound of metal colliding. Mira finally panicked, and she turned her head to look at Henry. The meaning in her bright eyes was obviously urging the sage that if he wanted to do something, now is the time.
But Henry just smiled at her and said nothing.
"Stand up." The regular army elites, who were wearing breastplates, shoulder pads, leggings, and other parts made of chain armor for easy movement, looked extremely wary of the two of them. Bernie had probably mentioned Henry's combat prowess to them, so they acted like this. If they were ordinary criminals, they would be just ordinary soldiers.
"Put your hands together and don't try to resist in any way. You will be publicly executed next." The leading soldier looked at Henry calmly with his eyes under the helmet and said this, and the sage shrugged.
"There's no need for public execution, right?" The frivolous tone in his words made the soldiers' faces turn cold, and several people nearby immediately leveled their spears and pointed them at Henry.
"Then I can execute you right now." He said coldly, and Henry shrugged again: "Well, I quite like public executions."
Mira rolled her eyes at him, and then the two of them were shackled and walked outside.
"..." The girl began to feel at a loss. Even though Henry had told her before that it didn't matter, she still felt uncontrollably worried and scared when facing these soldiers with gleaming weapons.
"old……"
"Don't talk." A professional soldier would not feel the slightest bit soft-hearted just because the other party was a young girl. He sternly scolded Mira, who shrank in fright. Then the soldier tugged the chain hard on her. Pulled back again.
He raised his hand and wanted to use the whip on Mira, but a cold gaze from the upper right stopped him again.
"..." The soldier turned around and looked into Henry's calm eyes. The way the sage with the advantage of height looked down coldly made him feel like he had fallen into an ice cellar. He shuddered, then shook his head and said "cowardly" .
"He's the one who's going to die anyway, I won't care about you." The soldier muttered a few words in a low voice as if to convince himself, and then escorted the two of them outside.
The sun was shining brightly, but the closer Mira got to the outside, the more panicked she felt.
Her legs were almost weak, and when the two of them were pressed on the guillotine, the girl's little face wrinkled together. She couldn't help but was about to cry, but she bit her lower jaw tightly. Lips forced to hold back.
"Liar... didn't you say there is no problem?" The white-haired Luo An Loli said to Henry with a crying voice. She was frightened, and the wooden fixture on Henry's head on the other side was also removed. Buttoning it up, he showed an apologetic smile to Mira.
Mira collapsed completely. She thought this was proof that Henry had no choice but to sob for a moment but the stubborn girl stopped it.
"Hiss-" She sniffed heavily, then looked at Henry with a very serious expression, and said with a slight nasal voice.
"no matter what……"
"Thank you, teacher."
"Qiang——" The strong executioner finished polishing the ax on the grinding wheel, and then raised it high.
The shadow enveloped the two people, and there were not many people watching below. Mira closed her eyes, but the ax never fell after waiting for a long time.
"..." She opened her eyes again and saw all the soldiers, including the executioners, standing respectfully on both sides.
what happened?
The girl was stunned, and then she looked in that direction. Someone seemed to be walking on the road in the distance.
This must be a big shot. They stopped to pay tribute to him and had to wait until he reached the square below to continue the execution. The tense nerves relaxed instantly, and Mira rolled her eyes and almost fainted.
Will she still die after a few seconds of breathing time? She thought so, and the big man greeting the surrounding soldiers below finally came to them.
His face was facing this side, and his outline looked familiar to the girl. He had gorgeous golden and yellow plate armor, a red cloak trimmed with golden fluff, and his blond hair that shone like armor in the sun——
He nodded to the soldier, then turned his face to this side with a smile - and then the expression on his face froze for a moment.
You can't imagine how funny it is when a person's smile suddenly freezes and then his eyes widen in a daze, because our white-haired lolita still "puff——" even under the pressure of being beheaded. "I couldn't help laughing out loud.
At the same time, Henry next to him spoke again in a calm tone.
"Hey, Edward, long time no see——"
A gust of wind blew across the street, and the ivy-green logo of Chester City hanging on the other person's chest swayed slightly.
…
"Hey, so, ten Ella silver coins, deal?" Rodney said to the blacksmith with a smile on his fat face. The blacksmith was about the same height as him and his figure was not very tall. The strong but bronzed skin, the blackened face and the dirty gray beard all seemed to indicate that he was experienced and rich - and that was exactly what happened.
Anyone who has commissioned blacksmiths to forge weapons knows that there are usually two types of hammers used for forging in blacksmith shops, a large two-handed hammer and a small one-handed hammer.
The former is used by the blacksmith's apprentice and is a purely physical exercise in forging the weapon into shape, while the latter is where the true essence lies. Those who play with small hammers are the masters. After hammering day after day and year after year, they already know the effect of their hammer when they hammer it. This is not something that can be compared with simple brute force.
The old man didn't say anything. He looked at the two swords, one long and one short, with wonderful patterns on the dirty black table, but he just glanced at Rodney and didn't say anything.
"..." The short and fat mercenary put away his smile and began to habitually bite the nail of his right thumb. The painful expression on his face was clearly visible.
The owners of the two swords naturally did not need to explain. After the two were arrested, they were placed in the guard's small room. And since they didn't need them anyway, Rodney happily took them away amidst the complicated expressions of others.
He originally thought that he already had a Sivalier-style one-handed sword, so he would just sell these, but suddenly on a whim, he took the dagger and clashed with his one-handed sword, which made Rodney My jaw almost dropped.
It was obviously just a dagger for self-defense, but without using all its strength—because it was reluctant—to collide, it actually created a gap in the solid one-handed sword of Sergeant Sivalier.
Good guy! This steel is unprecedented.
That guy was carrying a really damn good sword - Rodney, who was so excited, no longer hesitated and immediately ran to find the best blacksmith in Wawasika City with the sword in hand to get it. They were reforged into the weapons they needed.
And the most fundamental reason why we haven't been able to reach an agreement yet is obviously the price——
His previous sword was forged in Inizburg, the capital of Avenella, and the cost of materials and polishing was only 8 Ella silver coins. But this time, with the materials already provided, the crafting fee for recasting has been repeatedly raised to ten silver coins and has not yet been taken.
"Mr. Feixi, please be accommodating. You know I don't have much money. The salary of the Royal Guards is pitiful! Thirteen Ella silver coins! Thirteen is enough!" Rodney said. He looked heartbroken when he said this number, but the old blacksmith just glanced at him lightly.
"Don't I know you, Rodney? You must have found these two swords somewhere." He said this: "You want me to recast them. If the owner comes to find you later, Come on, the trouble is not all my fault, old man."
"But if you really want it, I will do it for you, and I will do it for you for free -" The two words "free" made Rodney's eyes light up, but the old man's next sentence immediately made the pudgy mercenary's whole body go crazy again. Everyone stopped.
"As long as you give me all the remaining steel for the sword."
"...Sigh." Rodney let out a long sigh. The forging technology of these steels that no one had ever seen before was so powerful that it was impossible for the old blacksmith not to see their value. He originally counted on ten It can be won with a few Ella silver coins, but now there is no other way but to spend a lot of money.
Rodney gritted his teeth and tried hard to convince himself in his heart, but at this moment he suddenly found that the sunlight behind him was blocked by something.
"Excuse me……"
That was a man's voice. He had been familiar with this voice for a while, but he shouldn't be here.
Could it be that his own conscience was torturing him, causing him to hear hallucinations? Rodney put his hand on his heart. It beat happily, and then he turned his head.
"Can you please return our weapons?" Henry smiled at him and said. Behind him stood a row of soldiers in full plate armor. It can be seen from the markings on their breastplates that they are the first A member of the Royal Guards Infantry Regiment.
"Gu——" The pudgy mercenary shuddered, then turned around and wanted to run away, but Henry pressed his shoulder with one hand.
"Don't leave in a hurry." The sage who easily held Rodney down with one hand looked like a big devil with a smile. Rodney was dripping with cold sweat, and then he forced out a stiff smile. .
Henry didn't make things difficult for him anymore. He went straight to the wooden table in the blacksmith shop and picked up his big sword.
"..." The old blacksmith stopped what he was doing and looked at him.
"That sword." The old man said, "Who made it."
"A blacksmith of this skill cannot remain unknown, but I have never heard of one appearing out of nowhere." he asked, and Henry smiled in return.
"Maybe you just don't know enough, young man."
The sage's words made the old blacksmith, who was over sixty years old, stunned for a moment. He stared blankly at the tall black-haired man who turned and left, without saying a word for a long time.
"...Today's young people." The old man sighed, shook his head and started to work again, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone still standing at the door.
"So what are you still doing here, Rodney..."
"Hehe... Old man, let me discuss with you, can you help me repair a one-handed sword for free? It's the Sergeant Sivalier style. It just has a small, small chip. For you Such a highly skilled——"
"Free means no negotiation, get out of here!"
…
The two walked back slowly under the protection of the Royal Guards. Edward's appearance a dozen minutes ago saved everything, and after it was confirmed that the first prince was Henry's strong backing, including the executioner Everyone almost knelt down before their legs gave out.
But after being rescued, our little Mila had an angry and cold face.
She obviously noticed the city lord's badge on Edward's chest. The exact same ivy logo showed that the knight who arrested them before was actually Edward's subordinate - which is why Henry was so arrogant.
The big Lolita Luo An was angry because the sage knew all this but never told her clearly, causing her to cry bitterly out of fear and even said something so emotional that she wanted to cover her face and find a crack in the ground to crawl in. Words like “thank you” from the bottom of my heart.
What made all this worse was that after the two were rescued from the execution platform, Henry actually looked at her with a half-smile and said, "I saw something good."
"Mr. Sage is really the worst adult!" The girl couldn't help shouting and kicked Henry's calf hard, and then walked far away from him, as if to draw a clear line.
But after she calmed down, she couldn't help but start to worry. She had kicked so hard just now in a fit of anger that even her own feet were aching, let alone the one being kicked.
The complicated emotions of worry and concern made Mira hesitate for a while, and then she rushed forward. She hugged Henry's lower back and hit him hard with her little head.
"..." The sage stopped, turned his head, smiled slightly and touched Luo An's little head.
"I'm sorry. It's my fault. I shouldn't have bullied you."
"snort."
Mira rubbed her face against his, then walked aside and glared at Henry again. Then he stepped forward and took his hand, and the two of them walked slowly towards Edward's place.
"Sir, have you finished dealing with it?" Edward, who was standing at the gate of the Lord's Mansion in Wawasika, nodded when he saw Henry coming over. The previous commotion also made him dumbfounded, but at this moment, Edward, as a prince, once again put his They had a serious expression on their faces - they still had a big problem to solve, and other things had to be put to the back.
The first-floor hall of the city lord's palace is obviously used as a conference room. Before entering, the three of them can hear loud quarrels, like words like "Sivalier", "disadvantage" and "impossible". was mentioned repeatedly. "Alas-" Edward sighed, and then looked at Henry solemnly.
"As you can see, sir, I need your help."
Henry nodded, and the three of them walked into the conference room together.
