Alicia frowned because she remembered the corpse of a woman tied to a wooden post that she had seen in that town before.
She has lived in the land of fairies for three years and has learned some magic. She is considered half a magician.
Therefore, she could feel that the woman in front of her had no magical aura at all.
That's an ordinary woman.
"What are they doing?" Alicia frowned, "Do they have evidence? Just assume she is a witch.
And, why are they so obsessed with arresting witches? "
Xiaya silently took out a book from his body and handed it to Alicia.
Alicia subconsciously took over the book, titled "Hammer of the Witch."
"What is this?" Alicia asked.
"Crunt against the enemy." Xia Ya joked.
“It provides guidance on how to detect the crimes of witches and provides reasons for suppressing witchcraft.
The beginning is about the Marquis of Oss being possessed by the devil, and your disappearance, which was also blamed on the witch. "
He nodded, "In a sense, they are really right."
Then, he continued, “And what the angel said before when he came was also misinterpreted by them in some way.
It says that witches are divided into two categories. One category only provides divination and solves problems for people, and their guilt is relatively light;
The other type abandons God and serves the devil. They not only endanger mankind, but also establish the devil's cause and commit serious religious crimes.
This is different from those who have impure beliefs and commit crimes in ignorance. These witches do not need to be treated leniently and can be sentenced to death at the stake.
If she shows repentance, the court may be more lenient and hang or hang the witch first, and then burn her at the stake.
During this year, this book was published crazily in the South, and almost everyone had a copy. "
Alicia fell silent, she had realized something was wrong at this moment.
After a moment, she said, "No matter whether the person being tried is a witch or not, it must go through the court. Legal principles are one of the foundations of this country."
"Of course." Xia Ya said with a deep smile, "The procedure still needs to be followed, but for witches, the court is not an "accusation lawsuit", but an "investigation lawsuit."
Alicia frowned slightly.
Indictment proceedings are the so-called impeachment doctrine, which originated in Europe.
If someone is to be convicted of a crime, someone must file a complaint or impeachment before the judicial authority can begin the proceedings.
The court only listens to the arguments between the plaintiff and the defendant and determines whether the accusation made by the accuser is well-founded.
If the accuser cannot convince court members to accept his point of view, he will be found guilty of a false accusation, and the court will punish the accuser based on the seriousness of the false accusation and the degree of harm caused.
Under prosecution proceedings, public trials and oral debates are often adopted.
But investigative litigation is different.
Xia Ya's words continued, "After the anonymous report, the judge will decide whether to accept the investigation.
The identity of the accuser will be kept completely confidential and all subsequent costs will be borne by the person on trial.
To accuse someone of being a witch does not require any substantial evidence.
Do you know how she was taken away? "
Char looked at the guards who were gradually receding in the distance.
Alicia was speechless, while Char continued to speak.
"The reporter's reason was that "his child once threw a stone at her, and soon after, the child became ill and died."
Several cases in the past month did not even have accusers, but came from rumors in the countryside, such as: "Someone becomes restless when talking about witchcraft" or "Someone's rosary beads broke for no reason."
The court starts the litigation process based on its authority, and the referee also plays the role of the accuser.
This kind of litigation uses secret trials, and the person under trial is completely isolated from the outside world. He does not know what evidence the court has against him or the content of the review.
Moreover, you should be able to imagine what would happen if you were isolated from the outside world. "
Alicia took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled.
“The so-called trial no longer follows the principle of presumption of innocence, but the principle of presumption of guilt.
During the harsh interrogation process, they just want to get the full confession of the person accused of being a witch.
Even if the court agrees to appoint a lawyer to defend the person, the lawyer is afraid that he will be accused of being a fellow witch, so he will also pressure the person on trial to plead guilty.
To convict a witch, the first and necessary evidence is the witch's confession.
Therefore, in these judges, in order to obtain confessions from these witches, they usually use harsh punishments to make them confess their crimes.
And under severe and cruel punishment, I rarely see anyone who can resist being beaten.
You turned to page 46 of the book, where there was also a standard set of criteria for judging witches.
As long as they meet the conditions, there is evidence that they are witches.
Coupled with the witch's confession, a witchcraft case was established. "
Alicia started flipping through the book and soon found page 46.
One of the principles is to look for the "devil's mark"
The devil will leave a mark on the wizard's body. This devil's mark will not hurt or bleed because it has been touched by the devil.
Therefore, it is necessary to remove all hair from the suspect's body, strip off his clothes and check whether there are any such devil marks on his body - such as protrusions, spots, calluses, scars or birthmarks. If found, prick the suspect with a pin or knife to see if it hurts.
The second is to observe the weight of the wizard. The wizard can fly in the air and communicate with the devil, so his weight will be lighter than it looks.
"What's this criteria for looking underweight?" Alicia asked.
Char shrugged.
Alicia's expression became even heavier.
The absence of a standard means that this standard can be used by judges to make arbitrary judgments.
The next step is to observe whether any "little ghosts" are approaching.
The suspect will have his neck and legs crossed and tied, and be imprisoned alone in a dungeon for two days and nights. A small hole will be deliberately left in the cell door to see if any "little ghosts" can enter or exit through the hole.
The so-called "imps" are just animals like beetles or mice that often appear in dirty and dark places.
These are found in almost every prison.
Finally, observe whether they shed tears - another characteristic of wizards is that they will not shed tears, regardless of physical or mental torture.
According to demonologists, the reason why wizards do not shed tears is because the devil teaches wizards a restraint method that allows them to be in a trance without pain when being tortured.
"Just a few days ago," Xia Ya said slowly, "A witch was tried in a nearby town, and the judge asked her why she couldn't cry.
Her answer was that she had been beaten so many times that her tears had dried up.
But apparently the judge didn't believe her. "
Alicia did not look any further, but trembled and closed her eyes, "What happened to this country?"
Xia Ya pondered for a moment and then slowly spoke.
“Three years of war and plague had shrouded the South in fear.
The economic situation in the South was deteriorating due to the continuous occurrence of military disasters, poor harvests, plagues and animal epidemics.
Life has been severely affected, with hunger, confusion, and uneasiness. The society lacks a sense of security and there is no outlet for social emotions.
All kinds of chaos such as natural disasters, man-made disasters, and plagues have flooded this land. The social system has collapsed and conflicts have intensified.
The most critical thing is that the church also began to decline in these years, its theological authority was shaken, and it was challenged by imperial power, and religious struggles became fierce.
Outside of the two powerful religions, witches and pagans are classified as demons and monsters. The church believes that God created the world, and witches cast spells to bring chaos to the world, using evil power to control pagans.
People need an outlet to vent, the ruling class needs an excuse, and religions want to take the opportunity to silence themselves and strengthen theocratic power.
The devil's advocate wizard is naturally the most perfect evil lamb. "
"What on earth is this guy Victor doing!" Alicia said through gritted teeth, "To allow people from the church to be so unscrupulous!"
"What if he is also one of the masterminds behind the scenes?" Xia Ya's eyes flashed.
Alicia seemed to have thought of something and looked at Chara in disbelief.
"With the Sword in the Stone, domestic orthodoxy may no longer be available to him, but the same cannot be said for the 'divine right'."
Char's tone was calm.
“What is more detestable than a heretic is a heretic.
An angel descended into a church that they considered heretical, which was undoubtedly a huge shock to those believers who claimed to be orthodox.
And this also became Victor's capital to use them.
He supported this sect in the South, expelled the Puritans, and helped them expand their influence.
And if one day, destiny appears.
Victor could also use these churches to refute the Mandate of Heaven, further test God's will, and control public opinion in the South.
If the gods don't pay attention to this and he cannot obtain legitimacy through these methods, then he will take the next step.
Let this sect support him as destiny.
Use the actual control area in the south as the border to build another country.
This is an exchange of interests. For this sect, they will have a true foundation of their own on this continent.
Restore its past glory and influence. "
"But then, aren't these sects afraid of divine punishment?" Alicia couldn't help but say.
"This is actually very easy to deceive." Xia Ya whispered, "People only believe what they see with their own eyes. How do these sects originating from Europe know that what happened in the imperial capital was not caused by some people in the imperial capital? What about self-acting?
People only want to believe what they want to believe.
Tell me, are they willing to believe that what they consider to be a heresy is divinely inspired, or are they willing to believe that it is false? "
Alicia was silent for a long time. After a moment, she took a shaky breath and said, "Semele is right."
Her eyes were burning with fire, "They are not God's apostles, and they have no respect for God at all.
These believers who claim to be the messengers of God, if they cut open their sacred appearance and tear off the sacred flag, they will only see their essence that is dirtier than the rats in the ditch. "
Xia Ya stretched out his hand, and the surrounding scene changed instantly, and they instantly moved to a dark and cold place.
This is the dungeon of the city. Several ventilation holes are near the sewers, so the air has a stench like a ditch. Not only that, it is also cold and damp, with not much light.
Anyone who lives here for a long time will definitely have physical problems even if they don't have mental problems.
There was a faint smell of blood in the air.
Chara and Alicia walked forward, passing several cells on the way, but none of the criminals in the cells saw them.
Finally, they entered an execution chamber deep in the dungeon.
A naked woman was hung here with her hands and feet tied up. No one who saw this scene would have any evil thoughts in their heart, because she was so miserable.
There is no doubt that the woman in front of me must be one of the women slandered as a witch.
In order to test whether she was a witch, the torturers shaved off all the hair on her body. She should have had beautiful hair, but now all she could see was her bloody scalp.
There were blood spots all over her body. Countless blood spots gathered into a stream of blood and dripped down her feet. It was as if someone had pricked it out bit by bit with a needle. Some places were covered with blood. It had been pricked so many times that it had even festered.
Alicia turned her head unbearably, but still looked at her, "What are you doing, using criminal law to force her to confess?"
"Do you still remember one of the criteria for judging witches in the book I showed you?" Xia Ya whispered softly, "Check whether there are any protrusions, spots, calluses, scars or birthmarks on the body. Something that is the mark of the devil.
Then use acupuncture to see if it hurts. The one who doesn't hurt is the devil. "
He looked at the person in front of him, "Obviously, she does not have these special marks on her body. However, those monks obviously will not be willing to accept it.
As I said, this is a trial with presumption of guilt.
Because the church is infallible, and if there is, it can only be a trick of these evil witches.
They literally claim that the marks are invisible, and the skin with invisible marks will not feel pain and will not bleed even if it is punctured.
So in order to find the so-called invisible marks, these monks and torturers used iron needles to repeatedly prick every inch of the suspected witch's body.
By the time the nerves in a certain part of her skin were completely dead, she felt no pain when she was poked again.
Then these monks would triumphantly announce that they had found the invisible mark of the devil, and then condemn the other party as a witch and execute them. "
Alicia clenched her fists and took a deep breath, "Arthur must pull out that sword as soon as possible, Brittania, we can no longer let these insects control power!
One more day of delay and one more person will die. "
Xia Ya didn't answer, just stared at the person in front of her quietly, and said her name in a low voice.
"Marthalee Lawrence."
In the coma, Marthali felt that someone was calling her again, and the voice was very nice, like whispering in her ear.
For some reason, the pain in my body was gradually fading away.
Her originally chaotic consciousness gradually became clearer, and she slowly opened her slightly heavy eyelids.
In front of him were no longer the executioners and monks with ugly faces.
Instead, there was a man and a woman, both with long silver-white hair, wearing robes, and handsome faces that did not look like human beings, but looked like messengers of God.
The body seemed to be covered with a layer of holy light that was difficult to see with the naked eye.
I saw the man slowly speaking to her.
"You must be very disappointed with this world, right?"
(End of chapter)
