The Seventh Street Court is located at No. 244 on a corner of Horseshoe Avenue.

  It is a two-story wooden building with a black roof, looking somewhat old. The ivy winds its way up along the corner of the wall.

  The greenery that covered most of the wall in summer is completely gone in this season. The withered brown-yellow stems make the whole building look desolate.

  Only the somewhat roughly carved sculpture of the Saint of Justice, Muto, in front of the door reminds people that this is a solemn place.

  Although it is just an ordinary third-class court that can only handle some trivial cases, after all, it is the first step in Forlan's career.

  Perhaps in the future, Forlan will be able to enter the noble court and make a fair judgment on serious cases that even His Majesty the King will pay attention to.

  Forlan once visited the First Noble Court in the new urban area of the Western City of Fudo. A single courtroom there is larger than the entire Seventh Street Court and can accommodate three hundred people.

  It is said that there is also a magician proficient in spiritual magic in the noble court. He can easily make the most stubborn and cunning person tell the truth.

  Goodness! A magician from the legends!

  Forlan has never met such a mysterious figure before.

  No matter in which country, magicians are as rare as oases in the desert.

  Just having a few words with them is something worth showing off.

  The heating in the Seventh Court is burning brightly. Forlan takes off his windbreaker, wraps it with the sheepskin bag and stuffs it into the drawer of his office. After nodding to several recorders who greet him, he walks towards the office of the court president.

  I don't know if it's because of the bad weather, but the wooden planks in the corridor are somewhat rotten. Or maybe it's because of his excited mood, Forlan always feels as if he is stepping on a smooth woolen blanket, and his steps are light and floating.

  Today, he will appear in court for the first time in the capacity of a prosecutor.

  The court president, Baron Ross. Silva, is a thin and energetic old man.

  When he sees Forlan, he closes the large book spread out in front of him and signals to close the door.

  "Sir Fryer, what's your opinion on the case you're in charge of?" the court president pushes the glasses on his nose and asks.

  Forlan has made full preparations for this upcoming lawsuit and has been studying it for a long time.

  Two young masters of a baron's family who were dead drunk in a bar blocked a young girl in an alley. They did what every young ruffian likes to do.

  They beat and abused her, and they even intended to rape her.

  The girl's father rushed over when he heard the news. Then, something even more tragic happened.

  The young masters, whose heads were muddled by alcohol, punched and kicked the girl's father until they were stopped by the patrol team.

  Unfortunately, by then, the poor old man had already taken his last breath.

  Judging from the surface evidence, this is a very straightforward case of violent injury. Even though the defendants are of noble status, it is difficult for them to escape the sanctions of the law.

  Because according to the noble code, any lower noble who causes the death of a commoner, although entitled to the right to avoid the death penalty, needs to replace it with a huge amount of compensation and long-term hard labor.

  However, there is one point. The victim, that is, the girl's elderly father, is not a pure human being but a subspecies with half-dragon blood, known as the Gode people.

  At first glance, they don't look much different from ordinary humans, but upon closer inspection, it can be found that they usually have small scales on hidden parts of their bodies, or slightly protruding bony horns on their foreheads.

  In the rituals of the Holy Light Church, the first Gode person was a traitor who betrayed the Son of God. The bloodline of the traitor was cursed from then on, and his descendants have since had inhuman characteristics.

  As time has passed, although the Gode people in this era are no longer arbitrarily captured and killed as they were in the early days, they are still regarded as an inferior class.

  The laws of the empire will never recognize non-human races as citizens enjoying rights. This is an unshakable and unchangeable ironclad rule.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  It was Emperor Comor I, the founding emperor of the Byron Empire, who formulated this law.

  In historical records, the founding emperor is famous for his stubborn human supremacism.

  Therefore, the noble young masters who are still in the detention center are feeling complacent and have declared that in order to maintain the dignity of humans and the emperor, they will not make any compensation.

  After all, the huge amount of compensation stipulated by the code is also an astronomical figure that makes the average noble family wince.

  However, after all, a living life has been lost. How to make a reasonable judgment that can both maintain the justice of the law and not damage the face of the royal family is a huge challenge for any judge.

  This is also the reason why this case was delayed for several months by the First Noble Court and then delegated to the third-class court.

  The Seventh Street Court, which originally had no right to hear such noble cases at all, has naturally become the scapegoat for those above.

  And Forlan believes that he has also become one of the scapegoats.

  A fledgling prosecutor is the most suitable candidate to be a sacrifice, isn't he?

  "This is a great young man. It's a pity that from now on, he will have to say goodbye to his position in the court. Maybe I can give him a little more severance pay," the court president has already imagined Forlan's ending.

  "Prosecutor, I hope you can be strict about your identity and not do anything ridiculous," he looks at Forlan with pity in his eyes.

  "I understand," Forlan nods confidently.

  He knows this is a trap, but he also knows that this is a great opportunity.

  Forlan puts on the black judge's robe that represents judgment and solemnity, puts on the light gray wig woven from horsehair, and stands in front of the mirror.

  The prosecutor in the mirror looks very imposing.

  "The stage is already set. I must not mess up my first performance," he prays silently as he pushes open the door leading to the courtroom.

  The hearing gallery is already full of people, and even many important figures have condescended to come to this shabby place.

  The two defendants stand in the defendant's dock carelessly, whispering to each other from time to time.

  And another scapegoat, the presiding judge, is an old man who is about to retire. He is sitting in his position feebly and declaring in a vague voice, "The court is now in session."

  In the court, lawyers and prosecutors are always like gladiators facing each other in the arena, and they will never give up until they completely defeat their opponents.

  The lawyers of the young ruffians cross-examine the prosecution witness, that is, the girl who almost lost her chastity and her father.

  "Madam, may I ask, do you have Gode blood?" the lawyer asks.

  "It's them. They are the ones who killed my father."

  "Please answer my question. Do you have Gode blood?"

  "They killed my father."

  The girl sobs and repeats this sentence.

  "All the evidence shows that you have half Gode blood, and your father is a standard Gode person."

  "They killed my father!" the girl shouts angrily. Her beautiful gray eyes seem to be on fire, and her white teeth have bitten her lips until they bleed.

  "Why don't you condemn the murderers? Why don't you judge their crimes?"

  "Instead of choosing a good day to open the gallows, you come to care about what bloodline my poor father has?"

  Looking at the out-of-control girl, the lawyer smiles with satisfaction and gracefully makes a gesture indicating the end of the cross-examination.

  Forlan doesn't say anything and keeps writing something on the paper with his head down.

  Next, the lawyer calls several more witnesses and proves to everyone with ironclad evidence that the victim is indeed a Gode person who is not protected by the code.

  The lawyer even shouts, "If my clients are guilty, then is this ridiculous court and all of you here trying to ignore the majesty of Emperor Comor and challenge the dignity of the royal family?"

  Forlan doesn't make a sound from beginning to end. In the eyes of everyone in the hearing gallery, the prosecutor has already failed.

  A rookie who has been completely defeated by the lawyer is destined to become a joke in the judicial circle during people's conversations after meals.

  It is not until the presiding judge asks whether to find the defendants not guilty and release them that Forlan finally opens his mouth and says his first sentence.

  He says, "His Majesty Saint George VII, the late father of the current emperor, once added a law to the code: It is prohibited to slaughter any precious animals."

  As is well known, the previous emperor was a monarch who liked painting and poetry.

  His sentimental, artistic temperament made him love all the vivid things in the world. He not only had preferential policies to reduce the tax burden on the people but also issued announcements to protect various endangered animals within his territory.

  In the southern part of the empire, the Celestial Bird, whose feathers are gorgeous and suitable for making decorations on noble ladies' hats, was able to reproduce again from the brink of being almost exterminated due to wanton hunting and killing, thanks to the protection of this law.

  "The defendants actually despise the late emperor's decree and slaughter the precious Gode people, a kind of animal. Can you all tolerate such a crime?" Forlan cries out.

  The noisy courtroom suddenly falls into a dead silence. Everyone is dumbfounded. The rookie actually applies the animal protection law in a criminal case.

  "According to the defense's statement, the Gode people belong to inferior animals that are not protected. Goodness! What are you going to do? You even intended to rape an animal?" Forlan shouts exaggeratedly. "Only heretics can do such a dirty act. With the Holy Light above, this will send you to the stake!"

  The Holy Light Church, which is above all kings and lords, clearly stipulates in its doctrines that all acts of bestiality are prohibited.

  In fact, it is not uncommon for nobles to lose their titles because they favored orc slaves.

  The Archbishop of the Fudo region, who is invited to attend the hearing and is sitting in the hearing gallery, closes his eyes piously, makes the sign of the cross on his chest, and murmurs, "May the holy fire wash away the evil deeds of the sinners."

  The lawyer suddenly falls from heaven to hell. He suddenly feels that admitting to the crime of murder seems much less serious than the crime charged by the prosecutor.

  ......

  "Thank you for seeking justice for my father, but I curse you because you have insulted my father's reputation," the Gode girl says to Forlan when leaving the court, and then she kisses the rookie prosecutor.

  Forlan feels a trace of bitterness, which is the taste of the girl's tears.

  "I knew that young man could do it, but I didn't expect him to be so excellent," Baron Silva says with a red face, boasting to the senior prosecutors who are also attending the hearing. "He doesn't look like a newbie at all."

  In this way, Forlan's first lawsuit in his life is won brilliantly.