Chapter 48 - Volume 3 (1/2)
On the rooftop of City Hall, a meeting table had been set up. Isaac sat at the head of the table, quickly glimpsing through a handful of doc.u.ments. When he was done, he placed the doc.u.ments on the table and asked a question.
“Why is Port City processing the doc.u.ments for the lawsuit?”
Cordnell was unable to answer Isaac, as he was still suffering from the aftereffects of Anton’s aura. So the task fell onto Kalden, and he began to explain to Isaac after a brief sigh.
Law is naturally an incredibly complex and difficult subject with a very few number of experts. On top of a limited number of experts, the Department of Law only accepted individuals whose records were spotless, leading to a persistent shortage of manpower within the department.
In order to deal with this, the Department of Law grouped cities and villages into sectors, and a designated judge would rotate between all the cities and villages within a sector to settle all incidents and lawsuits.
There is an exception, however. Lords have the authority to determine the final verdict for all crimes within their own territory, according to the laws of the Lords.h.i.+p. Only when the verdict is appealed would the Department of Law send their investigators, and the investigators would decide whether to close the case or transfer the incident over to the Department of Law.
As New Port City grew in population, so too did the number of crimes and small infractions, and all of these cases were sent over to Port City to process. New Port City didn’t have the experts to process the doc.u.ments in the first place, and these lawsuits had no impact on the relations.h.i.+p between the two cities, leading to minimal clashes regarding the subject.
This had been going on seamlessly until the recent fall of Port City. The administrative body that had been processing the doc.u.ments was paralysed. It was overloaded with lawsuits and complaints due to the riot, so Port City stood its ground and refused to process doc.u.ments for New Port City, which was the cause of it all.
The biggest problems were the casino guests that had been brought over through Bluff. They were indeed sons of incredibly rich families, but they were also great scoundrels to the point where even their own families had given up on them. Their personalities didn’t change when they arrived at New Port City, and they made impossible demands and complaints, causing ma.s.sive spectacles. However, they almost always escaped with minimal punishment, because the incredible power of their families held made it difficult for them to be punished them harshly. This murder case regarding Dogman Duberon was one such case.
“Where is that troublemaker now?”
“We’ve locked him in one of the hotels.”
Isaac looked baffled when he heard Cordnell’s answer.
“A hotel? You’re letting a murderer stay in a hotel?”
“… Shall I move him to jail now?”
Kalden questioned Isaac, and Isaac shook his head after a moment.
“No. Good job. Lock him in the most expensive hotel room and give him everything he requests for. But does this mean I have to preside over and judge all the court sessions from now on?”
“It was your duty to perform that since the beginning.”
“That’s annoying… fine. I’ll preside over the first court session. Make sure you watch and learn carefully, since this will be the standard for all court sessions to come. Also, choose someone to become the judge for future sessions.”
“Are you really going to act as the judge?”
“How could I play around when there’s work to be done?”
Everyone in the meeting looked at Isaac; he had no right to speak such words.
Kalden raised his hand carefully.
“So where do you plan to hold this court session?”
Isaac thought for a moment and then nodded as he made his decision.
“The court session would be an excellent way to advertise if it’s open to the public. All court sessions will be open to the public from now on.”
“What? Where? We don’t even have a courthouse!”
‘We’ll just do it at the plaza.”
“Are you planning to make the defendants a spectacle?”
“What do you mean ‘a spectacle’? They are just having an audience. Hm, should I accept a fee to watch as an audience? I think that’d be a good idea.”
All of the employees rallied against Isaac as he muttered those words to himself. It was clear as day that the Department of Law would erupt if they got word that Isaac was planning to not only make the sacred law into a spectacle but also earn money while doing so.
Anton warned Isaac that he would regret his decision, but Isaac considered it as an empty threat. There weren’t many methods the so-called Great Lord of the South could use to pressure New Port City when he was so far away. Not to mention that it was Isaac, a man who cared not about his losses, who was running the city.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Hundreds of soldiers marched across the streets in sync. Wearing fully-plated armour, they held their two handed swords upright at their chest. Their disciplined movement and the menacing armaments were enough to instill fear into ordinary citizens. People quickly ran away from them in terror, and the street which was once filled with laughter was replaced with cold tension.
Isaac watched the scene from the roof and asked Kalden.
“What are those?”
“They are the famous Order of Heavy Combat Knights that Marquis Duberon is so famous for. Every member of their order is a combat knight.”
“Wait, every single one of them is a combat knight?”
Isaac asked again with surprise when Kalden gave him the answer. Combat knights were treated as the tanks of this world, and their upkeep was also comparable to that of a tank. In fact, just having a third of a battalion composed of combat knights was enough for it to be called an order of knights.
These combat knights had the power to turn the tide of battle just by showing themselves on the battlefield, but at no point in history was there anyone dedicated enough to make up an entire order of knights out of combat knights only.
“Yes. They are a knightly order whose founding was recently approved. They number 700 men strong and were given the t.i.tle of the strongest knightly order in the south the moment they were founded.”
“Recently? Does that mean they’ve never fought on the battlefield?”
“Yes. They have been training under the Marquis ever since they were young, and they’ve just been released into the outside world.”
“So they are just a group of confident brats with no experience.”
Isaac never thought that the Marquis would mobilise his entire knightly order to save that troublesome son of his, but the armed demonstration made its effect. Already, the terrified people cancelled their bookings or requested for a refund.
“Is there no infringement of law when elite combat troops of a n.o.ble family crawls over to another person’s territory?”
Kalden smiled bitterly as he shook his head.
“They’ve come here for vacation.”
“A vacation?”
“Yes.”
“How many?”
“The entire order.”
“So the entirety of Marquis Duberon’s elite fighting force came here for vacation?”
“That’s what it says on paper.”
“They must have come here with Anton. Are they resorting to armed demonstration because words weren’t enough to convince me?”
Isaac couldn’t help but laugh at the situation. He only made a single demand: to receive something in return for releasing Dogman, which they so dearly wanted. Isaac wasn’t someone who would cry words of justice. All he wanted was some compensation for his troubles. But Marquis Duberon moved straight to threats and blackmail, perhaps believing that negotiating with Isaac’s sort was below his attention and honour. Isaac watched for a moment as the army moved up and down the road.
“You said they’ve been training since childhood?”
“Yes. They were handpicked at a young age to be trained for the order.”
“Doesn’t that mean that they haven’t seen much of the outside world because of the constant training within an isolated environment?”
“That is right.”
Cordnell answered Isaac as a small suspicion arose in the corner of his mind, worried that Isaac was about to cause an incident again.
“Hm, maybe I should poke at them a bit. Crazy b.i.t.c.h.”
“Yes?”
Milena answered in confusion as she was suddenly called out by Isaac.
“Bring out your girls.”
“Why would you need my girls…?”
“I’m just curious if they can maintain their discipline while beautiful women are seducing them from all sides.”
Milena quickly understood Isaac’s intentions and smiled.
“Hohoho. Don’t you worry. I’ll prepare my best girls for the job.”
“I look forward to it.”
“That sounds like it’ll be quite a sight.”
Isaac and the syndicate bosses laughed amongst each other while the employees and Isaac’s hubaes desperately tried to dissuade Isaac from the idea. However, their attempts weren’t enough to change Isaac’s mind.
It was mandatory for the hundreds of men to move in unison when performing a ceremonial march, but they couldn’t help but glimpse at the sides due to their instincts.
“Hohoho, look at him looking over here! Kyaa! So cute!”
“Hey there, cutie! Come over to my place! I’ll treat you well!”
“Why would they even want to visit an old lady like you? You’d need to be at least my level!”
The woman raised her skirt slightly, exposing her smooth white thigh.
“What do you mean by that? I still won’t lose to anyone no matter where I go! These b.r.e.a.s.t.s of mine are more than enough to bring in the boys!”
The woman grabbed at her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, shaking them up and down.
With words of obscenities flying everywhere and women judging the knights at every angle, the formation was starting to show some signs of dissonance.
The reason why these women were so proactive was because Isaac declared a reward of 10 thousand Giga to the first woman to destroy the formation.
But rumors of the knights’ discipline held true as small ripples in the formation resolved as quickly as they had formed, and the knights marched on. Displeased, one of the women stepped out as she shouted.
“Let’s see if you can stand this!”
The woman threw away her clothes, exposing her b.r.e.a.s.t.s in the open. All of the nearby knights gawked at her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, their male instincts overwhelming years of discipline. This caused some of the knights to march at the wrong pace, and the formation crumbled down like dominos within moments.
“Hey! W, watch out!”
Just like that, the knightly order that seemed so intimidating was quickly turned into a laughing stock. There were still many tourists left on the streets, and they’d all witnessed the shameful display of the knights.
“Kuhahaha! I guess they are men after all!”
“Ah! What a sight to see!’
The knights managed to get back on their feet, but unable to handle the embarra.s.sment and mockery from bystanders, they quickly fled New Port City with faces red as apples.
Isaac laughed as he watched the knights run with their tails between their legs, but the employees and hubaes felt as if the sky was crumbling. For them, it felt like they’d disturbed what should have been left alone.
Isaac spared no interest in what they thought however, and spoke as if he had just thought of a great idea.
“Alright! I will delay the court session indefinitely.”
“Huh? Why?”
“To make money. Why else?”
“What?”
n.o.body understood what Isaac meant right now, but as Isaac continued to explain, they couldn’t help but drop their jaws in astonishment at what he was planning.
“The greatest knightly order in the south is parading in our streets for free. Spread the word. Tell them they can witness the prowess of the Order of Heavy Combat Knights firsthand if they visit New Port City.”
“T, that’s!”
“I can only give words of grat.i.tude if they are willing to pay the entry fee every day and parade in our streets. I heard it’s Zeroman who’s letting those knights stay in the hotels for free. How much do you think it costs to feed and take care of hundreds of men? The longer this goes on, the better it is for us.”
“B, but we will face losses too!”
“Doesn’t matter. It won’t go on longer than a month.”