The witch thought I am a Demon God
Chapter 310 - 200 Ivita’s Lord Order_2

Chapter 310: Chapter 200 Ivita’s Lord Order_2

"The man of that family is the murderer."

"So here lies the problem, according to the law of Ambros, the murderer must pay with his life."

"But... anyway, the man is now in jail, yet many villagers have jointly asked me and Knight Griffin to spare his life."

The steward explained: "According to the law of Ambros, if someone outside your territory enters your territory and violates Ambros’s law and your law, you have the right to kill the intruder."

"But if a civilian of your territory commits a capital crime, the lord of the territory has no right to sentence the civilian to death."

The steward reluctantly said: "You need to report the situation to the Grand Viscount, and then wait for the Grand Viscount, or the Grand Viscount’s secretarial team, to decide the fate of this civilian."

Ivita frowned and said, "Currently, Ambros is in great chaos, with the central authority of Ambros divided into two, thus reporting to Ambros City is not necessary."

"After all, even if we do not report, who would know?"

The steward laughed. "Of course. Actually, whether to report or not entirely depends on the conscious of the various lords."

"But Lord Ivita, how are you going to handle that man who killed someone?"

"Even though it’s reasonable for the man to kill the explorer, a person who has killed before will break through his own moral boundaries. By letting him stay in the village, he could pose a threat to other civilians."

Ivita was also having a headache about how to deal with this man.

Should they kill him? He was merely resisting a bandit who violated his home;

If they don’t kill him, the civilians may be emboldened to kill in the future over minor disputes. They must also consider the authority of the lord and the law. If they don’t impose any punishment, it would also be unjustifiable.

This is the dilemma as a lord.

When your every word and action are affecting the destiny of thousands, every decision must be carefully made.

An improper execution of law could possibly lead to disastrous consequences, even more serious than the result of killing one or two people.

Kristin gave a glance and said to the hesitating Ivita: "In order to protect his family, he killed a thief, as a Lord, what have you got to reproach him for?"

"Why not absolve him?"

Ivita shook his head at Kristin. "What you said isn’t wrong, and I agree with what you’ve said emotionally."

"But the law of Ambros Independent Viscountage is to give the death penalty to civilians who have committed murder."

"Although this law has been largely overlooked when it comes to wanderers and nobles."

"But if we pardon him today, it will undermine the dignity of the law. Then, in the future, other people in the territory will follow suit, and kill over minor disputes, claiming a right to kill if someone insults their parents, or if someone takes over half an acre of their land."

"Then the order of the region will be chaotic."

"From the perspective of order, murder cannot be treated lightly."

"But we cannot sentence him to death just because of such a thing." Ivita patted his forehead: "He hasn’t committed a crime worthy of death."

"Ah, we should find a job for him where he doesn’t need to stay in the village and can both atone for his crime and support his family." Ivita said to the steward: "We’ve been planning to expand the territory’s guards. Currently, there are even less than two hundred guards in our territory."

"Have him serve involuntarily for three months, providing him with food and lodging but no grain subsidy and military rewards."

"Also, confiscate property from the explorers to compensate that family. Transfer all the coins the explorers have to the man’s family. Then, sentence the entire team of misbehaving explorers to death as a warning to other explorers who wish to cause trouble here."

The steward’s eyes brightened, speaking to Ivita: "Sir, your solution is excellent."

"This way, it both punishes the villager, while it’s also more of a warning than a punishment, and it saves you some money."

Ivita coughed, then looked at Kristin.

Mister Steward, could you take back the latter half of that sentence?

Don’t I care about my image?

The steward was a smart man and immediately corrected himself: "Sir, you are most generous. Of course, this small amount of savings could not possibly be your objective."

Kristin chuckled while looking at Ivita.

As for a lord, frugality is indeed a virtue, why should Ivita need to hide it?

If a lord is frugal for himself but generous to the civilians of his territory, he must be a good one.

Kristin had seen too many nobles in Ambros who gambled and managed poorly, were forced to sell their ancestral properties and manors. Hence, she did not loathe Ivita’s frugality but rather admired it.

Ivita spoke again to the steward: "Resolve this minor issue quickly."

"Also, you can discuss with Knight Griffin about recruiting wandering knights, wandering knight’s attendants, wandering warriors and wandering hunters from outside the territory. We can offer approximately forty-eight gold coins per year for first-tier professionals, and approximately one hundred and fifty gold coins for second-tier professionals."

This remuneration is actually not very high.