...

Courthouse room, Copper house, Wolfsteeth

Alexander sat at a mundane table inside an ordinary room with copper-colored walls that showed the decay through time. Small candles stood on top of the table, illuminating the whole room, designated to him as his courtroom for the day. The room was barebones, with no seats for onlookers or the like, and it looked like an enclosure used to experiment with how quickly one could go insane without any stimulus.

Besides the charming atmosphere, which reminded him of horror movies, there was a reason why it was like this. When Cophy judges had a day where they ruled, they would book a room and some guards.

Besides the guards, they also needed to be barebones for security reasons as the accused became enraged and tried to attack the judge or the guards, even though it rarely happened. For Alexander, it would be trivial to defend against them, but after meeting some of his colleagues, most could be assassinated easily; most likely, though, they would rather die by choking on their lunch than someone daring to lay a hand on them. It was pretty safe.

Despite the endearing dystopian emptiness, it was sadly far from how a modern court on Earth functioned. The public or the accused's family were not allowed to visit them, and the judge had complete discretion about who could testify.

Yet, the public trust from their commoners came not from nowhere, as the judges had sworn to rule by the law, signing massive mana contracts that made them accountable for their rulings. However, Alexander was exempt from this, as being a noble made him practically the law, and with that above. As such, he had much more discretion, which, when looking at his first case before him, he needed every bit of it.

"You son of a bitch! I will cut you down!"

"Fuck off, you stupid whore! You attacked ma' wife!"

Before him were sitting two delinquents, guarded by the estate soldiers, but it wasn't to protect Alexander. No, it was so they wouldn't kill each other, as they had already tried multiple times.

One of them was a female panda-kin, at around the age of twenty, with cheap clothing and a noticeable drug abuse problem, which he could smell and see, as it was something his Father smoked, too. It barely affected him, but it was highly destructive to someone with a much weaker body, causing teeth to fall out and worsening their sight as their eyes developed a layer of milky greyness.

She looked partly cross-eyed at him angrily, "Whore?! I should've gone out with your brother, and who cares about your bitch wife!"

The male, a somewhat mixed bear-kin, visibly of the same social and economic status, was full of bruises. His clothes were bloodied and had stains of urine and feces on them. Indeed, it was a statement of something he didn't want the story of it to know.

He stood up, screaming at her, with a broken fang in his mouth, slightly rotten, sometimes speaking funny, "My wife ain't a bitch, you filthy animal!"

Alexander leaned on his fist, watching how they wanted to kill each other while screaming inside the relatively small room, which barely fit everyone inside, making it visibly uncomfortable for the soldiers to stand between those living, breathing trashcans, but amusing to watch.

They even used Animal as an insult, something beast-kin, describing it kindly, didn't appreciate. This insult was often used by their enslavers, describing them as lesser, and as such, many forbade saying this word altogether in their territory. Even the soldiers had a visible reaction as they clenched their fists, wanting to beat them up.

Regardless of whether they were a crime against nature, Alexander tried to recall the proper law while ascertaining the entire situation. Letting them argue gave him some time to think, but the more he thought about it, the worse it became, 'This bastard really gave me a shitty case.'

Otto, the main contributor to Alexander's current misery, stood right behind him, smiling widely. He probably thought he did him a favor, but it was the worst that could've happened.

"Repeat it, and I'll kill ya!"

"Animal! Animal! Animal! Animal! You ain't no gonna do it 'cuz your a whore animal!"

Why was this case so bad? Everything pointed toward the fact that they broke a particular law his Mother created. It was also very distinctive to their territory, differentiating them heavily from other Guard Households laws, and Alexander hated it.

The law was clearly created to appeal to her crazy moral standard regarding certain conduct between married ones, not caring about the broader perception and what came from it.

A soldier came behind the panda-kin, holding her back as she was about to attack the bear-kin, "Argh! Let me go!"

The bear-kin, though, provoked her even more, "Yeah! Let her go! I want a duel! I will skin her! I deman' a fuckin' duel!"

While he admired his Mother's logic and rationale, which she displayed in many areas, similar to a cold-blooded politician, she also held extreme views. One of them was that she was strongly family-oriented, and the laws she created made cheating a crime, which was for Orbis and Moorgrelian society insane since they were highly promiscuous, meaning they fucked a lot, with many.

However, one of those adorable excrements, the panda-kin, interrupted his thoughts, screaming and glaring at him, "Hey boy..." However, before she could end the sentence, a guard rammed his knee into her sides, "...Urgh!"

Confused, the bear-kin watched the scene and then looked at Alexander, still a little glassy-eyed, probably from whatever he had taken, too. Now, being more careful, as it seemed to escalate, he decided not to say anything anymore. It was a clever choice.

Alexander leaned back, putting one leg over the other, looking down at them. He had had enough after being rudely talked to. Though usually casual, he wouldn't let them speak to him like that, not because he was a noble but because he was a judge. It had more status to him, as he put tremendous work into becoming one as fast as possible. He at least expected a minimal amount of respect.

His voice sounded stoic but strict, trying to convey that the fun was over, "I welcome you to my court..." He took the file binder, which was lying before him on the table, to make it look like he now would asses them, even though he remembered everything written in there. Still, it looked more dramatic that way.

Without looking up from the files, he continued, "My name is Alexander K. Leonandra, and I am your judge. You are here before me because of you..." He looked at the panda-kin, who tried to catch a breath after getting hit strongly, "...Ira, who attacked his wife, named Sophie, who is currently at the Temple, getting treated."

Alexander's voice became more serious, "...and you must be Fred, the husband..." He put the file binder down on the table, looked at them interchangeably, and pressured them without using his aura, only through his stoic voice, "...sit."

They sat before him without saying anything, now visibly more fearful. Alexander looked at them, now considering how to defuse the situation since there were some severe implications. He could follow up or just let it rest and get them for simple assault, which was a bagatelle in their fief, but there were many other considerations to make.

This was his first case, and Otto was looking over his shoulder right now, probably determining whether Alexander would do his due diligence and at least ask them out to find out if they broke his Mother's peculiar laws or just let them go with some small fine.

Alexander didn't want to ask them further, seeing how stupid they were. They would definitely incriminate themselves with every word they said. Yet, he couldn't ignore the standard procedure, as he could be reported for failing to follow it. This would, in turn, lead to him staying at a Copper House for the rest of the two years and having a babysitter look after him. With that, he wouldn't be able to exercise any discretion, as nobody would trust him. Thus, he needed to follow the law, norms, and procedures right from the first case.

Looking at them and how frightened they were, Alexander sighed inwardly, now starting to roughly recount what was written down in the report, "All right, you fought in a bar, destroyed some tables and chairs and plates, and threw food at each other, with Fred's wife getting injured..." He looked at them interchangeably, hoping they would shut up and don't say anything which could fuck them over, "...who wants to begin telling me the whole story?"

Their case was straightforward, as noted by the guards and clerks who had talked with them beforehand. Ira and Fred had a date at a bar, only for his wife to follow them and see what was going on.

After seeing them, they screamed at each other while destroying the whole bar. At some point, while arguing, Ira became mad and wanted to attack Fred, but he avoided her energy-filled attack. Instead, she struck his wife, Sophie, injuring her somewhat heavily, with her also becoming unconscious and now being treated at the Temple.

Afterward, Fred tried to flee, seeing how mad Ira was. However, before he could run away, she got a good hit him too, making him fall into some buckets full of excrement and urine. Only then did the guards arrive, trying to peel them off each other.

'This is literally trailer park trash.'

With Sophie getting injured heavily, the situation escalated in the first place, with guards needing to arrest them. Otherwise, those three morons could've paid off the bar owner for the damages and left. The guards wouldn't care, and a guy smelling like a literal giant piece of shit wouldn't sit in front of him, but life wasn't that easy, especially when a moron used their energy to attack someone else.

Using energy to injure someone was highly forbidden, as it could easily lead to death. It was basically like drawing a gun and shooting at someone. Normal brawling wasn't seen as a big deal since even ordinary beast-kin had relatively robust bodies compared to humans on Earth. Adding to it, most didn't have the strength or skills to beat someone to death with a punch or two. As such, it was mostly ignored and seen as some little squabble.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Of course, there were exceptions. If Sarah or a buff 7-foot mercenary would start to attack with their increased attributes and specialized skills, they could easily pummel someone to death, even without their energy. Still, ordinary people like Fred and Ira could beat each other up pretty well, expecting at most some broken bones.

None of them talked as they were visibly frightened. Alexander sighed again, waving at her, "Ira, you may start."

She bowed down, visibly nervous, "Thank you, Mr. Alexander!..." She looked at Fred, who flinched. Suddenly, she started screaming, pointing at him, "...he cheated on me!"

Fred looked at her and then at Alexander, obviously remembering that he shouldn't scream or do something stupid in front of him, such as interrupting each other. As such, Ira continued slowly, becoming quieter as she remembered that she should be more mannered.

"He told me months ago, when we had sex with each other in the forest far west from here while foraging, that he loved me!..." the sobbing became a little extreme, "...he said that he loved me and would for his whole life! At that moment, we promised to love each other forever!"

Alexander raised an eyebrow, listening to this nonsense and becoming more confused, but continued, memorizing every little detail and hoping she wouldn't lie. If she did, the punishment could become quite extreme.

"He gifted me many things over the days..." She blushed slightly and became sadder, "...even a whole roasted chicken at one point! The one from The Winged Pluckerer! Only later did I find out that he had someone else!"

Other than that, what she said else was not special anymore. It was basically all the information the guards asked, and clerks wrote down. However, one thing was interesting: she didn't deny her assault by using energy on Fred's wife. As such, she would be punished, but it also depended on how the victim wanted to handle it. Should Sophie decide to testify against Ira, it could end badly for her.

Also, if Fred contradicted Ira with his story, it could become a shit show. Alexander looked at him, nodding, "Now you."

Fred bowed down and started his retelling, "This fuckin' bitch is crazy an' lying!" She interrupted him, "Who do you call crazy, you cheating bastard!"

She attacked him, with the soldiers pulling them away from each other, and Alexander felt an intense headache coming, slowly and in waves, rubbing his forehead, 'Twenty years on a battlefield or two years of this nonsense?'

Seeing his first case, he foresaw that most of his future ones would end in petty squabbles about their partners. This also made the most sense since no real entertainment existed here to distract them after their workday. All the lower commoners did since they didn't have the resources to learn anything, such as the arts or academic subjects, have intercourse, do drugs, or work.

However, he quickly dismissed the sarcastic thought. Like those trash beings before him, such things were also like treasure troves. They exemplified specific problems in Wolfsteeth; through them, he could extrapolate solutions and what else he could introduce into this world, making it a little better, step by step.

However, such a thing was what he needed to remember for later since looking at those two before him, who still screamed and tried to thrash at each other, was making Alexander slowly lose his temper, 'It's enough...'

Alexander's blood lust slowly appeared, filling the room with a reddish mist that also immediately dispersed, but when even a slight sliver touched the ursus-kin, they shivered and looked in shock in his direction.

The room was silent, with the soldier sweating and visibly fearing the worst, but the one behind him, Otto, whom Alexander could sense with his mana, was smiling, not even a shiver. It was as if he was expecting it, 'This slimy little bastard... I know why you got me this case now...'

Otto's calmness meant it wasn't to test how precisely Alexander would rule in cases where certain lawbreaking was mentioned indirectly, but because he wanted to see the now furious puppy's reaction in front of that trash who wouldn't listen to him.

So, he brought Alexander something to train his control over the court. It worked, though. The ones before him shivered in fright, almost crying, probably thinking they would be killed. However, he was thankful to Otto since, when most cases were like this, he truly needed to work on controlling the room.

Alexander looked sternly at those troublemakers. His voice became more intense, with reddish mist leaking, which he did on purpose to look more menacing, "Now. I don't want to interrogate you both in a rather intense manner. Shall we stop the cursing, screaming, and interrupting?"

After a moment, he slowly decreased his aura, dispersing it. Looking at Fred, he said, "I want you to continue and for you both..." He looked at them interchangeably, back to being stoic, "...remember what I said."

Fred and Ira sat down again, carefully, still slightly shivering, with him continuing, "I... she knew that I had a wife, but..." He stopped and looked fearful at Alexander, who became more annoyed, asking him harshly, "What?!"

He looked down, with a slight feeling of embarrassment and still fright, "I saw that Sophie, my wife, was going out every second or third day and coming back, smelling intensely of the incense you sense in those red light districts..."

Alexander feared the worst, 'Please don't make it more complicated, you bastard...'

Fred continued, sounding sad, "I followed her because she was less needy and touchy when coming home, but I love her clinginess, which made me anxious... I..." He gulped, feeling apparent shame, "...I followed her one time when she didn't touch me for some days and saw it."

He looked to the side at Ira, with her being slightly panicky, "I caught her cheating with her..." He frowned, sounding regretful, "...I ran away then and later went to Ira, wanting her not to see my wife anymore, but..." He blushed slightly, "...she apologized, saying that she didn't know..."

Alexander felt slight despair, 'No, don't make it such a case...'

Fred looked at her sorrowfully, "Because of that, we met a couple of times as she listened to my problems at work n' such, and I could trust her, but..." He looked down again, "...I fell in love... cheating on my wife with her."

'You dumb bastard, don't say it! Argh!'

Ira blushed, and Fred continued, "Well... the first time I felt this was then..."

Everything else he told was basically him trying to win her over while she still fucked his wife, and at some point, which was after buying her the roasted chicken, she also started to sleep with him, which was after two to three days.

After that, this double affair continued for months, making it so weird to listen to this in excrement layered bear-kin how he loved her with her even patting his leg slightly.

However, Ira clearly omitted many facts, and Alexander would need to lay them out more carefully, write them down, and analyze them closely. Still, he would like to ignore her lying if anything else could be resolved amicably. Otherwise, she would get a hefty fine for lying to a judge and noble.

Regardless, this wasn't the important part now, 'I can't... how can I resolve this mess?!'

It was silent, and Alexander sat there, dumbfounded, not knowing how the fuck he could interpret this into a ruling. While assault and property damage was a no-brainer, with Ira even admitting to it, the cheating was what made him fall into despair.

By law, cheating on a spouse was punished with one large silver coin on both sides, with the cheater and affair. The betrayed partner also had the right to divorce, which the cheater paid for and even allowed the cheated party to stay at their residence for a certain period.

Was this enforced? 'Like the saying goes, where there is no judge, there is no executioner.'

Guards and clerks ignored such instances, not wanting even to know if someone had cheated since every case could become a giant mess, especially in the Copper House, which had fewer resources than other courthouses.

Because of this pushback and the administration basically working against such laws by ignoring them, his Mother made some concessions to the law, carving out some explicit grey zones. When Alexander talked with her at some point about this craziness she created, she was furious that she had to do this, as otherwise, the number of resources she needed to use would be pretty high if she wanted this law to be executed properly.

One of those exemptions was if it was consensual cheating or they had an open relationship, which would only lead to a forced divorce since his Mother didn't want her subjects to have such a relationship while married. Otherwise, they were free to do what they wanted.

Alexander wanted to know why his Mother had such a mindset. Still, all she gave him were relatively vague moral answers, but she also had logical reasons, which made some sense.

Both partners could gain specific skills in a marriage officially accepted by the estate or through religious means. Such skills would make raising puppies easier and create a more amiable relationship inside the family.

It was a whole package that came with many skills that improved the individuals inside a family over time, like their puppies and, with that, the fief those families lived in. Those skills could help decrease crimes by making families more stable and increasing the chance to produce talented individuals.

For example, [Nurturing] was such a skill that would make the puppy grow up much healthier and more intelligent, etc. It also didn't matter if one was biologically a parent; the most important thing was how the person saw the puppy, but those skills were almost only received when married.

As such, his Mother only cared specifically about married ones and wouldn't give a shit if someone slept through half Wolfsteeth, as long as the one didn't have anything with a married one.

Now, why could cheating be seen as unfavorable? Cheating would increase other skills and deprive the partner of increasing their marriage-specific skills, which could deprive the betterment of their puppies, so to say, the future of the fief.

Other than that, cheating had some nasty effects, such as gaining [Mystic Skills], which were indeed unflattering. Because of that, many who had a generalized [Divinity Line] or even had specialized family and upbringing [Mystic Skills] and were still Tier 1 needed a divorce before they got a nasty [Mystic Skill] before reaching the next Tier.

What happened with the affair, though? Depending on whether they knew or not, they would also be compensated, thus probably her omitting facts, trying to get out of this weird situation. She was working inside the redlight district and knew that something like this could bite her into the ass.

Still, it was weird. Alexander's Mother allowed all those businesses to flourish because they complied with her policies, such as asking visitors if they were married. If yes, they would get thrown out immediately, which probably didn't happen with Ira and Sophie, and would need to be reported, too.

Fundamentally, the law made some sense, but it was also strung together by Noriken, who was forced by his Mother to use her moral values and retrospectively find a reason why she did it to stay in the public's good graces. The official reason was apparent. She wanted to create as many stable families as possible to stabilize her fief as much as possible.

Looking at those before him, those who needed those stable families the most, he couldn't rule anymore as they basically admitted to too many things. Before continuing, Alexander required the testimony of Fred's wife, Sophie, and only after that could he rule, which could become quite messy, depending on what she would testify.

Should they, in the end, say it was some weird kink or so, Alexander couldn't, fortunately, do anything but just divorce them by force and send them on their way with some fines. However, should they accuse each other, one person would be clearly fucked here, getting such a hefty fine that this person could go to a working camp in the east for at least three to six years.

Alexander sighed heavily, looking worried at Ira, "You both are having some problems. First of all, before we continue with the ruling..." He looked to the side, to a soldier, "...we take a break, and you run to the Temple and say that I said to heal Sophie as fast as possible and bring her here. I want this to be done today."

He hoped she wouldn't be some lunatic and all three could get out with at most a divorce today, 'Please don't be someone crazy.'

...

Two hours later, the same Courtroom

"You cheater!"

"You cheated first!"

"You never touched me! How can I be at fault when you never even look at me during! All you want is doin' those fancy acts!"

"Fancy?! It's just from behind!"

'Hm... twenty years on a battlefield sounds like a blessing.'