Alicia frowned as she remembered the corpse of the woman tied to a wooden post she had seen earlier in that town.

She had lived in the land of fairies for three years, and had learned some magic, and was 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 proof?" directly identified her as a witch.

And, why are they so obsessed with arresting witches? ”

Char silently took out a book from her body and handed it to Alicia.

Alicia subconsciously took the book, and the title of the book was "The Witch's Hammer".

"What is this?" Alicia asked.

"Crusade against the Confiscation." Char teased.

"It instructs people on how to detect the crimes of witches and provides a reason to suppress witchcraft.

At the beginning, the Marquis of Oss was possessed by the devil, and your disappearance, which was also dumped on the head of the witch by them. ”

He nodded, "In a sense, they're really right. ”

Then, he continued, "And what the angel said before came down was also misinterpreted by them in some way.

It indicates that witches are divided into two categories, one is only divination and problem solving, and the responsibility is relatively light;

The other group turned their backs on God and served the devil, not only endangering mankind, but also establishing the cause of the devil and committing serious religious sins.

This is different from those who have committed a crime in a foolish manner by those who are impure in their faith, and these witches do not need to be treated leniently, but can be burned at the stake.

If there is a sign of repentance, the court may be lenient and the witch will be hanged or hanged before being burned at the stake.

During this year, the book was published in a frenzy in the South, and almost everyone had a copy. ”

Alicia fell silent, she realized something was wrong by the moment.

After a few moments, she said, "Whether it is a witch or not, it must go through the courts, and jurisprudence is one of the foundations of this country." ”

"Of course." Char smiled with a little meaning, "The procedure still has to be followed, however, for witches, the court is not an "accusation lawsuit", but an "investigation lawsuit". ”

Alicia frowned slightly.

Accusation lawsuits, the so-called doctrine of impeachment, originated in Europe.

In order to convict a person, someone must file a denunciation or impeachment before the adjudication organ can start the proceedings.

The court only listens to the arguments of the plaintiff and the defendant to determine whether the complaint raised by the complainant is substantiated.

If the complainant is unable to get the members of the court to accept his arguments, he will be falsely accused, and the court will punish the complainant according to the seriousness of the false accusation and the degree of harm caused.

In the case of indictment proceedings, open trials and verbal arguments are often adopted.

But investigative proceedings are different.

Char's words continued, "After an anonymous report, it is up to the judge to decide whether to accept the investigation."

The identity of the accuser is kept completely confidential, and all costs are borne by the person on trial.

And to deny a person a witch does not require any substantial evidence.

Do you know how she was captured? ”

Char stared at the guards who were fading away in the distance.

Alicia was speechless, and Char continued to speak.

The whistleblower reasoned that "his child had thrown a stone at her, and soon after, the child fell ill and died".

In a few cases from the past month, there were no complainants, but rather rumors from the countryside such as "someone is on the verge of witchcraft" or "someone's rosary has fallen off for no apparent reason".

The court initiates the litigation procedure ex officio, and the adjudicator also plays the role of the complainant.

In this kind of litigation, the trial is held in secret, and the person being tried is completely isolated from the outside world, not knowing what evidence is in the court's possession against him, nor knowing what is being examined.

And, isolated from the outside world, you should be able to imagine what will happen. ”

Alicia took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled.

"The so-called trial no longer follows the presumption of innocence, but the principle of presumption of guilt.

During the harsh interrogation, only the full confession of the alleged witch was obtained.

Even if the court agrees to appoint a lawyer to defend him, the lawyer fears that his fellow travelers, who are accused of being witches, will also press the person on trial to confess.

The first and most necessary evidence to convict a witch is the witch's confession.

Therefore, in these judgments, in order to obtain the confessions of these witches, they usually use harsh punishments to make them confess their crimes.

And under the harsh and cruel punishment, I rarely see anyone who can not be tortured.

Flip to page forty-six of the book, where there is a standard set of criteria for witches.

As long as the conditions are met, there is the same evidence that they are witches.

Coupled with the witch's confession, a witch case was established. ”

Alicia began to flip through the book, and soon found page forty-six.

One of the guidelines is to look for "devil's markers"

The devil will leave a mark on the wizard's body, and this devil's mark will not hurt or bleed because it has been touched by the devil.

Therefore, the suspect's hair must be removed from the body, undressed and examined for such devilish marks – such as bulges, spots, calluses, scars or birthmarks – and, if found, a pin or knife to see if the suspect is in pain.

The second is to observe the weight of the wizard, who is able to fly in the air and communicate with the devil, so his weight will be lighter than he seems.

"What is this criterion for looking underweight?" Alicia asked.

Char shrugged.

Alicia's face became even heavier.

The absence of a standard means that this standard is free for judges to arbitrarily judge.

The next step is to observe if there are any "imps" approaching.

The suspect would be confined to the dungeon alone for two days and nights with his neck and legs crossed, and a small hole in the door of the cell would be deliberately left to spy on whether there were any "imps" entering and exiting the hole.

And the so-called "imps" are nothing more than beetles or rats and other animals that often appear in dirty and dark places.

These things are found in almost every prison.

Finally, it is necessary to observe whether they will shed tears - another characteristic of wizards is that they do not shed tears, whether they are physically or mentally tortured.

According to the Devils, the reason why shamans do not shed tears is because the devil teaches them the method of suppression, so that they can be in a state of trance, without pain, during torture.

"Just the other day." Char spoke slowly, "A witch was tried in a nearby town, and the judge asked her why she didn't cry.

Her answer was that she had been beaten so badly before that her tears had dried up.

But apparently, the judge did not believe her. ”

Alicia didn't look any further, but closed her eyes tremblingly, "What the hell is wrong with this country?" ”

Char pondered for a moment and spoke slowly.

"Three years of war and plague have shrouded the South in fear.

The economic situation in the south deteriorated due to the continuous occurrence of military disasters, poor harvests, plagues and animal epidemics.

Life has been severely impacted, hungry, confused, and restless. There is a lack of social security and a lack of catharsis for social emotions.

All kinds of chaos such as natural disasters, man-made disasters, and plagues have filled this land, the social system has collapsed, and contradictions have intensified.

Crucially, the church also began to decline during these years, with theological authority shaken and challenged by imperial power, and religious struggles raging.

Witches, in addition to the powerful two religions, and the pagans are classified as bulls, ghosts, snakes, and gods. The church believes that God created the world, and witches cast spells to disrupt the world and control the infidels with evil forces.

People need an outlet, the ruling class needs an excuse, and religion wants to take the opportunity to silence and strengthen theocracy.

The Devil's Spokesman, the Wizard, is naturally the most perfect evil lamb. ”

"What the hell is this guy doing Victor!" Alicia gritted her teeth and said, "Let the people of the church be so unscrupulous!" ”

"What if he's one of the people behind it?" Char's eyes flickered.

Alicia seemed to have thought of something, and looked at Char in disbelief.

With the sword in the stone, he may not be able to obtain the orthodoxy in the country, but the "divine right" is not necessarily. ”

Char's tone was serene.

"More abominable than the infidels is heresy.

The arrival of an angel in what they considered a heretical church was a huge shock to the self-proclaimed orthodox.

And this has also become the capital of Victor to use them.

He propped up the sect in the South and expelled the Puritans to help them expand their influence.

And if one day, Destiny appears.

Victor could also use these churches to refute the Mandate of Heaven and further test the divine will and control public opinion in the South.

If the gods ignore this, and he can't get legitimacy through these methods, then he will move on to the next step.

Let this sect support him as the destiny of heaven.

With the area under actual control in the south as the boundary, another country will be built.

It was an exchange of interests, and for this sect, they would have their own roots on the continent.

Regain the glory and influence of the past. ”

"But in this way, aren't these sects afraid of God's damnation?" Alicia couldn't help but say.

"It's actually pretty good." Char muttered softly, "People only believe what they have seen with their own eyes, how can these sects originating from Europe know that what happened in the imperial capital was not directed and acted by some people in the imperial capital?"

People are also only willing to believe what they want to believe.

Do you say they are willing to believe that what they think is heresy is divinely inspired, or do they want to believe that it is false? ”

Alicia was silent for a long time, and after a moment, she took a trembling breath and said, "Semele is right. ”

There was a fire burning in her eyes, "They are not apostles of God, and they have no respect for God at all."

These self-proclaimed messengers of God, when they cut open their sacred appearances and tear open their sacred banners, will see nothing but a filthy essence than a rat in the trench. ”

Char stretched out his hand, and the scene around them changed instantly, and they instantly moved to a dark and cold place.

This is the city's dungeon, and several vents are near the sewers, so there is a stench in the air from the gutter, and not only that, but it is cold and damp with little light.

Anyone who stays here for a long time is bound to have physical problems, even if they don't have problems mentally.

There was a faint smell of blood in the air.

Char and Alicia walked forward, passing several cells, but none of the criminals in the cells saw them.

Eventually, they entered an execution chamber deep in the dungeon.

A naked woman is tied hand and foot and hung here, and no one who sees this scene will have any evil thoughts in their hearts, because she is too miserable.

There is no doubt that the woman in front of her should be one of the women who has been slandered as a witch.

In order to verify whether she was a witch, the torturers shaved all the hair on her body, and she was supposed to have beautiful hair, but now she could only see a bloody scalp.

There were blood spots all over her body, and countless blood spots gathered into a stream of blood that dripped down her feet, as if someone had pricked it with a needle little by little, and some places had been pricked many times, and even festered.

Alicia turned her head a little unbearably, but still looked at her, "What is this for, using the criminal law to force her to confess?" ”

"Remember one of the rules for judging witches in the book I showed you?" Char muttered softly, "Check your body for things like bulges, spots, calluses, scars, or birthmarks that are called devil's marks.

Then prick it with a needle to see if it hurts, and if it doesn't, it's the devil. ”

He looked at the man in front of him, "Obviously, she doesn't have these special marks on her. However, it was clear that the monks would not be reconciled.

As I said, this is a trial of presumption of guilt.

Because the church can't be wrong, and if it is, it can only be the tricks of these wicked witches.

They are arguing that the marks are invisible, and that the skin with the invisible mark is painless and does not bleed even if punctured.

So, in search of the so-called invisible mark, the monks and torturers repeatedly stabbed every inch of the suspected witch's skin with iron needles.

By the time she was poked again, she felt no pain.

The monks would then triumphantly declare that they had found the invisible demon mark, and then sentence them to witches and death. ”

Alicia clenched her fists and took a deep breath, "Arthur must draw that sword as soon as possible, Britannia, we can't let these insects control power anymore!"

One more day of delay, one more person will die because of it. ”

Char didn't answer, just stared at the person in front of her quietly, and said her name in a low voice.

"Marthalie Lawrence."

Marthalie, who was unconscious, only felt that someone was calling to her in her ears again, and her voice was very good, as if she was whispering in her ear.

For some reason, the pain in my body is gradually subsiding.

Her original chaotic trance consciousness gradually became clearer, and she slowly opened her slightly heavy eyelids.

In front of him, it was no longer the executioner and monk with the ugly face.

Rather, a man and a woman, both with long silver-white hair and long robes, their faces were handsome, not like people in the world, but like messengers of God.

His body seemed to be shrouded in a layer of holy light that was difficult to see with the naked eye.

I saw the man speak slowly to her.

"You have a taste for the world. I should be disappointed, right? ”

(End of chapter)