Chapter 173: The Purge: Trial of the Magistrate 2
A/N: I apologize to my readers for the repeated content in the last Chapter. I updated it. Please refresh. Thank you for your continued support.
Warning: Mention of child abuse and a rape scene. I struggled with keeping this scene, but I thought it is necessary. You can skip that section if you are not comfortable.
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Prince Alaric was very decisive, and his actions were swift.
That very afternoon, the magistrate and his bailiff were arrested and presented as the accused in the very same courtroom where he used to deal with crimes and disputes as the judge.
"The magistrate accepted bribes and sentenced to death my friend who beat and castrated an official who raped his two teenage daughters." A middle-aged merchant was the first to step forward to testify. He was happy that, finally, justice would be served for the unjust death of his friend.
The magistrate glared at him, but the merchant stared back. How dare he still have that proud look on his face? Did he think he was still sitting at the judge’s seat?
A gaunt farmer stepped forward from the crowd, his face lined with deep creases carved by years of hard labor under the sun, his clothes stained with earth and toil. He stood tall, but there was a tremor in his calloused hands—rage barely contained beneath a lifetime of endurance.
"The magistrate," he began, his voice gravelly but clear, "framed me. Falsified papers. Threatened my family. Forced me to sign over the two hectares my parents left me. That land was my legacy—my children’s future. And he took it like it was his birthright."