Chapter 118: 116 Remuneration

"Th-th-this Rize humbly greets the Arboreal Maiden!" Rize, prostrated on the floor, was doing everything he thought might be needed to properly introduce himself to the supreme authority of the Sanctum. "I-I-I thank you for properly dispensing justice during my trial!"

"It was not your trial, child, but that rat's." Chestnut sighed, reminded of the headache that judicial reform promised to be. That said, she was the one who wanted to go through with it. "And the Arboreal Maiden is not present, remember? My name is Chestnut."

"O-oh, my apologies my la-, Chestnut. I had . . . forgotten." Rize was nervous beyond words. Here he was in front of the most important and influential person ever, without any of the emotional anchors he would normally have. Well, Donovan and Diana were in the room, but they didn't really give him as much confidence as his parents or his uncle.

Chestnut took a little time to put pressure on the boy. She didn't want to be malicious, but she really needed to make sure that Rize didn't spill the beans. "So long as you remember that the Arboreal Maiden was never here there won't be a problem, understood?"

"Yes Ma'am!"

"Good." Chestnut nodded, satisfied. "Let us move on to the primary topic of discussion today, that being the fallout of that disgrace of a trial. As I am considered to be the presiding justice due to my intervention, it is my duty to handle the reimbursement owed to you and your mother by the offending party."

"Reimbursement?"

Chestnut nodded slowly. "He was exiled in accordance to the laws of the Sanctum, his assets seized following those laws, however the fact remains that you are still owed some form of compensation. Seeing as we have inherited the assets that would otherwise be used to reimburse you, it follows that we will need to provide some form of repayment from those assets."

Rize didn't know how to proceed, and why would he? He was still a child. "What do you want me to do then?" He might be the heir to a merchant corporation, but he still didn't know how to accurately assess the value of most things.

"You only need to tell me whether or not what I've offered sounds reasonable to you. You do remember who I am, right?"

"You are the Ar-," a raised eyebrow, "Chestnut. Your name is Chestnut." Donovan couldn't help himself from snickering a bit, something which earned him Diana's signature elbow to the ribs.

"I am someone you can trust to not cheat you out of what you are owed. Does that sound accurate?" Rize nodded. "Then I will provide you with a few options that I believe to be proper modes of recompense. The first option available to you is the seizure of one half of his earnings of the past year. While this option is usually touted as the best, I do not believe that it will be the most beneficial in your case seeing as he does not seem to have earned any money during his time here."

"T-then why is it an option?"

"Because it is an option. Don't mistake my intentions here, I have no desire to cheat you out of anything of value, hence the warning about it not being much. Your second option would normally be to claim a number of his most valuable items, the number dependent on the severity of the crime, however there is little of value left that would actually be of any value. Aside from his ships, an item which residents of the Sanctum like you are forbidden from privately possessing unless certified, he did not actually have that much. He had a rather large sum of Sanc as well as expensive clothing and accessories, but nothing approaching what I would normally expect from nobility arrogant enough to try anything in our territory."

"So he was lying." Rize's voice was quiet, but his vindication could be very easily discerned.

"Your final option is something of a special case. You may be aware of this, but the third option would normally be to allow you to perform some form of capital punishment on the perpetrator in addition to them being required to serve whatever sentence awaited them. There would be no exchange of goods or money in this scenario, however granting the victim the ability to do whatever they wish to their assailant can be an excellent way of giving them some form of mental recovery."

Chestnut sighed. She hated that she couldn't truly hold those outside of the Sanctum responsible for their actions. She had to banish them.

"That, unfortunately, is not an option. Due to the Sanctum's laws, we do not have permission to retain him as a criminal, only ever as a perpetrator to a crime. Should he receive a sentence that would result in his being imprisoned, we would instead have to banish him for the amount of time he would be imprisoned. In the case of a death sentence, as was here, he is instead banished for eternity."

"Then what do I get in return?" Rize wasn't stupid, he could see that it didn't add up. Based on what Chestnut was saying, nothing that bastard could have offered would have been enough to repay him for the damages done and stressed caused.

"Your final option is to assume ownership of his personal slaves. Unlike those tied by contract to his ships, those in his personal employ are considered to be 'personal belongings', and can therefore be transferred to you."

". . .but isn't slavery banned in the Sanctum?"

Chestnut smiled. Even if they were misguided and inexperienced, it was satisfying to work with young people. They were so innocent, and so earnest. "That is a misconception, my child. No, perhaps misinterpretation is a better way to put it. What the Sanctum has banned is not slavery, only the slave trade and the hereditary slave status. Plenty of slaves reside on the Sanctum, you only need to look to the nobles and merchants who visit, they just cannot be traded to our citizens. At least that would be the case in most scenarios."

Rize stared back at her blankly.

"What is happening here is not a 'trade'. There is no exchange of goods happening here, and there are no expectations that you are going to reimburse that man for the forfeiture of the slaves. It is merely an enforced transfer of items that possess value as a means to repay you for whatever damages were caused. A slave, in this case, is synonymous with an item that possesses value, and can therefore be forfeited to you."

Rize was still silent, but the gears were turning. "How- How many slaves are there?"

"I recall there to be five, two manservants, one chef, one maid, and one combat slave, the one responsible for carrying out his order to attack you. I believe there will be no issue with all five slaves falling into your hands, though I don't think it would be out of the realm of possibility for you to take some slaves and some of his belongings."

More silence from the boy. "What happens to the slaves I don't take?"

A valid concern for someone who had been the victim of one of them. "It depends on the reason they became a slave in the first place. Hereditary and debt slaves will simply be freed and given the opportunity to work for the Sanctum, even those enslaved for relatively minor offenses will be freed as well. Those enslaved as result of war are to be given the choice of returning home or working here as well. However, those enslaved for relatively major offenses, primarily rape, murder, and assault, are to be executed on the spot."

"I, I see. . ." Rize rubbed his chin. "Would I be able to talk with my parents about this?"

"Of course, I did not expect for you to make a decision right away. Heavens, you have yet to even reach the age of adulthood!" Chestnut laughed, restraining the urge to pat him on the shoulder. "Speaking of your parents, your father's name is Kilm, correct?"

"Um, that is correct, yes?"

"He is the same Kilm who is being considered for an admiralship position, no?"

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"I think he mentioned something like that. . ."

"Well, he is acquaintances with the Captain, is he not?"

Rize lit up a bit at the mention of his favorite person. "Yes! They are best friends!"

"Good. Can he read Sanctum Script?"

"He can understand a little bit, I think. Probably only the simple stuff."

"Very good. Then in addition to telling him to go to the Marshall's office three days from now, give him this letter." She pulled a small yellow envelope out of an interior pocket in the back of her dress. "Don't open it, not that I think you would be able to read it anyways, but he likely won't answer to a summons request that has already been opened, we teach not to."

Rize accepted this envelope, head bowed and hands outstretched, and gingerly tucked it away into his shirt. "W-would it be okay to ask why he's needed there? Is he in trouble?"

"No dear, he isn't in trouble. In fact it is quite the opposite. There is a job that needs to be done, and he fits the bill." Chestnut smiled gently and quickly glanced over towards Donovan and Diana, her way of giving the teenager an idea of who, if not what, might be involved. "In fact it was the Captain himself who suggested that he be the one to take control. Unsurprisingly, the Marshall also seemed open to the idea. It would appear that your father is quite the competent organizer, even if he isn't necessarily the most proficient at command."

Rize showed confusion at this. "Isn't my dad an admiral though? Isn't command his whole job? I hear he even helps out new recruits whenever he gets called up."

"If you think that command is all an admiral does then you would be sorely mistaken. From what the Captain has described to me, your father is less a man suited for dealing with combat and more a man suited for making sure those men can fight. Your father is, as those two would call him, a logistician." Don's eyes shot up in attention. "He is very good at making sure supplies get from place to place on time and intact. That's something I'm sure you can imagine is very important to the Sanctum, where we import most of our goods, right?"

"I see. . ." Rize sunk into thought, considering something. "Maybe that's why grandpa tolerates him. . ."

"What was that?"

"Nothing! It wasn't important, I was just talking to myself."

Chestnut wanted to giggle a bit, but she held her tongue. Family matters were not something for her to make commentary on. "I see. Well, in any case I would suggest talking over the matter of remuneration with your parents and going with your father at that time to bring me your decision. I am sure that you would like to avoid he commotion of the Arboreal Maiden summoning you, no?"

"That's. . . Yes Ma'am!"

"Good boy." Chestnut turned away from the boy and looked towards Diana. "Now is as good a time as any. Diana, the incident you were involved in, more specifically the trial, has brought forth the need for me to revise the inner workings of the Sanctum's method of enforcing its laws. The first step I have taken in this endeavor is changing the dominion of this system from the Marshall's control to the Librarian's, he simply has too much on his hands to keep a close eye on it."

Diana nodded. She had heard something about judicial reform from the Librarian herself. "What does that have to do with me?"

"It doesn't necessarily have anything to do with you, however it is an idea that both the Librarian and I have come up with. Would it be acceptable to the two of you if we reformed our judicial system to be more akin to some of those found on Earth? Obviously it won't be an exact replica, but core ideas like a set jury and a written legal code will definitely be used."

Diana sat silently for a moment, slightly confused as to why she was even asking.

"I was also thinking about writing this code in English, your native tongue, so that definitions and intent will be clarified and it will be easier to read once the language inevitably spreads."

If Diana had ears like Titanyana's, they would be perked up at attention. "So that's why. . . I have no problem with it, but are you sure about that?" Diana really wasn't sure that was a good idea, what if the Arboreal Maiden's legitimacy took a hit because of it?

"I am certain. English is a much easier written language to learn than Sanctum Script, and the fact that it has a legitimate spoken language alongside it will help teach those interested in learning it. Personally, I am planning to promote English in the future, and I think it would be a good idea to have a few institutions dependent on it to have a good starting ground."

The last part of her sentence was spoken only in English, just so that Titanyana and Rize would not be able to understand it. This unsurprisingly brought a bit of confusion for them, but when Diana responded in turn they understood. Both of them were in the process of learning the language, and they had heard the couple talking privately like that many times. They should have guessed that the Arboreal Maiden of all people would also know how to speak it.

"That's fine, but when do you plan to do that? I don't think you'd be able to do it any time soon would you?"

"No, in fact it is going to take a while to make sure our new written set of laws is up to the standard I desire, but the Librarian will likely be teaching a few of the higher level justices the language in preparation. I am asking if this arrangement is okay for you two or if it needs to be delayed so that you can do something. We will be heavily relying on the innovations of your race's cultures you know?"

Diana looked towards Donovan, who shrugged. He understood military law, but that was it. "For now work under the idea that we are fine with it. We haven't exactly had the time to think about this, and I haven't the foggiest idea how it might affect us."

"I see. Well, there is still plenty of time. The Librarian seems to think that this process will take close to ten years."

"Ten years? Why is that?"

"Well, there seems to be a bit of historical precedent in your society for one, however she has requested that she and I discuss every single word of our legal code with a handful of our highest justices, those familiar with the law and how it tends to play out in court, to make sure that there won't be scandals or arguments in the future."

"Okay then, that's fine. We can discuss that at a later date."

"Very well." Chestnut was no longer unintelligible to the other two individuals in the room. "In that case I will take my leave, I understand that all of you here are about to be very busy."