Chapter 179 The Duke's Debate
Chapter Title: The Duke's Debate
Even though the weekend was approaching, the streets were extremely deserted.
The reason was that everyone had gone to watch the debate.
Abel leisurely made his way to the capital court.
Of course, not just anyone could enter this place.
And yet, there was a truly huge number of people gathered.
"His Highness, the Duke of Carriers, has arrived!"
"Please destroy all those pig-like lawyers!"
"How many atrocities have they committed so far? Please swing the hammer of justice against them!"
They all cheered Abel on.
In fact, most of the people gathered here had nothing to do with the special privileges of the Jeon Gwan.
In the first place, there aren't that many retired judges and prosecutors.
How many times does an ordinary person have to deal with a full-time lawyer?
But it was also difficult to say it was completely irrelevant because damage cases kept coming up.
'Anyway, cheering so passionately... I guess that means they want to see a better world. It could be because of the reality that has been suppressed until now.'
Abel made eye contact with the people and nodded slightly.
He couldn't respond to each and every one of their questions, so he just gave them a quick nod instead.
However, the atmosphere of enthusiasm grew stronger and stronger.
"This way, Your Majesty."
Cordell McNeil suddenly stepped forward to give guidance.
It was truly a funny sight.
He was a person who just pretended to work hard and did his best every day, but now he acted like he was fine.
Abel looked at him, amused.
Cordell, with an embarrassed expression, came over and whispered, "Please save my face just this once."
"Why? Is anyone even looking?"
"Ahem!"
Perhaps he wanted to make a good impression on the lady among the hairdressers.
It wasn't that difficult, so Abel decided to let it go.
Of course, not for free.
"Next time, you have to listen to me properly."
"I am ready at any time."
"Anything?"
"Of course."
Abel had no intention of making excessive demands, but it wouldn't be too bad to flatten the nose of a craftsman who was always nagging.
In return for pretending not to know, he said, "Let's go, Sir McNeill."
"Yes!"
Abel entered the courthouse with Cordell.
The cheering voices did not subside even as the heavy door closed behind them.
The crowd would probably remain like that until the debate was over.
'Since I came here to destroy everything anyway, let's have some real fun.'
Even if it wasn't a citizen's demand, the plan was to manipulate things from the beginning.
The enthusiastic cheering only fueled his fighting spirit.
Hundreds of lawyers were gathered in the conference room.
Moreover, they were all glaring at Abel with sharp eyes.
Soon, a seriously trembling voice slowly filled the space.
"Now, we will begin the discussion on the special privileges for the entire government. Representatives, please come forward."
This had always been the job of Judge Josef Padilla.
He was very useful in situations like this because he had a really good voice.
Of course, the problem was that he was narrow-minded and biased toward the Sierra aristocracy.
Soon, the lawyer representative came out and greeted the audience.
"Nice to meet you. I am Wesley Malone, President of the Imperial Bar Association."
Clap clap clap clap clap!
Thunderous applause erupted, so loud it reminded Abel of a concert hall.
After a moment of silence, Judge Padilla turned to him.
"His Majesty, Duke Abel Carriers, is hosting this discussion."
"Nice to meet you."
Abel greeted politely, but there was no response.
He had expected this reaction a long time ago.
How could they receive favorable reviews when they had made a decision that took away their own livelihood?
They probably didn't even want to look at him.
Of course, giving Abel the cold shoulder didn't bother him.
"If you would like to speak, please raise your hand. This debate will be conducted in a way that each side will take the lead once."
"Who starts first?"
"I think it would be better for the two of you to decide that separately."
Abel stared at Marquis Wesley Malone.
The man was a typical Giovanni nobleman, and he was most dissatisfied with this trial.
So that's probably why he came here despite holding the title of President of the Bar Association.
'Shall we take a look?'
Without much thought, Abel opened the information window immediately.
**[Person Information]**
Name: Wesley Malone
Status: Marquis
Position: President of the Imperial Bar Association
Relationship: Demen Demen
Status: Extremely angry about his tarnished reputation, slightly nervous about his grandson's trial, confident he can win the debate.
Overall Ability: B
Apart from his status and position, there wasn't much to note.
His overall ability was only B-grade, and he had no special skills.
But there was something worth noticing.
'Grandson?'
Abel immediately leaned towards Judge Colund Emir.
"That guy's grandson is on trial. Do you know anything about it?"
"Oh, you mean Bill Burr Malone?"
"What's going on?"
"I heard he got into a fistfight with his friend. The issue is probably whether it was mutual assault or not. Bill Malone was injured pretty badly."
"I see. Thanks for the information."
Thanks to Judge Emir, Abel now had a weapon.
Adding examples would strengthen his argument.
He held out his right hand toward Wesley Malone.
"You go first."
Abel conceded the first turn to him, but he was confident he would win.
Marquis Malone stood from his seat, eyes shining, and immediately blurted out, "How can you be so selfish?"
No, this human?
Even after being given the first turn, he's still acting crazy.
"Huh!"
"Oh my!"
Surprised voices erupted from all around.
Though everyone had gathered to reprimand each other, they clearly hadn't expected such harsh words.
But Abel did nothing.
He merely shrugged, as if to say, *Keep going*.
Anyway, the opportunity to speak belonged to Marquis Malone.
'Even if you get angry, you'll just fall into their trap. There's no benefit to it.'
When someone gets excited, their mind stiffens, leading to mistakes.
As Abel remained calm, it was Wesley Malone who began to panic.
He likely hadn't expected such a composed reaction.
Even clapping your hands makes a sound, and it seemed like the man had wanted to say something.
"Ahem! Ahem! His Highness, Duke of Carriers, acted out of extreme selfishness."
Marquis Malone coughed loudly before making his point.
In fact, there was nothing new to summarize.
His argument was not much different from what other lawyers had said before.
Of course, his words were somewhat extreme, but the delivery was effective.
"Your Majesty, you have a lot of wealth, so you don't need special treatment. But those who don't occupy high positions are different."
The gist was that without experience, one has to compete with veteran lawyers, so couldn't there be some leeway?
It was a somewhat understandable argument.
In reality, there were some judges who were poor.
'If you want to get ahead without support, studying is your best option.'
Take Judge Emir Colund, for example.
He was a mere viscount, a single-ranking nobleman who had earned his title through merit.
But he couldn't pass it on to his children or join the upper-class aristocracy.
When retirement came, the best he could do would be to start a law practice and make a living.
For people like him, the special privileges were like rain in a drought.
But Abel had a weapon to counter Marquis Malone's argument.
"May I speak now?"
"Yes."
When Abel raised his hand to request the floor, Judge Josef Padilla politely extended his right hand.
Abel looked around the room before speaking.
"The minimum salary of a judge is 200 gold. But do you know how much a middle-class free man earns?"
"… … ."
How could they know?
None of them cared how the lower class lived.
In the first place, if someone wasn't a noble, weren't they the ones who didn't care at all?
"You can just take a quick look. Oh, Marquis Wesley Malone is standing right there. Would you like to answer?"
"… … It's not my turn to speak."
Malone was truly an amazing person, dodging the question like that.
His attitude made Abel inwardly laugh, but he didn't mind.
Eventually, Malone would just lead himself into trouble.
"Do any of you know? The tall, handsome man over there?"
Abel deliberately singled out one person with praise.
Then, an embarrassed answer burst out.
"A boat, about a hundred goldenrods?"
"Thank you for your advice. Do you have any other opinions? I don't have an answer yet."
As soon as one person answered, a lot of different opinions erupted.
"100 gold is too little. I won't get as much as a judge, so how about 150 gold?"
"I don't think it'll be that far.... I think it'll be 80 Golden."
Although the amounts were different for each person, they were still far from the correct answer.
It seemed like everyone thought they would make a few dozen gold coins.
Abel shook his head firmly and told him the truth.
"You are all wrong. The average middle-class freeman earns about 5 gold a month."
"Is it really that little?"
"Yes, this is also very generous. It is based on the standards for those who do business with our Carriers Dukedom."
"Huh!"
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A long sigh suddenly burst out.
It wasn't because the wages of middle-class free people were lower than expected that they reacted that way.
They were just surprised because their thoughts were so different from reality.