Chapter 26
"What do I have to do to fix this?" I smiled and nodded at him in approval before letting the tone of conversation effect me again.
"There's not much you need to do, but what you need to do may be difficult for you, at first at least." He nodded and urged me on. I stopped, collecting my thoughts. "Alright, I'll give an example and we'll go from there. Now Yuri, say you visit a recently merged demon/human village and you see a demon beating a human simply because he is human. What would you do?" Yuri didn't even think before responding.
"I would punish him for beating someone." I didn't pause either.
"Why?" Again no hesitation from Yuri.
"Because it's wrong and illegal." I fired another question at him.
"And if the situation was reversed and you saw a human beating a demon?" No hesitation.
"That makes no difference. They'll still be punished for hurting someone else." I nodded in approval at his sure decision.
"Would anything I say change your mind like say the human or demon being beat upon stole from the beater or the one being beat upon once hurt the beater or worse the one being beat upon hurt or even killed the loved one of the beater." Not even a breath of indecision.
"It makes no difference. Those who are guilty will receive the punishment they deserve and if the beater is after revenge of any sort then they've just stooped themselves to the level of the one being beat on." I nodded in serious approval.
"Do you feel that determination, Yuri? That determination and confidence that what you say is right, not because you feel that you are above others, but simply because you know that it's common sense, that it's right." Yuri looked a little taken aback by my words, but nodded all the same. I took a deep breath of relief. "Then let me give another example of something you've learned from Gunter in your recent studies, something you know." I continued before he could ask anything. "Let's say that two lords personally come to Blood-Pledge Castle and demand an audience with you to settle a land dispute. One is a Lord that holds land with ocean which means it holds a rich trading route and strong navy power for our army should the need arise while the other lord has rich and fertile land that produces a generous amount of fresh produce throughout the demon kingdom and its allies. Now say the lord with ocean property is an honorable and truthful man and the lord with fertile land has been known to not be a fully trustworthy man and his family history has been, if anything, shady. The man with fertile land, let's call him Lord Manure," Conrad and Yuri smiled at this as I continued, "has accused the lord with ocean property, let's call him Lord Archer, of overstepping his boundaries and stealing some of his land. What is the first thing you would do?" Yuri didn't waste time thinking which I was relieved to see.
"I would ask for the wills and documents of the previous Lords to see who's land is whose." I nodded in agreement and continued.
"Yes, but now that you see these documents you see that both have the land being disputed over written as their own which means one of the two previous lords promised their heirs land that wasn't theirs to begin with." Now Yuri looked frustrated.
"Well it's obvious that it's Lord Manure-" I stopped him, changing my voice and appearance with magic as I stood, making him jump in surprise. I became a thin, balding man with a nasal voice.
"Are you accusing, I, Lord Manure, of treachery?! What a wildly inappropriate accusation, your majesty! On what grounds do you accuse me? What proof do you have? None, I say! And I would be careful as to where you point fingers from now on otherwise you'll find yourself unable to find good produce anywhere. You might find that your other producers have had their farms burned down or robbed, maybe they were even attacked by bandits on the way to their deliveries. After all it is a dangerous world out there." Now Yuri was fully immersed in the example and he was angry at Lord Manure's words, for they were obviously lies and threats, but the Lord had him and Yuri was confused. I saw as Yuri was about to turn his head and let the magic disappear as I slammed my hands against the desk, recapturing his attention. "Stop right there, Yuri!" He looked at me shocked.