"Never mistake law for justice. Justice is an ideal, and law is a tool."
L.E. Modesitt Jr.
Chapter 7: Law & Order
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*RUSTLE*
*RUSTLE*
*SIGH*
Sometimes it feels like my head is going to explode.
This is the third night in a row that I've tried pulling an all-nighter. I know I should be in bed by now, and getting ready to work first thing in the morning.
But not right now. This is too important.
I found out a few days ago that I'll be expected to attend a hearing in Mistral. That I have to defend my actions as a member of the Hunt Inquisitorius before the Mistral Council. My friends already know about it, and so does Mom. Eren and everyone else are coming too, since they have to do the same thing. But I've got a feeling the Council will want me to speak the most.
I mean, that's how all of this started.
That press conference I went to finally gave me a chance to speak up about what's going on out here. How the Huntsmen and Huntresses who are supposed to protect us only care about protecting the capital city.
That, or themselves. Usually, it's both.
I'm glad I spoke up, and I'm glad I got some support from people. Especially Councilwoman Redwood. She helped me get this far, after all.
But I really owe it all to Eren.
Once he helped me get my head out of my butt when he almost got arrested, Eren's done nothing but encourage me to keep moving forward with all this. I always envied how he's able to let his actions speak for him, whether it's killing Grimm or putting the bad guys down.
That and the fact he's always there. Fighting by my side or standing by my side. I can't think of a time when he went against me or was never there when I needed him most. This hearing will definitely be where I need him too. I'm glad my friends are coming, but having Eren's help is definitely going to make things better.
On the other hand, that push forward is part of the reason I'm about to crash on this table.
Ever since I heard about the hearing, I knew we would all have to be prepared for anything. So, I got the idea of doing some research into Kingdom law, so I could get an idea on what to expect.
Or maybe use some of it to defend myself and my friends.
I found a few videos about Mistral law online, and Mom gave me the idea to see if Kuroyuri's library has any books on the subject. It did, and that's how I got everything I need to study.
But what I'm seeing so far either makes no sense or just makes me mad.
I'm not saying I'm completely clueless on the subject, I've got a few decent notes that should help. But there's a lot about this that I don't really understand.
Some of it doesn't really sound fair.
One of the first things I tried looking up was any major difference between the capital city and the outskirts. I saw how the villages in the outskirts have a lot of autonomy, but they still fall under Mistral law. It didn't look like much at first, just that they had to participate in elections and pay taxes to the Kingdom.
But then I saw that some of those taxes went to combat schools. And Huntsmen Academies.
That was the first thing that ticked me off. I read that Huntsmen Academies are supposed to be existing outside of the Kingdoms, but that's clearly just on paper. The fact that we have our CCT towers on Haven Academy gives Huntsmen and Huntresses a lot of power, and now so do our taxes.
How is that even fair?
I also took a look at the rights of every citizen, in the capital and outskirts alike. One thing I noticed when I first started reading was the use of the word "man." For example, one right says "Man has the right to own their own business." I didn't think too much about it, but Mom pointed out that "man" usually talks about humans rather than Faunus. When I took another look at the wording, I saw that she was right. That most of the rights were applied to humans rather than Faunus.
It was sad to see, but I couldn't afford to focus too much on it. So, I kept on reading and found a few other things.
One of them was the right to keep and bear arms. Basically, every citizen has the right to defend themselves from the Grimm with weapons. There was this amendment I found that talks about it a little more, but I took a closer look at the kinds of weapons specified in the law.
I saw that with the law, weapons such as blades, bows and arrows, and a few small handguns were allowed under this right without much of a problem. But there were some weapons that required a proper license, mostly modern and more heavy guns. There was something I saw that said "Uniquely advanced weapons are required to be licensed for use." When I took a look at what qualified as "uniquely advanced weapons," I saw that the law was talking about weapons found at combat schools and Huntsmen academies.
Weapons like Dancing Midnight.
I don't think anyone made a big deal about it, since the Mistral Police Force doesn't have a strong presence in the outskirts. Which is another problem out here, in my opinion. But I'm more upset that people have to pay and wait to get the weapons they need to defend themselves from the Grimm. I love my bow and arrow, but I've seen wooden ones break pretty easily. And some blades don't really kill a Grimm with ease.
Swords like Eren's can kill Grimm easily, but not the swords we have in our armory. Those need a few strikes to really hurt a Grimm.
So basically, the best and most useful weapons anyone can have been only allowed in the hands of Huntsmen and Huntresses. And they're not too keen on sharing.
I mean, I get that we can't have someone running amok with dangerous weapons. But why is it that licenses can only be gotten through schools? Especially schools that are meant to be outside of Kingdom jurisdiction? It's not fair.
This may actually be a point of contention that could come up during the hearing, seeing as how we are a group of non-Huntsman/Huntresses with access to specialised gear. Thankfully i have discovered a little something in the Mistral Constitution called the fifteenth amendment to work in our favor.
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*SIGH*
All of this just makes my head hurt a lot. I know I could really use a break, but I don't have time. Besides, I've had enough breaks today.
I've been taking my breaks during the day, and they really help clear my mind. I get to talk to Eren and everyone else more than I'm doing now, but there's this one other thing I've been doing too.
Earlier today, I got a look in the mirror after doing some farm-work. I obviously needed a shower after all that, but I got a good look at my clothes. Mainly, the vest and jeans that I was wearing. I like them, but I recently learned that not everyone else does.
Especially not in Atlas.
I remembered what I said to Eren that night, how I should maybe change up my wardrobe. He mentioned that he always had to wear his uniform on his missions and meetings on Paradis, so I figured this hearing might be similar to all that.
I told Mom about it, and she showed me some of her dresses she had when she was around my age. There were these two red ones that looked really nice, and these two high heels that fit like gloves. The dresses also fit me pretty good, and I decided to wear this shorter one that stopped right above my knees.
Mom suggested the longer one she had, but there's this one long sleeve on it that I don't really like. It drapes over my left arm like I'm hiding something there. I mean, if I were hiding something, a dress like that would be perfect. But I'm going to stick with the other one.
After Mom helped me with that, and after I studied a little more, I took a real break. And I decided to finish up something I've been working on for a little bit.
Working and studying for the hearing didn't leave me with a lot of time to practice any singing, but I got a little time for crafting. I've been making something nice I want to put on the dress Mom gave me, something I really like.
It's a brooch that I can stick to the side of my dress, a blue and black one I made with stained glass and feathers. I found out I can do it using a book I had when I was a kid, and I decided to make something of my own. It didn't follow the design in the book, since I had an idea of my own.
All of the unfair treatment the outskirts get made me think about Marley, the enemy Eren had to fight back home. I never saw it for myself, besides Eren's memories, but I know a lot of unfair laws and corruption happened there.
Mainly, with the Eldian people.
Eren showed me how the people of Marley hated the Eldians for just existing, for descending from an empire long since dead. I hate imperialism as much as the next person, but I just didn't understand why they couldn't let their hate go. Why they couldn't focus on current problems like I want to do with the Huntsmen and Huntresses. That's still happening, and the Eldian Empire died out long ago.
One thing I remember the most was the sleeve Eldians in Marley had to wear. Mom told me about it before, how Marley wanted to make sure everyone knew who the Eldians were. As well as what they had done.
I would hate to have to wear a sleeve like that too... but I really liked the symbol on it.
It's a star, and a big one at that. The top of it stands out amongst the other edges, making it a little uneven. I always thought that it meant the star was shining, that there was still some hope under the oppression Mom had to endure. And with the way Eren was fighting on Paradis and that city Liberio, there was still hope for the people who didn't know Marley's oppression.
I know the Rumbling killed a lot of people, oppressed and oppressors alike. But what Eren did gave his friends the chance to change the world for the better. Maybe they're even using that star for a different reason.
That's why I made my brooch like that; I wanted to keep that star shining on. And when I hold it up to the sun, it shines really bright.
Maybe it'll even shine when we all go to the hearing.
*GIGGLE*
I hope Eren likes it…
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*AHEM*
Well, that's enough of that. Better get back to studying.
Cinder Fritz
Citizen of Kuroyuri – Kingdom of Mistral
Hunt Inquisitorius – Inquisitor #2 [STATUS: Temporary License suspended pending formal hearing]
*DUN DUN*
What's going on everybody! This is The Avenging Titan speaking! I hope everyone is doing great and it has been a hot minute since I did one of these!
Jeez, when was the last chapter uploaded again? December? Over 5 months.
I probably would've been able to do one sooner, but there were some things going on in life that needed doing. My family and I have finalized the development plans for our new house to be built, and we went through a selections process to choose which designs to go for the inside for things like counters and tiles. Plus, I wanted Court and I to progress more with A New Path before going into a topic, so I chose to put the story on hold for a bit.
Believe it or not, this chapter was actually a spontaneous idea brought up by Court of Talons. There was a reviewer for A New Path called "Atreides1225" who made a suggestion regarding a broach for Cinder to go along with her dress, and as it was mentioned in this chapter, it was inspired by the symbol of Eldia: The Nine-Point Star. We also decided that this chapter would be about Cinder reading up laws to help with the Hunt Inquisitorius hearing from the main story, and in the process learn about things that would further fuel the anti-Huntsman flames within her, and her desire for change.
And like predator1701, Atreides also made some images on DeviantArt based on A New Path.
With all that out of the way, it was nice to be able to do another one of these. I hope you all are staying healthy and are doing OK. This is The Avenging Titan signing off!