Drawing Cards in the Middle Ages to Rise in Ranks-Chapter 556 - 332: Code

After a moment, Miss Lavinia, now dressed in a brown fitted casual outfit, returned to the two of them.

Without the judge’s robe, she had gained a bit more of the approachable charm of an elder sister from next door. On her pretty nose, the golden thin legs of her glasses extended from the ends of her short brown hair by her ear, adding a touch of intellectual beauty.

"Follow me."

The restaurant Lavinia mentioned was located deep in a small alley next to the court. The winding path once made Elmer wonder if she was going to lead them into a dead end to take this opportunity for a murderous cover-up.

They took a seat in a corner of the restaurant.

After ordering the meal.

Losa spoke first: "Let me formally introduce myself, I am Losa of the Saluzzo Family, and this is my partner, Elmer of the Saluzzo Family."

Lavinia nodded slightly and said, "Lavinia Bologna."

"Miss Lavinia, I have investigated you."

The judge was not surprised by this. She calmly pierced a piece of beef with a fork, chewed slowly, and then gently spoke, "What did you find out?"

"You seem to be a member of the coexistence faction."

The coexistence faction, to put it plainly, means equal coexistence between the Wolf Race and humans. In Losa’s view, this was obviously inclined towards idealistic and unrealistic thinking; after all, not even a single nation could coexist equally, let alone two different races.

The judge shook her head and said, "I am not that naive. I just think that if the Wolf Race continues to behave recklessly like this, it will inevitably lead to its own destruction."

"I deeply agree with that."

Losa nodded and said, "In fact, if it wasn’t for Germany and France each being unwilling to let the other rule over the Apennine States, the Wolf Race would probably have already been reduced to ashes under the crushing force of these two powerful nations."

Lanivia frowned and said, "Why are you telling me this?"

Losa chuckled and did not speak further.

His understanding of Lanivia was limited to gathered information and had not yet reached the point where he could discuss reforms at length or even introduce her to the Wolf Race Federation in Texas.

Lavinia’s tone was calm yet firm: "No matter what your intentions are, it is impossible to hand the person over for you to take away. For the sake of the so-called family duty, showing no regard for the lives of ordinary people, such people must be punished."

"Alright."

Losa smiled: "Miss Lanivia, I deeply appreciate your approach, and as far as I know, you even once sent a Wolf Race member who was in a situation similar to Lorenzo’s but belonged to the Bologna Family to jail, which is enough to prove your justice and kindness."

"But by doing so, your days must be quite difficult, right?"

Lanivia was slightly shocked.

In fact, there had always been voices within the clan viewing her as a traitor.

If it weren’t for the Clan Leader valuing her talent enough, and the city law inherently leaning towards family members, she might have already been expelled from the family long ago, and the family’s "Settler" sent to hunt her down.

After all, how could a family known for its unity tolerate such an act of "morality outweighing kinship"?

"What exactly do you want to say?"

"Miss Lanivia, codes are always made by people, and the city law, from the very beginning, has no relation to anything sacred. Even for multiple murders, even at the maximum penalty, it can only result in twelve years of imprisonment."

Seeing the other party fall into silence, Losa added: "That’s if they’re caught. In fact, the vast majority of family members escape capture after committing a crime."

"Does maintaining such a code truly have any meaning?"

Lavinia said in a low voice: "If Lorenzo were to be let out like that, the family members would feel even more emboldened, so no matter what you say, I won’t change my decision."

Losa picked up his wine glass, took a small sip.

"But this could very likely trigger a conflict between Bologna and Saluzzo, conspiracy assassination, shootouts in the streets, gang fights... Saluzzo would not allow Bologna, at this critical moment, to provoke themselves as one of the twelve upper families and still walk away unscathed."

Lavinia was silent for a moment, then said, "This has nothing to do with me."

"So, you are only upholding that not-so-sacred city code?"

Losa intensified his tone: "Miss Lavinia, in the Apennine States, there are ten million farmers, and at least a third of them don’t even have a wheelbarrow of their own. Baking bread once takes six months to eat, and every winter, before eating, they have to split the bread with an axe before soaking it in water to barely make it edible."

"And yet, the city code demands that they pay a window tax every year as their price for enjoying the air and sunlight."

"Even the long-declined Church still advises the rich to aid the poor to avoid the punishment of going to Hell, but the so-called city code tries its best to extort the last Lira from the pockets of the poor."

Losa repeated once more: "Is maintaining such a code truly to carry out the justice and kindness in your mind?"

Lavinia’s tone weakened a bit: "The city code may have this or that flaw, just as you said, but upholding the sanctity of the code is my duty."

Losa sighed, stuffed the last sausage from the plate into his mouth, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and stood up, saying: "Miss Lavinia, it’s unfortunate that we couldn’t reach a consensus, but neither the Saluzzo Family nor myself ever considered making you, such an upright, brave, and kind city judge, an enemy."