"This..." The jury was suddenly at a loss for words. "Is this his true thought?"
"I don't know..." For the first time, someone in the jury said such a thing. They had always prided themselves on "knowing the whole picture," but at this moment, they were truly confused.
Was Siegfried arrogant?
If you were talking about his style of doing things, then yes. A tough style and methods, goals and standards that brooked no questioning or change from others—these were the most typical representations of arrogance.
But in reality?
The goal he pursued was because everyone wanted such a goal. The justice he executed was a justice that everyone recognized. His own status could be said to have fallen to the very bottom!
In a world where almost everyone was kneeling, he was the one prostrating on the ground!
Was this arrogance?
If carrying the wishes of the masses was also arrogance, then what was she?
An arrogant person?
"No!" the jury shrieked. "You cannot define the world that everyone yearns for! This is also the crime of Pride!"
But the jury itself refuted: "But that world was not defined by him! The world that the Kaslanas pursue... is to let everyone live the same life as them! That is the world provided by the people themselves!"
"It was the people who first provided what they wanted to the Kaslanas, so the Kaslanas had to use their lives to give back to everyone..."
"My verdict is... not guilty..."
"Not guilty..."
"I believe he is not guilty..."
"Not guilty..."
The small golden scale suddenly began to tilt, slowly leaning towards the end without the feather.
And soon, the jury was left with only that sharp shriek.
"It's impossible for anyone to be innocent! People are born with sins! Everything they do is to atone for themselves!" the voice shrieked, completely unaware that the Herrscher on the high platform had already shifted her gaze from Siegfried to it in the crowd.
It also didn't notice that its ever-changing face had stopped changing and had returned to its original appearance.
"Weigh the pros and cons! Abandonment and choice! Greed is the greatest original sin of mankind! Make him do the trolley problem! Make him do the trolley problem!!" it shrieked, its voice trembling as it instructed Siegfried.
But Siegfried only turned his head and showed him a look of pity.
"Juror Number..." the Herrscher slowly began, her eyes returning to their hollow state as she looked at the juror she had addressed.
She remembered that he was a bishop of the Holy See who had once levied exorbitant taxes on the faithful, a greedy man who had attempted to replicate the "indulgences." For the crime of Greed, he had been sentenced to the punishment of eversion, dying as all his internal organs were pulled out through his mouth.
"Are you trying to extract a confession by torture here, on the sinner?"
Number 14 was suddenly stunned. His eyes suddenly showed terror. He turned his head and looked around in a panic, only to see everyone's silent gaze.
"No... that's not it... I was just..." He looked up at the Herrscher above him in fear, almost begging for mercy in a pleading tone. "I didn't, I didn't want to... I was just..."
But he couldn't even speak clearly. The moment the Herrscher lowered her eyelids, he felt as if he had been plunged into an ice cave.
And he disappeared from the crowd before he could even let out a scream, replaced by another figure as a substitute.
This is...?
"Wait!" But Siegfried, who shouldn't have spoken at this moment, suddenly said anxiously, "What did you do to him!"
"There is no need for salvation for those who do not repent," the Herrscher replied softly. "Everyone on the jury has committed serious crimes in the past. They deserved to die, but more people need them, so I have imprisoned them here to atone for their sins."
"You let a group of criminals pass judgment?" Siegfried felt that his worldview was about to explode. He quickly raised his hand and covered his forehead, and after a while, he frowned and said, "Aren't you afraid that these people will try their best to drag others down with them?"
The Herrscher stared at Siegfried for a long time before answering.
"Only in this way can every sinner have nowhere to hide."
Except you... or... except the Kaslanas.
"For objective right and wrong, I have my own laws to follow. But what about the hypocrites? There will always be people who wear the sheepskin of justice to mix into the flock, and then swallow the wolf that regards him as a companion.
Only the wolf pack can find the wolf hidden in the flock, because only they know... what a wolf thinks."
"You—!" Siegfried's fists were already clenched, but the crossbar in front of him stopped him again.
"There is no need to worry about wrongful convictions," the Herrscher said, raising her hand and slowly lifting the small golden scale. Siegfried's gaze followed, only to see the Herrscher take out... a bloody heart from thin air.
Siegfried's breath almost stopped as he watched the Herrscher place the heart on one end of the scale.
The weight of the heart instantly outweighed the thin feather, and it slammed to the bottom.
"The heart is very light and can be easily outweighed by a feather. But the heart is also a bag that can hold many, many things. These things are very heavy, so they will outweigh the feather.
"And the members of the jury have only one thought, and that is to expose the crime... but just now, another purpose appeared in his heart, so his heart outweighed the feather.
"So... he was judged—guilty."
"So..." Siegfried's hands were trembling, his fiery eyes had turned into another kind of unsuppressible anger. "This is how you judge whether someone is guilty or not?"
He suddenly raised his hand and pointed at the Herrscher.
"What do you want! Is it appropriate to impose such a harsh law on humanity?!
"This is not a law at all! What you are doing is not a judgment! What you want has never been humans, but a group of heartless puppets!!"
"If a person doesn't even have the right to 'own,' then such a world... I don't want it!!"
The Herrscher's eyes moved slightly, and the originally calm jury also began to stir at this moment.
"If you think that the more things in your heart, the heavier the sin..." Siegfried gritted his teeth and took a step forward. This time, he directly shattered the crossbar in front of him and almost stepped in front of the Herrscher.
"Then come and try the weight of my heart! If my heart doesn't crush your scale, then it's your fault!"