Amon replied frankly: "Whether it's an envoy or a priest, I'm here to sue Antonio. I'll go to court first."
Medanzuo added: "The gods of Olympus may come directly to the world and appear in the court of priests at Delphi."
Amon sneered and said: "It's no wonder they don't come! After doing so many things, don't they just want to force me to turn my face? But there is a god, but he can't come!"
The god that Amon mentioned could not come naturally refers to Apollo. He had an agreement with Apollo that no matter where he came, Apollo would retreat. What is funny is that this year's Delphi oracle was promulgated by the Temple of Apollo, and the trial place of the Delphi Priestly Court is in the hall of the Temple of Apollo.
Delphi is a holy place composed of major temples. Their courts are different from ordinary city-state courts. They are composed of priests in charge of each temple. They mainly adjudicate important theocratic affairs, and generally ignore civil disputes in various city-states. However, the accusation raised by Amon is related to the authenticity of the Delphic oracle, and the civil court of the city-state cannot rule, so he came here.
The terrain of Delphi is dangerous, but people who have contributed since ancient times have built a road in the mountain that can accommodate two carriages. The scenery is extremely beautiful, and there is an indescribable sacred atmosphere in the beautiful scenery. The sanctuary of the peninsula. Amon saw the scattered temples on the mountainside from a distance. When they entered the boundary of Delphi, there were already a group of priests waiting at the intersection.
Someone stepped forward and asked, "Are you Amon and Medanzo?"
Amon didn't salute like the people who came here from all over the Heaton Peninsula, but just nodded in the carriage and said: "Yes, we are Amon and Metanzor, is the Delphi Priest Court ready? "
A priest holding a scepter said: "I'm ready to wait for the court session. According to the etiquette of Delphi, non-temple priests cannot ride in chariots and horses. From here, you need to walk."
Amon jumped out of the car and waved to Mei Danzuo: "Get off the horse, let's go!"
…
In the hall of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, a court composed of priests from various temples has been prepared. There are no seats in this court, and the jurors stand on both sides. The presiding judge in the middle is a priestess from the Temple of Themis. She is A person who once accepted Aesop's gold sacrifice.
But today the priestess covered her eyes with a black cloth, holding a small scale in her hand, and a sharp long sword at her feet. Amon recognized her when he saw her. She was Themis, the Goddess of Fairness and Justice of Olympus, but she appeared in the form of the priestess.
In this trial, Amon was nominally suing Antonio, the envoy of Delphi, but in fact it was targeting Apollo and other Olympian gods. Apart from this goddess, I am afraid that no one else is more suitable to play the role of adjudicator. Amon noticed that the balance Themis held was actually made by him!
This object was originally an artifact made by Osiris, the god of the underworld of the nine-linked gods. It was the center of Osiris's underworld. Amon re-refined and named it Judgment Balance. The balance of judgment was taken away by Artemis as a "trophy", and it was said that it was to be transferred to a goddess related to Amon among the gods of Olympus. It turned out that she was given to Themis.
It wasn't until Amon saw Themis, the goddess of fairness and justice, in Macedonia that he realized what kind of relationship this goddess had with him. According to the explanation of the immortal Gumang, Themis once re-entered reincarnation with his true body, came to the world and became the flower of Memphis, and later became the lover of his disciple John, and also the disciple of Amon. Unfortunately, both died on the battlefield.
At this moment, Themis not only closed her eyes, but also deliberately covered her eyes with a black cloth, showing her attitude that she would not care about the identities of the prosecution and the defense. Since Themis appeared here, other gods in the Olympus pantheon might have been watching in the courtroom, and Amon ignored them.
Amon and Medanzuo walked into the hall, and the presiding officer said, "My name is Portia, and I am the presiding officer of the Delphi special court."
Portia is the name of the priestess in the temple of Delphi Themis. In fact, she is blindfolded and holding the judgment scale, which already shows that she is the goddess of fairness and justice. But since she appears here as Portia, Then call yourself Portia instead of a goddess. Just like what Amon did in the court of the city-state of Midori, everyone guessed that he was the god Amon, but Amon did not claim to be a god.
Themis's opening remarks were simple and clear, without a word of redundant nonsense, the trial began like this, and Antonio had already appeared in court, standing on both sides of the hall with Amon on the left and right. Amon saluted the presiding judge and the judges, and Themis said straight to the point: "Amon, do you want to sue Antonio for falsely claiming the oracle? But everyone here can prove that there is indeed such a thing in this year's Delphi oracle. Antonio didn't lie about the content."
Amon nodded and said: "I have also heard about the content of the Delphi oracle. I just want to know why Antonio believes that the person mentioned in the oracle is Aesop? If he has no conclusive evidence, it is murder! If the person mentioned in the oracle is Aesop, then I would like to ask the god who sent the oracle, why does he think so?"
Antonio replied: "I made this judgment based on Aesop's behavior. The envoys of all the city-states presented their gifts to the major temples. Only Aesop brought the gold back to Midori. I chased This clue went to Miduli, and it happened that he was scolded by people, and I investigated his previous behavior, and found that he was indeed a blasphemy and offended the gods."
Amon pointedly said: "I have also investigated Aesop's previous behavior, and even know what he did in his life. He does not believe in the gods of Olympus, and he has never offered sacrifices to the city-state temple. This is a fact. But he did not deny the beliefs of the people of the city-state, and although he rejected the threats and temptations of the gods, this is by no means blasphemy or offense, which is also true."
Antonio asked back: "Amon, the person mentioned in the Delphic oracle is the messenger of a certain city-state. Who else do you think besides Aesop? You don't think this is blasphemy or offensive, but the gods here may not be so think."
At this time, the clerk of the court said: "I remind both the prosecution and the defense that you are arguing about an issue that the court cannot decide. Only the god who issued the oracle knows who the person mentioned in the Delphic oracle this year is." .For a more just ruling, I suggest that the plaintiff pray to the gods here and ask the oracle for an answer."
The court today is really lively, the clerk is also a priest here, but as soon as he opened his mouth, Amon recognized that this person was actually Artemis in disguise. Amon turned his head and asked the clerk, "How should I pray to the gods?"
The clerk replied: "Like all those who come to the temple to pray for the oracle, you should bow to the statue of the god, put your hands, chest, and forehead on the ground, and kiss the bricks and stones in the temple."
Amon asked the presiding officer again: "Does this have to be done?"
The presiding judge replied blankly: "You must do this when you ask for an oracle. This is the etiquette of Delphi."
Medan Zuo, who was behind Amon, raised his eyebrows and was about to get angry, but was stopped by Amon in his soul. I just heard the Lord of Heaven say: "Okay, I'll ask the oracle for an explanation first, if the gods can't give an answer, then I still have to ask the court to make a ruling... Lord Chief Judge, please step aside .”
The chief interrogator stepped aside knowingly, and Amon walked to the center of the hall and knelt down towards the statue of Apollo on the altar in the distance. As soon as his knees touched the ground, he heard a click, and the legs of the statue of Apollo split open. Amon ignored this astonishing change, and still bowed to the ground, touching the ground with his hands, forehead and chest, and kissed the bricks and stones on the ground towards the statue of Apollo.
Amon bowed down, and the statue on the altar also fell head-on, falling to pieces on the ground, it looked like he was throwing a salute to Amon. What happened in the temple would have caused a lot of trouble in normal times, but at this moment it only caused a slight commotion, and then calm was restored. Sure enough, most of the priests in the temple were envoys guided by various gods, and some gods were mixed in, so they stopped the panic of the people in time.
Wherever Amon went, Apollo must retreat. This is an agreement between the two gods. Since Amon came to the Temple of Apollo in Delphi, it was impossible for Apollo to issue an oracle. Amon bowed to the statue of Apollo, and he bowed down the statue this time. Although it was beyond the expectations of ordinary people, the gods should understand what was going on.
Since the Oracle of Delphi provoked Amon, there was no need for Amon to save face for Apollo. After saluting, he stood up, patted his robe, walked back to his original position calmly, pointed at the fallen altar statue and said, "My lord, it is obvious that the god who issued the Delphic oracle has refused to answer. This Mr. Antonio may have to answer by himself, no matter what method he uses, he must provide evidence of Aesop’s offense and blasphemy.”
Antonio's face was extremely ugly. He was the divine envoy guided by Apollo, and at this moment the statue of Apollo fell in the temple. Even if this god threw him out to face Amon's questioning alone, he had no choice but to answer: "As the envoy of the city-state of Midori, Aesop did not dedicate all the gold to the major temples, but brought it back."
Amon said: "Everyone knows that Aesop does not believe in the gods of Olympus. This is not a reason to execute him. Aesop came to Delphi because of the oracle of Hermes, and Hermes asked him to Dedicate gold to the temple that is willing and worthy. He stayed in Delphi for ten days and saw only one priest who was worthy of him. He neither violated the oracle nor violated his own belief."
Antonio shouted: "But he angered all the priests of Delphi!"
Amon nodded sullenly and said: "Yes, this is the fact and the key to the problem. You are the envoy representing Delphi, and you deprived him of his life to vent your anger. As the master of Aesop, I came to request You pay back what I lost."
The presiding officer reminded: "Amon, you are just a foreigner, and you have no right to change the ruling of the Midori court."
Amon replied: "But I have the right to ask for the compensation I deserve. Antonio accused Aesop, but here he could not prove the reason for the accusation, and even the gods refused to answer. This is the Lord Antonio in the Midori court. The gods declared, 'I deprive Aesop of his life and take away this sinful soul in the name of the gods. The oracle has given guidance. He is the one who blasphemed and offended the gods. He is here today to accept the punishment he deserves. .’ Now, he needs to pay for what he said and did.”
The clerk asked: "Amon, what price do you want Antonio to pay? You can't ask him for more than your own loss. And everyone in the court knows very well that Antonio did not take Aesop's soul away."
Amon said again: "Aesop is my slave, I released him, this is not only my kindness, but also his due reward. But Antonio took his life, I need him to replace Aesop to compensate me .”
At this time, another priest said: "This is not a problem. We have plenty of slaves here. If you lose one slave, we can compensate you with two or even ten slaves in the entire holy land of Delphi. You can choose whatever you want."
Amon shook his head and said: "Thank you for your generosity, but the value of people in the world is different. After a slave like Aesop exerts his ability, he can establish a city-state on the Duke Plain with nothing. You Delphi All slaves are inferior to him in my eyes, and I don't need this kind of compensation."
Antonio asked, "Amon, what exactly do you want me to compensate you for?"
Amon: "Ten sacred stones and one finger. The ten sacred stones are the price I bought Aesop from Xio at the beginning. They are not worth by Aesop himself, but I don't want to embarrass or blackmail you. As for the one The finger symbolizes Aesop's talent and creation, and he owes it to me, there is an account to check, you can't refuse this request."
Antonio: "Whose finger are you going to cut off?"
Amon: "Of course it's your own finger. It's not someone else who deprived Aesop of his life in the name of a god, but you."
The presiding judge said: "Amon, why don't you show your kindness? You can make a more gentle request, which will satisfy everyone. Maybe you can ask for all the gold donated by Midori as compensation to you , I think this court can also agree with this ruling."
Amon shook his head and said, "The gold is useless to me, only to the priests of Delphi, so let them keep it. All I want is ten god stones and one finger of Antonio!"
The presiding officer reminded again: "Your identity, this court is very clear. You should also know that Aesop's life is coming to an end. No matter whether he will be executed by the Midori court, he will not live until next year."
Amon shook his head again and said, "It has nothing to do with whether he should be executed, even if he drank that glass of poisoned wine at the last second of his life, Antonio is still the murderer."
The chief interrogator: "It's not good for you to do so."
Amon: "This lawsuit itself is not good for me, I am not here for the benefit."
Judge: "Why are you so cruel? Wouldn't it be better to accept more compensation than a useless finger?"
Amon asked rhetorically: "Antonio was kind to Aesop in the court of Midori? Respected Lord Judge, are you willing to be bitten twice by a poisonous snake? Have you heard the story of the farmer and the snake? This story was told by Aesop, and I have nothing to forgive those who should not be condoned."
The presiding officer reminded again: "You don't have any compassion for Antonio now, how can you expect the gods to be merciful to you in the future?"
Amon replied: "My lord, this has nothing to do with you! Antonio has no mercy towards Aesop, how can he expect me to be merciful to him at this moment? He is a scapegoat in the flock, and he should have Thinking of this result, why don't you blame the people who herd the sheep?"
The clerk suddenly said: "Amon, turn over the main peak of the mountain where Delphi is located, and there is a Pythagoras manor at the foot of another mountain. The owner there, Pythagoras, once said that the soul can be reincarnated, although the new one does not know Your own origin, but the deep part of your soul bears the imprint of reincarnation. Could it be that you were a ferocious jackal in your previous life, and you finally showed your fangs when you came here?"
The presiding judge also sighed: "Cruel-hearted person, is there anything in the world that is harder than your heart? No matter what kind of magic weapon, it is not as sharp as your hatred. Could it be that no kind of pleading can move you?" ?"
Amon: "The story of the wolf came was told by Aesop. In this court, no matter how eloquent the words are, it is impossible to impress me. Sir, can you make a verdict? I Dedicate ten sacred stones to this temple, but I must cut off that finger!"
The presiding officer looked at Antonio and said, "This court will make a verdict, do you have anything else to say?"
Antonio replied: "I believe that the court's decision must be just, and I ask the blessings of the gods."
There are more than one god standing in this hall. If they all bless Antonio secretly, it will not be easy for Amon to cut off one of his fingers. The presiding officer said with a blank face: "I made a ruling. Antonio really has no evidence to prove that Aesop is the person mentioned in the oracle. His complaint against Aesop caused Mr. Amon's loss. should be compensated."
Medanzuo praised loudly: "Themis! Your honored chief judge, you are Themis who symbolizes fairness and justice!"
These words were not to expose Themis's identity in public, but the highest praise given to the judge by the people of the Heaton Peninsula, but Medanzuo's words on this occasion seemed somewhat ridiculous. Themis, whose alias was Portia, said coldly: "Amon, I also want to remind you that Antonio only owes you one finger, and you can't ask for more!"