Judge&Jury [LitRPG Satire] Chapter 8 (Patreon)

“Hello, Slip!” Maranda said cheerfully. “Did you sleep well?”

“I did,” Slip said. “Thank you. The bed was really comfortable. I’ve never slept in one before.”

As they spoke, Slip activated Eye of the Arbiter.

Maranda Lissaan

Race: Human

Level: 24

Magical Power: 94

Status: Moderately Healthy [Stressed]

Intelligence: 10

Wisdom: 9

Luck: 5

Agility: 8

Strength: 14

?????

?????

Misdeeds:

????

Good deeds:

Kind to the needy

?????

Slip blinked the information away. She didn’t have skills like he did, but the deeds sections were new.

“Are you okay?” Maranda asked Slip. “You zoned out for a moment there.”

“Oh, I’m fine,” Slip said, shaking his head. “I’m just waking up a bit. Say, would those two men from yesterday who talked about their beer problem still be here?”

Maranda raised an eyebrow but nodded, pointing Slip towards a table near the edge of the room. Slip thanked her and headed towards it.

Bennison and the man who had spoken were chatting over two bowls of mushy brown porridge. Bennison noticed Slip approaching and gave the kobold a grin beneath his scraggy gray beard.

“Come to tell us more stories?” Bennison asked.

“Actually, I’m here because you said you wanted my services,” Slip said.

The other man’s eyebrows rose and he let out a chuckle. “Oh, were you going to judge Bennison for stealing my beer? Let’s hear it, then!”

“This should be interesting,” Bennison agreed, grinning. He leaned and rested his chin on his hand as he watched Slip.

The kobold opened his book and cleared his throat.

Use Eye of the Arbiter on both of them without dismissing the information.

Slip followed the instructions. The windows of text appeared, then shimmered, morphing together and forming a new one.

…Open case detected. Difficulty: F-

Beginning case: Bennison Reed Vs. Ammon Hill

A dull grey aura appeared around both men. Slip glanced back down at the book.

Get them talking. Their emotions will change the color of their aura.

“Please tell me about what happened,” Slip said seriously, removing his top hat and setting it on the table so he could hear them better.

Bennison bit back a laugh.

“This rascal told me that Maranda was heading over with my food yesterday,” Ammon said, mock glaring at his friend. “When I turned to look, Maranda was at another table. But, by the time I was paying attention again, half of my beer.”

As Ammon spoke, splotches of green and dull orange swam through his aura. There was more green than orange. From his expression and his lack of annoyance, Slip suspected that green implied he was being truthful.

“And what’s your side of the story?” Slip asked Bennison.

“I didn’t drink his beer. I just played a prank on Ammon by lying about his food since it’s the only thing he can think about.”

Bennison lit up almost entirely green with some traces of orange, but a small flicker of red ran through his aura for an instant. Slip tilted his head. How could they both be telling the truth, or at least mostly the truth?

The kobold considered his words for a few moments. Then he glanced down at the book.

Green is truth, red is lie. Orange is happy, black is scared, purple is righteous, and yellow is embarrassed. Those are big ones for now. Focus on them.

Slip went back over their words in his head. Bennison was the one who’d had red show up, so that meant something was wrong. As he reviewed the evidence, a thought struck Slip.

“I believe you,” Slip told Bennison. The man gave him a wide grin, much to Ammon’s dismay. But, before he could say anything, Slip spoke up again. “About not drinking the beer, that is. However, I’ve got another question. Did you see what happened to Ammon’s beer?”

“No,” Bennison said, shaking his head. “He was drunk and probably forgot how much he had.”

His aura lit up red.

“Hm,” Slip said. “You’re lying. You know what happened to it.”

Bennison’s eyebrows rose and he glanced at Ammon, his smile fading for the briefest moment.

“So you didn’t drink it, but you had something to do with it disappearing,” Slip continued. “Did you distract Ammon so someone else could steal his beer?”

“Gods,” Bennison said, shaking his head. “You were serious! How did you know that?”

Ammon looked from Bennison to Slip.

“Wait what happened? I’m not following,” he said.

“Bennison distracted you so that someone else could steal your beer,” Slip said. “I don’t know who, though. I could probably figure it out if you brought me everyone who was here last night.”

“There’s no need,” Bennison said, letting out a slow whistle. “It was Wallace. But how did you know? That’s amazing!”

Ammon looked like he couldn’t tell if he should be impressed or annoyed.

“You let Wallace drink from my cup? That moron’s kissed everything that walks! Now I’m going to have to visit the local healer,” he accused Bennison.

“Oh stop whining,” Bennison said, giving the other man a small punch in the arm. “You set my sister up with him, so you had it coming.”

The two men exchanged a few more insults before suddenly remembering that Slip was standing there.

“Seriously, how did you figure it out?” Bennison asked.

“I’m a judge,” Slip replied, trying not to look as incredibly smug as he felt. “It’s my job.”

Case Status: Bennison Reed Vs. Ammon Hill has been set to Closed.

Injured party: Ammon Hill

Compensation requested: None

Resolution: Insignificant Misdemeanor / Friendly Joke.

Suggested Payment: 5 copper [Already paid]

The words faded away as new ones took their place in the air.

Job Experience +5

Experience +12%

Jobs completed: 1

Slip blinked the words away quickly and gave a small nod to the two men, who were looking incredulously at him.

“Are you a mage?” Bennison asked. “I’ve heard some high level mages can see if you’re telling the truth, but I thought it was kinda hard.”

“No. I’m a judge.”

“And you can do this more?” Ammon asked. “I wouldn’t mind if this was just a show. It was fun. But, if you can really settle disputes…”

“It’s not a show,” Slip promised. “No tricks. It’s all real.”

“Then I might have another job for you, if you’re still looking,” Ammon said, leaning forward in excitement.

“I’m listening,” Slip replied, his tongue flicking out. His fortunes were finally turning around.