Law and Ethics

The natural coldness of the morning felt pleasant compared to the manufactured warmth of the previous night.

Gris, the nation's spymaster, had come to pick up Shiro that morning. Much like Azura had the day before, he led him out of the royal palace, across a courtyard, and into a horse-drawn carriage.

However, this time, they took a different path through the palace. Shiro found himself in another courtyard, where a different horse and different carriage waited for them.

He wasn't sure whether this was meant to keep him from becoming familiar with the palace or simply because they were headed somewhere else.

Yesterday, Azura had ripped the page from Shiro's notebook containing his drawing of the city's roads and walls. So while keeping him unaware might have been the intention, Shiro ultimately chooses not to ask about it during the quiet ride.

Today, the carriage rolled to a stop before a stately stone estate. Tall gray walls surrounded carefully tended grounds, while an iron fence enclosed the property. The three story building was symmetrical, with every stone, bush, tree, flower, and pillar seemed to have been maintained with painstaking care.

Marcellia, Vermelionne's own High Oracle, and Albinoxia, their High Justiciar, were already deep in conversation when Shiro was brought onto the balcony.

They acknowledged him and Gris, but neither seemed particularly interested in interrupting what they had been discussing. Shiro was given a seat, and the spymaster remained off to the side, watching in silence.

At first, Shiro tried to follow their conversation. He had done a Law and Ethic class back home, but never cared for it too much. He soon gave up, trying to join in on the conversation

This reminds me of when we had that stupid trolley problem...Maybe I should tell them?

Shiro looked up at the two women still deep in their own conversation.

They seem like the type to like it...

Eh, I swear the problem relied on different versions. I don't remember any of them.

...Though they were pretty stupid anyway.

Everyone would always argue different choices, et cetera, but if such a situation came, most people would give you the same answer.

More lives are more important than interference.

Innocence is more important than numbers.

And loved ones sit at the top.

The final versions were just different ways of asking how many people you'd kill to save someone you love...

"It's like he's sleeping with his eyes open."

"He has no idea what's going on around him."

Shiro's eyes refocused. Returning to the present after getting lost in his own head.

"Huh?"

"Not interested in the morality of Vermelionne's Laws? These do affect your situation quite a bit."

Marcellia spoke first, her teasing was light-hearted. Despite being the nation's high oracle, she stood in

Camp of the King's court members that were in support of Shiro.

Shiro had stood face to face with Revorgress, and opposed him. That had earned him Marcellia's respect.

"Demons don't have laws or ethics, they exist in a system where might stands above all. Is that why you do not care for this discussion?"

Albinoxia on the other hand, spoke in an accusing tone. She stood in the camp that was against the existence of Shiro, alongside Gris and Azura.

"We had law and ethics back in my world as well. It was a required course I needed to take. I was just trying to remember a popular one from my world."

"Go on then. Enlighten us."

"Eh, how do I explain... Would you save one person or five?"

"Five."

"Of course Five. Is that it?"

"No, it was a series of questions. Would you kill one to save five? What if the five were criminals? What if they were innocent but the one was a family member? And so on. I don't remember the exact specifics."

"These questions aim to what? Determine the value of a human life?"

"Honestly I don't even know. I always thought it was a stupid idea. People will always choose to save their loved ones."

"That's a naive assumption."

"Why?"

"You are assuming that everyone values their loved ones above strangers."

"Well, yes."

“You cannot judge a person based on what you assume most people would do. Every person, circumstance, motive, and choice must be examined individually… Many would sacrifice themselves for a stranger. Many would sacrifice their loved ones for themselves.”

"You can argue that some would choose differently, but I don't think many would. Even if exceptions exist, you can't base a system off of them."

“So I will examine you. You claim loved ones sit at the top. Yet you arrived in this world with none. No family. No bonds. No one whose life you would place above the rest of us. That makes your philosophy convenient rather than principled.”

“It’s not convenient. It’s just how most people are wired.”

“Really? If the choice came between five citizens of Vermelionne and one life that served your self interests, what would your answer be? Would you still prioritize numbers, or when do they suddenly matter less?”

Shiro opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it.

I don't know, I was never good at these. Who would I even pick when I have no loved ones...

Marcellia interrupted the two, doing her best to lighten the moment with a joke.

"Well if Shiro's priority is protecting his loved ones, maybe putting him in a collar and keeping him as a personer wasn't the best idea..."

She then looked at Gris, who still hasn't said a word this whole time.

"What about you, Gris?"

"I'll kill whoever I'm ordered to. My only concern is the needs of the King and his people."

Such a boring answer.