Actually, in the eyes of the everyone present, this matter was quite serious.
A slave with a privileged contract was still a slave, but the rights of a free person were inevitably given to them the moment that their service contract ended.
To withhold those rights would officially cross the master over to the crime of kidnapping, and New Oalta had strict laws about kidnapping.
Not only that, but this man had also infringed on the rights of free citizens. Murder was a crime punishable by severe mutilation. Mass murder was punished by mutilation and a blood debt.
This was a worse sentence than death for several reasons.
Mainly, being handed to the vengeful families of the person you killed is not something someone would want. On top of that, being crippled and unable to defend yourself is a prescription for misery.
