I have NEVER flagged someone for attacking "ME" outside of protected cities, only for aiding a criminal.

The situation at the empire, I attacked a criminal. Another villager attacked me. Criminal lived because of it and got away, while I was being leg-swept. That was direct aid to a criminal. If the criminal was not there and he attacked me that would have been fine and never would have warranted, but was not the situation.

Izqi used a song of sleeping to keep my guards from hitting a criminal. His intent was to attack me, but intent does not matter. He used an aoe sleep spell, in front of a criminal, keeping the criminal from harm. THAT was aiding a criminal. If the criminal was not standing right there in front of him, I would not have warranted him.

I warranted for aiding a criminal only if they were truly aiding a criminal, and I could justify it.

A provost is always off duty outside of protected cities, but using the guards to hunt a criminal is something they should be doing. Otherwise it is a situation that they should never have guards outside the city, just like every other magistrate that is off duty. Hunting of the criminal is something a provost should be doing, though not as affective as a vindicator (shackles) and have all powers of a vindicator but that one, as well has all the powers of a justiciar, to the event that all things in absense of the others the provost should investigate, and has to while there is not one appointed.
This in mind NO law is applicable except the one law that does not state within jurisdiction, and that is the law of aiding a criminal. The one law that has always been enforcable (for 20 years now) outside of a zone, being aiding of a criminal. (to which end, bearing the powers of a justiciar, and in absense of a justiciar having final say in an investigation, and the powers to do so, look under help justiciar, a person that can investigate any situation, no matter where it leads them).

A provost has specific responsibilities in the spire, and to a limited fashion in the absense of one or the other (justiciar and vindicator) has to deal with their roles as well by choice and ability, being less effective at both.

It is a catch 22 on that one, because yes, I should, in fact, as provost be investigating the aiding of a criminal, as it is a crime, that happened at a specific location, per investigation of a crime, under the responsibilities of justiciar, to which a provost has also, to follow especially in absebse of a justiciar.

That is how I see it. As per historically, there are logs of people for the history of qhcf showing people getting warranted for aiding a criminal outside of a protected city all the way up to hitrilipimi (though saw no logs of people complaining of laeden about it, dont know if he was provost long? Though told he was the same).
There was no reason for me to say okay, its outside of a city, feel free to aid a criminal. With the laws as it were, it should not be that a healer can stand just outside town, heal a criminal repeatedly, for that criminal to repeatedly attack magistrates. Aiding a criminal was there for a reason.

So do not sit here and tell me I was warranting people for attacking me. There are ALOT of people that attacked me, many while I had guards such as being on the way to take the fetish, that I never marked. Do not sit here on my death thread and sit here and try to justify what I could and could not do, despite the history of the game, despite that in fact due to position of provost and the powers they recieve, and the duties they have to perform in absense of justiciar and vindicator, that I was not justified in doing what I was supposed to be doing.