Chapter 229: The Kingdom's Current State!
"I'm serious."
"If this were me eighteen years ago, before I ever met Princess, I might genuinely have been swept away by Lady Crusch's charisma and followed her into something huge."
Al lightly tapped his scarred helmet with his index finger, his tone unusually nostalgic.
If the first place he had arrived in this world had been the Dragon Kingdom of Lugunica...
If the first person he had met had been Crusch...
And if he had never experienced everything that happened in the Vollachian Empire...
What kind of person would he have become?
Perhaps even now, he still would not have understood reality.
Perhaps he would still believe he was somehow special.
Thinking about it, Al let out a self-deprecating laugh.
"Eighteen years?"
"You've actually been in this world for eighteen years?"
Shiro looked genuinely surprised.
Even though Priscilla had already told him that Al came from beyond the Great Fall, the number still caught him off guard.
To an old man, eighteen years might not mean much.
It would merely be one long period of his life.
But judging from Al's body, he was probably only somewhere in his thirties, certainly not yet forty.
Eighteen years was already more than half his life.
No wonder Al was so much more easygoing than Subaru despite both being transmigrators.
The experiences of all those years had probably worn away his sharper edges until he became the smooth, adaptable man he was today.
"Something like that."
"Living was already hard enough all these years. Who had the free time to keep track of little things like the exact number of years?"
"Being thrown alone into an unfamiliar world with nothing and surviving there for eighteen years..."
Shiro sighed.
"Just staying alive must've taken everything you had."
"You've had it rough."
Shiro had never intended to hide from Al that he was also a transmigrator.
First Al.
Then Subaru.
And before them, there had been books written by other transmigrators and even a country whose culture appeared to have been shaped by one.
Transmigrators clearly were not common enough to find one in every group of ten people.
But neither were they mythical existences that appeared only once every thousand years.
The world Shiro had come from was almost certainly not the exact same one as Al's.
Even so, revealing that they shared the experience of crossing worlds would make it easier to close the distance between them.
"Hah."
"If only Princess thought the same way."
Al sighed dramatically.
"She's treated me like a pack mule all these years."
"Whenever something interesting happens somewhere, she immediately runs toward it and drags me along."
"She causes unnecessary trouble every day."
"Though Princess somehow solves everything perfectly in the end."
"Then why don't you change employers?"
Shiro glanced at him.
"You're good enough to be Priscilla's knight."
"With your skills, you could probably find decent work anywhere."
"It's not that easy."
Al scratched his helmet.
"And Princess might normally be troublesome, but if you think of her as a difficult cat to take care of, even her unreasonable requests start seeming kind of cute."
"Masochist?"
"I'm not!"
Al immediately denied it.
"This is the kind of enjoyment only someone older can understand."
"You know video games?"
"It's kind of like raising a troublesome daughter on a computer."
"She causes endless problems, but watching her slowly grow gives you this strange sense of accomplishment."
"You start wanting to show her off everywhere."
"You just need a tiny bit of adult tolerance along the way."
'Only a tiny bit?'
Shiro stared at Priscilla's back ahead of them.
He immediately remembered how she had sentenced him to death merely because he did not know her name when they first met.
He silently questioned Al's definition of "tiny."
Still, Shiro did not bother pursuing the subject.
He had encountered far too many strange people across different worlds.
If he cared about every little eccentricity, he would only exhaust himself.
So he decisively changed topics.
"By the way."
"You've been here for so long. How much do you know about the Witch Cult?"
"The Witch Cult..."
The moment Al heard that name, he abruptly fell silent.
Through the opening in his helmet, Shiro caught something flashing through Al's eye.
Killing intent.
Just hearing the words "Witch Cult" caused Al's muscular body to tremble uncontrollably with rage.
"Then let us continue."
"Following the order, next shall be the candidate beside Lady Crusch—Lady Priscilla Barielle and her knight, Aldebaran."
"!"
Marcos's voice suddenly echoed again and pulled Al back to reality.
"Hmph."
"I have heard enough of these tedious speeches."
"So it is finally my turn?"
Priscilla glanced back at Al, unfolded her fan, and walked toward the platform.
"Sorry, bro."
"I remembered something unpleasant."
Al lightly patted Shiro's shoulder.
"But I'll give you one warning."
"If you don't want unnecessary trouble, stay away from those dangerous people."
He quickly followed Priscilla.
By the time he stood beside her on the platform, the chilling killing intent from moments ago had completely disappeared.
The shift was so fast that Shiro almost wondered if he had imagined it.
But judging from Al's reaction—There was definitely some unknown history between him and the Witch Cult.
"Forget it."
"I'll ask when I get the chance."
Shiro shook his head and turned his attention toward Priscilla.
"So now I merely need to let those old bones witness my majesty and submit before me, correct?"
Her contemptuous words echoed throughout the hall, immediately reigniting the officials' anger.
Priscilla did not even spare them another glance.
After Marcos confirmed what she was meant to do, she proudly lifted her chest and declared from above—
"My presence here is itself the will of heaven."
"I alone am suited to become king."
"All of you need only bow your heads and obey."
The speech was extraordinarily short.
And it displayed Priscilla's arrogance perfectly.
"Princess..."
Al helplessly spoke from beside her.
"They probably want to know what they'll actually gain by following you."
"That is simple."
"To follow me is to stand on the side of victory."
"I permit those who obey me to speak their desires and receive what they wish for."
"Those who do not obey receive nothing."
"That is all."
After saying that, Priscilla ignored everyone's reactions.
She flicked her orange hair and simply walked off the platform, leaving Al awkwardly behind to campaign for her.
"Princess's wording is a little... well..."
"But if you've investigated her at all, you should already know."
"So long as someone joins Princess and does not defy her wishes, they will absolutely be rewarded."
"Because heaven itself chose Princess."
Al shrugged.
"Princess doesn't care when you join her."
"But if you have a choice, it's probably better to stand on the winning side sooner rather than later."
The officials below fell silent.
Anyone capable of standing in this hall was far from stupid.
Even Rickert had once contributed considerably to national policy.
Before attending this meeting, all of them had already investigated the basic backgrounds of the Royal Selection candidates.
Among them—Priscilla's circumstances were undoubtedly the strangest.
Priscilla Barielle had not originally carried the surname Barielle.
That name came from her husband, Leip Barielle.
Yet immediately after Priscilla married Leip—Before he could even touch one of her fingers—He died on the very night of their wedding.
His entire territory consequently became Priscilla's property.
Even stranger was what happened after Priscilla inherited his lands.
She seemingly did nothing.
Yet the territory, which had previously suffered economically due to food shortages, suddenly began enjoying perfect weather as though blessed by the Divine Dragon itself.
The people had farmed exactly the same way as before.
So why were their harvests suddenly twice as large?
Confused, the residents investigated.
They soon realized that every miraculous change had begun only after Priscilla took control.
That was enough for them to believe her claim that she was heaven's chosen.
Their love and loyalty toward her naturally deepened further.
Now that Crusch intended to sever the covenant with the Divine Dragon—Perhaps Priscilla, who promised rewards simply in exchange for obedience, was actually a reasonable choice?
The thought naturally appeared in the officials' minds.
"Next!"
Marcos gave them no time to thoroughly weigh the advantages and disadvantages.
"Lady Anastasia and her knight, Julius Juukulius, please step forward!"
"If everyone's hoping I'll say something as shocking as those last two, I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint ya."
Anastasia smiled gently as she walked onto the platform beside Julius.
"Sorry 'bout that."
"I'm just a terribly ordinary person."
"Then, everyone."
"Anastasia Hoshin's gonna speak now."
"If anything I say makes ya unhappy, I hope you'll be generous enough to forgive me."
"I am Julius Juukulius, first knight serving Lady Anastasia."
"I likewise ask everyone for your understanding."
With Anastasia's Kansai-accented speech and Julius's elegant courtesy, both politely greeted the crowd.
Their respectful behavior greatly reassured the officials after Crusch and Priscilla's alarming declarations.
With Julius standing beside her—Surely Lady Anastasia would not say anything outrageous...
Right?
Whatever the audience was thinking, Anastasia continued.
"I don't have ambitions as grand as Miss Crusch."
"Nor do I possess Miss Priscilla's overwhelming confidence."
"What I have is desire."
"A desire many times stronger than that of an ordinary person."
"Lady Anastasia, what exactly do you mean by desire?"
At Marcos's question, Anastasia smiled and pointed toward the floor beneath her feet.
"Ever since I was little, my desire for possessions was much stronger than most people's."
"Luckily, I had a pretty good nose for money."
"I could satisfy those desires through business."
"Eventually, I even became the head of the Hoshin Trading Company."
"But y'know..."
Her tone suddenly shifted.
"It's not enough."
"Even all of that still isn't enough to satisfy me."
"Anything I can see with my eyes or touch with my hands..."
"I want it all inside my pocket."
"The Hoshin Trading Company alone can't satisfy my desires."
"So I started wondering..."
"If I could obtain an entire country, maybe then I'd finally be satisfied."
Even after Anastasia spoke so openly, none of the officials below dared interrupt her.
The reason they were displaying far more patience toward her than usual was extremely simple.
Anastasia was the head of the Hoshin Trading Company—The largest trading company in the Kararagi City-States.
And Lugunica...
Was broke.
Although the Dragon Kingdom of Lugunica enjoyed the Divine Dragon's protection, its past discrimination against demi-humans had sparked the Demi-Human War forty years ago.
The consequences of that massive conflict still affected the kingdom today.
After a succession of brutal battles—including Redonas Plateau, Castour, the bloody battle at the Lugunican royal castle, and the Trias Ridge campaign—The national treasury had practically been emptied.
The kingdom had even suffered a period of famine last year.
As the saying went—All under heaven bustle for profit, and all under heaven struggle for gain.
Even if these officials were expected to seriously consider Lugunica's future—They first needed full stomachs.
If they had to risk their lives just to earn barely enough money to survive, what was the point?
Beyond that—Anastasia's ability as a merchant to calmly weigh profit and loss was also an indispensable quality for a ruler.
"So, basically..."
"I'll push this kingdom's economy forward."
"You can all relax and become mine."
With that, Anastasia's speech reached its conclusion.
Marcos nodded and turned toward Julius behind her.
"Lady Anastasia's position has been made perfectly clear."
"Knight Julius, do you have anything to add?"
"I believe everyone present understands Lugunica's current circumstances."
Julius stepped forward and swept his gaze across the hall.
"I too once struggled over this situation."
"Then, while interacting with the Hoshin Trading Company, I met Lady Anastasia and learned of her ideals."
"Do you not find that coincidence remarkable?"
"If this Royal Selection truly represents heaven's arrangement..."
"Then by my loyalty to the royal family and my devotion to this kingdom, I swear—"
"Lady Anastasia is the person most suited to become king."
"Thank you all for listening."
Like an actor completing his bow upon a stage, Julius elegantly concluded the speech and escorted Anastasia back into the line of candidates.
"Then the next candidate shall be..."
Marcos stopped halfway through.
He was hesitating over whether Emilia should take the stage now.
Marcos understood perfectly well—Once Emilia went up there, what happened below could no longer be described as merely noisy.
The appearance of a silver-haired half-elf inspired hatred not only in Lugunica.
She would face similar treatment even if she traveled to other countries.
And now they were expected to accept Emilia as one of Lugunica's candidates for king?
To many people, it sounded almost as absurd as asking them to make the Witch of Envy herself their ruler.
If the Divine Dragon had not seemingly manifested only moments earlier—The people below might already have risen to protest.
There was another problem.
Once Emilia spoke, the entire discussion would inevitably begin revolving around her.
Felt's speech afterward might be completely overshadowed.
That would obviously be unfair to Felt.
'Should Lady Emilia be moved to the final position instead?'
Marcos glanced behind him toward Miklotov.
The elderly sage gave him a small nod.
Seeing that—Marcos silently sighed in relief.
Then he loudly declared—
"Then the next candidate!"
"Lady Felt and her knight, Reinhard van Astrea!"
…
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