0p0 #238 - You are all talented.
#238 - You are all talented.
"What nonsense are you spouting? Uncle, I never said I wanted to be king."
Felt completely disregarded the conversation's trajectory until just now, clearly stating her refusal. Everyone in the hall was shaken by the answer, which differed from what they had heard and imagined.
"I was forcibly brought here from the slums. Even when I clamored to go back, that guy wouldn't let me. He made me learn these ridiculous manners and wear these flimsy clothes. I've had enough! I'm full of anger right now, who cares about you people—!"
The girl's outburst silenced the hall again with awkwardness. Felt, having vented her anger, looked refreshed.
"—How long are you going to drone on? There's nothing more boring than this topic."
Priscilla, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke: "It's merely a formality. Five people must gather for the opening ceremony. Once it begins, the unsuitable will naturally be eliminated. In any case, I will be the one who remains in the end. Whether the other superfluous people have the qualifications of a king is of no concern to me."
The seemingly unreasonable fallacy was annoying, but anyone with discernment could see that she was helping Felt out of a bind.
After all, the most important thing right now was the start of the royal selection.
Felt was initially a little annoyed, but she had interacted with Priscilla before and knew that the big-breasted, arrogant woman was the type who didn't listen to others. She just grunted and turned her head away.
"You should be grateful to me, you brat."
"...Hmph, not a chance!"
Priscilla was answered with a face.
Although there were some disturbances, Priscilla's reminder helped them understand what the kingdom should do now.
"Then let's return to the original topic—the war of royal succession. Regarding the royal selection, it is hereby proposed that each candidate participate in convening the Council of Sages."
The old man's dignified announcement filled the hall with tension once more. The candidates all naturally straightened their posture, and the expressions of the audience lost their composure, as a serious and solemn atmosphere permeated the entire palace.
The current issue was the method of choosing the king.
Although the Dragonstone recorded that the candidates should gather, it did not specify a selection method. To decide on this matter, each candidate had to express their resolution—that is, a speech before becoming king.
Crusch did not want to rely on the dragon to save the kingdom again through self-degradation, but rather to determine the kingdom's fate through her own efforts.
Compared to the highly anticipated seeded player, Duchess Karsten, Priscilla had no inspiring speech. She simply declared that she would be the next king, arrogant and confident, leaving people speechless.
Anastasia, who was born with a strong business acumen, wanted to own her own kingdom. She regarded participating in the royal selection ceremony as an investment, and the return would naturally be the entire kingdom. She also guaranteed that she would not place the kingdom on the scales of trade, but would work hard to make it prosperous, as her achievement in becoming an excellent merchant.
As for Emilia...
From the moment she appeared, she was scorned by everyone. The undisguised discussions made Subaru Natsuki's forehead veins bulge. Whether it was the knights, civil officials, or the elders of the Council of Sages, they were all extremely resistant to Emilia, even to the point of being rude and using excessive language.
Just as the suppression reached its limit, someone stood up.
"—Don't joke around!"
Even outside the door, Zunzun clearly heard Natsuki Subaru's roar. With the echo as a beginning, the room tended toward silence. Within the silent space, only the sound of his rapid breathing after the roar remained.
It's a man.
Zunzun sincerely applauded.
Although it might seem to outsiders that the most appropriate thing to do was to avoid being rash and causing trouble for Emilia, Zunzun, as a Crimson Demon who always responded to provocations, approved of his manly behavior.
Then, he was naturally condemned.
However, just as the rash and ignorant Natsuki Subaru was about to be sanctioned by Roswaal, Emilia and her contracted Great Spirit, Puck, seemed to be drawn by the atmosphere and rescued him.
One of the Four Great Spirits was being employed by a half-demon.
This was shocking news that left people speechless!
With Puck's backing, Emilia reintroduced herself—the Ice Witch who lived in the Frozen Forest—the mere name of 'witch' completely froze the air in the palace.
Afterward, this witch was not angry because she had just been targeted and verbally abused. Instead, she loudly proclaimed her resolution.
Fairness! Fairness!!
Still freaking fairness!!!
Not only fairness in the royal selection ceremony, but she also wanted fairness for her silver-haired half-elf identity, and she also wanted fairness for her title of Ice Witch. Even when she became king, she would promote the words of fairness.
—A beautiful fantasy.
This was the evaluation given by Zunzun.
Emilia demanded absolute fairness, but Zunzun knew that this was impossible. There was only relative fairness. Even relative fairness required great effort and improvement to achieve. Moreover, there were no shortcuts to this.
...Never mind, who cares.
It's none of my business anyway.
Although she was a powerful spirit user who employed the Four Great Spirits, she did not act arrogantly in the palace hall, and she gained the respect of the Council of Sages, the Knights, and the civil official group, who vowed to treat the silver-haired half-elf—Emilia, one of the royal selection candidates—equally.
This matter should have ended here. It should have been a great thing. However, when Natsuki Subaru said that he was Emilia's first knight, the atmosphere changed again.
But the farce did not happen, because they still had to make way for the next person. That's right, next was the most important thing: Felt's declaration!
Here it comes, here it comes, here it comes!
Zunzun's heart was pounding.
He finally understood the anxious, life-or-death feeling his father had when he watched him invest nine-tenths of the family fortune in the stock market.
Ah, so this is what it's like to be an old father?
Finally, I empathize.
However, when Felt once again seriously stated that she would not participate in the royal selection ceremony, a mist suddenly rose in the palace hall, and the commotion followed.
Old Man Rom rushed out to pick up Felt and tried to run, but doing so in front of so many knights was undoubtedly slapping them in the face.
Soon, the reckless giant elder was captured on the spot, pinned to the ground, unable to move.
"Although I don't know who you are, since you have presumptuously intruded into this sacred ceremony, you cannot escape the death penalty."
Knight Commander Marcos declared.
Felt shouted anxiously, "Stop! Let Old Man Rom go! He's with me!"
"I'm sorry, but I cannot comply."
Marcos looked at the unreasonable girl and said slowly, "Felt-sama has already declared that she has no intention of participating in the royal selection, so I have no reason to obey Felt-sama's orders. You yourself have given up the right to command us knights... Do you understand?"
"How troublesome. To put it simply, you mean you won't listen to what I say since I'm not participating in the royal selection, right?"
"You have grasped the main point of the words. That is indeed the case."
"...You're really infuriating."
The red-eyed, blonde-haired girl glanced at the giant elder who was being held down.
How could Felt watch Rom, who was more like family to her, be sentenced to death? The clever girl knew in just a few seconds how to change the situation and save Rom.
A grin spread across her face, and a mischievous smile floated up.
"I understand! I'll participate in the royal selection! All I have to do is aim to be king, right?!"
She shouted so loudly.
The sound clearly entered Zunzun's ears.
Success!
Although the process was tortuous, it was finally a success!
He clenched his fist.
Under his anticipation, Felt raised a hearty smile on her face and proclaimed so loudly.
"—I hate nobles, I hate knights, I hate the kingdom! Everyone in this room, and the stepping stones they're standing on, I hate everything! So I'm going to destroy everything!... How about that?"
The girl said in a cheerful tone.
The idea revealed was simple: this kingdom was a bit too urbanized.
Her attitude shocked the hall, and then it erupted, with shouts filling the palace hall. But standing in front of the crowd whose shouting was impressive, Felt wiped away her grievances in one breath.
"If I become king, I'm going to destroy everything, knock down those blind guys who can't see that the ground under their feet is about to collapse. I'm going to let this kingdom ventilate!"
As she cheerfully spoke, the hall only became more chaotic.
Accepting the unprecedented unreasonableness, the head of the Council of Sages nodded with great magnanimity and then threw the topic to the knight beside her.
"Your master is a person of strong character. Hearing what she just said, what do you think?"
"—Well, Felt-sama's words, unfortunately, are currently no different from dreams."
"What did you say!"
"But one day, Felt-sama's words will be conveyed to everyone. Until then, it is my duty to fully support her. That is how I see it."
Seeing Reinhard say this gently, Felt roughly grabbed her own blonde hair.
"In the end, are you a partner or an enemy? Which one?"
"I am a partner, exclusively yours."
"...Then I'll make good use of you."
Thus, the last pair of master and servant among the royal selection candidates also reported their names.
At this point, the royal selection ceremony should have ended... No, the beginning in another sense should have started. However, the elder of the Council of Sages, sitting in a high position, looked at the red-haired knight in front again.
"Reinhard, that matter..."
"Yes, that lord is waiting for a summons."
The Sword Saint said respectfully.
Zunzun, who was eavesdropping outside the door, also felt strange. He carefully searched his memories. Was there anyone else about to appear?
There wasn't.
Just as he was making this judgment—
"Please welcome the person outside the scope of discussion, Lord Zunzun!"
The palace door suddenly opened. Because Zunzun was in a posture of sticking his butt out to eavesdrop, he instinctively leaned forward when the unsupported door opened, about to fall to the ground and make a fool of himself... How could that be!?
At this moment, Zunzun took advantage of the situation to roll forward, not standing up, but rolling all the way to the front along the red carpet, then jumped up as if leaping and shouted loudly.
"—Surprise! M.F.!"
The palace hall fell into speechless silence.