Chapter 72
Voting.
The flower of democracy.
A value countless high schoolers transported to other worlds had tried to preach. It was an act that formed the foundation of liberal democracy, and the most advanced social system modern people could understand.
It was a justification for causing chaos in a shoddily constructed medieval fantasy world, and an argument one could boldly shout at an absolute monarch.
-Hey, you. By what right do you wear that crown?
-You madman. Behead him.
-Ah, this is called ‘voting.’ It’s an act that can bring down a barbaric tyrant like you.
-W-what did you say?
-You and I are equals. So let’s each cast one equal vote and compete fairly to decide who will lead this country! Therefore, you’re stripped of the throne!
-K-kraaaagh—!
-Amazing, high school boy…! So this is ‘freedom’! As a princess of this country, this is the first I’ve heard of the concept….
-Ah, you mean the freedom to have my baby. At this rate, our baby will never go hungry.
-Eek…! To say such things in front of your subjects…!
It was an invincible cheat that could more or less create a situation like that.
But unfortunately,
the concept of voting had already taken root in this world.
An advanced system found throughout the southern continent.
There were aristocratic republics governed through voting and assemblies, though only nobles could vote. And even at the academy, where the barriers between social classes were looser than elsewhere, the concept of voting existed.
Anyway, whether or not it was a setting needed to make the world function…
there were concepts scattered throughout the world that were far ahead of its social structure.
That was why cadets who first arrived at the academy were surprised.
Kingdom cadets who had gotten in on talent alone flinched as they looked at the paper in their hands. They had to take part in a system based on a concept they’d never heard of in their lives.
For example,
someone like Dominic, a descendant of a traditional noble house.
He stared at the white paper in shock.
“What? I’m supposed to write down the name of the student council president candidate I want to vote for?! Is such an impertinent thing really allowed?”
Then the senior overseeing the vote answered from beside him.
“Ah, this is called voting. In accordance with the academy’s founding ideals, built upon the convictions of the Hero Arien, everyone can cast one equal vote.”
“Then I’ll vote for the esteemed Lady Lydia!”
“Unfortunately, you can only choose one of the candidates listed on the ballot.”
Dominic asked,
“Is there anyone among them as dignified, strong, beautiful, and noble as Her Highness?”
“No. Young lion of Gallia. To begin with, there’s only one royal who enrolled at the academy. The Republic’s royal family is merely nominal, so none of them attend the academy, and the Theocracy has only the pope, elected by the cardinals.”
“Then I’ll vote for the esteemed Lady Lydia!”
“Your loyalty is admirable, but Her Highness Lydia did not register as a candidate for student council president. Choose from among them.”
Dominic asked,
“Is there a woman among them as captivating, noble, and graceful as a single lily, like Her Highness?”
“There is.”
“Who?”
“Lady Carla Driagh. She ranked first on an unofficial list of the ten most beautiful women at the academy, drawn up by last year’s freshmen. Her flowing pale amber hair is said to resemble a wheat field rippling across an entire plain.”
“….”
After a brief silence,
Dominic shook his head firmly.
“She’s too small! My eyes, opened by Her Highness Lydia, have grown wider than the sky and deeper than the sea!”
“…Young knight of Gallia. The moment I ask what you mean by that, I’ll have to accept a duel challenge from the Republic cadets, so I won’t ask. But a woman’s physical features have absolutely nothing to do with becoming student council president. So use your reason, not your instincts, when you vote.”
“Then I’ll vote for the esteemed Lady Lydia…!”
“Dominic, this conversation is going nowhere.”
Since so many cadets brought their personal convictions into the vote, it proceeded as a mere formality. In the end, the student council election became a peculiar event where ‘something was happening, but no one knew exactly what.’
So, aside from the reformists in the Kingdom of Gallia and the Republic cadets, most people simply relied on their feelings and intuition.
“Still, I don’t want to give it to the Republic.”
“I’m abstaining.”
After voting,
the cadets left the polling place with bemused expressions.
“Did the Kingdom of Gallia win?”
“Her Highness Lydia said in Swordsmanship Department class that whoever wanted the job would do it. She said it wasn’t a matter of anyone winning or losing.”
“Then did the Kingdom of Gallia lose?”
“Who knows? Since even Sir Lucian, a third-year, doesn’t seem to care much, maybe it’s an event that doesn’t offer much benefit to anyone except the Republic cadets.”
“Then did your Theocracy win?”
“If I challenge you to a duel right now, I might win.”
That was how it went for most cadets, who had little understanding of the rare custom known as ‘voting.’ For them, today was just a day off when they had to turn in one strange piece of paper.
So it was only natural that Lady Carla, who had the full support of the Republic cadets, was elected by an overwhelming margin.
*
The sun was sinking toward the horizon.
Lydia and the others were having dinner in a corner of a restaurant in the shopping district.
They’d been raking in money by clearing dungeons, so they weren’t short on cash. A table laden with delicious food stood before them.
“Gulp, gulp….”
In the middle of the meal,
Arti gulped down the drink in his hand. Then he paused and asked Lydia, who sat beside him, calmly eating her bread.
“…But is that all there is to it?”
“What do you mean?”
“Lady Carla picked such a fierce fight with you that I thought there’d be some grand event or something. But all we had to do was take turns going up and writing a name on a piece of paper….”
Arti tilted his head, then scratched it.
“I thought we’d be locked in fierce competition ahead of some incredible ordeal, like the Hero’s Exam. I was surprised there wasn’t much to it after all.”
“….”
The moment Carla’s name came up,
Morgan’s hand, which had been eating quietly beside them, stopped.
“….”
But Morgan resumed her meal, her expression still indifferent.
After giving her a brief glance,
Lydia tapped her chin with a finger and thought.
“….”
‘Normally, the Hero’s Exam is an event that happens next year, and the Black Temple hasn’t launched its full-scale invasion yet…. Actually, this is the biggest event at this point in the story.’
The Hero’s Exam incident.
Saintroix, and the trip to the western merchant guilds.
Those were events from the middle and later parts of the story that she’d dragged forward ahead of schedule.
Arti had reached the point where even the dull little early-game events inside the academy seemed unremarkable. Like a dopamine addict, he could only feel that something was ‘special’ on a battlefield soaked in blood and conflict.
‘He’s supposed to be overwhelmed by what happens inside the academy, according to the original story….’
If his horizons had broadened,
then you could say they had broadened.
Lydia gave a quiet laugh.
Then she tilted her glass and said,
“That’s how politics and power usually work. Unless things get extreme, those who have the consent of those around them use the rules that already exist to gradually climb higher. They also take advantage of the ignorance of those who never turn their attention toward power.”
“But it’s not like they never look toward it… There are plenty of noble cadets at the academy, aren’t there?”
“How many of them need an ornament of authority, like Lady Carla?”
“Hmm….”
Arti scratched his head.
“Anyway, it doesn’t seem worth fighting over. If they pick another fight, I’d like to pretend I didn’t notice. It feels like a losing proposition to play along with them.”
“Quite right. Unless you’ve suddenly been dragged into it, as I was, don’t let yourself be toyed with in that puppet show.”
“Haha, I’m not sure I’ll be able to tell.”
“You will. You already know that power and politics exist.”
That was where their conversation ended. Meanwhile, Mave and Aria were talking about something else.
“Is that really true?”
“Yes, I heard that if you use a preparation made with shadow wolf oil, your makeup won’t cake, and your skin will look paler than usual.”
“Hmm… I’ve been training hard lately, so I’ve gotten a bit of a tan. There’s a preparation like that?”
“Want to go look for it together sometime?”
Lydia heard them and looked at Morgan. Morgan noticed her gaze and met her eyes, too.
“….”
“….”
The two of them spoke with their eyes.
-Is that true?
-No. It’s probably a rumor, or they confused it with some other cosmetic. There’s no potion that can restore skin that’s already been tanned. You’d have to paint it white entirely.
-I see.
-Interested?
-No, I was just wondering if such a preparation existed.
-I’ll look into it sometime.
-No. I was only curious.
-All right, then.
Morgan focused on her meal again.
“….”
“….”
They didn’t want to crush Aria and Mave’s hopes for no reason.
Watching the women exchange glances and talk, Arti scratched his chin. It seemed like some sort of signal had passed between them, but he had no idea what it meant.
“….”
And then,
he understood.
Among women,
it was best not to act like you knew what was going on unless you wanted trouble….
‘…As long as Aria’s happy, that’s enough.’
He accepted that and moved on.
*
The next day.
Carla, who had become student council president, didn’t hold an inauguration ceremony.
No.
She couldn’t.
-What?! The young lady’s been kidnapped?!
“?!”
Carla had disappeared from her dormitory. Beside the door, wrenched open, lay a note announcing her kidnapping.