Chapter 91 - Episode 7: "I Shall Simply Create Humans"
This is quite dire. I, Violia Nico Fortesia, am in a bind.
Right now, this country has fallen into a strange state where "the number of people who want to vote for Carol is increasing, yet they cannot vote for her"!
Due to the Royal Family's actions in trying to devastate the Settlement, the suspicion that "the Royal Family does not want people to vote for Carol" has become blatant. Therefore, it is now completely obvious to the populace that this Saint Selection is a scheme orchestrated by the Royal Family.
As a result, the other Saint candidates who want to win the popular vote are all desperately appealing with claims like, "I have absolutely no connection to the Royal Family!" It has taken on a most peculiar appearance.
...Even so, it is an undeniable fact that the most popular candidate among the people is Carol-san.
After all, she is a star of hope for the commoners, having made a great leap from the slave class to a Saint candidate. This time, the people have deeply empathized with how she is being oppressed by the Royal Family, and as a result, support for Carol has undoubtedly surged.
And yet! Because the Royal Family has clumsily played the role of the villain! The people who are oppressed by that evil! They are in a state of deadlock, unable to vote for Carol out of fear of the Royal Family's retaliation!
I never imagined the Royal Family would launch such a desperate, self-sacrificing attack. They are surprisingly clever...!
It makes me so incredibly angry!
"There's nothing we can do about this."
"Doran! You must not say such things! There must still be a way!"
"Even if you say that, with the Royal Family applying this much pressure, we're pretty much out of moves."
That may be true! That may be true! But I still cannot accept this!
I refuse to just take this lying down! To think that Carol won't get votes because of the Royal Family's pressure! We must absolutely overturn this situation!
"We simply need to make them not feel the Royal Family's pressure! Why don't we form a military organization under the pretext of protecting the people from the Royal Family's armed forces..."
"Do you really think we can do that with less than two weeks left? There are only six of us, even including Contraus. The rest are just adventurers from the Guild, right? We won't become a force that can rival all the Royal soldiers, and if we did, it would only justify the Royal Family's actions."
A sound argument! A perfectly sound argument!
It is precisely because of the current power balance that the public's resentment—the feeling that the Royal Family is bullying innocent commoners—is being maintained. If we were to show even a hint of 'intent to rebel against the Royal Family'... much less commit any criminal acts... then we would be labeled the 'villains'!
The fact that 'we are the victims' and the 'public resentment toward the Royal Family' are the last hopes remaining to us.
If we lose even that, Carol's entry into the Cathedral will truly become impossible...!
"The votes from those daredevils who don't fear Royal retaliation, and the intellectuals who understand that the Royal Family shouldn't be able to retaliate in the first place, will still come in. But that won't be enough votes."
"Exactly. In short, we win if the votes come in, but the problem is that the people who would cast those votes are all terrified... Those who aren't afraid are mostly nobles, and all the nobles are our enemies..."
We have focused our activities on making the commoners Carol's support base.
Since we gave up on the support of the nobles from the start, that decision has come back to haunt us. No, but there was nothing else we could have done...
We can probably manage to get the votes of the pioneers in the Settlement, but that alone won't be enough.
...We must think of a way to secure more votes somehow.
"I know. Then, why don't we just grab some guys who don't know anything about the Royal Family's threats?"
"Keeb. That won't work. Most of those people have already moved into the Settlement."
"Ah, right... what a pain."
People from the deep countryside wouldn't hesitate to vote for Carol since they wouldn't know the circumstances, but we've already gathered those people to build the Settlement. It's simply impossible to gather even more people from the deep countryside at this stage. At the very least, I don't think we can compensate for the lost votes that way.
"However, it is currently difficult to obtain votes from existing humans. As Keeb says, I don't think the idea of bringing in new personnel from somewhere else is bad."
"Then why don't we just bring people from the Kingdom of Windry? Like, 2,000 of them."
"We cannot transport that many, and there is no reason for the people of Windry to participate in the Saint Selection of the Kingdom of Orchesta. I believe it would be difficult."
"Can't we lure them with leaves? You know, like, one leaf if you vote for Carol."
"That would ruin Carol's reputation! Besides, if we brought that many people from Windry in a line, the commoners of Orchesta would likely react poorly to it."
"Ah, right... I'm not Keeb, but this really is a pain."
Hmm... as Doran says, it's difficult to turn the commoners of the Royal Capital or the large cities back toward Carol now. Therefore, I understand the need to procure new personnel.
But there are no personnel left anywhere...
"I was thinking."
"What is it?"
There, Chesta spoke up again.
"Does it have to be humans who vote?"
...Eh?
"N-Not humans... what do you mean by that?"
"Doran was able to vote, right? That means you don't have to be human to vote."
Chesta said this while looking at Doran. Come to think of it, Doran did say he had voted before...
"...That's true. As a werewolf, I was able to vote. It seems whether one is human or not doesn't matter."
"Right? Then why not just have our dragons vote?"
But this is where Chesta fails...
Dragons voting? That is impossible!
"No way, that wouldn't work. There are soldiers at the polling stations. They keep a visual watch, and anyone they find suspicious isn't even allowed inside. The reason slaves can't vote is because the soldiers stop them there. There's no way they'd let a dragon in."
Giovan rejected the idea before I could say anything. That was helpful.
"Can't we just break through by force?"
"If we do that, we become the aggressors. What do you think, My Lady? Do you want to take on that infamy?"
"...Let me think for a moment."
Perhaps I am losing my edge. I found myself somewhat attracted to Chesta's proposal.
However, if we were to break through by force, it would lead to a bad reputation for Carol. If that happens, it will be difficult for her to operate even after taking control of the Cathedral. Carol must manage a Cathedral that is perfectly defended by its own righteousness, so breaking through by force is out of the question. If Carol were to win after a forced entry at the polling stations, it would be obvious that her people voted illegally.
Furthermore, bribing the soldiers at the polling stations is also dangerous.
Paying money and revealing our vital secrets to the enemy is far too risky.
...But, there is room for consideration.
Not regarding the 'forced entry,' but regarding the point that 'one does not have to be human to vote.'
Indeed, that is true. As Chesta says, 'one can vote even if they are not human.'
In other words... if we don't use dragons, but instead kidnap a large number of suitable monsters and drop their blood onto the voting ballots, we can practically earn an infinite number of votes.
The point is, if we gather a large number of monsters with red blood, the only remaining problem is how to get them into the polling station.
If the same person enters the polling station over and over, the soldiers will eventually notice, so we must somehow change their faces, or perhaps use some kind of mask...
...
What caught my eye then was... Chesta's left arm.
His prosthetic arm.
"I have had a flash of inspiration."
"Oh. What did you think of, My Lady? Care to tell us?"
I feel myself trembling at my own terrifying brilliance.
The time has come; I shall announce this inspiration.
"If we lack humans, we shall simply create them."