Chapter 685
It had to be Eivass after all!
March 3rd, 12:00 PM noon.
In previous papal elections, this was the time the new Pope would be announced.
All Cardinals would vote amongst three candidates—the Saintess herself could be chosen as a candidate, but she had no voting rights.
After each round of voting, the three candidates would each select one of their “supporters” from those who voted for them to give a brief speech to garner more votes. The candidates could also choose to speak themselves.
After the speeches, another round of voting would commence until someone obtained more than two-thirds of the votes, thus receiving “absolute majority” approval.
With twenty-one Cardinals, 15 votes were needed; now that one was absent, 14 votes were required.
If, after thirty-three consecutive rounds of voting, no one still obtained an absolute majority, then the person who received the “relative majority” the most times during those thirty-three rounds would be elected.
At that point, a pure white beam of light, as if reaching to the heavens, would shoot up from the Second Ring, all the way to the sky—the Twenty-second Ring. Afterwards, the name, appearance, and basic information of the new Pope would be displayed on crystal screens on every level of the Holy Kingdom, letting people know that the Eternal Holy Kingdom had a new Eternal Pope.
—But this year’s situation was different.
Because the entire process of the papal election was being broadcast live… two hours prior, the Elves of the Holy Kingdom already knew who the next Pope would be.
In the third round of the election, Eivass Moriarty from Avalon had already obtained the absolute majority.
In the first two rounds of the election, there were still some “favor votes.” In other words, other Cardinals who were on good terms with these Cardinals would cast a few favor votes before voting seriously to let the other party know “someone still supports them.” This was also to prevent them from losing too embarrassingly—it would seem as if everyone was targeting them.
Because of this, Eivass only received six votes in the first round. But in the second round, he received thirteen votes, almost winning directly.
And in the third round of voting, Matilda gave a speech to rally votes for Eivass.
The gist was: “That’s enough.”
So in the third round, Eivass received seventeen votes.
Except for Fafnir and Galatea politely casting their votes for each other, everyone else cast their votes for Eivass. Eivass, in turn, cast his vote for Cardinal Fafnir.
The Holy Kingdom already knew the final election results at that time.
They had obtained a human acting Pope, who was only nineteen years old!
Nineteen years old… in a pure-blooded Elf family this age, a child might not even be literate yet. They would probably only grow to be half a meter tall, still in their carefree childhood, without having studied anything.
And at this age, Eivass had become the Eternal Pope!
…Although he was only an “acting Pope,” essentially a proxy for the Pure White Saintess.
But undoubtedly, this was still an admirable feat!
The Elves rejoiced—the assassination attempt on the Saintess and the human Pope, two pieces of news that together were enough to be discussed for days, adding a bit of spice to the Elves’ peaceful and boring lives.
Although there were types of Elves who disliked humans, they were usually extremists.
Since they already disliked humans, they naturally wouldn’t support Fafnir’s down-to-earth ideology of helping other races. Compared to Fafnir, supporting Eivass was better.
Similarly, Galatea was the most classically conservative. Simply put, they were the “old fuddy-duddies” most hated by the “Controlled Fire” faction, the group among Elves who most supported “inheritors being more noble.”
—Although Eivass was the one who killed Cardinal Loki himself. But he was at least a professional, which was much better than Galatea!
Perhaps by electing Eivass, a professional, the Holy Kingdom could continue to advance its professionalization process…
Such thoughts emerged in various parts of the Holy Kingdom.
The Elves were surprisingly quite accepting of this outcome.
Furthermore, they also felt the election process was very fair—since Eivass, the proxy appointed by the Saintess, was a human, if the other two electors were Elves, the election process would have seemed less fair and less pure.
Cardinals who favored Elven interests might blindly choose that Elf, while Cardinals who favored xenophilia might deliberately not choose that Elf. This would make it seem undignified, and the results might not be accepted.
But since all three candidates were races other than Elves, it was equivalent to fairness…
At this moment, in a tavern on the Second Ring.
A Dwarf, after finishing a jug of ice beer, smacked his lips and suddenly said, “I actually think it’s not bad to have Eivass in power.”
“Indeed.”
The Lizardman beside him, who was eating skewers, nodded in agreement. “It feels like whoever becomes Pope among the Cardinals would likely cause arguments.
“For example—I don’t want Cardinal Galatea to become Pope. If she became Pope, we probably wouldn’t be able to enter those two-tiered ruins anymore. If that’s the case, what’s the point of us adventurers?”
“Exactly. When I think about it carefully, it seems like no Cardinal can satisfy everyone.”
“Actually, the Saintess is the best. She is the fairest, without bias. But too bad the Saintess was suddenly attacked.”
“I know that poison! I have an Elf friend; she was petrified last month because Controlled Fire spread this poison, and now she has trouble walking…”
“Is Her Highness the Saintess alright?”
“She should be fine, the petrified range was very small. It looks like the diameter was less than three centimeters.”
“This just shows how good Her Highness’s mental state is usually!”
These short-lived races discussed the outcome.
And in the higher rings, the pure-blooded Elves held completely opposite views.
The Eighteenth Ring was essentially the “prison” of the entire Holy Kingdom.
But people in the Holy Kingdom didn’t like to imprison people, because then it would mean the criminals had done nothing, and they would need to be guarded. In the Holy Kingdom, everyone who violated taboos was utilized… if they were clergy, they would treat people for free; if they were Alchemists, they would synthesize alchemical potions. Even those who knew nothing could re-learn a craft and serve others.
At the same time, this was also the location of the “Decomposition Institute.”
For criminals who committed capital offenses, their flesh, bones, souls, and other elements were utilized to the maximum extent. Only then could they compensate for the losses and damage they caused to others and the entire Holy Kingdom.
Because of this, it was the most gloomy and coldest place in the entire Holy Kingdom.
Several Old Elves were drinking tea in the Decomposition Institute, commenting on the election results of this generation’s Eternal Pope:
“It’s better than letting that child Fafnir become Pope.”
“Yes, she’s a Black Dragon, naturally gloomy and tyrannical… Who can control her now? I feel sorry for her child. I’ve submitted two reports hoping to have that child raised by other Cardinals.”
“If Fafnir became Pope, the Holy Kingdom would turn into a construction team. If we give too much, and humans get used to it, then reducing help later would create enmity. Even if we help others, we shouldn’t help without limits.”
“It’s not just that problem. One reason I disagree with the Home Faction’s stance is—if all these projects were undertaken by us, being of good quality and low price, how would those humans become independent? This was originally a technology they needed to develop themselves.”
“Exactly! I’ve always said this is problematic. If humans get used to our help and find their own construction teams too expensive, what then? It’s like the Trolls in the south, they don’t develop planting techniques. Because in the Southern Continent, beans can grow everywhere just by scattering them, so they can eat as much as they want.”
“If we really want to help them, we can’t let them think these things come too easily. We should wait for decades, let them first understand the importance of these technologies. When they face a threshold, then guide them patiently and cultivate their own scholars to solve this problem—that is the way for the long term…”
(End of this chapter)
