Chapter 169 The Grand Debate 1
2 weeks later
CRACK
Inside the room rented by Olfax to facilitate Daneel's training, the King of Lanthanor opened his eyes while a wide grin spread across his lips.
The sound had come both from the Ker Gem cracking in the hands of his clone which sat beside him training.
Without hesitation, Daneel ordered the system to dissolve the clone and absorb its energy, following which the familiar stream shot into him with blinding speed.
A second CRACK resounded in the room, but it was only audible to Daneel.
Indeed, as he breathed in deeply while relishing in the feeling of taking a leap forward in strength, Daneel couldn't help but laugh to himself as he realized that he was already a 6th Grade Human Mage and Fighter.
Indeed, he was just a step away from the level which was currently the peak in Lanthanor.
Over one and a half months of frantic absorption using Ker Gems had given this result, and although his supply of gems was already dwindling, Daneel felt that it was worth it.
If the news that the King of Lanthanor was a 16-year old peak Eminent Human Mage AND Fighter got out, it would definitely cause a stir in the entirety of Angaria.
Getting up, Daneel brushed off the dust that had accumulated before looking out to see that it was already midnight.
Feeling happy that the breakthrough had come at such an auspicious time, he smiled even wider before once more going over the plan which would unfold tomorrow to put Eldra on the throne.
Climbing into his bed, he fell asleep to the now familiar dreams of dragons and castles and princesses.
…..
The next day.
In a large clearing in the outskirts of Elfaven, a massive stage had recently been put up which was currently under guard by numerous soldiers who were patrolling the surroundings while making sure to stop any and all trespassers from entering the area.
In the election process of Eldinor, there were two main dates for people to remember: one was the voting and result announcement day which was 2 weeks away, while the other was today-the occasion of the Grand Debate.
Over the weeks and months leading up to the election, each and every candidate had done their best to host as many campaigns and rallies as possible to get their message out to sway the votes towards them.
All of these activities had to be funded by themselves, which was actually the reason why only individuals with rich backing even took part in the elections unless they were special individuals who chose not to engage in campaigning even if they had nominated themselves to stand in the elections.
The one exception was the Grand Debate. 2 weeks away from the final voting day, the government would arrange a gathering where all the candidates would be given a chance to increase their chances of winning by both giving heartfelt speeches and debating with their fellow contestants.
Over the decades, there had been many instances where a single wrong remark said by a contestant in the heat of the moment resulted in their loss even if the predictions up until then showed that they would win.
Thus, no matter what the condition was up until this day, it was said that the Grand Debate was the true moment when the next ruler of Eldinor would be decided.
As such, it was compulsory for all those who dropped a nomination to attend the Grand Debate. This practice had come into place to detract people from idly nominating themselves and ignoring all public forums, essentially wasting the time of the government who allotted security and also had to make voting trinkets for each participant.
The list of candidates was public, hence everyone knew that the news that the daughter of the former queen who was currently facing the wrath of the elves was standing in the elections was true.
Of course, there had been no campaigning or advertisements during these crucial two weeks in which almost each and every elf had been bombarded with repeated messages regarding each contestant.
The ones with the most wrath were the parents of the elves who had gone missing.
Indeed, there were multiple families who knew very well that their children were abducted, but could do nothing about it with their limited power. The government, of course, worked as hard as it could to locate their children, but it was a known fact that it was nigh impossible to extract an elf child from the clutches of slavers.
Due to their higher potential, the birth rate of elves was comparatively low when compared to humans. Thus, each and every elf child born was cherished as a gift from the gods.
This only made the pain of loss greater.
The time of the debate was set to noon, but people had started to trickle since the wee hours of the morning.
No weapons or trinkets were allowed into the area, so each and every elf and human who attended the debate were checked thoroughly.
Indeed, although humans had no voting rights, they were still allowed to spectate the Grand Debate.
Thus, posing as commoners, Kellor and Olfax made their way into the crowd holding a bag in their hands after being checked thoroughly by the soldiers.
Looking around, Kellor couldn't help but sigh seeing the pent-up anger evident in the expressions of many of the elves around him.
The crime of enslaving the children of one's race had a singular power to unite all those of that race, regardless of whether they were personally affected or not.
Exactly like in Lanthanor where the crowds had united after seeing the state of those whose lives were destroyed by the nobility and fearing that they would share the same fate, the elves became one in the face of someone who had committed such a horrific act.
So far, although they knew of this horror, they had not had a face to attach it to.
Now that they did, all the feelings that had been suppressed for many years erupted out, ready to devour the individual even if she wasn't responsible for everything that had happened over the years.
Such was the power of the terrific weapon unleashed by the former Queen which had paved her way to victory.
At around 11:30 am, the former Queen made her way over to the stage amidst cheers such as "We need you back!", "Reelect Queen Eldara!" And "Nation over Family!"
At around 11:45 am, the rest of the contestants reached the stage with a few scattered cheers which showcased their already dwindled support.
Of these contestants, the one who got the most cheers was a wizened Elf with long, silver hair that cascaded down to her back.
Although her body still looked like it was at the peak of fitness, her age was evident in her face which had multiple wrinkles that actually gave her an air of experience.
Her name was Katerina.
As a retired soldier, Katerina had heard multiple rumors in the army regarding the Queen's foul ways. In fact, she was one of the few apart from Eldra who had the most information regarding the Queen's desire for power.
This knowledge primarily came from serving under her as a commander. As an astute judge of character, Katerina had been shocked when she found out that the Queen was not the saint the elves thought she was.
Alas, all she had were rumors without proof and a dream to serve her own people which had led her to contesting in the elections each time.
As an upright individual, her pride did not allow her to make use of the rumors in any way unless she found concrete proof. Due to the Queen's caution, she had yet to find any.
Thus, Katerina had been standing against the Queen as her top contender for 20 years.
This year, due to her managing to uncover a few instances of corruption in the government which although did not incriminate the Queen, she had made people realize that she wasn't perfect.
Using this momentum and the advantage that she could spend so much more time campaigning than the Queen who had to take care of the Kingdom, Katerina had managed to obtain a solid following which she thought would carry her to the throne.
Yet, all that had been upended due to the news of the slavery which brought sympathy for the Queen.
Now, as she made her way to the dias, she found herself wishing there was someone or something which would wipe that gloating smirk off the former Queen's face, which showcased her confidence that the election was already hers to win.