Crusch's words were bold to the point of arrogance, like she was overestimating herself—but her declaration also showed just how dissatisfied she was with the Dragon.
Even though Crusch possessed the "Wind Reading" Blessing that let her see through lies, she was unbelievably dense when it came to emotions.
It wasn't until a certain prince died that she realized he'd actually liked her.
Now that all members of the royal family—including that prince—had died of plague, and the Dragon supposedly protecting Lugnica's royal line never appeared once… Crusch had come to the conclusion that the Dragon's existence was meaningless.
If the Dragon wouldn't uphold the covenant and protect Lugnica like it was supposed to, what was the point of depending on it?
Since they couldn't place any hope in the Dragon, then humans could only change reality with their own strength.
That was why Crusch declared she would dissolve the Dragon covenant.
And she actually had quite a lot of support for that stance.
Once Crusch finished stating her ideal for the Royal Selection, Marcos continued to preside.
"Next, we have the representative of Hoshin Company—Anastasia-sama—and her knight, Julius Juukulius."
At that, the violet-haired girl in a white dress, wrapped in a white cape and wearing a round white cap, smiled slightly.
"I'm a greedy person, y'see. Because I want everything, just the business Hoshin Company does isn't enough for me anymore. So now I want a country of my own."
"If I have my own nation, then I can do even bigger business, and get even more wealth and resources."
It was true enough—if she became king, Anastasia would gain far more power.
Hoshin Company could grow and grow, expanding into other nations, maybe even across the entire world.
But a country driven purely by commerce would definitely develop its own problems.
And nobles, deep down, were always arrogant. They looked down on merchants even while craving the wealth merchants brought them.
They just wanted merchants to become tools to pile up riches for them, so they could sit back and enjoy life.
Anastasia might be fine as a merchant, but as the ruler of an entire kingdom… she was still too green.
Her mercenaries were mostly demi-humans; if she organized them all into a proper army, they'd be a formidable force.
But no matter how strong they got, they still couldn't compare to the Sword Saint.
Marcos kept the meeting moving.
"Then next—Felt-sama, and her knight, Reinhard van Astrea…"
Felt planted her fists on her hips and swept a sharp gaze across everyone there.
"I hate nobles. I hate the sages. And I hate this country."
"So once I become king, I'm kicking all of you out and giving this whole place a proper shake-up."
The nobles' faces darkened at once.
Miklotov stroked his beard and muttered, "What a brutal young lady…"
Marcos didn't flinch and continued.
"Royal candidate Emilia-sama, and her sponsor, the Border Earl Roswaal."
Emilia pressed a hand over her chest and spoke earnestly.
"There's only one thing I want—and that's fairness. When I become king, I want to eliminate everyone's prejudices and create a country where all people are treated fairly."
It was a bit too idealistic, but not exactly wrong.
Who doesn't want fairness?
But the world simply isn't fair.
Children of commoners are born as commoners.
Children of nobles are born noble.
Just being born with a "good background" let you start miles ahead, with access to all kinds of resources.
A truly equal country doesn't exist. It's an impossible utopia.
If everyone were truly equal, people might even lose the motivation to strive for anything.
In reality, Emilia's words didn't mean she literally wanted to build that perfect utopia.
She just instinctively wanted to change the prejudice that had followed her her whole life as a half-elf.
What surprised Hayashi Maki was that the few sages who obviously didn't like Emilia—those who kept throwing her dirty looks—didn't voice any objections on the spot.
That was new.
His arrival here had turned into a butterfly flapping its wings, altering things in his favor.
The strong don't panic, no matter what happens. Hayashi Maki was now strong enough that everything tilted toward him.
After all, he didn't care who actually ended up king.
His real goal was to form contracts with all five royal candidates—then he'd be the one who won the most.
And with him acting as a bridge, those five girls might even end up governing the country together.
He'd stand as the priest of the Axis Church, turning it into the only religion in this world.
As for the Witch Cult? Naturally, it was getting replaced.
Once Emilia finished speaking, Marcos solemnly announced:
"Then I hereby declare—the Royal Selection of Lugnica is officially underway. Candidates, show the realm what you are capable of."
With that, the formal part of the Royal Selection came to an end.
Everyone began drifting back to their own factions.
Hayashi Maki felt a little disappointed.
He'd been hoping for a chance to show off his strength, but nothing of the sort happened.
Not that it really mattered.
There'd be opportunities later.
On the way back in the dragon carriage, Hayashi Maki gave Emilia a thumbs-up.
"You did great up there, Emilia."
"Hehe, I don't know about that… I was really nervous. I just… managed to get through it because you were there supporting me."
"Of course. I'm your knight—if I don't back you, who am I supposed to back?"
"Anyway, we've got some time now—let's go check how Aqua's doing."
"O-okay."
Before heading to the castle, Hayashi Maki had already arranged for Aqua to go "promote the Axis Church."
It wasn't hard.
He had Aqua take Ram and Rem and set up a free clinic in the city. All Aqua had to do was sit there as the goddess's representative, healing people and lifting curses as needed.
To boost her name recognition, Hayashi Maki also instructed Meili, the little beast-tamer loli, to send out waves of controlled magical beasts to bite people.
Of course, the curses from those bites weren't lethal—they just drained mana and made people feel exhausted.
Then Aqua simply had to play the high priestess, healing people for free and preaching Axis teachings as she went.
When Hayashi Maki and Emilia reached the square, the place was already packed.
Aqua sat there looking uncharacteristically divine as she healed the folks lined up in front of her.
Everyone watched her with hopeful, glowing eyes.
Free treatment will do that.
But halfway through the event, the Royal Guard showed up and surrounded the area.
At their head was none other than the "finest knight," Julius Juukulius.
"Well, if it isn't Sir Julius. What brings you here?" Hayashi Maki walked forward with Emilia at his side.
Julius blinked when he saw him.
He bowed lightly to Emilia first. "Emilia-sama. Hayashi Maki. I came here after receiving a report from concerned citizens—someone said there might be Witch Cult activity in this district, so we came to investigate."
"May I ask… is this event under your direction?"
"That's right, we're in charge here." Hayashi Maki smiled and nodded.
"Allow me to introduce myself properly—I am Hayashi Maki, High Priest of the Axis Church."
"We're here holding a free clinic in the name of the goddess. If any of the knights have aches or injuries, you're welcome to get in line too."