“Of course, as the queen, it is my job to make sure my successor is chosen properly. We people of Eris have our pride. A pride that we will pick the right person to rule us and as a queen I have decided to exercise my right to chose the trials and change the rules slightly.” The queen said.

The crowd remained silent. This was nothing new it was just the queen confirming the rumors that had been floating around for a while.

“That is why” The queen began to say

The crowd was waiting with bated breath to hear the change and Kotori could feel the tension

“There will only be one trial this year,” The queen said to the crowd

A loud murmur suddenly went up in the crowd. It was unheard of completely unheard of, what the queen was going. Usually, there were several queen trials, and the one who managed to win the most would win the throne.

Surprisingly there were few that voiced their complaint. It seems like the queen was a respected ruler and people trusted her judgment.

“The trial this year will be to see who can bring back the most valuable object from the Labyrinthos.”

The murmur in the crowd seemed to get even louder.

It was pretty public knowledge among the people that the Labyrinthos was a dangerous place and that entering too deeply might cost one’s life. The fact that this was the trial means it was sufficiently difficult.

Kotori was looking at the other candidate to judge their reaction.

Zacariah’s confident smile had faltered slightly but he quickly regained it. Mathias and Yenoba were pursing their lips and had a difficult expression. Ryla’s expression had no change and was still the intense look she had earlier.

“But!” The queen said.

The crowd quieted down once again to see what the queen had to say.

“This trial will be different than the other. The candidates will be allowed to sabotage each other… by what ever means necessary” The queen said giving a devious smile.

[Wait. Does she mean we can attack each other?] Kotori thought

“It is as you think!” The queen said as if reading Kotori’s mind

“The candidates can do whatever is necessary to win the crown once the trial begins. There will be a truce for the first day so that they can space from each other, but after that, anything goes. If a candidate somehow dies in those tunnels, well, then they were not fit to rule” The queen said coldly.

An icy mood filled the audience as they realized what the queen was implying. The “goal” of bringing back the most valuable item from the dungeon was a misnomer. What this trial truly should be called was a “battle royale”

The queen suddenly clapped her hands breaking the tension in the audience.

“Of course, candidates will still be protected until one day after the trial starts. It will begin in one week so candidates prepare themselves” The queen said.

She then bowed and walked off flank by several queens guards.

The murmur in the plaza grew once again as people began to wildly speculate about the outcome of the trials.

Kotori I realized that the podium and the voice amplifying crystal were still there. As if the queen had expected the candidates to say some parting words after her.

Kotori watched Zacariah walk up the Crystal.

“To my future people, I have nothing much to say other than the fact that I will win.” Zacariah then smiled and bowed, followed closely behind by Delia.

[Seriously that it?] Kotori thought after hearing Zacariah speak. It seemed like the crowd didn’t particularly care about the brevity of speech and was acting like it was common behavior.

In contrast, Mathias and Yenoba began to walk off apparently having no words that needed to be said.

Ryla on the other hand strode forward towards the crystal

“To “my” future people,” She started to say

“I will lead this country to higher heights than it has ever seen. Watch me and see for yourself who deserves to rule” She said boldly before walking off.

Suddenly Kotori realized she was the only one left on the podium and people were watching to see if she was going to speak. The crowd was already beginning to disperse and Kotori had to act fast.

[I’m not a public speaker!] Although Kotori could handle herself in front of a small group of people speaking to such a large crowd was something that she wasn’t sure she was going to do.

[Still, I have to do something!] She resolved herself.

Kotori walked up the crystal, her heart filled with anxiety, and began to speak.

“Hello,” She said softly.

The people who were leaving stopped and suddenly all the eyes on the plaza were on her. People were curious about Kotori who was a newcomer so there was even more attention placed on her than the other candidates.

“I know I don’t seem like much but I hope you all will be able to accept me. I come from a small village in Atlea, but I would say I am stronger than I look.”

[This is just like a job interview no?] Kotori realize. This was the first time the public would be getting a good look at her and they would be judging her based on her speech here. Kotori had done plenty of job interviews in her past life when she was starting her career and she imagined herself doing it once again.

“I’m not a royal-like the others so I’m not very good with the public speaking thing.” Kotori professed to the crowd.

“But, I have hopes dreams and aspirations like any other,” she said her voice gaining confidence.

“I want to create a country where everybody can smile, A country where children can play and not worry about their lives,” Kotori said her voice twinged in sadness and she thought about Delia’s life and her own. Several people in the crowd seemed to agree and nodded along.

Suddenly Hikari who was atop Kotori’s head began to move. Hikari once again put Kotori into her shiny magical girl outfit. The outfit sparkled in the midday sun and the mana crystals on the dress were dazzling to the eyes.

“So please, even if you don’t right now. I’m not noble or regal like the others, but at the very least I hope you understand that I wouldn’t be a bad ruler as well.”

“Thank you” Kotori finished while bowing deeply and walking back to her group.

She heard only silence as she walked back to her party.

[Did I mess up?] She thought.

Then suddenly she heard a lone clapping, it was soon followed by another, and then another until she heard a loud clapping sound behind her.

[Ah, It seems like I reached them] Kotori thought.

Kitsura

It's been a since I've done a longer chapter like this and by that I mean ~1200 words. ironically my older chapters used to be around this long but I found that writing 700-1000 words daily were a more reasonable pace than the daily 2,500-3000 word pace I gave myself when I first started writing this webnovel (At least it was good for churning out chapters).

 

Now I'm writing 3k daily. Youch