Yappy's bombastic negativity and bribery tactics were shocking to Koo Dae-sung, a democratic citizen.
"You see, how can I not be outraged by such open bribery?"
"Uh, well--- His Majesty said--──"
"His Majesty refused to intervene!"
Leon didn't particularly want a fair election.
If he'd thought about fair elections in the first place, he wouldn't have given people the right to vote based on status.
"No matter how you slice it, this is kind of ------
I can understand the negative strategy. It's not like they're making stuff up.
But blatant bribery like this------
"What?"
It was then. A beautiful gray-haired girl entered the campaign tent where dirty tricks were being practiced.
"Hey, Lord Yappy---!"
"Koo Dae-sung, Vulcanus."
"No, the Lord Yappy outside is------"
"Hologram."
'I didn't notice at all.'
Koo Dae-sung had suspected that the technology Yappy was hiding was beyond his imagination, and he was right.
"Why are you campaigning in a girl's body?"
She had the appearance of a beautiful girl with makeup, and her beauty was dazzling. Yappy, who usually claimed the body of an organism as inferior, was using the body of an organism he rarely brought out?
To Koo Dae-sung's innocent question, Yappy shrugged her shoulders.
"Organisms. Weak to the beautiful. More favorable to the pretty and cute than the ugly in the Organics' aesthetic standards."
"Ah------"
The answer was so canonical that he was at a loss for words.
"Lord Yakt Spinner!"
Vulcanus strode toward Yappy. The old man looked like he was about to punch him, but in his large palm was a smartphone.
"This is too much!"
"What?"
"You're portraying me as an unscrupulous bastard for a little looting!"
"It's true. And many of the comments are sympathetic."
"Looting the property of those who lost the war and putting it back in the family is not something everyone does to unify the country and boost morale!"
"I don't think so------"
Yappy rolled his eyes at Vulcanus' unconventionally medieval statement and denied it.
"I believe all property belongs to the TTG Temple and must be distributed justly."
"His Majesty disagrees!"
Vulcanus protests, saying he was only doing what was right, and Yappy has no intention of stopping the negatives.
With his logic ignored, Vulcanus attacks from another direction.
"Lord Spinner. What are these bribes?"
"Not bribes."
"Shameless!
Yappy lied without changing his expression. Is that iron-faced skin unchanged even after acquiring an organic body!?
"I'm just doing good deeds to support the welfare of the citizens."
"Hey, Sir Spinner, I can promise you, I'll do the same for the Man-At-Arms!"
"Lowly children are not eligible for welfare. Pfft!"
It's a dirty trick, but you can't deny it's effective!
Yappy promised votes by giving out luxury goods and gift certificates as an advance payment, and after the voting was over, he gave away the rights to make special weapons, eliminating any room for other people.
It was a tragedy caused by primitive voting, without the principles of democratic voting: secret ballots and no quid pro quo.
"This is not fair, Lord Spinner, and you will fail!"
Yappy replied calmly and coolly to Vulcanus' rant.
"Organisms do as they are told. Once we've achieved our utopia, that's it."
-Crackle, crackle, crackle!
-Chirp! Chirp!
Escorted by hundreds of chirps, Yappy left the tent confidently.
* * * * *
They say the point of having rules in a fight is to take advantage of the unwritten rules.
That's not necessarily wrong, but what if there were no rules at all?
Unlike modern democracies, which have spent over a hundred years building up forms and rules, and propping up the system with as few irregularities as possible, the Lionheart-style election, with its raw, unadulterated display of candidates' abilities, quickly descended into a quagmire.
-Don't leave the city in the hands of barbaric, greedy tin can thugs!
-Vulcanus, symbol number one, snapped at Petos, a man of no honor.
"Honor is everything! Humans should be ruled by humans only!"
"That sullen bastard is banning the very account he's bashing! Don't give in to such a dictator!"
-Vote!
"Vote!"
-For the right politics!
"For the right leaders!"
-Bulk! Bulk! Bulk! Bulk!
"Vulcanus! Vulcanus! Vulcanus!"
It was a muddy election campaign that mobilized primary-colored negativity and followers.
While the two candidates bisecting downtown Pyongyang tried to topple each other in a close race, there were two unlikely figures who became major players in the election.
First, the Holy Knight Koo Dae-sung.
He's a one-hundred-vote candidate himself, but he also has a large group of people who love him and follow him wholeheartedly.
These are the free people of Pyongyang Special City. Elves, dwarves, and tree men born from the World Tree.
Many of them know that Koo Dae-sung was responsible for their resurrection by squeezing the infinite life force out of them, so much so that they come to him for advice on who to vote for in this election.
Koo Dae-sung was perplexed and sent them back to choose their own candidates, but the free people who could vote still paid attention to his opinions, which gave both Yappy and Vulcanus reason to try to co-opt him.
And there was a man who had become an unexpected key card, if not as unexpected as Koo Dae-sung--─
"Worthy!"
[------]
Vulcanus found the campaign tent of Symbol #3, the Black Dragon.
Vulcanus came to see him, who had the support of the Nine Dragons, but was not getting much support from others.
[Worthy---]
The dragons frowned at the sight of Vulcanus and the other Knights of the Burning Sword, including Raihar, Galatan, and others.
[You mean we should give up the election and join your ranks!]
[You tin cans---! How dare you think of the pride of dragons!]
The dragons were indignant, but rationalized that the offer was worth accepting.
The situation is a one-sided onion battle between symbols 1 and 2. On the other hand, the only supporters of the Black Dragon were the dragons themselves.
Other freemen and knights could not easily rally to the fierce and intolerant dragons.
The best they could do was to fall in line behind one of the two candidates and propose a power-sharing plan in hopes of gaining the top spot in the election.
Even then, he would not be as decisive a kingmaker as Koo Dae-sung.
[Two hundred votes between all of us. That's what you're aiming for]
"Hmm, two hundred surface value, but perhaps there's more, like the over-the-counter votes that are now sleeping."
At Vulcanus' words, the Black Dragon guessed what he was thinking of.
[Karina, the Dragon God's Holy Knight said she wouldn't vote?]
"I don't know. Maybe I'll change her mind when I get there."
Karina had 100 votes. In this case, he can expect up to three hundred votes from the Black Dragon.
While Leon and Beatrice's royal pride would prevent them from voting, Karina is more open-minded than the first two.
"If you accept, I will create a position on the city council and prioritize your dragonborn."
[------]
Vulcanus' offer was tempting. An alliance was a must, at least given their current disadvantage.
-Crack! I'll take it.
Yappy made the same offer, and the Black Dragon's ransom rose to the sky.
[I can't help it, my first offspring, this time you'll have to learn from the bitter taste of defeat]
Even Dragonia urged the Black Dragon to join them.
But
But--- is it really okay?
"You seem troubled."
Karina smirked, noticing the Black Dragon's change of heart. She had been peeking in on the Black Dragon's campaign trail from time to time to see how things were going.
It had raised Vulcanus' suspicions of Karina's involvement in this election.
[Laughs.]
"Nah, crawling under one of them isn't a bad option."
[Are you insulting me?]
"It's just not realistic under the circumstances."
-Crr---!
The black dragon threatened Karina with its ferocious breath, but she was not one to back down at the mere sound of the young dragon's gnashing teeth.
"Well, I'm the Holy Knight of the dragon god. I can give you some advice."
[You dare?]
"Hah~"
Karina had always thought that arrogant races were not easy to deal with.
But now that he had such an enormous ego, he must be thinking of fighting even the gods.
"I was an emperor who ruled an empire, but I did not make a good politician."
Empress Karina Dragonia ruled by sheer force.
Bureaucrats and nobles obeyed her in fear, and she simply commanded them.
"I have my own idea of the ideal politician, and I'll let you listen to his advice if you want."
[------]
Needless to say, the politician Karina introduced him to was a bit of a surprise.
"So, you want a lesson?"
Leon looked down at his pupil, the one he had taught for half a year.
[How to---]
The Black Dragon was lost in thought as he watched Vulcanus and Yappy campaign.
He realized that he had no role to play in this game of biting and clawing, except as a trump card to give one side the upper hand.
[They are well-funded and, as much as I hate to admit it, more political than I am. And frankly, even if I were to accept their invitation---it's not a vote I can't flip.]
"------"
Leon felt that he had grown a lot by seeing the Black Dragon honestly admit his shortcomings.
Gone was the arrogant dragon with his ego, and now there was just a failed political novice with a sense of defeat.
"What an unexpected entertainment."
[I--- serious.]
"First scion of Dragonia. What made you think of politics, of taking up the office of mayor?"
[To honor the dragon and the name of the eponymous Dragonia.]
"You mean you needed the title simply for honor."
[Are you saying it's wrong?]
"Yes, it is wrong."
[Wrong for what?]
"Because you do not see the nature of politics."
Leon recognizes that this young dragon, for all its high pride, is an immature creature. But a dragon is a dragon.
Its intellect is vastly superior to that of a mere mortal, and it is an excellent student, able to recognize heat with little instruction.
"What is democracy?"
[Isn't it voting for elected officials?]
"Yes, the most successful political system on this planet."
Dragonia found Leon's frank appreciation surprising.
The lionhearted king before him possessed a pride that surpassed even dragons. A superhuman who proclaimed himself to be the chosen one of the gods and their representative.
It is surprising, even for the black dragon, that Leon, a living example of the divine right of kings, has a surprisingly favorable view on the system of democracy.
"The criminals vote amongst themselves to elect their representatives. The representative is a generalist, but he or she is so similar in his or her abilities that he or she will produce similar results no matter who you put in charge."
That may be the beauty of democracy. It doesn't fail very often.
"As long as you're representing people who are good at what they do out of the general population."
[Are there other problems?]
"The problem is that the generalists pay lip service to what they say, and then change their minds and reverse their policies based on party lines, based on factions, and based on the votes of their supporters."
Not to mention corruption. Things that would be unthinkable in Lionheart are done with impunity here.
"Lord Vulcanus, Lord Yappy, even you young dragons are not like the commoners. You were born superhuman and are beyond this world."
Therefore, there is no need for restrictions. There must be a yardstick.
"Sir Vulcanus and Sir Yappy are mistaken in thinking that this king has thrown up a veneer of democracy. Politics, after all, is something that must be done on its own terms."
Leon also had a few words of advice for the up-and-coming candidate who had come to him for advice.
"Tell them what kind of politics you want to do. Tell the people what you want to do, which can transcend public opinion and bribery."
That is the politics of the Iron Men.
Black Dragon pondered Leon's advice and returned to his campaign.
As the election approached, a three-way debate between the candidates for mayor of Pyongyang was announced, and the three candidates gathered in front of a crowd of less than a thousand people.
-Who will win, Lord Yappy, the man with the big guns?
-Sir Vulcanus is no slouch, with the Knights of the Flaming Sword and 600 votes to his name alone.
-Will Karina and Beatrice be joining us?
-Which candidate will the Black Dragon align with?
The citizens have naturally favored Vulcanus or Yappy as the next mayor during the campaign.
Candidate #3, the Black Dragon, only adds to the dragon votes and gives one candidate an advantage, but no one thought the Black Dragon could turn the tide.
"Then, Mr. Black Dragon, candidate number three, please tell us about your aspirations as a candidate for mayor of Pyongyang!"
As the moderator passed the baton, Black Dragon hesitated for a moment and looked to his left, then declared his true political aspirations, unlike the other two candidates, who were trying to rally votes by tearing each other down.
[I will do politics for the people.]