Time was a subtle thing. When you were struggling for the hardships of life, every minute and second would be torturous. However, every second and instant would be so deeply etched in your memory.
And when everything was on the right track, just like how a prince and princess would live a peaceful and beautiful life in a fairy tale, ordinary days would pass by like a chapter that nobody cared about.
The sixteen-year-old Roxia came to Eich by himself. He wasn't used to all sorts of situations and was treated like a newcomer. Everyone around him was filled with tolerance and expectations for this half-grown child. In fact, they even invested a tremendous amount of resources just to ensure his safety.
Five years had passed, and the youth had become a young man. Rorschach was now just over 20 years old. He was a veteran who had been a descender for five years.
People his age were already married and had children. In this generation, nobody would treat Rorschach as a child … except when he was in Aishi. Two days ago, a police officer had even asked him why he wasn't in primary school during school hours.
But when he was in Ansorenne, with his height and physique, as well as his handsome face, even strangers would treat Rorschach like an adult … as well as responsibility.
"Your Excellency Rorschach, Your Excellency Rorschach, please come here for a moment."
While the scene was in chaos, the rostrum on the stage was very calm. Apart from the guards who had taken action, the others did not react too excitedly.
Rorschach pursed his lips when he saw that the people on the stage were calling out to him. He more or less knew what he should do.
"You're holding a board of directors here to elect a new city lord? That's a little too fast. Zephyrus hasn't even closed his eyes yet. "
"Haha, you really know how to joke. Why would we do such a thing …?"
Wendill F. Gero laughed rather dryly. He was a high-level priest of a level 7 church, the Eagle Crown Church, as well as the vice chairman of the board of directors.
"… Even with you included, there aren't even more than half of the board of directors. How are you going to elect a new chairman? That's illegal."
Oh, one, two, three, four … eight. Including me, there's still one less. So you're really going to choose a new chairman on the spot just because there are enough people?
"Haha, I'm just joking. Don't you think it's funny?"
"Haha."
Rorschach opened his mouth and laughed twice. Once again, he was sure that he would never be able to understand this middle-aged man's sense of humor.
Wendill F. Gero was a powerful individual. He had a tall and muscular body under his golden robe. As a divine job class member, his kind smile always gave others an inexplicable good impression of him. He was very popular, powerful, and hardworking. If one had to find a flaw in him, it would be that his sense of humor was rather subtle … regrettable?
However, Rorschach did not know that the same evaluation had been hung on him all along.
The chaotic scene was quickly cleared up. The murderer was escorted away, and the corpse was also carried away. However, the originally lively scene cooled down.
Lord Karwenz had been assassinated, and his body had even been found hanging at the scene. Obviously, it wasn't time to continue with the celebration … so, there was no need to continue with the celebration. The remaining board members smiled and took a group photo together, saying a few words, and then the car drove off.
This huge project had long involved the lives and futures of at least hundreds of thousands of people in the city. How could it be stopped?
Assassinating a few people would stop such an important project? It was likely that even if the entire board of directors died, the churches would still send new people to take over the project.
Rorschach had obviously not been invited here to elect a new board member (city lord). After all, this position was quite delicate, and everyone knew that it would be impossible for him to stay in this position for long.
The murderer had shouted that he was from the Seymour people's freedom and liberation organization … but even if one thought about it with their knees, the Seymour people's lives were much better now than they had been in the wastelands. Nobody was forcing them to be cannon fodder, so it was still far from being free and independent.
"There's only one truth! The murderer is among us! "
Rorschach adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses. The uncles and aunties around him all had indifferent expressions. They were all used to this celebrity newbie's mysterious and indirect insanity.
Of course the murderer was among them. Would those who had no interest in assassinating such an annoying and unlucky person? Perhaps several families had hired a crazy killer at the same time. But, what did Rorschach mean by saying it out loud? Did he intend to fire at them?
Those who had ulterior motives mysteriously became nervous. They began to wonder if they had fallen into Rorschach's trap.
Rorschach fell silent when he saw what everyone else was thinking. The best way to make a joke was to make a joke that was so cold that no one in this world would understand.
"Heh heh, you really know how to joke."
Wendill actually laughed out loud. Everyone else thought that he was just saying something nice to ease the tension, but Rorschach's natural talent for honesty told Wendill that he really felt that this joke was a good one.
"… You really make me feel regretful."
Rorschach pulled out a chair and sat down. From now on, he was no longer a reporter who chased after news. Instead, he was a hot topic in the news. He was the youngest executive in Vila Nova Dônia, the representative of the Church of Games and E-Sports.
What was he doing here? He didn't need to do anything. All he needed to do was smile and take pictures for everyone.
Angry accusations and slandering each other could be left for tomorrow's professionals to do. Now, everyone was sitting together peacefully, putting on a show and smiling while being photographed. Other than showing their determination that "even if the mayor were to terminate our project, we would not stop", it also calmed the hearts of the people, showing that the board of directors was fearless and friendly with everyone, and everyone was united as one.
"… Sigh, he's so pitiful. Everyone knows that he's dead for sure. It's just that nobody warned him. Perhaps even his church has given up on this idiot."
Vila Nova Dônia's situation was rather special. The city lord was nothing more than a decoration. However, the board of directors were all truly powerful individuals.
It was worth mentioning that most city lords hadn't even been board members before they took up their positions. They were just cannon fodder that had been pushed up at the last minute.
The reason? It was because of that corpse. This position was far too sensitive. Even though the city lord didn't have the power to control his subordinates, he was still the highest-ranking official in name. He even had some power that represented limitless benefits.
Everyone's faces were all messed up, but they had already started attacking each other. This wasn't Ashisol, where a Main God was paying attention to. The strangely peaceful atmosphere was still maintained here. In this barren wasteland where there were no overseers, faith, mines, wealth, reputation, and population were all things that were worth fighting to the death for.
You're in our way, so go die.
You're actually siding with our enemy, so go die.
You're accepting bribes. According to the rules, that's a mining area under our jurisdiction.
You … Forget it, I'm too lazy to find an excuse. You have bad breath, so go die.
Vila Nova Dônia was a joint-stock company. It wasn't one vote per person, but rather one vote per share. Furthermore, the shares were divided very thinly, so the final votes would naturally be very scattered.
With more people, opinions would naturally be different, and it would be easier to bribe them.
Thus, it was very normal that if there were any changes, such as alliances or other diplomatic changes, the original city lord wouldn't be able to represent the voice of the largest shareholder.
Thus, the largest shareholder felt that it was time for a new election. Compared to the legal process of impeachment that might not succeed even after a few months, a peanut was much simpler.
Thus, whoever took up this position would die. It was very important, so everyone took turns to serve as cannon fodder.
The smarter ones would take the initiative to make mistakes after completing their tasks. They would find a few beautiful secretaries to have affairs and create scandals that would lead to early dismissal.
The truly unlucky ones usually didn't have any self-awareness. The reason why the previous (recently deceased) city lord died so quickly was probably because of his unusually irritating oratorical fetish.
Everyone was busy. It was enough for a puppet like him to know his own place. Did he really think that he was the boss? Wasn't he thinking too much?
The people on the rostrum had smiles on their faces, but they probably hoped that their competitors would die quickly.
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