Chapter 232: The Questioning!
Which was more terrifying—the Witch of Envy or Torajirou Shiro?
Before this meeting began, everyone here would have answered without hesitation that the Witch of Envy was far more terrifying.
After all, she had devoured more than half the world.
It had taken the combined efforts of the First Sword Saint, the Divine Dragon, and the Sage just to seal her away.
How could Shiro, who was merely holding everyone in this hall hostage, possibly compare?
However—
When the threat of death was placed directly before them, they finally understood something.
Legends were ultimately only legends.
Even if the Witch of Envy were ten thousand times more terrifying than the stories claimed, she was not currently holding a blade against their throats and asking which of them was scarier.
Enduring the sweltering heat filling the hall while facing the certainty of approaching death, most of them could no longer even speak.
A suffocating heaviness settled over the chamber.
It was so quiet that everyone could hear their own heartbeat.
Time itself seemed to slow beneath the pressure.
Even breathing became cautious.
After all, no one knew whether the breath they were taking now might be their last.
Their hearts could stop beating in the very next second.
Seeing that he had achieved the effect he wanted, Shiro released Bordeaux from the pressure of fate.
"Hah... Hah... What is the meaning of this...?"
Having finally escaped the threat of death, Bordeaux greedily sucked in huge breaths of air.
That suffocating sensation had nearly broken even a veteran like him, someone who had survived countless battles.
And that was only natural.
Bordeaux might have nearly been killed by demi-human soldiers on the battlefield before—But "nearly" was still only "nearly."
Unless someone had truly died once, they could never understand just how terrifying death became when it genuinely came to claim them.
The only reason Bordeaux could still question Shiro now was because decades of battlefield experience had hardened his mind.
As for the pampered nobles whose wills had never been tested—
Many of them would probably suffer severe psychological trauma toward Shiro after today.
"I'm simply making all of you see your own weakness."
Shiro casually answered Bordeaux while returning the Yang Sword to the void.
"Weakness?"
Bordeaux stared at him with wide eyes, as though unable to believe what he had heard.
"Since the founding of the Dragon Kingdom of Lugunica, we have never forgotten the lessons of our ancestors!"
"Tens of thousands of soldiers have died defending this kingdom!"
"How can you possibly call us weak?!"
"Hah."
Shiro sneered.
"Then that only proves all the people in Lugunica with any backbone already died off, leaving people like you to climb into your current positions."
"If there are really still so many people willing to die for this kingdom, like you claim..."
"Why has nobody stepped forward to challenge me yet?"
"That's because—"
"Because you think you'd die for nothing?"
Shiro raised an eyebrow, mockery visible on his face.
"You don't even have the courage to try."
"So what evidence do you have that stepping forward would mean dying for nothing?"
"Just the instincts of your soldiers?"
Bordeaux's aged face instantly flushed red.
For veterans who had spent years fighting on battlefields, ominous instincts like those were almost guaranteed to come true.
Many soldiers had survived precisely because they trusted those instincts.
But Shiro gave him no opportunity to argue.
Just as he said—If nobody tried, how could anyone prove that stepping forward would truly mean certain death?
Ignoring Bordeaux's face, now red as a boiled lobster, Shiro swept his golden eyes across the terrified crowd.
Then he pressed his advantage.
"You want to prove that you're not weak?"
"Fine."
"I'll say it again."
"One-on-one or all of you together, I don't care."
"If anyone wants to stop the 'half-devil' you keep talking about from participating in the Royal Selection..."
"If anyone wants to defend the honor of Lugunica..."
"Then step forward right now!"
By the end, an overwhelming aura erupted from Shiro.
The pressure made everyone present struggle to breathe.
Of course—The Royal Guard was hardly lacking in fearless warriors.
However...
"Ferris, do not interfere."
"This is a knight defending the dignity of his king."
"Ugh... Even if Lady Crusch didn't tell Ferri-chan, Ferri-chan has no intention of volunteering to die, nya."
"Julius."
"You know I hate businesses that only lose money, don't ya?"
"Understood, Lady Anastasia."
"Hey, Reinhard."
"You're only allowed to watch."
"Don't interfere!"
"Yes."
Crusch and Anastasia each stopped Felix and Julius, who had begun showing signs of stepping forward.
Even Reinhard, the strongest knight present, could only remain where he stood because of Felt's order.
Priscilla and Al, meanwhile, had absolutely no intention of acting.
They simply stood there with the attitude of spectators watching an entertaining show.
That left everyone else trapped in a dilemma.
If they stepped forward—They would merely die for nothing.
Not only would it accomplish nothing, it might even crush everyone else's morale.
But if they refused—They would prove Shiro's accusation of weakness correct.
The hall fell into a stalemate.
"There's a saying from my homeland."
"'Once bitten by a snake, you fear even a rope for ten years.'"
Shiro waited several minutes.
When nobody dared step forward, he finally nodded and continued.
"I can't think of a better sentence to describe all of you right now."
"Four hundred years ago, a silver-haired half-elf you call the Witch of Envy devoured more than half the world."
"So even today, you remain terrified of silver-haired half-elves."
"Because silver-haired half-elves are so rare, you can use your numbers against them."
"But what happens next?"
"If some demi-human race devours the world in the future, will you restart the Demi-Human War because of it?"
"If a human inherits the Witch of Envy's legacy, will all of you become so ashamed of being human that you immediately kill yourselves?"
"Or will you simply choose the next group to discriminate against based on that person's hair color and appearance?"
Ultimately—Why did they dare target Emilia so openly?
Because there were almost no other people in the world who shared the trait of being silver-haired half-elves.
Humans were inherently exclusionary creatures.
If the Witch of Envy had possessed the appearance of an ordinary human, discrimination toward demi-humans would probably still exist.
But Emilia's treatment would never have become this extreme.
Shiro took a deep breath and gave his final conclusion.
"I know words alone won't suddenly make all of you accept Emilia's participation in the Royal Selection."
"So if, even after hearing all of this, you still believe Emilia is somehow connected to the Witch of Envy and refuse to accept her candidacy..."
"Then come try to defeat me."
Shiro paused.
"Though I doubt someone willing to do that would care about something as insignificant as a person merely looking like the Witch of Envy."
With that—He glanced toward Reinhard, then took the hand of Emilia, who looked as though she might burst into tears at any moment, and led her back into formation.
The moment Shiro released the fate pressing down upon everyone—The entire hall seemed to become lighter.
Then—Like falling dominoes, people collapsed one after another onto the floor.
For a long time...
Nobody managed to recover.
…
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