The Eve
Frondier arrived in the capital, enveloped by the dusky scenery.
Wearing his mask beforehand, he went straight to find Lily, Arald, and Selena.
Having received his message, the three guided him to the lodging they had secured in the capital, and they were soon reunited.
“Good. Everyone’s wearing their masks.”
Everyone nodded at Frondier's words.
Although their hairstyles and physiques were recognizable, their faces were completely different.
“These are high-quality. Even up close, it's impossible to distinguish them from real faces.”
Arald remarked.
It seemed Colin, the merchant they dealt with, was as trustworthy as they came.
“Speaking of which, that Colin fellow, he's a member of the organization called ‘Nine,’ right?”
Frondier asked, glancing at the crow.
But the crow, which usually responded, was suddenly silent.
Flap—
All of a sudden, the crow took flight from beside Frondier, departing without a backward glance.
“……What was that?”
“Right. He's a member of Nine.”
The answer came from elsewhere.
When Frondier turned, there stood...
“……Gregory!”
It was Gregory.
Not the crow, but Gregory himself.
This was the first time since the business card incident that Gregory had appeared before Frondier in person.
“It’s been a while, Frondier.”
“How did you get here? No, I suppose it's only natural, isn't it?”
“Indeed. I have eyes everywhere. I merely followed your companions when they secured this lodging.”
“So you met them before me?”
At Frondier's words, everyone nodded.
Frondier let out a hollow laugh.
“Meeting my companions first. You've got guts. Especially with Selena around.”
“He's absolutely right.”
Selena nodded vigorously, as if in strong agreement.
She fixed Gregory with an icy glare.
“I almost stuck needles into each of his finger joints.”
“That’s a scary thing to say.”
“I still don't trust you. You endangered Master Frondier back in Constel.”
“Alright, alright. I'll do my best to earn your trust.”
Gregory held up his hands in surrender.
Indeed, he wasn't a fighter, so he wouldn’t even consider fighting Selena.
Gregory turned to Frondier, attempting to change the subject.
“Frondier, you accidentally mentioned my name in front of Elodie, remember? After that, I decided it was better to stay with you than move alone. This capital might turn into chaos soon.”
“……Yeah, you’re right.”
Frondier nodded.
The vote would begin the very next day. And the results would be announced immediately.
“But how can they announce the results right away? Shouldn’t the count take time?”
“Well, about that. It seems they're not counting manually.”
“……You mean with magic tools?”
Arald nodded.
“I hear a reader will automatically tally the votes. So theoretically, we could see who’s getting how many votes in real-time, but this time they're not showing the live vote count, only the final result.”
“……That’s… something.”
Frondier frowned at the method.
Arald shared his sentiment.
“It seems unlikely that everyone will accept the results gracefully.”
“You can say that again.”
In Frondier’s experience, the more important the issue, the less people trusted machines.
Especially in the case of a vote that determined such a crucial matter, they preferred to handle things manually if possible.
Machines didn’t make mistakes, but the people who operated them did.
Even if there were errors in a manual count, it would only be a difference of a few votes. But mishandling a machine could completely overturn the result.
Moreover, it was easy to suspect that such an error wasn’t a mistake but intentional manipulation.
Even when everything was done manually, it was difficult to avoid suspicion in an election. So why suddenly introduce magic tools?
“It’s almost as if they’re hoping for a backlash.”
It was as if they were trying to incite the aftermath of the result rather than the result itself being important.
Gregory nodded.
“That’s probably right. I heard that the one who proposed it was Lupina, who received Aphrodite's divine power.”
“So it was Aphrodite's suggestion. By the way, did you tell everyone that information?”
The information that Aphrodite wasn’t a devil, but the real Aphrodite. Gregory nodded.
Lily tilted her head, asking,
“But it’s really hard to believe. Is there really an Aphrodite? Here, in this capital?”
“I find it hard to believe too, but Poseidon, who knows nothing about the situation, said so himself.”
Poseidon might have lied, but there was no reason for him to do so yet. Besides, if he had suffered the same injury as Poseidon, Aphrodite wouldn’t be able to leave the capital even if she wanted to.
“I'd love to see her once. Aphrodite is the Goddess of Beauty, right? What does she look like? How beautiful is she, and what about her figure?"
Lily asked, her voice tinged with excitement.
She was quite confident in her own appearance and loved men, so she seemed quite interested in Aphrodite, the so-called Goddess of Beauty.
Hearing her words, Frondier fell into thought.
He suddenly spoke as if realizing something.
“……Right. Aphrodite must be incredibly beautiful, right?”
Selena looked at Frondier.
“Are you interested as well, Master Frondier?”
“Somehow, the look in your eyes when you looked at Gregory just now and the look you’re giving me now are similar.”
“That's absurd. So, are you interested?”
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