Witch, Fireball and the Evil God of Steam-Chapter 821 - 151: Opinion Poll

The celebration was in full swing.

Even the commoners of the Imperial Capital sensed something unusual about the project; there were no life-threatening goals like dragon hunting, nor did they need to climb mountains of blades or plunge into seas of fire. It wasn't like the past where they had to fight until their last breath just to earn a bit of the nobles' favor.

The project seemed so normal that everyone felt they could participate without getting hurt, as if...

As if it was truly for the celebration and blessings for the coming year, as the Third Princess had said.

But, wasn't this all too strange?

It was so strange that it felt unreal to them, like a pie falling from the sky and hitting their heads. Even more incredible was that, if they failed during the celebration, they wouldn't get hurt or die; they could even continue to enjoy the celebration.

In no time, the Third Princess became widely known among the people of the Imperial Capital, almost everyone was moved to tears by the Third Princess's kind deeds. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

This was the public opinion survey result Ethan received a day later.

There was no showmanship, no insincere parts, because the investigator was not an official, but Assassin Master Zophie, who had just participated in a sword-making contest before meeting with Ethan. The contest scene was lively, quite unlike any event previously held by the Royal Family that he had witnessed.

Participants and spectators alike fully enjoyed the festive atmosphere, without any tension, no life-or-death struggles. Regardless of victory or defeat, industry professionals and enthusiasts could sit together peacefully, discussing their experiences and skills.

The only blemish was that he didn't perform well in the first event he registered for, leaving the stage with the "outstanding achievement" of an early exit.

Legendary sword-making master Fei Zuo's crafting career ended there, he could imagine years later, when the people of the Imperial Capital talked about this past, they would sigh over his setbacks, all asking the same question:

"Who is Fei Zuo?"

This was his status in the field of sword-making.

Of course, Zophie never admits failure. Like now, he attributes his loss to the fact that he entered the contest merely to gauge public opinion, not with any intention to win. If he had shown his true skill...

"Is this fork your work?"

Ethan pulled out a report on the sword-making contest, with a photo of Zophie's work.

It was featured in the Imperial Capital Daily simply because Zophie happened to be matched against a seed contestant in the sword-making event, playing the role of the backdrop to the seed contestant's "crushing victory."

"This is not a fork."

Zophie had emphasized this to the judges not long ago, thinking the judges invited for this event were unprofessional for failing to recognize his masterpiece, "this is the Sea God's Trident."

Upon hearing this, Ethan examined the fork in the photo again.

He had heard of the Sea God's legend during his time on the Western Continent. If he were to judge Zophie's work from a fair and objective standpoint, separate from his acquaintance with Zophie, the critique would be "if the Sea God knew, he'd claw his way out of his grave to poke you twice."

"If it were the judging style of past years, you'd probably be a corpse by now."

Ethan, adhering to the principle of truth, reminded Zophie.

Zophie, maintaining his image as a cool and aloof man, managed to scoff despite crafting something not even amateur-level, as if he were the victor of the contest.

In his interactions with Zophie, Ethan had learned a lot from this Assassin Master, especially in awkward situations, where a scoff and silence without explanation might leave more room for others' imagination.

Zophie knew Ethan was speaking truthfully.

To be a failure is to have no value in existence; this has always been the ideology the Silver Radiance Empire instilled in the common people, where failure is always accompanied by punishment and deprivation, sometimes severe injury or even death. He grew up in such an environment until he met the hero and became part of the team that defeated the Demon King.

He once thought Solan was the one who could change this country.

After the journey of vanquishing the Demon King was completed, returning to the Imperial Capital, if someone like Solan could occupy a high position, perhaps he could truly bring some change to this decaying nation.

Yet reality proved he was still too naive, looking back now, Ilya had long reached an agreement with the empire's high-ranking officials. They understood Solan's personality, which is why they never intended to have Solan return to the Imperial Capital from the beginning. To perish along with the Demon King was the outcome the Royal Family most desired.

This celebration forced Zophie to confront the reality he had once compelled himself to cast aside.

This is the true living condition of the empire's people today.

Living in utter humility, a tiny favor from the Royal Family is enough to move them to tears.

"This is the reality you wanted me to see."

Zophie said.

He was part of the celebration just today, feeling the joy of the commoners. To them, it was like a beautiful dream, so wonderful that it engulfed every one of them, reluctant to wake up.

"So, what do you plan to do?"

Zophie quickly detached himself from this dream, pondering Ethan's intentions the whole way, yet never getting an answer, because in his view, the root of all problems lies with the Henry Royal Family and nobility; the only solution he could think of was to overturn all the nobles.