In the early morning of the election day, in the palace…

Straf nonchalantly enters the throne room with his hand in his pocket with a grin on his face.

「Hey, Lia, ready to find out what the people want?」

He asks as he approaches the throne steps.

「Ahh… Straf. Good morning… I am ready, but I am nervous.」

Her sleepy emerald eyes look at him, and she nods lightly in response.

「Why? I've got it all under control. Or is there some other reason?」

Straf shrugs, before raising his brows at Cycelia.

「Huh? No! It's just… I don't want something to suddenly go wrong on such an important day.」

She glances aside, tapping her fingers together.

「Relax, and start thinking about the sandy beach. You said there will be votes coming in from the sticks, right? When?」

Straf asks, nodding his head up at the throne.

「Ah… The first provincial votes should arrive in the late afternoon. The last ones should be here just before the sunset. I need to know the results by today, Straf. Ideally, when it's still early enough for me to announce them.」

Cycelia says with a serious face and concerned eyes, interlocking her fingers in her lap. Straf rolls his eyes and smirks at Cycelia as he sees her nervous expression.

「Got it. You're too tense, Lia. The voting starts soon, right?」

He asks with a confident smile. She takes a deep breath with her hand on her chest, and exhales.

「Yes, just after the first bell. That should be in 15 minutes or so, give or take.」

Cycelia calms down a little, and smiles softly at Straf as she nods her head.

「Alright. Get those votes delivered to my office, I'll be in front of the palace helping the will of the people manifest. Heh.」

Straf snaps his fingers and points at Cycelia, before turning around for the exit with a scoff.

「Mhm. I will be there in an hour or so as well.」

She nods, and twiddles her thumbs anxiously in her lap, looking at Straf's back with gently furrowed brows…

…

On the ground floor, Straf passes by two maids sweeping the floors and wiping the doors. They pause their work to glare at him, and he clicks his tongue.

「Tsk. You know it was another misunderstanding.」

He insists, pirouetting around as he continues for the palace exit without stopping. Straf shakes his head, and turns for the door hallway. Unusually, yet perhaps as expected, the plumed palace guards are swarming the path outside the door.

Though the citizens are only sparsely gathered at the front of the open palace gate right now, the heavy guard presence would not allow even the mildest of unrests.

「Hey, are the preparations done yet?」

Straf asks one of the plumed men near the gate.

「Minister Vindict! We're almost entirely ready, we are just tightening the security.」

The guard quickly salutes Straf as he reports.

「Riiight. Where's the urn?」

He asks, and the plumed man turns his head towards the mass of the palace guards.

「Right over there minister, in the center of the street. It might be hard to see right now due to all the guards…」

The palace guard steps closer to Straf, and points his armored hand to the center of the street leading to the palace.

「…And over there are the voting stands, with the stamps and the ink…」

「Uh-huh…」

The guard points his hand off to the side towards tables with enough space for three people to stand near. Each space separated by wooden boards into a sort of cubicle, in a very poor attempt to provide the votes with some secrecy, as the boards can very easily be peeked over.

「…And there we have the vote forms. We have men ready to hand them out, so nobody takes multiple.」

He points to another table with stacks of papers on top, and two plumed guards standing at each end.

「Uh-huh. Right, I ought to do something too…」

Straf nods his head, and walks towards the guards at the gate.

「'Scuse me! Out of my way, official business!」

He exclaims, shoving the plumed guards aside with his shoulder and arm. They give him dirty looks, until they realize who he is, at which point they turn their eyes back to the sparse crowd.

He pushes through, and walks straight towards the large, glass ballot box. A wooden top with a long, narrow slit covers it.

「Wow, huh… Either Lia is not expecting a large turnout, or she's completely clueless.」

Straf says to himself as he looks at the ballot box with his hand in his pocket, nodding a little. It resembles an empty terrarium, or a fish tank sans water or fish. The small crowd of citizenry is watching Straf with their arms crossed.

「Right. Let's get this out of the way…」

He says, and opens [Portable Storage] right next to the ballot box. He gives it a rough shove, and it flies straight in. The guards and the citizenry do a double-take, furrowing their brows heavily at the appearance of the vortex, and the disappearance of the ballot box.

「Hup.」

Straf vocalizes as the vortex rotates to be almost horizontal, and the rectangular container he crafted emerges slowly, dropping gently down onto the cobblestones with a hollow reverberating thud within.

Doonnnngggg… Gonnnnnnnnggg… Donnnngggggg… Gonnnnnnngggg…

The bell tower makes itself known as the morning bell tolls. With it, the small crowd walks up to the table with the voting forms, and they receive them one by one from the guards standing near. They head to the supposed voting stands, reading the papers.

「Ah, I almost forgot.」

Straf leans to the side of the new ballot box, and flips a switch with a loud click. Nothing else happens, and he contently slaps his hand down on the opaque container.

Within the voting stands, the first voters place their forms down on the desk, take the small, cylindrical stamp, and dip its tip in a shallow pool of liquid. They then press the still wet stamp tip on a red powder, and press the tip on the paper.

On the way to Straf's ballot box, they flash the stamped paper to an empty-handed man standing beside their path. He rubs his hands, and nods his head at them with a smile as they pass by. This repeats almost exactly the same with other voters, multiple times.

The first voter walks up to the ballot box, folds the paper in half, and slips it into the narrow slit on top.

Vrrrrrrrrrtttttt.

The ballot box makes a loud noise, causing some consternation as the man turns his head over his shoulder with a face of confusion, just as he was about to walk away. Straf waves him off dismissively with his hand, and he hesitantly continues onward.

The first voter walks back up to the man he flashed his vote to, and with a smile, he hands the voter a few silver drakes. They gratefully nod at each other, and the voter pockets his drakes with a grin as he walks away.

The next voter slips his vote in as well, and the ballot box makes the same noise.

Vrrrrrrrrrtttttttt.

With his brows furrowed, he walks away, glancing at the ballot box and Straf over his shoulder. He collects his drakes in the same manner, and leaves down the street. This continues for quite some time, with only a few people directly walking away without collecting any drakes.

Vvvrrrrrrrrrrrtttttt.

「Why did it make a sound like that?…」

One of the voters asks, pointing at the ballot box.

「It counted your vote.」

Straf declares, glaring at the man with his arms crossed,

「…How?」

The man asks, lightly shaking his head in confusion.

「It's magic. Stop asking.」

Straf bluntly demands, still glaring at the man. While he visibly still has more questions, he is too intimidated by Straf's attitude and leaves without asking them. For a few minutes, the voting continues in the same manner.

Then, a crowd of hooded men dressed in uniform red capes, armored like knights and armed with swords in their sheaths approach the gate. The palace guards break out into a mild panic, taking defensive positions with halberds in hand.

「Who are you!? What do you want!?」

One of the palace guards shouts at the cloaked men as they approach, clutching into his halberd. The crowd of voters skittishly makes way for them as they pass by, looking onto the caped men with nervous eyes.

「We are the Dragon Cult! We are here to do as the queen wishes!」

The knightly-looking man declares in response, as they stop a few paces away from the ballot box.

「…Dragon Cult?」 「Weren't they?…」

The declaration causes quite a confusion within the palace guards' ranks, as they mumble amongst themselves.

「Ah, I was wondering if you guys slipped and fell into the forgotten character hole. Where were you this whole time?」

Straf asks, leaning onto the ballot box with a bored face and a slanted mouth as he looks at the Dragon Cultists' apparent leader.

「We meet again… We were always here. We return to the ordinary citizenry when we are not needed.」

He approaches Straf, bowing his head politely with his hand on his shoulder.

「And you always arrive fashionably late when you are needed, huh? What are you doing here?」

Straf asks, smirking disdainfully at the man.

「We are here to do as the queen wants us to do. We intend to not allow the rulership to fall into wrong hands.」

The dragon cultist confidently declares, looking at Straf with eyes full of determination.

「You know that's pretty ironic, considering that she's about to hand off her power to someone else?」

Straf scoffs, grinning at the man.

「Mere men are to be ruled by dragons… The wisdom of dragon blood guides her, and so any decision that the queen makes is the right one. If she chooses to delegate power to a mere man, then he is the extension of her will.」

With a light shake of his hood-covered head, the cultist explains.

「Wow, convenient. But that doesn't really explain why you're here. You better not try to intimidate the voters.」

Straf threateningly points his finger at the man.

「We would never do something that would disrupt the process the queen envisioned. We are simply here to vote the way the queen wants us to. When will she come to cast her own vote?」

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

The man vehemently denies any election interference with a shake of his head.

「Hmmm… She said an hour or so, but that was an hour or so ago… Give it a few more minutes, I guess?」

Straf shrugs, scrunching his mouth to the side as he thinks. One of the plumed guards approaches Straf from behind.

「Minister… Are these men really the queen's allies? The men are saying that indeed something like the Dragon Cult-」

He asks, and Straf cuts him off.

「Yup, they are. They're not right in the head, but they're definitely on Lia's side.」 「Hey!」

Straf shrugs in response, glancing at the guard. The cultist leader protests the statement on their sanity.

「Uh… Understood.」

The palace guard nods his head, and walks back to the gate. He waves his arm high above his head at other guards, and their defensive stance relaxes. They return to their previous positions, and the murmuring crowd of citizens calms down as well.

「Now let… Heh… The will of the people be done, and fuck off. You're causing a traffic jam.」

Straf shoos the cultist with a wave of his hand, nodding his head at the buildup of the citizenry behind the caped men. The leader looks over his shoulder, and politely bows his head at Straf.

He gestures the rest of the cultists to follow with a wave of his arm, and they walk off to the side to no longer obstruct the people. The voting resumes as normal for a few minutes.

Vrrrrrrrttttttttt-

The ballot box makes its specific sound again, but then unexpectedly stops.

「Ah! Hold on…」

Straf exclaims, and lifts the lid from the container. He grabs the edge of the box, and opens [Portable Storage] right next to it. He lifts the whole ballot box, and starts shaking the contents out into the purple vortex.

「…Why is it all ribbons?」

The next voter in line asks, pointing at the paper ribbons falling out of the ballot box into Straf's [Portable Storage]. Straf loudly clicks his tongue and sighs.

「'Cause they've been counted!」

Thud!

He sets the empty ballot box down with a hollow thud, and places the lid back on top.

「Do you want your vote to be counted more than once!? Huh!? Do you want to rig the elections!? Got a little favorite you want to force into power!? Is that it!?」

Straf snarls in the man's face, glaring daggers at him with his hand in his pocket.

Vrrrrrrttt.

「N- No… Sorry…」

The panicked voter shakes his head as he throws his vote into the slit.

「Every vote counts! Now fuck off!」

He slaps the top of the ballot box angrily, and commands the voting man. He meekly and rapidly nods his head, and hastily walks away.

「Next!」

Straf declares, glaring at the next intimidated voter. For another 15 minutes or so, the voting proceeds smoothly, and some of the voters continue receiving drakes for showing their votes to men standing near the line.

「…The queen!」「Queen Cycelia!」「She's come to vote!」

The crowd starts shouting, causing Straf's eyebrow to rise. He looks over his shoulder, and indeed, Cycelia is walking towards the palace gate wearing her full regalia and crown, with the captain of the guard following by her side, and two more guards in front.

One of the guards handing out the voting forms rushes out towards Cycelia, and kneels before her holding the form out for her. She smiles awkwardly at the guard and the crowd watching, but ends up taking the form in her dainty hands.

「Queen Cycelia! We have come to do as you command!」

The cultist leader shouts her way as she approaches the voting stand.

「…Eh?」

Her confused emerald eyes blink at him, with an abashed smile on her face. She glances at Straf for some answers, but he shrugs with a slanted mouth while leaning on the ballot box.

「Tell us who to vote for!」

He requests, with his palm on his opposite shoulder. His men copy his stance. The queen's jaw drops in shock, as she stares at them frozen in confusion.

「Uh- No! That's not how it's supposed to work! Vote for whoever you want to!」

She replies, shaking her head and hands in front of herself with an awkward grin.

「We want to vote for your favorite, your highness! Please, tell us who it is!」

The cultist leader humbly bows his head as he repeats his request.

「Ah- Uh… That goes against what I intended this to be! If you wish to vote for my favorite, then pick who you think it might be in your heart!」

Cycelia explains with a smile and her index finger out. Straf scoffs in the background with a grin, shaking his head. The cultist leader nods his head, and turns around to approach his men. They circle around, and start discussing something amongst themselves.

「Ah! But without telling others who to vote for! You need to figure it out on your own!」

She adds as he notices the cultists bunch up, pointing her finger at her. They glance at each other, shrug, and approach the table with the forms. Cycelia stamps her form and holds it in half, then approaches the ballot box, smiling at Straf.

Just as she's about to throw her vote in, Straf grabs her hand.

「Eh!? Straf!?」

She blinks at him, awkwardly smiling at the unexpected turn of events. Straf takes her vote out of her hand, and throws it into his [Portable Storage].

「Straf! What are you doing?」

She asks, watching her vote disappear as the purple whirl shuts close.

「I'm going to count your vote separately, to absolutely make sure there's no mistake.」

He replies, confidently smirking at her as he leans on the ballot box.

《I'd feel a little bad about this otherwise.》

Straf thinks, still smirking.

「Ah… But… But won't you then know who I voted for?…」

She asks with a very meek body language, holding her hands close to her chest.

「Someone has to count the votes, Lia. It only depends whether or not you trust me to do that competently.」

He shrugs, looking Cycelia in her emerald eyes. She looks back at him in a brief silence, but then sighs and nods her head.

「…Very well then. I hope it all goes well.」

She nods one more time, and turns to head back for the palace.

「Hold on!… Do you know what the kingdom's population is, Lia?」

Straf calls out before she can leave.

「Hm? Well, I'm not certain about the exact number… The steward should have the records. Why?」

Cycelia asks, tilting her head slightly.

「Uh, tax purposes.」

Straf bluntly replies with a tight-lipped grimace.

「…I see. Well then, I'll see you later, Straf.」

She nods again with a smile, and departs for the palace. Before she passes the gate, she waves her hand to the people, who are ecstatic the queen gave them the time of her day.

After Cycelia departs, the voting continues until the crowd thins in the late afternoon, and the men handing out the drakes disappear…

…

In Straf's office, in the late afternoon…

With his boots on his desk, Straf is reclining in his chair.

Knock knock.

Somebody knocks on the door loudly from the hallway.

「Hello? I'm here to deliver the votes.」

The voice from beyond the door says.

「Yeah, come in.」

Straf replies, and a young man in leather armor with a sword at his hip enters.

「Is this the right place?」

「Yup.」

He asks, and Straf bluntly replies with a light nod of his head and a tight-lipped grimace.

「…Well then, here they are.」

Clunk.

He places a small wooden box wrapped up tight with a thin rope, and sealed with a red wax seal depicting a dragon spreading its wings where the lid and the container join.

「Could you sign this? It's the delivery confirmation…」

He asks, pulling out a folded up form from his satchel, bearing a stamp of the Adventurers' guild in the top right corner, and hands Straf a quill and an inkwell sealed with a cork.

「Hmmm… Sealed and unadulterated, huh?」

Straf skims the form and hums, looking at the small box. He shrugs, and sloppily writes Straf Katastrof Vindict on the signature line, handing the quill and paper back to the young man.

「Thank you, that's all from me…」

The adventurer says, bowing his head as he walks to the door, and shuts it behind himself.

「Riiiiiight. Bet this has at least a few villages' worth inside.」

Straf drops his boots to the ground and stands up. He opens [Portable Storage] and reaches inside, pulling out his legendary, ordinary iron sword.

Crrrk crrk crrk. Snap.

After sawing the cord binding the box for a short moment, it comes undone.

「Figures this piece of shit only serves well as an analogue to a letter opener…」

Straf grumbles at his legendary sword, and discards it back into the purple vortex. Additionally, he retrieves his ballot box from within, dropping gently onto the wooden flooring.

「Alright, let's see…」

He says to himself, and cracks the seal on the box. Peeking inside, Straf chortles.

「Wooow.」

He says, in a monotone voice with a grin on his face, and pulls out five folded papers.

「Must have been an entire village.」

He remarks, sitting back down in his chair, and starts unfolding them.

「Alright, who are these for?- Tsk.」

Straf clicks his tongue as soon as he sees the red stamp near the name Lily Hartman. He throws it into the ballot box with a disdainful slant to his mouth.

Vrrrrrrrrrtttttt.

「And the next one… Tsk.」

He clicks his tongue again when he sees the vote cast for Lily again, and throws it into the ballot box.

Vrrrrrrrt.

This continues, with Straf clicking his tongue each vote.

「It's a shame these fuckin' things are anonymous…」

Straf grumbles as he crosses his arms, waiting for another delivery.

Knock knock.

「Enter!」

Straf says, and a bulky adventurer comes to deliver another box. Straf signs his form, and opens the box with the sword again.

「If you tried hard enough, you could probably make a gacha out of this, hmm…」

Straf hums, looking aside as he breaks the seal. He looks inside the box, and grins with his brows furrowed in amusement.

「Wow. Whole two of them, huh? Let's see…」

Snickering, Straf unfolds the two votes from the box, and kicks it off his desk.

Thud!

「Wow. Both for the total war guy? That's something.」

Vrrrrrrrrrrt.

He shrugs his shoulders, and throws both of them into the ballot box. Waiting for another delivery, Straf rocks slowly in his chair.

「Oh. Yeah. Lia's vote.」

Straf's brows rise in realization, and he reaches into his [Portable Storage] for the folded up paper. He pulls it out, and unfolds it. With a grin, he chuckles, looking aside in great amusement.

「Ahhhh, Lia…」

He sighs, and looks at Cycelia's vote again.

「…Somehow, I am not surprised.」

He shakes his head with a grin, and throws the vote back into [Portable Storage]. The sparse deliveries of a handful of votes continue until the evening…