Warhammer 40: Shattered Steel Soul

Chapter 25 Pick one out of ten
The forehead of the one who will wear the iron crown is decorated with silver rings like crowns.

The silver ring was gorgeous and exquisite, but it only made Perturabo feel that the value of the craftsmen who forged it for him was compromised.

"Who are you?" Perturabo asked aloud.

"Harkon, a prince," said Harkon humbly.

"I know you are Harkon, the eldest prince of Lokos. Everyone knows your reputation." He sarcastically said, "But as you stand here today, whose identity are you speaking? Do you symbolize justice or do you symbolize justice?" To be fair, how dare you say that there is no selfishness in this competition?"

Harkon's polite appearance was immediately destroyed, his eyes showed a gloomy look, and the palms hanging by his sides were tense with exertion.

"How could I symbolize such a noble concept?" For a rare occasion, he didn't say much more about the Olympian gods.Perhaps Halcon himself knew that he could not win the debate.

"I speak with a Lokos voice, Perturabo."

He spread his right hand gracefully, and the silk robe fluttered with the movement of his palm. "Each reviewer thought carefully before giving the reason why they left their names in the counting of votes. Although I am not as skilled a craftsman as my brother, but I am also proficient in the craftsmanship, and I can hear the sincere appreciation of the two works from the judges’ words.”

"As for the current voting results, it is proof of the extraordinary level of the two candidates."

"You are proficient in the art, but do you have the skills to give your evaluation?"

Behind Harkon, Callifon stood up from her seat silently and whispered something beside the tyrant.Few people noticed her behavior.

"The statue of Hefonne is kind and dignified, and your works are bold in conception, and they are all wonderful works." Halcon stared at Perturabo and said, waving his hand, and a waiter came forward, holding a gold-plated Painted earthenware pots waited at the side.

He took the lead in asking the waiter to pour him a glass of clear water. Holding the cup in both hands, he invited Perturabo: "This clear spring is taken from the lake where Hefone was born in Caldis. It was sent by the envoys to serve Caldis." A gift sent from afar by Prince Adolphus of Styria, with a fan of quartz feathers to keep warm from the snow from the mountain top, and transported in a tall gold can, specially presented to our gloriously victorious friend, the genius Perturabo. .”

"Enjoy your victory, friend of the Lokos," said Halcon, his noble face glowing with veneer.

Perturabo stared at Harkon, feeling his ears burning and his teeth clenching.

glory?The word didn't burn through his tongue?He actually wants me to recognize the victory of his charity?

Perturabo's energy was as high as ever, because the strategy and situation before him became too clear.

The judges, the citizens in the streets, and even foreign scholars and envoys all watched his every move.

What is reflected in people's eyes is not two static stone sculptures on the stage, but a living performer's debut in front of the general public in Lokos.

His talent is too far away from the public, his victories are taken for granted, but his actions are what will be judged and recorded in the eyes of countless people.

Morse had anticipated this day, so he did not come to teach him the art of engraving.

Because at this moment, sculpting skills don't matter.

"Will you accept Olympia's wish, venerable Perturabo? Or has the Lokos' heart offended you so much that you will refuse it?" Halcon said.

But Perturabo only captured the disgusting calculation and greed from his endless chatter of forced names.Even though Harkon spoke respectfully, he only felt a strong nausea in his heart.

He saw two dark roads in front of him: accept this cup of "blessing" and choose a coffin of power and power for himself; or reject Lokos's supreme status in front of everyone and fall into the filthy world of arrogance and bigotry. The famous Wang Yang.

Andos stood up from his seat at some point.His steps are steady, more powerful than wrought iron or carved stone.

"My brother," said the prince, standing beside Perturabo.His voice was very soft, not speaking to the people around him, but just talking among a few people, "When did you prepare this generous gift... It would be a bit difficult for Karl to keep the spring water from afar clear. Dis’s messenger.”

He turned his head and looked at his sculpture, his eyes filled with sadness. "If it was prepared after you visited me... why not return the spring water to the goddess of blessing in Olympia and reenact the myth of Hephonia being born in the water."

Calliphon left Damekus' side and gathered together beside Perturabo. "What do you think? Let the spring water be blessed at the fingertips of the goddess?" It wasn't Harkon she asked, but Perturabo.

"Sister, I don't think..."

Callifon didn't even look up. "Today's winner is Perturabo, so it shouldn't be you who makes the decision."

"But I have not won yet," said Perturabo.

He raised his head and killed Harkon's smiling face with a stern look. "Today's judges are citizens, and I haven't seen many citizens on this high platform. You said you spoke with the voice of the Lokos, but I clearly haven't heard the voice of the Lokos clearly."

"Califon, explain this to me and the tyrant."

He turned outside the high platform and looked at the houses of Lokos, the streets divided by the houses, the people carried by the streets, and Lokos itself, which was composed of countless people.

"From this stage, I want to choose one person out of every ten people to come to this stage."

Perturabo scanned the audience who didn't know what was going on on the high platform, counted their height and strength in his mind, and his brain told him that these people were no weaker than him.

He thought of Morse.Then I thought that a very small number of these people were even taller than Morse.

The sudden intrusion made it easier for him to endure his anger, until he remembered that Morse had not yet appeared.

Unhappily he let his irritation be relieved by glares at Halcon.

"They don't know the owners of these two works yet, right?"

He announced loudly: "Then I want to listen to what they have to say. I want their unregistered votes."

Perturabo stepped forward, snatched the cup from Harkon's hand, and poured the water back into the golden pot containing the water of the Lake of the Nativity. "Don't waste congratulatory gifts from afar in the hands of stone statues. Since it is the winner's prize, wait for the winner to drink."

"Since this competition is in front of the citizens, let the citizens judge."

After finishing all this, he sneered unabashedly at Halcon: "Besides, I can see that the difference between the unsophisticated art in your mouth and the unskilled art of other citizens lies in boasting or not. You can judge I don’t mind more people commenting on my stone carvings.”

"I demand a recount," said the victorious boy.

Harkon turned his head in a circle, from Andos to Califon, his eyes filled with confusion that his two blood relatives were on the other side.

"We are not ready yet," he replied stiffly, "Perturabo, you are giving Lokos a hard time."

Callifon's eyes remained on Perturabo, her skirt swirling like flowers in the breeze.

After hearing Harkon's rejection, she gave her brother a smile lightly and restrainedly: "I just asked my father in advance. Perturabo is wise and sensible. If he has a request, we will satisfy him."

She looked at the tyrant in the distance, and he nodded to her.

Califon walked past Harkon and spoke to the host in light yellow robes.Andos had already returned to his seat, spread his palms upward, and invited Perturabo to sit down and rest as well.

Perturabo looked into the crowd again, paying attention to the clothes and faces of everyone on the ground.Then he sat down with a dignified posture, with very obvious disappointment.

The amplification equipment was in operation again.Following the host's high-pitched speech, people at the scene crowded around, their eyes lit up with excitement, talking about this latest and freshest thing that no one had ever heard of.

Although some fearful people with deep concerns are trying to move themselves out of the range of options, more people are rushing forward, so that the host has to repeatedly shout the etiquette and commandments of Lokos, and send the unresponsive A guard of swords maintains order.

"Would you mind if we changed the number to one per hundred?" Andos asked him. "One out of ten...some are too many."

"Of course I mind." Perturabo said, but he just stared at the crowd and did not rush out to object.

Andos blinked, the corners of his mouth pulled up, and he smiled slightly.

After a long time, a single sentence suddenly came out of the mouth of the boy next to him: "I recognize what a blessing is."

He then pursed his lips tightly, apparently not intending to say another word before the citizens' review began.

(End of this chapter)