Strongest Hammer God

Chapter 1125: First Vote

”What options will we vote on?” the man asked. ”Do we have any suggestions?”

”Death,” Kyle said evenly.

Foxʼs expression didnʼt change, but when she heard Kyleʼs words, she started to feel a bit nervous.

”Death,” the man said as the word ”Death” appeared in the middle of the table.

”Freedom,” Fox said.

Kyle just rolled his eyes.

”Freedom,” the man said as the word appeared in the middle of the table. ”Any other suggestions?”

”Why donʼt you make your suggestion?” Kyle asked with a flat voice. ”I know you have one.”

The man chuckled a bit. ”I believe Fox has committed unforgivable atrocities, but I also believe that she can do a lot of good... with enough guidance and restrictions.”

”And what are these restrictions?” Kyle asked.
”She will share her true name with us,” the man said.

Fox took a deep breath, but she didnʼt seem surprised. Apparently, she had already known that this would happen.

”What does that even do?” Kyle asked. ”Iʼve heard again and again that knowing someoneʼs true name is bad, but I still donʼt know why.”

”Youʼre at someone elseʼs complete mercy,” Swamp Dragon interjected. ”By projecting someoneʼs true name, you can do multiple things. You can sense their location. You can pull them towards your location. You can attack them via Karma. Of course, to do any of these things, you need to know a lot about the Karmic Laws. As long as we know her true name, any of our Lords or Demigods can teleport her existence towards them. They can even analyze her Karmic Luck without seeing her.”

Kyle took a deep breath.

”That really is brutal. No wonder everyone says that Iʼm not supposed to share my true name with anyone. Well, Fox has seen my true name, but I doubt that she can remember or pronounce it. You need two Perfected Refined Laws and the Major Law of Death. Even more, these Refined Laws are made by me. Even if someone else creates a Perfected Law of Hammer, it wonʼt be the same as mine.ʼ

”Will she be under protection?” Kyle asked.

Fox narrowed her eyes. She had already expected that Kyle would ask something like that.

The man smiled.

”No.”

Kyleʼs eyes narrowed.

”We will be giving her many different missions that will force her to help the weak. She will not be rewarded for completing these missions. However, if there is no hope, this fate wouldnʼt be any different from death. Because of that, we are promising her that she will regain her freedom if she manages to become a Demigod.”

Kyle remained silent for a bit. He wasnʼt exactly happy about this, but it also wasnʼt as bad as he had expected. The most important part was that she wouldnʼt be under any protection.

”Just to make sure,” Kyle said after a bit, ”if I find her, I may kill her without offending your Organization, correct?”

”That is part of the deal, yes,” the man answered.

”Good,” Kyle said.

Then, the word ”restriction” appeared in the middle of the table.

”Any other suggestions?” the man asked.

Nobody said a thing.

”Then, we will vote,” he announced. ”You will have a primary vote and a secondary vote. Your primary vote will be worth two points, while your secondary vote is worth one point. We will make our votes before we see each otherʼs votes.”

Then, the man explained how everyone should prepare their votes so that the requirements were fulfilled.

Kyle was lost in thought for a moment. ʼThese primary and secondary votes make things a bit more complex. With these, thereʼs even a chance that she might be sentenced to death.ʼ

Kyle looked at the empty spot at the table. ʼI donʼt know how the world will vote. How can the world even vote?ʼ

ʼI shouldnʼt try to take advantage of the rules. Iʼm just going to vote for what I want to happen.ʼ

Kyle put his primary vote on death and his secondary vote on restriction.

”Everyone has cast their votes,” the man said. ”Then, letʼs unveil the result.”

In the next moment, two words appeared in front of everyone, except for the empty spot. Since the world had two votes, there were four words in front of it.

In total, there were 21 points. Five people could vote two + one points, and the world could vote four + two points.

Kyleʼs vote: +2 for death, +1 for restriction, 0 for freedom.

Swamp Dragonʼs vote: +1 for death, +2 for restriction, 0 for freedom.

Sebastianʼs and Melanieʼs votes: +2 for death, +1 for restriction, 0 for freedom.

The manʼs vote: 0 for death, +2 for restriction, +1 for freedom.

The worldʼs vote: +4 for death, +2 for restriction, 0 for freedom.

When Kyle saw Foxʼs vote, his eyes narrowed.

Foxʼs vote: 0 for death, +2 for restriction, +1 for freedom.

When Kyle realized what had happened, he slammed the table and stood up.

”Is that what you call making the right decision?!” he shouted, pointing at the man.

Kyle had expected that the restriction vote would win, but the way it had won infuriated him.

”According to you!” Kyle shouted. ”According to your morals! According to your thoughts! According to what you believe is right!”

”You say that sheʼs more deserving of freedom than death?!”

Nine points for death, ten points for restriction, two points for freedom. If the man had chosen death as his secondary vote, it would be ten-ten-one! There would be a tie! In the case of a tie, the number of primary votes would have decided the result!

”No, I donʼt believe that,” the man said calmly. ”I believe the right thing to do is to restrict her freedom and force her to make amends. I have kept to the rules and used my given votes to reach the result that I believe is right. I did not vote according to what I want to happen, but I got what I wanted by following the rules.”

Kyleʼs fists clenched as he glared at Fox, who just looked back with a neutral expression. Even though her expression remained blank, Kyle could feel the smugness behind it.

Swamp Dragon just looked forward without an expression.

Sebastian grimaced, and Melanie sighed.

If the world were split into two people due to it having two votes, four out of seven people in total would have given their primary votes to death. The majority had made it clear that their preferred outcome was her death!

If there had just been one vote instead of two different kinds of votes, she would have been sentenced to death!

57% of the people had put their most valuable vote on death! Yet, instead of the majority getting what they wanted, they had to accept something that everyone was okay with.

A moment later, Kyle sat back down again, and he just looked at the man with a cold gaze, not saying anything.

ʼI could have manipulated the vote! I could have put my secondary vote on her freedom. I knew that the freedom vote wouldnʼt get any traction. Like that, I could have forced a tie.ʼ

ʼBut noooooooo, I had to be honest! I had to be upfront and honest!ʼ

Kyle took a frustrated breath.

ʼBut I donʼt want to do that! Yes, I couldʼve done it, but I just donʼt want to do it. Others might believe Iʼm stupid and nave, but I still want to vote according to what I believe is right.ʼ

Kyle snorted as he imagined a bunch of people telling him that he was dumb for not manipulating the vote. Was he putting trust in other people? Why? Abusing the rules was the norm. Not abusing the rules was playing with a handicap.

The man noticed that Kyle had somewhat calmed down and turned to the table again.

”Fox will be taken into custody, as agreed,” the man said.

Nobody said anything.

”Next vote...”

”What happens to Swamp Dragon?”

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