Just then, Simon raised a hand to Loa. "Sorry, there's one more thing I need to add."
"Of course. Go ahead, Ensign Simon."
Once Loa gave his assent, Simon continued. "Strictly speaking, choosing a king shouldn't be this hasty. But these are unusual circumstances, so we have no choice."
"We can skip the tedious declarations, speeches, and vote-seeking. That leaves three basic qualifications for a king: strength, background, and reputation."
"Kureha unquestionably meets the first requirement. I think everyone understands that to some degree. As for her background, she's always been a native of Drum Kingdom, and she was a doctor—a respectable profession. So she meets those two requirements. That leaves just one problem."
Simon blew the blond strands of hair out of his eyes, took a scroll from behind his back, and laid it on the table. "How do we get the people to accept a Witch as their king?"
Simon looked around and suddenly smiled. "But I don't think that's much of a problem. In fact, the people of Drum Kingdom feel far more respect for Kureha than fear or hatred!"
"What?!"
"How could that be?"
Everyone stared at Simon in shock. Did he even realize what he was saying?
She was a Witch! In medieval times back on Earth, villagers would have dragged her to the stake three times over! And he claimed people respected her? Was this a joke?
"It's true." Simon unrolled the scroll on the table and pointed to the medical records listed on it.
"Take a look. This records everyone Kureha treated and what she charged them. Dalton, the former Guard captain who's now missing, kept investigating the Witch. The records stopped only when Wapol threw him in prison and tossed the scroll into storage."
So the scroll held the reason people respected