Annan added Archbishop Tomark to the list of prospective judges anyway, along with Old Ancestor.
Then Eldest Sister suggested a name: Madeleine Jenkins.
"What about her?"
"You know her?" Idelia asked in surprise.
"No. I just thought interrupting at random would make me sound well-read." Annan was clearly in a good mood if he could still joke about himself.
"Madeleine Jenkins is a renowned opera singer across Middle Earth," Olmedo explained for Eldest Sister. "If we can invite her to be a judge, no one will question the prestige of 'Champion Singer.'"
"Really? She's that impressive, and even I haven't heard of her?" Annan asked, half skeptical.
Olmedo sighed. "Even Martin knows who she is."
"Oh. So where is this Madeleine Jenkins?"
"She's in Frankx City."
"And where's Frankx City...?"
Olmedo suddenly took a deep breath and rattled off, "Annan, Frankx City is on the Fallen Grass Plains. The Fallen Grass Plains are in Gallant Province. Gallant Province ranks eighth among the Orr Empire's provinces. The Orr Empire—"
"I know the Orr Empire."
Annan cut Olmedo off, lowering his eyes. "The country that got Broken Fang killed, right?"
The mood in the Lounge suddenly grew heavy. It was hard to imagine someone in power coming to hate a vast empire over the death of a single soldier.
"The arrogance they showed us—we'll repay it someday..."
Annan let out a breath. "Whew. Enough about them. Can we invite Madeleine Jenkins?"
The opera singer might be from the Orr Empire, but Annan wasn't about to hold that against her. Every place had good people and bad. He had met the noblest...
"One of our commercial streets isn't too far from Frankx City. We could send a caravan over."
"Can they get there in a week?"
"Shouldn't be a problem."
"Then make it