CHAPTER 383: CHAPTER 383: DEMOCRACY?

From the previous vote we had from the last meeting, eighty percent of case leaders voted in favor of the extinction of the elephants."

Marcus spoke like he had recited all these beforehand.

"The purpose of this meeting, as it has been set by His Majesty, is to determine if eliminating the elephant is a better option.

Is it feasible? What would the casualties be? Are we hurting ourselves in the process?

And also to map out our preparations for the future and possible policies as we prepare for a possible Operation Exodus."

After that, Marcus toned down his voice and his aura, allowing a period of silence to reign over the hall.

Everyone was quiet, not speaking yet.

By this time, Priya, Nalii, Ruda, and Olivia had found their own balconies which were closer to the king’s throne.

The stone walls and balconies shone with an earthly vigor, specs of dust still danced around in the air.

The only source of light was the starlight that filtered through the gaps in the ceiling and through the wide entrance.

"And so..." Kael finally spoke telepathically, his powerful spirit sense sweeping through the area.

"...Does anyone stand in opposition to the genocide proposal?" Kael asked.

There was another period of silence as everyone looked around, checking each other’s faces for a change in expression.

"Yes, your Majesty," Finally, someone spoke.

It was Stella, the one-eared rabbit leader of Rabbit Caste.

Usually, she would be with N’bayé, helping her out with her experiments.

But N’bayé was busy with a certain personal project that only a few lions knew about, so Stella was allowed to be free.

Even then, her one ear which pointed to the sky had the faint glimmer of a rune on it. No matter where she was, she couldn’t escape N’bayé, not before, and especially not now.

As she levitated down from her balcony, the aura of a being equivalent to tier 4 was emitted from her body. She still maintained her power level of two years ago.

This was understandable as Stella herself was not really talented. She had only brute-forced her way to that power level before with the help of the washed-aways from the beach.

She just happened to be part of that less than one percent of the population that managed to make it to that power level.

"Your Majesty," Stella greeted with a bow and an expressionless face.

"What do you propose?" Kael asked.

"I believe we should allow them to make the rules," Stella said.

As soon as she said those words, the caste leaders erupted in a telepathic uproar.

"Explain your reasons," Kael commanded.

"Certainly.

If we think about it, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t just let them set up the rules. It’s not like rules aren’t beneficial to everyone.

And elephants are known for prioritizing long-term order and stability too. I am sure that they can handle setting up laws that don’t interfere with the daily operations of the kingdom..."

"Just because you sound reasonable doesn’t mean you speak with reason, Stella." Commander Bibi barked at her all of a sudden.

Stella frowned, she leveled her gaze to see the king’s reaction but it seemed like he was very tolerant of Bibi’s sudden interruption.

"Bibi," Kael called out calmly, like an owner trying to calm his dog.

"Sorry, Your Majesty," And Bibi apologized.

"Stella, you seem confident that elephants would not create rules that would be biased to a certain demographic of the kingdom,"

The king was referring to the herbivores, the vegans, the grass eaters.

"I’m sure the elephants would adopt fairness under your leadership, Your Majesty," Stella said with her head bowed.

Of course, most of the caste leaders knew that Stella was just trying to push her own agenda of lifting the rabbits out of the food chain.

Unfortunately for her, she had not gotten far with this ideology.

By her logic, the elephants could somehow help her out with it.

"Next," Kael said.

After that, Stella returned to her balcony and someone else came forward.

It was the leader of the buffalo caste. He was big and burly, standing nearly two meters tall with fiery eyes. Two blazing horns decorated the sides of his head, giving him a brutish appearance.

"You Majesty, I think the elephants could help us fight more for our rights, especially we grass eaters," The buffalo caste leader said.

Kael raised an eyebrow, this one was plain and honest, which was quite interesting.

The caste leaders looked at each other and sent private telepathic messages.

"Go on, I’m listening," Kael said.

The buffalo man nodded before continuing, "Your Majesty, there have been wanton killings of my people for some time now and nothing has been said about it.

We have done our best to fight back against these hunters but it’s not just us. Other caste leaders are also saying the same thing.

Your Majesty, we aren’t safe at all.

I know that the lion royalty might be too busy with politics and governance so they wouldn’t necessarily have time to attend to all our complaints.

So maybe, the elephants could step in to show some justice,"

The silence this time was louder than the others. Kael’s eyes were narrowed dangerously.

This buffalo man had made some subtle implications without actually saying anything.

He was trying to let Kael know that everyone was aware the lions were turning a blind eye to all the hunting and killing.

But so what?

"Everyone must eat," Kael said coldly. That phrase alone felt like a hammer striking down on the hearts of all the grass eaters.

One after the other, different caste leaders stepped out to make their plea on behalf of the elephants.

Most of them were herbivores and most of them spoke of the same thing; fairness, killings, justice.

One case leader, the gazelle caste leader, was even very bold. He claimed that his race had not joined willingly and that they had been tricked into joining by a strange illusion.

They had been scammed.

Obviously, this was a very dumb move as his fellow herbivores immediately stopped talking to him. The gazelle case leader had sealed his fate with his own mouth.

All they had to do now was wait for the news of his ’accident’.

The predators among the caste leaders couldn’t help but wear ugly expressions as those herbivores stepped back to their balconies one after the other.

’It’s not like it’s our fault we were born like this,’ Kurse grumbled internally.

Finally, the last person to come up to Kael in front of everyone was Priya.

Everyone became quiet again, no one dared to speak or share a telepathic gossip.

"Your Majesty," Priya greeted with a slight bow as usual. Kael nodded for her to proceed.

"I won’t waste too much time on it.

I propose that the elephants be kept as a caste. And we allow them to propose rules.

Actually, not just them, but every caste leader should have the privilege of proposing rules..."

Priya paused to make sure that everyone was paying attention. Indeed, they were. Kael had sat up straight on his throne and was paying close attention to Priya.

"Not only will the caste leader of the elephants be able to propose rules, but other caste leaders can do so.

I’m talking about a system where the caste leaders can take a vote on the said proposed rules to determine if they should be implemented or not.

We have already been doing this, it just wasn’t official. It’s just like how most of you voted for genocide while others voted to spare the elephants.

We will make it official this time. I’m sure it wouldn’t just satisfy the elephants but everyone else."

Priya used her spirit power to make her voice magnetic. It would be hard for anyone to forget what she said.

"I see, so something like a semi-democracy?" Kael asked.

"Democracy?" Priya asked in return, she didn’t know what a democracy was.

"Nevermind, so you’re saying that rules will be implemented based on the majority’s votes?"

"Yes, but there will be an exception," Priya said.

Kael was waiting for this.

"What is it?"

"Irrespective of the rules, the number of votes, lion royalty can override and bypass all. The rules do not and will not apply to the lion royalty," Priya stared firmly.

Even though she was making a strategic plea on behalf of the elephants, she had to think of her own race first and foremost.

Some caste leaders had opinions but didn’t voice out.

"And what if this doesn’t work? What if the elephants still keep on making trouble?" Kael asked.

Priya shook her head, "If this plan doesn’t work, then we’ll go for the previous option.

Immediate genocide and elimination of anyone who joins them," Priya said for all to hear her, not hiding the hidden threat.

After another five seconds of silence, "I like this plan," Kael said.

He turned his attention to Marcus and the other caste leaders, "Does anyone object to this proposal?"