Once the crowd quieted down except for a few stray giggles, Emilia pretended to clear her throat seriously. “Of course, if anyone thinks this is unfair for the outsiders… no one is stopping you from being a citizen?”
She giggled along with the amused reactions from the crowd. “You don’t need to marry a citizen, either, just take an oath, go through a simple process to make sure there’s nothing strange with your motives, and done!”
Naturally, the process was non-reversible, and could not be repeated, but Emilia didn’t mention that. After all, anyone who abandoned their status as their empire’s citizen probably didn’t want it much in the first place.
But even without knowing those ‘conditions’, the people watching the broadcast from other countries couldn’t help but be dumbfounded.
Hello? Can you be so casual about citizenship?
Which country didn’t have a thousand different requirements for an outsider to become their citizen? No, many didn’t even allow an outsider to stay in their land for too long!
Not only did one need valid reason and credentials to come over in the first place, but there were also very, very few provisions under which one could truly obtain permanent citizenship of another country.
The most easily achievable and common practice for those wishing to become another country’s citizens was to find an existing one to marry.
Of course, then they also might have to prove that their marriage was not for the express purpose of obtaining citizenship!
If there was really a country where they just gave away citizenship like carrots and cucumbers, wouldn’t everyone who was unhappy with their own country and had the means to move out simply go there?
When they thought about how impoverished Blue Dawn had been, however, and its status as a dictatorship under a little girl prone to throwing tantrums about justice… they quickly realized that it wasn’t such a good offer, after all.
Joke! Aside from those lunatics who raved about her non-stop, most wouldn’t even dare breathe near an immature girl with such an unreasonable amount of agility and strength even if they were offered a million dollars!
There were even some conspiracy theories going around that she might be an experimental subject created by the rich to test the limits of human evolution.
Which sane person would want to risk their life to become a part of their experimental data?
Unaware of the thoughts of the outsiders, the crimson-haired beauty only paused for a moment before she smiled again. “Oh, but this option will only be available whenever we’re sure our empire can accommodate and take care of more people, obviously.”
Just as the crowd was about to cheer again while the outsiders prepared to ridicule her for even imagining that there could be ‘too many’ people desiring citizenship in such a ‘terrible’ place, the crimson-haired beauty tapped her ceremonial scepter on the mic.
Her expression grim, Emilia swept her eyes across the entirety of the crowd in front of her, and nodded. “Now that I’m done telling you how I plan to earn money to take care of our household, it’s time for you to know how mother plans to discipline you children when you’re being naughty!”
In the midst of both amused laughter and suspiciously excited squeals, the crimson-haired girl giggled. “Okay, let’s be serious now.”
Once the crowd calmed down, she continued, this time without a smile. “The previous judicial system mostly served as a means to allow the people in power to get away with whatever they wanted, while giving everyone else an illusion of having a recourse whenever something went wrong. Obviously, we cannot have that.”
Her words rang true in every heart of Blue Dawn, and Emilia knew it.
”Not only does this empress not need to go through so many hoops to do whatever I want, but since seeking justice for you was the reason I came here in the first place, I have to make sure it’s done right, don’t I?”
She paused, and then grinned. “Before we start, though, let me take care of a few maggots first.”
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Having faced only death glares and scorn for hours, the first thing the old president felt upon being dragged towards Emilia was not dread, but relief.
After all, not only would he no longer be facing those hate-filled eyes, the gentle and kind gaze of the beautiful girl in front of him greatly boosted his confidence in both his survival and eventual comeback.
Of course, that feeling evaporated like smoke the moment he felt thousands upon thousands of venomous glares from people below the stage, almost scaring his shivering soul right out of his body.
He almost instinctively clung onto Emilia’s thighs, but unfortunately, the soldier escorting the old president had too firm a grip on his shoulder.
Being too scared to speak in front of the murderous crowd, he could only watch the crimson-haired beauty imploringly.
As long as whoever was really in charge left his fate in the hands of this stupid girl, maybe there was still some chance he could escape, right?
Unfortunately, his hopes were dashed the moment Emilia smiled. Because that smile was not of compassion, but scorn.
”I don’t think there is any need for me to tell you who this man is, or what he has done. I’m not very interested in proving his crimes, either. I believe everyone is well aware of most of them. Instead, let him serve as an example of how the justice system in our country will work from now on.”
In the short pause between the words of the girl he once considered stupid and inconsequential, the president became intimately aware of the gloating, hate, and utter loathing from the hideous expressions of every peasant in front of him.
He had no doubt that if given the chance, they would tear him apart limb from limb, feast on his flesh, and turn his bones into powder before sprinkling it all over the ground as fertilizer, just so they could trample on whatever grew out once more.
His heart frozen in horror, the president even started hoping that Emilia would imprison him for life. After all, that way he could still be safe while waiting for rescue.
As if aware of his wishful thinking, Emilia smiled… and directly crushed his hope. “As the Empress of Blue Dawn, I hereby sentence the first criminal of our empire… to death by starvation!”
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