Reincarnated as an Energy with a System

“I am Shara.”

Shara moved her head around, as though she was looking through the crowd at individual faces.

“I do not have a last name, for I am not a noble. I am an orphan. My parents died when I was just a little girl, and my grandmother raised me until a few years ago, when she too passed away. Since then, I’ve worked as a tavern girl until a few months ago.”

“Situations arose that forced me to leave my tame life and make decisions that would change it forever. Before I knew it, I was on this path to become the Empress, and with your help, I’ll surely become that.”

“If you make anyone among us an Emperor, know that only one of them will understand where you’ve come from. Only one of us will understand the pain that commoners feel day to day.”

“I will help raise you all from this darkness, not just the nobles and the rich.”

Shara gave a small bow toward everyone and moved back to her seat.

“For someone who says she’s only been a tavern girl until recently, you sure do know how to talk,” Jema said as Shara sat down.

“I’ve had good teachers,” Shara said, not wasting a glance on Jema.

“The questions have been gathered,” Theodore said. “I would like to start at random, so I will pick your name from this bowl.”

The man reached in and pulled out a piece of paper and opened it. “Sir Oleander. Please step forward.”

Oleander stood, fixing his coat, before he walked to the edge of the stage.

“The people wish to know, if you were to become the Emperor, what will happen to the Golden Republic? Would it still continue to exist?”

“This place was once the main land of the Onyx Empire. My great, great, great, great grandfather, the Conqueror, made it so. So, as his descendant, I shall do the same and establish the Onyx Empire once again. The Golden Republic must revert its name to what it was back then again.”

The people did not react so kindly to that answer. Several boos could be heard, along with curses from all over the place. Some of the people were dragged and pulled away, but many managed to hide themselves.

Theodore looked concerned, but he didn’t say anything. “If anyone has anything to add to that, or if you wish to counter it, you may step forward now, or we will move to another question.”

Jema stood up, stepping to the front. “I will create the Onyx Empire as well, but I shall let this region keep its name. The Golden Republic shall be the face of the new empire.”

The prince stood next. “The days of glory when the Burning Conquest completed and peace came across the land, those are the days I wish to return to this land. As the next heir of the Golhlog Empire, if I were to become the Emperor of this nation as well, I will bring prosperity to this land.”

Shara considered for a long second if she would be in the right to say anything here or not. But after thinking about it for a while, she knew she had to say something.

So, she stood and walked to the front as well.

“The Onyx Empire can never return. Valhador Golhlog made sure of it. The old empire was burned down, and from its ashes grew the Golden Republic.”

“But, the Golden Republic was still weak when the coalition of the 3 nations attacked, delaying its growth severely. And now, it has come to death once again.”

“This time, I do not ask you to help it back up, to see how long it will continue to survive. Instead, let it die again, and from its ashes we will grow a new empire. Our Empire.”

“This time, it will have a chance to grow without any enemies, and instead of death and darkness, it will only bring light and prosperity to the people. Not just the ones here, but the ones all across the continent.”

Shara’s words weren’t comforting at all. It was telling everyone to let go of any hope they had for the survival of their nation. The Golden Republic could not survive now that it had lost the war.

But at the same time, she had always promised to not let them return to the same state as they were before, which they had tried to run away from so many years ago.

Hers was a promise to wipe the slate clean and start anew. This way, maybe they will create something better.

The other 3 candidates furrowed their brows upon hearing Shara’s answer, realizing that she wasn’t just someone who had decided to force her way into the candidacy on a whim.

She had clearly prepared for this.

They all sat back down, waiting for the man to choose another question and call for someone else.

The prince was called this time around, the question being about their rights and freedom. What could they do, and what could they not do?

The prince spoke, simply and easily.

“I will create rules afterward, but they won’t be harsh. You will keep most of your rights but the rules will have to be strict. I will not go further into detail.”

The other two spoke, saying the same variation of what the prince had said. They couldn’t promise a lot without outright lying, but they promised to be fair.

Shara, however, had no reason to make such promises.

“Rules will mostly remain the same. The only rules I will touch will be the ones that are actively harming the citizens of this place. All other rules will remain unchanged.”

“You will have your freedom. If you want to gather around for no reason, you can do so. If you want to gather around to protest and criticize me, do so. There will be no rules that will ever harm you, not even if it affects me more than I would want it to.”