At the End of the Hidden Greenery - Chapter 293
Once again, Enci had been eliminated from the trip on account of his personality being too adorable.
“But why didn’t anyone vote for the old man?”
“…”
Helkainis: zero votes.
Helka himself said nothing, but Tevon looked genuinely baffled.
“You didn’t vote for him either. You just wanted an excuse to tease him.”
“Ah! I should’ve voted for Lanceil!”
Tevon wailed indignantly as Lanceil grabbed him by the ear.
Apparently, he really had only brought it up to make fun of Helka despite not voting for him himself.
Lanceil, who was currently busy disciplining Tevon, had also received zero votes.
“If we’d known what the vote was for, maybe we should’ve voted for each other.”
“Probably.”
Lancet and Arven, who had spent far longer together than Marron and Night, had each received zero votes as well.
“I received two votes?”
Callan tilted his head, apparently surprised that the number was lower than he had expected.
“…”
Solmih stared intently at the results board.
Solmih: one vote.
He seemed puzzled that he had received even that single vote.
Everyone else had amicably received zero.
“From this point onward, you’re in the rankings, which means you’ll be joining me on the trip.”
For some reason, everyone looked expectant, so Jiwoo called out the names separately.
“Four votes: Kelvar.”
“…Honestly, am I supposed to be happy about this or not?”
Kelvar frowned as he waved away another butterfly fluttering toward his face.
He was pleased to have been chosen for the trip, but at the same time, he had effectively been branded as one of the worst-tempered men in the group.
“Four votes: Narkreed.”
“Me? Why me?”
“…I wonder that too.”
Reed rubbed his chin in genuine confusion, his elbow still resting atop Shaen’s head.
“…”
Shaen glared at him with an expression that promised murder.
Pretending to lean against Reed, Jiwoo discreetly nudged his arm away from Shaen’s head.
To be fair, she would not have understood the result either if she had not witnessed the way he treated Shaen. Reed appeared considerate and dependable toward his own brothers, but that courtesy clearly did not extend to outsiders.
Someone must have taken that into account.
“Six votes: Lugarmel.”
Lugarmel clapped his hands with a delighted smile.
“Wow! I received six whole votes!”
“Why are you so pleased? This isn’t a popularity contest.”
“Hahahaha! But I came in second.”
Even after Reed’s scolding, Mel appeared to find the entire situation entertaining.
And finally, the long-awaited first place.
“Eleven votes…”
Jiwoo had not expected so many ballots to concentrate on a single person. More than a third of the entire group had chosen the same man.
“Silevion.”
Everyone turned toward the man who had barely participated in the conversation and had been standing in the corner with his arms folded.
Silevion had hair the pale, frigid shade of a frozen lake in winter. He dressed so neatly and closely fitted that he almost seemed obsessively fastidious, and he usually kept his body fully covered in dark clothing.
He handled most of the village’s administration. Whenever his brothers went hunting, prepared food, crafted supplies, or managed resources, he was one of the people they consulted.
“Eleven votes?”
Silevion tilted his head as though he genuinely could not understand.
“I received that many? How strange… Did all of you take something?”
To make matters worse, he looked around with an expression full of pity, as though everyone else were the unfortunate ones.
“You must have been desperate for an opportunity to spite me. I imagine you all conspired to vote for me because you thought I’d receive some terrible punishment. How unfortunate for you.”
Silevion clicked his tongue and slowly shook his head.
“If the frustration becomes unbearable, perhaps ask Solmih for counseling..”
“Shut up!”
“We understand, so just go! Go on as many trips with El as you like!”
Complaints erupted from all around the room.
They could speak to him that way because, despite the authority of his role, Silevion was not actually among the oldest brothers. He was only slightly older than Callan, too old to require guidance, but still not quite old enough to belong among the elders.
However, his personality seemed to possess all the authority of one.
“Oh, and the final ballot…”
Narkreed had deliberately set aside the last folded slip.
Without opening it and despite still wearing his blindfold, he seemed to know exactly whose it was.
“This one belongs to our El. And the person she voted for is…”
“Wa, wait!”
Jiwoo nearly jumped out of her seat.
“This was supposed to be a secret ballot. Why are you revealing mine?”
Narkreed looked genuinely confused that she would even ask.
“Your vote is the most important one. We can’t possibly keep it hidden. Whoever you chose obviously has to go.”
Apparently, Jiwoo’s single vote counted as an automatic winning ticket.
“…Are you not going to tell us?”
Every one of her husbands turned toward Jiwoo, waiting for an answer.
‘Oh no…’
This, too, was a consequence of El Ragneil’s culture.
The children of Ellandos devoted themselves entirely to seduction, and so every conversation naturally revolved around their spouse.
Jiwoo’s daily routine, her plans, her smallest preferences, and even habits she herself had never noticed inevitably became common knowledge among her husbands.
The concept of privacy simply did not exist between them.
Of course, any such information was shared only among her husbands and kept strictly secret from outsiders.