"My dear subjects, I also have an announcement to make.
It is regarding the royal contest we arranged for all the royal scions."
It seemed that Emil the 8th had another reason for appearing publicly. In his declaration, the king's voice echoed everywhere.
"We have a clear winner in the royal contest. I am pleased to introduce the rightful heir to my throne and your love - Rodrick Renar.
From this moment onwards, he shall be known as the crown prince of Edinburgh. Rodrick will take over my throne when he becomes a Grandmaster."
Another wave of excitement hit the crowd as Edinburgh's newly appointed crown prince was decided. Rodrick appeared beside the current king next. He kneeled in front of his father and received crowd blessings.
While kneeling, Rodrick looked at Eren and winked. The audience treated the crown prince's gesture as he greeted his potential subjects friendly. But the butcher smiled and shook his head, choosing to remain one with the crowd instead of standing out.
Rodrick gave a short speech. He knew many of the participants personally from his academy days. Just like Altashia, he graduated from Royal Ren a few weeks before the graduation event was announced. As such he didn't get to participate in the event.
Rodrick was glad he didn't get to participate. Several royal scions died inside Sansara World. And because these royal scions died, many opportunities opened up for him.
In the middle of his speech, Rodrick looked at Eren. He was about to highlight the help he received from White Raven City. But he was discouraged from doing so by Eren's gentle no.
The city of White Raven had already attracted attention. If Layos found out that Eren's city was significant in the newly declared crown prince's eyes, things would get much more problematic.
Rodrick's speech was short and meaningful. He didn't promise anything to the audience. And instead focused on stating what he would do to be a better king in the future.
Rodrick got off stage after his short speech and walked to where Hansen and the rest were. The crown prince did not have to live inside the city of White Raven anymore. He practically had no royal scions as his enemies anymore. As soon as he was declared crown prince, all his former enemies wanted to form kinship ties with him.
'You don't look happy that I became a crown prince, Eren.'
Amidst all the chaos and cheers, Rodrick's voice was heard in Eren's mind like a drop of water agitating the surface of a calm lake. The butcher chuckled before Rodrick used voice communication.
'Oh, I'm happy alright, delighted even. But I'm afraid it is not what you want me to be delighted about. I am delighted and relieved that I don't have to raise a freeloader in my city anymore.'
Rodrick chuckled but didn't say anything. He decided to catch up with Eren after the ceremony before focusing on Emil's ongoing speech.
"... Therefore, we must reward our young heroes handsomely if we want to prosper as a kingdom of peace and freedom."
King Emil looked at the participants and praised their efforts and sacrifices. He then called out the top performers among the participants, granting them various rewards.
Some participants received huge amounts of precious resources. Some were given high-caliber weapons, armor, and other artifacts. Some received rare techniques and spells, which were closely guarded secrets for the kingdom.
Some participants received prominent positions within the kingdom. Royal forces, central administration, city-specific administrative panels, etc. There were various choices for participants to choose from. They could also change their employment a few days after a choice was made.
Edinburgh's army was the biggest employer of these participants. It offered lucrative deals to everyone. It didn't distinguish between superior or inferior rankers among them and instead opted for mass hiring.
All graduated participants also received a medallion each. This medallion was a premium-grade defensive artifact and communication device. From copper to platinum, medallions were divided into grades. The type of medallion each participant received represented the number of efforts they put in.
These exceptional participants would also receive a lot of Extols as secondary rewards. But compared to their primary rewards, the Extols had little value.
After everything was said and done, King Emil focused on a select group of participants. These rankers performed above and beyond what was expected of them in the graduation event or at the Edinnica Arena battle.
Due to this, these rankers would receive much more than just ranking resources. They would receive a bona fide title along with their usual rewards.
Emil started calling out names and invited these participants on stage. For most of these rankers, being called out by Emil was already a reward. As such, they appeared on stage with hearts full of joy and faces full of non-wipeable smiles.
The sixth participant to receive a title was from the White Raven crew. Emil called out Steve after introducing him to his audience as one of the most promising berserkers of his generation.
"I hereby bestow the title of Boar Berserker on this young prodigy Steve Austin. May his name shine bright in the future– as bright as the most dreadful and respectable berserker in Edinburgh's history– Ivar Ironside, The Lionheart."
The ground beneath Steve's feet cracked and he disappeared from his position. In the next moment, he appeared on stage and kneeled in front of Emil.
Emil handed Steve a special medallion while the former was kneeling. The king lifted the Boar Berseker with a smile on his face.
The title holders received special medallions, which were a grade higher than platinum medallions. Steve knew what to do with his medallion. He stood up, turned around, and faced the crowd.
Steve received applause and cheers from the crowd. He made brief eye contact with Eren and smiled before looking down and focusing on the medallion he held in his hand.
Steve let his mana and elemental attainments flow through the medallion. As a result, it exuded peculiar colors and buzzing sounds.
In the next moment, a suffocating atmosphere was created for the participants and audience. A spectral image of a gigantic boar was projected into the sky from the medallion.
A domineering beastly growl was released from the boar before its spectral body dispersed in the air.
"Boar Berserker!"
"Boar Berserker!"
"Boar Berserker!"
The crowd chanted Steve's title with wild furor as the red boar disappeared from the sky above.
