The events that occurred in the Elected Council Square quickly reached Perfikot’s ears while she was discussing the development of large self-governing machinery at the Royal Langton University.
These large self-governing machines were concepts she had been thinking of since her time in the Northern Territory. She had fully experienced the winter blizzards there and knew that without large machinery, it was impossible to accomplish anything in such an environment.
As for self-governing machinery, it was simply because Perfikot felt that manual operation demanded too much from workers. After all, a single mistake with such large machines could lead to severe safety accidents.
Perfikot trusts machinery more than humans.
In this era, the safety accidents that workers could cause were far more exaggerated compared to self-governing machines.
However, Perfikot had just started a conversation with several professors in the field of Engineering when she received news of someone publicly criticizing and opposing her at the Elected Council Square.
Regarding this matter, Perfikot was not inclined to care. She had long been prepared for issues concerning her reputation, and being criticized or opposed wasn’t a big problem for her.
Perfikot was even prepared for an assassination attempt. Earlier, Ezio’s appearance almost made her mistakenly believe he was there to assassinate her.
So, for Perfikot, a criticism from an old professor found from who knows where was less impactful than a gentle breeze.
She originally intended to ignore it, but the indignant reactions from people around her made Perfikot feel she had to address it.
Especially when Ezio, through the methods of the Assassin Brotherhood, conveyed a message indicating that someone was guiding and inciting things behind the scenes, Perfikot felt she had to take the matter seriously.
If it was merely spontaneous public criticism, Perfikot truly didn’t care. Her only concern was whether her plans could proceed smoothly. She wasn’t running for Elected Council Speaker, so why should she care about her reputation?
But if there was someone manipulating everything from behind, intending to smear her or use public opinion against her, Perfikot was not someone to be trifled with.
Therefore, Perfikot abruptly interrupted the meeting, ordered the mobilization of the White Bear Knight Order’s Steam Knights, and headed to the Elected Council Square herself.
Perfikot did not put up a grandiose display upon her arrival. With only a team of Royal Knights guarding her, she used an ordinary royal carriage, so she did not attract much attention.
After all, everyone talked about the Lord of the North in many different ways, but few had actually seen her in person.
Thus, when Perfikot was under the protection of the Royal Knights, already standing at the steps of the Elected Council building and just ten steps away from Professor East, no one realized that the target of their fierce criticism was right there, listening to Professor East’s speech.
Perhaps the presence of Royal Knights around Perfikot was slightly conspicuous, leading Professor East to notice her. He questioned her, "Young lady, do you really think someone your age is capable of serving as a royal minister and leading this country as the head of the Royal Academy of Sciences?"
In Professor East’s view, aristocratic young ladies like her would nine times out of ten answer that they didn’t know, allowing him to use this answer to expound, claiming Perfikot didn’t know either.
However, he hadn’t expected to get caught in such a verbal trap.
"Why not? Does one have to be as old as you, relying on accumulated seniority and nepotism to be eligible to lead this country?" Perfikot, in her previous life before crossing over, was not someone to be verbally sparred with. Known to take on five opponents alone in debate contests with her sharp tongue, she immediately exposed his secrets.
Professor East’s background wasn’t difficult to investigate. Without needing the Assassin Brotherhood, the military, Noble Council, and elected council members had already inquired about his situation. Perfikot was informed on her way there.
Therefore, her words nearly infuriated Professor East to death.
Being a scholar who valued hierarchy and status immensely, he had not come from a traditional academic background, nor was he into academic research, but he was obsessed with his professor title. Now, being criticized by Perfikot, he furiously struck the ground with his cane, loudly calling it slander!
"Slander? Eastwood, although you are a professor at the Royal Langton University, you weren’t hired as a professor by the school. You were originally an assistant lecturer, who, through your father-in-law’s connections and years of experience, managed to obtain an associate professor title decades ago." Perfikot never feared debating with such individuals. She uncovered Professor East’s secrets, using him as an example to criticize, "You say Count Brandelis is too young and incapable of leading the nation, but what about you? You’re in your fifties; what contributions have you made to the nation?
Being a professor, what significant achievements have you made in the academic field? As a professor, have you trained any well-known students?
As for leading the nation, what qualifies you to criticize a noble young lady who braved the harsh conditions of the Northern Territory, personally navigating the deep snow, and pioneering the Northern Territory’s governance? At least she is more qualified than an old fool like you who only knows how to spread nonsense!"
Since she had no intention of showing leniency or respect to Professor East from the start, her words were intensely incisive.
Hearing Perfikot’s speech, Professor East, who had rarely been criticized in his life, was so furious he couldn’t catch his breath, spewing blood and tumbling down from the podium.
Everyone was stunned at the scene; no one anticipated that after just a few words, Professor East was so incensed he vomited blood.
Seeing him fall off the podium, Perfikot did not stand idly by; she ordered the Royal Knights to maintain order, isolating others before approaching Professor East to check his condition, discovering that his heart had stopped. Content originally comes from novelFirｅ.net
Knowing this, Perfikot could have opted not to save him, but she thought letting him die this way would give opponents an opportunity to attack her, and it was too lenient for this old man.
Therefore, Perfikot directly applied alchemy, performing human transmutation on Professor East. Not only did she save him, but she made some adjustments to ensure he would live healthily until a hundred years old.
She wanted this old man to live long enough to see his reputation ruined and become a laughing stock.