Section 2 Speech

However, although the judges have a harsh and critical eye, their abilities have come to an end. The "Guide to Selection of the Great Founder" with each person flipped over and over in the hands of each judge, but no one could find any tricks from the two works. They have been in this state for a long time, so that all the audience present, those non-judges, have noticed this.

Everyone knows what will happen according to the tradition of the Engineers Association. Everyone holds their breath and waits for the final scene to arrive.

The last thing happened. Naragrim, the oldest founder of the Engineers Association, and the indisputable highest authority in contemporary dwarf construction and engineering technology, walked to the middle of the venue. The master's face was a little melancholy, but it had nothing to do with this selection. Everyone present knew that the master had been in extreme self-blame recently, because of his incompetence, which led to the fall of Karak Grom and Prince Hoga's death on the battlefield. Many people speculated that if this continued, the master would probably shave his hair and be a butcher.

However, at least he still came to the stage and fulfilled his duties as a great founder.

"Dear friends, I am honored to witness this open competition today and see this unforgettable selection with my own eyes. It is hard to express my mood at this moment - it is really gratifying that there are many talents in the Engineers Association. We still have the last two candidates, but we know that no matter whether any of them wins, it does not mean that the other one is inferior to others. All this is the fault of the Engineers Association. Because our association only has one large caster vacancies."

This slightly joking sentence caused a burst of laughter among the dwarves present.

"But at the moment, the judges can no longer make a comment. These two contestants and their works are so outstanding that we cannot make a choice from them. According to tradition," Naragrim said loudly. "Once this happens, we will introduce a third party as the referee."

Naragrim waved his arm vigorously. "Everyone present will be a third party!"

A low voice of discussion came from the crowd.

Naragrim pointed to the left. "This work on my left is a war weapon made by a young contestant, Ash Rufate from the Lava Tribe. He named it the 'Dragon Terminator'. He used this great work to kill a dragon and completely erased a record of a book of hatred. We should praise his bravery and wisdom."

There was a burst of praise in the crowd. Of course, because everyone knew that the contestant and sponsor had provided them with free meals and drinks for several days, the praise was particularly loud.

Several judges gathered around the "Dragon Terminator" with admiration. The Dragon Terminator is a crossbow, but it is not a weapon, it is a handicraft. These engineers are all amazed at the bowstring structure composed of pulleys on it. The exquisite scope is even more impressive. Through this simple and ingenious aiming device, even an idiot can easily aim the crossbow at the target and conduct accurate sniping.

"The contestant on my right is a senior member of our association, from Roin of Karak-Dorm," said Naragrim, who immediately introduced the second one. "And the detailed design drawings of his outstanding work, the new Fortress City Defense System. I have to make some explanation. During the last time the Grand Foundry selection, Roin also participated in the competition, but he was eventually defeated. This is not because his design was unreasonable, but because according to the association's regulations, his works have not been tested by war and do not comply with the principle of "invention and creation must be tested by practice". But now, we all know the glorious achievements of Karak-Dorm defeating the Green Skin Army. This work is of great significance. I think no one can question the effect of the "new Fortress City Defense System" in actual combat."

"Now, the two works are on my side, and it's time for us to make the final choice." Naragrim shouted to the crowd. "The judges and I have done our best. After negotiation, we agreed that the owners of these two works are eligible for the title of "Great Founder", but we have only one vacant at the moment, so they must be eliminated."

"Whether it is the most outstanding representative of mechanical engineering, the "Dragon Terminator" win, or the legendary work of civil engineering, the "New Fortress City Defense System" that represents civil engineering, depends on everyone present to decide. According to the tradition of the Engineers Association, we will have time to smoke a bag of cigarettes. During this period, everyone can communicate and discuss with each other. After this period, we will use the joint vote of all association members to decide the final result of this selection."

All the judges came to the middle of the venue, started stuffing their pipes with tobacco silk, and began to suck up the clouds and fog. This was a very fair contest. All the participants could choose one contestant and vote for it. When the judges finished smoking, or when the last spark in their pipes went out, the voting would officially begin. As for which entries now, there are more people around it, it means that there are more supporters on this side.

The others on the field are now starting to move freely. There is noisy everywhere, and no judges maintain order. At this stage, many things have been destined to be done. For members of the association who are not good at learning and are not very proficient in design, they are exquisite and beautiful. Moreover, the "Dragon Terminator" on the scene is much more intuitive than the "new fortress city defense system" that is just a design drawing on paper. For those real masters, that is, senior members of the Engineers Association, the owner of the "Dragon Terminator" has generously provided many free meals to most of the people present. Just from a grateful mood, more people will choose it.

The time for a bag of cigarettes was really not long. The judges quickly finished smoking and began to prepare for the final vote.

The voting work was completed quickly. There was no accident in the entire voting process. A judge came forward to announce the end of the evaluation, and the final result will be made by the judges after clearing the votes. These authoritative persons will make the decision without bias to avoid any objection. Although some of the losers were very excited during today's selection process, there was no detail in the entire evaluation process that could make them doubt for a moment.

However, we have to wait until the results are revealed, and we have to show patience. From the dwarfs's mentality of loving boasting, the results of the Great Founder's selection will not be revealed until the last moment. Before the results were announced, there was a grand banquet that allowed all competitors to sit around the table like brothers and drink happily. In order to save time, everyone only ate very simple dry food at noon today, so everyone is looking forward to the evening banquet.

The last moment finally came. When almost every dwarf drank two glasses of wine (some of them had already drunk three glasses), a senior member of the association dressed in a very well-dressed manner came to the lobby and handed over a piece of stuff to the judges and passed it on to each other. In the middle of the lobby, someone had already set up a small high platform as a speech table, so that the spokesperson who was carrying the heavy responsibility could speak better.

The members of the Engineers Association have long been looking forward to it, not to mention the people who came from other places in the city to watch the fun. Everyone happily occupied a table. The judges sat in the best position and formed a square. Now, there is nothing short of them, just waiting for the final result to be revealed.

Indeed, there will be no shortage of seats, benches or low stools, and there will be no shortage of tables. As for beer glasses placed on the table, short-neck bottles for ale, and glasses of all sizes, they are of course even more complete.

Everyone had already taken their seats and everything was ready. The nine great founders, the highest among the judges, stood up one after another. They were having the final discussion and wanted to elect one of them as representatives to release this important news to everyone - that is, a new great founder had already emerged.

Finally, the nine great casters left the dining table together and came to the small high platform. Eight of them jointly lifted the remaining companion onto the platform. Of course, they did not forget to bring their cups and a small beer barrel. The sharp-eyed man recognized that it was Miklesco, the great casters, one of the presidents of the association, the steam engine master, the gyro helicopter expert, and the current manager of the Engineers Association.

"Listen to everyone!" The respectable great founder used this loud voice as his opening remark.

"Listen!...Listen!..." The same shouts were heard from every corner of the hotel. The noise quickly calmed down, and everyone held their breath, waiting for the final announcement.

"Dear colleagues." The great casting master Miklesco announced loudly. "First of all, I will be honored to announce to everyone that, through unanimous agreement, one of our members will receive the title of "the great casting master", and we congratulate him!!!" As a demonstration, he raised the wine glass in his hand and drank the full glass of foam beer in one go, and the small bubbles slid off his beard like pearls.

This sentence is actually purely the opening remarks of the speech, which is completely correct nonsense. Despite this, the great founder's speech was applauded by everyone because it was a good opportunity to drink. Everyone shouted "Great! Great!" "Congratulations! Congratulations", and shouts like "Haha" and "Haha", and even burping. In order to pay tribute to Miklesco, all the glasses were filled with wine and raised. Then, after a sound of swallowing throughout the audience, all the empty glasses were lifted into the sky.

"This new great founder is the young master from the Lava clan, Ashu Rufate! He conquered all the judges with his 'Dragon Terminator'."

This time, the audience was filled with thunderous cheers.

Miklesco handed the glass to his colleagues in the audience, who quickly poured a full glass for him and handed it to him again.

"In order to welcome the birth of our new Grand Founder, let's have another drink!" As a demonstration, he drank it all in one go.

The enthusiastic engineers immediately began to pour wine for their cups. In order to share this happy hour as soon as possible, they poured wine quickly. Almost all the beer glasses foamed outwards, and a pool of water was added to the bottom of all the ale glasses.

"Next, please invite our association to have the youngest great caster ever, Ashu Rufate."
Chapter completed!