Vote for Your Knight! - Chapter 21

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Vote for your knight!
Chapter 21
“Well, this……”
“Completely……”
His teammates couldn’t find the words to continue.
‘Why can’t they just say it failed!’ Kusto wanted to cry out.
Kusto felt the urge to wail.
It was the sign he’d chosen himself.
He was the one who’d selected the Bait for catching two-point rabbits.
He couldn’t lift his head.
From beside him came the sound of Kilmen, who’d just pulled out the wild boar Bait, giggling mockingly—but even that didn’t stir his anger.
“Then we’ll begin the Hunting now! You have one hour! Everyone, please enter the Barrier Enclosure!”
Twenty teams filed into the Barrier Enclosure in small groups.
After the fake birds fitted with Recording Orbs flew in as well, the Barrier Enclosure sealed itself shut.
* * *
“Wow, jackpot!”
Pavel leapt up when he spotted a Monster caught in the Trap.
“Another rabbit!”
“Well, naturally we caught rabbits—we used rabbit-luring scent as the Bait.”
Deni replied in a flat tone.
Beside him lay a heap of small, pitch-black rabbit Monsters with three ears each.
Dmitri’s expression darkened.
“What’s there to worry about? We can just catch an enormous number of rabbits!”
Maurice tried to lift the gloomy mood.
“Ha, that’s a good thought.”
“Why didn’t I think of that.”
Everyone answered without spirit.
Even the usually optimistic Maurice slumped, hanging his head in defeat.
Kusto had been unable to lift his head for some time.
Shame aside, he was thinking of a way to turn this situation around.
He’d said he’d only done pirate Hunting before, but he’d also hunted wild beasts in his day.
‘Though not in any formal structured way like this.’
Catching large beasts with bare hands was difficult, so they needed the right Bait and Traps for the job.
And that Bait should be……
Kusto suddenly sprang to his feet.
“We use the rabbits.”
“Sir?”
Dmitri looked at him as if asking what he meant.
“We dig Traps using the rabbits we’ve caught as Bait. Surely real prey would be more tempting to Monsters than Bait scent, yes?”
“That’s an excellent idea.”
Dmitri agreed at once.
Deni nodded as well.
“If I use my net, we can make a much more effective Trap.”
Just then, Maurice leaned in and whispered.
“That David participant’s team seems to have caught quite a few deer Monsters.”
The deer Monsters had five horns tangled in a chaotic mess, and possessed long, sharp teeth.
Moreover, unlike ordinary deer, they were carnivorous and remarkably savage.
That’s why David’s team was also setting Traps to lure them rather than facing them head-on.
“Which means the deer are definitely heading toward the scent of the Bait, wouldn’t you say?”
Dmitri said.
Something flashed in Kusto’s mind at those words.
“Then let’s set our Traps around David’s team’s position. The deer heading toward the scent will fall into our Traps instead.”
They laid out Traps using the rabbit Monster corpses all around David’s team’s encampment.
When the carnivorous deer Monsters or wild boar Monsters caught the scent of blood and drew near, they would fall into the Traps.
“It’s better to make it come to us than to exhaust ourselves searching. Phew—can we rest now?”
Maurice sat down on the ground as if exhausted.
At that, Dmitri’s brow furrowed.
“Don’t be absurd. We must continue catching rabbits to raise our score.”
“Why collect rabbit Monsters? One good catch of something bigger and we win.”
“There’s no guarantee it will be captured, is there?”
“I think it’ll work. It was Kusto’s idea, after all.”
Maurice laughed carelessly and flopped backward onto the ground with a thud.
“Get up. Come on!”
Pavel, unable to bear it any longer, grabbed his arm and pulled.
But Pavel couldn’t support his weight and only grunted with effort.
“Shusu, help me out!”
Pavel called on Deni Vinoshuu by that odd nickname, pleading for assistance. But Deni ignored him entirely.
“Go ahead and lift him. If you can.”
Maurice chuckled as if it were hilarious.
Pavel bit his lip.
Then he drew his Greatsword from his back.
“Argh! Aaaaah!”
Maurice yelped in shock and sprang to his feet.
“Have you lost your mind?”
“I was just checking my weapon. Nothing to worry about.”
Pavel smiled innocently.
Deni whispered to Kusto, who stood speechless at the violent display.
“He’s the scariest one here. Remember that.”
‘So that’s why he tolerates a nickname as vicious as “Shusu”?’
For some reason it made sense, and Kusto had nothing to say.
“Then Maurice and Pavel should hide and watch the trap, while the rest of us spread out and see if we can catch any small monsters.”
Dmitri, the leader, summarized the plan.
Kusto ventured into the forest alone, searching through the trees.
‘Oh! A fox!’
Spotting a fox monster, Kusto gave chase. But an arrow came flying and struck it down just ahead of him.
“Yes! Got it! Hey, hound! Bring it over!”
A voice called from the distance—another team.
Soon heavy footsteps approached.
“Damn nuisances. I’ll repay them for treating me like a hunting dog…….”
That moment, Kilmen—hurling curses—locked eyes with Kusto.
“You…….”
Kilmen’s hostile expression shifted as he glanced around nervously.
He seemed to be looking for a Recording Orb.
Kusto spotted a bird hiding among the branches, but from Kilmen’s position it apparently wasn’t visible.
Convinced they weren’t being recorded, Kilmen drew his large sword and approached.
“Damn you. You’re the reason I got called a hunting dog.”
“What are you talking about? You’re not still bitter about losing that duel, are you?”
“What? Bitter? You cheated to win!”
Kilmen shouted as though he’d forgotten his own habit of fighting dirty.
Kusto looked around.
Tall trees and thick undergrowth narrowed the path, and the towering trees cast long, dark shadows.
‘Fighting here would be a real headache.’
And more importantly, there was a Recording Orb capturing all this.
Kusto stared at Kilmen charging toward him with his blade, then turned on his heel and ran.
“Hey! Where do you think you’re going!”
Kilmen’s furious roar echoed from behind.
His grudge ran deeper than Kusto had expected.
‘Getting caught would be a real pain.’
He had no doubt he’d win in a fight, but exhausting himself wasn’t worth it either.
As Kusto ran with these thoughts, someone grabbed him by the back of the neck and yanked hard.
“?!”
The mysterious figure clamped a hand over Kusto’s mouth and held him silent until Kilmen disappeared from sight.
Only when Kilmen was gone did his captor let go.
“What were you thinking, putting yourself in danger like that?”
It was David.
Kusto quickly brushed away David’s hand from his mouth.
“I didn’t need the help.”
“But…….”
Then it happened.

“Arrgh!”
Kilmen’s scream cut through the air.
Kusto flashed a crooked grin at David, whose eyes went wide.
When the two of them rushed toward the sound, they found Kilmen had fallen into a deep pit.
It was a trap Kusto had set with his teammates.
“Hey! Pull me out—David, Your Grace! Please get me out of here! That bastard, he—!”
David gazed down at Kilmen, who was reaching up, before responding.
“Kilmen, I’m afraid you’ve become a prisoner.”
“A prisoner? What do you mean, Your Grace?”
“You’ve been captured by the opposing team.”
David turned away from the flustered Kilmen and looked toward Kusto.
“If Kilmen’s team wants him back, they’ll need to pay a ransom.”
“Your Grace, surely no such thing—”
“If Kilmen received sword training, he ought to know that’s a basic rule of engagement.”
David spoke with unhurried composure.
Kilmen fell silent, unable to mount a reply.
‘Is there such a rule?’
Kusto tilted his head, uncertain.
He’d never trained as a knight, so he had no way of knowing.
But if it was true, then Kilmen was a boar that had blundered straight into the snare.
“Pull me out! Please, pull me out!”
David stepped back, leaving Kilmen’s pleas behind.
Kusto glanced at David’s expression and followed him.
“Something on your mind?”
Kusto leaned his back against a tree and asked.
David stood upright, his blue eyes fixed steadily on him.
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
“Why didn’t you join my team?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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