Vote for Your Knight! - Chapter 34

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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 34
‘For the next evaluation, I’ll have to draw spectators by lottery. If I let everyone come, someone might get hurt.’
Edit settled into the Princess’s seat on the platform with that thought.
Below the platform, fifty-four survivors of the first Cartamen trials knelt with bowed heads.
The Emperor entered to perform the investiture.
David, ranked first, stepped forward as representative and knelt, extending both hands outward.
When the Emperor placed his hand upon David’s, the participants cried out in unison.
“To become a Knight of the Empire, I offer this body in service to the realm.”
The Emperor answered by pressing his lips to the back of David’s hand.
A gesture of acceptance.
“Wow, His Majesty really favors David.”
“I’d settle for just touching his hand, or even a finger…”
Sighs of envy rippled through the crowd.
The Emperor distributed the Small Branch—the symbol of fiefdom granted to Knights—among all the participants.
Then, with the Emperor’s Sword, he tapped each participant’s shoulder, completing the investiture ceremony.
For the first time in decades, the Empire had fifty-four true Knights.
“Waaaaah!”
The plaza erupted in cheers that shook the very air.
The newly invested Knights trembled with emotion. Many wept openly.
Once the ceremony ended, Edit stepped forward.
“Congratulations on receiving your investiture as Knights. But you must not believe this is the end of your journey.”
At those words, the Knights—who had begun to relax in celebration—tensed once more.
“You still have one more goal ahead of you, don’t you? What is it?”
“To become De Eques!”
“Yes, exactly. You are all still ‘Knights’ with the qualifications to become De Eques.”
A fierce yearning burned up from within them—a hunger to see this through to the end.
Sensing that passion, Edit broke into a radiant smile.
“Then you’ll need to perform well in the second evaluation, won’t you?”
“Yes!”
“The second evaluation will be Naval Combat!”
Question marks appeared on the faces of both Knights and commoners alike.
It was an unexpected discipline.
Edit, as if she’d anticipated this, smiled knowingly and continued.
“For this evaluation, we will fill the Circular Arena with water and conduct the trial before the spectators seated in the stands.”
In the past, the Circular Arena had been filled with water to stage mock naval battles.
It had been one of the people’s favorite pastimes for ages.
To recreate it after all these years!
And to be able to witness it firsthand!
The plaza filled with the crowd’s roaring approval.
Meanwhile, tension settled across the Knights’ faces.
For those who had trained primarily on solid ground, this would be no simple task.
It would surely require extensive practice and training—teamwork above all else.
Edit could hardly contain her excitement.
* * *
The first day of the retreat resumed.
One week before the Naval Combat, the Cartamen participants gathered in one place again.
Now bearing the title of ‘Knights,’ they assembled at the Circular Arena.
They encountered an unfamiliar sight unlike anything before.
At the entrance to the Circular Arena stood crowds of people who had never been there before.
“Wow, Kusto! Kusto, look over here!”
“Pavel is so adorable!”
“Sir! Killian, sir! Over here!”
“Eek! Rafael! Here, here! Please, don’t push!”
Countless people—admirers and devotees—had gathered before the Circular Arena, waiting for the Knights.
Anticipating this, Edit had stationed soldiers beforehand to maintain distance between the Knights and their admirers.
Most of the Knights looked awkward, either simply walking past or hurrying through to avoid the crowd.
Then one person came bounding toward the admirers.
“Wow, you all really came to see me?”
“Kyaaaa! Pavel!”
When Pavel’s choice fell upon her, Marie screamed instead of answering. Unbothered, he grinned widely—until he noticed someone nearby weeping.
“Deni… Deni…!”
Startled by her frenzy, Pavel dragged the reluctant Deni forward.
Then the woman erupted into violent sobs.
“You survived, you survived! Thank you so much…! Really…! *Sob*!”
“Ah, thank you.”
“What are you two doing?”
“Morris! Kusto!”
Seized by curiosity, Morris dragged Kusto over, and another shriek tore through the air.
As Kusto flinched and tried to back away, someone cried out.
“Make a heart! Please make a heart!”
Morris grabbed Kusto’s hand and forced it into the shape of a heart.
“What in the…!”
Another scream erupted.
Kusto stood frozen, his fingers still bent in the heart shape.
Dmitri watched from a short distance away, then abruptly turned and walked the other way.
He’d only ruin the mood by joining in.
That’s when it happened.
“Dmitri!”
His name rang out from among the crowd.
He spun around in surprise to see someone smiling broadly and waving at him.
“Me…?”
“Yes! Dmitri! We’re rooting for you!”
It was pure, unadulterated encouragement. Dmitri froze for a moment, then found himself smiling without thinking.
The crowd erupted.
“Did you see that smile? Absolutely stunning.”
“That look in his eyes—like a melancholy hero from a romance.”
“His mind says no, but his heart has already harbored a traitor….”
After they finished their fan service and headed inside, several other Knights took courage and approached their admirers. Though a few still ignored them and walked past.
“There is honor in being a Knight. How can we debase ourselves with such antics? Don’t you agree, David? David…?”
The complaining Knight looked around to find David had vanished from his side.
David was already making his way through the crowd of Maries and Joans.
“Showing courtesy to ladies and gentlemen is also a virtue of knighthood.”
David murmured this to himself and greeted them with proper decorum.
“David, you’re so incredible! Will you marry me?”
“I’m filing the marriage certificate first! You’re too handsome!”
“Could you just hit me once with that sword? Please!”
Passionate praise came from every direction.
It was altogether different from the reverence he’d heard from his followers before.
Rawer somehow, and therefore embarrassing.
And yet—
‘Am I really that impressive? I knew it, but to this extent?’
Part of him was pleased.
Then it came.
“Joan should have come in first!”
“To us, Joan is number one!”
“We’ll make sure you really come in first next time!”
From nearby came a sound almost like wailing.
When David turned his head, Joan’s fans who had been glaring at him quickly looked away.
“I was quite happy with second place,” Joan said with an affable smile, then his expression grew sorrowful.
“Even when you do your best, the result may not be just. Of course, I didn’t not want to come in first. Ah, what am I even saying….”
“Nooooo! Joan! How could this happen!”
“We’ll definitely make you number one!”
Somewhere, it sounded like grievances were being fed.
Unbothered, David turned his best-angled left profile toward the fans and walked serenely into the Circular Arena.
* * *
The Knights who entered the arena fell silent.
The vast center of the arena was completely filled with clear water.
Along the edges, five rowboats were moored, and in the center floated a buoy-island topped with trees and rock formations.

“Look at the scale of this.”
“They’ve prepared properly.”
Edit had come out to explain the Naval Combat format.
“Good afternoon, Knights?”
“Yes! Good afternoon!”
After their knighting ceremony, they were now being called “Knights” with pride rather than “contestants.”
Somehow their spirits felt even higher.
Dmitri especially carried a different mood.
The knighthood he’d been forced to accept from a tyrant felt as though its mark had finally vanished—a sense of liberation.
“The Naval Combat task is to board a ship, sail to the island, and recover the Emperor’s Sword hidden within a cave.”
The Emperor’s Sword was a symbol of imperial authority.
“There was once a time when this blade was seized by the beasts that inhabit the Island of Death. The twelve De Eques of that age risked their lives venturing to the island and brought it back. You will now recreate that very battle.”
A cheer erupted among the Knights.
To recreate a De Eques battle!
It wasn’t merely an ordinary competition—it carried a glorious meaning.
“Hidden on the island are Homunculi shaped like monsters.”
A Homunculus was a humanoid figure of similar size, created through alchemy.
There existed techniques to instill consciousness into a Homunculus, but that was forbidden.
Edit herself created Homunculi without consciousness and employed them for the Cartamen.
“You must defeat them and recover the Emperor’s Sword. The first team to succeed will receive a reward of one hundred thousand votes.”
One hundred thousand votes!
It was a higher reward than the previous evaluation.
“That is to say, each member of the winning team will receive one hundred thousand votes added to the votes they individually received.”
As the number of voting citizens grew exponentially, the rewards rose proportionally.
As eliminated candidates reduced the number of Knights eligible for votes, a one-vote-per-person limit had been implemented, yet the total votes only increased. Such was the fever gripping the Cartamen.
“This score will also be reflected in the second-round standings. Note that all scores accumulated so far have been reset.”
But that was not the end.

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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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