Vote for Your Knight! - Chapter 37

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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 37
One of Kusto’s eyebrows arched upward.
“Resolve the problem? Are you planning to do something to Killian?”
“I’m planning to have a conversation with him.”
“Ah…….”
David chuckled as if taken aback.
“What misunderstanding do you have? You think I’m going to grab Killian by the collar?”
“I figured you might dish out some very strong advice—exceptionally strong—to set him straight.”
“You still don’t know me.”
David extended his hand to Kusto. Without hesitation, Kusto grasped it and rose to his feet.
Then he spoke.
“Don’t expect me to understand someone like you inside and out.”
David smiled with a hint of disappointment, then walked closer to Kusto. Kusto frowned and looked at him.
“Keep your distance.”
“Pavel and Deni walk closer together than this.”
“Are we the same as them?”
“What’s the difference?”
He gazed at a bird drifting lazily through the air. A Camera Device was embedded in the bird’s eye.
“Good pictures would be nice.”
“Good pictures?”
Kusto stepped away from David as if utterly exasperated.
“It’s going to look creepy.”
“The princess seems to want pictures like that. You saw the ones she edited.”
“The reception must have been absolutely terrible. I don’t even need to see it.”
“It might not be as bad as you think.”
David recalled the tablet community posts he’d glimpsed late that night in secret.
Kartamen’s Top 3 Chemistry Kings—A Breakdown
1. Deni Binoush – Pavel Surb
2. Kusto – David Bertie
3. Kusto – Dmitri Kassel
– Friendship, they call it; love, we read it☆
– Why is Kusto so popular anyway? lol lol lol
ㄴ Unexpectedly the chemistry king lol lol
ㄴ I was worried he’d be bullied for his background, and now I’m ashamed of my shallow thinking…
– Honestly, it’s nice to see good-natured kids sticking together. But when rough types hang around each other, it’s nauseating.
ㄴ So many people forcing bad chemistry, but nobody pays attention to it lol anyway
– Are they seriously into this? All three looked so obviously artificial to me
ㄴ Yeah, dead serious
ㄴ That just means you don’t know love
– Deni Binoush seems to dislike it though…
ㄴ No, that’s just him playing hard to get
ㄴ If you pay attention, he’s always looking at Pavel lol
Not that such talk was the reason he particularly liked Kusto.
“Do you not check reactions?”
“Reactions?”
“Yeah. On the tablet and such…….”
Kusto scratched his head.
‘So he doesn’t check it.’
“And do you check it often?”
“Me? ……Not really.”
David coughed and spoke.
Still, he was curious what expression Kusto would make if he heard that his team’s popularity had surged enormously since the last Evaluation.
Though they’d placed second, the wit they’d displayed in handling several unexpected situations earned them applause nearly as loud as the first-place team.
‘The princess’s editing played no small part in that.’
This Evaluation too would need to garner a good reception.
Lost in such thoughts, they had arrived at Killian, who sat by the water’s edge.
“Killian.”
“What is it?”
Killian flinched and started to push himself up, but lost his balance and sat back down.
The two men sat down beside Killian without making a fuss.
David was just about to broach the subject carefully.
“My condition still isn’t…”
“Something wrong with your leg?”
Kusto cut straight to the point.
David couldn’t hide his surprise as he looked at Kusto. But Kusto himself gazed at Killian with a calm expression.
Killian stared at him for a moment, then gave a bitter laugh and looked away toward a distant island buoy.
“You said you were a mercenary too?”
“Yeah.”
“Then you know what happens to a mercenary who gets injured in combat.”
Killian squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them and looked at Kusto and David as though nothing had happened.
“They’re treated worse than dogs.”
……
“I hurt myself trying to save a teammate, but that teammate abandoned me. My mercenary team abandoned me. I had nowhere to go, so I scraped by doing odd jobs until I saw the Kartamen notice.”
……
“Maybe these two arms alone could be enough to make a comeback. I entered thinking it was my last shot at redemption.”
Killian laughed hollowly.
“But it looks like it’ll be difficult. I’m already causing trouble.”
“I know you’re doing Leg Strengthening Training every day.”
Kusto spoke.
Killian’s eyes widened.
“How did you…”
But he quickly shook his head.
“You saw it, so you’d understand. It’s useless.”
“No. It’ll make a difference if you keep going.”
“Even if it isn’t showing results yet, this is a Team Battle. If we combine our strength, we can offset your weaknesses.”
David spoke.
“For that to work, you need to be honest with the rest of the team about your weakness first. And ask for their help.”
……
“Kusto and I are ready.”
After thinking it over, Killian nodded.
The three men approached where the other three were gathered.
Pierre was proudly swinging his Whip, showing it off. Deni and Arsen looked tired of it and quickly gestured for their approaching teammates to come join them.
“Speaking of which, our master showed us… Ah! David and Kusto, and Killian too. Perfect timing. I had something to show you anyway.”
“Actually, Killian has something to say first.”
David spoke. Deni and Arsen’s faces brightened as though they’d found a savior.
“I don’t know what it is, but let’s listen.”
Pierre sat down without complaint, cradling his Whip carefully at his waist.
Killian swallowed hard.
“There’s something I haven’t told you all.”
“What’s so serious about it.”
Deni, their leader, asked calmly without a flicker of concern.
Killian’s face grew even more rigid as he opened his mouth.
“Actually, I… suffered an injury to my leg. It might never fully heal. I’m doing recovery training every day, but I might end up being a burden to you all.”
……
The surroundings fell silent.
Killian squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them again to speak.
“If you ask why I came to Kartamen anyway, it’s because I wanted to challenge myself. I wanted to prove that even someone abandoned by everyone could do it. That’s why I came here with more desperation than anyone. Of course, if you all decide you can’t accept me, then I…”
“Hey, Killian.”
Pierre, who had been listening, cut him off.
Killian flinched.
Pierre was looking at him with sharp eyes.
As if he were about to tell him to leave right then and there.
“When I was a kid, I worked as a stable hand and got kicked by horse hooves countless times. I’ve even had broken bones. But I recovered from all of it. You can recover too.”
!
But what came from his mouth was not what was expected. No—it was consolation.
And it wasn’t over.
“We all have our own weaknesses, don’t we? I have mine too.”
Kusto held out his forearm, revealing the Slave Mark embedded there.
“And I couldn’t sleep well today, so maybe that’s why. My neck isn’t moving right.”
Arsen spoke as well.
At last, everyone’s eyes turned toward David.
“My weakness is…”
“…?”
“Honestly, I have no idea.”
“Ah, what rotten luck.”
“So rotten luck is his weakness, then.”
Laughter burst from the team.
But Killian alone could not laugh so easily.
“Are you really sure about this? I might be a liability during this Evaluation.”
“You chose the Support Team yourself because you understood your own weakness, didn’t you?”
“If we focus on practicing boarding the boat, you won’t twist your ankle again.”
“We’ll help you.”
“Your arm strength is good anyway, so Rowing and Archery won’t be a problem.”
Killian looked at his teammates as if he couldn’t quite believe them, then lowered his head.
“Thank you. I’ll do my best as well.”
* * *
Meanwhile, the boat Dmitri was in kept losing its direction, drifting toward the far side of the island.
“Row properly! Put your back into it!”
Joan, their leader, shouted. But it was no use.
All the teammates were simply losing strength.
Then it happened.
“Port side! Row harder! We’re drifting off course! Port side! Port side!”
Unable to bear it any longer, Dmitri called out. Following his commands, the rowers on the port side put force into their strokes.
Then the boat regained its direction and began moving toward the island.
Joan’s eyes turned cold.
As soon as the boat touched the island, Pavel and Morris, the Acquisition Team members, headed into the cave.
Meanwhile, Joan and Dmitri from the Strategy Team had to identify positions on the island where enemies might be lurking.
As Dmitri surveyed the surroundings, Joan drew slightly closer.
“Dmitri, thank you for just now.”
“You mean steering the boat? It’s nothing—”
“But I’m the leader, so I’d like you to leave such things to me from now on.”

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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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