Vote for Your Knight! - Chapter 66

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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!
66
“It is Sir Travis Zicon!”
“Waaaahhh……!”
“Hah……!”
The cheers were quieter than usual.
Even sighs could be heard.
David Sheffield finally burst into tears.
Travis Zicon was so busy comforting him that he couldn’t manage to say anything proper.
But in the end, the two of them had different paths to walk.
Travis Zicon returned to the Survivor’s Seat.
David Sheffield returned to the Waiting Seat.
In the heavy silence, Edith spoke again.
“Now for the final ranking announcement. Candidates for first through third place: Joan Zignola, David Bertier, and Kusto. Please come forward.”
Unlike the last ranking ceremony, this time she called the top three candidates up to the stage.
Was there some kind of shift in the standings?
The knights watched the stage with bated breath.
The three men took their places on stage.
“So, who among you three will claim first place?”
Edith asked with a forced smile.
She was trying to lighten the mood.
Different answers came from the Waiting Seat and the Survivor’s Seat.
But most had answered with David.
In the middle rankings, David had never once fallen out of the Question Mark range.
But Joan had been pushed down by Kusto, dropping as low as third or even lower at times.
Kusto mostly stayed outside the Question Mark, holding fifth place or better.
And besides—
“Didn’t Kusto only get third because he received a hundred thousand votes?”
Many of the knights thought this way.
So first place would be David again, they all believed.
It was such an obvious result, but everyone thought so anyway.
“Now let’s hear their thoughts,” Edith said.
Edith approached David first.
“Whether I finish first or second, I am incredibly proud and grateful to be a Kartamen participant. No matter what rank I receive, I am happy.”
David gave a textbook answer.
Edith then turned to Kusto.
He still wore the expression of someone who couldn’t believe this was real.
“I can’t believe I’m standing here. It still doesn’t feel real…… I’m not sure if I deserve this.”
Kusto seemed bothered by the hundred thousand votes he had received.
Edith smiled gently and shook her head.
“You absolutely deserve it, Kusto. Have confidence in yourself.”
Edith knew the truth.
The number of votes each of the three men had received was enormous. So even if one of them had received an additional hundred thousand votes, the rankings wouldn’t have changed.
‘But that fact won’t be announced.’
Joan had used his head well, subtly exploiting that knowledge.
Edith turned toward Joan this time.
But Joan suddenly burst into tears.
Edith was taken aback. He wept so passionately, so pitiably.
“I thought I wouldn’t even make the top three candidates. My ranking kept…… dropping, and I thought that was it for me…… but to make it even as a candidate now…… I’m so grateful to all our Marias and supporters…… sob…….”
He was crying so hard that he couldn’t even finish his words.
‘Joan’s supporters are going to go wild when they see this.’
Joan knew exactly what moved his fans.
That’s why even when he sometimes did annoying things in Kartamen, he could maintain his top rankings.
“Then we’ll announce from third place onwards.”
Edith received a silver slip from the Valkyrias.
“Third place is…… Sir David Bertier!”
“Huuuhhh?!”
The Circular Arena erupted at the unexpected result.
David Bertier—not even second, but third?!
“That can’t be right!”
“So it really was the hundred thousand votes…”
The murmuring didn’t cease.
Whispers of discontent rippled through the crowd.
Edith paid it no mind and accepted the golden slip of paper that was handed to her.
“Next, I will announce the first-place finisher.”
At her words, the Circular Arena fell silent as if by magic.
First place.
It would be either Joan or Kusto.
Some of the knights found themselves cheering for Joan without quite realizing it.
They’d mistaken Kusto for having stolen David’s ranking with those hundred thousand votes.
‘It’s unsettling, but things are getting interesting.’
Edith felt neither joy nor sorrow as she unfolded the slip.
Upon reading the name written there, she drew in a sharp breath.
Then she announced first place.
“First place is…”
Edith raised her head, wearing her professional smile.
“Congratulations to the knight who has consistently shown his care for his fans… Joan Zignola!”
The moment the announcement left her lips, Joan dropped to his knees, overcome, tears streaming down his face.
Cheers erupted simultaneously from both the Waiting Seat and the Survivor’s Seat.
David and Kusto approached Joan calmly, patting him on the back and offering their congratulations.
“Congratulations, Joan. Come on, get up and show your fans that beautiful face of yours.”
“Hic, hic… I’m sorry, David. I’m sorry I took first place…”
“What do you have to apologize for? You earned first place fair and square.”
On the surface, it was a touching scene. But the way Joan pointedly apologized only to David while ignoring Kusto created an odd undertone.
In any case, Edith found herself mentally composing how to edit this moment in a touching way.
‘Just as I predicted, Joan’s the one who took first.’
It couldn’t have turned out any other way.
It had been predictable since the midrange rankings were announced.
Though it wasn’t deliberately planned.
‘Since Joan’s rank kept fluctuating up and down, his fans must have been anxious.’
They’d likely marshaled every vote they could muster, doing their absolute best.
The advertising had been enormous.
Carriages bearing Joan’s face and portraits of him had become conspicuously more common in the streets.
All accompanied by inscriptions reading “Please vote for Joan!”
That wasn’t all.
There were advertisements promising prizes to anyone who could prove they’d voted for Joan.
So naturally, the votes had poured in for him.
Meanwhile, David had never once dropped below the Question Mark ranking, so his fans had grown complacent.
And in that window of opportunity, even the rising Kusto had surpassed him in votes.
‘But now they’ll understand just how terrifying complacency can be.’
Edith watched Joan, still unable to stop his tears, being comforted by David and Kusto.
‘But the touching atmosphere ends here!’
There’s no way we can just let this pass.
Edith put on a solemn expression as she looked at Joan, who was still pretending to cry.
“Sir Joan, congratulations on first place. May I ask you something?”
“Yes, hic… please, go ahead.”
Joan made a show of composing himself, rubbing his eyes with his forearm.
“Could you tell us why you gave those hundred thousand points to Sir Kusto? I—along with many others—fully expected those points to go to Sir David Sheffield.”
Joan’s shoulders stiffened.
After a long moment of hesitation, he forced himself to lift his head.
“Sir Kusto was nearly executed on a false charge, but he received a Pardon Right and was able to participate in the Kartamen.”
The arena grew silent at Joan’s words.
“I wanted to give him those hundred thousand points as a sign of my support—to show that I believe in his innocence and wish to stand beside him as a worthy comrade going forward.”
On the surface, it was a convincing answer.
‘Joan’s used his head well here.’
But Edith knew his true intention lay elsewhere.
Now that Kusto had received those hundred thousand points, he would be suspected of owing his ranking to them, no matter how he placed.
In other words, he would be subjected to ridicule.
‘And he’ll become the concentrated target of every troll and malcontent.’
And yet, until now, Kusto’s midrange ranking had wavered between first and second—both marked as Question Marks.
‘It’s unfair.’
He’d even defeated David.
Now Kusto would face opposition from David’s fanbase as well.
For Joan, it was getting results without lifting a finger.
A perfectly orchestrated campaign to neutralize Kusto.
‘Of course, David is the strongest rival, but eliminating him would be too obvious.’
It was a strategy that showed some forethought, at least.
Edith watched Kusto.
When the Pardon Right was at stake, he’d approached Kartamen with something like pleasure.
Now he was fighting with his life on the line.
Kusto was sincere about Kartamen.
Edith turned to him with another question.
“What do you think of Joan’s ‘gift’, Sir Kusto?”
Kusto, who had been standing with an unreadable expression, lifted his gaze.
“I am…….”
Everyone in the Circular Arena swallowed hard, waiting for what he would say next.
“I’m grateful to Sir Joan for his support. But regardless of what rank I achieve, I will face Kartamen as I always have—with my life at stake. With the resolve to die.”
It was a short statement, yet it resonated.
He knew Joan’s hundred thousand points carried more than simple encouragement.
Even if you scheme against me, I will see this through to the end.
That was the meaning woven through his words.
Kusto was no fool.

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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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