Vote for Your Knight! - Chapter 68

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

Vote for your knight!
Chapter 68
“Why did I pick him? Well……”
Killian fell into thought.
Deni sprang from his seat.
“You didn’t just choose randomly, did you?”
“No, I didn’t.”
Killian vehemently denied it.
But it seemed half-true regardless, and after hesitating, he continued.
“I have a sword, so I figured I’d need a bow, which is why I picked Pavel and Dmitri.”
“And?”
“Since Pavel would be there, I thought Deni would be necessary, so I picked him.”
“What?”
Deni asked in utter disbelief.
Killian ignored him and continued.
“And besides, harpoons are only really useful for hunting fish or beasts, right? Since Deni’s a fisherman, I figured he could handle three harpoons’ worth of work, so I didn’t pick any more. Instead, I balanced it out by choosing two spade users.”
I’d thought he was just picking at random, but hearing his logic, there was merit to it.
Pavel clapped his hands together.
“Wow, Killian. Surprisingly clever, aren’t you?!”
“Right? Surprisingly capable of actual thought!”
Rafael chimed in just as innocently.
It sounded more like an insult than praise, so Killian frowned.
* * *
“Isn’t Joan taking this a bit too far?”
Morris, who’d been chattering away in the room for a while, suddenly spoke up.
Clover, who’d been talking alongside him without pause, nodded.
“He swept up all the swords and bows and harpoons.”
“He took everything with offensive power and didn’t bring a single spade.”
“If the mission is a Mock War, Joan’s team will have a massive advantage.”
At that, Kusto let out a hollow laugh.
“A Mock War? That can’t be it. They wouldn’t have set up weapons like this without reason.”
“But can a spade really be called a weapon?”
Clover said carefully.
The weapon he’d been forced to choose was a spade.
Then Olivier, polishing his glasses, spoke with deliberate caution.
“If you swing it vertically, it’s a weapon any way you look at it.”
Olivier had chosen a spade as well.
“You really do say anything when it comes to martial arts……”
Morris muttered softly.
David, however, reassured his teammates.
“We’ll have the advantage over Joan’s team, which focused on offense. We have a balanced distribution. Balance is what matters in any situation.”
His words were borne out by David’s team’s stable weapon allocation.
One sword.
Two harpoons.
One bow.
Two spades.
“But doesn’t that leave us short on offensive power?”
Pierre spoke then.
“You only have one sword and one bow.”
David shook his head.
“That one sword is me, and the bow is Morris, so there’s nothing to worry about.”
David was a swordsman called a genius.
And Morris, whatever else might be said, possessed exceptional talent with the bow.
He also had experience honed since childhood through hunting.
“And based on my assessment, I don’t think this mission will rely solely on offensive power. The harpoons and bow will have their uses too. So don’t lose your confidence.”
David spoke.
* * *
The next morning, before dawn.
Dark figures quietly appeared in four rooms.
“Wake up at once! The Evaluation begins!”
A loud voice suddenly rang out.
Followed by the blaring sound of a trumpet.
The knights instinctively tensed and shot to their feet.
“Who are you people… the event coordinators?”
David and the knights squinted as the coordinators held out black cloth to them.
“Please cover your eyes.”
“Has the Princess already begun the Evaluation?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“But this is far too…!”
Someone voiced a complaint.
Yet David immediately covered his eyes with the cloth.
Once David did so, the other knights had no choice but to follow suit.
The other rooms were no different.
So the Evaluation was beginning already.
It was disorienting, though somehow it felt very much like something the Princess would do.
“Are all your eyes covered? Then please follow us!”
“Wait. Where exactly are we going?”
David asked.
But the coordinator answered in a flat, expressionless voice.
“That’s classified.”
* * *
Meanwhile.
Outside, Kartamen Episode 8’s ranking announcement ceremony was being broadcast.
A ceremony where only twenty-four would remain.
Moreover, the episode where the reversal of the 100,000 Points Benefit had unfolded.
The reaction was explosive.
[Chat] I wanted to give Kusto a gift and Joan did ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
I knew Joan was kind but
I didn’t know his heart ran this deep ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
The more I support him the deeper I fall
Such a knight you are…☆
– Seriously how did he even think to give the gift to Kusto in that situation ㅠㅠㅠ our Joan ㅠㅠㅠ
– Kusto’s expression seemed new too lol looked like he was moved and just froze lolll
ㄴ who wouldn’t be moved in that situation lollll treat our Joan well from now on
ㄴ it looked more like he was shocked not moved;;;
ㄴ how is that a shocked expression? stop reading too much into it—
ㄴㄴ then feeling moved isn’t reading too much into it it’s mind reading??? lolllll
– in a heartwarming moment there’s always that one person stirring the pot—we can clearly see who lol just stop ㅎ
[Chat] Honestly it’s funny though..ㅎㅎ
it’s obvious he has one person who’s done everything for him and yet he’s funneling benefits to someone else lolll
– and the one who served him was even on the brink of elimination lollll
ㄴ servant or whatever coolly discarding it all—a man of deep character lolll
ㄴ go two depths deeper and you’d drown lollll
ㄴ isn’t it just a well at that point
ㄴㄴ well-man lollllllll
– don’t talk darkly without a subject. put a subject to it. and Joan is wise. if 100,000 points can flip an elimination into survival what then? it’s smarter to strengthen the top tier.
ㄴ that’s what makes Kartamen fun though lolll
ㄴ if you want Kartamen organic natural free-range dull then give the benefit to whoever else———
And so Joan earned himself a new nickname: “the Well-Man.”
Meanwhile elsewhere, people were reeling from the shock.
It was because David had plummeted from first place to third.
[Chat] Ah….ㅜㅜ
we got way too complacent
we relied too much on David being talented ㅠㅠㅠ
how surprised were we at third place
he always came in first before…
– it’s all our fault let’s not get complacent anymore and vote and place ads
– we need to run a lot of voting verification events too the other fan groups all do it
ㄴ right we’re the only ones who didn’t do it ㅠㅠㅠ
– even if he’s a fixed first-place that transcends preference the core fanbase is still crucial we need to get it together going forward
– Honestly, without that 100,000 Points Benefit, I wouldn’t have ended up third…
ㄴ This is so frustrating… that was supposed to be David’s…
ㄴ Let’s forget what’s past. He’ll just have to take first next time.
[Off-topic] From persecuted slave-born contestant to Kartamen’s 2nd Knight (long read)
(From his early struggles to his rapid rise)
(omitted)
And now, finally, Kusto has climbed confidently to 2nd place!
He’s really suffered to get this far.
To Kusto, that stoic yet tender heart,
please give him your vote…
– There’s a vote-certification event happening right now!
– This is true human triumph, a legend incarnate…
– Come on, Kusto, let’s aim for 1st next time…
– He must’ve struggled so much climbing here fair and square. We’ll support him forever.
[Off-topic] This is hilarious, “fair and square” lmao
Steals 100,000 points and ends up 2nd lmao
– Loving someone lowborn must’ve made his brain lowborn too lmao
ㄴ You show your true colors disparaging slave origins like that
– Shouldn’t he be thanking Joan instead of his fans?
– Kusto could’ve easily made 2nd without those 100,000 points. Don’t speak carelessly.
ㄴ What would you know lmao
ㄴ Could he have beaten David no matter how good he was?
ㄴㄴ Didn’t you see he was consistently 1st and 2nd in the middle rankings?
ㄴㄴㄴ Not consistently—he just kept disappearing inside the question mark now and then, but David never once stepped outside it. If you don’t understand what that means, your intelligence is on par with Kusto’s.
It was complete chaos.
The fallout from the fandom conflict only intensified the core polarization among the top knights’ fan bases.
* * *
The viewers of Kartamen.
While those masses—now comprising most of the citizenry—waged their fierce virtual bloodbath,
the knights were moved somewhere throughout the night, their eyes bound.
‘The rocking and the smell of brine… it seems we’re traveling by ship.’
David thought to himself.
Soon the knights disembarked, following the event coordinators.
The blindfold happened to be black cloth, so no light filtered through. But judging by the time elapsed, the sun had long since risen.
“You may remove your blindfolds now!”
The event coordinators announced.
“What? Where is this?”
Several knights tore off their blindfolds in a frenzy.
“What place is this?”
“What is the meaning of this?”
“Such a long journey!”
The still-agitated knights called out their questions.
They stood on a sandy shore near the water’s edge.
Behind them rose palm trees and dense forest, with a single towering mountain peak visible in the distance.
It looked like an isolated island in the vast sea.
The large ship that had brought them sat anchored offshore, making the suspicion nearly certain.
Then Edith’s cheerful voice rang out above the bewildered knights.
“Welcome, everyone, to the Deserted Island where the 5th Evaluation will unfold!”

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