Vote for Your Knight! - Chapter 70

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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!
Episode 70
“This is a Red Turtle Shell Mushroom. It carries a lethal toxin.”
“And this one?”
David gestured toward a bunch of red berries clustered like grapes.
“That’s a Blood Thorn Berry.”
“Just hearing the name is enough to kill you.”
“Exactly. The more brilliant the fruit or mushroom, the more dangerous. It’s best not to eat anything without knowing what it is.”
David looked thoughtful as he listened.
“It’s reassuring to have you here.”
“What?”
Pierre blinked in surprise at the question.
He’d never expected to hear such words from the legendary David.
“You know a lot from practical experience. I wish you’d been on my team.”
“I’ve only learned from my master.”
Pierre averted his eyes as he spoke.
But David shook his head.
“The moment I saw those weapons, I had a feeling he’d give us a survival task—one designed to weed out the weak. For something like that, you need someone with real survival instinct. Someone exactly like you.”
“I also……”
Pierre hesitated before continuing.
“I wanted to be on a team with you.”
As Pierre spoke, something strange flickered in his handsome features.
That was when it happened.
“What’s this?”
David grabbed a long wooden stem and pulled at it experimentally.
It was surprisingly flexible yet sturdy at the same time.
A wild gleam suddenly flashed in Pierre’s eyes.
“That’s a Horsetail Wood Stem!”
“Ah, if you strip the bark and work it carefully, you could even use it as a—”
Before David could finish, Pierre yanked the stem out with frenzied energy.
He’d been despondent ever since arriving at the Uninhabited Island without his whip.
Now he planned to craft a new one from this stem.
“Truly hopeless. One might think you’re cursed to be powerless without that whip.”
David shook his head in amusement.
Once they’d gathered enough stems, they explored further, but beyond a few handfuls of berries that Pierre had verified as safe, there wasn’t much to show for it.
The forest grew dark faster than the Beach, so they had no choice but to return with only a few more handfuls of fruit.
And of course, an abundance of Horsetail Wood Stems.
“What’s that?”
Kusto, who was cleaning and roasting fish, called out to Pierre as he returned.
“Something that will make me whole again.”
Pierre smiled as he caressed the stems.
“Ugh.”
Kusto refused to ask further and turned his attention back to the fish.
Morris, on the other hand, perked up.
“Share some with me!”
“So you’ve finally discovered the allure of the whip.”
“Not quite, but……I have a use for it.”
They gathered together and shared the fish, which was roasted to a perfect golden-brown.
The tender meat melting in their empty stomachs felt like a revelation.
“I think this is the most delicious fish I’ve ever tasted.”
“It really melts on your tongue.”
With the berries as well, though their bellies weren’t quite full, they felt revitalized.
“We’ll need to hunt tomorrow. This won’t be enough.”
David spoke with conviction.
“Why not go hunting now?”
Morris asked this while working on something alongside Pierre, who was finishing the stems.
David shook his head.
“We can’t. Not now. There’s something else we need to do.”
“Something else?”
“Clover and Olivier are about to do something important.”
David rose from his seat.
Clover and Olivier got to their feet as if they understood what was expected.
David led them toward the thicket at the forest’s edge.
“I want you to dig a shelter here with the shovels.”
“A shelter?”
“A pit where we can hide our bodies. We’ll sleep there tonight.”
If they spent the night in a pit dug among dense thickets like this, they would remain invisible to enemies with poor vision in the darkness.
‘So that’s why he brought shovels as tools.’
“It’ll be hard work, so we’ll take turns digging. Don’t overdo it—tell me if you’re tired.”
Clover and Olivier nodded in understanding at David’s explanation.
Digging multiple pits large enough to conceal grown men was no simple task.
At first the soil was soft, but it grew harder the deeper they went.
One person would strike the earth with the shovel’s pointed end to crack it, while another scooped up the loosened dirt to form the shelter.
Olivier and Clover were exhausted within moments.
Then the other team members took turns continuing the work.
Thanks to their combined effort, three shelters were completed before nightfall.
“Two people to a shelter for sleeping,” David announced.
He paused.
“Once night falls, the temperature will drop.”
Kusto spoke with concern.
David nodded.
“That’s exactly why two of us will share one shelter. We can survive the night using each other’s body heat.”
“You realize how that sounds, don’t you?” Kusto said, stepping back with deliberate distance.
He kept his tone light.
“The earth’s warmth will help too, so we should be able to endure the night,” Morris added.
He spoke pragmatically.
Then Pierre hesitated before speaking up.
“David, would it be all right if I shared a shelter with you?”
“What’s this? Have we finally grown close?” David laughed heartily and welcomed the request.
He seemed genuinely pleased.
Kusto watched this exchange, then promptly threw himself down into an empty pit.
They agreed to take turns keeping watch and made their way into the shelters.
* * *
Meanwhile, Killian’s team had eaten their fill thanks to Deni’s fish.
Deni had remarkable skill at cleaning and cooking the catch.
“Wow, this is better than what you’d get at an expensive restaurant.”
“The meat is so firm. It rivals beef.”
“Really delicious. It’s like eating it with honey.”
Even after finishing, the savory aftertaste lingered in their mouths like an echo.
Once satisfied, they followed Dmitri’s lead and dug their own shelters.
When Deni lay down in one, Pavel immediately stretched out beside him.
Deni stared at Pavel in bewilderment.
Yet Pavel seemed unbothered, gazing up at the sky instead and murmuring in wonder.
“Look at the stars. The Milky Way is flowing.”
‘What is this guy…?’
After he’d hurt him so badly before, Pavel acted as if nothing had happened.
Deni, flustered, blurted out whatever came to mind.
“Stop spouting useless nonsense and get proper sleep. Otherwise, when it’s our turn to keep watch, you’ll be nodding off.”
“You really have no sense of romance, do you?”
Pavel sighed softly, then his eyes widened as if he’d remembered something.
“By the way, Joan’s team doesn’t have a single shovel, does it?”
Pavel spoke in his usual tone. Deni, drawn into that casual rhythm, ended up responding as he normally would.
“That’s right.”
“How are they planning to dig their shelters?”
“Let them figure it out however they want—with their hands, their mouths, whatever.”
“You really have no sympathy, do you?”
Pavel heaved another sigh and turned his gaze back to the Milky Way.
The words “no sympathy” stuck in Deni’s chest like barbs.
It felt almost as if Pavel was reproaching him for the hurt he’d caused earlier.
Of course, that wasn’t Pavel’s intention at all.
“Ah, how beautiful…….”
A short while later, Pavel’s breathing grew heavy with sleep.
Deni Binoshu, who had been gazing at the sky as though entranced, was left speechless.
“He calls it beautiful and then falls asleep without even looking at it.”
That was when it happened.
“Psst.”
Dmitri, lying in the shelter and keeping watch, gave a soft signal.
Rustle, rustle…….
Footsteps echoed from the thicket.
Every muscle in their bodies tensed instinctively.
“Enemies. Get ready.”
Dmitri whispered urgently.
The awake members roused those who were sleeping, and the group shifted into a defensive stance.
Deni Binoshu also woke Pavel, positioning himself protectively over the half-dazed man before speaking low. “Don’t make a sound. Keep your body as low as you can.”

Pavel’s eyes widened.
Not because of the enemies, but because of Deni Binoshu shielding him.
* * *
Meanwhile, at David’s position, enemies began to emerge from the darkness.
The soldiers pulled themselves deep into the shelter.
They held their breath and readied themselves to respond if the enemies approached.
The enemies walked slowly out of the darkness.
They were Homunculi in human form.
But they had only one eye.
They had no nose or mouth.
Whether truly blind or not, they felt their way forward, groping at their surroundings.
…….
They were enemies with many handicaps.
In a fight, victory was possible—but their numbers were the problem.
There was no need to expend strength on the first day.
So waiting for them to pass by while hidden in the shelter was the best course.
The enemies truly failed to notice the shelter concealed by the thicket, their hands fumbling only at other spots.
If they could just keep their composure, time would carry them through.
But that was short-lived—
Sss-sss-sssss.
The enemies began drawing closer to the shelter.
One of them drew level with the shelter itself.
David and Pierre gripped their weapons, though they instinctively held their breath.
The enemy passed their shelter and approached Clover’s position.
“Uh—ugh!”
Startled, Clover let out a small cry and flinched despite himself.
A nearby stone rolled from the impact toward David and Pierre.
At that sound, the enemies turned toward David and Pierre’s shelter.
They slowly bent at the waist, and their single eye began blinking wildly just above the shelter’s edge.
It was a grotesque sight.
The only mercy was that the darkness made it hard to see clearly.
‘But just because we can’t see them doesn’t mean they can’t reach us with their hands,’ Pierre thought.
Just as Pierre predicted, one of the enemies reached out its long arm toward him.
As the enemy’s hand was about to touch Pierre’s face—
David shielded Pierre’s face with his own.
The enemy’s hand touched David instead of Pierre.

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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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