Please Vote for Your Knight! – Chapter 17

Author: Asternkm

The moment their swords collided, Kusto bit his lip.

‘The strength is different!’

Even the movements that followed were on another level.

They were as smooth as the fluttering of a butterfly’s wings, yet whenever they aimed for Kusto’s vital points, they were as sharp as a bee’s sting.

‘He’s on a completely different level from anyone I’ve fought so far!’

Kusto was using the swordsmanship he had learned during special training exactly as he had been taught, yet David seemed to have reached an entirely different realm by himself.

Kusto barely managed to block his sword while searching for an opening.

‘But there isn’t one. Of course there isn’t!’

He was confident that he wouldn’t be overpowered in terms of strength.

But technically, he simply couldn’t find a gap in his opponent’s defense.

David’s skill was truly overwhelming.

‘At the very least, I can’t afford to lose without putting up a fight.’

Kusto squeezed out every ounce of strength he had and focused on defense.

***

It was an interesting match.

A battle between David, known as the knight among knights, and Kusto, a mercenary who had once been a slave.

Of course, no one thought Kusto would win.

But Amond couldn’t take her eyes off the match.

‘He’s holding out surprisingly well.’

Judging by the skill he had shown during his first training session, he wouldn’t have lasted even a minute before collapsing.

‘He had no foundation, and his technique was a complete mess.’

That was why Amond had wanted him to learn swordsmanship quickly, even if it meant adapting the techniques he had already acquired.

‘This isn’t a swordsmanship school. We can’t exactly save every beginner.’

So Amond had pushed Kusto hard.

She had told him to stop being stubborn and just use what he already knew.

But Kusto had never once brought out the habits he must have developed over the years. Instead, he consistently maintained the stance of a complete beginner.

In exchange, he stayed behind every night until the very end of practice.

Even Amond could see his skills, built on those fundamentals, gradually improving.

‘Anyone would improve if they practiced that desperately. But the difference is that no one else has practiced to that extent.’

There was something about watching Kusto gradually improve from such a terrible starting point that made Amond want to give him just one more glance, offer him just one more piece of advice.

No one else worked that hard, and no one else had improved so noticeably.

Before she knew it, Amond had begun to hope that he would do well.

‘Is this what it means to become emotionally invested in someone?’

Just as Amond had hoped, Kusto performed well in the one-on-one battle.

‘It’s just unfortunate that he happened to meet David now. He can’t advance any further.’

Even so, Kusto stubbornly continued to fight.

He was too busy blocking and dodging David’s sword to think about anything else, but his eyes remained clear and focused.

But eventually, David’s sword was pointed at Kusto’s neck.

“You lost.”

David said it with a smile.

Kusto flinched.

‘Why does he keep smiling? Is he trying to provoke me?’

It didn’t seem that way.

His smile was far too polite.

He was impossible to read.

Kusto exhaled softly and dropped his sword.

He was acknowledging his defeat.

David left the stage with a bright expression.

Even his footsteps seemed light.

For David, Kusto was the first opponent that day who hadn’t been intimidated by him and had actually given him a proper fight.

He was happy to finally have a battle worthy of the name.

Kusto, unaware of David’s feelings, simply stared at his retreating back.

The heat that had built up in Kusto’s body during the match had not yet completely faded.

His heart was pounding.

‘His skill is incredible. I’ve never faced an opponent like that before.’

Even during the life-or-death duels he had fought, Kusto couldn’t remember his heart ever pounding this violently.

He had entered Cartamen because of his deal with the Princess, but now he found himself developing another desire.

‘I want to become like that.’

It was a strange feeling.

“Kusto, good work.”

At Edith’s voice, Kusto snapped back to reality and raised his head.

The Valkyria were staring sharply at him from the judges’ seats.

Mila was the first to speak.

“Good work. That must have been a difficult match, but you lasted longer than I expected.”

“I think you must have realized why you need to work harder on your technique. You did your best, but there were still many areas where you fell short.”

Ines followed with her cold assessment.

But Amond remained silent for a while.

“Commander, don’t you have anything to say?”

Ines prompted her subtly.

Amond, who had been staring intently at Kusto, finally spoke.

“I have one question. I heard you worked as a mercenary before. How is it possible that none of the habits you developed back then show up in your swordsmanship?”

The question he had been expecting had finally come.

Kusto answered calmly, as if he had anticipated it.

“My habits were formed back when I was fighting as a slave gladiator.”

The atmosphere around them turned cold.

But Kusto continued without paying it any mind.

“I had to do whatever it took to survive back then, so I ended up picking up all sorts of bad habits.”

“It must have been difficult to get rid of them. Bad habits learned incorrectly are often harder to break.”

Amond asked sharply. Kusto nodded.

“Yes. That’s right. So I tried to get rid of them. I wanted to start over from the very beginning, as if I had never learned anything at all.”

Mila tilted her head and asked,

“But isn’t that inefficient? No matter how bad the habits are, practical skills ingrained through actual combat can be quite powerful. If you had applied those strengths to the new swordsmanship, you might have been able to win more easily. Of course, you still wouldn’t have been able to defeat Participant David.”

“Yes. That’s exactly it. No matter how hard I try, with my current skill, I can’t defeat someone as strong as Participant David. Rather than showing those bad habits with my mediocre skills, I thought it would be better to rebuild my fundamentals properly from the very beginning.”

“You were at the level of a child learning the sword for the first time, yet you’re saying you made that decision knowing you would have to endure that?”

Amond asked. Kusto nodded.

“Yes.”

The look in Amond’s eyes softened.

‘That was quite a difficult gamble.’

It was grueling work that most people would never willingly undertake.

Getting rid of existing habits required just as much effort as learning the fundamentals from scratch.

In other words, Kusto had to work several times harder than everyone else.

‘And on top of that, I pushed him to the limit. Telling him to show me those bad habits.’

Yet Kusto had trained to the very end while maintaining the posture of a beginner.

‘He was terribly lacking at first, but perhaps because of that, he’s gotten pretty good at learning swordsmanship now.’

Even during his match against David just now, most people would have been on their knees within five minutes.

Especially since, for once, David had seriously pushed Kusto to his limits.

Yet thanks to the solid fundamentals he had diligently built and his natural strength, he had put on a match worth watching.

‘Honestly, he’s impressive.’

Amond had watched Kusto throughout his special training, from the very beginning until he reached this point.

If the results had been terrible, it would have been a different story, but seeing him perform like this made it impossible not to become emotionally invested.

That was also why she had unconsciously applauded when he defeated Killman.

“And…”

Kusto opened his mouth as though he had something else to say.

“Valkyria swordsmanship is the first swordsmanship I’ve ever formally learned since I was born. That’s why I wanted to do it properly.”

At those words, Amond’s heart sank with a thump.

The first swordsmanship a mercenary who had lived as a slave had ever learned!

And he had learned it from me!

If you thought about it, doesn’t that make me his first teacher?

‘Now that it’s come to this, I want to raise that participant myself.’

Kusto had succeeded in getting Amond’s attention.

However, contrary to what she was thinking inside, Amond spoke sternly.

“Don’t think you’ve learned everything yet. You still have a long way to go before you master it completely. Prepare yourself.”

“Yes. I’ll do my best.”

***

The results of the one-on-one matches.

First place went to David.

Second place went to a participant named Joan Ginola.

“The re-evaluation rankings will be sent along with the Founding Festival invitations. The detailed rankings will be revealed during the second evaluation.”

Edith called out.

“Then, good work, everyone!”

***

A few days later.

Invitations were sent to the participants, who were either resting at their respective mansions or staying at their accommodations.

There will be a group viewing of Cartamen Episode 1 at the arena.

Everyone is requested to attend and watch together.

Many of the participants were horrified.

They had momentarily forgotten that Cartamen was being broadcast throughout the entire Empire.

The video orbs had been installed so discreetly that they hadn’t even been conscious of them.

“What do I do? I cursed so much.”

“Surely they won’t show me picking fights with people too, right?”