Please Vote for Your Knight! – Chapter 20

Author: Asternkm

“I’ll choose Dimitri’s team.”

“Dimitri’s team, I’ll push out the beater position!”

Participants with decent skills began applying to Dimitri’s team, whose chances of becoming hunting dogs had been cut in half.

They were even abandoning the teams they had already chosen.

As one or two people began switching teams, competition for Dimitri’s team, whose members had become quite decent, grew even fiercer.

It was quite the reversal.

In the end, the leader was Dimitri.

Squire, Denny Binosh.

Beater, Pavel Shurbe.

Hunting dog, Kusto.

And the last hunting dog—

“I’m the first participant to push someone out of the hunting dog position, right?”

—was taken by Maurice Arnaud.

“Has everyone hunted before?”

“Yes!”

Only Maurice answered Dimitri’s question confidently.

The atmosphere suddenly turned cold.

“Am I the only one here with hunting experience, besides Participant Maurice?”

Pavel cautiously raised his hand.

“I don’t like hunting……”

“What does a fisherman know about hunting?”

Denny spoke in a low voice as well.

Dimitri looked pitifully toward Kusto.

Kusto shrugged.

“I’ve hunted pirates plenty of times, though.”

Dimitri and Maurice grabbed their heads in despair.

But they didn’t know.

How fortunate it was to have hunting dogs like Kusto and Maurice.

The other teams were in complete chaos because of the hunting dog position.

“I’m good with a bow, but dead animals are horrifying. I can’t even look at them. I’d rather be a squire. A squire!”

“For religious reasons, I’d rather not take the hunting dog role……”

“Let’s decide again with a competition!”

“What competition? We already pushed people out and got our positions. Let’s just do it.”

A heated argument broke out as everyone tried to avoid the hunting dog position.

Now that they were conscious of the existence of the recording orb, they couldn’t make the same blunt remarks as before.

But the cutting remarks exchanged with smiling faces were even more vicious.

The team that included Raphael, in particular, was having a serious conflict of opinions.

Kilman, whose rank had dropped, had ended up taking the hunting dog role.

“My rank may be low right now, but you all know that my actual ability is nowhere near the level required for a hunting dog. For the sake of the team, I should take the role of leader.”

“I chose the leader position first, so why should I give it up? You can’t even push me out based on rank, can you?”

The participant who had chosen the leader role strongly objected.

When it seemed that the argument would drag on, Raphael stepped in.

“Then let’s decide by voting.”

“Voting?”

“Why bother with a vote? I’m saying we should just do what’s best for the team.”

Kilman sneered.

However, contrary to his usual image, Raphael was firm.

“The Eques is elected by a vote of the people, too. Let’s elect our leader by vote as well.”

When the soft-featured man stepped forward so decisively, even Kilman flinched.

There was a charisma about him that made it feel as though you’d get a spanking if you dared to disobey.

The leadership he had honed while keeping the rebellious teenagers at the orphanage in line was finally shining through.

In the end, everyone except Kilmen nodded in agreement.

Even Kilman had no choice but to follow his suggestion.

“Raise your hand if you think the original leader should remain! Next, raise your hand if you think Participant Kilman should become the leader!”

Four to one.

Everyone except Kilmen wanted the original leader to remain.

“Nothing we can do about it, Kilman.”

“I made the suggestion for the sake of the team. Don’t blame me if you regret it later.”

Kilman was about to raise his voice, but then he spotted a bird leisurely flying through the air and spoke quietly.

The bird was a magical device with a recording orb embedded in each of its eyes.

Meanwhile, David’s team was getting along harmoniously.

“Hunting was my master’s longtime hobby. I always served faithfully as his squire.”

“I also hunted for food myself when I worked as a mercenary.”

Pierre, a former butler, and Killian, a former mercenary, spoke.

They had taken the squire and beater positions, respectively.

“We’ve hunted before as well. But if His Grace Duke David orders us to do something, we’ll do anything.”

“I’ll do anything too!”

The lower-ranked participants who had taken the hunting dog positions were all followers of David as well, so there was no particular conflict.

“Everyone’s checked the faces of their teammates, right?”

Edith asked.

“Yes!”

“Then we’ll begin the game where each team chooses their hunting ground and bait!”

There were four hunting grounds in total.

Five teams would enter each area and compete.

A deer monster was worth 10 points per head.

A boar monster was worth 7 points.

A fox monster was worth 5 points.

A rabbit monster was worth 2 points.

“After this evaluation, we will hold a ranking ceremony, where the final rankings will be decided by the people’s votes.”

“Gasp!”

The participants held their breath.

“But that’s not all. Additional benefits will also be awarded based on the results of this match.”

The participants began murmuring at the mention of benefits.

“The first-place team in each area will receive 10,000 votes, the second-place team 5,000 votes, the third-place team 2,500 votes, the fourth-place team 1,000 votes, and the fifth-place team will receive 0 votes.”

At a time when they had no idea how many votes the people would cast,

even coming in first in this match would greatly increase their chances of surviving.

And the starting point for victory was this very game of ‘choosing a hunting ground and bait.’

The servants unfolded a large sheet of paper displaying a map divided into different areas.

Then, they placed signposts in front of them.

There were a total of twenty signposts, labeled from Area 1 to Area 4, each in a different color.

The areas were all roughly similar in size and location.

Dimitri whispered.

“We need to choose the area with a river running through it. The monsters will gather there to drink water.”

“Good. Area 2, then.”

Kusto nodded.

The other teams also whispered among themselves as they made their plans.

“Everyone, we’ll begin the game now. The event is…… a race!”

It was the simplest and most primal event of all.

“Who on our team is the best runner?”

“I’ll do it.”

At Dimitri’s words, Kusto shot his hand into the air.

“Are you sure?”

Maurice asked. Kusto nodded.

“Given where I come from, I’m pretty confident when it comes to running away.”

He casually stepped forward, leaving his speechless teammates behind.

He glanced to the side.

Among the runners chosen from the other teams, David and Kilman were the only familiar faces.

“Ready, set, go!”

At Edith’s words, the runners began sprinting like mad.

They were moving so fast that clouds of dust rose from the ground.

The first to grab the Area 2 signpost was Kusto.

David came next, while Kilman barely managed to grab the last remaining Area 2 signpost.

Apparently, most of them wanted Area 2, because several people even tried to snatch the signposts away. However, most of those attempts failed, and they turned to other signposts instead.

“Waaah, Kusto! That’s amazing!”

“Kuku, you did it!”

Kusto, returning to his spot triumphantly, suddenly flinched.

Pavel was looking up at him with an innocent smile.

Kusto put on the gentlest expression he could manage, but spoke firmly.

“You don’t have to call me that.”

“But…….”

Just then, Edith spoke up.

“Everyone, peel off the paper attached to the signpost you chose. Your bait is written on the back!”

There was a layer of paper covering the signposts?

The participants hurriedly peeled off the paper.

“Waaaah! Deer monster bait scent!”