Please Vote for Your Knight! Chapter 23

Edith smiled and spoke.

“Dimitri’s team!”

“!”

The participants erupted into a commotion at the completely unexpected result.

“Did they calculate it wrong?”

“How did the team that picked the rabbit scent come in second?”

Even Dimitri’s team couldn’t believe the result.

“We’re second?”

“Does this really make sense?”

Edith drove the point home for the skeptical participants.

“Second place, Dimitri’s team, hunted 5 deer monsters, 7 boar monsters, 2 fox monsters, and 20 rabbit monsters, for a total of 149 points!”

Only 20 points behind first place!

And their score was also far higher than the first-place team in Group 1.

Only then did Dimitri’s team hug one another and cheer.

“Wow, this is unbelievable!”

“We’re seriously the best! We actually did it!”

“Good thing we caught so many rabbits, right?”

For the first time since joining Cartamen, Dimitri smiled brightly.

Denny, who had unconsciously pulled Pavel into a tight embrace, belatedly came to his senses and awkwardly stepped away.

Kusto felt a strange sensation bubbling up in his chest, making his head feel hot.

‘Team battles with comrades are more fun than I thought.’

In the past, he’d never had comrades.

Every man for himself.

A life where he was too busy trying to survive on his own.

And yet, they had joined forces and managed to accomplish something even in the midst of a crisis.

Suddenly, he saw his teammates differently.

Perhaps he felt a little closer to them now.

Meanwhile, Raphael’s team, which had lost five boar monsters to get Kilman back, came in fifth.

“I told you we should’ve abandoned Kilman.”

Team leader Joan said resentfully to Raphael.

“The results are already out. Is there really any need to blame a teammate?”

Olivier, who had been the first to suggest abandoning Kilman, instead defended Raphael.

“No, what I meant was…”

“According to the required course at the Imperial Academy, The Fundamentals of Conversation, this is nothing more than a pointless argument.”

“……”

Raphael didn’t back down either and spoke firmly.

“I have no regrets about my decision. This was a team match, not an individual one. I believe keeping every member of the team safe is more important than obtaining a large number of games.”

“I understand what you’re saying, but you still came in fifth.”

Just as Joan was about to add another word, looking frustrated, Ines, who had been watching them, spoke sharply.

“We reviewed all the recording orbs before the judging.”

“Then you understand the situation!”

Joan said with relief.

But Ines didn’t even nod. She simply continued.

“Raphael was right. If you had abandoned your teammate, you would have been disqualified.”

At those words, Joan fell silent.

 

***

 

After the second evaluation ended, the participants were given time off until the Founding Festival.

Everyone headed home or returned to the accommodations they had reserved.

‘Hmm, this time, I’ll finally have the Cartamen accommodation all to myself, right? My own little world…’

“Are you planning to stay at the lodging all by yourself like some miserable loner?”

“?”

Kusto turned his head.

Dimitri was looking at him with an expression full of pity.

“What’s with that look?”

Kusto glared at him in annoyance, and Dimitri suddenly averted his gaze.

Then he whispered quietly,

“If you have nowhere to go, you could come to my house.”

“Ah, I’ll be staying at the lodg—”

Kusto stopped mid-sentence.

‘He’s offering me a favor first. Refusing would be rude, wouldn’t it?’

Besides, they had grown a little closer while hunting together as a team.

‘It might not be so bad to spend some time with him.’

And besides, this was Dimitri.

‘He’s already being shunned by everyone. He must have worked up quite a bit of courage to offer me a favor first.’

If Kusto refused now, Dimitri might be deeply hurt inside, even if he pretended otherwise.

Kusto made up his mind.

“Thanks. Then just for a day…”

“If you want, you can stay until the Founding Festival.”

Dimitri briefly met his eyes before quickly looking away as he said it.

He spoke so quickly that Kusto almost failed to catch what he said.

“……”

That was a little too much.

Kusto thought that, but nodded for the time being.

‘Well, I’ll figure something out.’

Dimitri’s house was on the outskirts of the capital.

A pitch-black mansion standing alone in a secluded area with no village nearby.

‘He really does live somewhere that suits him.’

“Good house.”

Kusto said, hiding his true feelings.

Once he actually stepped inside, it wasn’t so bad.

Of course, compared to the other grand mansions in the capital, it was rather modest in size.

And although the exterior was somewhat eerie, the inside was clean and orderly.

“Come in. I’ll show you the room you’ll be staying in.”

Dimitri led Kusto upstairs to the second floor.

Kusto suddenly felt that something was off.

“Where are all the servants?”

It was a fairly large, two-story mansion, yet there wasn’t a single servant in sight.

Dimitri stopped just as he was about to open a bedroom door.

Then, as if nothing were wrong, he opened it and said,

“I don’t have any.”

“What? Why? Are you short on money?”

“No one wants to work under me……”

Dimitri answered miserably.

Kusto wanted to smack himself in the mouth.

‘By now, I should’ve realized it. I’m the only human being willing to come near that guy!’

He quickly turned his gaze toward the reasonably sized room and said,

“Haha, the room’s nice. Compared to the Cartamen lodging, it’s practically a palace.”

“I’m glad you like it. Then get some rest.”

As if he had something to do, Dimitri hurried back downstairs.

Left alone, Kusto looked out the window.

Weeds had grown wildly throughout the not-so-large garden.

‘The inside of the house is clean, but I suppose it was too much to keep the garden maintained while participating in Cartamen.’

Kusto made up his mind and went down into the garden.

Then he began pulling out the weeds with his bare hands.

‘He’s letting me stay here for free, so I should at least earn my keep.’

Before long, the garden was neat and tidy.

As Kusto wiped the sweat from his forehead and proudly straightened his back, he heard someone approaching.

“Kusto?”

Dimitri was standing by the door with a surprised expression.

“Oh, the garden really is……”

“You don’t have to thank me……”

“It’s a mess.”

“……I pulled out the weeds.”

Kusto glared at Dimitri reproachfully, and Dmitry gave a small chuckle as if it were only a joke.

“Anyway, thank you. You must be tired, so come inside and have dinner.”

“Dinner?”

Had Dimitri actually prepared a meal?

Half skeptical, Kusto went to the dining room and found that dinner had really been prepared.

It was quite an impressive feast.

“Did you make all this?”

“Yes.”

Dimitri nodded, looking oddly shy.

“Thanks. It looks really deli—”

Kusto took a bite of the meat and froze.

‘How can meat possibly taste this bad?’

Kusto was the kind of man who had eaten dirt when things got tough.

Yet this meat had a truly bizarre flavor unlike anything he had ever tasted in his life.

But across the table, Dmitri was looking at him with an expectant gaze.

Kusto managed to force a smile.

“It’s edible.”

“Really? I made a new sauce today, so I’m glad it suits your taste……”

“Next time, I’ll prepare the meal as repayment. And I refuse to take no for an answer.”

 

***

 

One day, shortly before the Founding Festival.

A banquet hosted by the Emperor was held at the Imperial Palace.

It was a feast for the nobles who had come from various regions to attend the Founding Festival.

Each noble in attendance was given a small gift box.

“A small token of our affection, prepared by our Edith.”

The Emperor said proudly.

The main topic of conversation at the banquet was, of course, Cartamen.

“Our servants talk about nothing else these days. I wouldn’t know, since I haven’t watched it, but apparently Duke David is especially handsome, so they keep asking me to vote for—no, I mean, to give him a vote……”

“My maid is the same. She says there’s a contestant named Kusto who has an incredibly impressive physique, and she wishes he had more screen time.”

“I don’t understand what any of it means either, but my people have been talking about that Maurice fellow, you know, the heir to the merchant guild? They admit he lacks skill, but apparently just looking at his handsome face improves their eyesight…… At any rate, I suppose there’s no harm in giving such a contestant a vote.”

The nobles pretended they had never watched Cartamen, despite having seen every episode.

Edith nodded with a pleased smile.

“Yes, I’ll make sure to reflect the opinions of your servants and people.”

Of course, there was someone who was displeased by the cheerful atmosphere.

Thierry Born, the lord of Pius.

He had been certain that Cartamen would fail, yet it had become the talk of the entire Empire.

And it was a Cartamen created by the princess he already disliked so much!

‘If it weren’t for the Princess, I might have entered Cartamen myself and taken first place.’

No, to begin with, they had both made achievements during the revolution. So why was she the Emperor’s heir while he was merely a lord?

Even though he was older than her.

He clenched his teeth and forced a hypocritical smile.

“By the way, I heard Your Highness has been collecting magic stones?”

Thierry suddenly introduced a new topic, and the atmosphere among the nobles turned cold.

She was collecting magic stones?

What could she possibly be planning to do with them?

Was she using her alchemy abilities to create a weapon to keep the nobles in check?

“That’s right.”

Edith answered without hesitation.

The banquet hall grew noisy with whispers, but Edith paid it no mind and continued.

“Not ordinary magic stones. I’m collecting the low-quality ones that would otherwise be thrown away.”

“Aren’t those discarded precisely because of their poor quality? No one collects garbage. If you intend to deceive us……”

“Take a look at the modest gift I gave you today.”

“What?”

The nobles protested at Edith’s words.

“You mean you gave us low-quality magic stones as gifts?”

“This is honestly too much!”

“Even if Your Highness is talented in alchemy, nothing can be done with low-quality magic stones……”

“Oh!”

It happened then.

A man who had silently opened his gift suddenly cried out in surprise.

In his hand was a round magic stone about the size of an adult’s fist.

And inside the magic stone, an image began to play.