Please Vote for Your Knight! Chapter 24

The Cartamen contestants had gathered at the training grounds, chattering noisily among themselves.

And then—

“Interesting. The fact that you have the energy to chat right now.”

With Amond’s cold remark, the contestants’ stiffened faces flashed across the screen.

Then came the hellish swordsmanship training.

“You’ve got to be kidding me. Sure, he’s a genius who can learn a sword form after seeing it just once, but……”

“I think this is too much. I really did practice hard, but this is just……”

The video crystal showed the contestants awkwardly fumbling through their movements.

The nobles could be heard trying to hold back their laughter.

Even while fumbling through every movement, the contestants’ expressions remained utterly serious.

Among all the clumsy contestants, the especially handsome ones drew more than a few sighs of admiration.

“Oh my, Maurice is handsome even when he’s fumbling……”

The young noblewoman who had pretended she was merely conveying the opinion of her people hurriedly covered her mouth.

And then—

“I don’t understand why that one is in the second grade. Looking at him now, he’s a solid fifth-grade contestant.”

Kusto, tormented after being harshly criticized, agonized over it.

After hesitating, he approached someone.

“If it wouldn’t be an inconvenience, I would appreciate some help learning swordsmanship.”

“Are you…… talking to me?”

“?”

“You want…… to learn from me?”

The video ended with Dimitri looking flustered, yet secretly delighted.

“Ah……!”

“You can’t end it there……!”

The nobles let out disappointed sighs.

But they soon came to their senses and quickly put on serious expressions.

“……Our servants will be disappointed.”

“Our people will be curious about what happens next.”

Edith smiled brightly.

“What I gave you as a gift is a portable video-transmission crystal. Since it’s made from low-quality magic stones, it has the advantage of costing virtually nothing, but for now, it can only hold short preview videos.”

“A preview…… video?”

“Yes. What you just saw was a preview of the next episode of Cartamen.”

The nobles were astonished.

It was already surprising enough that Cartamen was being broadcast in the public squares, but they had even prepared previews!

And they had created a new magical device for it in such a short time.

“I’ll be distributing these to the people as well. Everyone, look forward to the next episode!”

 

***

 

“Have you seen this?”

Maurice barged into Dimitri’s house without warning, shaking a round stone in his hand.

Beside him were Pavel, who was looking around the house with curiosity, and Denny, who looked every bit like he had been dragged there against his will.

“What is that?”

Kusto asked in Dimitri’s place, who was still flustered by the sudden visitors.

“I knew you wouldn’t know what it was. That’s why I brought it!”

The moment Kusto took the stone, the preview for Cartamen Episode 2 began playing.

After watching the entire preview, Dimitri’s face turned red.

Meanwhile, Kusto’s expression crumpled.

“They’re making me look pitiful again……”

“What are you talking about? I came across as a complete klutz.”

Maurice laughed heartily and gave Kusto a friendly pat on the back.

Kusto flinched at the casual physical contact.

“But what brings you here?”

Dimitri asked.

Pavel smiled brightly.

“We thought we’d go enjoy the Founding Festival together. We went looking for Kusto first, but the lodging manager said that you had gone with Sir Dimitri, so we came here.”

“But why with me……”

“Why not? We had fun during the team competition!”

When Dimitri asked in confusion, Pavel tilted his head instead.

Apparently, he and Maurice had taken the initiative in organizing this.

And just as they said, today was the first day of the Founding Festival.

“We have to perform a swordsmanship demonstration tomorrow, so we’re busy too. If we don’t enjoy ourselves today, we won’t get another chance.”

“But I……”

Just then, Denny tossed his robe at the hesitant Dimitri.

“Put this on. Then people won’t recognize you. Though I don’t really care about walking around with you.”

At Denny’s words, Dimitri froze for a moment before hurriedly pulling the robe over himself.

 

***

 

The plaza was packed with people.

The restaurants were so crowded that finding a seat was nearly impossible.

They barely managed to find an outdoor table and sit down.

Everyone had a flower necklace around their necks.

They were being handed out along the streets.

Pavel, in particular, was proudly wearing a flower crown.

He was even holding another flower crown in his hands and repeatedly trying to put it on Denny’s head whenever he got the chance.

“Please take that away.”

“Just once.”

“You might as well put a sword around my neck.”

Denny spoke menacingly, and Pavel became dejected.

Maurice quickly offered his head.

Pavel smiled and placed the flower crown on his head.

“I didn’t realize there would be this many people.”

Dimitri said as Kusto returned with drinks.

Maurice asked playfully,

“Is this your first Founding Festival?”

“Yes.”

Dimitri answered firmly.

Maurice, who had been joking around, fell silent.

It was then that the voices of people chatting nearby became clearly audible.

“Cartamen is seriously legendary. Did you see how they put Dimitri’s face front and center in the preview?”

The table where Dimitri was sitting fell silent.

Unaware that the man himself was sitting right behind him, the man continued chatting with the woman who had come with him.

“Still, I see Dimitri in a different light now. He seems surprisingly soft-hearted.”

“Soft-hearted, my ass. Who would actually vote for a guy like that?”

“I would.”

“Huh?”

“I voted for him.”

“……”

When the table behind them fell silent, sighs of relief escaped from Kusto’s table.

Then, for some reason, everyone gave Dimitri a few reassuring pats.

 

***

 

On the second floor of a café at the edge of the plaza.

David was sitting on the terrace, watching the festival procession.

“My lord, I knew you were handsome, but I had no idea your martial prowess was so exceptional. The way you wielded your sword in Cartamen was so graceful, almost like a dance.”

“The reason Cartamen has become such a hot topic is all thanks to you, my lord.”

The young noblemen sitting beside him said.

At first glance, it sounded like flattery, but every one of them spoke with stars in their eyes, and their sincerity was obvious.

David gave an embarrassed smile, seemingly burdened by the attention.

“Thank you, but you flatter me. There are many other excellent contestants besides me.”

“No, my lord. Have you seen the preview? Even among all those wooden-doll-like contestants, you stood out.”

“I haven’t seen the preview, so I wouldn’t know.”

“I’ll make sure everyone in my family, as well as our servants, gives you a vote.”

“You don’t have to do that. Everyone should vote for whomever they want.”

With his dignified manner, David truly was the epitome of the knight young nobles would admire and follow.

“I think I should be heading home now.”

“Ah, already……?”

“Couldn’t you stay a little longer?”

“Excuse me.”

After finishing his brief fan meeting, David turned away and slowly climbed into his carriage.

‘Am I really that impressive?’

David tilted his head and pulled a magic stone from his pocket.

It was a video-transmission crystal containing the Cartamen preview.

“……”

Contrary to his pretenses, he had already watched the preview so many times that he could practically recite it from memory.

David played the preview again, which was nearly worn out from repeated use.

He made sure to take in even the briefest glimpse of himself as he appeared on screen.

“I actually look more handsome from the left. I should make sure they film my left side from now on.”

David murmured contentedly before picking up the newspapers lying beside him.

Every one of them contained articles about Cartamen.

David read the newspapers thoroughly as he returned home.

 

***

 

The Founding Festival was a celebration centered around the First Emperor and the Die Eques.

They had founded the Empire after defeating neighboring nations and monsters.

That was why the swordsmanship demonstration held on the second day of the Founding Festival was one of the most anticipated events.

Knights were objects of admiration.

It was a rare opportunity to witness their dazzling skills firsthand.

And something that was already rare had been unable to take place for years because of the tyrant.

Now that the demonstration was finally being held again this year, the people were bursting with anticipation.

Especially at the thought of seeing the Valkyria.

‘Are we really supposed to do this?’

Only now did Kusto begin to worry.

But they had already arrived at the central plaza where the swordsmanship demonstration would take place.

It was too late to worry now.

The area around the plaza was closed off until the demonstration.

It was for practice.

A diamond-shaped stage had been installed in the plaza.

The center of the stage was the highest, while it gradually became lower toward the edges.

David stood at the highest position.

Kusto, being a first-grade contestant, stood at the second-highest position.

In other words, the higher their grade, the higher their position on the stage.

“Break’s over! Start practicing again!”

At Amond’s shout, Kusto snapped back to attention.

“Ah, this is killing me. How long do we have to keep practicing?”

“At this rate, someone’s going to collapse before we even start.”

“Someone already has.”

The contestants panted heavily from exhaustion.

Even Kusto had to admit that the training schedule was brutal.

Many of the fifth-grade contestants couldn’t even straighten their knees despite practice having only just begun.

‘But we have to drill this relentlessly. Otherwise, we won’t be able to synchronize our movements.’

It would certainly be an impressive sight if all these contestants performed the swordsmanship demonstration with perfect synchronization and military precision.

Especially since they would all be wearing their grade-specific armor, making the spectacle even more impressive.

“One more practice session, then we’ll take a break! After that, it’s the actual demonstration, so everyone gets to your positions!”