Please Vote for Your Knight! Chapter 26

Review of the Cartamen Swordsmanship Demonstration (Warning: Very Disorganized)

For the record, I wasn’t interested in Cartamen, but I happened to pass by and saw it lol.

I got lucky and ended up in the very front row. First of all, the stage was beautiful, and the armor was flashy, so it was really fun to watch.

The people next to me were cursing like crazy because they weren’t wearing helmets, but honestly, I liked it. You could see their faces really well.

First, Grade 1.

David’s looks were absolutely insane here! If someone says he’s the same species as us, that’s a damn lie. Honestly, I was too busy staring at his face to remember anything else, but I do remember that his swordsmanship had an entirely different level of finesse.

But surprisingly, the guy standing in second place didn’t really catch my eye. Rather, the slave on the side stood out a ton because he was so energetic lol. In a good way, of course.

In Grade 2, the crazy pink-haired guy!!! He looks ridiculously cute, but when he was doing the demonstration, he had so much charisma. He looks adorable, but watching him turn serious and swing his sword was insanely cool.

And that guy who caught the mole with a net in Episode 1. His build was freaking huge, so he immediately caught my eye. Honestly, these two could’ve been Grade 1 and I wouldn’t have complained.

From Grade 3 onward, you could definitely see that they were lacking compared to Grades 1 and 2.

Still, you could tell they were really trying to synchronize their movements.

And there were so many handsome guys, so my eyes were having a great time. I swear they must be ranking people based on their faces. Especially Maurice, who was fumbling around in the preview—he absolutely killed it.

There was also a pretty blond guy, but I don’t know his name. Watching him struggle and grunt his way through it was freaking hilarious, but when you look at his face, he just looks downright divine.

Honestly, Grades 4 and 5 probably weren’t even visible from the back. Not watching them was probably the best way to protect your eyesight

• This bastard said he wasn’t interested, yet somehow he knows a ridiculous amount

ㄴ LMAOOOOOOOO

ㄴ That’s what I’m saying.. You just happened to pass by, but somehow you watched from the very front row haha hahaa

• The pretty blond guy is probably Raphael Laurent. I went to see him too and immediately made him my permanent No. 1 in my heart.
• This is insanely subjectiveㅎ Honestly, from what I saw, there were plenty of people in Grade 4 who were better than some of the Grade 2 and 3 guys.

ㄴ Kilman in Grade 4 was seriously impressive. Why is he Grade 4?

ㄴ You’ll understand if you watch Episode 2.

ㄴ Don’t pretend you know when you don’t.

• ★Sensual Fisherman★ Denny Vinosh—please vote for him★

ㄴ Here he comes again.

• But everyone’s praising David… I found him boring because he has no humanity… Honestly, even if they’re not as skilled, the Grade 2 and 3 guys who make me laugh catch my attention more…

ㄴ Everyone’s just praising him, but isn’t the atmosphere kind of weird. Did David pay people to do this…

ㄴ His face is entertaining enough, so who cares??

 

***

 

The man’s hand trembled as he read through the reactions.

‘I knew a day like this would come eventually.’

He slightly lowered the robe covering his face as he thought.

‘But I never expected criticism of me to appear this quickly.’

And over something he hadn’t even considered.

With his brows slightly furrowed, he ran a hand through his hair.

His golden hair and blue eyes shone brilliantly in the moonlight even in the darkness.

The man who had secretly slipped out in the middle of the night to check the public’s reactions while everyone else was asleep was none other than David Vertier.

The very same man who had vowed to go to bed early tonight.

However, David soon regained his composure.

“There can’t always be nothing but positive reviews.”

Hadn’t he come all the way here precisely because he wanted to see more honest opinions?

Still, he couldn’t help the slight trembling of his fingertips.

‘It seems I’ll have to become a little more human.’

 

***

 

The day of Cartamen Episode 2’s broadcast.

The square was packed even before the broadcast began.

Thanks to the swordsmanship demonstration held the previous day, Cartamen had become even more widely talked about.

‘There are so many people. Seems like there are even more than last time.’

At the northern square of the capital.

A woman wearing a black bracelet barely managed to find a spot.

“That’s my bag’s spot.”

Someone suddenly snapped coldly.

It was a woman proudly carrying a bag with Kilman’s name embroidered all over it.

‘Damn, she must be a Kilman fan.’

She’d gotten herself mixed up with one of his notoriously hardcore fans.

After Cartamen began airing, each participant had gained their own fandom.

Every fandom had its own personality and characteristics, but among them, Kilman’s fans were particularly intense.

Kilman was the heir to the Pius faction.

He might have been the best in his own region, but this was where the strongest people from across the entire country had gathered.

With outstanding participants like David around, he couldn’t escape being treated as the second-best, or even the third-best.

So it seemed his fans had become particularly sensitive from all the pent-up frustration.

‘But what does that have to do with me?’

I came here because there’s someone I want to cheer for too, thank you very much.

“What are you doing? I said move!”

The Kilman fan shamelessly demanded.

But there was nowhere else to sit.

She couldn’t back down either.

“Seriously, since when does a bag get its own—”

“Seriously, since when does a bag get its own spot? That’s ridiculous.”

But someone else shouted before she could finish.

It was a round-faced, seemingly gentle-looking red-haired woman.

Yet there was unmistakable firmness in her voice.

“Don’t step in dog shit if you can avoid it. Just come sit over here.”

Kilman’s fan’s face twisted in displeasure. But the red-haired woman paid no attention and held out her hand to the other woman.

There happened to be an empty seat beside her.

And it was even better than the spot occupied by Kilman’s fan’s bag.

The woman quickly sat down beside the redhead.

“Thank you for helping me.”

“We’ve got to look out for our fellow fans.”

“Fellow fans?”

The redhead held out her wrist.

She was wearing a black bracelet too.

“!”

“You’re a Dimitri fan, aren’t you?”

The woman could hardly believe her eyes.

The other woman was a fellow Dimitri fan!

Overwhelmed, she nodded.

She felt like she was going to cry.

The bracelet was the unofficial symbol of the Dimitri fandom.

It was like a secret code shared among them.

Since many people would immediately start hurling insults whenever someone admitted to being a Dimitri fan, the fandom tended to be rather closed-off.

“I-I’ve never met another fan before……”

she said, her eyes glistening with tears.

The redhead nodded, her face flushed with excitement.

“I haven’t met many either.”

“N-Not many……! There are that many?”

“Of course. I’ll introduce you to them next time.”

“Eek!”

The woman let out a squeal without realizing it. Then, noticing the looks from the people around them, she quickly covered her mouth.

The redhead smiled brightly.

“Our fandom is actually pretty solid.”

“R-Really? I was worried I might be the only one who came to see him.”

“How could that be? Dimitri is so charming. You saw those sorrowful eyes of his, didn’t you?”

“Exactly. There’s something about that look that just draws you in……”

The two women lowered their voices and chatted nonstop until the broadcast began.

It was rare enough to meet a fellow fan.

On top of that, the woman had recently been cut off by a friend after proudly declaring during the Founding Festival, ‘I voted for Dimitri.’

This moment was incredibly precious to her.

And soon, the broadcast of Cartamen Episode 2 began.

“Interesting. The fact that you still have the energy to talk.”

“Wow! That’s the scene from the preview!”

“Amond  is so damn cool.”

“Honestly, we’re all watching this because of Valkyria.”

Praise for Valkyria could be heard from every direction.

The redhead and the woman held their breaths, desperately trying not to miss even the tiniest appearance of Dimitri in the corner of the screen.

Among all the stiff, awkward participants, Dimitri’s sword strokes stood out so clearly that he was easy to spot.

Soon, the scene of Kusto being harshly criticized by Amond and agonizing over it appeared.

“Oh no. He got hurt. Our poor baby.”

“She was too harsh on him even though he’s so soft-hearted……”

Kusto’s fans could be heard whining sympathetically.

The redhead and the woman pretended not to hear them.

Especially the ‘our baby’ part.

Then it happened.

Kilman suddenly shoved Kusto, who looked like he was hovering nearby, seemingly wanting to ask for help.

Just as startled boos erupted from the crowd, Kilman—the one who had shoved him—went flying himself.

The plaza burst into laughter.

Kusto had no choice but to go ask Dimitri for help.

“If it isn’t too much trouble, I’d like some help learning swordsmanship.”

“Did you just…… say that to me?”

“?”

“You want…… to learn from me?”

The redhead and the woman went wild at the sight of Dimitri staring blankly at Kusto in disbelief, yet clearly delighted.

“Did you see that smile just now? Wow, that’s insane.”

“He’s a god. A literal god. Ah, he’s so adorable.”

And when the shy Dimitri earnestly began teaching Kusto, the two women felt their hearts melting.

“Our Dimitri must have wanted to train with a friend so badly. This is just heartbreaking.”

“I’m seriously going to cry. He looks like our baby is finally happy……”

There were also several interview segments with the participants throughout the episode.

Raphael, who had received harsh criticism, lowered his head and sobbed.

“I feel sorry for my kids. I came here promising I’d get them sponsors, but I’m afraid even more sponsorships will be cut off if things keep going like this……”

“Aww……”

The entire plaza filled with sympathetic sighs.

“Do you know where Raphael’s orphanage is? I want to sponsor them.”

“Me too.”

It was the sound of Raphael’s orphanage gaining more and more sponsors.

Then came the swordsmanship training at the special training grounds.

As expected, Kusto was harshly criticized again, and Kilman mocked him.

The atmosphere between Kusto’s fans and Kilman’s fans grew tense.

But that tension didn’t last long.