Please Vote for Your Knight! Chapter 29

“Congratulations, Kusto.”

“Congratulations.”

Kusto flinched.

More people than he had expected were congratulating him from all around.

They were the same people who had initially refused even to make eye contact with him.

‘This feels strange.’

But it wasn’t unpleasant.

“I knew you’d make it, Kusto.”

David had even run over from afar and hugged Kusto.

‘Were we ever this close?’

After awkwardly returning his embrace, Kusto was about to head toward the stage when he suddenly turned around.

Dimitri was looking at him.

But surrounded by so many people, he couldn’t bring himself to approach Kusto.

Perhaps he was afraid that coming closer would only cause Kusto trouble.

Kusto walked toward Dimitri.

Then he held out his hand.

Dimitri’s eyes widened before he soon took the offered hand.

“It’s thanks to you, Dimitri.”

“No. It’s because you did well.”

Kusto gave a faint smile.

“Even though you helped someone as ignorant as me……. Anyway, you’ll be called soon too.”

“I……”

“I’ll be waiting for you up there.”

And Kusto headed toward the stage once more.

When Denny Vinosh was called in ninth place, Pavel was so happy that tears even streamed down his face.

Judging by how he finally lowered the hands he had been clasping in prayer, he had most likely been praying for Denny rather than himself.

“Eighth place goes to a participant who looked gentle but showed unexpected determination! Rafael Laurent!”

Rafael stepped forward and spoke through his tears.

“If the kids at my orphanage are watching…… Guys, I love you!”

A sudden confession of love.

The seventh- and sixth-place participants followed, each confessing their love to their parents and friends.

Now, only six spots remain.

First through fifth place.

And the final 54th place.

Yet there were still many people sitting in the waiting seats.

Edith looked toward Dimitri before casually speaking as though nothing was wrong.

“And now, fifth place. He looked small and adorable, but what if he’s surprisingly terrifying? Pavel Schurv!”

Pavel jumped up from his seat like a rabbit.

He hopped over, threw his arms around Denny in an unwillingly forced hug, shouted, “Mom, I love you!” as his acceptance speech, and then returned to his seat.

Then came fourth place, third place—

The candidates for first place were David and Joan Ginola.

David was the undisputed candidate for first.

Joan, meanwhile, was a participant who had gained steady popularity thanks to his handsome appearance and solid performances, without having any particular shortcomings.

“David will definitely take first place.”

“You never know. Maybe people are getting tired of seeing David come in first every time.”

The participants already seated in the ranking seats whispered among themselves.

David swallowed nervously.

“The first ranking selection of Cartamen, first place is……!”

Edith opened the card handed to her by Valkyria.

The result was based on the individual scores they had received through the evaluations so far, combined with the votes cast by the citizens using their status tokens.

“First place is…… David Vertier!”

It was the result everyone had expected.

Yet only David finally let out the breath he had been holding.

He soon regained his composure and walked onto the stage with a smile.

The seat prepared for him was right in the center, the largest and most magnificent seat of all.

He etched the sight of that seat deeply into his mind before sitting down.

‘Brother, I got first place.’

I’ll make sure to place within the final five and offer the Cartamen weapon at your grave.

‘And I want to become a member of the Eques too. Please watch over me.’

David squeezed his eyes shut.

“Now, only one final survivor remains!”

The circular arena, which had reached its peak of excitement during the battle for first place, was now filled with tension.

One seat was still empty.

The seat for 54th place.

About half of the participants had yet to hear their names called.

Every one of them was staring at that single chair.

“That’s Lord Kilman’s seat.”

“Yes. How can he still not have been called?”

Whispers reached Dimitri’s ears.

The participants surrounding Kilman were speaking to him.

The reason they were comforting Kilman despite most of them themselves being likely to be eliminated was because he was gritting his teeth with a furious expression, his eyes red with anger.

“Why?! Was there something I lacked until now? Why am I only getting 54th place at best?”

He was already certain that the final spot belonged to him.

It seemed he couldn’t even imagine that he might be eliminated.

He failed to realize that his appearance had not made much of an impression on the citizens.

Dimitri let out a hollow laugh as he watched Kilman.

‘The only difference between him and me is whether we know our place or not.’

Dimitri had already let go of his expectations.

It would be a lie to say that he hadn’t initially thought, Maybe.

But as more and more rankings were announced, it became clear that there was no place for him on that stage.

‘My apologies to Her Highness the Princess.’

To think he would be eliminated at the very first ranking ceremony.

She had gone to such lengths to get him into the competition.

But Dimitri had never expected the citizens’ hostility toward him to disappear after only two broadcasts and a swordsmanship demonstration.

With a peaceful heart, Dimitri watched the victors on the stage.

And yet, for some reason, a corner of his chest ached with a faint, persistent pang.

“We will now announce the two candidates for 54th place!”

Just like when first place was announced, it seemed they would call two candidates this time as well.

That would heighten the tension even further.

“First candidate, Kilman Brudy! Please come forward.”

Kilman shot to his feet as though he had known all along that this would happen.

However, he still seemed dissatisfied with the prospect of ranking 54th.

He stomped heavily toward the stage and stood at the front.

“Next candidate…….”

The 45 participants sometimes clasped their hands together, sometimes buried their heads against their knees as they prayed desperately.

Please, let the name they call now be mine……!

Only one person sat upright with a peaceful expression.

“Dimitri Cassel!”

It was Dimitri.

At first, he froze like a stone.

But after the people around him called out to him and shook him, he finally came to his senses.

“You’re the 54th-place candidate.”

“I-I am……?”

“I’m telling you, you are! Hurry up and go to the stage!”

Several other participants helped Dimitri to his feet and pushed him forward by the back.

It almost felt like they were secretly cheering him on, which left Dimitri with a strange feeling.

But he still couldn’t believe that he was a candidate for 54th place.

Even if he ended up in 55th place—or, more likely, 55th—had this many citizens really chosen him, enough to bring him this high in the rankings?

Me? The traitor of this empire?

As Dimitri climbed onto the stage in a daze, Edith gave a small chuckle.

Unlike his usual self, he looked rather absent-minded, which made him strangely cute.

Kilman, on the other hand, frowned as though he wasn’t even pleased with his competitor.

“Now, you two participants! You’ve made it into the candidates for 54th place. Let’s hear your thoughts. First, participant Kilman Brudy!”

“I can’t believe it. In many ways. But I’m grateful that you chose me, and I’ll work even harder from now on.”

His speech sounded almost as though he were grateful for having taken 54th place.

Next was Dimitri’s turn.

He hesitated before quietly opening his mouth.

“Just making it this far is already a great honor for me. I still owe many people a great debt. Thank you for giving someone as inadequate as me your vote. I will never forget it.”

It was a stark contrast to Kilman’s confident words.

His calm tone sounded almost like he was giving his final speech after Cartamen had already ended.

Yet at the same time, there was a wistful look in his eyes, as though he were recalling all the things that had happened.

How can two people be this different?

Edith bit her lip.

We’ve got the perfect setup for cross-cut editing.

Hiding her thoughts, she took out the final card handed to her by Valkyria.

“The first ranking ceremony of Cartamen! The final survivor, the one who has claimed 54th place, is……!”

Everyone in the arena held their breath.

Edith swallowed once as well, then shouted at the top of her voice.