Please Vote for Your Knight! Chapter 30

“Dimitri Cassel!”

Dimitri’s eyes widened.

He stared at Edith in disbelief.

She smiled and nodded at him.

Was I really…… 54th?

He hadn’t been eliminated?

Beside him, Kilman, unable to accept reality, collapsed onto the floor.

“54th-place contestant, please move to your seat.”

At Edith’s words, Dimitri finally managed to come to his senses.

But even after sitting down, his mind remained blank.

He couldn’t believe what was happening.

The whole situation felt surreal.

Why would anyone choose me……?

Various gazes poured toward him as he sat in his seat.

Envy, displeasure, sympathy, encouragement.

But none of those things mattered to Dimitri in the slightest.

54th place.

Barely making the cut.

Maybe—or rather, almost certainly—he would be eliminated next time.

But he was still happy.

The people chose me.

A smile slowly, awkwardly spread across his face.

“Congratulations to all the surviving contestants, and thank you for your hard work to those who were eliminated as well.”

Edith bowed deeply to everyone.

All the contestants were startled by the Princess’s respectful gesture.

Some sprang to their feet, some bowed alongside her, and some even lowered their heads all the way to the floor.

It was a testament to just how much Edith respected the contestants.

“As announced at the beginning of Cartamen, the survivors of the first ranking selection will be given the opportunity to be knighted. The knighting ceremony will be personally presided over by His Majesty the Emperor.”

The survivors, who hadn’t known what to do with themselves, erupted into cheers.

The reason there were virtually no proper knights left in the empire was because the tyrant had slaughtered them all.

But that wasn’t the only reason.

People were afraid that becoming a knight would mean being dragged into the tyrant’s service.

And there were also those who simply didn’t want to receive a knighthood from someone like him.

For various reasons, the number of people accepting knighthoods had dwindled.

But now, a proper knighting ceremony under the new Emperor is going to be held!

And they would be the first recipients!

Beyond the delighted survivors, the eliminated contestants couldn’t hide their envy.

“With that, the first ranking selection of Cartamen is officially concluded!”

 

***

 

—————————————————————————————————————-

Cartamen First Ranking Selection Spoilers

D B D 1st

That red-haired guy 10th

(Heard the fisherman got eliminated and cried)

Academy top student guy 3rd

And there’s a shocking elimination too

It’s gonna blow up once it airs lol

– No proof, no credibility, right?

– I could write something like this too

– Pavel won’t be 10th…

– What about Kusto?? Did he survive???

– Heard he already packed his stuff at the dorm?

– I fucking hate that academy guy. He doesn’t even know martial arts, yet he got 3rd just because he’s the top student LOL

– What a prick

—————————————————————————————————————-

Norman Fossi.

He was a columnist for one of the empire’s leading newspapers, The Daily Justice and Truth.

Recently, he had been going to the plaza quite often.

He did so to check the people’s reactions to Cartamen through his tablet.

How dare commoners who don’t even know their place prattle on like this. I can’t stand how vulgar they’ve made Cartamen.

After checking all the reactions, he returned home and quickly began writing his column.

It was an article filled with scathing criticism of Cartamen.

<A Tournament to Pick Knights? Or a Foolish Little Show Put on by Handsome Men?>

 

***

 

Edith emerged from the underground level looking exhausted.

The tablet system had crashed in the middle of the night, and she had needed to repair it.

It happened because so many people have been leaving their opinions. It’s a good thing, but……

It had all started with a fake ranking spoiler.

From there, rumors had begun springing up everywhere.

Some of them had even turned out to be true, which had made her heart sink.

Is there someone involved with the program leaking spoilers?

If so, they had to find that person.

The culprit could be a staff member involved in running Cartamen, or even one of the contestants.

She intended to proceed carefully.

In any case, the people had become excited over the rankings and eliminations and were leaving comments on their tablets like mad.

As a result, the system crashed.

They had barely managed to fix it, but at this rate, there would probably be even worse errors when the actual ranking announcement was broadcast.

We’re going to have to expand the system.

She had already been working on creating other magical devices using the communication magic device, and now she had even more work on her hands.

She would probably need to hire more assistants to research alchemy alongside her.

“Your Highness, the morning newspapers.”

Just as Edith was about to take a break, a maid arrived carrying a large bundle of newspapers.

“Thank you. Good work.”

Edith accepted the newspapers without complaint, since she was the one who had asked the maid to bring them in the first place.

Every front page of every newspaper was filled with news about Cartamen.

There are still more negative articles than positive ones.

Edith had expected the established media to push back.

She wasn’t particularly bothered and read through the newspapers carefully.

The gossip papers, at least, had plenty of interesting articles, such as lists of contestants organized by rank.

The serious newspapers, however, mostly published harshly critical columns.

The one that especially caught her attention was Norman Fossi’s column.

<The Empire’s Knights Reduced to Beggars, Pleading for Votes.>

He really knows how to come up with provocative headlines.

What an enviable talent.

The problem was that Norman wielded tremendous influence in the press.

If there’s anyone whose mind I want to change, it’s Norman.

But how should I do it?

As Edith racked her brain, a good idea suddenly occurred to her.

Yes, that’s it!

 

***

 

After the nerve-racking ranking announcement ceremony ended, the survivors were given a break.

This time, it was a fairly long break.

There was just one mission.

They had to form groups of at least five people, film themselves watching Episode 3 together with a recording orb, and bring the footage back!

The condition of the mission was simple: Don’t let anyone discover your identities!

If their identities were exposed, it could throw the entire plaza into chaos.

The reason for giving them this mission was that Episodes 3 and 4 would be broadcast during their break.

Episode 3 would contain the first evaluation—the hunting mission.

Episode 4 would contain the swordsmanship demonstration, the mini-game, and the ranking announcement ceremony.

Episode 4 might be a little lacking in content.

So Edith planned to include footage of the contestants watching Cartamen together in Episode 4 as well.

Each contestant was given a small recording orb.

“Are you staying at Dimitri’s place again this time?”

Before everyone left after the ranking announcement ceremony, David asked Kusto.

There was still a glow of happiness on Kusto’s face.

It was quite a pleasant expression to look at.

I wonder if my face looks like that, too?

Thinking that, David waited for Kusto’s answer.

Unfortunately, Kusto nodded.

“I can’t leave that guy Dimitri alone.”

“You can’t leave him alone?”

“It’s just…… something.”

David frowned.

That was when it happened.

Maurice suddenly appeared behind Kusto and threw an arm around his shoulders.

“Whoa! What are you doing?”

“Are we really not allowed even this much physical contact between us?”

“We’re on formal terms, aren’t we?”

“Then let’s drop the formalities from now on. No, let’s do it!”

“I’ll have to decline.”

What are they doing with me standing right here?

But he talks casually with me. I guess he uses honorifics with that guy.

David inexplicably felt pleased.

Then Maurice smiled brightly and bowed his head.

“Duke David, if it wouldn’t be an inconvenience, would you like to watch Episode 3 with us as well? I know a quiet plaza where there aren’t many people around. I’d be happy to escort you there if you’d like.”

David thought he knew the place.

He secretly watched Cartamen there himself.

“What? Duke David is going to hang out with us, too?”

At that moment, Pavel appeared, hopping around from behind Maurice. He was holding Drini’s enormous, pot-lid-sized hand.

Maurice quickly nodded.

“Yep! That’s what he said.”

“Wow!”

I never said that.

In any case, David somehow ended up watching Episode 3 with them.

 

***

 

As Episode 3 approached, the preview was released as usual.

In the contaminated forest of Liquia!

A hunt that puts their pride on the line!

A team mission requiring teamwork!

But……!

“You want me to be the hunting dog? I’d rather just not do this.”

(Suddenly storms out.)

“Ah, seriously…… I’m so sorry for my parents. A hunting-dog position? That’s…… so embarrassing for my family. Sniff.”

(A contestant sobbing.)

Teamwork is falling apart everywhere……!

(Kusto draws the rabbit-monster bait scent.)

(The team members’ visibly disappointed expressions.)

(Meanwhile, another team draws the deer-monster bait scent and erupts in cheers, creating a much more pleasant atmosphere.)

And then……!

“Help me! Get me out! Someone, please help!”

(A recording orb illuminates a dark trap.)

(The tense faces of Raphael and Joan flashing past.)

Someone has fallen into a trap!

What will be the result of this team evaluation?