Please Vote for Your Knight! Chapter 33

Watching the screen with a pounding heart, she saw that Denny’s opponent was David.

“Oh my, David took his shoes off!”

“I didn’t expect David of all people to go that far.”

“Whoa!! Denny!! He ripped his shirt!!”

“Holy crap, look at him throwing his whole body into it.”

“David has a surprisingly human side.”

“Sensual Fisherman!! Denny Vinosh!!”

“……”

The people who had been focused on David throwing himself wholeheartedly into the flag-snatching game suddenly flinched and looked around.

A woman with tears welling in her eyes was letting out a crazed cheer.

“Even though you lost, you fought well, Denny. You did so well, our Denny……”

Only after the match between the two ended did she return to her original state, trembling so badly that she could barely breathe.

After that, she couldn’t hear or see anything happening in the other matches.

“Whoa! Maurice beat David!”

“I thought he couldn’t use his body well, but he’s actually good at this. He was really fast, wasn’t he?”

“Exactly. He was like a flying squirrel.”

“David was surprised too, wasn’t he? I thought he’d be all delicate and refined, but he didn’t hold back at all.”

“But what’s that woman doing?”

“Looks like she’s praying……?”

People whispered as they watched Denny Marie clasp her hands tightly.

‘Please, let the Sensual Fisherman, Denny Vinosh, survive.’

Just as she finished her prayer, the ranking announcement resumed.

“We’ll now announce 10th place! This contestant surprised everyone with his bare-handed combat from the very first broadcast. Kusto!”

But even in the top ten, Denny’s name wasn’t called.

“Ugh, sob…….”

“What? That woman is crying.”

“She must be crazy.”

“Whose fan is she?”

“She made the wrong choice picking that useless, uncharismatic guy.”

The whispers around her didn’t even reach her ears.

The only thing she could hear was—

“He may be quiet, but he showed us an impressive scene from the very first episode. Ninth place, Denny Vinosh!”

Edith’s voice announcing Denny’s ninth-place ranking.

“Huh……? N-ninth place?”

She lifted her tear-streaked face, and on the screen, Pavel was crying with emotion as if it were his own achievement.

Denny walked toward the survivors’ seats with his usual calm steps.

The moment he confidently sat down in the ninth-place seat, tears burst from her eyes once again.

‘He, he survived……! And he made it so high!’

He barely spoke and didn’t get much screen time, yet he’d achieved this ranking.

It was proof that he’d earned it through pure charm and ability.

‘Of course, his relationship with Pavel probably helped a little too.’

Pavel was obviously a top-ranked contestant, so that couldn’t be ignored.

That was why some of Pavel’s fans accused Denny of riding on Pavel’s coattails.

But who cared about that right now?

‘Denny got ninth place!’

Now that the tension in her chest had finally eased, she could enjoy the rest of the ranking announcement with a relaxed heart.

Pavel came in fifth, as expected, placing him firmly among the top ranks.

Then David and Joan were left competing for first and second place.

‘It would be nice if David came first. Joan is somehow annoying.’

There were plenty of people hoping for an upset, but as expected, David took first place.

“The person who deserved first place got it.”

“I see him in a whole new light today. David really is charming.”

There were positive reactions, but there was also opposition.

“This makes first place way too predictable.”

“Doesn’t it feel like they’re deliberately pushing David over and over? Joan making it to second is impressive in itself.”

‘Who knows what will happen to first place next time.’

But the real surprise came after that.

It was the announcement of the final 54th place.

Dimitri, whom everyone assumed would be eliminated, and Kilman, whom everyone assumed would advance, were placed against each other as the candidates for 54th.

“Kilman kept being such a jerk, and now look where he ended up.”

“Pius’s disgrace.”

“Still, isn’t he better than Dimitri, the Empire’s disgrace?”

“Dimitri seemed better than I expected.”

“What do you mean, better? Don’t tell me you voted for that traitor too?”

“N-no……”

Although the anonymous opinions posted on the tablets suggested that Dimitri had more supporters than expected, there was still too much backlash for anyone to openly take his side.

‘And Kilman’s hardcore fans aren’t helping.’

After the scene where Dimitri’s team captured Kilman as a prisoner aired, his fandom had become furious.

‘Could Kilman be the survivor?’

For some reason, she felt disappointed at the thought.

‘I wanted to see more of Dimitri.’

The Dimitri she’d seen on Cartamen wasn’t the cold-blooded traitor she had imagined him to be.

Of course, editing had played a role, but even taking that into account, the way he’d helped Kusto had been completely unexpected.

‘He even seems to get along with the other contestants surprisingly well. Could there have been some kind of story behind him instead of him simply being a traitor?’

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

“Just making it this far is already a great honor to me. I still owe so much to so many people. Thank you for giving someone as inadequate as me your vote. I won’t forget it.”

Kilman, openly dissatisfied and full of himself.

And Dimitri, sincerely expressing his gratitude.

Hearing their contrasting remarks only made her disappointment grow.

“The first Cartamen ranking announcement! The final survivor, the person in 54th place is……!”

But the result was something beyond her control.

“Dimitri Cassel!”

“!!!!!”

The square erupted in shouts.

No one had expected this result.

Kilman was eliminated.

No—Dimitri Cassel had survived!

“Who is it? Who voted for that bastard?”

“Wow, that means there’s actually someone among us who voted for him.”

“Creepy.”

Everyone pretended otherwise, but there were definitely people who had used one of their ten votes for Dimitri.

‘Maybe a lot of people voted for him as a strategic vote, assuming he would obviously be eliminated?’

They might have done it to reduce even one vote that could have gone to a competitor of the person they supported.

Thinking about it that way, the result made sense.

In a way, it was an upset victory by sheer luck.

But strangely enough, the result didn’t feel unpleasant.

She felt like she could sleep soundly tonight.

 

***

 

Edith, however, couldn’t sleep peacefully.

The Cartamen tablet system was on the verge of crashing again.

After the ranking announcement, posts were pouring in like crazy.

Does Kilman getting eliminated even make sense? Did the Princess rig it to get Dimitri through?

– Yeah, it makes sense.

– Everyone except Kilman’s Maries agrees with the result lol

– I’m more amazed that he thought he’d survive after throwing such a tantrum.

Pavel is happier that Denny got 9th than he is about getting 5th himselfㅠㅠ Howㅠㅠ so cuteㅠㅠ

– It’s not “how” X, it’s “what am I gonna do” O

– That blood-red-haired guy looks so cold and aloof, but he’s surprisingly soft-hearted.

ㄴ Hey, “blood-red hair” is an anti-fan nickname; anyone can see it’s pink

ㄴ It’s obviously just a joke. Why are you being so sensitive?

By the way, why hasn’t that Sensual Fisherman girl shown up lately? I thought she’d be the first one here spamming posts.

– I heard she got suspended lol

– LMAOOOOOOOO

– Knew it lol

Anyone see Joan tearing up after getting 2nd?ㅠㅠ

– He must’ve been disappointedㅠㅠ Let’s make him first place next time.

– He should be grateful for second place. What’s with crying over getting second? Where’s your conscience?

– The vote difference from first was probably tiny, so he must’ve been even more disappointed.

ㄴ They didn’t even reveal the vote counts. How would you know?

Each person was supposed to register and use their identification card individually, so how were posts appearing this quickly?

‘Though I suppose it also means the people are that eager to voice their opinions.’

She felt both amazed and proud.

But there was one comment that caught her attention.

[ The vote difference from first was probably tiny, so he must’ve been even more disappointed. ]

It was about Joan.

‘That can’t be.’

The difference between Joan’s and David’s vote totals had been enormous.

That was why she had deliberately chosen not to reveal the numbers.

Otherwise, it might have ruined the suspense.

‘Who is this person, speaking so confidently?’

The person who had deliberately been spreading spoilers turned out to be one of the attendants who had worked as part of the Cartamen staff.

They were given a stern warning and removed from Cartamen duties.

Even so, ambiguous posts like these occasionally continued to appear.

‘There are plenty of people who just throw out random claims to get attention without knowing anything. They could simply be one of those people.’

Still, she’d keep an eye on it.

 

***

 

Ahead of the third group stay, invitations were sent out to the 54 surviving contestants.

< Invitation to the Knighting Ceremony >

The first 54 surviving contestants of Cartamen will be knighted. Please attend.

– Location: Victory Square

※ The knighting ceremony will be open to the public.

Ordinarily, knightings were held before a church altar or in the hall of the Emperor or lord.

This time, however, the ceremony would be held in the square.

It was to make the event open to the people.

Since so many knights were being knighted at once, the traditional eve-of-the-ceremony events would either be held individually or omitted.

When Edith arrived at the square, she was startled.

Far more spectators had gathered than she’d expected.

The temporary barricades looked as though they might collapse from the pressure of the crowd at any moment.

‘It has been years since a knighting ceremony was held, so I suppose this is understandable.’

On top of that, it was a rare opportunity to see the Cartamen contestants in person.

‘Still, there are way too many people.’

The problem was that the next evaluation was also scheduled to be held publicly.

‘What should I do? If the crowd is even bigger than today, someone could get hurt.’

Then a good idea suddenly occurred to her.