Please Vote for Your Knight! Chapter 35

“And the knight who receives the highest number of votes from the audience will also be awarded 100,000 points!”

“There’s an individual score, too?”

“If you get first place on top of the individual score, doesn’t that basically guarantee you’ll pass?”

The arena erupted into commotion.

It was a team evaluation, but at the same time, it was also an individual evaluation in which each knight had to stand out as much as possible.

The very first step of the naval battle was forming the teams.

“The higher-ranked knights will choose their teammates first, with five members each. That means there will be nine teams of six.”

David, ranked first, was the first to choose his teammates.

“Sir Arsen, Sir Denny, Sir Pierre, Sir Killian, and……”

Every one of them had demonstrated outstanding skill or tremendous strength so far.

Their rankings were also quite high.

Arsen, 3rd.

Denny, 9th.

Pierre, 15th.

Killian, 26th.

This was practically an elite squad of knights.

Rather than choosing a combination that would allow him to stand out, David seemed to be focused on creating the strongest possible team.

‘Then he’ll probably choose Joan Ginola, who’s ranked second.’

Everyone thought so.

But then David gave a sly grin and looked somewhere.

“Lastly, Sir Kusto.”

Everyone’s eyes turned toward Kusto.

Kusto, still not accustomed to being addressed as ‘Sir,’ awkwardly stood up.

“Are you certain you want to choose Sir Kusto?”

Edith asked once more.

Even though Kusto was strong and ranked tenth, it was difficult to understand why David would choose him over Joan, who was ranked second.

Given another chance, David looked toward Joan.

The moment he saw Joan looking slightly wounded in his pride, something stirred inside David.

“Yes. I choose Sir Kusto.”

His resolve toward Kusto was even firmer.

“Why did you pick me? You won’t need me for a technical task like this.”

Kusto whispered to David.

“I wanted to be teammates with you at least once.”

“What?”

“I saw your team last time. You all looked like you were having fun.”

David said it with a hint of what seemed like jealousy, leaving Kusto bewildered.

‘Wouldn’t he have been comfortable surrounded by his followers no matter which team he joined? Why……?’

Or perhaps that was exactly what had made it uncomfortable and boring?

‘Did he choose me because I’m the one who treats him casually?’

This guy really did have strange tastes.

Kusto moved one step away from David.

Now that David had passed over the second-ranked Joan, Joan was next to choose his team.

“Sir Pavel, Sir Raphael, Sir Maurice, Sir Olivier……”

Joan primarily selected knights who were popular and attracted a great deal of attention.

Pavel, 5th.

Raphael, 8th.

Maurice, 11th.

Olivier, 13th.

Now there was only one knight left for him to choose.

One corner of Joan’s lips curved smoothly upward.

“Sir Dmitri.”

“!”

No one had expected the choice.

The arena became even noisier than it had when David called Kusto.

Dmitri was also secretly surprised, but he kept his expression calm and walked toward Joan’s team.

Starting with Grimal Valdo, the fourth-ranked knight who had not been selected, the team selection continued until all nine teams were complete.

“Isn’t David’s team ridiculously strong? Who’s supposed to beat them?”

“Arsen is third, and Denny and Killian are strong too. Pierre is completely insane.”

“Kusto’s strength is undeniable, too. Isn’t that team composition a little too unfair?”

“Winning comes first. Who cares about fairness? Still, I’m jealous.”

People everywhere looked toward David’s team with envy.

There was plenty of talk about Joan’s team as well.

“That team is definitely going to dominate in popularity. They have Dmitri.”

“But he’s also their weakness. If I were a voter, I wouldn’t give them points just because I hate looking at Dmitri.”

“What is Joan thinking? I don’t get it. Isn’t he just ruining an otherwise perfect soup?”

Edith watched the knights chatting in groups before speaking up.

“Oh, right. There’s one thing I haven’t told you.”

The knights who had been talking fell silent in surprise.

Edith smiled sweetly.

“It concerns the 100,000 points awarded to the knight who receives the highest number of votes from the audience.”

The knights perked up their ears.

“There will actually be nine knights who can receive those 100,000 points. In other words, the teammates will compete against one another, and the knight who receives the most votes within each team will earn the 100,000 points.”

Edith’s shocking announcement produced very different reactions.

David’s team and Joan’s team, which had been assembled as the strongest teams, had now automatically been placed against the strongest competitors for the individual score.

Meanwhile, the teams made up of lower-ranked knights immediately became much more cheerful.

Everyone seemed to be thinking the same thing.

‘At my level, I actually have a shot on this team.’

“Don’t get too excited. Let’s focus on becoming the first-place team and earning the 100,000 points first.”

David calmed his unsettled teammates.

“That’s right.”

“That comes first.”

They said the right things, but none of them could hide the tension in their voices.

“Still, don’t think of your teammates purely as competitors. This is, after all, a team competition, and teamwork will also be evaluated.”

Ah, seriously. What were they supposed to do?

The knights’ expressions darkened.

Standing before the knights who could neither compete too aggressively nor cooperate too comfortably, Edith smiled brightly in a rather infuriating way.

“You’re probably not very familiar with naval battles yet. So you’ll have one week to practice before the actual evaluation. During that time, practice together and decide on your respective positions.”

There were positions again?

Several knights who still hadn’t recovered from the nightmare of the ‘Hounds’ trembled.

“There are three positions, with two people assigned to each.”

Edith held up three fingers.

“First, the Retrieval Team. You’ll enter the cave and retrieve the ‘Emperor’s Sword.’”

The knights held their breath as they listened.

“Second, the Assault Team. You’ll land on the island alongside the Retrieval Team and eliminate the enemies.”

Tension spread at the mention of directly confronting the enemy.

“Lastly, the Support Team. You’ll remain near the boat and provide cover for the others.”

Retrieval Team.

Assault Team.

Support Team.

It was obvious which position would receive the most attention.

The Retrieval Team.

The Support Team, on the other hand, would probably receive the least.

The Assault Team carried considerable risk, but if they performed well, they could attract plenty of attention.

In silence, the appropriate weapons for each position were distributed.

The Retrieval Team received swords, the Assault Team clubs, and the Support Team bows.

“Then hold a meeting, decide on your leader and positions, and begin practicing!”

Edith dropped that bombshell on the knights and leisurely walked away.

 

***

 

“Who wants to be on the Support Team?”

“……”

No one raised a hand at Joan’s question.

The atmosphere stiffened.

The Dmitri of the past would have willingly accepted the disadvantage himself.

But after the ranking ceremony, his thoughts had changed.

‘I came in 54th, but there were people who chose me. For their sake, I have to do my best until the very end.’

If he volunteered for the Support Team from the beginning, it would look as though he had no ambition.

He couldn’t disappoint the people who believed in him, including Her Highness the Princess.

Dmitri felt Joan’s gaze rest on him for a moment before moving away, but he still didn’t raise his hand.

“Seems like all of us want to be on the Retrieval Team anyway, don’t you think?”

Maurice spoke up.

“Why don’t we choose the Retrieval Team first?”

“Then a vote would be best. Everyone can vote for one of the other five members, excluding themselves.”

Joan said smoothly.

It sounded fair on the surface, but there was also an unmistakable confidence that, as the current second-place holder, he would receive the most votes.

“No. Let’s choose in a different way.”

But Olivier Morty, the academy’s top-ranked student, flatly rejected his suggestion.

“If not by vote, then how do you suggest we choose?”

“By competing.”

Olivier pushed up his glasses as he spoke.

“Competing? Olivier, I’m saying this for your own sake, but that would actually put you at a disadvantage.”

Joan spoke kindly, with an almost sympathetic expression.

Olivier was the academy’s top student.

Which meant he was someone who had devoted himself entirely to academics and was rather poor at martial arts.

He had made it this far by relying on his intelligence, but openly competing for positions would be a different matter.

In other words, Joan was basically saying that if they competed, Olivier would simply end up on the Support Team.

But Olivier remained unfazed.

“There’s nothing I can do about that. I’ve already lost my chance at first place individually. If I want to earn points, I at least have to win the team competition.”

“!”

“Am I wrong? Five of us are going to fail to take first place here anyway. So we should choose the path that benefits the majority the most.”

Olivier looked sharply at his teammates.

“Through competition, the person best suited for each role should take that position.”