Please Vote for Your Knight! Chapter 40

And amidst that fierce competition, there was one person who had proudly secured an invitation.

Norman Fossi.

A columnist for The Journal of Justice and Truth.

He had arrived early and taken his assigned seat for members of the press.

It was a seat personally prepared for him by Princess Edith.

Thanks to that, he hadn’t needed to go through the trouble of lining up to apply for admission, but—

Still, this is ridiculous. They gave a journalist a seat all the way at the very top.

He wasn’t pleased that, despite being personally invited, he had been seated behind the ordinary citizens in an otherwise unremarkable spot.

The only advantage is that I can see the entire arena clearly.

He had already spent more days than not criticizing Cartamen.

What fault should I pick apart this time?

He looked around the interior of the circular arena.

…I have to admit, they did a pretty good job setting this up.

They had recreated the Naval War exactly as it had been held in the past.

The arena had been filled with water, with island-shaped buoys floating in the center.

And they weren’t ordinary buoys, either.

There were obstacles resembling trees and rocks, as well as caves hiding various items to be retrieved. It felt remarkably like a real island.

…

After thinking for a moment, he began writing in his notebook.

At a time as grave as this, Cartamen is wasting resources on nothing more than a game.

One line of criticism done.

Norman Fossi smiled arrogantly.

With this many people entering the arena, it was surprising that there hadn’t been even a minor accident.

Princess Edith certainly seems to have prepared everything thoroughly.

But he didn’t bother writing that part down.

Soon, everyone had finished entering.

And the second evaluation, the Naval War, began.

He had expected the competition to start immediately, but instead, a video began playing on the enormous screen suspended in the center of the arena.

It showed the knights practicing.

And then—

“I’m sorry.”

“There was nothing I could do.”

“Let’s definitely do it together next time.”

One eliminated member from each team appeared, having been voted out by their respective teammates.

The circular arena began to stir. Boos erupted from various sections.

The corners of Norman Fossimouth curled upward coldly.

Can abandoning one’s own teammates really be called the justice of Cartamen? …

Norman Fossi hand moved across the page as though it had grown wings.

Why on earth did the Princess invite me to this evaluation? Does she not think I’ve criticized her enough?

Criticism was attention, too.

But his pen could destroy even that attention.

As Norman Fossi entertained his arrogant thoughts, the first team appeared.

There were five of them.

The arena’s response was lukewarm.

Everyone had just witnessed them abandon one of their own.

The competition began with the five knights boarding a boat and heading toward the island.

They stumbled around a little, but perhaps because half the participants had already been eliminated, their performance was reasonably competent.

Which also means it’s boring.

Soon, the boat reached the island, and the strategy team and retrieval team rushed toward the cave.

That was when homunculi hidden behind rocks and trees suddenly emerged.

While the strategy team engaged them, the retrieval team entered the cave.

They said they were going to bring out His Majesty the Emperor’s sword.

At the same time, the screen that had gone dark switched to an image of the inside of the cave.

The entire circular arena gasped in shock.

“What?”

“What happened?”

“Why is that knight in there?”

Inside the cave, the Emperor’s Sword was shining brilliantly. It was so enormous that it appeared to require two people just to carry.

And beside it was someone bound hand and foot.

It was their eliminated teammate.

 

***

 

Inside the Arena Waiting Room

Unlike the outside, which was filled with cheers, the waiting room was eerily quiet.

The structure was designed so that they couldn’t hear or see what was happening outside at all.

The order of the matches had been determined by drawing lots.

Dmitri’s team was fifth.

Kusto’s team was last, ninth.

“Dmitri’s team! Come out!”

Dmitri stepped outside and immediately realized that something about the arena’s atmosphere was strange.

There was excitement, an odd tension, and even hostility in the air.

“What is this atmosphere?”

Maurice whispered, apparently sensing it too.

“Don’t get distracted. Focus on the evaluation.”

Joan said that as he handed out their weapons.

After losing his position as leader, he had volunteered to at least handle the weapons so that he could secure some screen time.

Dmitri turned his head after feeling several piercing gazes from somewhere.

In the audience, people who appeared to be Joan’s fans were glaring at Dmitri.

They must know the leadership has changed.

Their expressions clearly said:

Let’s see how well he does. Even if he performs well, we’ll tear him apart.

Chilling.

Today might mark the beginning of a rivalry between the two.

Of course, for the low-ranked Dmitri, it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

At least he was getting attention.

After each of them took their weapons, they immediately boarded the boat at the shout of—

“Begin!”

“Straight ahead! Keep the balance! Starboard, put a little more strength into it!”

Since they had lost one of their six members, they had to adjust their plan.

Rather than rowing, Dmitri stood at the very back, using his oar like a rudder while directing the others.

With Olivier gone, Raphael had to handle the duties of two people as the support unit.

The boat reached the island smoothly.

“Woooooah!”

“That’s the fastest time so far!”

“Dmitri really knows how to lead.”

As they stepped onto the island, enemies emerged from hiding.

Raphael brought them down with his bow from behind while the strategy team engaged the enemies with clubs. Meanwhile, the retrieval team entered the cave.

“What is this?!”

“What happened?!”

As they struggled against the seemingly endless stream of enemies, a scream came from inside the cave.

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

Dmitri asked while striking an enemy in the back with his club.

That was when—

Crack!

Dmitri’s club split apart and broke.

“Dmitri!”

Joan called his name irritably upon seeing it.

He was the one who had handled the weapons, yet he spoke as though the weapon had broken because of Dmitri’s mistake.

“Go into the cave and find out what’s happening. I’ll handle things here.”

Joan said it.

He clearly intended to take all the attention for himself.

It was unfair, but there was nothing Dmitri could do.

Dmitri entered the cave.

And froze in shock.

“Olivier!”

Olivier was bound beside the Emperor’s Sword.

“Good timing. The Emperor’s Sword is too heavy for us to carry with Olivier, too.”

The Emperor’s Sword was so heavy that it could barely be lifted by two people.

“The chains won’t break no matter how many times we strike them with a sword.”

Maurice added.

“Fine. I’ll support Olivier.”

“You should leave me behind.”

Olivier spoke gloomily.

“What are you talking about? Stop saying things like that and let’s get out of here!”

Pavel shouted.

The three of them left the cave together.

Joan and Raphael were stunned when they saw the three men emerge with Olivier.

“Olivier!”

“H-How did this happen…?!”

They avoided the homunculi and climbed back onto the boat.

But the moment they tried to load the Emperor’s Sword and Olivier onto the boat—

The boat tilted.

“See? I told you it would be better to leave me behind.”

The boat could only bear the weight of five people and the Emperor’s Sword.

They deliberately made it like this!

They wanted them to abandon the eliminated member!

Dmitri looked up sharply toward Princess Edith, who was sitting quietly among the citizens.

Why did you make such a cruel evaluation?!

They might have to abandon Olivier, who had already been abandoned once.

That was when—

“Grrrrr!”

The roar of a monster echoed from inside the cave.

“You have ten seconds before the monster awakens! Escape the island before then!”

It wasn’t a real monster, of course.

But if they didn’t escape within ten seconds, they would fail the mission.

They had to make a decision quickly.

Olivier spoke in a trembling voice.

“I should point this out now, but abandoning His Majesty the Emperor’s Sword would be practically equivalent to treason.”

“But they said abandoning a teammate during the retrieval mission would also result in disqualification!”

“During the midterm evaluation, they said that in an extreme situation, sacrifices may be unavoidable for the sake of victory. This is that situation!”

Joan retorted to Pavel.

Only about five seconds remained.

Behind them, the monster’s roar grew louder.

“You have to decide now!”

Joan shouted.

In the end, Pavel and Maurice loaded the Emperor’s Sword onto the boat.

The boat rocked violently.

“Now, let’s go—”

At that moment, Dmitri shoved the Emperor’s Sword off the boat, sending it crashing onto the island floor.

“Dmitri!”

Before anyone could stop him, he pulled Olivier onto the boat.

“As the leader, I’m giving you an order! Get on the boat! We have to escape with Olivier!”