Please Vote for Your Knight! Chapter 41.1

The unexpected turn of events sent the audience into an uproar.

“Is he out of his mind?”

“Figures. Dmitri really is acting like the traitor to the Empire he’s supposed to be.”

“What’s his deal with Olivier? Why is he risking his life over a game?”

Just then, the cave shook with the roar of a monster.

The moment the homunculus disguised as a monster emerged from the cave, the game would be over.

With no other choice, the remaining team members climbed aboard the boat as well.

But even as they frantically rowed away, the others still couldn’t understand Dmitri’s decision.

“Are you insane? Why would you abandon the Emperor’s Sword?!”

Joan shouted.

Pavel looked just as bewildered.

“Saving a teammate is one thing, but giving up the Emperor’s Sword that easily…”

The other team members wore grim expressions as well.

Even Olivier couldn’t bring himself to say a word. He looked utterly ashamed.

A short while later, the boat returned.

They had made it back remarkably quickly, but there wasn’t a single bright expression among them.

The Valkyrias looked down at the six team members standing before them.

Armond spoke first.

“Why did you abandon the sword? Giving up the Emperor’s Sword could even be considered an act of treason.”

Joan immediately stepped forward.

“I apologize. We committed a grave mistake because of one team member’s reckless decision. I will gladly accept whatever punishment is deemed appropriate.”

His calm response drew murmurs of approval from the audience.

But Pavel clearly disagreed.

“We couldn’t bring ourselves to abandon a teammate. We’d already abandoned one of our own once. Leaving them behind a second time would have been too cruel.”

“But the Emperor’s Sword is not something you can simply abandon at your convenience.”

Ines’s sharp words silenced everyone.

Then Mila looked over the team before pointing at the man who had caused all this trouble.

“Instead of arguing among ourselves, why don’t we ask the person responsible? Sir Dmitri, why did you choose to abandon His Majesty’s Sword?”

Dmitri looked toward Olivier.

“I didn’t abandon it.”

“What? You clearly left His Majesty’s Sword on that island.”

“Olivier was knighted by His Majesty the Emperor. He is a knight of the Emperor. And a knight of the Emperor is, by definition, the Emperor’s Sword as well.”

“!”

The audience erupted into whispers.

“Wow. That logic just made my head hurt.”

“Does that even count?”

“Why wouldn’t it? Dmitri’s right. Olivier himself is a living Emperor’s Sword.”

“That’s some serious wordplay. The sword they told him to bring back is the actual sword he left behind!”

“Damn Dmitri. He’s going to drag Joan down with him!”

Reactions erupted from every corner of the arena.

The Valkyrias quietly turned toward Edith, who was sitting nearby.

They were hoping that the hostess—and the Imperial Princess herself—would put an end to this situation.

When Edith rose from her seat, the circular arena gradually fell silent.

“A knight who has received the Emperor’s blessing is himself the ‘Emperor’s Sword’…”

Edith looked at Dmitri and gave a small, amused smile.

“I’ll accept that.”

The arena immediately exploded with shouting.

Those who agreed and those who disagreed all shouted at once.

“But!”

Edith raised her voice.

The uproar died down again.

“The sword you were originally instructed to retrieve was the one you left on the island. Therefore, as a penalty, ten seconds will be added to your recorded time.”

She paused.

“And…”

Edith looked toward Olivier, whose face was still clouded with guilt.

“You are the only team so far that has chosen to save a teammate. We will acknowledge that.”

Her expression softened.

“As a reward, ten seconds will be deducted from your time.”

“Waaaaaaah!”

With that, Dmitri’s team effectively received the exact time they were originally supposed to have.

The team was greeted with cheers as they climbed into the waiting area on the opposite side of the arena.

The knights who had already finished their games and taken their seats applauded them.

While the attendants worked to remove Olivier’s chains, the voices of the other team members could be heard nearby.

“You bastards. You could’ve saved me too, you know!”

“If we’d known this would happen, we would’ve.”

“I’ll get my revenge on all of you!”

Some of them were joking around.

Others were genuinely arguing.

“Isn’t that a little too much? How could you just throw me aside and leave without even thinking about it?”

“Hey, I already said I was sorry.”

“It’s bad enough that I got kicked out in the first place!”

“Enough!”

Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the arena, attendants were walking through each section carrying wooden ballot boxes.

They were collecting the voting slips handed out to the audience upon entry.

Dmitri’s throat went dry with tension.

With nearly ten thousand people voting, the results wouldn’t be announced until the very end.

Waiting until then is going to be torture.

He desperately wanted to receive enough votes to survive.

He clenched his fists tightly.

Once Olivier’s chains had been completely removed, he dropped down beside Dmitri.

“Thank you. For not giving up on me.”

“I did it for the team. You don’t need to thank me.”

“But Dmitri, that was seriously cool!”

Pavel chimed in.

Maurice joined them a moment later.

“I never would have thought of it that way. A knight being the Emperor’s Sword…”

“Neither would I. I found it genuinely moving.”

Even Raphael shyly admitted his admiration.

Dmitri’s ears turned red for no reason.

“It wasn’t some brilliant idea. I simply chose the best option I could think of in that moment.”

And he meant it.

For him, it had been the best choice.

Just like when he had entered the Tyrant’s Blood Duel.

When he’d been backed into a corner, with nowhere left to run and no way out.

Just like the time he’d thrown away his own honor and chosen the Tyrant’s downfall instead.

“Still, it was reckless.”

Joan’s sharp voice cut through the conversation.

“You were lucky the Princess was willing to overlook it. If we’d been disqualified, we wouldn’t have had a single thing to say.”

“But the result was good, wasn’t it? What’s done is done.”

Maurice tried to lighten the increasingly tense atmosphere.

“Exactly. Good work.”

Joan had no choice but to say it as well.

It was true that he was relieved they had managed to finish the team battle safely.

But inside, Joan was seething.

His plan had been to sacrifice Dmitri and make himself the hero.

And it had completely fallen apart.

 

***

 

Meanwhile, the completely oblivious Denny’s team was walking down the corridor leading out of the internal waiting area.

Just before they exited, a small blue bird with a video orb for an eye suddenly flew toward them.

“Give us a few words about your resolve.”

“What the hell? Did that bird just talk?”

Arsene exclaimed in surprise.

The bird let out a cheerful, giggling sound before nodding.

“Looks like another new magical device created by Her Highness.”

David calmly explained.

“Give us a few words about your resolve.”

The magical bird repeated the question.

“We’re going for first place.”

Kusto answered calmly.

“Which team do you consider the biggest threat?”

“That would be…”

“There aren’t any.”

Pierre suddenly cut in.

“I don’t believe there is a single team capable of beating us.”

The other team members stared at him in shock.

We’ve been played!

He actually fell for the provocation…

The bird seemed delighted and immediately continued with another question.

“Are you saying the other teams are all inferior?”

“My master once told me that if you want to win, you should focus on surpassing no one but yourself.”

Thankfully, Pierre’s final answer ended with talk of his master rather than outright insulting the competition.

Apparently satisfied, the bird gave a cheerful flutter and flew away.

The five men had no idea, but the entire interview had just been broadcast live to the arena.

They entered the circular arena.

A tremendous roar of cheers greeted them.

Perhaps because they were the final team, the crowd’s reaction was even louder after that fiery interview.

And they lived up to the expectations.

Under Denny’s leadership, they rowed faster than anyone else and reached the island first.

Soon, enemies emerged from between the trees and rocks.

Kusto knocked an enemy’s sword aside with his club before striking its vital point with perfect precision.

Pierre quickly took down another enemy as well.

Meanwhile, David and Denny entered the cave in search of the Emperor’s Sword.

But then—

“K-Killian!”

“Why are you here?!”

Killian was sitting there with the sword, his hands and feet bound.

“…Just take the sword and go.”

Killian spoke as though he’d already given up.

“No. We’re taking you with us—”

But then David noticed something.

Killian’s wrist chains had already been broken.

With his considerable strength, he’d apparently managed to snap them himself.

“Just getting my hands free is enough. Go. Let’s leave together.”

“We can’t fit both you and the sword onto the boat.”

Killian shook his head.

“Go! We don’t have enough time!”

“Then wait here.”

David picked up the sword and headed outside with Denny.

Then David turned around and walked back into the cave alone.

Killian’s eyes widened.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“Denny and the operations team will take the sword to the boat. You’re coming with me.”

“I told you, you can’t take me onto the boat!”

“When did I say I was taking you onto the boat?”