Please Vote for Your Knight! Chapter 52

The next day, instead of the live rankings, an emergency announcement was broadcast across the plaza.

!! EMERGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT !!

Topic: Should the controversial participant be expelled from Cartamen?

1. We are recruiting participants for the debate.
   – Send us your story!
   – 100 people will be selected from the submissions and invited to the debate hall.
   – 5 of them will be selected as debaters!
   (Stories can be submitted at government offices.)
2. Masks will be provided for those who wish to debate anonymously.
3. The debate will be broadcast live in the plaza.
   ※ After the debate, whether the participant will be expelled will be decided according to public opinion.

The newspapers across the Empire immediately began printing special editions.

The news spread across every corner of the country in an instant.

The rumor traveled so quickly that even people living deep in the mountains knew about it.

The entire Empire was buzzing.

After all, it was an incredibly provocative piece of news.

There was no question who the controversial participant was.

Kusto, a former slave, a death-row inmate, and a monster who had murdered the poor hostages captured by pirates.

They were going to expel such a devil through a debate!

People were furious, but at the same time, they were excited at the thought of putting Kusto in a public forum and tearing him apart.

Of course, there were also people who believed in, sympathized with, and pitied him, but they were only a small minority, including Kusto’s fans.

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What the hell is this supposed to accomplish?
They should just kick him out already. What’s the point of a debate?
– There are people who don’t want him expelled, though.
ㄴMost people want him gone, don’t they?
ㄴThere are probably people who can’t speak up because they’re being silenced.
– Exactly. Just throw him out already. What’s with the debate?
– I’m sure the person who wrote this submitted their own story too.
ㄴExactly LOL. I bet there’s no one here who didn’t LOL.

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

 

Raise your hand if you honestly think this is gonna be insanely entertaining.
He’s probably getting expelled anyway, but I’m ridiculously excited for this content LOL
-222222
-333333 LOL.
– Even if they debate, it’ll probably just give the Kusto-slave-haters more ammunition to tear him apart LOL.
– It has nothing to do with the character I’m rooting for anyway, so I’m just looking forward to it LOL.
– You guys are seriously cruel…
ㄴYu guyz r seriouslee crueeel~

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One week later.

With the next evaluation fast approaching and time running short, it was held in the Imperial Palace Hall.

Just as with the Cartamen matches, Edith served as moderator.

Despite the opposition of the Emperor and Duke Frederick.

The 95 spectators whose stories had been selected gradually took their seats.

The hall was normally used for plays and operas.

To think they were going to watch a debate about expelling a murderer in such a magnificent place!

The people could barely contain their nervous excitement.

Video orbs floated throughout the hall.

They were there to broadcast the event live.

A large crowd had already gathered in the plazas to watch the debate.

There seemed to be even more people than during the previous Cartamen broadcast.

Soldiers had been dispatched to every plaza just to organize the crowds.

It was an enormous sensation.

 

‘Of course it is. It’s basically a collection of every provocative attention-grabbing tactic imaginable.’

 

Edith sat in the back row of the platform, thinking.

The seat beside her belonged to her father, the Emperor.

Unlike the anonymous community, where she had allowed people to say whatever they wanted freely, the debate had to draw out the truth.

 

‘If I want people to speak honestly, I need the pressure that authority brings.’

 

So she had used a little cheat code.

 

Soon, five masked debaters appeared.

Edith rose from her seat.

“Thank you all for coming to today’s debate. And a special thank-you to the five of you who have agreed to participate in the discussion.”

The masked debaters bowed their heads.

Judging by their clothing, they came from various social classes, ranging from commoners to middle-class merchants and nobles.

“These five were selected from the submissions as the people best suited for this debate. I ask for your understanding.”

Edith spoke.

“Now, Cartamen’s knights, please enter!”

The hall began to buzz at her words.

“All of Cartamen’s knights are coming?”

“I thought only Kusto was coming?”

Soon, the rear doors of the hall opened, and fifty-three knights appeared.

They took their seats one by one in the empty back rows.

People’s gazes kept drifting toward the knights behind them.

But that didn’t last long.

“And now, our guest of honor today, Kusto, will enter.”

As if they had rehearsed it, everyone turned their eyes forward.

Soon, Kusto appeared on the stage.

His posture was firm and upright.

He showed not the slightest sign of intimidation.

To some, it inspired hostility. To others, relief.

The one who felt particularly relieved was Kusto Marie, who was attending the event.

The young noblewoman had never imagined she would one day find herself cheering for a knight who had once been a slave.

She had even kept it secret from her parents.

Whenever she went to the plaza, she deliberately disguised herself, and she hadn’t even dared buy Kusto merchandise for fear of being discovered.

‘But I couldn’t miss today.’

This was the day Kusto’s fate would be decided.

She had submitted her tearful story to the government office.

Perhaps her desperation had gotten through, because she had made it into the hundred selected spectators.

She hadn’t been chosen as a debater, though, probably because she had made it far too obvious that she was a fan.

‘Maybe this will be the last time I ever see Kusto.’

Being expelled from Cartamen wouldn’t be the end of it.

‘People will probably start demanding that Kusto be executed.’

What if there really was a story behind it all? What if he was innocent?

Kusto Marie had personally hired the Information Guild to investigate what had happened in the Pius territory at the time.

But the people of the territory had been so thoroughly silenced that she hadn’t been able to obtain any useful information.

‘The one thing I did find out is that the Lord of Pius is an extremely frightening and cruel man.’

Couldn’t that alone be some kind of clue?

But unless that man appeared here, there was no way to find out.

‘Please, let there be lots of debaters who take Kusto’s side!’

Kusto Marie prayed desperately.

Then—

“And we have a special guest today.”

‘A special guest?’

“Namely!”

Edith pointed toward the entrance of the stage.

Someone walked out with a stiff expression.

“!”

Everyone was stunned.

That person was—

“The Lord of Pius, Thierry Born.”

“Greetings.”

He bowed politely.

At first glance, he was a handsome young man with an approachable appearance.

‘That man is really supposed to be such a cruel lord?’

Even Kusto Marie was confused.

He took a seat in the chair prepared at the center.

Across from him sat Kusto.

To their right were the five seats prepared for the debaters.

‘What on earth is going on?’

Kusto Marie was bewildered.

There was one thing she knew for certain.

The Lord of Pius, Thierry Born, certainly didn’t look like someone who would give testimony favorable to Kusto.

‘He was the one who sentenced Kusto to death!’

Then why had the Princess, who had pardoned Kusto, invited this man here?

‘Don’t tell me…….’

An uneasy premonition washed over her.

‘Is she using Kusto as firewood to make the controversy surrounding Cartamen burn even hotter?’

If so, the Princess had nothing to lose.

She might receive some criticism, but she was the Princess. She would be safe.

Once enough time passed, people would forget about this incident.

There were still fifty-three participants left in Cartamen.

Kusto would simply be the only one subjected to a public execution.

‘But this is—this is too cruel!’

Kusto Marie wanted to jump to her feet and scream.

She wanted to tell them to stop this despicable act immediately.

But the Emperor was here alongside the Princess.

The authority radiating from him instinctively crushed her courage, forcing her to regain her composure.

Then Edith spoke.

“Kusto is directly involved in this matter, while the Lord of Pius is a witness to the events in question. We will hear both sides fairly and begin the debate. Kusto, you may speak first.”

Kusto calmly looked at the Lord of Pius, Thierry Born.

A neatly dressed, young, powerful man.

The two of them were worlds apart.

But Kusto wasn’t afraid.

Just as he hadn’t been afraid of the death sentence Thierry Born had given him.

“I was contracted by the lord to suppress the pirates. The lord ordered us to bring back the people who had been taken hostage. He intended to make them his personal slaves.”

“That’s absurd……!”

Thierry Born angrily jumped in, but Edith stopped him.

“You will have a chance to speak. Please wait.”

Once he fell silent, Kusto continued.

“I was born a slave. I know very well how much suffering those who are enslaved endure. And those hostages…… They were overjoyed because they thought they were finally going to be free. They cried and thanked me and the soldiers.”

Kusto had been speaking calmly, but suddenly his voice caught, and he lowered his head.

“Just like I foolishly did when I was a child…….”