Please Vote for Your Knight! Chapter 58

Five out of the nine people who voted chose .

The remaining four automatically chose .

In other words, had won.

“Next up is Group 2. Come out and choose your mounted dance!”

Right on cue, Edith called for Group 2.

David confidently chose and returned.

A short while later, every group had chosen their mounted dance.

Group 1, with Kusto and Joan, was paired against Group 4.

Group 2, with David, was paired against Group 5.

And Group 6 was paired against Group 3.

“I’ll distribute recorded video orbs of each mounted dance. Take them to your assigned riding arena and practice with them.”

Edith explained.

“After three days of practice, there will be an interim evaluation by Valkyria. And if you want to modify the military song, you’ll be able to communicate with the composers and military band whenever necessary.”

The knights headed to their assigned riding arenas.

Behind the circular arena.

It was a spacious riding ground built in the middle of the forest.

Each group was assigned its own arena and horses.

Valkyria had brought the horses themselves.

“Each of these horses has been specially trained to perform the mounted dance you chose.”

“You’ve been given an incredible advantage.”

“If you still can’t pull it off after all this, I’ll take it to mean you simply want to be eliminated!”

With that, the Valkyria members left, saying they would see them again in three days.

In Group 1, Joan was the first to choose a horse.

It was a white horse that looked particularly sturdy.

When Olivier tried to play the video orb, Joan stopped him.

“Instead, it’ll be more reliable if you memorize the dance by following my lead. is my specialty, after all.”

“But we should at least watch the video orb……”

“I’m telling you, it’ll only get in the way. Just trust me once.”

Joan spoke cheerfully while gazing at the bird-shaped magical device floating in the air and displaying the recording.

Dmitri’s expression darkened.

Kusto watched him with his arms folded, wondering what he was going to do.

Joan mounted his horse and demonstrated the military dance first.

But with a nine-person dance being demonstrated by only one person, it was impossible to tell what was going on.

“This is how the leader does it first. And then……”

But one thing was certain.

The dance was incredibly boring.

If even the leader’s movements were that bland, what would the full formation look like?

“Good work, Joan.”

Kusto spoke.

“What? This is nothing. If you just keep following me, you’ll pick it up in no time.”

“But let’s watch the video orb at least once.”

“What? I told you it’s fine……!”

But Olivier played the video orb without warning.

The military dance began playing.

Seeing all nine knights and nine horses performing the routine at once made the overall picture much easier to understand.

But that was as far as it went.

Even after watching the entire routine, it was still boring.

‘There’s no way we can salvage this.’

Kusto sighed.

To begin with, compared to the other groups, they had fewer members who were comfortable riding horses.

On top of that, the music was nothing but grandiose. There wasn’t a single memorable point to it.

“We’ve seen it once, so that’s enough. Now let’s take turns practicing.”

Joan said.

But there was no way they could properly reproduce a routine they had only seen once.

Joan had deliberately counted on that.

“No, that’s not it. Tell the horse to raise its front legs a little higher.”

“Don’t bounce your butt around. The horse needs to kick with its hind legs.”

“Not hopping around like that. Make it walk lightly.”

A barrage of unsolicited criticism poured down on the inexperienced members.

Without anyone officially appointing him, Joan was already acting like the leader.

And because he deliberately barked orders at everyone in an attempt to take control, the group’s atmosphere was steadily falling apart.

Kusto thought,

‘If we keep going like this, failing is practically guaranteed. I’ll have to step in myself…….’

Just then, Dmitri grabbed Kusto by the shoulder.

Then he whispered,

“Wait.”

“Wait?”

“The interim evaluation is in three days.”

“Interim evaluation?”

“Yeah. At that point, the leader will be held most responsible for the result.”

Ah.

Kusto looked at Joan.

Completely oblivious, Joan was enthusiastically barking orders at Killian.

He was picking apart Killian’s mistakes simply because his leg movements were awkward.

“That bastard……”

Kusto felt his blood boil, but decided to endure it for now.

A good idea had suddenly occurred to him.

When he told Dmitri about it, Dmitri flashed a wide grin.

“Not a bad idea.”

“But I’m worried about how we’re going to improve the military song.”

“Don’t worry about the music.”

Just then, Olivier quietly slipped into their conversation.

Then, with a proud smile, he said,

“I was the top student in music at the Imperial Academy, you know.”

 

***

 

Meanwhile, David’s group was gathered together, intently watching the video orb.

They had already played it more than ten times.

“I’m starting to get the overall picture.”

Maurice rubbed his tired eyes as he spoke.

David grinned in relief.

“ is a military dance that depicts a battle where a spider monster’s web is unraveled and the monster is defeated. That’s why it looks even more intricate and complicated.”

“Exactly. It’s really difficult.”

Pavel pouted as he spoke.

David smiled as though he found Pavel adorable.

“We’re going to simplify it a little.”

“Wouldn’t simplifying it lower our score?”

Denny asked worriedly.

Raphael answered,

“Not necessarily. Not if we establish the right direction.”

“The right direction?”

“We simplify the dance, but make the message clearer.”

At Raphael’s words, David nodded.

“That’s exactly it. Simplifying something doesn’t necessarily mean making it easy or lowering its quality.”

“And even if we lower the difficulty, this will probably still be harder than the other dances.”

Maurice sighed.

“So there’s only one thing left for us to do.”

David shot to his feet.

Arsen clenched his fist as if he understood.

Then he shouted,

“Practice, and more practice!”

***

Three days later.

The day of the interim evaluation arrived.

The Valkyria members visited the riding arenas at random.

But the arenas were packed so closely together that they could hear the evaluations of the other groups.

“Didn’t you try to hog too much of the formation? You don’t look like the center at all, so why are you taking up that position?”

“This is supposed to be the grandiose section. So why are you hunching over like a coward? Is the knight afraid of his horse? Then get off. Forever.”

“I heard the two of you had a huge fight over your parts. Neither of you can do it worth a damn, so why are you fighting? What a waste of time.”

The evaluations were absolutely brutal.

Mounted military dance was already considered one of the more difficult disciplines in Cartamen.

And this time, the assigned routine was a mounted dance performed by the highest-ranking knights among the knights—the Equites.

There was plenty of reason for groans to echo throughout the arenas.

After verbally beating the knights into submission, the Valkyria members headed to Group 2’s riding arena.

“All right. Shall we see the dance you’ve practiced so far?”

“Yes!”

“Judging by your voices, I suppose you’re confident.”

The Valkyria members were smiling brightly for the moment.

Mila played the video orb.

The music began to play.

An upbeat opening, yet with an inexplicable sense of tension beneath it.

Led by David, the members of Group 2 mounted their horses and raised the horses’ front legs in time with the music.

Then—

Boom!

They struck a pose as though they were catching a spider.

But the spider monster escaped and instead spun webs around the knights.

The knights and horses moved in perfect unison as they chased after the spider.

At the same time, they swung swords from horseback, hurled spears, and fired bows, presenting each movement almost like a dance.

They were extraordinarily difficult movements.

It was only natural for members to forget the choreography from time to time or lose their positions and wander around in confusion.

When it ended, the Valkyria members’ expressions darkened.

“It was a difficult routine, and you certainly managed to make it difficult.”

Amond said.

“Who’s the center?”

“Pierre.”

“And the leader?”

“David.”

“You chose well.”

The Valkyria members nodded.

Then Ines spoke coldly.

“But there were quite a few mistakes. I know it’s difficult, but you knights were the ones who chose this song. If you choose it yourselves, you need to take responsibility for it.”

“The audience isn’t going to take the difficulty into consideration when they vote. If you continue like this, this group could end up with the most eliminations.”

“Yes! Understood!”

The knights answered with their heads bowed.

They had lowered the difficulty somewhat and practiced hard, but it still wasn’t enough.

After Valkyria left, the riding arena fell silent.

Everyone was lost in deep thought.

Then—

“Immersion.”

Pierre spoke.

“We need something that’ll make us immerse ourselves more.”

“What do you mean?”

David asked.

Pierre gently stroked his horse’s mane.

The horse lowered its head toward Pierre, expressing its affection. More than anyone else in the group, Pierre had grown close to the horses.

Thanks to Pierre, who had once worked as a stableman, the other members had also learned how to bond with their horses.

Pierre continued,

“When humans or horses have something they can become completely immersed in, they can accomplish even the most difficult things.”

“What is this thing you’re talking about?”

Denny asked.

“Desperation and fear. When we have those, we can finally become one with the dance.”

“Be more specific.”

David leaned closer, listening intently.

Pierre smiled triumphantly.

“That would be…….”