Please Vote for Your Knight! Chapter 59

Everyone’s eyes were fixed on Pierre’s mouth.

“It’s the ‘spider.’”

“What?”

“This military dance is about chasing a ‘spider,’ but there isn’t actually a spider.”

Pierre was right.

In the mounted dance, all nine knights and their horses were merely pretending to chase the ‘spider.’

There was no knight or horse actually playing the role of the ‘spider.’

“They keep chasing something this way and that, pretending to attack the spider, but there’s no spider anywhere.”

That was what made the choreography even harder to understand.

“If there were a clear, tangible ‘spider,’ the fear the knights feel and their desperation to kill it would come across much more clearly.”

“So we choose someone among the knights to play the ‘spider’ and modify the choreography?”

“Exactly.”

Raphael nodded as if he finally understood.

“That would make the message much clearer.”

Maurice, who had been thinking quietly, spoke.

“Then the center would become the ‘spider.’”

“Yeah. We’ll have to choose a new center.”

Pierre said.

Everyone’s eyes widened.

“Choose again?”

“You’re saying you’ll give up the center position?”

Pierre nodded.

His expression was cold and composed.

Everyone was caught off guard.

The other groups had nearly come to blows trying to claim the center position.

And yet Pierre was voluntarily stepping down from it.

The group members couldn’t hide their confusion, so Pierre explained.

“For the sake of the dance’s overall quality, the spider should be played by someone who stands out more. I’m an excellent stableman and rider, but I’m too textbook. I don’t stand out.”

“But are you sure?”

David asked worriedly.

Pierre nodded without hesitation.

“Don’t get unnecessarily sentimental. Once this evaluation is over, there’s the ranking ceremony. So let’s focus on winning as a team.”

Pierre’s words filled the group with tension.

David spoke.

“All right. Then we’ll choose the center by vote. Whoever is best suited to play the spider.”

“Someone fast and eye-catching.”

Pierre added to David’s words.

Everyone’s eyes darted around as they seemed to think of someone.

David shouted,

“Then let’s each point to the person we think is best suited to be the center—the ‘spider.’ Begin!”

 

***

 

The Valkyria members, who had spent the day ruthlessly tearing apart the previous groups, finally arrived at Group 1’s riding arena.

Seeing the confident expression on Joan’s face, the corners of Ines’s lips curled upward.

“Looks like you’ve practiced a lot.”

“Yes! We gave it our all!”

“You’re the leader, then?”

“Yes!”

“I thought so.”

Joan smiled, apparently believing he had received their approval.

“The leader taught us a lot. Joan can perform the military dance even with his eyes closed.”

Clover Reed chimed in as well. Joan apparently wasn’t a fool—he had already made sure to have someone in the group on his side.

Amond spoke.

“If you’re praising him that much, I can’t help but have high expectations. Let’s see it.”

Group 1 mounted their horses and took their positions.

Then music began flowing from the video orb, and the military dance started.

Against the grandiose music honoring the Equites, the dull choreography proceeded rigidly along the prescribed formations.

No one made any mistakes.

But that was all.

It was obvious that Joan was the best performer among them, but even that failed to turn the dull impression of the dance into something positive.

The dance ended, but the Valkyria members’ reactions were cold.

“You matched the choreography well.”

“But that’s all.”

Amond and Ines spoke one after another.

It was a harsh review.

“You said the leader was Joan, right? And it looks like he’s also the center. Is that correct?”

“Yes.”

Joan answered.

Mila stroked her chin with a thoughtful “Hmm.”

“You were the best among them.”

“Thank you!”

“But compared to the other groups, I can’t say you did well. This routine is so easy that of course you should be good at it. And you said you already knew this military dance, didn’t you? Considering that, this performance was disappointing.”

Unlike usual, Mila’s face held not the slightest trace of a smile as she delivered her harsh criticism.

Joan was flustered.

He had expected that even if the group received some sharp criticism, he himself would be praised.

‘Even I’m getting criticized?’

This hadn’t been part of the plan.

But it wasn’t over yet.

Ines spoke coldly.

“As the leader, didn’t you think about modifying the military dance?”

“That’s…… because this is already a complete routine…….”

“That’s true. It was performed by the Equites, after all.”

“Yes. That’s why I couldn’t bring myself to tamper with it.”

“But this is a military dance that’s already several decades old. Do you really think the crowds would get excited watching this today?”

“We should be grateful if it doesn’t feel like a funeral.”

Amond chimed in.

Then she continued,

“Since you already know this routine so well, it seems like you’re trying to take the easy route by sticking with choreography you’re familiar with.”

“N-No, that’s not it!”

“Isn’t it? Really?”

“Yes…….”

Joan answered, his confidence shaken.

“Then modify the military dance. You can’t perform this in front of the people. It’s an embarrassment to Cartamen.”

Under Amond’s cold evaluation, Joan’s face turned bright red.

Mila spoke.

“Joan must have had a hard time handling both the leader and center positions by himself. That’s probably why he didn’t have time to modify the routine.”

“I-I’m fine!”

Joan hurriedly answered.

Mila sighed.

“Apparently, you don’t understand when I put it gently. So I’ll say it plainly. Trying to take all these parts for yourself is greedy. You can’t even do them properly.”

Mila shut down Joan’s stubbornness completely.

Joan’s face turned bright red.

“Have different people take the leader and center positions.”

The Valkyria members left after thoroughly tearing Joan apart.

“W-What do we do now……?”

Clover Reed said with a worried expression.

He had been relying entirely on Joan.

Meanwhile, Kusto, Dmitri, and Olivier wore triumphant smiles.

Everything had gone according to plan.

Not long ago, when the three of them had gathered together, Olivier had complained,

“Isn’t it too much for Joan to want both the leader and center positions?”

But Dmitri had remained relaxed.

“Leave him alone.”

“Do you have any good ideas?”

“Think about Valkyria’s tendencies. They don’t like participants who are greedy.”

Kusto added,

“Valkyria will solve the problem for us.”

And things had gone exactly as they expected.

By figuring out the judges’ tendencies, they had managed to accomplish everything without lifting a finger.

“Let’s gather everyone and have a meeting first.”

Kusto said.

With the gloomy-looking Joan at the front, the worried group members slowly gathered in the center.

“How are we supposed to make this any better?”

Joan grumbled.

Killian frowned.

“You heard the advice Valkyria gave us. We need to modify the choreography.”

“But how are we supposed to change choreography we’ve already memorized……?”

“Just memorize it again. It’s not like you’re lacking confidence.”

“No, I……”

Joan couldn’t say anything.

He had spent all this time pretending to be confident. He couldn’t suddenly admit that he couldn’t do it now.

He simply bit down hard on his lip.

When Joan fell silent, Dmitri spoke.

“The problem is that it’s too dull. In short, it’s boring. So we need to tear it apart and rebuild it completely. Both the choreography and the music.”

“What? Tear it apart completely……!”

Joan was flustered.

If that happened, his one and only advantage—the fact that he already knew all of it —would become useless.

But the other members seemed to agree with Dmitri as well.

Kusto spoke.

“I have a good idea.”

After hearing Kusto’s suggestion, everyone’s eyes lit up, praising it as excellent.

Honestly, even Joan thought the idea was pretty good.

Olivier chimed in.

“I’ll arrange the music to match it. Some of you might not know this, but……”

“Olivier was the top student in music at the Imperial Academy.”

Dmitri said on his behalf.

“Come on, you didn’t have to tell them that.”

Olivier scratched his head and smiled shyly, having completely forgotten that he had originally intended to promote himself first.

 

***

 

The area in front of the circular arena had been bustling since morning.

Today was the day of Cartamen’s new evaluation.

It wasn’t just the ten thousand or so people who had won tickets to attend.

There were also people who had gathered simply hoping to hear the sounds from outside or get a taste of the atmosphere.

There were even people who had come in the hopes of catching sight of so much as a single strand of hair belonging to the knights of Cartamen.

The area in front of the circular arena was packed with people.

The crowds were growing larger by the day.

And the number of applications to attend had doubled compared to the previous evaluation.

Two people had managed to make it through that fierce competition.

They were Brin, the valedictorian’s runner-up at the Imperial Academy, and Agnes, who had been the vice president of the student council at the time.

Of course, they absolutely had not come to support Olivier, the academy’s top graduate.

‘Why would we cheer for that arrogant bastard?’