Vote for Your Knight! - Chapter 14
I sighed and said, “Rank 5.”
A groan of disappointment spread across the grandstand.
“Oh, wow.”
“That’s embarrassing…”
“Can he recover from that? I don’t think so.”
Unable to accept reality, Count Monsieux waved his extravagant spear and complained loudly.
“I-I’m rank 5? Why, why? I poured a tremendous amount of money into my weapons and attire to come here… No, I poured in a lot of effort!”
The attendants dragged the whining Count Monsieux towards the back of the judging seats. The seats behind the judging area were designated based on the grades each participant received in the evaluation.
Naturally, Count Monsieux was tossed into the lowest-ranking seat, the Rank 5 section. After the entrance evaluations, the grades were divided into five categories, from Rank 1 to Rank 5. But up until the 55th contestant, more than half of the entrants were in the fourth and fifth ranks.
“So far, only the three we mentioned are worth attention.”
This was because the tyrant had sacrificed all the knights who embodied true knightliness.
Of course, as the competition progressed, the ranks became less meaningful as the contestants improved themselves over time. However, in the early stages of the competition, it served as a good way to get the people to recognize the contestants early on.
‘Originally, the purpose of the entrance evaluation was that, like a preliminary test.’
The goal was to introduce the individual characters of the participants. That’s why they prepared these traps—to see how they would react in unexpected situations and reveal their true selves.
‘But if their true selves are below this level, even the people who wanted to see them will turn away.’
We gathered 100 participants and couldn’t get a single good shot.
‘How can you show off when you’re not even good at what you do?’
One or two aggro contestants were interesting, but if all 100 participants provoked the viewers, then the competition was simply ruined.
Could people really support contestants like these?
At times like this, someone impressive-looking should emerge. The halo effect would make them look much more charismatic.
While seriously contemplating this, Milla’s lively voice was heard from the side.
“Look, here comes ‘the one’ who will fulfill our expectations.”
Milla’s red eyes sparkled.
It was none other than David Bertier.
He showed no signs of nervousness.
Amonte murmured, “He looks too relaxed. If he makes even a single mistake, it’ll backfire on him.”
“Sir David making a mistake? Impossible,” Mila said naively.
In response, Ynnes raised the corner of her mouth and tilted her head. “You never know. Even monkeys sometimes fall from trees.”
I listened carefully to those words, imagining a scene where David makes a mistake.
‘Maybe if we put that out as a trailer for the show, it would soften his image.’
I also looked at David with a bit of hope.
However, that didn’t happen. David dodged every trap and slashed at every mole that appeared.
His swordplay was perfect, his movements fluid, and his cuts were as smooth as glass.
A different kind of sigh escaped from the audience seats compared to when Count Monsieux was on stage.
“Ah, come on, be a little less perfect.”
“It’s kind of unfair, you know.”
“If he was going to do this, he should have been a judge.”
All the while, David’s sword traced an elegant path like a butterfly.
“Oh, that swordsmanship…?”
Amonte momentarily paused.
I looked at the judges.
Ynnes and Milla seemed to have realized something.
“That’s Hugo Bertier’s swordsmanship,” said Ynnes.
“Isn’t that sword also a copy of Sir Hugo’s? You know, the famous Blue Lion Sword.”
I suddenly recognized the lion engraved on the blue hilt.
‘That’s the sword I saw at David’s estate.’
I didn’t know it was that significant, but the knights had a different level of insight.
‘Recreating his brother’s sword and swordsmanship in such an important place. It’s quite touching.’
Unlike me, Amonte and Ynnes had cold expressions.
