Vote for Your Knight! - Chapter 15
David soon reached the exit of the maze. Passing the evaluation so easily, it felt like they had just witnessed a piece of performance art.
Having exited the maze, David climbed the stairs and stood in front of the judging seats on his own.
“You lived up to your name,” exclaimed Milla.
“Don’t fall for it,” I said, but Milla laughed brightly, indicating that it was already too late.
Amonte said, “Without any flaws, it was excellent.”
It was a rave review, considering her previous comments had been, ‘Wouldn’t it be better if you just went out and died?’ and ‘Why don’t you just give up on being a knight?’
“Thank you.” David humbly bowed.
In that moment, Amonte’s eyes became sharp. “But why did you participate? You are already a knight, and you performed so perfectly. Is there a need for our evaluation?”
The air in the arena froze at Amonte’s cold words. Even I was surprised.
However, David responded nonchalantly. “I cannot acknowledge the knighthood bestowed by the tyrant. And becoming Equis is the dream of every knight.”
“Is that your dream, or are you here to fulfill someone else’s dream?” Ynnes cynically asked, causing David to momentarily falter, his face showing signs of being caught off guard.
Amonte and Ynnes had read him so easily. David came here to fulfill the dream his deceased brother couldn’t achieve.
He hesitated, uncharacteristically, for a moment before answering, “My brother’s dream is my dream.”
Really? Alright then,” Ynnes said with a suspicious tone.
With that, the judges began their deliberations. The evaluation process was unusually long.
‘It seems like Amonte and Ynnes are not pleased with David’s attitude.’
On the other hand, Milla argued that they should evaluate based on skills. David remained expressionless, and I felt a burning sensation in her mouth while I was lisening. After a considerable time, the results were finally announced.
I examined the note that Amonte had handed me
“The result is Rank 1.”
It was quite unexpected. I thought they would put him at Rank 2 at most for his approach towards the competition.
‘But I guess they couldn’t ignore his skills.’
He was definitely the best contestant so far.
“Thank you.”
David bowed politely and climbed up to the highest tier, the first tier.
Some of the contestants already in the tiered seats applauded, but it was rather modest—not the unrestrained cheering such level of skill deserved.
I addressed the waiting area, “Participant 57, please enter!”
Following David, the next participant to come out was Coustou. Dark-skinned and sharp-jawed. His rugged, yet boyish face made Ynnes’s mouth form an “o” in admiration.
I, on the other hand, screamed internally.
‘Why does he have to come right after David, the perfect knight?’
Being a former slave and lacking proper combat training, Coustou would undoubtedly be compared to David. And horribly.
‘He might be unfairly judged.’
In my eyes, he was a diamond in the rough. But in this situation, he might be thrown away before he ever got a chance to shine.
And what’s more…
“No weapons?”
“He’s not even wearing armor.”
“What confidence.”
The Valkyries commented on Coustou’s appearance.
I was stunned.
‘Bare-handed and without any weapons? What on earth is he thinking?’
Fortunately, the Valkyries did not question his origin, which was a relief.
“One thing the Valkyries and I have in common, we recognize humanity.’
As Coustou entered the maze, Edith felt strangely nervous like she was stepping into the frey herself.
‘Please, please. He’s too good a character to be wasted as a laughingstock.’
The first mole popped up at Coustou’s feet.
“Beep?”
He flinched.
The order of appearance of moles and the sequence of traps were different for each participant. Even if they had observed the performance of the previous participants from the spectator seats, it was impossible to predict what was coming.
It was no different for Coustou. As the mole appeared, he raised his fist to strike.
At that moment, a ball came flying through the air like a cannonball. Coustou was seemingly unprepared.
‘This is bad.’
Just as I was about to despair…
Bam!
Coustou caught the ball effortlessly with his bare hands. Then, without missing a beat, he threw it back in the direction it came from. The incoming blunt arrow that was about to hit him next struck the ball and shattered it.
