168 – I’m the best (6)
From noble mtl dot com
Of course Sally cried, she fell for Andrew- not for the same reason.
“·······Heh, hee, heeup.”
Because it was embarrassing.
···No, because it was sold out.
Sally couldn’t keep her big smile on her face anymore, and she cried involuntarily.
The presenter, who saw that, hurriedly rectified the atmosphere.
─Hey, I like being young as expected! When I was young, when I was dating, there was no time when I was full of fighting spirit like Andrew-kun… No, there was! Obviously there was! Anyway, everyone, you don’t have to applaud any more, I think it will!
The audience’s applause stopped.
‘Poetry, poetry.’
Andrew’s reason has returned. It was very embarrassing.
But now, if you show a timid side, your appearance will be lost.
Andrew sat down, pretending to be calm, his eyes wide open. Of course, to other people, it seemed very awkward.
That’s how the final stages of the Ellinia Academy Festival beauty contest were all over.
*
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*
About 10 minutes later.
The beauty contest award ceremony was held.
The third place was a female student in the business department, and the second place was Sally. It was because Sally’s shyness when Andrew hooliganized her got a lot of extra points.
The presenter said.
─Well, it’s been a long, long time. Ellinia Academy Festival Beauty Contest! Finally, only the long-awaited 1st place remains. The long-awaited first place will be awarded by Professor Henderson of the Department of Exploration, who is the judge!
Henderson, who was sitting in the judges’ seat, straightened his clothes and came out to the center of the stage.
“Hello, my name is Henderson Henry, and I am a professor at the Exploration Department. It is an honor to be in charge of announcing the long-awaited first place in the beauty pageant. If so, he will let me announce right away.”
With that said, Henderson paused for a moment.
─Now, who will be the long-awaited winner? Dugu dugu dugu-
The presenter, who did not miss the opportunity, induced a response from the audience.
The people in the audience followed suit and shouted dugu dugu dugu-. But I wasn’t expecting much. It was because the No. 1 Was so overwhelming that anyone could have predicted it.
Cried Henderson.
“The long-awaited winner of the beauty contest at the Ellinia Academy Festival is Theo Lin Balderk of the Faculty of Bravery!”
“””Waaa!”””
The audience’s expectations were not wrong.
1St place was Theo. He was hard to be wrong.
In the past, all beauty contests have been won by women, except for one, but Theo was in a different weight class from the other contestants.
Theo appeared from behind the stage.
Henderson said, pointing to Theo as he moved to center stage.
“The winner, Theo Linn Walderk, was awarded the championship by unanimous vote of the judges. She was a contestant who felt elegant not only in her appearance but also in her attitude towards life.”
As Theo took center stage, Henderson handed him her beauty pageant trophy.
“More than 10 years ago, I saw a beautiful being in the Great Grove. He must have bad eyesight, he wore an eyepatch on one of his eyes, but he couldn’t hide the beauty. I immediately thought that he was the embodiment of beauty. But Theo-kun was no less. It was elegance itself.”
Henderson gave Theo a slight bow of her head to shake her hand.
“Thank you, Professor Henderson.”
Theo smiled lightly and took Henderson’s hand.
Clap clap clap clap——
A thunderous applause erupted from the audience.
Around the time the applause was getting louder, the host handed the microphone to Theo.
─First of all, Theorin Balderk. Congratulations on your victory. Please tell me about the award. Whether it’s a plan to recruit an aide, anything is fine. Come to think of it, it’s almost time to start a full-fledged Ade recruitment for the freshman year.
“Hmm.”
At the words of the presenter, the audience became quiet. This is because most of the audience has been sharing recent anecdotes about Theo.
The audience focused on Theo’s breath and voice. Only then would she be able to write her aid application in a way befitting Theo.
But Theo said nothing.
Before long, Theo spat out with a nonchalant face.
“First of all, I have already set 3 minutes in my mind for those who want to be my aide. All 3 of them are showing the best performances in their respective seats, so we are paying attention. So I have to attend one more minute, but they are enough to fill me up, so I’m in a state of doubt about who I want. So please send in your application during the recruitment period. There are no conditions. Faculty, grade, age, origin, gender, race, etc., Do not matter. I just want to make the best team ever in the long and long history of Ellinia Academy.”
* * *
The beauty pageant is over.
The sun was already down.
However, the surroundings were bright. During the festival, the lights of numerous stalls and street lamps with weights light up the night sky.
Holding the beauty pageant trophy in his hand, Theo approached Aisha with a calm face.
“Thank you, Aisha. Thanks to you, I won.”
“Huh, what. I think I would have won if I just went out. Of course, it is true that I won an overwhelming victory thanks to me.”
“I see. Anyway, if it’s okay, let’s go eat. I’ll treat you.”
“Ohhh~ But am I going to eat something very expensive? Did you know that there are all kinds of rare and valuable food during the festival? Even the next head of the Balderg family would be burdensome!”
“Still, I have to make sure I reciprocate. Aisha, guide me wherever you want. The other children are also with us.”
Said Theo, looking at Sienna, Andrew, and Sally nearby.
Aisha’s pinto is slightly damaged. The attention is focused only when the two of them are together with Theo, but when there are more people, the attention is dispersed.
There were other reasons as well, but Eisha couldn’t speak her mind.
Isha took a disgruntled posture, her hands resting on her waist.
“Hmph, no matter how much you are the next head of the Balderg family, you are still a student, Theo, right? From that age on, you can’t use the family’s wealth recklessly. This is an act that lowers the prestige of the great Balderg family!”
“Hmm. Eisha, you mean, it’s fine if you don’t use the family’s wealth. I have money set aside. Is this enough?”
Theo pulled his money bag from within his bosom. It is a collection of things I received from reporters, guilds, and government officials from before. It was the money they stabbed Amy to talk to Theo, but Amy passed it on to Theo without spending a penny.
Theo opened her purse and showed it to Eisha.
Isha’s eyes widened when she saw the amount of her money.
“I-I think this will be more than enough. But, Theo, where did you get this money?”
“These are the things we received from our sponsors. Anyway, is this enough?”
“Uh, um, uh… Yes.”
Isha reluctantly nodded.
*
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Theo, Aisha, Sienna, Andrew, and Sally sat in an open-air restaurant near the stage where the pageant was held.
Contrary to the threatening to eat expensive food, Aisha ordered a menu that was reasonably priced even for commoners.
Five people each received a different dish and sat down at a table attached to the store.
“Hmm, this is the first time eating with five people like this. Nice to meet you, Miss Sally. My name is Eisha Balderk from the Faculty of Bravery.”
Aisha smiled and offered Sally a handshake.
Sally smiled broadly and held Aisha’s hand.
“Thank you for remembering me too, Ms. Aisha. She doesn’t have to introduce herself! If the people at the academy don’t know Eisha, they’re spies.”
Andrew’s hard expression relaxed somewhat in the warm atmosphere of the two.
Miss Sally is in a good mood too.’
It was a car that was in a difficult situation where the girl she liked before and the girl she liked now were together.
But Aisha didn’t seem to mind at all. Andrew was a little upset at the sight, but he couldn’t act embarrassingly anymore.
She said it was because Sally’s attitude towards herself seemed to be a little different from before after she went wild during the beauty pageant.
“Then go ahead.”
Theo raised his chopsticks with a graceful gesture. The food Theo ordered was anchovy noodles and dumplings.
“If it’s not enough, order an extra one. Enough money.”
“Huh, I get full just looking at you, Theo. It’s especially cute today. Is it because I haven’t seen you in a long time?”
“Sienna, is it a long time since you had 3 days? I don’t think it’s something an elf who lives for a thousand years would say.”
“Ah~ I don’t know, whoops.”
Saying that, Sienna put her arm around Theo’s left arm.
“…You have a lot of eyes, Sienna.”
“Whoops, I don’t like it. It’s because of you, cute.”
Since it was in the middle of chopsticks, Theo had no choice but to give up his left arm helplessly.
‘Do whatever you want.’
Theo sighed and ate the anchovy noodles again.
“Yum.”
Sienna looked at Theo with her sweet eyes and took a spoonful of her bare rice and ate it. Sienna repeated that action three times.
Seeing that, Andrew said with a puzzled expression.
“That… Siena. I’m not interfering with the eating habits of the elves… But why do you only eat raw rice? It’s not like there aren’t other side dishes.”
“Theo is a side dish~ Huhu. It is delicious.”
“I see.”
Andrew ate the noodles, feeling a strange sadness welling up inside him.
Then.
“Siena, please stop.”
A cold voice flowed from Aisha’s mouth as she looked at Sienna and Theo.