Chapter 245: The Winner Is Obvious
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 245: The Winner Is Obvious
'Please! Just keep it a secret this one time!'
Although a few things had happened in the restroom, the results were about to be announced, so Ryuji had gone back to the auditorium first.
Left alone, I washed my hands and thought to myself.
'I can't believe Chiaki had that kind of ability.'
I’d thought his looks were unusual ever since he cross-dressed in that maid outfit, but the Ryuji who had been half-feminized by Chiaki's yin energy was an incredible beauty.
'Then again, his younger sister is a gorgeous girl herself.'
When I visited his house before, I saw in a family photo that his parents were a handsome couple, so maybe it was just in his genes.
After finishing my business, I returned to the auditorium to find the atmosphere in the audience quite chaotic.
Perhaps a strange tension was in the air, with everyone wondering who would take first place now that the announcement was imminent.
"It's been a while, Yoo-Sung."
"Oh! Hello, Musashi-sensei."
Just as I was about to quietly return to the judges' table, I was stopped by Rika's father, Musashi-sensei.
"What brings you here today?"
"My daughter gave me an invitation to the cultural festival. I just finished a deadline and had some free time, so I came with my wife."
Beside him stood Maria, whom I hadn't seen since Comiket, linking her arm with his.
"Hi~"
I gave a slight nod as a greeting and looked around.
"Have you seen Rika yet?"
"We met for a bit after the preliminary round ended. Honestly, I never imagined she would enter something like a beauty pageant. I feel like I saw a whole new side of her today. It was quite a surprise."
Musashi-sensei scratched his cheek, looking a bit shy. Just then, he flinched upon seeing a red-haired yakuza who had approached us.
"Long time no see, Yoo-Sung."
"Ah, yes. Hello."
I reflexively greeted Karen's father, Mr. Naoto, then introduced him to a confused Musashi-sensei.
"This is Karen's father, Mr. Tojo Naoto."
"Ah! Miss Karen's father!"
Hearing that this was the father of Karen, who was now practically Rika's best friend, Musashi-sensei started in surprise and bowed deeply to Mr. Naoto.
"I am Rika's father, Kishimoto Sojiro. My daughter is always in your daughter's care."
Finally realizing who Musashi-sensei was, Mr. Naoto quickly waved his hands and replied.
"No, no, it is we who are indebted to you. I am Karen's father, Tojo Naoto."
The two men bowed to each other and, like proper working adults, exchanged business cards.
Upon checking Musashi-sensei's card, Mr. Naoto's eyes widened.
"Kishimoto Musashi? You mean the famous one?"
"Ah, yes. It's a bit embarrassing, but I work as a manga artist."
"Embarrassing? Not at all! I've been a long-time fan of your work!"
Mr. Naoto's eyes sparkled with an intensity that was almost uncomfortable to watch.
As the scary-looking man who anyone would mistake for a yakuza leaned in with shining eyes, Musashi-sensei let out an awkward "Haha."
Then again, Musashi-sensei had been a manga artist for nearly twenty years, so it would be stranger if he didn't have any middle-aged male fans.
While the two bonded over their shared connections as author-and-reader and fathers-of-daughters, Ivan, who had been watching quietly from a corner of the auditorium, suddenly made his move.
"Now this sounds like a conversation I cannot ignore."
"Wh-What?!"
At the sudden appearance of a giant Russian man who looked like he'd jumped straight out of a manga, Musashi-sensei looked up with a start.
Ignoring his reaction, Ivan took off his stylish white fedora, bowed his head slightly to Musashi-sensei, and said, "I am the father of your daughter Rika's friend, Alexandra Ivanovna Romanova."
His words and actions were perfectly normal for a member of society.
Seeing Ivan, who wielded absolute power in the underworld, act so polite created a massive sense of dissonance. But when I considered he was doing it for his daughter, it didn't feel as strange as I'd thought.
"My, I had no idea Miss Sasha's father was such a fine gentleman."
"HAHAHAHA! And you, Mr. Sojiro, you look just like a SAMURAI!"
As the fathers continued to build camaraderie by singing each other's praises, I saw Satoru on stage frantically waving me over. It seemed the vote count was finally in.
"Uh, well, I still have things to do, so I'll be going now."
After a quick farewell to the three men, I hurried back to the judges' table and sat down. Seeing me in place, Satoru finally picked up the microphone.
"Alright! Thank you for waiting! The results are in from a total of 528 votes cast in this year's contest! The glorious winner has finally been decided!"
At Satoru's words, the noisy auditorium fell deathly silent.
With everyone's attention fixed on him, Satoru theatrically waved a paper envelope he'd received from a staff member.
"And the winner's name is right inside this envelope!"
Woooooah!!
The moment Satoru finished speaking, gasps and cheers erupted from the audience.
It seemed the male students were divided in their support, leading to a split vote on who would take first place.
Amidst the tense atmosphere, Satoru glanced around before suddenly turning his head toward the judges' table.
"Now, before we announce the results! I'd like to ask our three judges, who worked so hard today, for their thoughts! How was today's contest?"
The Vice President, who took the microphone first, spoke with a cold expression.
"To be frank, they exceeded my expectations. The scale of the contest grew unexpectedly, and on behalf of the student council, I would like to thank the volunteers who helped run the event."
Contrary to my expectation of harsh criticism, his review was very generous, drawing a round of applause from the audience.
Next was Ayabe-senpai.
"I just want to say thank you so much for inviting me here today. I think this will be the most memorable cultural festival of my three years in high school."
She also gave a perfectly normal comment, which, if anything, made me even more bewildered.
"And last but not least, it's Kim Yoo-Sung's turn! What were your thoughts on today's contest?"
Startled by the microphone suddenly thrust in my face, I quickly composed myself and answered.
"It was good."
"Pardon?"
"I said, it was good."
"Is that all?"
"Yes."
Satoru, who clearly hadn't expected me to wrap up my thoughts in a single sentence, stared at me with a dumbfounded expression. He quickly snapped out of it, shot me a look that cursed me with his eyes, and turned the microphone away.
"Well, now that we've heard from our judges, it's time to announce the results! Is everyone ready?"
Yeah!
"I can't hear you!"
YEAH!
After skillfully hyping up the crowd, Satoru finally opened the sealed paper envelope.
Inside was a cue card with the winner's name written on it.
Cupping it in his palm so no one else could see, Satoru peeked at the contents and suddenly let out a gasp. "Ooh!"
"This is a completely unexpected result!"
A murmur went through the audience.
That was because Minato Nao had been considered the frontrunner for first place in this contest.
For him to call it "unexpected" naturally sparked speculation.
"Nah, no way. Minato Nao has too many fans."
"I don't know, you never know. The female students and adults voted in this one, too."
While the members of Nao's fan club, gathered in the audience, waited anxiously for the results, Satoru, the only person who knew the outcome, turned to the contestants standing backstage with a relaxed expression.
"Fuma-senpai, what will you do with the prize money if you win?"
"I'll use it for living expenses."
An answer without a hint of hesitation.
It seemed she had participated for the prize money from the start, so it wasn't particularly surprising.
"Well, that's a shame. With 67 votes, you've narrowly placed 5th. You were only 5 votes behind 4th place."
"..."
For the record, prize money was only awarded from 3rd place and up.
Fuma-senpai glared at Satoru for messing with her.
The murderous aura she was emitting looked like it could kill a man on its own.
But Satoru, either unfazed or just plain gutsy, simply smiled and walked past her, looking over the faces of the other contestants who were staring at him nervously.
Finally, his steps came to a halt in front of Karen, whose nervousness was palpable.
"...If you're just here to mess with me, get lost."
Karen, who had tried her best to act like a proper lady throughout the contest, forced a smile and tried to shoo Satoru away. He just shrugged his shoulders and said, "I'm not here to mess with you."
"Then?"
Instead of answering Karen's question, Satoru turned back to the audience and shouted into the microphone.
"In a spectacular 4th place! With 72 votes, it's Miss Karen!"
"What?"
Karen stared at Satoru, completely dumbfounded.
It seemed she had never even considered that she might beat the popular Fuma-senpai, one of the school's top three beauties, to take 4th place.
Ignoring her, Satoru passed by Karen and called out the names of the most talked-about contestants.
"Miss Rika, Miss Nao, Miss Ryuko, and Miss Sasha, please step forward."
The four girls came forward, looking bewildered.
Satoru, who seemed to have found his calling as a stage MC, made a shocking announcement in an excited voice.
"Among the four people I just called, we have our 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners!"
That meant the remaining contestants were automatically eliminated.
The other three of the nine finalists who hadn't even been called by Satoru looked crestfallen, but the world of competition is always harsh.
The audience's attention was now focused on the top four contestants standing at the front of the stage.
But Satoru wasn't done. He continued with excitement.
"Amazingly, the audience vote for these four was nearly tied! However, the judges' scores have completely turned the results upside down!"
It seemed this was the "unexpected result" Satoru had mentioned earlier.
A tense atmosphere, so thick you could barely breathe, filled the auditorium. After drawing out the suspense for a long moment, Satoru finally decided to announce the final results.
"The 33rd Ichijo Academy Beauty Pageant! The winner is...!"
"Miss Kishimoto Rika!"