Nana's voice was heard loudly at that moment as everyone had been quiet enough. She had closed her eyes at the same time that it was obvious how nervous she was, she didn't want to ruin the opportunity she had been given or the trust that her father had placed in her, but the silence only made the insecurity she felt worse.
But before something else happened and those bad feelings took over her, simple applause was heard from the crowd. Later that same action began to be repeated continuously, gradually accompanied by screams of emotion from all the people and some words of support for Nana.
She reopened her eyes once she was aware of that, the color pick glowing in them once she saw the image in front of her. She didn't know how to put into words how she felt about herself, but the simple smile that had appeared on her face had already taken care of it.
Blake was seeing the situation and he breathed a sigh of relief, he had started with that series of applause and he was happy with the result it had, he could also see how Nana gave a little bow before doing the same towards Wells saying goodbye at that moment.
"Well, I am glad for this kind of reception. I will also give my word that this year's event will go smoothly, I know that maybe some people did not arrive on time or were still in doubt, so we will give a few minutes for anyone who wants to participate to decide for it." Wells' words came at the right time since he caught those people who were doubting. "But I'm not going to force you to do anything, like all festivals, the goal is for everyone to have fun and enjoy everything that Sharance can offer, so without anything else to say, the preparations will begin right now, take advantage of these minutes to metalize yourself enough, after all, I guess everyone wants first place."
It could be said that Wells was a bit too experienced in the crowd handling aspect as the shouts of excitement had started again once he finished speaking, and that itself seemed to bring a simple smile to his face as he realized that he still was good at that.
…
The crowd moved from one side to the other again, now you could see how people who were not going to participate in the main event were looking for a comfortable place around the area where there were many perfectly arranged chairs and tables.
Anyone could tell who the participants were since they still had the peculiar weapons in their hands, that was the same case for Blake as he reloaded his huge spoon on his shoulder and visualized his surroundings.
Just like in the previous festivals, he didn't know most of the people, but still, he was able to see some of his acquaintances. Karina was in a corner with a couple of kitchen ladles in her hands when a huge yawn came from her making others inevitably infected by it.
Carlos had one of the huge fish with him and he seemed to be practicing and adjusting to its weight as every swing he took was accompanied by a gust of wind. Those were the typical situations that Blake saw at the time, but he was very surprised to see that Evelyn seemed to be part of the event as well.
Blake was somewhat distracted at the time, so the feeling that someone was calling him made him involuntarily snap back to reality and look for the person responsible for it, but her voice came first.
"I thought this year was going to be kind of boring too, but mom said you could give me some battle, should I take that as a challenge, Blake?" Those words, somewhat threatening, actually matched perfectly well with that proud look that Sakuya was showing.
"Well... I'll just tell you that I'm aiming for first place." Blake wasn't going to back down just because of that, he had realized something a long time ago, and that was that, during festival events, all the participants were the same, and friendship, even family ties, didn't matter in the slightest, there were only the winners and the people who didn't make it.
"Hmm... I think it's the first time I'll face you like this, today I won't be in the commentary position, so you better give it your all or you won't even know when I took first place." The same smile as before hadn't left Sakuya's face, obviously giving off incredible confidence, but it wasn't without reason, and if Blake knew that Sakuya had taken first place for ten years in a row… Maybe his confident attitude would falter a bit
Now they were looking at each other as if they were analyzing their opponent, it seemed that would hesitate until the event started, but Sakuya had to change the topic.
"By the way, I saw you talking to that girl named Nana earlier, do you know her?" That question took Blake by surprise since he was too focused on his defiant attitude, but he didn't take long to answer.
"Actually, I just met her recently, she bumped into me and we just introduced ourselves."
"So that was it, I thought I could use you as a connection to do a couple of deals with the Alana store..." Sakuya said all this in a low voice, but Blake could hear her words perfectly. "Well, there's still hope, I don't want to lose the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of being a partner of the most famous instructors in the area."
Sakuya was lost imagining that uncertain future, but before she could continue with that thought, Blake's voice came to her, calling her attention while Sakuya had a somewhat confused expression.
"Sakuya, what exactly are instructors?" Blake had remembered that term after hearing Sakuya say it again, he really had no idea what it meant, he had an idea that it was some kind of job, but he would be more helpful if someone explained all that to him.