This led to a small break where people went outside, to a restroom or a nearby vendor for a treat until the next thirty minutes. Afterward, Eleanor and the rest of the contenders stood on stage when a man climbed up and circled, gazing at the audience. Apparently, he was the host of the play.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for taking your time with us. For now, at this stage, the audience will decide who's the winner of this event..."
From the stage side, a group of housemaids showed up as they carefully walked out in line and dispersed. As said, they gave each seat a card for the audience to sign on.
But before they answered, the host carefully explained the instructions. Glancing at these cards was merely a short survey. All they had to do was to darken a circle containing an answer to each question. Speaking of which, the questionnaire is mostly about "who has/is the best X on the stage?" with all the seven contenders being their choice.
"Now. Begin answering the form before the time runs out. You will only have five minutes."
Lovisa was one of the patrons given. And, without a doubt, she voted for her friend, Eleanor.
Momentarily, it was just pure murmuring among the watchers while the contenders just stood. Meanwhile, the players began conversing with each other too.
Then, a fellow candidate gave the young elf a pat on the back which caught her attention. At a glance, the person appears to be the same participant she saw on the stage when they first arrived.
"That was some pretty cool performance you pulled off back there," said the fellow with a grin.
"Why thank you," replied Eleanor with a smile.
"How many days have you spent just to prepare for that?"
"None"
"What?!" They yelled in astonishment.
"I just sang what I had in mind, and concentrated my magic on the instruments. If I were honest with you, I never thought that there would be an event taking place until my friend decided to take me to it."
"That's wonderful!" said the amused individual. "If only I could do the same thing..."
Suddenly, an idea pops into her mind. This filled her with curiosity which prompted her to ask this question.
"Mind if I ask where you are from?"
"No, I wouldn't mind. I'm from the Renaissance."
"The Renaissance?"
"It's a country filled with delicious food and people with a strong sense of justice!"
From one moment to another, sparked another one of Eleanor's intents - that is: Getting to know more about people of different nations and cultures.
Though it wasn't the first time she heard about foreign countries, she never once interacted with them in her life. Lovisa was the only human she has ever talked to but she dwells in the same land. Perhaps, this might be her first time to converse with someone other than the ones outside the forest of Skönhet Trä and the land of Svearania.
"Interesting..." glaringly said Eleanor, her words lengthy while holding her chin. "It's the first time I get to talk to foreigners like you."
"Is that so? Might as well consider yourself lucky," poetically said the cheery foreign participant. They bowed down with hands on the chest. "If you have any questions to ask, then don't be afraid."
"What is the country's music like?"
"Just like the ones in other countries. It's more emphasized on using the accordion, however."
This raised Lassie's long pointy ears upon hearing the name of an instrument.
"Accordion?"
"Honestly, there are a lot of accordions in other countries. But we're the ones who use it the most. We even had our version of it called the "Bal-Musette"," explained by the uncommon folk.
"Do you know what it sounds like?"
"Yes, it sounds like this-"
But before the stranger could demonstrate just to satisfy the lassie's thirst for foreign knowledge, the host suddenly yelled out loud, startling the two.
"ALRIGHT FOLKS, THE TIME IS UP! PASS OVER YOUR VOTES TO THE MAIDS!" Yelled the man with enthusiasm.
At a glance, were the spectators returning their cards - the maids collected and placed them in a jar the size of a capybara. On the other side of the stage, was a group of bachelors. They teamed up to carry the big ol' container and dragged them inside. Judging by the looks of things, they seem responsible for finalizing the poll's result.
"Now that the survey has been completed, all that remains is to wait for the results... In the meantime, we'll display the rewards for those who came in first, second, and third place."
Suddenly, the lights went off. In a split second, a large cone of light illuminated on three housemaids pushing those blanket-covered trolleys to the stage.
"Now I will not waste any of your time and be straightforward..."
With a snap of a finger, they took off the blankets, revealing each reward. The host was standing next to a tram of a trophy when he took a stroll and described.
"The first place is a golden trophy and a pot of gold coins. The second is a silver one with a sack of it. And last but not least, the third is a copper with more than a few."
While the others casually started, the young lady's eyes were shimmering like the night sky. She doesn't care which one of these two spots she would end up in. As long as she's not in third, all that matters is the gold at the end of the day. It's almost as if she has forgotten about her shyness. Curiosity does lead people in different directions.
"Now, for those who made it to the third place, do not be discouraged. The amount of currency it has would be enough to buy the things you like. Besides, there's more to it than what meets the eye."
At last, one of the Bachelors showed up to give the host a paper that contained all the results. While reading the note, he smirked out of intrigue. This widened the eyes of some contenders. Seems like the winner was decided.
"Now, we will be announcing the winners of this stage!"
Folding the papers into his pocket, the host struck an astonishingly flamboyant pose while he slowly pointed fingers at one of the contenders.
"The winner of the first place is..." He shouted, drawing the last word in the sentence which felt like an eternity.
As the Host paused in the middle of announcing the winner's name, drums started beating as it slowly got louder and the audience held their breath. Meanwhile, a contestant with amber eyes and gorgeous armor, prayed for the win while Eleanor and the others smiled in excitement. At this moment, the young elf couldn't care less if she was the winner or not. She claimed this position was way too ambitious for her to rightfully acquire the golden trophy. Thus, she expected others to take it instead.
"VALERIA NAVARRO!" Yelled the man enthusiastically.
He uttered the name of the praying contestant while simultaneously pointing at her. The crowd cheered happily and the contenders clapped. Others got jealous because their favorites didn't get to win. The participant, now known as "Valeria" sobbed in the tears of joy and dropped down on the floor. To their surprise, the other contestants were reassured to make sure she didn't faint. The lassie smiled warmly for her win. The host went on, informing everyone that she would be rewarded with 20,000 gold coins. Something like that is considered huge by Prigolane standards.
"THIS IS NOT OVER YET!" Yelled the host. "We still have a winner in the second place to announce! What's interesting is that both sides have a fifty-fifty percentage. Because of this, we will depend on the specific quantity of voters."
If Eleanor couldn't care less about the rewards of the first, this on the other hand was a whole nother level for her. Clenching both her fists in excitement, she hoped to claim victory over its rewards and get those sacks of gold coins. Unknowingly in the shadows, lies another man in formal clothing. He's also craving the win but for a different reason...
"The next winner is..."
With their hands in the solid shape of a rock fist, one could hope for victory while the other would be saddened by the loss. The drums rolled to their climax as the audience leaned in to concentrate.
Just as the drums got silent, the lights went out for a few seconds before turning back once again... With a cone of light pointed at the young elf.
"ELEANOR OF SKÖNHET TRÄ!"
The crowd cheered. Not as hyped as the first one, but they congratulated her with genuine applause. Lovisa was into a whoop of delight. At first, the lassie was taken aback by her win but she grinned warmly and bowed down with gratitude.
Meanwhile, the man in the shadows was furious. He couldn't accept his loss, so he thought of talking to the host directly. Out of anger, he suddenly brushed the other contenders aside to confront him.
"You can't be serious! What is the meaning of this? Didn't I make a huge impression on everyone over here?!" Said the man, dumbfoundedly furious. "How come I am not in second place?!"
"Listen, Hardin," replied the Host as patted him on his shoulder. "Your performance was magnificent, and so was Eleanor. It's just the majority of the people who chose hers."
Still not content with his response, the man, now revealed as "Hardin", took the paper that he was holding and read. At a glance, it was an essay, unveiling he has more voters than the latter with a small gap of over four. The man proclaims that he should be in second place with this given information. Because of this, he called out the host for lying. But when he asked him, he said:
"You've only read the first part. Read the entirety of it."
Once again, Hardin skimmed through the note only to pause in devastation when he deciphered this:
"...As much as I believe Hardin Jones gave an excellent performance in the play, the butlers, maids, and I chose to vote for the young elf because her performance was unique compared to the rest of the contenders. It wasn't that he didn't have something different to offer; he did. It's merely that we're exhausted from hearing the same thing. This closed the four-number gap on the survey."
While the man pauses, the Host gives the trophy to the young lady. Eleanor, on the other hand, was grateful for the prize. With a glance, she drooled in excitement because of the reward it also offers.
However, the Host was about to announce the rest of the prize when Hardin gave out a huge frown with his fists clenched with rage. In his thoughts, he believed that the bout was rigged from the start. As he murmured, the others batted no eye but some, including the lassie, listened.
"So I lost because people got tired of having the same thing? Well, I always came in third place at every contest... Did you know, I have a collection of bronze trophies in my house, and I'm getting sick of it?! This is outrageous! I did my best, and this is how you treated me? Well, two can play that game."
While the man pauses, the Host passes her trophy to the young lady. Eleanor, on the other hand, was grateful for the prize. While glancing at the trophy, she drooled in excitement because of the reward it also offered.
However, as the Host was about to announce the rest of the prize, Hardin frowned with his fists clenched with rage. In his thoughts, he believed that the bout was rigged from the start. As he murmured, the others batted no eye but some, including the lassie, listened.
"So I lost because people got tired of having the same thing? Well, I always came in third place at every contest... Did you know, I have a collection of bronze trophies in my house and I'm getting sick of it?! This is outrageous! I did my best, and this is how you treated me? Well, two can play that game."
As Hardin continued with his mumbling, an aura of flames suddenly emerged from his right, casting a spell that unleashed a flame in the form of a phoenix. He used his ability to snatch the silver trophy away from the young elf and breathe fire all over the place. This scared the audience into fleeing away while contestants were trapped, about to be engulfed in flames. The man fled the scene to wreak havoc among the common folk.
Luckily, the young elf cast a forcefield to repel the fire and each falling debris, helping her fellow contenders escape. They slowly but surely tapped their way to a nearby exit. When they got out, they ran for their lives except for a renaissance who volunteered to stay. At a glance, he was glaring with enragement.
"Why didn't you go with them?"
"It's Hardin! He needs to be stopped!"
This flustered Eleanor. "Why?" she asked.
"The city isn't going to be safe as long as he's around. I saw him walking out of the building, killing civilians..." The man reasoned with her before sprinting in the direction Hardin went. "He'll cause more harm if we're just going to stand here. We have to go now!"
Eager to save lives, Eleanor followed suit. When she asked about his name, the man introduced himself as "Anthelme" - a mage who mastered the art of earth-bending and is a graduate of the Arcane Academy from Renaria. This left the lady in amusement.
Meanwhile, Hardin did just as the Renaissance had anticipated. He walked down the street, burning every life, building, and all means of livelihood. At this point, he has already transformed into a demon, not just metaphorically but literally. He's now a physical embodiment of envy.