Despite the strange turn of events, the match was not called off, and I began to sing, microphone in hand.
A Small Story... I didn't know that it was Kuro's song, but I had heard Illness-san sing this.
Thanks to the impressive lyrics and Illness-san's great singing, I didn't get the lyrics wrong and was able to sing it reasonably well... I think.
I wonder how I did? The voice that I hear and the voice that others hear are two different things, but at least, I think I got the pitch right.
I personally think I sang it pretty well... b- but I wonder what everyone thinks?
"...Heeehhh~~ Kai-chan is a pretty good singer huh. He also looked kind of cool while singi———– wait, Shall-tan? What are you doing there? Why are you "raising the red flag"? Shall-tan, you're not part of the judges, okay?"
"Y- Yes, it's just that Katio-san seems to have a good hearing, so he was able to match the pitch well. His voice was a little lacking in volume, but for an amateur, he did pretty well."
"U- Unnn... So, you won't put down that flag?"
Fate-san sounds like she's perplexed. I guess that reaction was natural. As soon as I finished singing, Alice, who should have been my opponent, raised the red flag. What the heck is she doing?
"W- Well, overall, his singing was a little better than average. However, ummm... I guess you could say that I got the weakness from falling in love? His performance was filtered and..."
"Unnn? In the end, what are you trying to say?"
"He looked so freaking cool earlier, you know!? It honestly made my heart skip a beat! This is impossible! Alice-chan's maiden heart has already accepted defeat!"
"...I- Is that so."
Her face blushing red, Alice screams in desperation. W- What is this... No, for me, I don't feel bad when I am being told that I'm cool but... this is strangely making me feel embarrassed.
"...Fate-san, can't we just declare our defeat here?"
"...Unnn. I mean, I had always been telling you that it's fine for us to abstain from the first round... but Shall-tan convinced me to sing seriously for the three rounds, and I won against Shallow Vernal-sama on the fourth round, so I couldn't cut corners to any other opponents. I was the one who wanted to abstain from the beginning."
"I see... Well then, the winner is! Kaito-san!!!"
"Yaaayyy~~ Kai-chaaaaaan! It's me! Support me!"
They unexpectedly abstained!? Alice, who hadn't given up even though they had been defeated before the start of the match, unexpectedly gave up. No, I mean... Think about the judges! Especially those who didn't raise their flags earlier! Didn't we just end up completely wasting their time!?
I- It would be great if they didn't get mad...
"Now then, as per usual, let's ask the judges what they thought of the Special Match!"
...What the heck is that idiot doing? Why the heck are you asking for their opinions when you messed up the match?
"Well then, let's start from Symphonia's King, Ryze-san! What are your thoughts!?"
"N- No, asking me for my thoughts... That match just now is..."
"I'm going to tell the whole world that Symphonia's king is a big pervert with a weird fetish, you know?"
"...I think it was a battle worthy of being called a Special Match. Especially Miyama-kun's song, he was still rough around the edges, but I felt it shine like the brightest of diamonds".
"Yes, thank you very much!"
She just nonchalantly threatened him!? Ryze-san's response too is extremely decent that it didn't sound like he was just threatened!?
"And now, next is Archlesia's Emperor, Chris-san!"
"It was a great battle between the two teams. With a one point difference against each other, my hands couldn't help but sweat, thinking who will win."
"I see, thank you very much!"
Chris-san, as calculating as usual, nonchalantly answered as if "the match really occurred"... What the heck is this farce?
Alice then went on to ask each of their thoughts in turn, and when she had finished asking everyone, she returned to the stage.
"Well then, as the Over-all Champion, Kaito-san, will now receive….. this trophy! We present this "Gigantic Orichalcon Microphone"!"
"There's no point in making it from Orichalcon, right!? Also, this is so freaking huge! Moreover, it's heavy!"
As the trophy for winning, Alice handed me an Orichalcon Microphone that's about a meter tall.
I mean, this could totally be used as a mace now... The Legendary Mace.
"Now then, I'd like to turn over the microphone back to Kuro-san."
"Kaito-kun was pretty cool, wasn't he... Now then, everyone! Now that we've got things heated up, I think it's time to start the main event of the day!"
The main event? What is it? The Karaoke Battle earlier was already an outrageous even due to its overwhelming number of participants but... There's something prepared other than that?
"...Let's give Kaito-kun his birthday presents!!!"
Arehh? This is strange? Birthday presents….. Hearing it should have made me excited, but what is this inexplicable anxiety I'm feeling?
I kind of had this terrifying vision where a huge pile of stuff is being piled up in front of me...
Dear Mom, Dad————- N- No, no, everyone should only have one day to prepare, s- so they can't possibly prepare something too intricate, right? P- Perhaps, they're just message cards or something like that? I would be extremely happy to receive one of those message cards, you know? That's why, ummm————- Please go easy on me.