... In the End, I Got Roped Into a Beauty Pageant

"Really, if it's Raul-kun, I can leave it to you with peace of mind…"

After he'd calmed the dejected Fino while disguised as Manager Seara, those were the words she'd murmured in his ear in passing.

… Replaying that three-day-old exchange while taking stock of his current situation, Raul couldn't help narrowing his eyes.

Setting the bonus aside… honestly, this kind of feels like something I'd have been better off flubbing…

In the middle of his silent grumbling, the bare skin and body heat of the girls hemmed Raul in without mercy.

In one corner of the noisy pageant changing tent, having stowed his things on the shelf Fino had staked out for him, Raul let out a heavy sigh and timidly reached for the chest beneath his thin blouse.

O-okay. Calm down, me!

Fumbling at the buttons with trembling fingers, Raul tried to talk himself down.

Win the pageant safely, secure the first-place MagiVi for the customer… right, this is work. Procuring merchandise for the customer is a magic shop staffer's duty, and frankly this is a case the Manager herself should've handled… heh, getting trusted with manager duties in only my first year on the job, I'm pretty hot stuff, aren't I?

Resolutely averting his mind's eye from a whole lot of things, Raul somehow talked himself into it and rode the momentum into peeling the front of the blouse open… and froze stock-still.

His gaze drifted idly downward. From beneath the parted blouse emerged what he'd been desperately trying not to think about since they'd arrived. The Manager's chest, cradled in a pink, triangle-cut bikini that tied behind the neck. Up close, those soft swells boasted an utterly overwhelming presence…

"Fufu, Raul-kun. You mustn't do anything strange with my body, all right?"

"…!!!!!"

The Manager's words from that morning, when they'd met at the store and swapped consciousnesses, came back to him out of nowhere, and Raul yanked back the hand he'd been about to extend, shaking his head furiously.

T-that was close… no, no, no! Just because I'm the one inside it, it's still not okay to grope Manager Seara's chest, definitely not. What am I doing?!

B-but. Try as he might not to look, the soft-looking cleavage kept sliding into the corner of his vision, and Raul couldn't help swallowing hard.

A chance like this'll never come again… I-I mean, there's no way anyone would find out, and, um, just a little wouldn't be… no, wait, definitely not…

"…?"

And then, as if to interrupt that train of thought, from outside Raul's field of vision, from roughly where Fino should be, came the airy little sound of thin fabric drifting down to the floor.

Almost simultaneously, from Airi's direction came the sound of a hot-pants zipper sliding down, followed shortly by the rustle of fresh young skin against cloth…

… Th-these two are undressing right next to me right now…

The faint sounds and presences leaking in from the edge of his vision.

The bare skin of girls he knew well, now defenselessly exposed to the open air… the more he tried to suppress the thought, the more vivid the fantasies became, and if Raul so much as turned his head a fraction it'd be a sight within easy reach… wait, why am I even psyching myself up over this?!

Roughly bunching up the skirt he'd just removed and folding it into a wad, Raul shook his head hard.

N-not allowed! No more listening! Don't strain your ears! Don't concentrate every nerve on this, me!!

"… … Hey, Raul too…"

"!!!!!?"

Fino's voice came at him out of nowhere, and Raul, who'd been completely fixated on the two girls changing, just about had his heart stop from the surprise.

… Eh… d-don't tell me, she figured it out…!

The blood drained from his entire body all at once, and his limbs went cold.

Frozen solid, Raul braced himself for the impending notification of his social life's complete termination…

"… Raul should've just come with us, too."

She sounded genuinely disappointed.

At the wistful little remark Fino let slip, the tension drained from Raul's shoulders all at once.

W-what the hell… Raul let out an involuntary sigh of relief, pressing a hand to his chest. Geez, what a misleading way to put it…

"R-Raul-kun did say he had something he absolutely couldn't get out of, some important business or other, didn't he?"

Well, it's not technically a lie. Privately propping up his own cover, Raul muttered to himself. After all, he was, at this very moment, in the middle of important Manager-mandated business…

"Important business he absolutely can't get out of, huh…"

Mulling Raul's words over, however, Airi sighed in apparent exasperation.

"… He's just saving face. There's no way Raul Chaser has anything to do. Forget a girlfriend, he probably hasn't got any real friends either, no proper hobbies as far as I can tell, and on his days off he probably just lazes around with too much time on his hands, half-watching MagiVi…"

"Eh, Airi, how do you know?!"

Fino exclaimed in apparent astonishment.

"Raul never goes outside on his days off, you know? You can hear MagiVi through his door all day, and if you call on him past noon he's still asleep, and he's still in his pajamas in the evening, or his bed-head's still untouched, or there's drool dried on his cheek…"

"H-hoho…"

… I-I'm sorry, all right?!

Mouth twitching as his junior part-timers waged this no-holds-barred takedown right in front of the man himself, Raul couldn't help screaming internally.

I'm doing unpaid overtime till all hours every day, so what does it matter how I spend my days off?! And working service in a place like ours, with weekdays off, my schedule doesn't line up with my friends' anyway… well, not that I have any friends to begin with… a-anyway!

"I-I'm sure Raul-kun's just been tired, with all the…"

"Oh, Airi, are you already done changing?!"

As if to cut Raul's own self-defense short, came Fino's surprised-sounding voice.

"Airi and the Manager, both of you change so fast…"

"Eh… I mean, with a swimsuit, you wear it under your clothes coming in, don't you…"

"Wow, Airi, that swimsuit looks cool!!"

And, barely letting Airi finish her reply, Fino suddenly burst out in admiration, at which Raul couldn't help twitching in spite of himself.

"H-hey, st-stop, it's embarrassing, don't make a fuss about it…!"

At Fino's innocent praise, Airi's voice rose in flustered embarrassment… wait, "All-A", what kind of swimsuit are you wearing?

I mean, if she's done changing, it's fine to look now, right…? Murmuring inwardly, Raul tentatively shifted his gaze.

Casually, casually… wait, what?!

"But it's different from everyone else's, and it really suits you, Airi!"

"… C-cut it out already!"

Airi raised her voice in protest at Fino's praise, her well-proportioned features flushed. That flowing honey-blonde hair, that exceptionally beautiful girl's slender body, all wrapped in a very simply cut, generously fabric-covered, navy-blue swimsuit, which…

"Wait, isn't that what you'd wear for school class…"

When Raul let the words slip, Airi covered the name-tag sewn over her modest chest with both hands and shot him a deeply resentful look.

"B-because… when I said I didn't have any other swimsuit, you were the one who said this would be fine, weren't you, Manager…?"

"Eh… did I, now? Hohoho…"

… Manager, what were you thinking?! Laughing it off awkwardly, Raul couldn't help mentally retorting. There's no way this is okay… well, no, on second thought, this isn't bad in its own way either…

"Ah, that's right, Manager!"

Just as he was admiring Airi's legs stretching out lithely from beneath the navy swimsuit, his arm was yanked from behind and he just about jumped out of his skin.

"H-hey, what are you…"

His voice rose in protest, but the moment he turned, what stole his breath was skin so dazzlingly white it looked like nothing could mar it.

Strands of silver hair spilled against a slender nape, collarbones faintly shadowed where they surfaced beneath. The chest in its cute aqua-blue bikini rose in soft, marshmallow-fluffy curves…

"This thing the Manager gave me the other day, the cap won't come off no matter what…"

"Eh… oh, oh!"

A small bottle was thrust at him, and Raul, who had been completely captivated by Fino in her swimsuit, snapped to and hurriedly took it.

… Oh, sunscreen.

Sap from a tree called the layer-mask, loaded with high concentrations of UV-blocking "Bioprogram"… idly reading the label, Raul couldn't help being impressed.

Yeah, this kid's skin really would be in trouble without sunblock. Trust Manager Seara to look after the little things… well, if I'm wishing, I'd appreciate that same kind of consideration being extended to the subordinate she sent to the pageant in her place too…

"All right, watch. There's a trick to these… wait, huh?"

Pressing his palm flat against the top of the cap. But no matter how much pressure he put on it, even after the base of his thumb stung from hooking on the rim, the cap wouldn't budge.

"… This is, seriously, stuck…"

"M-Manager, getting close?"

"… Manager, if it's all right, would you like me to try?"

From beside Fino, who was watching with bated breath, came Airi's voice, evidently unable to stand watching Raul struggle.

"Ah… n-no, it's fine. Just a little more."

He wavered for a moment, but at the last possible instant masculine pride got in the way. Refusing Airi's offer, Raul blew on his reddened palm and went at the cap again.

No turning back now.

Gripping the bottle hard in one hand, seizing the cap with the other. The instant Raul put his whole strength into it, the cap slipped its hold and turned cleanly in his hand, like something snapping loose.

… But.

… … Carried by sheer momentum.

The hand clenched around it spun all the way through, and a thick gout of liquid jetted from the bottle's neck and showered the girls in front of him without mercy.

"Kyaa!!!!!"

"!!!!!?"

"Ah, s-sor…!?"

Apologizing reflexively as he lifted his face, the moment Raul saw the two girls slathered in sunscreen, the words died in his throat.

The slightly viscous, milky-white liquid was splattered across the two girls' faces and bodies.

It clung to Airi's honey-blonde hair and her navy swimsuit in gluey patches, and pooled in the soft cleft of Fino's chest in a little white puddle…

With the thick liquid trailing down her bangs and cheeks, Fino just blinked, wide-eyed. Beside her, Airi looked down at the white mess on her chest and let out a bewildered noise.

"N-no, this is awful…"

"… Huh? Manager, why's your face red?"

As Fino looked up at him in puzzlement, Raul, who'd been completely petrified, snapped to and his voice cracked spectacularly.

"Ah… d-don't worry about it!? Just, that stuff, sp-spread it into your skin…"

"Eh… y-yeah…"

"'O-… A-Airi-san, you too, it's just sunscreen, um, if you wouldn't mind…"

"Ah, y-yes!"

Nodding at Raul's flustered babble, the girls began working the splattered liquid into their skin. The visually somewhat-problematic sunscreen quickly absorbed into the girls' smooth skin…

Letting out a sigh of relief without thinking, Raul set the bottle he was still holding down on the shelf… and Fino, who had been reaching over her shoulder toward her own back, suddenly spoke up.

"Manager… my, my back, I can't get it on properly, help me out?"

"Eh."

At the sudden request, Raul faltered for a second.

His eyes were drawn irresistibly to Fino's snow-white, silky skin… wh-what do I do? B-but it'd be unnatural for Manager Seara to turn her down, too…

"… O-of course, certainly…"

"Thanks, Manager!"

His tone went strangely off-kilter in his agitation. Fino, sounding delighted, turned her back to Raul.

Right in front of him, that smooth skin and the back of her neck.

Swallowing hard despite himself, somehow steeling himself, Raul tentatively extended his hand. The half-applied, lukewarm sunscreen went slick beneath his fingers.

"Nn…"

At even the faintest touch, the girl's body twitched ticklishly.

The body heat coming through his palm, the texture beyond anything he'd imagined, sent Raul's thoughts blanking out entirely…

"Nn… M-Manager…"

A small voice from Fino, sounding like she was holding something back, reached his vacant ears.

"… Th-that part… nn… I-I can do myself… so…"

"Whuh?!"

At Fino's hesitant voice, Raul, who'd been mindlessly working his hands, snapped back to himself and recoiled like he'd been shot.

"Eh, ah, aaah! S-sorry!!"

"Th-thanks, Manager…"

Cheeks faintly flushed, Fino thanked Raul, but the moment she ran her fingertips over her own chest, she frowned in dismay.

"Mm… I rubbed in a bunch, but it's still all slippery…"

"That's because the amount that hit you to start with was way too much."

Beside Fino, who was knitting her brows in complaint, Airi narrowed her eyes in a good grief sort of way.

"… Well, I'll lend you my towel, so wipe it off with this…"

"Ah, I just thought of something!"

But ignoring the towel Airi held out, Fino, who had suddenly raised her voice, flung her arms wide toward Raul…

"Hu…?!?!"

Before he even had a moment to react, Fino's arms wrapped around his back.

In that instant, before Raul's brain could grasp what had even happened, Fino's soft chest was pressed full against Raul's body… wait!?

"This way it gets rubbed in on the Manager and nothing goes to waste! Fuhaha, this is what they call ecology, right?!"

… What is this kid even thinking?!

Fino, hugging him with a triumphant look on her face, body slick with sunscreen. The indescribable sensation of skin sliding ticklishly against skin sent Raul into a mild panic.

He tried desperately to pry her off, but the sunscreen kept everything slipping, and he couldn't manage it. Unable to help himself, Raul raised his voice.

"… Hey, c'mon, let g…"

In the middle of the scuffle, as he stepped back, something hard knocked against his elbow.

In that instant, there was a small clatter of something tipping over…

"… Ah."

Right in front of Raul, Fino's face froze with an extremely awkward expression.

A bad feeling washed over him. Raul whipped around, and what filled his vision was the sunscreen bottle rolling on the waist-high shelf, and a girl he didn't recognize taking the direct hit of the spilled liquid head-on. … Wait!

"Aaaah!!!!! I-I'm so sor…"

That's right, I set it on the shelf without putting the cap back on…!

Thrown by the unexpected disaster, Raul scrambled to apologize. But the moment he took in the girl's face, with sunscreen splatter dotted across her frilly swimsuit, his pulse skipped.

She was probably about Raul's age.

Beneath the dark-brown hair, with a large pair of goggles perched on top, was a face every bit as fine-featured as Manager Seara's. Above all, the ash-grey eyes framed by sharply defined double eyelids were so striking that Raul couldn't tear his eyes away.

"U-um… I-I'm so sorry!!"

A voice that sounded distinctly chagrined came from beside the entranced Raul.

When he snapped to and looked over, the silver-haired girl, the actual originator of all this, was bowing apologetically…

"… Mn, I don't really mind, you know?"

After sparing the contritely apologizing Fino a single glance, the goggled girl shrugged her shoulders curtly.

"I'm a generous person. I haven't been bothered at all by how loud you guys have been right next to me this whole time, either…"

"S-sorry…"

Recalling all the various carryings-on since they'd started changing here, Raul hurriedly bowed his head.

But the goggled girl narrowed her ash-grey eyes and swept her hair back, looking thoroughly exasperated.

"… Like I said, I don't mind. Geez, what a pain…"

… Huh, this girl is kind of…

A bafflingly cavalier attitude, completely at odds with her almost-too-cute looks.

In front of Raul, who was left blinking blankly, the girl shook her head as if to say this conversation's over, removed the goggles, and wiped the bits of sunscreen off the lenses too…

"… … Hm?"

The instant she held the freshly-cleaned goggles up to peer through, her eyes went wide.

"Hey, your 'Bioprogram' is kind of…"

"Sorry to keep you waiting! Would all contestants please gather over here!"

As if to cut off whatever the girl had been about to say, a voice suddenly rang out across the tent.

When Raul looked up, a woman who appeared to be pageant staff was waving from over by the entrance… wait, it's already time for the contest to start?!

"U-um, anyway, I-I am so, so sorry! Hey… I mean, you two, are you both ready?"

As Raul bowed hurriedly and spun on his heel in a fluster, from behind him he thought he caught the goggled girl's small mutter: "… Was I seeing things?"

 

*

 

"And now, we hereby declare the 34th Crown of Light Festival Miss Contest open!"

With the rousing opening declaration, the curtain covering the stage drew back, and the moment the lineup of girls in their assortment of colorful swimsuits was revealed, a tremendous cheer went up.

… I mean, there's a ton of people!!

The crowd's heat layered on top of the already-blazing beach.

The Crown of Light Festival pageant, as it turned out, was a much higher-profile event than Raul had assumed. It was a weekday, but the area in front of the stage was packed shoulder to shoulder, and naturally most of them were men. Mixed in with the excited murmuring, the shutter-clicks of magic cameras came from every direction.

Scanning the venue under the near-physical pressure of all those gazes, Raul's eye caught on one spot in the crowd.

Wait, that's… isn't that the Assistant Manager?

That slightly-wavy, long-ish red hair, that lanky frame in a checked shirt. He'd even gone to the trouble of disguising himself with sunglasses, but there was no mistaking it. From any angle, that was Assistant Manager Visor from the store. But…

A single-lens reflex magic camera with a large telephoto lens cradled in his hands, shutter clattering away in Raul, or rather, swimsuit-clad Manager Seara's direction. Raul couldn't help shooting his Assistant Manager a deeply resentful look.

Here I am putting in all this work, and that supervisor of mine…

The instant the Assistant Manager caught Raul (the Manager) glaring at him from up on stage, he twitched in apparent alarm. But apparently optimistic enough to think there was no way he'd been spotted, he was immediately back to behaving as if nothing had happened, magic camera braced and aimed… damn it, Assistant Manager, go explode…

"Judging will be carried out by the general judges, that is, by you, the audience, voting…"

A black-haired female emcee with a frizzy, short-cropped cut, magic mic in hand, was earnestly explaining the rules in a slightly out-of-her-depth way.

Letting out a small sigh, Raul pulled himself together and turned his attention to the line of rivals on the stage.

True to a pageant lineup, the twenty-some girls assembled there were each cute in their own right… but at a glance there didn't seem to be anyone on the level of the Manager, Airi, or Fino, and Raul couldn't help relaxing a little.

Insider bias aside, his store's poster girls were head and shoulders above the rest in looks. At this rate, the first-place MagiVi looked like a sure thing…

"Entry numbers were determined by lots drawn by the participants just now…"

… If this goes well, maybe I can even aim for one rank up on the sword.

Feeling almost as though he'd already accomplished the Manager's directive, with bonus expectations already running, Raul scanned the stage once more, and the moment his eyes landed on one girl in particular, his pulse jumped.

That glossy dark-brown hair, with a large pair of goggles perched on top.

Ash-grey eyes with a strong light behind them, beauty and presence to match the Manager's, an extraordinarily cute girl.

… Retracting everything I just said. Straightening his back without thinking, Raul muttered inwardly. She seems like kind of a quirky one, but her looks are seriously top-tier. So much for getting through this pageant with my guard down…

"Now then, each contestant will be given a one-minute self-PR slot! Please enjoy each of their individual, personality-packed promotions!"

And, as the venue rose to a fever pitch, at the emcee's stunning announcement, Raul's mouth dropped open.

Wait, what?! I didn't hear anything about that!!

Self-PR… at that word, which held nothing but trauma for him, Raul flinched in dread.

That, I've only ever done while job hunting, and outside of our company I bombed nearly every one… and on top of that, what am I supposed to do in the Manager's body?!

I mean. Just as he'd started to think it would all work out somehow, this sudden new task threw him into a panic, and then Raul realized something. I'm in bad shape, but isn't Fino in way worse trouble? There's no way a demonkin would even know the term "self-PR"…

B-but. With a stomach-knotting anxiety, Raul tried to talk himself down.

All things considered, Fino's not stupid. Even if she doesn't know what "self-PR" is, watching the contestants ahead of her she'll figure out roughly what to do, so I don't actually need to worry…

"Now then, entry number one, Fino Bloodstone-san!"

"Yes!!"

In the very next instant, Raul did a full-on spit take as Fino answered in a lovely, ringing voice.

Hand raised high the moment her name was called, the girl strode out with utter confidence… wait, of all people, she's the leadoff?!

By now there was nothing but a bad feeling.

Ignoring Raul, who was watching with prayer-like intensity, the girl carrying the [Demon King]'s blood planted herself at the center of the stage and threw out her small frame's chest as far as it would go.

"Fuhahahaha, number one, Fino Bloodstone!!"

She declared her name in a voice brimming with dignity, and then promptly froze.

"… Um, uhh… … wh-what am I supposed to do…?"

… Yep, called it perfectly.

As Fino looked around in distress and shot him a help-me glance the moment their eyes met, behind her Raul hurriedly threw out a stage-whispered lifeline.

"Wh-whatever you want, do something you're good at!"

"Eh, s-something I'm good at?!"

At Raul's words, Fino blinked, looking thoroughly bewildered.

"Umm… like, a war cry for the full deployment of the Demon Realm's Four Heavenly Kings…?"

Don't kick off Armageddon at a beauty pageant!!

Choking down the urge to yell that out loud, Raul kept doling out advice with a strained face.

"S-something a little more peaceful, maybe…?"

"Eh… e-evolution into my second form, 'Grand Battle Form'…?"

What kind of final boss are you?! And wait, you can do that?!

"S-something a little more on the human side of the spectrum…"

"Th-then, like, checking the register cash…"

A no-register, airborne register-cash check is way too niche for anyone to follow!!

"S-something more, you know, that you can do with just your body…"

The crowd was starting to murmur.

In front of Raul, who was getting properly worried, Fino suddenly nodded, like she'd hit on something.

"I-I've got it…!"

In that instant.

Fino's small body launched lightly into the air.

When Raul looked up, the girl's body was at a startlingly high point in the air.

Before the breathless crowd, the girl in midair let her silver hair stream behind her, then with breathtakingly graceful form spun in a clean rotation…

A beat later.

The moment Fino, having pulled off a backflip that seemed beyond anything humanly possible, touched back down on the stage, a tremendous roar went up from the audience.

"H-hey, did you see that just now?!" "That was insane…" "Too fast, I couldn't even follow…"

"Fu, fufu… fuhahahaha!"

At the swelling chorus of praise, Fino, who'd been sheepishly gauging the reaction, slowly let a smug expression creep over her face…

"You bastards have witnessed my true power! All right, next I'll show you something even better!"

"Wait, hey! Don't get carri… wait!"

The instant Raul, sensing something dangerous, tried to stop her, Fino's toes were already pushing off the stage again.

This time with everything she had. Fino's body launched, once more, into the air…

A moment later.

In the ears of the breathlessly watching crowd, a remarkably dull thud rang out.

Fino, having jumped with full force without checking what was above her, took a clean hit on the head from the signboard mounted across the top of the stage. In the next instant, the girl's small body fell from the air with the trajectory of a fly that had just taken a direct swat.

Sprawled across the stage, the silver-haired girl didn't so much as twitch.

After a brief silence, the crowd started murmuring uneasily.

"H-hey…" "You've got to be kidding…" "Is she okay over there…?"

"Fino!!?"

Hurrying to her side and dropping to his knees in a fluster, Raul shook her body, and Fino's thin eyelids fluttered faintly…

"Uu, uuu… …"

Eventually, groaning in pain, the girl opened her eyes and somehow pushed herself upright.

In that instant, a wave of relief rippled through the crowd, and then, from somewhere, a warm round of applause broke out.

"That kid, she's all right!" "After a sound like that, too!" "Thank goodness…!"

An inexplicable wave of emotion swept through the venue.

The applause refused to die down… wait, what's going on here?!

"Heh… hehehe… …"

In front of the bewildered Raul, Fino, rubbing her head, gave a slightly bashful laugh.

 

*

 

"Thank you very much. Next up, number 11, Airi Ortinet-san."

"Yes, number 11, Airi Ortinet."

After handing the now-bumped-headed Fino off to the medical staff, when Raul returned to the stage, it was just about Airi's turn.

Airi's crisp, decisive answer rang out as she strode dashingly onto the stage. The moment the girl in the navy swimsuit stepped forward, a sigh rolled through the audience.

"Hey, that swimsuit…" "She's gorgeous, but, what a niche pick…" "No, I like it, actually?"

"I-I'd like to show everyone a little trick…!"

The clatter of magic-camera shutters going off in earnest.

Blushing at the comments floating up from the audience, she reached for her honey-blonde hair, and the girl who'd pulled out a metal hair clip ran her finger lightly along its surface.

"'Boot'… 10, 9, 8…"

Eyes narrowing in indigo at the activation command, the girl began counting down in a small voice.

"… … 3, 2, 1."

The moment the count ended.

In Airi's hand, the hair clip, wrapped in a faint glow, drifted gently up into the air.

"Wha…?!" "Crazy…" "What's, that…?!"

Cloaked in a pale blue light, Airi's hair clip slowly rose toward the sky.

… I see, Raul thought, genuinely impressed as he watched from the side.

The gravity-control circuit was one of the basic human-magic circuits built into a "Base" of metal, and when incorporated into a "Magic Circuit" it could offset a certain amount of weight. For ordinary swords, weight was a big factor in determining their striking power, but for magic swords, which got corrections like extreme heat or boosted durability, a light blade was more often than not an advantage in combat.

That said, since a "Magic Circuit" vanished the instant its mana supply was cut, normally you couldn't levitate things without touching them. But for Airi's "Time Circuit", which built tens of thousands of kilometers of "Extension Line" between the circuit's start point and end point to time the activation, the story was different. Stunts like this, exploiting the time lag, became possible… that's "All-A" Airi for you.

Exactly ten seconds later, right on the dot of Airi's count.

The hair clip lost its glow and dropped, and as Airi caught it and gave a small bow, applause broke out across the venue.

Then.

"Aaah, I saw it, I saw it. That just now was clearly being strung up by a mana line, right?" "Wait, what, you mean it was rigged?" "Yeah, can't fool these eyes."

Mixed in with the praise, from the very front row, two guys traded that kind of know-it-all conversation.

The instant her sharp ears caught it, Airi's eyebrow twitched.

"Right, number 11, Airi Ortinet-san, thank you very… wait, eh?!"

"Excuse me a moment."

Honey-blonde hair streaming, she strode briskly forward, brushed aside the emcee standing at the edge of the stage, and in front of the flustered emcee, Airi touched the mic stand and narrowed her indigo eyes, drawing in a breath.

"… 'Boot'."

After the murmured word, she let go and stepped back. Wrapped in a faint glow, the much-larger-than-a-hair-clip metal mic stand lifted into the air.

In that instant, a tremendous wave of gasps rolled through the audience.

When Raul looked over, the man who'd been so smugly explaining things to his buddy earlier had a distinctly chastened look on his face…

Geez, "All-A", what a sore loser.

Watching Airi's smug little smile through half-lidded eyes, Raul scratched his head in mild exasperation.

"A-ahem, once again, thank you so much…"

Finally retrieving the mic stand from Airi. With an obvious look of relief, the black-haired female emcee raised her voice.

"Now then, next is number 12, Sonia Magicgate-san!"

"Yeees! Number 12, Sonia Magicgate!"

In that instant, the voice that hit his ears was one Raul had heard not too long ago.

The moment he looked up, Raul's vision filled with dark-brown hair…

"Fufufu, everybody, pleased to meet you all!"

Amid the audience's enthusiastic cheers, the one who'd struck a pose with her glossy, goggle-topped hair flipping was an extraordinarily beautiful girl in an idol-cute swimsuit, those ash-grey eyes still striking.

No mistake about it, that's the same girl from the changing tent. But…

Wait, hey, this is a totally different person from before!?

"Fufu, knowing I have your support makes me so happy!"

That curt attitude from earlier was nowhere to be found. The sheer character whiplash of the girl now playing it sweet for the audience left Raul gaping in disbelief.

… I-it's like… women are, terrifying…

Sonia, smiling and waving, suddenly glanced around the stage and knitted her brows as if troubled.

"Speaking of, this stage is a teeeeny bit plain, isn't it? … Fufu, 'Open'!"

The instant Sonia chanted that, a stage of pale light flickered into being, overlaid on the real one. At the manifestation of a "Magic Field" spanning the entire makeshift stage that Sonia had just deployed, Raul found his eyes going round, right along with all the girls in the lineup.

A magic construction engineer (Magic Engineer)… an ME? But, deploying a "Magic Field" this big single-handedly…?!

"Sorry, just a teensy bit longer, hang on, okay?"

Smiling beatifically at the murmuring audience, Sonia's fingertip traced through the empty air.

The girl's finger moved as if playing some unseen instrument. Following the path it drew, glowing syntax was inscribed into the stage's pristine "Magic Field".

From throughout the audience came rapt sighs. As with everyone else, Raul found himself transfixed…

A complex geometric pattern of light, drawn in an instant.

Holding her hand over the "Magic Syntax" she'd just constructed, eyes lit with confident brilliance, Sonia parted her lips.

"'Run'—!"

The moment she set the syntax running, ripples of light spread out from her feet.

Before the wide-eyed crowd, vivid seven-colored light washed over the stage like rolling waves, and in the next instant, every part of the wooden stage flared and sparkled, as though set with countless multicolored gemstones.

"Well? How about that?"

A scene so beautiful one almost forgot to breathe.

At the center of the stardust-strewn stage, Sonia, sweeping her glossy hair back, winked adorably, and in that instant, the venue erupted in deafening applause.

Whoa, that's incredible…

For the beautiful girl on the glittering stage, forgetting that she was a rival, Raul poured on his own full-strength applause. But then, coming back to himself, the boy sucked in his breath.

… Wait, this… do we even have a chance against that?!

After the self-PR pulled off by the goggle-clad beauty Sonia, the momentum of the pageant had already swung firmly her way.

Fino's painfully unfortunate that was out of the running entirely, and Airi's, technically and reception-wise, had been excellent, but coming right on the heels of Sonia's "Magic Construction" there was no shaking the plainness of it.

The two who'd already done their self-PR had basically no hope left, so under the circumstances, the only one who could stop Sonia from winning and secure that first-place MagiVi was Raul, borrowing Manager Seara's body, alone, and…

… But just how exactly am I supposed to beat that?!

The difficulty of the challenge sent Raul slumping with his head in his hands.

True, in looks alone, Manager Seara wasn't outdone by her either. But after a self-PR that flashy, there was no way to win on looks alone, and…

"Thank you very much. Next, number 19…"

He racked his brain desperately, but no ideas came. And while he was fumbling, Raul's turn drew steadily closer.

His pounding heart, his back gone cold with anxiety and pressure.

Damn it, I'm terrible at improv to begin with… d-do I really have no choice but that_? The forbidden "Raul Slash"…_

Just as the cornered Raul was thinking that, half-resigned, it happened.

"Raul-kun?"

Out of nowhere, in Raul's ear, a whispered voice.

"… !?"

Already strung out, Raul jumped hard and looked around in a panic, but couldn't see the source of the voice. And then, again, the voice reached the boy's ear.

"Fufu, oh good, it activated properly… with this MagicPhone, using the unit's built-in call function, you can talk to the person you swapped with, you see. If it's all right, would you answer back?"

"Wait, Manager?!"

I'm saved…!

In that instant, eyes lighting up, lowering his voice the way he would when piping in on the in-store intercom, Raul suppressed his joy and answered back.

"Manager, you made it in time?!"

"Yes, I just arrived… I'm over by the pillar in the back-right from where you're standing, Raul-kun."

When he looked up at those words, sure enough, off in a corner of the audience, the Manager, borrowing Raul's body, was giving him a small wave with a MagicPhone in hand. Barely getting a chance to breathe out in relief, Raul rushed on.

"M-Manager! Apparently I have to do this self-PR thing now, and I, I have no idea what I should…"

"Fufu, it's all right now, Raul-kun… just do exactly as I say, okay?"

To Raul's rapid-fire babble, Manager Seara nodded with utter confidence.

"Recite the eight standard customer-service phrases for me."

In that instant.

At the directive Manager Seara fired off through the MagicPhone, Raul's eyes went round.

"Eh… wait, h-hold on, why…?!"

The eight standard customer-service phrases. "Welcome!" "Thank you very much!", a basic set of eight stock retail phrases collected together… fine for a service-industry morning meeting, but by any measure, not the kind of thing to recite on the stage of a beauty pageant.

But to Raul, asking back without thinking, the Manager raised an almost surprised-sounding voice.

"Oh my, Raul-kun… you do remember all of them, right?"

"Of course I remember, but, why now…?"

"Number 24, Seara August-san!"

"Y-yeeees!!"

Suddenly called by the emcee, Raul, in the middle of his secret conference with the Manager, had his voice break in spectacular fashion.

… Wait, it's already my turn?!

The eyes of the entire venue converged on Raul all at once.

Spurred on by the emcee, Raul, rigid with nerves, finally stepped resignedly to the center of the stage, gait stiff.

"Whoa…" "Hey, who's that?!" "She's super cute…?!"

Am I really gonna recite the customer-service phrases?

The self-interrogation cycled through Raul's head. … Honestly, even if it is the Manager's instruction, no way… even now, I should do something else instead… but…

"… Raul-kun."

Then, mixed in with the audience's murmur, came Manager Seara's strong, soft voice.

"It's okay, trust me… do your best, Raul-kun, okay?"

Pushed forward by those words.

Swallowing down his nerves with a hard gulp, Raul, having made up his mind, opened his mouth.

"En-entry number 24, Seara August! I-I'll now recite the eight standard customer-service phrases!!"

Sweat beading on his palms, Raul drew a deep breath and raised his voice with everything he had.

"Welcome! Thank you very much! Certainly, ma'am! One moment, please! Thank you for waiting! I sincerely apologize! Excuse me, ma'am! My apologies for the inconvenience! … A-and, that's it!"

Total time, about ten seconds.

Wrapping up the recitation at terrifying speed. What was waiting for the timidly audience-scanning Raul was an air enveloping the entire venue, an extraordinarily awkward one.

… Wait, this completely bombed!!

It was less "wishing for a hole to crawl into" and more "wishing for a cliff to throw himself off". The atmosphere was so heavy, and the surplus time still on the clock felt infinite…

"U-um!"

Unable to bear the silence, Raul blurted on impulse.

"L-let me, just to be safe, give you one more set…"

And then.

As though a single gust of wind had blown through, his chest suddenly felt cool.

In the corner of Raul's vision, the thin fabric that until this very moment had been wrapping Manager Seara's ample bosom drifted, slow-motion, away from her skin…

Tentatively, lowering his gaze.

Raul promptly let out a soundless scream.

"～～～～!!!!!!!!?"

At the catastrophe that had befallen the angelically beautiful girl, the audience surged to its feet in a single instant.

A roar of cheers like battle cries and whistles echoed across the venue, with the storm of camera shutters to match…

Reflexively, he covered his exposed chest with both arms.

Stumbling off into the stage wing, Raul, while desperately holding down a heart that felt about to leap out of his mouth, screamed full-blast at the Manager, who had presumably seen the whole thing from the audience.

"M-M-Manager!! Wh-what the heck was that?!"

"Fufu, well done, Raul-kun."

The Manager's voice, calm and composed all the way through, reached Raul as he completely lost it.

"Truth be told, anticipating just this kind of situation, I worked a little something into the swimsuit so the ties would come loose with the eight customer-service phrases as the trigger."

"W-worked something in?!"

In that instant, while Raul gaped at her in shock, the Manager laughed serenely.

"Yes. With this, our appeal to the general judges, the audience, is a sure thing…"

"Wait, Manager, what on earth were you thinking?!"

"Eh…?"

But the moment Raul shouted that, the Manager, on the contrary, sounded puzzled.

"Of course, it's a little bit embarrassing… but for the customer's benefit, this much is nothing, you know?"

He heard those words, delivered as ever in her usual breezy tone, as though from somewhere far away.

Hands still covering Manager Seara's chest, Raul, with the look of someone who had given up entirely, sank into a heap on the spot.

 

*

 

… And so, after all that.

The pageant, which had been an unrelieved disaster for Raul, finally finished with the audience vote, and all that remained was the announcement of the results.

In front of the line of girls on stage, the female emcee, magic mic in hand, raised her voice.

"And now then, for the 34th Crown of Light Festival Miss Contest, the contestant with the most votes is…"

While speaking, she glanced down at the memo handed to her by staff. For whatever reason her eyes flew open in surprise, but she pulled herself together and opened her mouth.

"N-number 24, Seara August-san!!"

… Huh, is that right.

The instant the emcee announced it, the venue rose to a fever pitch beyond anything yet. Bathed in tremendous cheers and the flash of magic cameras, even so, Raul himself had the eyes of a dead fish.

A boy whose spirit had already been thoroughly ground down had nothing resembling a sense of accomplishment at having safely fulfilled the Manager's mission. Biting back the urge to shout "I won't!" at the "Encore! Encore!" chants drifting from the audience, he reluctantly stepped forward…

And there, caught in the corner of Raul's vision, was the profile of that goggled beauty, Sonia.

Ash-grey eyes wide. From Sonia's face, biting her lip, the confidence that had brimmed there until just moments ago was gone, and if anything she looked almost pale…

… Huh, I kind of feel bad.

Glancing sidelong at the chagrined girl, Raul, somehow, found himself feeling apologetic.

With those looks, with that self-PR. By rights, she should have been the one to win. Call it bad luck, call it Manager Seara being one card ahead, or, honestly, call it cheating_…_

"And here, the special grand prize, a bracelet making lavish use of precious 'Iridescent Stones' that can only be mined in the eastern country where the [Heavenfolk] live!"

"Huh?!"

What the emcee handed to Raul, who was completely distracted by Sonia, was a very beautiful bracelet set with stones that shone in seven colors.

The large, glittering gems looked unmistakably expensive, but the prize being different from what he'd expected, Raul couldn't help raising his voice.

"H-huh?! Wasn't the first-place prize supposed to be a MagiVi…?"

"Eh?"

But at Raul's words, the female emcee's eyes went round in apparent confusion.

"Um, first place is the MagiVi, but Seara-san won the special grand prize, which is above first place…"

"Above first place?!"

"Yes. The Crown of Light Festival pageant goes special grand prize, first place, second place, third place from the top…"

… I didn't hear a single word about that!!

I mean… at the sheer unbelievability of that fact, Raul couldn't help shouting internally.

Ever since that Sunday, all along… what was the point of all the work I've been putting in?!

"B-but, this bracelet is worth much more than ten MagiVis combined…"

In that instant, the emcee's flustered follow-up no longer reached the frozen, hollow-eyed Raul…

And so.

Raul's first stand-in as Manager ended, ignominiously, in failure.