No Entry Except for the Master - Chapter 32

After Teia disappeared into the crowd chasing the man, Lilith stretched her legs out on the bench, thinking, For a human, she has a sharper hunting instinct than most beasts.

Caesar and Teia were both busy working, while she felt a bit guilty just sitting around doing nothing. Still, they’d told her to stay put, so she intended to wait quietly. She really did mean to…

A flyer fluttered on the wind and landed on her knee. It was an advertisement for a festival event. The bold headline and the attached image of the prize immediately caught her attention.

◆ The World’s Greatest Talent Contest ◆

Do you have a unique talent that would amaze everyone?

Anyone can participate! Compete with the audience in a talent showdown and win prizes by outperforming the most opponents!

First Prize: (Image) Cufflinks — Handcrafted platinum cufflinks by a master artisan with 20 years of experience, adorned with natural rubies and diamonds for a luxurious touch.
……(omitted).

Lilith stared at the flyer, reminded of the cufflinks Teia often wore with his shirt. And rubies, no less. She recalled the mini banner she’d seen at an accessory booth earlier—July’s birthstone was ruby.

Lilith shot up from the bench, sat back down, and repeated the motion several times.

“We are now closing participant registration. The contest will begin immediately after, so please hurry. Once again, registration is about to close…”

As if urging her to decide, someone began announcing the registration deadline. The contest stage was in the center of the square, not far from the bench where Lilith sat.

If it’s this close, Teia should be able to spot me right away when she gets back.

She’ll come and find me the moment she returns. It’ll be fine.

Still conflicted, Lilith noticed a discarded mask on the bench next to her. It was a children’s festival mask. Though worn and shabby, it was enough to cover half her face.

In the end, Lilith sprang up, grabbed the mask, and ran to the registration booth. Her eyes blazed with determination to win the first prize.

Just barely making it in time, she sat in the waiting tent, anxiously awaiting her turn. Though she was worried about being too late, it turned out performance order would be decided by drawing lots. Heart pounding, she hoped the announcer would call her number early—

She was selected fifth.

“Phew.”

Calming her nerves, Lilith stepped onto the stage. As one of the main events of the festival, the square was packed with spectators.

“Now then, our next contestant is… oh my, we have a cute little bunny! Contestant number 21, Miss Bunny!”

Waaaah!

With her face half-covered by the rabbit mask she had picked up earlier, Lilith stood at the center of the stage. The audience assumed she was just one of the participants with a costume concept and cheered without suspicion.

“Please introduce yourself and tell us what talent you’ll be showcasing.”

“Hello, I’m Bunny. My talent is high jumping.”

Her easiest—and only—real talent was transforming into an animal. But doing so would be equivalent to saying Come catch me! so that was absolutely out of the question.

After considering what safe and displayable talent she could perform, she landed on high jumping.

The problem was that this wasn’t really a special talent. So, many confident spectators raised their hands to participate.

If a challenger beat the participant, they’d receive a special prize ticket, so easy events with a high chance of winning got especially heated.

“Alright! No more challengers. The challenge is simple—standing high jumps over the prepared obstacles. If you make it over, you pass!”

The first stage involved jumping from the ground up onto the stage in one go. Lilith and the challengers lined up in front of the stage, which stood about 90cm tall.

Tweet!

At the whistle, people jumped up one by one. Lilith easily leapt onto the stage. Over half of the challengers cleared the first round.

After that, 5cm platforms were stacked on top of the stage to raise the height for each new round.

Stage 2, Stage 3, Stage 4…

With each round, more and more people dropped out. In the end, only Lilith and two challengers remained—one woman and one man.

“Alright, this is the final round! If Miss Bunny clears it alone, her victory count will be considered perfect! But if a challenger also makes it, Miss Bunny will still receive full marks, and the successful challenger will get the ‘Challenger’s Victory Prize Ticket’!”

The final height was 140cm. The goal was right in front of her. Lilith clenched her fists with determination.

Tweet!

The whistle blew. Lilith once again jumped effortlessly onto the stage. She even spun mid-air with a graceful turn before landing elegantly.