Hero Audition Ch. 1

https://ncode.syosetu.com/n5562hc/1/

Hello. School is winding down. I am seeing an increase of free time, and I wanted to put some time into translating for fun. This is a new series I read off syosetu a couple years ago (It was a pain finding it again.) It is 89 chapters long, and I felt motivated to tackle the challenge. I hope you all enjoy it.

The Same Name

A large stage is being put together in front of me as if the city were about to see a play put on for its people. On this stage chairs number one from fifty are arranged at regular intervals.

This is the grand venue where the Hero’s Audition will be held. The numbers indicate the current rankings for the fifty candidates that have gathered, and once everything is over, the top four will become recognized nationally as heroes. I put my name into the running thinking I’d never be picked, yet here I am. And today’s the day when us fifty contestants will be unveiled to the general public.

When the rankings finally begin, me and forty-nine other contestants will take our places on that stage. For now, I was told to sit in some cheap looking seats that were facing the lavish stage. Behind these cheap seats were where the audience sat. It was bustling with people as if they had grabbed everyone from my home town and packed them into one place.

For some reason, all of the cheap seats were taken when I got there. There was nobody big enough to take up two seats on their own, so even though everything looks fancy and well put together, they didn’t put out enough chairs.

“Uh….pardon. I don’t see a chair for me….”

“Huh? Weird, I could’ve sworn I counted properly…..here you go.”

When I brought it up to one of the nearby staff, they prepared me a spare chair. I took it to the very back row and sat myself down.

The girl I sat next to, the person originally sat at the farthest back, placed a hand on her large chest, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. It’s the beginning of a life-changing day for all of us. Anyone with any heart would naturally be nervous.

When I sat next to her, she stopped her breathing exercises and spoke to me with a smile.

“Melia Laeria. A pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

The girl with big breasts is apparently Melia Laeria. Her eyes formed a half-moon shape as she smiled. The freckles scattered across her cheeks are cute, but since she might be self-conscious about that kind of thing, I don’t mention it.

“Lily Ruhuna. Nice to meet you too.”

“Eh!? You couldn’t possibly be….”

“No no, I’m just an ordinary Ruhuna.”

“Oh….of course. My apologies.”

Ruhuna is an exceedingly common surname in the Frati Kingdom. There is a prestigious family in this country called the Ruhuna family that has produced ministers for generations. So a bunch of commoners began using the Ruhuna surname, and it became a common surname as a result. My ancestor was just one of a large group of fanboys.

Usually when I tell people my name is Ruhuna, nobody thinks anything of it. But since this Hero Audition is a policy set forward by the Kingdom itself, there’s a real chance that someone from the “real” Ruhuna family will make an appearance. I thought something like this would happen, so I was prepared for someone like Melia to make a mistake.

After talking with Melia for a short bit, some soft, solemn music set inside the venue, a man who looked like he’d serve as the moderator took the stage.

“To the fifty chosen candidates, I welcome you to the 3rd Hero Auditions. I am grateful that all of you have managed to gather here safely.”

The moderator was clear yet imposing as he read off a script explaining the significance of the Hero Audition despite everyone here already knowing all of this already.

It is common for those who are confident in their skills to become adventurers, travel to various towns and cities, complete jobs, get promoted, and make a fortune.

Of course, there’s no way you can keep living like that once you’ve reached a certain age, so adventurers who managed to earn a certain amount of money established a guild. There, they pay young adventurers money to gather up a workforce which draws in bigger jobs. The younglings receive commissions while those in charge make money by taking their cut for arranging the whole thing.

Establishing a guild is easy since those influential adventurers would have merchants as their patrons. But not everyone can get their names out there so easily.

That’s why, thanks to the power of the nation’s federal tax income, the Kingdom does this to support young, promising candidates. The Hero Audition is to decide who gets that support. A one-shot chance to reverse your fortunes given to anyone, regardless of status or origin.

That’s the official stance at least.

In truth, the King is losing authority, and people’s dissatisfaction is growing more and more. So the Kingdom wants some idols aka heroes to serve as the King’s face and guide the people.

That’s the impression I got after watching the last two auditions, as negative a thought as that is. Of course, you’ll gain a level of status if you can call yourself a Hero, so thinking about what your life will be like after the fact, it’s not all that bad even if you’re an overglorified idol.

This year’s Hero Audition will be the third one. The first and second generation winners are all beautiful men and women. It makes sense since the Heroes are decided by popular vote after they show off their ability, personality, and looks.

I’m sure there are people out their who vote based on ability, but if you peel back the lid, appearance seems to be the most important thing for the most of them.

That’s why the fifty of us, including me, are all women wearing dresses and trying to look as beautiful as possible. We’re all beautiful women, and we will use our abilities and personalities to appeal to the public.

Last year’s audition included only men while the one before that was mixed. I hear the reason why they moved away from the mixed model after the first year was because there was too much hanky panky going on behind the scenes after they grouped fifty sexy men and women together in one place.

Oh, the emcee on stage finished their lazy and redundant explanation. The provisional standings should be announced soon.

The portraits and profiles of the final fifty candidates have already been distributed in every town throughout the country, and they have ranked us after a first round of voting.

Future events will be taken into account and evaluated, but this will show everyone what the people’s first impressions are.

“Now then, in first place. Please welcome, Lily Ruhuna!”

I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard my name called. I think the surprise actually managed to stop my heart. Me, a girl from the countryside, number one. A miracle had taken place.

As I proudly rose from my chair and stepped forward, the forty-nine people ahead of me all began to whisper among themselves. Surprised by first place’s overwhelming beauty most likely.

“Who are you!? Get back in your seat!”

And then the presenter called me out. When I looked over, I saw that there was another woman stepping forward. Said woman noticed me as well and walked over towards me.

“Um….I’m Lily Ruhuna. You are?”

I asked the woman her name with some confusion in my voice.

“I am Lily Ruhuna as well. …..I see. So that’s how it is”

The woman with the same name as me turned to face the stage with her long, silver hair flowing behind her. Coupled with her nose extending straight from her brow, she had a profile that looked like it had been sculpted by hand. For a second there I thought I had the beauty to be called number one, and now here I am being absolutely put to shame.

“It appears that we share a name! Could you tell us which one you mean?”

“But of course we mean you. Lily-sama, daughter of our nation’s minister Akatsu Ruhuna.”

The emcee replied while looking only at the silver-haired Lily. So this beauty was a daughter of the “real” Ruhuna family after all.

Chapter 2