Hero Audition Ch. 52

https://ncode.syosetu.com/n5562hc/52/

Transfer

“What!? T-To me?”

Don nodded, back to the calm expression he had before his interaction with Ran.

“Yes. From the beginning it was something meant for Erica, but she would never accept it at this point. With how things stand, it only makes sense that her granddaughter Liffy should make good use of it. And besides, it’s pathetic for an old, forever bachelor old man to be carrying around a wedding ring like this.”

“No no no! I can’t accept that! Something so important….”

“You’re right. It’s filled with my feelings, and the worth is immeasurable. So take it. That alone will make this old man happy. Don’t think so hard about it.”

Even if you say that, I can’t not think about it. If it gets out I own this ring, people are going to constantly be trying to kill me for the money.

It’s also going to mean I got a march on Lily’s team who accepted the request in the first place. Lily probably won’t take it even if I offer to give it to her. She’ll tell me to finish the request on her behalf. She’s stubborn and proud, so there is no chance she will accept anything even remotely close to charity from me.

Someone placed their hand on my shoulder from behind. I could immediately tell who it was from the smell. Lily.

“Take it Liffy. You do not need to worry about us. You were able to win using your own power.”

“No…. but….”

“Even if we cannot complete this request, it will matter little to the members of our team in regards to the first screening. It is much better for you three below the cut-off line to receive the points. Unless you would prefer we take it off your hands by force?”

The pressure from the hand on my shoulder was getting stronger and stronger. My vacant mind remembered what happened last night, and my butt started experiencing ghost pains. I finally made up my mind.

“Okay. I will take the ring.”

Don beckoned me over after I made my decision, and I moved right next to him.

“It really feels like a young Erica has returned to me. Giving this to you makes it feel like all those years I carried this ring around were worth it. Thank you”

I don’t know if Grandma was that attractive when she was my age or if Don is just single-minded, but I could tell his feelings were honest.

I didn’t know how to respond to feelings like that, so I bowed my head and silently accepted the ring. I decided it would be better though to simply accept the ring in the palm of my hand rather than having him slip it on to one of my fingers. I closed my hand like a vice around it, making sure there was zero chance I would end up losing it on accident.

“By the way, you mentioned it before. How’s the audition going for you?”

“Oh…. well, if things keep going the way they are now, I’ll end up dropping out soon….”

Don’s head fell back, and he laughed louder than he had anytime before. I wanted to step away from him because he was acting like the had been possessed by something.

“I see! Then I’ll give you my support. Just leave things to me!”

It’s pretty awkward having someone say they’ll be cheering for you alone in front of a large group of other contestants. I don’t think I really did much, but someone of them might say I did a great job taking advantage of the situation.

“N-No need. Your feelings are enough.”

“Don’t hold shy. You should always take what you can get, and never feel bad about it.”

I didn’t have a chance to argue with him about it any further. We had been talking for a while, and when Don broke out into a coughing fit, I was getting the sign it was time to leave.

“Thanks for everything. You should come and visit Grandma someday. Or, I could bring her here if you want!”

Don smiled wryly and waved his hand as we left the room.

I left the building with everyone else following behind me. The noble’s pet dog was running around the yard, playing with the kids who now had come outside at some point. He’s had more than enough fun at this point, so it should be fine to bring him back to his owner.

“Phew…. I can’t believe things didn’t go sour in there. Let me see the ring.”

Dahlia looked like she was walking on eggshells the entire time we were inside, but all that tension left her body as soon as her feet touched grass. She then leaned over my shoulder and looked at my closed palm.

“Ah…. go ahead.”

As I held out my hand and was about to open my palm, Lily’s arm shot out and grabbed my arm to stop me. I looked at her confused, and she was looking back at me with a face that was either amazed or angry. I couldn’t tell which.”

“Right now, you are carrying in your hand a treasure that exceeds the value of everything an average nobleman owns put together. This isn’t something you should be letting people casually touch or pass around–even if you do consider them a comrade. Until you hand it over to the client, this is still a request.”

“Oh ho. Well allow me to assure the madame that I have no intention of stealing it. This might be hard for a rich young lady to understand, but not all commoners are thieves.”

Dahlia really didn’t like being treated like a thief and threw some spite towards Lily.

“I never once mentioned anything about anyone stealing it though? All I said was to be careful taking care of it. I cannot even imagine why you think something like that. Unless perhaps you’re feeling guilty over something?”

Lily wasn’t having any of it. Both of them looked like they were in a bad mood. By the end of things, this request was wrapped up by me alone. Some of the others are surely thinking they, “wasted their time” or “my position is in danger.” It’s no wonder negative feelings are swirling around.

“P-Please calm down, both of you! Dahlia-san, how about we just return the dog for now?”

Without waiting to hear Dahlia’s reply, Lily once again cut in.

“My apologies, but I will be borrowing Liffy. It is best not to leisurely carry something like this around. I assume you two will not mind yes? The two of you should be able to deliver one dog on your own.”

“You don’t get to decide that on your own. This is our team’s decision.”

The quarrel between Dahlia and Lily was just getting started. Everyone was worriedly looking towards me to do something about it, but there is no chance of that happening. After a bit Peony was the first of us to get too uncomfortable just watching and tried doing something about it.

“Come on, that’s enough you two. Fighting between yourselves isn’t going to increase your points or your supporters. Liffy was just lucky. That’s it. Let’s go.”

Peony grabbed Lily’s arm as if to reprimand her, but Lily violently shook her off and turned to the rest of her team.

“Sorry everyone, but I will be gone for about an hour. I will relinquish this request to their team. We will not be able to claim to have completed it ourselves anyway. Come Liffy.”

With the same momentum of shaking Peony off, Lily grabbed my arm and started dragging me away. Nobody from either team was following us, so I decided to just follow along.

“Wait! You’re hurting me Lily-san.”

But Lily continued down the road in silence.

Passing in front of the orphanage, we hurried past the market.

That silence continued to linger until we finally made it back to the hall where we handle our requests. It wasn’t until we were right in front of the door that Lily finally turned around and looked at me.

“Liffy, it was hard for me to say this in front of the others, but congratulations. You should finish the request yourself by reporting back to Heath. Completing something like this will almost certainly give your team the top spot in the first challenge. Passing the first screening will now be well within your reach.”

“That’s…. I’m grateful, but…. I just showed up and did the job while you were in the middle of working it yourselves….”

“Suppose then that there was someone who was having a hard time fighting a powerful monster. Then in the middle of the battle, a strong warrior came in from the side and defeated that monster with a single attack. Would you think the first warrior would feel like the second had interrupted them?”

“It depends on the situation, but…. I guess they’d usually be greatful for the help.”

“Exactly. And so, by that same logic, you deserve to be thanked as well. Now go. Make your report to Heath.”

Lily’s mind was made up. I gave up on trying to convince her and decided to just talk to Heath about it.

The hall was mostly empty at this point in the day with only audition employees as far as I could see, so it didn’t take me long to find my guy.

“Heath-san, I have fulfilled the request to subdue Don. Here is the proof.”

Heath looked more than a little surprised when I told him what happened, but his expression soon transformed to a gentle smile. It’s not that different from Don’s actually. Is everyone able to smile like that when they reach a certain age? I don’t think I ever saw Grandma act that nice before.

“Hm. I do believe it was Lily-sama’s team that accepted that particular request…. but if Liffy-sama has the ring, all credit will go to your team. Thank you for your hard work.”

“Thank you. Did Heath-san post this request?”

“No, certainly not. I am merely the contact, and the real client is someone else.”

I could tell from the way he worded things he wasn’t going to reveal who the real client is, so I didn’t pry too deeply.

“Oh yes. Please hold onto that ring tightly Liff-sama. Considering the circumstances, anyone could claim the ring as their own as long as they manage to get their hands on it–whether they forced it off of you, stole it away, or even if you asked them to hold onto it yourself.”

“No no no…. this is for the client isn’t it?”

“Even I do not understand what the client wanted from this matter. All I was told was, ‘If someone brings the ring in, it means Don has been defeated.’ They never mentioned anything about what was to happen to the ring after it was brought in. Since I was told nothing, I am free to use my own discretion from this point forward, and I say Liffy-sama should have it. Now, do you have any other questions I might answer?”

“Well…. no.”

Heath’s tone is always meek, but I could tell by looking into his eyes that he wasn’t going to back down. He isn’t going to give me any more information about what just happened no matter what I ask, and the ring is as good as mind as far as he is concerned.

“Then I recommend you quickly head over to accept your next request. The time period for the first screening will not go on indefinitely.”

Heath straightened his back, turned on his heels, and walked away from me. I wanted to quickly join back up with Dahlia and Melia, but Lily is still waiting for me at the entrance.

The thing I hold in my hand right now could make it so I could spend the rest of my life playing around. Hypothetically at least. I don’t know any way to take this ring and turn it into cold hard cash. In that sense, it’s kind of worthless. Without any money, I have no way of playing around. Not that I had any intention of pawning it off for the cash anyway.

My hands tremble whenever I think about the emotions Don poured into this ring. For decades he carried it on him, unable to give it to the person he really wanted to have it. And after all that time, he was able to pass it on to his love’s kin instead. The weight of that was heavy on my mind.

It’s definitely a beautiful ring, all the more so when you know the story behind it. Story or no though, you can’t help but marvel when you look at the boldly cut red gemstones and the two spiralling rings of gold that hold them in place.

“The ring…. they said it’s mine now…. I can’t carry something like this around with me….”

“Huh!? Oh….you are right. What should we do…. is there someone you could leave it with whom you trust? Then again, there is nowhere more secure than there in this country. But….”

For a bit there, Lily looked as nervous as I felt. I guess she never expected me to be able to keep the ring either. I should probably be panicking right now too, but I’m having too much fun watching the usual calm Lily pace back and forth while rattling off a million words a minute under her breath. The first precious memory this ring has brought me.

If I tried wearing this ring like normal jewellery though, I’d never be able to have a peaceful moment again. That’s why when Lily finally came up with a suggestion for how to handle the ring, I accepted it with no questions asked. We headed back into the city together while probably looking extremely suspicious to anyone who walked past.

Chapter 51 ⊥ Chapter 53