ââ¦â¦ Anyone want to play the Beast? If there is anyone who wants to, please raise your hand.â
When Niou-san, the class president, asked this, none of the other classmates raised their hands. It is likely that they are not comfortable going up on the stage.
If things had gone the way they were supposed to, the main character would have reacted, âOh dear, I didnât want to do it, but I had no choice.â. but that didnât happen because of Maryâs comment.
âIf Ryoma would have played the main character, I would have been fine with that. But itâs not right for Kotaro to play the role of the hunter who is good-looking, right? Because Kotaro is not handsome! Then I think the handsome Ryoma would be better!â
âIâm glad you say so, â¦â¦ butâ¦â
Mary said something like that and tried not to break the heroineâs position, but it was obvious that she was trying to make me the main character.
âBut he doesnât look good in the lead role.â
Ryuzaki looks reluctant. Thatâs understandable, â¦â¦ because for once, Ryuzakiâs words are right.
Because it doesnât suit me to be the main characterâ¦â¦.Now, what about Mary?
In the scenario she envisions, I should be the main character.
But my classmates, including Ryuzaki, refuse to accept that. The impact of the story is not strong enough to make me the main character.
âOh dearâ¦â¦. haha.â
Mary seems to have noticed the atmosphere.
Was it a failure? I sigh.
â¦.. I still think sheâs a little underwhelmed.
I donât feel that Mary has the power to change the story.
After all, she is a subheroine with leverage. If she canât make me the main character here, it means that there was already a breakdown in her plot.
If that was the case, there would be no more incidents to worry about in the future.
After all, this was the extent of it. Mary, Iâm sorry to say that your story seems to be ending without even an opening chapter.
âHmm, as far as Iâm concerned, I donât really care who does it, but â¦â¦ there doesnât seem to be anyone else who wants to do it, so can we have a majority vote? If you donât mind the two people who have been recommended.â
â¦..I really donât want to go on stage, though.
But since I had decided not to resist Mary, all I could do was nod.
âYeah, okay.â
âTch â¦â¦ say no. Then I can play the main role.â
Even Ryuzaki, who sees me as an enemy, accepted the recommendation without denial.
âI want to know the consensus. Who do you think should play the leading role? Raise your hands, please.â
This time, the names of me and Ryuzaki were written on the blackboard.
Well, objectively speaking, I think Ryuzaki is the best choice. I was looking at the scene with a complacent and optimistic â¦â¦ feeling that I wouldnât get any votes.
âSo, first of all â¦â¦, what do you think of â¦â¦ Nakayama-san?â
No one responded to that question.
Everyone looked around, but no one wanted to raise their hand.
âMuuuâ¦..â
Mary also raised her eyebrows unwillingly. Even if she raised her hand in this air, no one would follow suit. That is the limit of a subheroine.
âKuku ⦠Thatâs right.â
Ryuzaki was also snickering at me. I was uncomfortable with the look of triumph on his face, but there was no point in getting angry at every little thing, so I looked away and ignored him.
Well, Iâm just like that, or so I thought.
ââ¦â¦Yes.â
A small, timid, but beautiful voice echoed through the classroom.
ââââ¦..Eh?âââ
Everyone was stunned to hear her voice.
Of course, she was looking at me and her expression was tense like she was nervous â¦â¦ but she didnât retreat.
âI do.â
This time, she mustered up the courage to raise her hand.
Thanks to the quietness of the classroom, her voice was clearly audible.
(â¦â¦ I wonder about that courageâ¦â¦.)
Of course, the one who raised her hand â our main heroine.
âUgh â¦â¦.â
Shiho voted for me.
Earlier she said she wanted âThe Three Little Pigs,â but she couldnât muster up the courage to raise her hand. But now she raises her hand to support me.
Iâm glad sheâs doing her best for me, but â¦â¦ I couldnât help but chuckle at her unexpected support.
(Iâm sure she didnât think anything of it â¦â¦ but itâs kind of bad timing.)
Shihoâs declaration is a bit bad for the process.
Because she is the main heroine.
Unlike Mary, she is a girl whose existence is valuable. Her influence was not comparable to Maryâs.
ââââ¦Yes.âââ
Several people raised their hands as if following Shihoâs lead.
And this created a chain of events, as classmates began to raise their hands one after another.
(Mary, good for you â¦â¦, you were apparently lucky.)
I thought for sure that the story was going to fall apart in the beginning.
But it seems that the main heroineâs one comment seems to have somehow restored the plotâ¦.