I was Caught up in a Hero Summoning, but that World is at Peace (WN)-Chapter 2247: Miyama Kaito’s Birthday Celebration Party ㊽

Hearing that it was a plan proposed by Makina-san naturally fills me with tremendous anxiety, but just knowing that Alice was involved somehow instantly puts my mind at ease.

If it's Alice, she’ll definitely shut down any bad ideas properly. And since Makina-san treats Alice with even more tenderness than she would her own child, she’s surprisingly obedient when Alice speaks up, so I think things are being properly course-corrected.

"And with that, the third event is…… a hidden talent contest!"

"……What’s that supposed to be?"

"It’s something usually done at parties or get-togethers, but out of all the ideas Makina brought up, this was the least terrible. Seriously, at first she wanted to show a movie with a runtime of 87 years. Like, what’s fun about having a birthday party that ends 87 years later……?"

(T/N: Mistakenly translated years as hours last chap, edited.)

Yeah, Makina-san really is something else…… No doubt that ridiculous movie was also somehow about me. The cursed mansion supposedly takes hundreds of years to get through on foot too. I really want to ask why all of her ideas outlast my entire life so far…… but, well, it's Makina-san after all……

"To explain it roughly, it’s an event where people show off skills or talents they don’t usually display in front of others. This time, to make it more entertaining, we’ll be using a scoring system."

"Ah, so like, there are judges who give points and everyone competes based on that?"

"Exactly. Participation will be open to those who feel confident enough to enter, but since it’d be awkward if we had zero participants, we’ve already reached out to a few people beforehand. Anyway, let’s start by introducing the judges."

When I hear "hidden talent contest", I tend to imagine things like singing or magic tricks, but I wonder what it’ll actually be like…… but since they're competing for points, there’s probably going to be prizes for the top scorers too. Honestly, it sounds kind of fun.

"As for the judges, they’re basically representatives from each realm. First, representing the God Realm is the God of Time and Space, Chronois-san."

"Arehh? It's not Shallow Vernal-sama?"

"She’s absolutely the worst possible choice for a judge, so we went with Chronois-san, who’s the most likely to take judging seriously."

Yeah, I can agree with that. From Shiro-san’s perspective, a hidden talent probably wouldn’t seem impressive at all, so she wouldn’t give high scores. Chronois-san, on the other hand, is earnest and likely to evaluate things objectively.

"Next, representing the Demon Realm is Kuro-san. Well, that’s an obvious safe pick."

"Yeah, for the Demon Realm, Kurorin’s the safe bet~~"

"And for the Human Realm…… Lilia-san."

[ ! ? ! ? ]

The Demon Realm judge is Kuro, and for the Human Realm…… just as I suspected, it’s Lilia-san. As usual, she looks completely blindsided, like this is the first she’s heard of it, and receives a cold, if not merciless, declaration.

"You look like no one told you, but like I said earlier, you’re the go-to representative for the Human Realm in these kinds of things. Just give up."

"W- Well, at least this time all Lili-tan has to do is judge, so it's not that bad…… right?"

As Fate-san pointed out, Lilia-san’s not expected to perform anything, her role this time is strictly as a judge. And with Chronois-san and Kuro as the other judges, this should be relatively easy on her. freēwēbηovel.c૦m

"And finally, representing the Otherworlds…… we have Canalis-san."

[Objection! Why isn’t it me!? This was my idea!!!]

"Because you’d show blatant favoritism, obviously! There's no way someone who’d give a perfect score just because someone’s from Earth should be a judge!"

[Fuguu…… B- But come on…… as a mother, there’s no way I wouldn’t give my child a perfect score…… My child is worth 100 points just for existing……]

Well, I can’t argue with this lineup either. Canalis-san might not be from Earth, but she’s still technically from another world, so it fits. And she seems like she’d actually judge things fairly.

Even so, Makina-san looked a little dissatisfied, until Electrone-san gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

『Outputting calming signal…… <Now, now, let’s just leave this to Canalis and take things easy with me, Makina-chan.> ……Continuing outputting desire…… <That said, I’m actually kind of curious about the movie Makina-chan made. Would you mind showing it to me?> ……I hypothesize it will be a masterpiece.』

[……Electrone! I knew Electrone would get me! Unn, it’s a labor of my love, packed full of my beloved child’s charm. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it!!!]

Apparently Electrone-san managed to calm Makina-san down successfully, and the two of them went off together, to watch the movie with the 87-year runtime.

"……I wonder if Electrone-san would consider taking up permanent residence in Trinia……? W- Well, putting that aside, back to the judging. Each of the four judges will score the hidden talents out of 5 points. But here’s the key part, when scoring, we want them to prioritize unexpectedness."

"Unn? What do you mean by that?"

"Say I performed some amazing skill. Even if it’s impressive, if you think "Well, I could totally see her pulling that off", then score it lower. But if it’s more like "I never would’ve guessed this person had that kind of talent", or it really clashes with their usual image, then that’s where you hand out the high scores."

"Hehh, that does sound interesting. So someone like Shall-tan or the Underworld King, people who seem like they could do anything, wouldn’t get high scores easily. But if a regular human child had some unexpected amazing skill, they’d score big, right?"

"Exactly. And we’d like the judges to also rate based on contrast. For example, this is just a hypothetical example, but say Megiddo-san, who’s known for loving spicy food, shows off a talent for sweet desserts. That kind of gap from their usual image should earn high points too."

So it’s really about hidden talents, skills or acts that aren’t normally shown…… and especially ones that are hard to imagine from the person. That would actually make it hard for high-level folks like the Six Kings' Executives to score big, since people expect them to be able to do pretty much anything. It gives the others a real chance to shine.

"Also, we’ll be adding a special judge, Kaito-san. His role is more like a bonus scorer. He doesn’t have to rate every act, but if something catches his eye, he can give it 1 to 5 points."

"So if Kai-chan gets interested in someone’s act, they get bonus points and a better shot at making the top huh?"

"Exactly. And by the way, we’ve got cash prizes for the top 5 scorers in the end. Just money, simple and straightforward."

As that was explained, a desk appeared next to me with placards marked from 1 to 5. Looks like I’m meant to use those to judge any performance that piques my interest.

Receiving birthday gifts while casually watching hidden talents and scoring a few acts I find interesting, it sounds like something I can enjoy pretty easily.

"Alright then, we’re looking forward to seeing your entries! And to kick things off, our very first performer is…… Founder Olivia-san!"

……Wait. I already feel like giving a full 5 points. The sheer gap is overwhelming, as I never would’ve guessed Olivia-san would be the opening act of the hidden talent contest. This is completely out of my expectations.

<Afterword>

Serious-senpai : [Olivia makes an unexpected appearance…… Eh? What the heck is she gonna show as her hidden talent……?]