Handygirl

“Is that what I think it is, miss?” The school janitor is pointing at the device Fantasia brought along.

“Yup, with this tool we can measure if there is power surging through the wires coming out from the plugs that are not working,” Fantasia moves the device in the close proximity to the wall, following the traces of the wires coming out from the electrical panel supplying electricity to the now functioning lights. The device emits a beeping sound and a green light signals that the electricity indeed surges through the wires, “obviously, these are working.”

“Why do you have such a thing at school?!” Ravel is always surprised in a new way by Fantasia.

“My dad told me to always carry one of these with me in case it’s needed,” she explains thoroughly, not understanding why it’s considered strange.

Some girls wear make up in their purses, others voltage testers. Ravel watches Fantasia do the work, his mouth shaping into a smile. That’s my girl, she always has the most unique solution. W-wait, did I say ‘my’? She’s not completely mine yet, is she…?

Ravel gets lost in his thoughts, unable to contain his feelings for the girl in front of him.

“Is your dad an electrician? I have a regular voltage tester with me but this thing is pretty handy,” the school janitor asks, impressed.

“No, he’s a plumber but he knows a thing or two about electrical circuits, too, and he taught me basics.” Fantasia walks around and stops at the plugs where the not working sound system is plugged. “Hmmm… it seems unresponsive,” she moves the tester around the plugs, searching for the powered up wires.

“This is weird, all of the circuit breakers are switched on and I don’t see any damage. If they were damaged, those lights up there wouldn’t be working either,” the janitor cudgels his brain.

“Right, maybe the wires in the wall are burnt?” Fantasia fears the worst.

“Yeah, it’s always a possibility…”

“Wait, wait, wait, you extras. Your Queen is responsible for this event, we need to get the contest running! We don’t have much time left till the end of the school year so moving it to another day is out of question!” Silveria is desperate for a solution.

“I’m with you, president… many people worked hard to organize this event and,…” Ravel recalls what Yutaka and Seko told him about Ares but he continues, “and the people want to witness the coronation of the next Beauty Queen.”

“Can’t you think of something?! You’re the school janitor! A pretty important figure in any kingdom!” Silveria pleads.

“W-well, I’m sorry, miss, but I’ve been working here only for about 5 weeks, I don’t have the whole area mapped out yet…”

Fantasia taps with her fingers on her chin, deep in thoughts.

“Only some of the lights work… the electrical panel shows no signs of damage… we can’t see the wires in the wall, so we don’t have any clue if they have burned or not… wait… we don’t see them! That’s it!”

“What did you think of?” The janitor looks at Fantasia curiously.

“We don’t see the wires, so we are not sure whether they actually are supposed to be connected to this electrical panel…!”

“Wait, do you mean…?”

“Yes! There could be another one!”

“That’s it! That must be it! Why didn’t I think of it myself?”

“Hehe!” Fantasia proudly places her finger horizontally under her nose.

“But where could the second electrical panel be?”

As the janitor posed the question, Fantasia’s thoughts drift back to the time she found Leanna crying and sitting on a trapdoor.

“The trapdoor! It must be in the underground cellar! I bet the circuit breakers will be there, switched off!” Fantasia rushes outside, with the school janitor following her.

Ravel and Silveria are left in the place. Yeah, I have no idea what they even talked about.

Liko still tries to speak to the microphone, hoping for it to work. Ravel returns to his seat, reflecting on what Seko and Yutaka shared with him.

If all of this is manipulated, what are we supposed to do? What am I supposed to do? I let Fantasia on stage because I believed she could prove herself. Realistically speaking, I don’t expect her to win since people will probably vote for Kanade, Eleona or the new hot candidate Zinia. Though I am not sure about that goat act. But still…

Zzzzzzzzzz!

The sound system makes a buzzing sound as the whole vestibule’s lights are turned on again.

“They did it!” Ravel joyfully exclaims.

Fantasia makes her way back towards the stage. She showed the new school janitor what trapdoor she meant, leaving him to handle the rest.

Liko is finally able to speak to the microphone again, “Thank you for your patience, looks like we’re up and running! Now, Fantasia, let’s continue where we left off!”

In the meantime, Leanna, Eleona and Zinia return to their seats, each of them having taken care of their stuff.

Fantasia is ready to take the microphone from Liko, but before she can do or say anything, Silveria who has assumed her seat again, grabs the microphone lying on the table in front of the judges.

“I don’t think we need to see anything else.”

Confusion rippled through the vestibule as the audience murmured. Is she playing favorites? Does she feel pity for Fantasia?

“For all those who are unaware of what just transpired, let me enlighten you. It was none other than Fantasia, who solved the issue with the power outage. Her handy work skills are praiseworthy!” Silveria explains while raising up the eleventh card that only she out of the three judges had in front of her.

The card states “Double Joker”.

“What is that?” Ravel asks with no knowledge of the card’s meaning.

“Hmph!” Violet averts her gaze filled with jealousy from Fantasia.

“It’s the Double Joker card. Once per contest, the reigning Beauty Queen is allowed to use the card in order to skip the scoring phase in case of extraordinary situation. That being said, this is the first time I am seeing it in action. It ultimately means that the person receiving it gets double the perfect score of that round. In this case, Fantasia gets 10 points,” Kanade’s explanation proves she is very invested in the contest.

“No way!! I never thought Silveria of all people would help Fantasia like this, even if it was a situation like that! I thought her only goal is to ridicule the two of us-” Ravel goes silent after he has said that out loud.

Wait. Did she actually push the rankings of Fantasia and me at the student council just to mock us? Her personality is pretty awful but… how well do I even know her if I accuse her so easily…?

In fact, I haven’t sensed any ill intentions from her since the beginning.

She’s such a weird girl.

“Fantasia, take these 10 points, you deserve them for saving this year’s Beauty Contest.” Silveria smiles at her warmly.

“S-she… she looks like a real life princess,” Fantasia mumbles for herself before yelling “THANK YOU!” very loudly.

“Woah! Now that was unexpected! How does the audience feel about awarding this year’s black horse with the Double Joker??” Liko attempts to get some reaction from the audience but only someone’s coughing can be heard. “Eh, maybe next time. Alright! All contestants, please come join Fantasia here on the stage!”

First to stand up was Zinia, who confidently approaches the stage with no hesitation. Kanade and Violet follow suit. Eleona extends her hand to Leanna, signaling for her to walk together. Fantasia’s words linger in Eleona’s mind, so she makes sure she does take care of Leanna properly. Ravel is the last one to join the contestants.

“You reek of Goatee,” Eleona standing now close to Zinia whispers under her nose.

“And I can smell the stench of puke from you,” Zinia fires silently back.

“Ladies and gentlemen! Behold these beautiful contestants standing here in their casual clothes one last time! Because the final round is approaching fast! But before that, let’s take a look at the updated rankings!”

The screen behind them displays a new ranking after second round based on judge’s scores:

Rank 8 – Lucy of 2.C – 1 point (disqualified)

Rank 7 – Violet of 3.B – 7 points

Rank 6 – Leanna of 2.C – 8 points

Rank 4 – Eleona of 1.B & Ravel of 2.A – 11 points (tied)

Rank 3 – Kanade of 4.A – 12 points

Rank 2 – Zinia of 1.B – 13 points

Rank 1 – Fantasia of 1.B – 21 points

"Now, my darlings, you can use the backstage room over there to change into your final round outfits.” Liko points out at the room in the corner behind contestant’s seats. “Everyone here has been eagerly anticipating it! Go out there and transform yourselves into goddesses... and a god," she adds while her gaze falls upon Ravel.

CHAPTER 22: END