"She's been on stage the whole time. We can find an opportunity to ask her once she comes down."
Akeibi quietly stepped back, gradually fading from sight as she left.
At the contestants' entrance, she indeed found Xinyu resting with her eyes closed.
"Sister Xinyu, it's Akeibi. I need your help with something. Could you possibly pass it on to Lord Torikaze?"
Thinking it was an urgent matter, Xinyu immediately replied, "Tell me first. Let's see whether I can help you resolve it for the time being."
Akeibi then explained some of what they had just discussed. Xinyu frowned after hearing it.
"We can't let the contestants start developing conflicts now. That would be detrimental going forward."
Akeibi nodded. "So, can this be resolved? Or could you report it to Lord Torikaze and let them decide?"
Xinyu's expression grew serious. "This matter really should be brought to their attention."
"Here's what we'll do. Wait a moment. I'll go report it to Lord Torikaze and the others while the next program hasn't begun yet."
With those words, Akeibi and the others felt much more at ease.
After all, they had spent the entire morning rehearsing under pressure, then performed their own acts while still feeling that pressure.
Yet the intermission gave the later contestants plenty of time to adjust their condition and promptly revise their acts based on the audience's reactions.
That was truly rather unfair to the earlier students.
Xinyu went to the viewing platform and told Torikaze every detail of what had happened below.
After listening, Torikaze considered it carefully. "It is indeed a problem, but we can't exactly force changes or anything."
"How about this? Once the final votes are in, if the students performing in the afternoon score noticeably higher than those who performed in the morning,