"Next came the Black Cat challenger's reward..." When the host said "reward," his tone was somewhat strange. Perhaps the host himself realized something was off about it, so he paused, adjusted his breathing, and only then continued:
"Rewards were divided into two categories. Let's look at the first category first."
The host turned sideways, and a table appeared once more at the center of the stage behind him.
The rewards were on that table, but they differed somewhat from what everyone had imagined. They had previously thought that scores below fifteen would only receive one prize, and that it would inevitably be a mascot costume. But this time was different. There were actually two trays on the table. That meant there were two rewards.
Laplace had received only one reward for her previous thirteen points, yet Angel had scored only nine points and received two rewards. That was what surprised everyone.
At that moment, the host spoke again, and his words cleared up everyone's confusion.
"Originally, scores below ten did not include a mascot costume reward. But the Ringmaster felt that nine points and ten points were not much different, and that the Black Cat challenger's performance deserved more than ten points. So, the Ringmaster simply had me bring out both the nine-point reward and the ten-point reward for the Black Cat challenger to choose from."
In other words, although Angel could choose one from two rewards, the quality of his rewards did not actually reach the standard for scores above fifteen.
To put it bluntly, the Circus Ringmaster had opened a back door and added a mascot costume reward for Angel.
Though the rewards were not much, at least he had a choice.
On the tray to the left lay a Black Cat mascot costume. Its effects were similar