The contestant beside them glared over, then softened when he saw that the speaker was a child.
"That's Skeleton King Leonäfa. Lord Annan is the one in the middle."
"Oh..."
Rose craned her neck for a better look and asked with a child's innocent bluntness, "Is he as big as Jack?"
Pfft...
The contestant beside them couldn't hold back a laugh. This time, it was Binn's turn to glare.
"Sorry, sorry... You're 'Mama Binn,' aren't you?"
"You know me?"
"I watched the Auditions recording. He's the youngest contestant, right?" The contestant, dressed as a Bard, held out his hand in the unmistakable fashion of Free City.
"Hello."
Binn shook his hand. "Are you from Free City too?"
"I'm just a wandering Bard." The Bard straightened his felt hat.
"Then you must be quite a Bard."
Anyone who made the Top 1,000 had to have at least one or two strengths.
"Quite a Bard? I suppose..." The Bard chuckled softly.
At the judges' table, before the competition began, Annan was discussing the current vote totals with the other judges.
Surprisingly, the contestant with the most votes was Pao Benitez, the very first to perform, leading with 7.4 million votes.
As the first contestant, he had received a wave of votes from people caught up in the novelty.
But second through seventh place were neck and neck, separated by only a few thousand votes.
Looking at the results by day—first, second, then third—a clear pattern had emerged: the earlier a contestant performed, the more votes they had.
Time would even out that difference, though.
At nine sharp, the competition began.
"Welcome, everyone across the Allen Continent, to the fifth elimination round of Everyone's Singer! This program is sponsored by the Wealth Church. I'm your host, Peterson—"
After the customary introduction, the