Sakuramoria

The fact that Nira didn't even take first place, but ended up somewhere in the middle of the rankings, was a big surprise for Leila. The Ta'mani always saw her as one of the academy's leading fashionistas and beauties, but apparently the audience didn't share that opinion. However, it couldn't be said that Niri was far behind the prize-winning places. She also didn't expect that many would appreciate Varya, but there you go. She was only a few points away from the top 3, just like herself. Perhaps the efforts invested in the competition outfit, which highlighted the strengths of the refit, had an effect. It was hard to say what was going on in the audience's minds, considering that Mana, dressed up as a priestess of Avaritia, was very well received, although she seemed extremely insecure. It was as if she hadn't come to a beauty contest, but was being held at gunpoint. At the same time, the spectacle that Cassia turned her appearance into, with all those provocative poses and silly gestures, was not well received, and she ended up near the bottom of the rankings, only one position above another fan of similar gestures, despite her good looks. You could say she sabotaged herself, making a fool of herself in front of the crowd of onlookers. It was funny to watch, but it also left a somewhat unpleasant aftertaste. Especially since Cassia was a good and friendly girl, and didn't deserve that. But perhaps the biggest surprise of the competition was Eva, who continued to maintain her new image, which was very likely created by Aliduum. She not only won the competition, taking first place, but she did so by a huge margin. It was like in some badly written story, where a beautiful "plain girl" is dressed a little differently and everyone immediately falls at her feet. If the assumptions about the authorship of the image were correct, then in a way this victory was also a victory for Aliduum. He could rightfully be proud of himself. Perhaps he should even consider becoming a stylist, as his background might not deter a good half of potential clients. As if the beauty contest was actually a contest of surprises, the events that followed soon overshadowed even Eva's victory with their unexpectedness. First, the area designated for the event was surrounded by huge and impenetrable walls, absolutely insurmountable walls. Walls that concealed the owners of "Hopelessness," Futaba, Levisia, Mana, and a small group of visitors. Leila was torn between admiring the magic on display and worrying about the group hidden behind the walls. But very quickly, almost as quickly as they appeared, the walls disappeared. And the sight that presented itself to the Ta'mani's eyes was absurd even by NAILS standards, which was an achievement in itself. The owner of "Hopelessness" and the wounded Levisia were hacking away at the guests trapped with them, Mana was reloading her pistol, Futaba was covering Yumiko, and three of Ianira's soldiers... were having sex with Canaria, as if nothing had happened. Unconscious Canaria. With a bullet wound. Surrounded by the withered corpses of other guests. That was truly NAILS, no more, no less. All that remained was to guess what the bodyguard of the year, Thyme Chaber, had been doing, considering that Leila hadn't seen him at all today.