481 Worthy of far more (1/2)

Her voice wasn't loud, but it just so happened to be that the others had a lull in their conversation. Not to mention, a word like ”cheated” would always be a sensitive one, which was why everyone heard what Miyabi said.

”My story didn't cheat,” Seiji said helplessly. ”There's already an announcement on the internet from Thunderbolt Literature about it.”

He had already mentally prepared himself to receive some criticism.

Miyabi wanted to say something, but stopped herself.

”To be mentioning a word like cheated, could you be talking about 'Brother Monogatari?'” an inquisitive voice asked them.

The person who spoke was the young man who appeared like a college student… his name tag said Koushi Nomura.

Seiji nodded at him.

”I know a bit about what happened with the judging process. That novel didn't cheat at all. Just as the announcement on the internet said, it received an award based on its own merits. It's actually quite amazing,” Nomura stated. ”If it had been written in time to be formally submitted for the award contest, it definitely would have received the Gold Award rather than just a special award.”

”Thank you.” Seiji was rather surprised to hear someone defending him. ”I'm quite happy to hear you saying so, Nomura-san… But saying that it could have received a Gold Award is an exaggeration.”

”It's not too much at all, it's the truth,” Nomura insisted. ”'Brother Monogatari' is of even higher quality than the story that won the Gold Award.”

”Tsk!” A displeased sound came from behind them.

The sound came from the middle school boy… the name on his nametag said Shoutarou Rinura.

He was glaring at Nomura disgustedly with an expression that said, ”Just who do you think you are, saying such a thing?”

”That's the unanimous review by all the judges,” Nomura said as he looked in Rinura's direction. ”All the judges, without exception, stated that they believed 'Brother Monogatari' to be the best novel of the year's batch, exceeding all other light novels submitted as candidates.”

When Nomura said this, not only did Rinura's expression freeze over, everyone else was shocked as well.

The one-piece dress woman couldn't help but ask, ”All the judges, unanimously… is that really true?”

”That's what I've heard. If it wasn't for the fact that 'Brother Monogatari' was too late for the submissions, it would have definitely received a Gold Award rather than just a special award. A pity that it was written too late for the contest,” Nomura told her. ”This story is truly amazing. It's worthy of far more than simply a special award.”

The entire room fell silent for a moment upon hearing this.

”Nomura-san, how did you learn about all this?” Seiji asked him.

”I have a relative who works as an editor for Thunderbolt Literature. He was the one who told me,” Nomura replied.

”Hmph… who knows if you're lying or not,” Rinura growled in a low voice.

”It's the truth, but it's up to you whether to believe it or not, Gold Award winner Rinura-san.” Nomura identified Shoutarou Rinura as the Gold Award winner. ”Your 'The Undying Indestructible Avenger' is pretty good as well, but it can't compare to 'Brother Monogatari.' Especially the vocabulary aspect of your story is still quite immature. It's easy to tell that the story was written by a middle schooler.”

The middle school boy's face reddened slightly upon hearing this.

”So… so what!? Vocabulary isn't really that important for light novels!”

”Yes, you could say that. That's why your story was able to win the Gold Award.”

”Winning the Gold Award is the top prize! That means my story is the best! Not some 'Brother Monogatari' or whatever!!” Rinura raised his voice. ”That story sounds like garbage simply from the title! It shouldn't have even been made a candidate!”

”Hey,” Seiji spoke with an icy tone.

He didn't use a loud voice or a particularly fierce tone. However, everyone could still feel his imposing manner simply with his ”Hey.”

It was as if a sleeping lion had been awakened.

”If you have objections to my story, that's your right to think that to yourself. However, don't go around insulting my story in front of me,” Seiji said in a low voice. ”Otherwise, I might just beat someone up.”