Published at 31st of December 2020 6:00 pm

Chapter 370: SSC

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*Dododododo…*

A mysterious sound was ringing inside my head at the reception room.

How ominous.

“‘Mio-sama Fan Club’ and the ‘Certain Kill Tomoe Family’?” (Makoto)

I ended up repeating what entered my ears while having that annoying sound in my head.

Mio-sama Fan Club.

Certain Kill Tomoe Family.

My head feels like it is going to split.

“Yes!” (Ates) <I have changed Arches’s name to Ates as she was introduced in the extras and that was the name she had.>

But the idol egg, Ms.Ates, stood up from her seat and tightened her fist as she affirmed my question with splendid fluency.

“By the way, a number of the extremists and the fervent ones of similar mind -the freaks- have formed different factions, and would devote themselves to even more core fan activities. And due to their iron rule of not allowing their members to be affiliated to other organizations, the present state is that it is getting chaotic because of the amount of different factions.” (Ates)

“…By the way, Ates-san, where are you affilia—have you joined any of those?” (Makoto)

For some reason I didn’t want to say the word affiliated.

“I am participating in the Mio-sama Fan Club and the Certain Kill Tomoe Family.” (Ates)

Maybe because that’s just how she is or because she was being considerate to me, Ates didn’t say ‘affiliated’.

She is a girl that gives out the air of a sporty type, so I thought that maybe she would be in that group with the iron rule stuff.

Her passion is pretty impressive after all.

“Aah, both. So there’s that possibility, huh. Haha…” (Makoto)

Figures, huh.

‘You are going for both Tomoe and Mio?!’, is what I thought for a moment, but when I think about it, it is fine to root for both.

It is just that there’s places that don’t allow going for both.

Since I began listening to her talk, I have begun to imagine Tomoe and Mio as the ultimate wives kinda thing, and it was a weird picture.

…Alright, I have somehow managed to return the image back to a milder one.

“Do you know just how much those two have contributed to the guild?! As a former guild receptionist, I can’t choose one to root for!” (Ates)

“Okay…” (Makoto)

So serious.

Where’s the normal Ates-san?

This woman, I am beginning to think that it would be better for her to not make her get too serious about idol stuff.

“I think there’s personal preferences, so there will obviously be favorites though!” (Ates)

“…”

So there’s favorites, oi.

“I will root for them with my full power in a 6:4 ratio! I am buying all the goods too!” (Ates)

What do you mean by goods?!

Our company is not dealing with those kinds of merchandise!

“I-Is that so? Uhm, right, who is your 6, Ates-san?” (Makoto)

I continue the conversation while barely managing to maintain a calm face.

“Mio-sama.” (Ates)

“Aah, so that’s why you were so happy. I understand now.” (Makoto)

I am relieved.

I was scared about that being the 4.

It still doesn’t change the fact that I was pulled back by her 6, but it does relieve me a bit.

“By the way, the highest one within the fan clubs of Mio-sama is the Mio-sama Fan Club, but there’s also other groups competing with the Mio-sama Fan Club and it is by no means a stable top spot. They are originally a group of outsiders that learned of Mio-sama at the Rotsgard school festival, so in the sacred grounds of Tsige…” (Ates)

M-My brain is melting.

What’s with this surprise sanity check?!

Why do I have to get an insane lecture on the fan clubs of Mio?

“By the way! As for Tomoe-sama, the Certain Kill Tomoe Family has a scale and unity that’s on a whole other level, and the other powers are in a three-way deadlock. They are called the triumvirate and—” (Ates)

“Stop! Stop!!” (Makoto)

“?”

“I understand plenty well now that my employees are being treasured by the adventurers and the people around. Thank you very much, that’s enough.” (Makoto)

Yeah, in a lot of meanings.

“Raidou-sama.” (Ates)

“Is there…still something?” (Makoto)

“You said ‘the adventurers and the people around’?” (Ates)

“…Yeah.” (Makoto)

“NAIVE!! Tomoe-sama and Mio-sama—no! Shiki-sama, Akua-san, and Eris-san as well…different from the artificial idols like us who were mish-mashed together! They are natural idols! It seems like you don’t understand at all!” (Ates)

Since when has this become an idol war where producers spill blood, sweat, and tears?!

I ended up peeking at the pointless darkness of Tsige that has nothing but risks in it, and yet it feels like there’s no return once you get a sight of it.

I feel like this is stealthily derailing past the horizon.

“On top of that…that young yet perfected…Komoe-chan too.” (Ates)

“K-Komoe?” (Makoto)

They are completely nuts.

I didn’t know everyone was being treated like some kind of entertainer.

And I have realized it now.

I see. It looks like Rembrandt-san had noticed this hidden passion.

That’s why he tried to create an existence similar to that out of the Tsige people?

Meaning that me thinking this was a novel idea that came from zero was actually just me being ignorant about this side of the world?

Really?

I really don’t want to believe it.

Tsige is the harbour and mother of the people who aim to challenge the wasteland.

It is a gathering of quirky people, but it is a city of tough elements…

“What’s with this place…?” (Makoto)

“That’s right! Just what’s with the Kuzunoha Company?! Is it a treasury of idols?! How can you mass produce them so easily?! Are you planning on making all the Tsige residents into worshippers?!” (Ates)

“…” (Makoto)

Ates is completely in fan mode.

Hmm, but…everyone in Asora are idols, huh.

I would say they -including me- are more like stars than idols.

They shine powerfully by themselves after all.

The term idol has been getting pretty loose lately, but if we go by the original meaning of idols being ideal images, it just doesn’t fit them.

“This is a rare chance to come by, and you see, I don’t have my own knack or like…a secret technique? And I would like to hear about it from you!” (Ates)

“…Ates-san, you see Tomoe and Mio as idols?” (Makoto)

Well, obviously she does.

“NO!!” (Ates)

I don’t get anything anymore.

“How to say it, it is like Tomoe-sama and Mio-sama are on a whole different plane. I feel like everyone from the Kuzunoha Company are on a different level in foundation.” (Ates)

“Well, in terms of level, they indeed are.” (Makoto)

“Please don’t joke around! I am not talking about that level!” (Ates)

“…Okay.” (Makoto)

“It is like the stage they are standing on is different. We are in a line of work where we are required to become famous!” (Ates)

…I see.

I thought she was the type of girl that took things instinctively, but that answer of hers feels like she understands with pinpoint accuracy what’s demanded from in an idol.

If it is niches, the possibilities spread out endlessly, but she has properly gotten a grasp of the basic points.

“I…see…” (Makoto)

“Everyone here in this company has no intention of that, but their way of acting, their way of life, their words; everything about them draws the eyes of everyone around them! It is hard to put it in words…” (Ates)

“You are saying it is spontaneous?” (Makoto)

“That! Raidou-sama sometimes says some really strange but amazing stuff. As expected of a representative-san that leads a company.” (Ates)

“…Thanks.” (Makoto)

“Yup yup, something like that! Even if you tell us to become popular, we will simply be trying to fit the likings of as many people as possible. It is not like we ourselves are emitting something ourselves. Even though Tomoe-sama and Mio-sama are living life the way they want, it looks incredibly charming.” (Ates)

“…Well, Tomoe and Mio are the strongest in terms of power in this city, so rather than saying it is the ideal of someone, it is more like they are free to walk their own path without caring about what others say…no, the type that can freely see through their own will. In a sense, their body and heart are strong. At the very least, that’s how it looks. That must be why.” (Makoto)

“Then, in order to become like them, I would have to raise my level? No matter how you put it…that’s impossible.” (Ates)

“In the first place, just like you said, Tomoe and Mio are the type that you admire because they live life the way they want. Rather than idols, they are more like stars.” (Makoto)

“…”

“Rather than becoming the receptacle for the admiration and ideals of others, they are in a standing that’s similar to pulling people in with the shine of their way of living. It looks similar, but it is a bit different from making them your objective for the future.” (Makoto)

It is also different from what Rembrandt-san is looking for in these idols.

“Are you saying it is a mistake to admire and aim to become like them?” (Ates)

“What’s desired from the idols of Tsige 5 (temporary name) is literally as the name states, an ideal, which is what weights the most. I think the main part of it is to become popular and serve as advertisers for products though.” (Makoto)

“I will try to get a proper name change.” (Ates)

“Tsige will be getting bigger from now on, and I think they will want an easy to tell symbol for the city. One part of that I think will be covered by the ace rank adventurers, but that will most likely not be enough. The symbol for the citizens, the symbol for their many desires. If put in cool terms, they would be the symbol of what Tsige must protect. I think Rembrandt-san has formed you people to serve as that ideal figure.” (Makoto)

I’ve got an inkling that’s the case.

Like, a really small inkling.

A huge city that doesn’t rely on the religion of the Goddess at all. In order to control this giant population, I feel like they will be putting stars and idols like Ates and the adventurers to work.

I think this line of thought of mine is pretty good.

No, if I were to be honest, it is because I suddenly remembered *Macross*. <A franchise that combines both mechas and idols.>

I personally don’t have much knowledge in idols, and don’t have much knowledge in anime of that genre. The most I know is that there’s games and names of them.

The very first thing that surfaced in my mind when hearing about idols was the transforming battleship ‘Do you remember love?’. <Name of the song is Ai wo Oboete Imasu ka?>

I am a mess when it comes to ideal figures and symbols, and my image of idols is that they disappear soon, and my image of stars is that they are the ones who take leading roles.

I remember that my friends would reprimand me saying ‘why is your knowledge only on that level?!’ and would say this and that about it, but it has already slipped out of my mind!

No matter how fervently you talk about something I am not interested in, this is how it ends!

Sorry!

“…I am surprised. I thought that your way of thinking was incredibly straightforward. Someone who only sees what’s in front of you, and no matter what’s in the way of that, you would overcome it with brawn and ideas you think up on the moment.” (Ates)

“Ates-san, you really are not mincing your words anymore.” (Makoto)

“And everyone in the company is doing a good job as the helmsman to avoid the big waves. That’s the kind of work division I thought you guys had…” (Ates)

“Guh…it is unexpectedly not wrong which makes it hurt even more…!” (Makoto)

“I see. The people who live in Tsige who are protected. The symbol of the weak… That’s why we were told to perform on stage in front of the soldiers at the war… But that would make it a short lived role, right? In that case, you gather admiration for a long time, gather wishes… Gather? Hm? That means…” (Ates)

“Ooi, Ates-san? Are you okay? If you want to think about something, I think it would make it easier to turn the gears in your brain if you were to go back and lie down to think.” (Makoto)

A pretty haphazard suggestion.

I call Ates who had begun to mumble and ponder.

Go with being an idol, or aim to be a star? Or maybe take the third choice and marry into money while she is still popular?

Is she thinking about those kinds of possibilities?

My sanity points have been reduced by quite a lot from simply learning about the existence of fan clubs for Tomoe and Mio, and I am already pretty mentally fatigued here.

“I will do just that… Then, Raidou-sama, I will count on you for the archery lessons.” (Ates)

“Ah, yes. Looking forward to it as well.” (Makoto)

She gets up from her seat, but Ates must have been disciplined in the ways of a noble lady, she gave a graceful bow, and spoke about the archery matter that I thought she had forgotten, and then left.

I ended up responding in a formal manner too.

That…she must have been pretty nervous herself just like me.

Now then, as for me…I will try investigating the fan clubs of Tomoe and Mio.

Now that I know about them, it is difficult to act as if I don’t.

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