Chapter 6

Now, children, watch me closely!

One, two, three turns… by spinning as fast as you can, you can bore into the earth just like a drill and travel around underground!

And! The moment you look away, here I am to attack you from behind!

Look, a monster! If it catches you, it’ll eat you~!

It’s interesting, don’t you agree? While I was spinning around, your eyes were held captive by my long hair dancing around! Thus I stirred up a cloud of dust and hid in the shadows of the playground equipment, waiting for the moment to strike!

Humans have many blind spots, so it ends up looking as if I’ve teleported!

There, I’ve revealed my tricks~☆ If you were impressed, please applaud! That sound is my greatest joy!

…Oh my, please be careful, okay? You wouldn’t want to fall down.

Take my hand, if you ever so please—aaand up you go! Come with me, little miss and young sir, and I will take you into the sky~☆

Wheeze, pant… Does Rapunzel have infinite stamina? How can he keep up this energy for so long?

In the blink of an eye all the kids were going gaga over him.

The way he trains himself must be unique. The nature of muscles is such that power output is inversely relational to durability…

But with Hibiki-sama, his muscular build seems to vary from moment to moment.

It’s hard for me to build muscle, so I can’t really enjoy all that stuff other boys love talking about… is it really that cool?

Indeed. It’s as if he is reborn anew with every passing instant. I wonder just how he’s able to achieve that.

I’m fascinated by him in a medical sense—I’d love to dissect him… ♪

Can you not say such terrifying things…?

Hey, Prez~ I’m getting kinda tired.

All right. You worked hard today, Tori. Come here and give me a hug ♪

There… You’re burning up after soaking in the sun’s rays all day; it’s like hugging a flame.

Fufu. That’s just ‘cause you’re always freezing. But I’ll warm you right up~ ♪

It is rather stifling, isn’t it…?

But President-sama, what is the meaning of this performance?

I had thought I was rather accustomed to dealing with children, but they’re all unique in their own way…

It’s been a rather disruptive experience—or rather, a tiring one.

I agree. As usual, Anzu-chan is a mumbler, so I’m not sure what she’s trying to say. Why don’t I explain?

Or, I’ll at least share my own conjecture.

A loooong, long time ago… I had a dear friend who loved to draw manga. I thought it looked fun, so I tried to copy him.

It was through this experience that I learned how difficult it was to create my own work.

It is a common mistake for novices to make things too difficult for themselves.

I was unable to express myself intelligibly; I used jargon that only I as the writer could understand.

I failed to convey the themes of my work in a straightforward manner, and ended up meandering far off course.

That which I wanted to share most was obscured through my lack of skill and ignorance of convention.

The crucial things can always be expressed using a brief formula. And yet, I continued to add unnecessary embellishments until it became nonsensical.

Some may call this decadence a personal “style” or “taste.”

But if in the end the point is not conveyed, your story is worthless. No, it defeats the entire purpose of telling a story to begin with.

President-sama, this explanation, itself, is already quite over our heads.

Fufu, then let me put it a different way.

If something requires intensive study and analysis, that is art. If, by contrast, even a child can understand it without trouble, that is the Platonic ideal of entertainment.

The artist who has mastered their craft is is one thing, but the amateur cannot create a masterpiece so easily.

As new technology and tools develop, it may become possible to do so.

But we don’t have the time to wait for that. The original dance is due in a week, yes?

The only ones who may master an art in such a short period are true geniuses, or monsters.

Tori. I understand that as a proud member of fine, you always want to stand at the summit of the mountain.

But this is a dangerous idealism; you must face reality.

You want to do the hard things, the things no one else can replicate. That is what it means to be in fine.

You believe that if you are not the strongest of them, then you cannot rule. Is that correct?

You must learn what your position is in a more positive sense.

A monarch is not a god or a demon beyond human comprehension, but rather a representative of the masses. The will of the people speaks through you.

That is what I want our new fine to be.

The fine of the past was a squadron of angels sent on a divine mission to reform this corrupted earth…

We acted as though we were superhuman, apostles and heroes right out of the myths.

This brought us victory, but it also brought us quarrel and pain.

Hiyori-kun… Nagisa-kun… Tsumugi… their wings were torn off, and they plummeted to the earth drenched in blood.

But you, Tori, and Yuzuru, and Wataru… you all found me and embraced me.

You encouraged me to rise again, and together we became a brand new fine.