140: Trump Card

Hm. It does seem likely that a son whose parent’s honor was hurt would seek revenge.

Not gonna lie, I thought Hiro-kun was that kinda guy when he first showed up claiming he was gonna “destroy idols” and whatever.

But then he just turned out to be an idiot who doesn’t think about anything.

Yes, it’s an easy story to grab onto. Of course, it doesn’t have to be rooted in reality; just making the claim and convincing the public of its veracity… That’s enough to limit Crazy:B’s poison.

Crazy:B are trying to convince everyone that they are the correct idols, and ES is in the wrong.

But Shiina-kun is not an idol. He is a terrorist rampaging about to settle a grudge—Or so the story goes.

If we say as such, everything they say will have less credence. Whoever they sting will only feel a little prick; it won’t be a fatal blow.

If we assert that Shiina-kun doesn’t care about anything else so long as he can tear down idols, you can suck all of the truth out of their words.

And Shiina-kun himself seems to have this innate constitution which makes it necessary for him to continuously eat large quantities of food.

We could even kill him physically. By making him out to be a terrorist and destroying his credibility, he would in turn lose his source of income.

So to say, Shiina-kun would want to avoid such a turn of events. Even he would want to remain alive, yes?

And so if he catches a whiff of these motives, it will keep him from making any moves.

“You all have spread your demagogy, so I imagine you’re prepared for us to do the same?” If we say that, they won’t be able to object.

Th–that’s so sleazy… I don’t want to win if it means doing that kinda thing.

Yes. That we are just and they are evil, that we are allies and they are enemies—Doubt is cast upon these assumptions.

Should we really allow ourselves to become the soldiers for such a person?

I apologize for coming off like a villain.

Of course, we won’t exploit these aforementioned weaknesses unless things take a turn for the absolute worst.

I’ll just show Amagi Rinne-kun a few cards from my hand, since he seems to have a good head on his shoulders… If I just let my ulterior motives slip, he’ll probably figure it out on his own.

They’ll think they’ve already lost.

Scary… Ngh, I really feel like we’re doing something super evil here.

Fufu. I only ever asked you to become the protagonists—But not all protagonists are heroes.

If you really look into it, you’ll find a horde of villains acting as protagonists.

Throughout history, the victors have always paraded around as justice itself, as goodness incarnate, so that truth is difficult to wrap your head around.

That’s quite the warped perspective. Even now, is our world a hotbed of vice and corruption?

Fufu. Perhaps I should apologize for being so pessimistic.

But in the end, we’re here to discuss Amagi Rinne-kun, who sits at the center of Crazy:B as their ringleader—

……

And we’ve gotten hold of his weakness. In the worst case scenario, we’ll strike using that, but—It seems as though I’m just repeating myself over and over now—but he’s not so stupid as to plunge himself into a bottomless pit of filth.

No. He would never choose the path that drags his cute “Brosef” along into his downfall and ruin.

……

Well, it isn’t as if I know him all that well—He’s difficult for even me to read. So perhaps I can’t go asserting that with such confidence.

The more I try to apply common sense to your thought process, the further I’ll get from the truth.

So in the worst case scenario, if Amagi Rinne-kun is truly as crazy as his unit name suggests…

If he truly is such a morally bankrupt person that he doesn’t care about throwing away Shiina-kun, his brother, and everyone else other than himself.

In the case where he ignores all of our tactics and strategies… It’s possible that he will step over everything, will stop at nothing to destroy anything and everything.

At the very least, the idol industry will be so chaotic that it will be difficult to repair.

—He will destroy idols.

Well, that’s supposed to be his brother’s—Hiiro-kun’s thing. But your brother Rinne-kun can actually turn that into a reality.

I hope we do not experience such an ironic twist of fate.

No. I am exhausting my efforts to make sure such a thing never happens—yesterday, today, and the hereafter. My entire life has been dedicated to this.

So please, lend me what power you can. For the sake of the future of idols, become soldiers who will put their lives on the line and fight.

Become the heroes who will suck out the poison, who will go down in history.

……

Do everything you possibly can and wait for heaven to respond in kind. …With all of our trump cards gathered, we can finally move to the real battlefield.