87: Ceremony
“♪ ~ ♪ ~ ♪”
(Mm… I’d say the turnout is a little less than seventy percent of our target.)
(Considering how many people our agency—how many people NewDi attracts, it’s not a bad number at all.)
(Basically all of the performers at Bon Festival with the exception of us Switch are on the brink of being fired…)
(It’s no wonder, though; they barely have any fans. It makes little difference to try fanning the flames by saying they might never get a chance to see them again.)
(And furthermore. According to the intel I received before, Crazy:B is holding a live nearby on this same day, at this same time. It’s so obvious they’re trying to one-up us. Ahh, how annoying.)
(They’re all the rage at ES right now, and today it seems Akatsuki is their opponent…)
(It’s something of a nostalgic development: up-and-coming revolutionaries taking on the more conservative, but still powerful, veterans.)
(They’ve created a stage that both the old and new generations will want to see.)
(I wonder if Akatsuki will be able to turn the tables on Crazy:B…)
(That megane has a lot of weak spots, and it feels like Akatsuki can’t distinguish itself within RhyLink, since it’s already so well-established.)
(If they’re not careful, they might get eaten alive. This event was advertised as the inauguration ceremony of the new underground stage, so it garnered a lot of attention.)
(They may seem to be doing as they please, but Crazy:B is striking with the deadly precision of an insect in order to kill its prey—)
(It’s getting to the point where we can’t turn a blind eye to it. It would be nice to play pest control, but it’s not the role of a magician to charge into the frontlines.)
(Despite that, I’m sure my nii-sans within the Five Oddballs, that detestable Emperor, and that poisonous snake—)
(All of them have used their own methods to gather a large enough crowds to fill this ES live stage’s seats.)
(It barely matters to them what moves Crazy:B is making; they’ve already achieved their dreams.)
(I’m still lacking something. I still can’t reach my nii-sans…)
(As one of the Five Oddballs, I’m slowly taking root within the school, and I’ve been steadily building up my status—)
(If this live were held at Yumenosaki Academy, I would have been able to mobilize a sizable number of students for the audience.)
(But in order to open the eyes of everyone at ES and make them see the value of those underachievers on the verge of being fired—)
(In order to at least create an opportunity for them, even if not right away, it was absolutely necessary to perform within ES’s domain.)
(Humans only believe in what they can see with their own eyes. Even at their best, they can only believe what they want to believe.)
(In order to make that uncomprehending, unsympathetic lot pay attention to us, we had to raise our voices right next to them.)
(There were no flaws in this plan on paper.)
(The reason things are not developing as desired is because neither I, nor Switch, nor NewDi have the power to twist logic.)
(Such is the limit of unorthodoxy… Our fame as Switch is gradually increasing, but so too is the idea that we are a group only marketed toward hardcore fans.)
(We have a solid fan base so we’re not starving, but we also haven’t made enough progress to have gained outstanding support.)
(In order to entwine ourselves within the great flow of things developing around ES, we need one more push.)
(I hope this Bon Festival will be that very thing.)
(If we come to the aid of the underachievers here, they will feel indebted to us. And that will make it easier to direct the fans those idols gain in the future right back to Switch.)
(If the amount of idols within ES who are under our spell increases, that will also raise our influence.)
(It’s possible to change ES’s—no, our society’s principle of killing the weak to let the strong survive.)
(Becoming a god or a demon is still not something that comes easily to me. But, my nii-sans, I will keep fighting, and I won’t give up.)
“♪ ~ ♪ ~ ♪”
“—That was our song to celebrate the opening of Bon Festival! From here, we’ll turn it over to the others who’ve come to celebrate Obon!”
“There are many here whose names aren’t well known, but maybe you’ll find some hidden treasures among them.”
“We will make several more appearances as well, so please keep enjoying this Bon Festival~ ♪”
“Yes! Bon Festival keeps going until you get home, you know~ ♪ You’ll get to see so many miracles! HaHiHuHeHo~!”
“Now, we will summon the first spirts! They are the only idols representing StarPro.”
“These indomitable soldiers clad in full dress uniform are just now finding ther footing—ALKALOID takes the stage!”
“Please give them a round of applause!”
“Today is their first battle, their debut—Perhaps it will become your pride to have unearthed them from these trenches?”
“Come on, take the stage~ ♪ Let’s burn the incense now at the beginning of our ceremony! The incredible ALKALOID will be sure to smell it and be filled with life!”