Chapter 7

Perhaps I’m harping on this too much, but I do believe we can win.

As everyone clearly knows, there are more than just the five of us in Knights now.

We are not simply the so-called main members of the group, either. Knights has become a large group, and we are in the position to train a large number of younger members.

Well, yeah. We’ve got lots of newbies in reserve.

But most of them aren’t at pro level yet, in terms of fame or ability.

They don’t exactly count toward our fighting strength.

It’s ES’s policy to separate us from those kids as much as they can so they can work as their own units and gain independence.

It’s the same thing as Ryuseitai. The younger members’ training and management are left up to more specialized organizations—the P Association and the Yumenosaki production course.

We’re supposed to just concentrate on our own activities.

You’re acting like this doesn’t have anything to do with you, but you’re the one who came up with the policy during euthanasia, right Ritsu-chan?

Fufu. I do understand that type of reasoning, and that it’s a complicated situation.

And of course we would rather follow ES policy and avoid going against our superiors.

But we still have a profound connection with these new members.

We have done many favors for them, and it would be a pity for us to let them walk free without repaying us.

The fact of the matter is that some of them cannot yet be separated into other units and must instead remain as part of Knights.

Yeah, but those are the ones who weren’t good enough to stand on their own. They’re not knights; they’re more like the civilians that the knights protect.

Even still, they too are Knights. Of course, there are a number of units under Knights’s jurisdiction that were trained by us and are now participating in SS.

However, the majority of them were placed in other regions, and due to the travel ban, it’s difficult for them to work with us.

However, there are still a few of our newcomers located here in Osaka. And they happen to be listed in the Knights family registry.

Our family registry, huh?

…But in SS, there’s a limit to how many people can be in a unit. The minimum is two, and the max is fifteen.

And then there’s the declaration that five to seven people is most desirable.

That’s probably just ES expressing its own opinion, though. There’s no real penalty even if you go over the fifteen-member limit.

Right… But ever since Tsukasa-chan took the throne, we’ve been pretty straight-laced.

Well, it’s not like we want a repeat of last year where we wasted our time trying to gain back our reputation while the guys above us breathed down our necks.

You act as though obeying our superiors is a bad thing. It’s important to establish a firm hierarchy with rules to maintain it.

I guess that’s kinda true…

But that’s why we only brought five or six newbies with us, so we’d be following the limit placed on the number of people in the unit.

They didn’t really have anywhere else to be, and they don’t have the strength to stand on their own, so there really wasn’t any other choice than to follow us.

Yes. We came to the conclusion that it would be too difficult for them to be active in the public eye, so they’ve remained in hiding for the time being.

But they are also Knights. And so I would like to use them to their fullest potential during our upcoming week-long live in the rented-out theater.

I am not so naive as to think we can work for such a long stretch of time without food, drink, or rest.

It may be possible if we push ourselves to our limits, but it will certainly lower the quality of our performance.

And I really, really don’t want to go that long without sleeping, anyway.

I might get so sleepy that I can’t help myself anymore. And then my true nature might come out and I’ll take a bite out of Suu~chan or Nacchan to regain my vitality.

Are you still persisting with that vampire-type persona?

Fufu, I see what you mean, Tsukasa-chan. Basically, we should take advantage of our newbies so we can get some proper rest.

Exactly. They may be few in number and far inexperienced, but if they come together in solidarity, they should be able to fill in for us.

For example, we can have them stand in for Ritsu-senpai on the stage whilst he gets food and rest.

However, if we rest in a different room, there is the possibility that we will be confronted, and that we will be challenged to a live showdown—

So if possible, I would ask you to sleep off in the recesses of the stage.

Sleeping in a little corner with the sound exploding right in your ear? I mean, I’m sure I could sleep through that, but I’m a pro (?) at sleeping, so ♪

Yeah, right. But it’s still better than performing nonstop without any rest or food.

…Thinking about how our newcomers may feel, though, I do feel bad.

We don’t often give them an important role on their own, but rather only use them as a simple convenience in times of trouble.

They owe us that much. If you’re gonna use our name and privilege and act all self-important, you’re gonna have to put in some work every once in a while.

With great power comes great responsibility.

If you give treats to people who don’t pull their own weight, you’re just keeping them as pets instead of recognizing them as humans, right?

You’re right. We should go forth with that reasoning and make use of our new members.

They may hold a grudge against us after all is said and done, but right now, I don’t see any other way to make it through this hardship.

The die has been cast. We already asked our new members to head over to the theater we rented, and to make preparations for food and everything else we may need.

Well, they had plenty of time on their hands, anyway. They were able to hop right to it. And it’s not like we could cancel any of the work we’d already accepted, so we’ve been busy up to now.

Yes. We’ll be heading to the location as soon as possible and meet up with our new members so that we may begin our live without delay.

We’ve already hired the on-site staff with our SSL$.

Of course, we did ask them to keep secret our location and other details when we first hired them.

As a result, it is unlikely that another idol will stir up trouble with us before we reach the theater.

Our hiring of the staff was dependent on the condition that they would keep those secrets.

Should they break that agreement, I will dismiss them immediately for breach of contract.

And because the staff who can be hired with SSL$ or L$ are office workers affiliated with ES—

I don’t presume they will beleaguer us unless ES comes to view them as being unable to do their jobs. I imagine they’ll do what they’ve been tasked with without issue.

Fufu, you’re surprisingly good at making the ES system work for you, Suu~chan.

Rather, for someone of my position and standing, utilizing the established system to move people around at my discretion is like second nature to me.

At Yumenosaki, emotions are the top priority in everything. You must first build up someone’s trust if you wish to make use of them.

To be honest, I found it difficult to comprehend its machinations; it ignored its own interests, even though they stood out so clearly to me.