Magicians of ES 14
Natsume: Let’s reveal the face behind the mask, shall we?
We have one goal: To gather up all of the words and gestures you have let slip and compare them to what we already know—and weave it all into one story.
Perhaps you are just some old geezers who’ve fallen out of popularity as idols.
Jin: “......”
Natsume: You’re probably getting up there in years—a middle-aged man, by chance? At the very least, you’re certainly not enrolled as a student at Yumenosaki. If you were, there’s no way you would have brought up exams or report cards.
Nowadays, none of your flaws matter so long as you excel as an idol.
Especially at Yumenosaki. The majority of our most renowned senpais chose not to apply to universities, but rather joined ES.
Because of this, our current student body has this vague idea that they will be following in our senpais’ footsteps. I don’t know a single person who is studying for exams or anything else.
Tsumugi: I don’t think that’s a great idea... If you don’t get a degree, you won’t have any safety net.
Natsume: That’s such an old-fashioned way of thinking.
And these guys—this fake Sagami-sensei and Kunugi-sensei—had that kind of thinking drilled into them while they were still in school. They are relics of a bygone era.
Until the establishment of ES, being an idol was an entirely unsustainable profession.
The entire industry had been in decline, and those who leeched off of it were struggling to survive.
The people who lived during that era had a mindset particular to the time. They believed in the power of education, and they believed that graduating from a good college and getting a good job would bring them happiness.
They put too much stock in the dream of such a “respectable” life.
But thanks to ES, the idol industry is on the rise, while other industries are falling to ruin.
Yet even now, they believe in those fairy tales they were told long ago, and they’re still far too concerned with academics and the things that influence it, like exams and report cards.
They’re complete fools. All those overachievers who worked hard on their exams and got a higher education are the ones who have created the economic crisis we face today.
Just look around: anyone can see that the lie we’ve been sold about education is just an illusion.
Jin: “......”
Tsumugi: Ahaha, Sorry about this, this boy has quite the sharp tongue.
Everyone from previous generations at the office really lean into education, so I guess he’s always been a little bitter about it.
Natsume: Yes. I feel refreshed now. ...In any case, this is how I was able to determine your ages.
Then of course. Your voices from earlier were not a recording—you sang live. From this, I can get a decent read on your abilities.
You must be professional singers, or at least you used to be.
You have well-trained singing voices. We’re also professionals, so we can tell that much.
Furthermore. ES still has no strong relations to other industries, so it’s very likely that you’re not just singers from somewhere else—you’re idols.
That makes it easier for the SS Administration Committee—for the people at ES to deal with you.
The amount of stagnating idols within ES are a dime a dozen. Someone must have approached those idols and had them parade around as Sagami-sensei and Kunugi-sensei.
Some details might differ here and there, but how did I do?
Akiomi: “...How did you even know we were fakes?”
Natsume: I guess you weren’t listening to me. There are so many contradictions and strange vibes, you don’t even need Sora’s eyes to see it with just a glance.
Kunugi-sensei never speaks politely in front of his students, and Sagami-sensei never calls Kunugi-sensei by his family name—
I gathered up all of those little details and lined them up, and the truth was revealed. That’s what fortune-telling is all about ♪
Tsumugi: Um, no, that’s not fortune-telling. It’s just deductive reasoning, isn’t it?
Natsume: What? Do you have a problem with that? Do you want me to say something mystical like “I peered into their very souls~” or something?
Anyway. That is how we were able to determine that you’re mere impostors. And we’ll be able to get an even better read on you as we exchange words with each other.
I’m sure we’ll ascertain your true forms soon enough. Your names, your addresses, your families, and so on and so forth—
Akiomi: “......”
Jin: “S–so what? We’re—”
Natsume: In a virtual reality such as this, having your personal information doxxed is the worst thing that can happen. But maybe you old men haven’t realized that, hm?
We have not taken too kindly to you foreign elements invading SHINSEKAI and hindering our operations here.
And so we will eliminate you by any means necessary. We will protect the order here in SHINSEKAI, and we will not hesitate to use force.
Jin: “......”
Natsume: And here we have Aoba Tsumugi-sama—
Tsumugi: Huh? Tsumugi-sama...?
Natsume: Tsumugi-sama is in charge of operations at NewDi, which is famous for being one of the strongest agencies in the industry.
If you want to have a job in this industry in the future, then you should under no circumstances oppose such a high-ranking person.
Tsumugi: Umm... No, I’m really just acting on the president’s behalf. I’m not really all that great. I’m more like middle management~
Natsume: Furthermore. This man is also old friends with the son of the distinguished Tenshouin Conglomerate, one mister Tenshouin Eichi.
Should one of his dear, close friends like Aoba Tsumugi-sama ask it of him, he would enforce a social sanction upon you two, the likes of which would end your lives.
Tsumugi: Wait, no, I don’t think after all this time Eichi-kun would—
Natsume: Bearing all of that in mind—what will you do? If you vow not to involve yourselves in SHINSEKAI in any way from here on out, then perhaps we can overlook what happened here just this once?
This is an ultimatum. What will you do? Do you wish to challenge we who rule over SHINSEKAI face-to-face?
I don’t know who gave you the orders for this job, and I don’t particularly care, either.
If you refuse to comply with our demands—then we will be forced to justify ourselves and thoroughly take you down.
It can’t be worth it, can it? Is what you’re doing here really worth putting your lives on the line like this?
Jin・Akiomi: “......”
Mika: Wh—they disappeared! Those guys just up an’ disappeared?!
Sora: It looks like they’ve logged out~?
Tsumugi: Just what was that, really...? It seems as if Hidaka Seiya-san asked Sora-kun to get rid of them, so we came to lend a hand.
But are we sure it’s okay that we never figured out who they actually were?
Natsume: I have a good idea of who they are, and I know how to deal with them. But they were likely just used as pawns, so it’s not worth getting hold of their personal information and destroying them with it.
There’s no point in going that far.
For now, it’s enough that Sora was able to accomplish what he was asked to do, and that we were able to eliminate the foreign presence as the operators of SHINSEKAI and maintain order.
This case is closed, and all is well.
Tsumugi: Umm... I’ve still got this bad feeling in my stomach... But there’s no point getting caught up in conspiracy theories, so let’s just switch gears and do what we need to do.
Let’s do our jobs.