âIâm Haishin,â he told them, to which Maria and Alphana were stunned.
Kanata smiled at that, but at the same time, he thought that he might have made a mistake.
(Thatâs what happens when you suddenly get told a secret, right? I mean, itâs not about being a princess or a saint, but theyâve considered me a friend, so I think itâs much of a surprise to tell them.)
Kanata had already told them that he was Haishin, though.
Whether this was true or false, Kanata could no longer escape.
The first one to speak up was Alphana, despite the fact that the girls were quite scared of how they would respond to KanataâŠ
â⊠Um, Iâm sorry Kanata-sama. Actually, Maria and I were aware of it.â
â⊠huh?â
Kanata sounded distracted at Alphanaâs words.
Maria, who stood beside her, also nodded awkwardly, and Kanata sat there hemming and hawing, saying seriously.
â⊠Since when?â
âThe very day I met you, Kanata-sama.â
âThe day we encounter the lady courtesan.â
Aside from Maria, Alphana seems to have been aware of it for quite some time.
Kanata had thought that absolutely no one had found out about him, and thus more than a counter to his own confession came out.
â⊠I see. You found out⊠but how did you know? Mira⊠no, you didnât go through my room or anything, did you?â
He almost mentioned Miraâs name for a moment, but he didnât think they snuck into his room as she did.
Even if they had known that Kanata was Haishin, they would never have done such a thing⊠He wondered if he expected too much⊠or trusted too much, but at least he knew that Maria and Alphana were very important friends.
(⊠Maybe I trust them too much? Jeez, I donât know anymore.)
Kanata began contemplating the possibility of turning back time if he could, but Alphana interjected in response to his earlier question,
âThe reason we noticed it is⊠well, it can be said to be the result of connecting small clues. When Kanata-sama and I met, Kanata-sama had an injury on her hand, right?â
âAh⊠Yeah.â
Then Kanata remembered.
The thing had fallen on his hand, and he had put some sort of poultice to reduce the swelling. Apparently, thatâs what Alphana had noticed.
The only person he had a conversation with at the time was Alphana, so he was caught completely off guard, and the result was him thinking he wouldnât get found out, which was a magnificent act of naivete.
âI got somewhat caught up in the intonation of how you speak, you know? When that demon said something significant to you, and when you saved that lady⊠your words were completely Haishin-samaâs, Kanata-kun.â
ââŠâ
In other words, Kanata was providing the girls with hints, albeit unconsciously.
Well, he doubted if they were fully sure they had noticed, but from the way the girls didnât seem too surprised, he guessed they really did find out.
âBut how could you not tell me? You kept quiet all this time.â
âThatâs obvious.â
âThatâs given.â
The reply was quick.
They walked over to Kanata, and first, Alphana gently shook Kanataâs hand.
âEven if we know the truth, we are fans of Haishin-samaâs⊠Kanata-sama. We would never do anything to embarrass you because from that moment on, we donât think we are qualified to call ourselves fans.â
âAlphanaâŠâ
Maria also took Kanataâs free hand.
âYeah. Alphana is right. We want Kanata-kun, or to say Haishin-sama, to freely deliver your voice, and we look forward to hearing you speak, in your usual way, without fear.â
âMariaâŠâ
Kanata thanked them both from the bottom of his heart.
In his previous life, he had seen cases where the leakage of a streamerâs secret had led to the spread of strange stories or weird rumours.
There were many possibilities, such as face reveal, address disclosure, etc., but these girls did not leak any secrets to the outside⊠It may be naive at that point, but Kanata trusted them quite a bit.
âKanata-sama, we are on your side.â
âYes, Kanata-kun. You have a princess and a saint on your side⊠which I think is pretty reassuring, donât you think?â
â⊠Yeah. Thatâs true.â
Kanata nodded.
However⊠There was one thing that bothered him.
(⊠What is it?)
There was something faintly scary about the atmosphere enveloping the two of them.
The two people looking at Kanata had very kind eyes, but he couldnât help but think that their eyes were slightly clouded, if anything.
However, it was natural to feel embarrassed when two beautiful girls were staring at you while holding your hand at close range like this.
âOh, by the wayâŠâ
âYes.â
âIs something wrong?â
⊠and the two of them closed the distance even more.
Kanata took a step back this time, as it seemed they were competing.
âIâm sorry, Kanata-sama.â
âSorry, Kanata-kun.â
The two of them noticed and quickly pulled their hands away from him.
Kanata apologized in his heart for being rude to them, thinking that the disturbing feeling he had felt earlier must have been his imagination since these girls were so considerate.
âNo, I was just wondering why no one has come here since a while ago.â
âThatâs because I used eviction magic.â
âIs that so?â
âYes, I did. From how Kanata-sama was acting, I thought it was something that must not be heard from outside, but it seems to have worked.â
Kanata was also considerate of his surroundings, but apparently, it was thanks to Alphanaâs magic that kept people from coming to this place.
He said, âThank you,â and she giggled while replying, âYouâre welcome.â
âNow then,â Kanata continued as he finally arrived at the main topic.
âYou know, there is a reason Iâm telling you both this is out of the blue. There are a lot of rumours going around about Haishin right now.â
âI know. Itâs unpleasant.â
âIâve heard of it. Itâs disgusting.â
Oya, the two of them are emitting a chilling aura again.
Maria mentioned something while wearing such an aura. In a way, it shattered Kanataâs determination to rely on them in this way.
âMy father and mother are leading the charge to retract these rumours. Weâve already found out from a confidential source which country theyâre working with and for what purpose.â
âEh?â
âIn the first place, they say that Haishin-sama is a mass murderer, but we have no information that anyone has died anywhere in large numbers like that. Moreover, we know that what Haishin-sama is doing is using magic power that is impossible for ordinary people.â
â⊠you mean?â
Maria said this boldly as she held up her fingers and puffed out her chest.
âFather, Mother, and other heads of state have come to one conclusion. Either Haishin-sama holds a nearly infinite amount of magical power we do not understand, or he uses some unknown magical device that we do not know about.â
So, to sum up what Maria was trying to say, it was this.
Countries were unaware of who Haishin was and didnât understand how he conducted his streaming activities⊠but they only seemed to judge that Haishin had some kind of power and that it solved the problem of magic power depletion.
âSo this is how the problem will get resolved without Kanata-sama needing to rely on us. Haishin-samaâs name has great significance in this world, and he has great support from the people. This is why many people, including Mariaâs parents, cannot tolerate any attempt to embarrass you.â
Kanata felt a sense of relief when he heard Alphanaâs words.
However, Kanata thought it was just an act of making others clean up the mess he brought, and he was not satisfied with it.
Thatâs why Kanata also didnât change to do what he could.
âI still have a lot to prove with my own hands. I need to ask you two to help me with thatâI trust you both⊠you know.â
âAhâŠâ
ââŠ!â
Kanata said so, looking embarrassed.
He didnât know what the two were thinking, but they were making a face that girls shouldnât be allowed to do while taking advantage of the fact that Kanata wasnât looking.
They had unlikely looks, unbecoming of a princess and a saint.
âSo what can I do for you⊠un?â
âWhat is it?â
âHuh?â
The two quickly returned their faces back to normal.
True to princesses and saints, the bashful look disappears in an instant.
âYou know the orb for measuring magic power used at the time of entrance into the school?â
âYes, I know. Itâs an important magic item, so itâs stored in a safe place.â
An item able to measure magic power is a pretty important one.
That is why it was kept at the back of the institute under strict security even though it had no other use.
â⊠Thatâs right! And I was thinking if you could let me borrow thatââ
âVery well. As a princess, I give you permission.â
âYes. As a saint, Iâll give you permission to do so, and of course, Iâll take full responsibility for whatever condition you end up in.â
There is nothing to worry about as, apparently, it will be easy to borrow it.
So this is how Kanata revealed his true identity to the two of them⊠but their inner feelings were so wild that ten typhoons were generated in one place.
[Iâm afraid of what these women were thinking, so Iâd better stop just imagining.]