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Chapter 27: Ah, the wild T-shirt showed up
For some time after Haishin caused the phenomenon known as the Aurora Borealis, the world was experiencing an even greater wave of Haishin boom.
It mainly spread among young people, of course, but it has recently become widespread among the elderly.
“I wonder if I will hear Haishin-kun’s voice again today.”
“Who knows? But I’m looking forward to it.”
It was not unusual for old ladies in the neighbourhood to get together and have such conversations, gossiping about a young idol.
Of course, not only old ladies but also old men that came to know through the youngsters how they felt about the system of slavery that Haishin had created. Some could be seen talking about what a wonderful young man Haishin was.
“…”
Meanwhile, a man dressed in a suspicious-looking costume was walking through the royal capital.
“… long way to go, huh.”
He was a young man who had left his hometown for a reason.
He stopped at a nearby restaurant, ordered a quick meal and waited for it.
“How strange. It should have been so painful, but somehow I feel refreshed.”
He muttered to himself.
He had a girl who had once pledged her future to him.
The two were not aristocrats, but commoners, so it was just a youthful promise, but even so, the people in the village recognized how well they got along, and even he was strangely certain they would be together in the future.
“Well, I guess that means these things happen.”
But he never got together with the girl.
Unlike him, who had a weak body, she wanted to become an adventurer, and when a group of adventurers visited her village, they took her on a journey.
“I’ll come back stronger for sure!”
She saw him off with a smile, and he waited for her return.
Six months or so later, she came back… but to his surprise, she was already in a relationship with the leader of that adventuring party.
“I’ve decided to be with him. I’m sorry, but I can’t be with a weakling like you anymore.”
“So give it up, you t**d. I’ll make this girl happy.”
It was not only the two of them, but the rest of the group laughed down at him.
It was frustrating but understandable to be attracted to a leader who was a stronger and better man than he was, but naturally… sadness still followed.
The taunting and cursing may have triggered it, but it awakened the power that lay dormant within him.
“W-what is this…?”
“What the h**l are you doing?”
It was a raging, violent, magical power.
It gave him a lot of confidence.
He thought he could use this power to look down… at those who made fun of him, no. He thought he could do more than that, but he didn’t.
Because the whole time she was gone, he was listening to the words of a certain being.
“Hey, guys! It’s that time of the day again!”
… Ohh, there he is again!
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Yes, his emotional support was Haishin, the charismatic streamer.
[Haa… She dumped you? I see… it must’ve been so hard.]
“Must’ve been so hard.” His words were very kind…
[It is said that there are as many break-ups as encounters. You don’t need to feel down just because you got dumped once. And if you get another girlfriend and she breaks up with you, you can come to me like this and complain about it. Not only me but everyone else will be there to comfort you. Right, everyone?]
Many comments were filled with comfort in response to the letter, endorsing his opinion.
Of course, it was the same for him. He sent word that he’d do his best with the other comments.
[Love is difficult, is it not? But don’t get depressed just because you got rejected. It’s true that it’s hard, and you might want to cry, but you should push yourself to be a good man. Become a big man and laugh at them for dumping you. It’s more beneficial to live a relaxed life like that.]
His words at that time prompted him to make a clean break-up with her.
He, however, felt like punching the group’s leader. But he turned his back on him, saying it wasn’t worth it hitting a guy like him.
“… Haishin, you really are a wonder. It’s not normal to be able to save someone so much with just one word. You’re an amazing person.”
Perhaps there could have been a future in which he wielded his power as he felt like it, and if it weren’t for the awakening of his magical power, there would have been a future where he would have gotten beaten to a rag.
But he decided not to and to keep his eyes firmly ahead.
And now he stands in front of a brothel that is said to be the finest in the kingdom.
[If you’re going through a hard time and need some relief, try a brothel. People look at prostitutes differently these days, and people working there take pride in their work. I’m sure you’ll have a great time there.]
It’s true that he had broken up, but he needed healing.
So he came here to be taken care of by Veneti, a brothel in King’s Landing.
“… Alright, I should go!”
A future that possibly existed.
He’s the type of guy who awakened his powers because his precious childhood friend got stolen from him without his knowledge. Today he had become a successful regular customer thanks to the beautiful and kind women of the brothel.
Now, Kanata, the one who was responsible for bringing that man into the swamp like that, sneezed.
“Achoo!”
Maria and Alphana, standing beside him, looked at him worriedly but then laughed. Someone must be gossiping about Haishin since he didn’t seem to have a cold.
“Well, that’s certainly possible.”
“Fufu. He’s going to be sneezing for the rest of his life.”
Kanata shook his head, “I don’t want that.”
The three of them were now in a room in the royal city’s church as Alphana’s guests.
Kanata, aside from Maria, drew gazes from the sisters as to who he was, but they seemed convinced when Alphana explained that he was a dear friend.
“But still, a supporter, huh?”
“Yes. What do you think?”
“I think it’s a pretty good idea.”
Kanata came here because of a certain proposal.
The proposal was that Maria and Alphana should take the lead and become supporters of Haishin, Kanata’s role.
Kanata wondered if it was roughly like that in his previous life, though each streamer was able to become such an existence.
“Although Kanata-sama did not show his true face, many people have seen you in that black robe and mask at that time. With just his voice and hands, he was an idol, but by actually showing his true form, he proved to the people that the existence of Haishin was indeed real.”
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“That is one of the reasons why famous painters in the kingdom want to preserve the image of Kanata-kun as a portrait. I think we could also maybe do that or make some other goods for Haishin-sama.”
In other words, along with the idea of spreading the word about Haishin in a more visible way, they both want him to help them with that.
As for Kanata, he had thought that making goods would be a little further down the road, but he did not expect he would get a proposal to do what he had been thinking earlier in this way. And while Kanata was surprised, he could not stop being excited to talk about something like that as a streamer.
“Goods, huh… I’ve been thinking about that, but I wonder if it’s okay? For a princess and the saint to support me.”
“Of course, I won’t make it public, but I thought it would be better if only Kanata-sama knew.”
“Yeah. Now that we’ve gotten to know each other, we’d like to help out.”
“… Both of you.”
Kanata was about to cry at how gentle and full of compassion they were.
Thinking about it, he became famous as Haishin after coming to the other world. But he hadn’t met anyone who would be so accommodating and consider Kanata as a Haishin.
(… Oh no, I’ll lose my heart at this rate. No, I shouldn’t. I should be thankful to them.)
Kanata himself was only an ordinary person, so he could only fantasize.
However, Kanata here can be said to have made a fine play… because if he had accidentally said that he was in love with them, it would have made his feelings as Kanata even stronger and perhaps it would have been something he could not come back from.
“By the way, why did you suddenly start talking about goods and stuff?”
“Ah, the thing is…”
It was a genuine question.
To answer Kanata’s question, Alphana took out something… It was a shirt, a black robe and a mask with Haishin printed on it.
“W-what is this?”
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Apparently, it wasn’t Maria or Alphana who made this.
When he asked for more details, they told him the shirt was on the statue of the Goddess honoured in the church this morning.
“… Is something wrong with the church?”
“Fufu, well, there are many Kanata-sama fans here too.”
However, they really didn’t know why this shirt was there.
They don’t know who in the world could have done such a prank, but Alpana mentioned perhaps it could be a divine mandate from the Goddess.
“That’s impossible.”
“Right.”
“I agree.”
Yare-yare, the world is such a cruel place.