CH 45

Chapter 45: Clinging to Haishin

“Haishin-sama—.”

That’s right. Athena said it.

Kanata was flustered, but he managed to pull himself together thanks to Maria standing in front of him.

“From the looks of it, I guess I got it right, huh?”

“… Ah.”

Maria bit her lip as if she got played like a fiddle and exposed it with her actions.

“… During dinner, you were looking at Kanata-kun with a serious look. I didn’t think it would be the case, but… haah, I failed.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes…”

Kanata turned his gaze in surprise.

Chuckling, Athena hid her mouth with a fan, which suited her aristocratic demeanour very well.

However, since Maria seemed to feel sorry for Kanata, he placed his hand on her shoulder and said there was no need for that.

“Don’t make that face, Maria, just smile like you always do.”

“Ah… Kanata-kun.”

Kanata felt a bit embarrassed by his awkward line, but he turned his gaze back to Athena.

At this point, it was too late for excuses to work and lying would probably be seen through, so Kanata looked at her with composure.

“How did you know?”

“Please stop using honorifics.”

“…”

Kanata’s eyes widened in surprise as Athena said that.

He was so surprised that he twitched his shoulders. He started thinking that she was maybe not a difficult person after all.

“… I don’t think I did anything particularly noticeable in front of you.”

“It was simple.”

She stepped forward and closed the distance with Kanata.

She snapped her fan shut with a sound and spoke with confidence, saying something unexpected.

“Maria’s eyes were the same as for a live broadcast, and Haishin-sama’s height next to Maria was also the same. Usually, it is hard to identify his natural voice because he was wearing a mask at that time through his equipment, but I got convinced by how you breathed.”

Who could have predicted that he would get identified through Maria’s eyes, his height, and his breathing?

Nevertheless, so were Maria and Alphana, and Kanata was affected enough to think that such a thing could happen, considering that even Mira was aware of it.

“… So.”

“Yes”

“Now that you know I’m Haishin, what do you want to do?”

“It’s a given!”

Athena put her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest as if fireworks had gone off behind her.

“I also want to lend you a hand with what I can do! As a fan of Haisin-sama, and above all, as someone who has fallen madly in love with you.”

“W-Wait a minute!?”

As Athena moved closer and closer, Kanata panicked and put his hands in front of him, but Maria stepped forward again to protect him, breathing heavily and blocking Athena’s face with her hand.

“Hmph, hmph!”

“It’s not like I’m trying to stop you or anything. But you look really scary right now…”

Athena’s beautiful face got distorted as Maria’s fingers pressed into her nostrils, but she seemed not to notice. Her eyes were filled with fierce determination as she stared at Kanata.

It was a terrifying sight, though not as shocking as when Mira had entered his room. Still, it was a scary scene.

“Just calm down for now, Athena-san.”

“I understand!”

She took a step back and caught her breath.

(… What’s wrong with this world? There are so many weird people in it. I mean. They’re all beautiful, but there are so many weirdos.)

He muttered it twice in his mind because it was important.

Kanata thinks that she also mentioned that she would like to help.

“Um… wanting to help, that is… no, I understand what you mean. Unfortunately, I don’t plan on doing much outside of the Kingdom right now. And with Maria and Alphana helping me, I already have enough.”

“Hmph! You hear that, Athena!”

“… Gununu!”

It’s certainly nice that she wanted to help, but her sudden offer was overwhelming and hard to process.

If she had calmed down, he might talk to her about any potential activities he could do as Haishin in the Principality.

But it doesn’t seem to be the case as of now.

“Well, thank you, Athena-san. Even here, away from the Kingdom, it’s nice to have someone who speaks kindly to me like that.”

“… Haishin-sama!”

Kanata knew that he had fans all over the world, not just in the Kingdom, but it was still nice to have someone express their admiration so fervently.

Athena felt moved by his words.

Her eyes filled with emotion as she tried to approach him again, only to get pushed away by Maria again.

“… but the view is really awesome.”

He took his eyes off the two and looked at the fantastical garden that spread out before them.

Athena’s castle was probably not open to anyone without permission, so it was a view only seen by a select few.

It would be interesting to live stream this beautiful view, but unfortunately, he didn’t have the equipment for it.

“Athena, why don’t you become a member of the support group for Haishin-sama?”

“I will!”

“Are you regressing to a child?”

Athena’s voice was quite cute as she shouted with enthusiasm.

Kanata was in the middle of asking Maria what this support group was when Maria exclaimed in surprise.

“Haishin-sama, I want to make sure you know this.”

“O-okay.”

“I may have acted wildly before, but I swear, as your fan, I will never be a nuisance to you. So please… rest easy.”

“I understand. Thank you, Athena-san.”

He had a feeling that she wasn’t lying, somehow.

Now that things had come to this, he thought that perhaps in the future, he might be able to plan some kind of event not only in the Kingdom but also throughout the Principality.

It might be too optimistic to think this way, like in his past life, but it doesn’t hurt to dream a little.

“It’s getting a bit chilly.”

As it got a bit colder, Kanata shook his shoulders. Maria and Athena were still talking, but he felt a bit cold and decided to go back inside.

“Today was a wonderful day… Ah ♪.”

Athena looked truly satisfied. However, there was still something bothering Kanata—it was about Lisa.

“I didn’t get to see Lisa-san.”

“What about Lisa?” Athena asked.

“Oh, Lisa said she wanted some fresh air and went outside. I just thought it was strange that we didn’t run into her.”

“…”

… Kanata had a kind of bad feeling about this.

“Let’s check the room where Lisa is supposed to be.”

They went to Lisa’s room, but unfortunately, she wasn’t there.

They searched the mansion for her without making too much noise, but they couldn’t find her anywhere. Even the guards who were watching the gate hadn’t seen her.

“This is strange…”

“They should’ve noticed if she had gone outside, right?”

“That’s right. If there were intruders, the guards would have reacted, but I still can’t shake off this feeling of unease… I hope it’s not something like an abduction.”

Even though his true identity got revealed and it seemed to have settled calmly, it ended up becoming something suspicious and fishy at the most unexpected time.

Even though magical tools were developed to detect when someone goes in and out, there can also be tools that allow one to slip through such security.

However, this was a castle and mansion owned by a noble like Athena, so it’s unlikely that there is someone foolish to lay their hands on a duke’s territory.

“… No way, don’t tell me—”

“What?”

“What is it?”

Then Athena told them that Lisa’s life got spared by avoiding the extreme penalty, but at the cost of losing her family ties.

It turns out that her step-sister had gone on a rampage using the magic eye, and even though the incident got resolved and Lisa was freed from the curse, her relationship with her family remained cold.

“I see. So even though it’s her step-sister’s fault, Lisa’s family might resent her for the mess she caused.”

“It would be rash of them if that’s the case.”

However, the truth was still unknown, but as far as Kanata was concerned, Lisa was someone he had helped once.

“If Lisa’s family is involved, in a way, I’m not unrelated to it either,” Kanta said.

“Haishin-sama…”

In any case, he had made a decision. Kanata decided and faced forward.

******

“Why would you do something so foolish?”

“Shut up! You’re the one who pushed us to h**l! If only you got executed, that child wouldn’t have lost her eyes!”

With a slap, Lisa got hit by her father.

As Athena had suspected, Lisa’s disappearance was caused by her family.

In the end, whether or not Lisa was under evil’s eye enchanting was irrelevant. Her family simply disliked her after that incident.

Her family only saw her younger sister, and they considered Lisa, who had hindered her sister’s ambition, a nuisance.

“I’m not afraid, as I have that person with me.”

Who that person is, was not relevant to the current situation, but if he had to ask, he would question if this girl was mentally stable.

Of course, unlike Athena, Lisa didn’t realize that Kanata was Haishin and only clung to the delusional thought that he was always with her.

Haishin was the light that saved Lisa from despair, and she couldn’t help but rely on him emotionally.

“You are the one who is stupid! You are the one who got deceived by a filthy entity!”

Her family, including her sister, resented Haishin for bringing them misfortune, so it was natural that they did not look favourably at Lisa, who believed in Haishin.

“It’s all because you were here. Everything went wrong… because of you!”

“…”

Lisa never believes in miracles, only in Haishin.

What happened next was to protect her, but he was unaware that his actions would only drag her further into the swamp. This world is truly over.

“That’s enough.”

“Huh!?”

“Who are you!?”

The voice that echoed in the dim underground room belonged to a mysterious man wearing a black outfit and a mask. For Lisa, he was the embodiment of hope and everything she holds dear.

“… ah… ahh!”

She knew him despite his disguise.

“Haishin-sama…!!”

Yes, it was Haishin who showed up.

[Postscript]

The Dark Knight.