“It sure is rare for the Songstress to reveal her true nature before people, though.”
Perhaps feeling that delving deeper into this topic would be fruitless, the subordinates around subtly shifted the conversation to something else.
“We’ve been with her for so long, yet she’s rarely acted that way around us.”
“It doesn’t seem like they’ve known each other for a long time too. Did that man win her trust in such a short period of time? Who could he be?”
They have been with her since before her debut, so they knew her quite well.
Monica might have felt some responsibility for everyone’s safety as the employer of the people here, but it was still rare for her to yell like that.
Normally, she would keep to her persona as the Songstress and hide her childishness and quick temper. That was akin to an armor for her.
The fact that she took off that armor and reacted that way to that man could only mean that she cared about him that much.
At the very least, their relationship was deep enough for her to do that.
“That girl might put on a friendly face, but she’s really distrusting of people. Why would someone like that allow such a dangerous guy come close to her?”
“It might have been my imagination, but the way Monica treated him kind of resembls how she treats the kids back at the orphanage.”
“Come to think of it, she called him a brat, didn’t she?”
But of course, there was no way that could be true. Everyone shook their head.
A child young enough to be called a brat by her surely shouldn’t be able to move like that and attack people without hesitation.
After all, he was experienced enough to meticulously knock people out without killing them.
Not even the favored child of a great family or the top student of Garesto Academy could pull something like that off easily.
“He didn’t look like he wanted to talk to anyone other than Monica or the girl with him too. I met his gaze once, and I tell you, those weren’t the eyes you’d use to look at a person with. I got goosebumps, seriously.”
“He’s definitely not normal. He was so extreme too.”
“I thought my heart was going to leap out of my chest when he reprimanded us. Where the heck did that girl pick up that monster from!?”
She limply sat down on the folding chair and wryly smiled in agreement, but that expression quickly stiffened. The problem wasn’t just the unknown escort that the Songstress had brought.
“This time really does seem weird, though. The quality of the people after her seems to be different. Should I call for reinforcements?”
“Even if you did, who and how many will make it today? It’s dangerous to call new people today,” Teresa said.
Even if they called over the off-duty personnel, they might not make it in time for tomorrow’s live performance.
And considering the multitude of adversaries that that man has been exposing one after another, she found it hard to trust anyone other than themselves right now.
“…Yes.”
“It’s frustrating, but for now, let’s just observe the situation,” Teresa said.
Not only could they not eliminate the problematic objects and individuals, they also had no manpower to spare to monitor the suspects they’ve apprehended.
They couldn’t just leave them alone, as the things they’ve brought could by no means be taken lightly, but they couldn’t call the police either.
Teresa could tell that whoever was behind these acts were likely beyond the reach of the police.
And if they canceled tomorrow’s live performance, it was unlikely that the enemy would just give up.
She finally understood why Monica called those two a sword.
She was going to turn herself into a bait, then crush the enemy tomorrow.
From what Teresa knew of Monica, that was a plan that she would undoubtedly see through, but that was exactly why she sighed in frustration and resignation.
“We’ll have no choice but to trust Monica’s eye for people. It’s pathetic, really. I promised to protect that girl, yet because of this body, this is all I can do!”
She hit the folding table as she scolded herself for her weakness. Her subordinates similarly clenched there fists in frustration, but just when they were about to renew their focus.
“Teresa-san, it’s terrible! That bastard knocked down 10 more people!”
When the subordinate in charge of isolating said that, Teresa found herself becoming dizzy. Just what was happening. Who was targeting Monica? And who was protecting her?
Yet despite realizing that this might be something beyond their control, she gathered her strength, stood up, and commanded everyone resolutely.
“…We’ll go retrieve them.”
“U-Understood.”
Then they all left, but at almost the same timing, Shinichi muttered to himself after hunting the 15th enemy.
“Well, as long as that’s how you feel, then we won’t get in each other’s way.”
──Come to think of it, I didn’t mention that the waiting room was tapped, did I?
Shinichi said without remorse. Fortunately or unfortunately, no one saw Shinichi’s fleeting smirk.
That device was already under his control, and through it, he was able to listen in on their conversation.
Only Myuhi and Monica believe in him; hence, everyone else was a suspect. And if they were all suspects, then he might as well see them as enemies.
He had decided on that long before even coming here. That’s why.
“Hey, have you already forgotten what I told you just a moment ago!?”
“Wah, stop it!?”
Monica grabbed him by his collars and violently shook him.
He couldn’t react to that at all, so it was really bad for the heart.
But without any means to resist, the Songstress was able to have her way with him.
Shinichi didn’t mind since he was feeling a little guilty anyway.
Of course, only in regards to the part of how he was causing trouble for her.
So long as things remained the same, there was no reason for Shinichi to change his way of doing things.
He acted as though no one else other than himself existed, resulting in 10 more victims, or rather, captives.
However, the time it took Shinichi to move to the stage from the backstage has allowed the commotion to reach the rest of the staff through word of mouth or instructions from above, engendering an atmosphere of fear and caution toward him.
“…”
But Shinichi didn’t care about any of that.
Who knew if he even recognized that they were wary of him? But of course, he did know. He just didn’t care.
He surveyed the stage as though he wouldn’t miss even the slightest thing, moving with such seriousness that those watching involuntarily held their breath.
He lifted the stage decorations, effortlessly climbed up the large monitor, and smoothly descended to the backstage within moments.
In less than thirty seconds, he emerged from the Hell Set on the stage.
Immediately, a murmur spreads through the surroundings. In his right hand was a mangled mass of metal, the original form of which was unrecognizable, while in his left hand was someone, whose eyes have rolled back, being dragged by their neck.
The people around looked as though they would scream if he so much as glanced at them.
Yet once again, he didn’t spare them so much as a glance and just nonchalantly dropped those things he had on him before walking down the runway.
Myuhi wryly smiled at that, but Monica—
“Hey!”
“Oww!?”
──Smacked him on the head for the umpteenth time.
One could only imagine how frequently he must’ve been smacked considering it wasn’t a long way away from the backstage.
“I’m not asking you to be friendly, but what’s the point of frightening everyone else? Since you’re not laying a hand on them, that means you don’t suspect them, right?”
“Uu.”
Shinichi growled while rubbing his head. It was just a light poke on her part, but it ached.
She wasn’t wrong. There really wasn’t anyone here who possessed anything strange or behaved suspiciously.
However, the way she’s been treating him for awhile now was starting to pile up dissatisfaction.
“Sigh, I’ve finished checking the stage, equipment, and personnel. It might be a bit strange, but there were a few issues with the furniture.”
So he just quickly wrapped the situation by fulfilling his duty to her and giving her a report, but the one to react to that was Myuhi.
“You went out of your way to scrap something and drag out the perpetrator, so elaborate,” Myuhi said.
“There are mechanisms to deploy the restraints hidden in the center of the stage and some parts of the installation of the giant monitor were fragile.”
“…Hey, that’s totally someone trying to crush me dead!” Monica said.
Just the idea of a murder plot targeting oneself was chilling enough, but the thought of being crushed to death by something so massive understandably made Monica pale.