After some time passed, it was finally time for the stage portion of the Heavenly Festival to begin.
“You’re wrong. Origami isn’t answering her phone.”
Tobiichi, our vocalist, had bailed.
“What about Ai, Mai, and Mii?”
“We’re calling them right now.”
And on top of that, Ai, Mai, and Mii still hadn’t shown up.
Itsuka-kun called them and put the line on speaker.
“Hello!”
“Where are you all? Please hurry and get here!”
“Sorry, but we’re not going on stage!”
What the hell was that? Out of nowhere!
The girls who had promised to help had just declared they weren’t performing.
“What?”
“But Miku said we shouldn’t go on stage~”
“That’s so lame~”
Grrrind!
I ground my teeth in frustration.
So this was what she meant when she told me to stand on stage if I could.
She had already used her influence on them to ensure they wouldn't show up.
What a filthy trick.
Seriously, what an annoying bunch.
“What do we do? Playing with just the five of us is...”
“Commander. You’re listening, right?”
“Yeah. At this point, we’ll have to use lip-syncing for the vocals. We can’t cover every instrument, but I’ll send over some people to help.”
“...Right. Please do.”
The vocals would have to be lip-synced, and since Ai, Mai, and Mii had vanished, we’d have to rely on support from [Fraxinus] for the instruments as well.
And so, we found ourselves facing the Heavenly Festival stage event in the worst possible condition.
“Waaaaaah!!!!!”
The cheers of the audience roared, and the glow sticks in their hands shimmered in the dark.
Then the song’s intro began, and the stage spotlights flared to life.
“Hah. They really did prepare properly.”
The performers on stage were students from Rindoji Girls' Academy.
Their concept seemed to be idols.
Well, with [Diva] being an idol herself, I suppose that made sense.
Still, it was infuriating to see her standing there so casually after sabotaging our team.
“She really can sing like crazy.”
Even if she was rotten to the core, an idol was still an idol.
The singing was genuinely top-class.
I didn’t know if it was the power of an angel or simply the result of [Diva]’s talent and effort, but her vocal ability was absolutely worthy of praise.
“But why aren’t those girls singing?”
That was Tohka’s question from beside me.
Just as Tohka noted, [Diva] was the only one singing.
“The others are backup dancers.”
“Backup dancers?”
“Yeah. They’re like supporting characters in a manga. They exist to make the one center stage look even better.”
That didn’t mean the backup dancers were lacking in looks, though.
As Tonomachi-kun had mentioned, every student at Rindoji was beautiful.
It was just that [Diva] was even more stunning than the rest.
“Waaaaaah!!!”
Shortly after I finished explaining backup dancers to Tohka, [Diva]’s performance reached a crescendo.
More accurately, the first song had ended, and she was preparing for the next.
“Why aren’t the lights coming on?”
But the lights that should have illuminated the stage remained dark.
“We messed with the venue equipment a little on our end. Once the excitement dies down a bit, they’ll come back on.”
“Honestly. Our commander can be pretty underhanded too.”
The culprit was the commander.
Under her orders, they had tampered with the venue equipment and cut the power.
Our side could be just as dirty when they wanted to be.
“They started the dirty tricks first, didn’t they?”
“Well, yeah.”
[Diva] had played dirty first, so I had to agree with the commander.
“Now then, how will she respond—whoa.”
I was wondering how she’d handle the blackout, but then a brilliant light began to emanate from [Diva]’s body.
That was...
“No way, an angel?! Here?!”
It was the unmistakable light that appeared when an angel manifested.
“I’m going all out! This is where the real show starts!”
[Diva], having manifested her angel in front of ordinary people who could actually see it, began a performance even more dazzling than before.
“No way...”
Itsuka-kun’s voice leaked out, sounding defeated.
“Shido?”
“Itsuka-kun?”
“The gap is way too huge! There’s no way we can win this!”
What Itsuka-kun said was brutally realistic.
And honestly, he was right.
We were amateurs. They were professionals who made music their livelihood.
We were starting from a massive disadvantage.
I was the one who had accepted the bet knowing that gap existed.
So even after hearing Itsuka-kun’s words, I couldn’t argue back.
Because I was the one who felt that difference more than anyone else.
“That’s quite the dark expression.”
While Itsuka-kun and I looked gloomy, a voice drifted from beside us.
“Were you seized by the leg of a corpse?”
“Disheartened. At this rate, you’re already as good as defeated before you’ve even started.”
Kaguya and Yuzuru appeared.
“So the extra help the commander was sending was...”
“Yes. It was us.”
Thanks to them joining the fray, we ended up taking the stage with five people in total.
******
“Are you really sure this is okay without any practice?”
At last, our turn had come.
I didn’t know how skilled Kaguya and Yuzuru were, so I was worried.
“Hmph. Don’t underestimate us. We are already well-versed in every kind of instrument.”
“Confirmed. Kaguya won the 72nd match, ‘Drummer Who Calls the Typhoon,’ and Yuzuru won the 84th match, ‘Best Bassist Award.’”
I wondered if those had been part of the many bets they’d made in the past.
“Look at this! I’m in charge of this!”
Tohka proudly shook the tambourine she was holding.
“A tambourine with a pure, noble tone. Impressive.”
“Agreed. It suits you very well.”
“...Yeah.”
Listening to Tohka, Kaguya, and Yuzuru talk, I steadied my mind.
We’d already come this far, and for the sake of the spirits I’d sealed, I had to give it everything I had.
“Next up is the band performance from Raizen High School.”
When the announcement came over the speakers, the five of us stepped up onto the stage.
“I’m insanely nervous.”
I’d never stood in front of this many people before; the moment I stepped out, my nerves went wild.
Having all those eyes focused on me was hard to bear.
Still, I couldn’t give up.
I turned and looked toward Itsuka-kun and the others.
Everyone nodded back, signaling that they were ready.
“All right, let’s go.”
Starting with Kaguya’s drums, the other instruments gradually joined in.
But then.
“The music isn’t coming out?!”
The audio failed.
The worst possible situation.
“There’s a problem! Hiki, you’ll have to sing it yourself!”
The commander’s voice made it clear that something had gone horribly wrong.
“Haa...”
My head was spinning.
I had no idea how to fix this.
Then I thought back to the performance from just a moment ago.
When [Diva]’s second act came to mind, a small smile crept onto my lips.
I pulled my mouth away from the microphone and said quietly, “Everyone, stop playing for a second. When I give the signal, start again.”
My teammates looked confused.
Even so, they stopped.
“Commander. Turn the lights off. And when I give the signal, turn them back on.”
[...Fine.]
The commander followed my instructions.
-What’s going on?
-No idea. Is this some kind of act?
The audience began to whisper.
“Ssshh—”
I took a deep breath.
Then I opened my inventory and swapped the butler outfit for something easier to move in.
I equipped the pyromancy flame in one hand.
I activated [Pyromancy: Flame Whip] in the air, compressing the flames until they were a dense, unstable sphere. Once they could be compressed no further, I spoke.
“All right! Everyone ready?!!!”
The audience remained silent.
Right. They weren’t expecting anything.
That was perfect.
This was the signal.
Boom!
As the gathered flames exploded in a blinding burst of light, I strummed the guitar and shouted at the top of my lungs, “Let’s have some fun!!! Kill them all with flashiness!!!”
On my signal, the lights flared back on and the music crashed in.
The performance began like the sudden break of a storm, more than enough to shock the audience into submission.
“Waaaaaah!!!!”
The crowd roared at the flashy display.
Looking out at the audience, I could see Yoshino, the Fire Keeper, and Rinne all shedding their worried expressions and starting to enjoy themselves.
“Here we go!!!”
I’ll show you exactly what a real stage looks like, you idiots!
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