CH 24

“I’m Haishin,” 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.

(That’s what happens when you suddenly get told a secret, right? I mean, it’s not about being a princess or a saint, but they’ve considered me a friend, so I think it’s 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 Kanata…

“… Um, I’m sorry Kanata-sama. Actually, Maria and I were aware of it.”

“… huh?”

Kanata sounded distracted at Alphana’s words.

Maria, who stood beside her, also nodded awkwardly, and Kanata sat there hemming and hawing, saying seriously.

“… Since when?”

“The very day I met you, Kanata-sama.”

“The day we encounter the lady courtesan.”

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.

“… I see. You found out… but how did you know? Mira… no, you didn’t go through my room or anything, did you?”

He almost mentioned Mira’s name for a moment, but he didn’t 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 don’t know anymore.)

Kanata began contemplating the possibility of turning back time if he could, but Alphana interjected in response to his earlier question,

“The 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?”

“Ah… Yeah.”

Then Kanata remembered.

The thing had fallen on his hand, and he had put some sort of poultice to reduce the swelling. Apparently, that’s 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 wouldn’t get found out, which was a magnificent act of naivete.

“I 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-sama’s, Kanata-kun.”

“…”

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 didn’t seem too surprised, he guessed they really did find out.

“But how could you not tell me? You kept quiet all this time.”

“That’s obvious.”

“That’s given.”

The reply was quick.

They walked over to Kanata, and first, Alphana gently shook Kanata’s hand.

“Even if we know the truth, we are fans of Haishin-sama’s… Kanata-sama. We would never do anything to embarrass you because from that moment on, we don’t think we are qualified to call ourselves fans.”

“Alphana…”

Maria also took Kanata’s free hand.

“Yeah. 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.”

“Maria…”

Kanata thanked them both from the bottom of his heart.

In his previous life, he had seen cases where the leakage of a streamer’s 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.

“Kanata-sama, we are on your side.”

“Yes, Kanata-kun. You have a princess and a saint on your side… which I think is pretty reassuring, don’t you think?”

“… Yeah. That’s true.”

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 couldn’t 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.

“Oh, by the way…”

“Yes.”

“Is something wrong?”

… and the two of them closed the distance even more.

Kanata took a step back this time, as it seemed they were competing.

“I’m sorry, Kanata-sama.”

“Sorry, Kanata-kun.”

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.

“No, I was just wondering why no one has come here since a while ago.”

“That’s because I used eviction magic.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, 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.”

Kanata was also considerate of his surroundings, but apparently, it was thanks to Alphana’s magic that kept people from coming to this place.

He said, “Thank you,” and she giggled while replying, “You’re welcome.”

“Now then,” Kanata continued as he finally arrived at the main topic.

“You know, there is a reason I’m telling you both this is out of the blue. There are a lot of rumours going around about Haishin right now.”

“I know. It’s unpleasant.”

“I’ve heard of it. It’s disgusting.”

Oya, the two of them are emitting a chilling aura again.

Maria mentioned something while wearing such an aura. In a way, it shattered Kanata’s determination to rely on them in this way.

“My father and mother are leading the charge to retract these rumours. We’ve already found out from a confidential source which country they’re working with and for what purpose.”

“Eh?”

“In 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.”

“… you mean?”

Maria said this boldly as she held up her fingers and puffed out her chest.

“Father, 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.”

So, to sum up what Maria was trying to say, it was this.

Countries were unaware of who Haishin was and didn’t 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.

“So this is how the problem will get resolved without Kanata-sama needing to rely on us. Haishin-sama’s name has great significance in this world, and he has great support from the people. This is why many people, including Maria’s parents, cannot tolerate any attempt to embarrass you.”

Kanata felt a sense of relief when he heard Alphana’s 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.

That’s why Kanata also didn’t change to do what he could.

“I still have a lot to prove with my own hands. I need to ask you two to help me with that—I trust you both… you know.”

“Ah…”

“…!”

Kanata said so, looking embarrassed.

He didn’t know what the two were thinking, but they were making a face that girls shouldn’t be allowed to do while taking advantage of the fact that Kanata wasn’t looking.

They had unlikely looks, unbecoming of a princess and a saint.

“So what can I do for you… un?”

“What is it?”

“Huh?”

The two quickly returned their faces back to normal.

True to princesses and saints, the bashful look disappears in an instant.

“You know the orb for measuring magic power used at the time of entrance into the school?”

“Yes, I know. It’s an important magic item, so it’s stored in a safe place.”

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.

“… That’s right! And I was thinking if you could let me borrow that—”

“Very well. As a princess, I give you permission.”

“Yes. As a saint, I’ll give you permission to do so, and of course, I’ll take full responsibility for whatever condition you end up in.”

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.

[I’m afraid of what these women were thinking, so I’d better stop just imagining.]