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shivalriesSeason: Spring, one year ago
---
Location: Checkmate Stage
Eichi: ......
Tsumugi: Haha, why the long face, Eichi-kun? If you're not feeling well, you can leave Checkmate to me and go take a rest.
Eichi: I'm afraid I can't do that right now, Tsumugi.
While I appreciate your offer, I'm here on Tsukinaga-kun's personal request...
In fact, I feel I should apologize to you for roping you in when you have nothing to do with this.
You really are such an agreeable person.
Tsumugi: Well, we're on the same side, aren't we? I'd follow you even into the depths of hell, Eichi-kun~♪
Eichi: You say that now... A day will come when you'll regret those words, I'm sure.
In any case... I'm feeling perfectly fine, so you don't have to worry about me. I can't overexert myself, of course, but I could truly jump for joy right now at having the chance to be in such a big event.
I'm still trying to lay low, so I haven't been active onstage much.
That's why I'm positively ecstatic at the thought that I'll be able to greet the audience with songs and smiles—just as an idol should.
Well, Kei— I mean, Hasumi-kun did give me a scolding. In fact, he came all the way to the dressing room to lecture me, and it was so obnoxious that I had to have my servants restrain him.
What a foul mood he was in. He's always so aggrieved when things don't go as he'd hoped.
Tsumugi: Just like you, Eichi-kun. I guess childhood friends are bound to be alike in some ways ♪
Eichi: I wonder... Well, I would hope that the both of us are at least heading in the same direction.
At any rate, while I may be here on Tsukinaga-kun's request, I believe Checkmate to be a crucial performance in its own right, too.
And that requires me to come here personally to play things by ear.
As usual, I'd like you to follow my lead.
Tsumugi: Got it. Are you okay with just me, though? Wouldn't it be better to have the rest of fine here too?
We're up against that huge Chess unit... Just based on our numbers, they might completely overwhelm us.
Eichi: Mmm... I think the others might be more of a hindrance than anything if we dragged them over.
They haven't been in fine for very long, and we can't predict what they'll do.
So I'd prefer to have just you and me offer our personal aid to Knights.
I'd rather not stand out too much, either. Take care not to bring up fine's name while onstage.
Tsumugi: Roger that! I'll leave the limelight to them, like a good helper should ♪
Um, so, "Knights" is the name of the unit we're helping out, right?
New units are popping up like daisies these days. I just can't keep up with all their names.
Eichi: That was the intention, after all. I've given you a brief explanation already, but we're currently conducting a test run for the unit and DreamFes systems.
We're simply sharpening our knives for our ultimate purpose.
Tsumugi: Sounds like you're cooking something. Well, I promise I won't tell anybody, so I would really like it if you could share your goals and plans with me.
Eichi: I'll tell you when the time is right. The plan is still in its preparatory phase; there is no guarantee it will go well.
I would feel rather abashed to say it out loud. It would sound like I'm having delusions of grandeur.
Tsumugi: Ahaha, so you're just embarrassed, huh? There's nothing to be ashamed of when you're trying your very best. I'd never laugh at you for that.
Eichi: I'd assume so. You don't seem to have strong opinions about anything at all.
That aside... Hasumi-kun and I have been working here and there to set the groundwork for the new systems.
We took this chaotic and disorderly world and reworked it into a chessboard with clearly defined rules.
With this, we broke Chess, the greatest power at Yumenosaki, into minute pieces.
This was accomplished with the unit system, though of course we weren't so transparent about it. We didn't want anyone to notice that this was all our doing.
Without registering with a unit, there are only so many DreamFes lives one can qualify for. By placing limitations on individual performances, we made it harder to perform solo.
Plus, student council-approved DreamFes lives are now tied to one's grades.
If you don't participate in DreamFes, you'll be branded as a failing student and lose the privilege of all sorts of benefits.
And to those in Chess, who were doing nothing but indulging in indolence and worldly pleasures... what a fright it must have been.
Continuing their slothful lifestyle would have meant losing everything.
As a result, they hurriedly began to break off into their own units.
However, there is a limit to how many members a unit can have.
Tsumugi: Wait, really? I didn't realize there was a limit.
Eichi: There is no definite limit—a unit could have ten members, or even a hundred. However, under the current circumstances, there is no merit to making a unit larger than five people.
The more people in one's unit, the fewer rewards and benefits one can receive in DreamFes.
Rewards are set to a fixed amount no matter how many people are in a unit, after all.
This means that the larger the unit, the less each member earns.
In fact, a large-scale unit like the former Chess would conversely generate more and more debt with every performance.
There is not a single benefit to remaining in a large group.
We surreptitiously circulated this idea among the populace, framing it as a smart way to game the system.
As a result, those who fancied themselves as clever jumped on the bandwagon without thinking twice.
And so Chess, bound together by little more than the shallow promise of reward without effort, shattered into many fragments—
Into small groups of around five people each.
The members broke off from their giant guild that was Chess, and grouped up with whomever they were closest to, all without a second thought.
---
< A Solitary Throne Chapter 1 || Masterlist || A Solitary Throne Chapter 3 >
---
Location: Checkmate Stage
Eichi: ......
Tsumugi: Haha, why the long face, Eichi-kun? If you're not feeling well, you can leave Checkmate to me and go take a rest.
Eichi: I'm afraid I can't do that right now, Tsumugi.
While I appreciate your offer, I'm here on Tsukinaga-kun's personal request...
In fact, I feel I should apologize to you for roping you in when you have nothing to do with this.
You really are such an agreeable person.
Tsumugi: Well, we're on the same side, aren't we? I'd follow you even into the depths of hell, Eichi-kun~♪
Eichi: You say that now... A day will come when you'll regret those words, I'm sure.
In any case... I'm feeling perfectly fine, so you don't have to worry about me. I can't overexert myself, of course, but I could truly jump for joy right now at having the chance to be in such a big event.
I'm still trying to lay low, so I haven't been active onstage much.
That's why I'm positively ecstatic at the thought that I'll be able to greet the audience with songs and smiles—just as an idol should.
Well, Kei— I mean, Hasumi-kun did give me a scolding. In fact, he came all the way to the dressing room to lecture me, and it was so obnoxious that I had to have my servants restrain him.
What a foul mood he was in. He's always so aggrieved when things don't go as he'd hoped.
Tsumugi: Just like you, Eichi-kun. I guess childhood friends are bound to be alike in some ways ♪
Eichi: I wonder... Well, I would hope that the both of us are at least heading in the same direction.
At any rate, while I may be here on Tsukinaga-kun's request, I believe Checkmate to be a crucial performance in its own right, too.
And that requires me to come here personally to play things by ear.
As usual, I'd like you to follow my lead.
Tsumugi: Got it. Are you okay with just me, though? Wouldn't it be better to have the rest of fine here too?
We're up against that huge Chess unit... Just based on our numbers, they might completely overwhelm us.
Eichi: Mmm... I think the others might be more of a hindrance than anything if we dragged them over.
They haven't been in fine for very long, and we can't predict what they'll do.
So I'd prefer to have just you and me offer our personal aid to Knights.
I'd rather not stand out too much, either. Take care not to bring up fine's name while onstage.
Tsumugi: Roger that! I'll leave the limelight to them, like a good helper should ♪
Um, so, "Knights" is the name of the unit we're helping out, right?
New units are popping up like daisies these days. I just can't keep up with all their names.
Eichi: That was the intention, after all. I've given you a brief explanation already, but we're currently conducting a test run for the unit and DreamFes systems.
We're simply sharpening our knives for our ultimate purpose.
Tsumugi: Sounds like you're cooking something. Well, I promise I won't tell anybody, so I would really like it if you could share your goals and plans with me.
Eichi: I'll tell you when the time is right. The plan is still in its preparatory phase; there is no guarantee it will go well.
I would feel rather abashed to say it out loud. It would sound like I'm having delusions of grandeur.
Tsumugi: Ahaha, so you're just embarrassed, huh? There's nothing to be ashamed of when you're trying your very best. I'd never laugh at you for that.
Eichi: I'd assume so. You don't seem to have strong opinions about anything at all.
That aside... Hasumi-kun and I have been working here and there to set the groundwork for the new systems.
We took this chaotic and disorderly world and reworked it into a chessboard with clearly defined rules.
With this, we broke Chess, the greatest power at Yumenosaki, into minute pieces.
This was accomplished with the unit system, though of course we weren't so transparent about it. We didn't want anyone to notice that this was all our doing.
Without registering with a unit, there are only so many DreamFes lives one can qualify for. By placing limitations on individual performances, we made it harder to perform solo.
Plus, student council-approved DreamFes lives are now tied to one's grades.
If you don't participate in DreamFes, you'll be branded as a failing student and lose the privilege of all sorts of benefits.
And to those in Chess, who were doing nothing but indulging in indolence and worldly pleasures... what a fright it must have been.
Continuing their slothful lifestyle would have meant losing everything.
As a result, they hurriedly began to break off into their own units.
However, there is a limit to how many members a unit can have.
Tsumugi: Wait, really? I didn't realize there was a limit.
Eichi: There is no definite limit—a unit could have ten members, or even a hundred. However, under the current circumstances, there is no merit to making a unit larger than five people.
The more people in one's unit, the fewer rewards and benefits one can receive in DreamFes.
Rewards are set to a fixed amount no matter how many people are in a unit, after all.
This means that the larger the unit, the less each member earns.
In fact, a large-scale unit like the former Chess would conversely generate more and more debt with every performance.
There is not a single benefit to remaining in a large group.
We surreptitiously circulated this idea among the populace, framing it as a smart way to game the system.
As a result, those who fancied themselves as clever jumped on the bandwagon without thinking twice.
And so Chess, bound together by little more than the shallow promise of reward without effort, shattered into many fragments—
Into small groups of around five people each.
The members broke off from their giant guild that was Chess, and grouped up with whomever they were closest to, all without a second thought.
---
< A Solitary Throne Chapter 1 || Masterlist || A Solitary Throne Chapter 3 >
