Requiem - Lux aeterna Chapter 13

[shivalries]

Season: Winter

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[Auditorium: Live Show]

Ritsu: ~…♪

(Mnn… There’s a weird feeling I can’t seem to shake. I thought so hard about all the possible outcomes, but everything’s still going so differently from how I’d predicted.)

(On the surface—or basically, in Repayment Fes itself—you could say we’ve already enjoyed considerable success at this point in time.)

(We’re not facing off directly with other units this time around, so there isn’t much point in comparing ourselves to others, but the fact is…)

(We Knights have the audience riled up more than any other unit right now.)

(I mean, it’s only natural. On top of being at the strongest we’ve ever been, now we’re going at it like our lives depend on it.)

(Any old footsoldier couldn’t even lay a scratch on us right now.)

(The changeover of generations has everyone else stumbling around trying to deal with it, after all. It’s taking a lot just to survive.)

(Still, we have things even harder. If we don’t win Requiem, then worst case scenario, Knights will be disbanded and Ousama will quit being an idol…)

(With both our kingdom and our ruler held hostage, we’re battling with our backs against the wall.)

(Clearly we have no choice but to fight tooth and nail for this. Even me, half-dead as I always am… I have to give it my all.)

(So far, everything seems to be lining up perfectly.)

(We boasted such outstanding results in last month’s Chocolat Fes that we can now get all sorts of Repayment Fes benefits.)

(For example, this auditorium has the largest capacity in the school, and we get to use it as much as we want. With this, we can really go all out with our performances...)

(I heard that Repayment Fes was first-come first-serve, but our participation had already been set in stone from the very beginning…)

(We’ve been given a better stage than any other unit out there.)

(And on top of that, since we’ve been keeping Requiem a secret, our guests don’t have to know a thing about the issues we’re facing…)

(They won’t have a clue we’re dealing with something so serious, so they can just sit back and enjoy themselves, free from worry.)

(Well, keeping our fans calm and happy is something that we Knights take pride in.)

(And what’s more, by the rules of Requiem…we’re changing the production and structure of our performances every single time.)

(The King for each round will showcase their own ideal stage.)

(It’ll freshen things up and should be full of surprises and excitement for the audience. We wouldn’t do something so unsightly as to confuse them with all these changing styles…)

(So each performance should blend smoothly into the next, each time bringing a new, unknown delight.)

(To be honest, we’ve been getting a lot of feedback lately about how Knights seems to be stuck in a rut… It’s almost cruel how quickly people get bored of things.)

(Of course, we’ve also been vaguely aware of how slowly we’re inching forward.)

(And yet, because our popularity’s been rising steadily thanks to our consistently big audiences... because we’ve been riding on this upward curve…)

(We had the arrogance to think that maybe there wasn’t really a need to push ourselves to change how we did things.)

(Things would be fine as they are, we figured. We wouldn’t have to work hard or change anything to be given peace and happiness forever…)

(There’s no way that’s true, but somehow, we all ended up thinking it was.)

(Everything comes to an end, no matter what. Everyone dies eventually. Secchan and Ousama will graduate, and everything around us will keep changing whether we like it or not.)

(If we let our guards down and stay stuck in one place, the world will leave us behind before we know it.)

(And then we’ll fade nameless into history… Just as Ousama said we would.)

(If we remain forever as the outdated knights of fairy tales, we’ll never survive in modern times.)

(Knights needs a transformation, and this Requiem might become just that.)

(This amazing stage changes in atmosphere with every performance. This is...our brand new style.)

(When Nacchan was King, it surprised me how wild and intense that stage was… It was every part a storm.)

(Nacchan, always with a warm smile, always trying to calm us down when we start fighting…)

(…aggressively pushed forward to center stage, vying to stand out without a hint of fear for conflict.)

(But that’s a part of what makes us Knights, too.)

(Suggesting we all try playing nice is insulting. If we want something, then we’ll issue a challenge and take it for ourselves… We’re a unit made for battle, after all.)

(But then, just like Trickstar, we start to mimic our enemies--)

(Seeing how Nacchan's charged forward to the front lines, the rest of us don't want to be overshadowed, so we've all been raring to have our turn, pushing ahead with incredible driving force.)

(With our souls ablaze, we’ve gathered all our saved-up treasure and turned it into firepower… Our rampage is now unstoppable. No enemy could defeat us.)

(Su~chan’s stage is impressive, too. In a way, he’s doing so easily what me and Nacchan can’t.)

(It’s a brash and reckless display, just what you’d expect from a shitty brat.)

(Su~chan dealt each one of us some pretty hefty blows, even making that accursed Ousama write a whole bunch of new songs for Requiem…)

(All with a bold look on his face, as if it was his God-given right.)

(Ousama’s songs are our greatest weapon, and here Su~chan is, getting him to make a ton of them.)

(As if that wasn’t enough, he hardly batted an eye as he threw money into new outfits and performance setups for each one of his turns.)

(He’s pretty much slapping people in the face with a wad of cash… Just like a rich boy would do.)

(But I guess there’s nothing wrong with that – the riches you’re born into make for a great weapon, too.)

(There’s no way I could’ve asked my family, though. A whole tangle of emotions would get in the way of that.)

(And of course, Nacchan’s from a regular middle-class family, so it would be straight up impossible to spend so much for every performance.)

(Su~chan’s the only one who could pull that off. So with the most annoying smile on his face, that’s just what he did, as if brazenly daring any of us to have a problem with it.)

(I mean, it’s not against the rules.)

(We all swore an oath to follow the orders of whoever's the King for each round, and even our graduates Secchan & Ousama weren't exempt from that.)

(We’ll provide new songs if asked for them, and we’ll take every practice seriously.)

(And of course, the King’s also free to dip into their own savings.)

(But both me and Nacchan were told all these nasty things… stuff like “You’re just a coward!” and “Why don’t you just die?”)

(We couldn’t bring ourselves to bow our heads to Ousama and politely ask for some new songs.)

(As if we’d ever ask for anything from him! ...That’s how we felt, like pouty little kids. But Su~chan had escaped from that outburst completely unscathed.)

(Without a hint of hesitation, he was able to wield the weapons of even the mad king who came and brought harm to Knights.)

(He pretended to be a stupid little kid that didn’t know how much blood had stained those weapons.)

(And then, while we weren’t looking, he simply and earnestly prepared for war. All for the sake of victory. Su~chan’s serious about winning, and that’s why he’s challenging Requiem with all his strength.)

(Of course, Su~chan still has a ways to go. No matter how many weapons he can scrape together, he wouldn’t be able to wield them all properly.)

(But war is also about resourcefulness… Throw in weapon after weapon, and eventually even the most solid castle walls will start to crumble.)

(A King of a new era… If they fail, they may be painted by historians as foolish, powerless, what have you… but should they win, they’ll be immortalised a hero, peerless through the ages.)

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