Sudden Death - Romanticism Chapter 5
Aug. 5th, 2022 09:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shivalriesSeason: Winter
---
Location: Downtown Osaka - Evening
Ritsu: I mean, yeah, I'll do my best. Kind of a high hurdle, though.
Tsukasa: True... All the developments that we've prayed wouldn't happen have been turning into reality, one after another.
Arashi: Yeah... And we still don't know who's behind the order and secret order leaks posted all around the Kansai region.
Tsukasa: We do not even know what the culprit's after. Our allies, Crazy:B, have been looking into it for us, but...
They've been more useless than anticipated.
Ritsu: Either they've chosen to slack off, or they might actually be the culprits like the rumors say they are.
Arashi: The timing was just too perfect... Our secret was revealed at the time when it would hit the hardest.
It's only natural to start thinking it was all the work of the only people who've had contact with us—Crazy:B, who we formed an alliance with.
Ritsu: Yup. It's possible that we've ended up the idiots who asked the culprits to investigate themselves.
That would make us the perfect prey for them to have their way with.
Tsukasa: Right... This morning, the very moment before Sena-senpai and Leo-san were to depart for Europe, was when the secret order we'd tried so hard to hide was ultimately exposed.
Leaflets appeared all throughout town, with our secret order written upon them.
The order given to me—Tsukasa Suou, king of Knights—was revealed to be a ban on live battles.
Arashi: Heh, everyone probably started to put two and two together when they saw it—like, suddenly it would make sense why our usually aggressive unit has been so quiet.
Tsukasa: Yes. But as of now, the only thing that has happened is that our secret order was revealed.
No one has come to confirm its veracity. We have managed to survive all day without once doing a live battle.
Arashi: Yeah. It really drove home just how popular we've gotten.
Our dark days stretched on for so long that it never really sunk in how we're now a powerhouse unit, one of ES's Big 3.
We've piled up a pretty respectable amount of SSL$ just doing regular ol' work, without having to do anything dangerous or getting into a head-to-head battle.
All we've been doing is having solo concerts, livestreams, and other stuff like that. And with those alone, we've gotten great reactions and reviews and earned ourselves a huge profit.
Ritsu: Yup. We can't afford to just sit around, so we've been charging on ahead.
Su~chan got mad at us and said we take too long to start our engines, but I think it was actually pretty quick this time.
It even kinda reminded me of back then—when we were running around trying to restore our reputation after Secchan screwed up.
Arashi: Yeah. It brought the memories back for me, too.
Tsukasa: Personally, I would rather you always have this much enthusiasm. We can easily win if we try, you know.
Arashi: What? Ew, no. We'll crash and burn if we work too hard.
Ritsu: Yep. With ES established, we're now in an era when honest efforts are rewarded, but working yourself to death will, in fact, result in death.
Arashi: Right? Everything in moderation ♪
Ritsu: Well, this time around, we wouldn't have gotten anywhere if we didn't really push ourselves.
Tsukasa: Agreed, and now we must take the fruits of our efforts and guard them with our lives. We cannot have anyone steal them away from us.
By some small mercy, no one has come to confirm if our secret order is actually true.
They are all still wary, and none have challenged us to a fight.
Ritsu: After all, if they lose, they're out. They would have to give the victors every last one of their SSL$.
Most people just aren't able to risk their lives on one gamble, after all.
Arashi: Yeah. With the Kansai region in a state of conflict and everyone doing live battles over and over—
Seems like the survivors have dwindled, and the conflict's started to cool down naturally.
Ritsu: Yup, and those who won riches in battle have gotten very careful about protecting them now. Not that they shouldn't have been before.
But I'm sure they don't want it hanging over their heads if they end up losing everything they've saved up just because they challenged someone carelessly.
If they wanna get through the qualifiers and make it to the finals, then taking our SSL$ might be the quickest way, but...
Nobody's got the guts. The chances of anyone challenging us and making a profit out of it are pretty low.
They would have to first make sure that we would either refuse their challenge and lose by default...
...or that they'd be able to win if we did accept the challenge.
If we refuse, then great. Party time. They'll be able to steal half our SSL$ without having to lift a finger.
Tsukasa: So the rules say. Refusing a challenge means we must forfeit half of our SSL$ to the challenger.
Ritsu: Right, but what if we totally ignored our secret order and accepted the challenge?
We're Knights—for better or worse, we're known far and wide for our martial prowess.
We were especially big on it in our Yumenosaki days, when we went around starting up a bunch of Duels and thrashing any units we didn't like.
I don't know how much of our notoriety—I mean, our feats of strength—have gotten out to the public.
But if we answer someone's challenge, they'll have a very strong and scary opponent to contend with. Plus, if they lose against us, they'll lose all of their SSL$.
Sure, it'll all work out if they win, but I don't think there are any units in Kansai strong enough to think they can beat us for sure—
Considering the risks, it wouldn't be easy to just waltz up to us with a challenge. I'm pretty sure whoever's smart enough to still be in the running can figure out that much.
Tsukasa: Yes. And while others are hemming and hawing over whether to challenge us—
Ritsu: —We'll run away to safety where nobody will be able to reach us, and wait for the prelims to end.
Just as Su~chan has decided for us, we'll take our money and run.
---
< Romanticism Chapter 4 || Masterlist || Romanticism Chapter 6 >
---
Location: Downtown Osaka - Evening
Ritsu: I mean, yeah, I'll do my best. Kind of a high hurdle, though.
Tsukasa: True... All the developments that we've prayed wouldn't happen have been turning into reality, one after another.
Arashi: Yeah... And we still don't know who's behind the order and secret order leaks posted all around the Kansai region.
Tsukasa: We do not even know what the culprit's after. Our allies, Crazy:B, have been looking into it for us, but...
They've been more useless than anticipated.
Ritsu: Either they've chosen to slack off, or they might actually be the culprits like the rumors say they are.
Arashi: The timing was just too perfect... Our secret was revealed at the time when it would hit the hardest.
It's only natural to start thinking it was all the work of the only people who've had contact with us—Crazy:B, who we formed an alliance with.
Ritsu: Yup. It's possible that we've ended up the idiots who asked the culprits to investigate themselves.
That would make us the perfect prey for them to have their way with.
Tsukasa: Right... This morning, the very moment before Sena-senpai and Leo-san were to depart for Europe, was when the secret order we'd tried so hard to hide was ultimately exposed.
Leaflets appeared all throughout town, with our secret order written upon them.
The order given to me—Tsukasa Suou, king of Knights—was revealed to be a ban on live battles.
Arashi: Heh, everyone probably started to put two and two together when they saw it—like, suddenly it would make sense why our usually aggressive unit has been so quiet.
Tsukasa: Yes. But as of now, the only thing that has happened is that our secret order was revealed.
No one has come to confirm its veracity. We have managed to survive all day without once doing a live battle.
Arashi: Yeah. It really drove home just how popular we've gotten.
Our dark days stretched on for so long that it never really sunk in how we're now a powerhouse unit, one of ES's Big 3.
We've piled up a pretty respectable amount of SSL$ just doing regular ol' work, without having to do anything dangerous or getting into a head-to-head battle.
All we've been doing is having solo concerts, livestreams, and other stuff like that. And with those alone, we've gotten great reactions and reviews and earned ourselves a huge profit.
Ritsu: Yup. We can't afford to just sit around, so we've been charging on ahead.
Su~chan got mad at us and said we take too long to start our engines, but I think it was actually pretty quick this time.
It even kinda reminded me of back then—when we were running around trying to restore our reputation after Secchan screwed up.
Arashi: Yeah. It brought the memories back for me, too.
Tsukasa: Personally, I would rather you always have this much enthusiasm. We can easily win if we try, you know.
Arashi: What? Ew, no. We'll crash and burn if we work too hard.
Ritsu: Yep. With ES established, we're now in an era when honest efforts are rewarded, but working yourself to death will, in fact, result in death.
Arashi: Right? Everything in moderation ♪
Ritsu: Well, this time around, we wouldn't have gotten anywhere if we didn't really push ourselves.
Tsukasa: Agreed, and now we must take the fruits of our efforts and guard them with our lives. We cannot have anyone steal them away from us.
By some small mercy, no one has come to confirm if our secret order is actually true.
They are all still wary, and none have challenged us to a fight.
Ritsu: After all, if they lose, they're out. They would have to give the victors every last one of their SSL$.
Most people just aren't able to risk their lives on one gamble, after all.
Arashi: Yeah. With the Kansai region in a state of conflict and everyone doing live battles over and over—
Seems like the survivors have dwindled, and the conflict's started to cool down naturally.
Ritsu: Yup, and those who won riches in battle have gotten very careful about protecting them now. Not that they shouldn't have been before.
But I'm sure they don't want it hanging over their heads if they end up losing everything they've saved up just because they challenged someone carelessly.
If they wanna get through the qualifiers and make it to the finals, then taking our SSL$ might be the quickest way, but...
Nobody's got the guts. The chances of anyone challenging us and making a profit out of it are pretty low.
They would have to first make sure that we would either refuse their challenge and lose by default...
...or that they'd be able to win if we did accept the challenge.
If we refuse, then great. Party time. They'll be able to steal half our SSL$ without having to lift a finger.
Tsukasa: So the rules say. Refusing a challenge means we must forfeit half of our SSL$ to the challenger.
Ritsu: Right, but what if we totally ignored our secret order and accepted the challenge?
We're Knights—for better or worse, we're known far and wide for our martial prowess.
We were especially big on it in our Yumenosaki days, when we went around starting up a bunch of Duels and thrashing any units we didn't like.
I don't know how much of our notoriety—I mean, our feats of strength—have gotten out to the public.
But if we answer someone's challenge, they'll have a very strong and scary opponent to contend with. Plus, if they lose against us, they'll lose all of their SSL$.
Sure, it'll all work out if they win, but I don't think there are any units in Kansai strong enough to think they can beat us for sure—
Considering the risks, it wouldn't be easy to just waltz up to us with a challenge. I'm pretty sure whoever's smart enough to still be in the running can figure out that much.
Tsukasa: Yes. And while others are hemming and hawing over whether to challenge us—
Ritsu: —We'll run away to safety where nobody will be able to reach us, and wait for the prelims to end.
Just as Su~chan has decided for us, we'll take our money and run.
---
< Romanticism Chapter 4 || Masterlist || Romanticism Chapter 6 >
