Antique Legend - Dreams on a Garbage Heap 6

[bakemonoremy]

Collab with Soup

Location: Antique Market Venue



Mika: What’s the matter, Kohaku-kun? Ya look like yer enjoyin’ yerself, ain’tcha? Ah, d’ya like how sweet the light bulb juice tastes? I can buy ya another, if ya want?

Kohaku: Why’re you actin’ like yer my big brother…

I mean, I like things that taste sweet, but if I drink too much right now I’ll feel the call of nature later when I’m on stage. An’ idols never have ta use the toilet, right?

Mika: Ahaha, why’re ya talkin’ all old-fashioned?

Nagisa: ……That was from the era when idols were practically considered half-gods.

Mika: Wah, ya startled me! What’re ya doin’ all’o a sudden? 

Ah! Uhm, yer Eden’s Ran-senpai, right? I-is there anything you need us for?

Nagisa: ……You’re awkward around me.

……But that’s inevitable. You’re part of Valkyrie after all, and as such you have the right to hate us.

Mika: Ngah~, but even without that right, I’d still hate ya. 

And I reckon, unlike Oshi-san, I ain’t human enough t’say it was all a “good experience,” and use it as nourishment fer my growth.

Nagisa: ……I think that’s just fine. There are some things one simply can’t digest. In this era of gluttony, I’d be mistreating you if I forced you to swallow it.

Mika: Waah! Kohaku-ku~n! Another person who only talks ‘bout complicated things just showed up!

Kohaku: This is very much par fer the course with ES folks.

Erm, Ran…-senpai, what’re you doin’ in a place like this? I can’t imagine that you’ve got the time ta dawdle around, do ya?

Nagisa: ……That is true. But I have an interest in antiques — that is to say, in the history that has been etched into them.

……Half of the reason I am at this Antique Market is out of personal interest, and the other half is related to work.

……Ibara said, “Your Excellency is probably just going to buy up a bunch of dirt cheap clutter with this!” 

……And didn’t give me much of an allowance, so getting everything I want from here is proving to be quite the challenge.

……Still, it was a fruitful harvest. Look at this, for example. Isn’t it fascinating?

Mika: Ngah~? What’s that? I like the design, but does it have any archeological-like value or whatever?

Nagisa: ……Who knows. I am not an artist like the two of you, so I don’t place a lot of importance on whether or not something has value.

……I’m simply interested in it because it bears a pattern resembling that on the ethnic-looking clothes that Amagi Rinne-kun’s younger brother sometimes wears around the dorm.

……I thought it might help me find out something about their enigmatic hometown, so I had reached out to it before I knew it.

……Although it’s not a rare pattern by any means, so the chances that this is simply a coincidence are rather high.

Kohaku: Does the esteemed Sire of Eden have an interest in our Rinne-han, perchance?

Nagisa: ……I would say it’s not an interest in him in the way you seem to suspect.

……I do think he is an interesting human, but he doesn’t differ much from the countless sore losers that existed in my father’s time.

Kohaku: — Who’re you callin’ a sore loser?

Nagisa: ……I can’t come up with a different expression that fits him. He is a descendant of the many people who were defeated and buried in the shadows of the history written by the winners.

……It’s a rare feat for someone like that to survive and appear on the stage of history once more, but not so rare that it has historically never happened before.

……That said, for closed-off countries like ours, it’s foreign enemies that pose the largest threat. As a result, the presence of such ghosts from the past arising from within is quite weak.

……Yet Amagi Rinne-kun proved that this doesn’t mean they don’t exist.

……The world we live in is made of countless corpses of the defeated.

……In that sense he is interesting, and I believe there is value to his continued existence.

……He is one of many components necessary for the composition of this imperfect world whose gods have died.

Kohaku: The stuff you’re sayin’ is gettin’ up my nose, pal.

Mika: Eh, Kohaku-kun, ya can actually understand what this guy’s sayin’? In a way, it’s a disaster or somethin’ t’be smart, right?

Nagisa: ……Yes. There is no point in using sarcasm to reprimand a dog or a pig; it’s much faster to teach them manners by hitting them with a stick.

……Although ideally one would spend a lot of time and loving efforts on teaching them the logic and reason of human society, of course.

……You have been exploiting our kindness in order to get away with doing as you please a little too much for our liking.

…...If your actions become any more intolerable than this, as the ruler of Cosmic Productions — I will be your judge, jury and executioner.

Kohaku: (glares) ………

Nagisa: ……Well, these sorts of threats will hardly work on you.

……After all, it seems Mika-kun is bound hand and foot by Shu-kun as always, while Kohaku-kun is currently doing activities as part of Double Face.

……In order to make you understand, it’s the puppetmaster Shu-kun whom we should be giving this warning, and as for Double Face, we should be exerting pressure on NewDi, since you’re signed with them.

Mika: I think we’re bein’ lectured or somethin’... this weird aura around Ran-senpai is real scary...

Nagisa: ……You didn’t even realize that much?

……I’m sorry. My way of speaking is abstruse and circuitous; I am often told how difficult it is to make sense of my words. It’s best to leave these kinds of matters to the professionals, so if it were up to me, I’d leave this to Ibara.

……But as you can see, the one standing before you is myself. Lately I’ve started believing that I shouldn’t be imposing every little thing on Ibara anymore.

……The world and society aren’t light enough to be carried by one man alone. Burdens should be shared whenever possible, so no one will be crushed under them.

……However, there are exceptions such as my father, and I’m in the process of aiming for those very heights myself.

Kohaku: So in other words, what’s the deal? I may be speakin’ outta turn here, but, with all due respect, if you’ve got something to say ta us, could ya do us a favor an’ kindly spit it out?

Nagisa: ……You can dispense with the formal turns of phrase. For one thing, you probably don’t have any respect for me anyhow, and in any case, this is my private time.