Chapter 19: The King, The Slave And The Clown


TL: Akabane


***


"Nice to meet you, Kanahisa Tokiwa. I'm Izumi Misaki. I'm a freshman in the Department of Literature, Contemporary Culture."


Smiling bewitchingly under the moonlight, Milan looked like a goddess. But my gut told me this was a bluff.


"So, what do you want me to do? Can you tell me in a nutshell?"


"Oh my. I don't mean to sound so self-satisfied, but don't you think you would enjoy chatting with such a beautiful woman?"


"If you'd seen the foolishness earlier, you'd know what I mean. I've had enough fun already."


I've made enough noise during the day, and I even let a woman stay with me. I'm not going to say that I'm enjoying the chatter now because of a beautiful woman. Rather, I have much higher expectations for the stories this girl will bring to the table. It's not just a fleeting flirtation like before, but something more serious that I can devote myself to.


"Yeah? But I haven't really talked to you yet."


A woman who uses "I" in the first person would normally be seen as a pain in the ass. But for Milan, it was perfect. It's just the right style for a girl who is cool and has no nasty parts.


"But the request you want me to do for you, it must be urgent, isn't it? Am I right? A beautiful woman like you has to go out of her way to talk to a guy, don't you?"


Women don't ask men for favors on their own. I learned from my wife that a woman is a creature who stands around so that a man will notice and make a move. But this girl approached me on her own. I could tell that she was in a very difficult situation.


"Huh. I guess it's obvious after all. Well, there's no way I can play games with a guy who is that good on his feet, is there? After all, against a king like you, I can only be a good clown."


"King? Me?"


"Yes, you were a king. You overthrew a man who was tormenting everyone and sat on the throne. It was like a fairy tale. It was fun to watch. It was a good play. Fufufu."


Milan is smiling cutely. I don't feel bad. But at the same time, I feel trapped. There is a king who is greater than me. The one who took my loved ones from me and ruined my life.


"The request is simple. I have a selection to enter a certain club. I need you to help me get through it. You are the only one who fits the criteria."


It sounded like a pretty interesting story. Selection for the circle. The Tenniser's face screening and the communicative ability survey are well-known, but I've heard that there are other cultural circles that do this to gather the elite.


"Conditions? What kind of circles?"


"The conditions are simple. Face, height, and acting ability! The circle I want to join is an intercollegiate theater company for college students! I need a partner for the test! I need a partner for it!"


"Theater?"


A theater group. It's a world I can't imagine. I know they do presentations at festivals and such. In my previous world, they were even sold tickets.


"Yes! Theater! It's essentially an audition for each of us, but I'm the head of this year's troupe. I mean, the artistic director and director of the company, the head of the company, is an eccentric. He's limited the applications to a pair of people."


"Wait a minute. Even if I get accepted, don't I have to join the company too?"


"No, I don't think so. That's the tricky part. This selection is for two people, but one of them must be an acquaintance of the applicant who does not wish to join the troupe."


"What's that? I don't understand. It doesn't benefit one side at all."


"According to the leader of this year's troupe, if you are an actor, you have to be attractive enough to have at least one or two people who are willing to help you without compensation. I can't even breathe a word when he says it like that. Entertainment is all about attracting people. They don't want people who don't have the power to ask their friends for help."


"You're a serious thinker. You're a real hard worker. You're a real stiff. I understand your condition. I understand the face. It's better to have a good one. What about height?"


"I'm 171 centimeters tall. And the selection is about the moment when a man and a woman fall in love. My partner has to be taller than me. I'm also planning to wear high heels for the show to show off my curves. That's even more important. You're about 180, right?"


"Yes, 180.6 cm to be exact."


The only thing I can beat him is my height. I heard from Mashiba in the previous world that Hagiri is a self-proclaimed 180cm, but the actual measurement is 179.9cm. I can't help but sympathize with him as a man when he's 0.1 cm shorter than me, but I don't think it's a good idea to lie.


"Great! If it's that high, there's nothing wrong with it! I could stand next to you in high heels and still look good!"


"That's great. But I can't act."


"That's exactly the problem. I want that thing in the daylight! I want that charisma to bluff, to fool people, to charm them with your charisma! I want that talent!"


Milan's eyes sparkle. Seeing her stand there and ask me if I wanted it was something that swayed my heart. So Milan didn't betray my expectations.


"It's hard to say no when you say that much. But let me check. There are others who are taller and better looking. I'm sure anyone would do it for you if you asked them."


When I asked this, Milan's face clouded over a little. It seems that the situation is dire here.


"First of all. I'm afraid of ulterior motives if I ask them to do it. I have confidence in my appearance. I'm confident enough in my appearance to know that a man would want me.'


"I think it's a woman's prerogative to take advantage of a man's ulterior motives."


Men and women are like that. Women use their sexuality to get men to do things for them. Men expect something in return. It's a common scene. They should just say thank you at the end and back out.


"Such a man's play will never move people's hearts! Theater is about telling beautiful lies to the audience! But an actor should never lie about his enthusiasm for his play! I would never allow anyone other than the audience to be involved in a play for my appearance!"


I was impressed. She's got a real heart. This girl must be the real deal, I thought. But I had never seen her on TV in my previous world. I don't remember seeing or hearing her on stage. That means she was not successful as an actress, or she gave up.


"You had a woman with you, but you didn't take her home, did you? The two guys on either side were swamped by your charisma. If you had wanted to, you could have taken them both home at the same time and had a threesome with them, but you didn't. You're serious at heart, aren't you? You're the type of person who gets excited and jokes around, but never crosses the line. I can trust people like that. People who can control themselves and make a good play."


I just couldn't bring myself to do that, so Milan is buying me too much. It's true that I wanted to play wayward. But the only reason I took control of the atmosphere away from them that time was because I was pissed off that those girls disrespected me. I wanted them to be crazy about me. I didn't want anything more than that. Now I understand. I wanted to prove that I have the power to be desired by women other than my wife. Men who are not kings are not looked at by women. I am just a corporate slave. A cog in society, a slave to labor. On the other hand, the man who stole my wife was the president of the company, the one who runs society, and the king who uses slaves. If I don't become a king, I can't stay with the woman I love forever.


"I get it. I understand to a certain extent why you chose me. But there's something else, isn't there? That fiasco today, that was just a coincidence. But is it really a coincidence that you were watching it, Milan? You've been watching me all day, haven't you?"


I was uncomfortable with what Milan was saying. I had a feeling she was observing me too much. Could it be a coincidence that she happened to see that commotion and called out to me? She had been marking me for a long time, waiting for the right moment to call out to me. Or, wouldn't it be more reasonable to think that she was assessing whether my abilities were sufficient to meet her requirements?


"Yes, that's right. I'm not going to lie to you, but I've been marking you for a long time. I had to see how good you were in order to make sure you would pass the selection process. Also...you don't get along with Chusho Hagiri, do you? I'd be very annoyed if you weren't."


"Hagiri?"


I couldn't help but glare at Milan when I heard that name.


".......!"


Milan was freaking out and cowering. I had scared her.


"Oh, sorry. Did I scare you? As you know, I hate that guy. But why is that?"


"...ah...ah..."


For some reason, Milan was writhing. Her cheeks were a little red and she was lying on her head. Is she still scared?


"Hey? What are you fawning over? Are you listening to me?"


Milan looked up and her red eyes seemed to be slightly wet. That looked awfully sexy, but did I scare her into tears? I didn't look like that, right? What in the world was this girl's reaction?


"...Hmm? Oh! Sorry! I was spaced out! Let's see. Actually, I used to be in the Hagiri group. I was a member of the group that everyone makes fun of as the 'student council'."


"Hoo? The group of those wooden fools?"


"Yes, that's right. I was invited to join at the entrance ceremony. I thought it had merit, so I joined, but... I couldn't keep up with them, so I left."


The clouds were getting thicker. More than that, I felt the unreasonableness of this world in the shadows of the interloper that appeared everywhere I went.



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