chapter03 · 065-ep65
Episode 62: The Tiger's Plot and Brute Force
"No casualties again, in THOSE circumstances... I anticipated the possibility, but Karin Yamada really is a monster beyond all reason."
At Black Tiger headquarters, clan master Kuroi looked down at an article on his tablet. It covered the recent dungeon cave-in: how Mitsuki Shijou and the other three guides had fought for their lives, and Karin Yamada's dramatic rescue just as their strength gave out. Everyone was celebrating the ordinarily impossible result of zero deaths.
"Honestly. If even one person had died, we could've dealt a blow to that eyesore Mitsuki's clan along with Karin Yamada."
Kuroi sounded a little displeased, but only because things hadn't gone perfectly according to his wishes.
"No matter. Casualties would have been best, but Karin Yamada being there when that 'accident' occurred was the real objective."
He scanned the article's comments and various message boards, smiling as the plot he'd planted spread like poison.
〇
【This Is Reality】Thread About Mitsuki Shijou, AKA Shin Fist-Fuck Ojou-sama, Part 34【Mitsuki-sama Fans, Accept It】
107 Passing-by Anon
Sorry to repeat myself, but finding out Mitsuki-sama wrote the Fist Fuck comment was one of the biggest shock-laughs in streamer scandal (?) history lmao
108 Passing-by Anon
The internet splitting its attention between ZERO DEATHS in the dungeon cave-in and Mitsuki-sama's coming out was pure chaos lmao
109 Passing-by Anon
A miraculous rescue AND the birth of Shin Fist-Fuck Ojou-sama? The mood swing gave me whiplash lol
110 Passing-by Anon
And Mitsuki-sama's apology stream afterward was unfairly hilarious lmao She wore a suit, the classic streamer apology uniform. The whole thing looked like a 'Laugh and You Lose' special lol
111 Passing-by Anon
Seriously, apologizing in that deadly earnest tone: 'I am the real Fist-Fuck Ojou-sama. Karin ojou-sama is the victim.' She HAD to be trying to make us laugh lol
112 Passing-by Anon
She had over a million concurrents, so the nation must've taken at least three or four million punishment kicks to the ass. I took five
113 Passing-by Anon
The Muay Thai guy handing out the kicks would break his leg and die first lol
114 Passing-by Anon
It was sweet how Karin ojou-sama kept repeating 'You don't need to worry, desu no!' and 'I forgive you—no, I wasn't even angry!?' during the stream lol
115 Passing-by Anon
Everyone telling Mitsuki ojou-sama to take responsibility and teach Karin ojou-sama common sense had me dying lmao
116 Passing-by Anon
I couldn't believe Mitsuki ojou-sama's confession for a while. Then she showed the actual alt-account screen she'd used for that comment, and I had to accept it...
117 Passing-by Anon
The one with her own comment boxed off, yeah The account name matched too
118 Passing-by Anon
Mitsuki-sama fans insisting 'It has to be edited!' and trying to analyze that screenshot, only to go down in flames? Their thread is in absolute agony lmao
119 Passing-by Anon
No no no, I refuse to believe it! Mitsuki-chan wouldn't write that! She's a serious, pure, kind streamer who's nice to everyone! She'd never post something so vulgar! She's not Shin Fist-Fuck Ojou-sama! She's a REAL ojou-sama!
120 Passing-by Anon
Here, the compiled analysis of Mitsuki-sama's confession → URL
121 Passing-by Anon
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!?
122 Passing-by Anon
A Mitsuki-sama fan has just been born lmao
123 Passing-by Anon
What a healthy baby boy, desu wa~
124 Passing-by Anon
Why's his first cry a death scream, though
125 Passing-by Anon
Bit off topic, but Karin ojou-sama was incredible, seriously She's got a knack for streaming, too Encountered a deep-layer irregularity, saved everyone during a dungeon collapse, and now solved a cave-in? Unprecedented
126 Passing-by Anon
Any ONE of those would be unbelievable And then she adopted Mitsuki-sama's Fist Fuck comment as a finishing move, made a mess of it, and it all led to this apology stream. The streaming gods love her lol
127 Passing-by Anon
A knack? Or maybe she staged the whole thing herself
128 Passing-by Anon
There are suspicions that streamer Karin Yamada caused both the dungeon collapse and the cave-in herself, then cast herself as the hero. What does everyone think?
129 Passing-by Anon
Isn't it too convenient for her to be there for so many incidents?
130 Passing-by Anon
Uh, what's with these consecutive posts...
131 Passing-by Anon
Ugh, they're here
132 Passing-by Anon
Mention Karin ojou-sama anywhere and they rush in immediately...
133 Passing-by Anon
Wait, what is this? Antis?
134 Passing-by Anon
They've been spawning all over forums, social media and news comments since the cave-in. Just repeating the allegation nonstop without reading the room
135 Passing-by Anon
They showed up so suddenly and in such numbers It was nice how you hardly ever saw that stuff around Karin ojou-sama before
136 Passing-by Anon
And haven't influencers and celebrities well known to be close to Black Tiger suddenly started commenting on this 'suspicion' too? I mean, this allegation
137 Passing-by Anon
What? They're coming for revenge over Black Shell?
138 Passing-by Anon
Come on That'd be a hell of a grudge to hold over their own wrongdoing
139 Passing-by Anon
Well, THIS thread's gone to hell again Ban them, OP. Can't be bothered
140 OP
Already done, desu wa!
141 Passing-by Anon
Nice
142 Passing-by Anon
Seriously, though, they've been all over social media and article comments lately and it's annoying as hell. I'm worried about Karin ojou-sama's next stream
143 Passing-by Anon
What IS this...
〇
The first oddity appeared right after the dungeon cave-in had been resolved.
"Now then, let's begin today's stream! Good evening to you all, desu no~"
It was Karin's first chatting stream since the cave-in and the Shin Fist-Fuck affair had finally settled. She had saved everyone, learned why Mitsuki had acted so oddly, and even gained a huge number of subscribers. With everything going well, she started a stream at home.
(O-oh dear... Ten thousand? No, a HUNDRED thousand concurrents already, for a chatting stream... Things are going so well it's frightening...)
Karin stared at the numbers surging upward. Between the incident with Honoka and everything involving Mitsuki, her subscribers had grown to a rather incomprehensible eight million-plus. Interest in her had renewed after the rescue, and she saw plenty of comments that seemed to come from newcomers: 'Is this where the crazy ojou-sama streams!?' and 'She really IS wearing a dress!'
(But I mustn't get complacent. The attention comes from an accident, so I can hardly celebrate... Still, they've come to my channel! I'll entertain them with an Elegant stream and make them regular viewers!)
First, she would talk about the cave-in and Mitsuki's confession, then announce another attempt at the lower-layer tea-conquest stream she'd been unable to do before. Just as she began speaking, hoping to turn new viewers into longtime fans—
【Is this where the streamer under suspicion streams?】
【Karin Yamada-san, there are allegations going around. They're false, right?】
【You should deny the allegation that you caused the dungeon collapse and cave-in...】
【I've heard you staged those rescues. I'd like an explanation】
"...? Wh-what's all this?"
Karin stared at the mysterious comments, suddenly flooding in so fast they pushed everything else aside. Their tone was nothing like the usual chat, and they claimed she was under a terrible cloud of suspicion.
"!? You think I STAGED it!? That I caused the dungeon collapse AND the cave-in!? Wh-what is that supposed to mean!? I did nothing of the sort! I swear on Setsuna-sama!"
The accusation was so absurd, and so many people were making it, that her voice squeaked.
【Ugh... they've come to her stream too】
【Don't worry about them, Karin ojou-sama!】
【It's Black Tiger's petty revenge campaign, desu wa!】
【This goes beyond baseless accusations. It's just harassment】
【Karin ojou-sama! You can ban these people without hesitation!】
【Archive their posts and demand their identities while you're at it!】
Karin didn't really understand what was happening, but apparently this was anti harassment. Fortunately, a flood of ordinary viewers swept the suspicious comments away, and by the time she stopped flusteredly looking around, the stream felt normal again. She continued, prioritizing the viewers who wanted to enjoy it.
"I-I'm not sure what that was... but surely those completely baseless allegations will die down soon...?"
Somehow she finished the day's stream uneventfully. Yet contrary to her hopes, the uproar didn't die down. It spread at an abnormal rate.
"Special Report: The Huge Questions Surrounding Trending Streamer Karin Yamada!"
"Were All Those Dramatic Feats Staged!?"
"She's a sixteen-year-old child with all that power, and she doesn't yet know right from wrong. She could be doing anything. You know the type who chases online numbers and resorts to extremism? For her own good, we adults need to investigate—"
"Either way, we'd like her to officially prove her innocence somewhere public."
"Ordinarily it'd be an implausible accusation. But someone with that much power beyond common sense encountering huge incidents one after another? She's not a fictional detective stumbling onto a crime every week."
"As the opposition party, we believe the police have a duty to explain why they built such strong ties with a minor under suspicion, and why they championed her—"
"She's clearly a little crazy to begin with. I wouldn't be surprised if she'd done it."
"Wh-WHAT IS ALL THIS!?"
Karin screamed at the mess that greeted her when she opened her phone. The 'allegation' had escaped irresponsible internet posts and spread on a ridiculous scale—to prominent weekly magazines, some television outlets, influential online personalities, and even opposition lawmakers. There was no sign of it burning out. Unless she proved her innocence, not just entertaining people on-stream but her very daily life might become impossible.
〇
"Heh. Hahahahaha!"
Kuroi grinned at the posts from his operatives, who routed themselves through multiple foreign providers to conceal their identities; the public allegations made by the influencers and media outlets under his control; and the idiots online who'd jumped aboard to attack Karin on their own.
"Good. More. Surround the monster with still more people, and keep hitting her while she can't strike back."
The history of human conflict was the history of devising ways to attack an opponent one-sidedly from ever farther away. A blow aided by a size advantage, clubs, spears, thrown stones, bows, guns, missiles. One endpoint of that evolution was mass media and social media. If enough people repeatedly attacked from somewhere the target couldn't retaliate, they could hurt even a powerful figure. Even a monster who punched deep-layer bosses to death without a scratch could lose her place in society—just as humanity had once brought down lions and mammoths.
"Crushing a monster you can't face directly through an information war, with numbers and money. Sneaky as ever," Ouko Onikubo said with an amused smile. "But is this wise? You've even brought in celebrities and media suspected of close Black Tiger ties to build public opinion against Karin Yamada. The police might come knocking, or worse, Karin Yamada herself."
"I'd welcome it if she did," Kuroi answered comfortably.
"The connections may be obvious, but they're only 'suspicious.' Even if the police use everything at their disposal to uncover proof of our agitation, all we've done is 'raise questions about a monster who may have engaged in dangerous acts.' The ones crossing the line into outright defamation are idiots who joined in of their own accord. I stressed to OUR people that they must stick to guarded suggestions of suspicion. They're scum with plenty of practice reporting and maneuvering just this side of a lawsuit. And if Karin Yamada responds to that situation by using force rather than proving her innocence, she'll become a target for capture by the entire nation."
Black Tiger was far from the only powerful faction wary of Karin's strength and influence. At this point, even if she merely punched a few Black Tiger members, the growing public doubts could be used to cast her as a genuine danger.
And even if things didn't go that far, Kuroi planned to raise a louder uproar through his agents using foreign servers if authorities pressured the media or made arrests on other charges. 'Karin Yamada and her allies use their power to suppress questions.' Whatever happened, her image would suffer.
Normally such a flimsy allegation could hardly destroy someone with influence and police connections. Kuroi didn't believe it would saddle Karin with a crime. But Karin Yamada was a streamer—an online entertainer subject to rapidly shifting trends. Repeated accusations, endless arguments around them, and lingering suspicion could drive away fans with surprising ease, toppling her popularity and influence.
Of course her die-hard fans would stay, but the extraordinary boom around her now would certainly end. Kuroi considered her influence an even greater threat than her fighting strength. To him, THAT would be 'crushing' Karin Yamada.
"And on the remote chance she does come storming in, my unique skill, <Advance Danger Sense>, makes it easy to foresee the attack. Black Tiger's executives, its assets and I will all escape. We might lose a headquarters or two and ten or twenty rank-and-file members, but that'd be a small price to turn that monster into a target for elimination."
"I see. You're still a complete bastard."
Onikubo laughed. Kuroi smiled even more viciously.
"Go on, Karin Yamada. A clumsy excuse will make it worse. Proving you DIDN'T do something is nearly impossible. Ignore the firestorm, and the idea that you're a streamer who staged deadly disasters becomes accepted fact. You'll lose most of your public influence and won't be able to stream for fun. Throw a tantrum at that impossible situation, and you'll be targeted for capture. Even the police will find it difficult to act publicly after championing a streamer under suspicion. It's over for you and your friends."
No matter how many fans she had, the poison of unresolved doubt would slowly spread through people's hearts and kill her channel. His 'intuition' had warned that Karin Yamada's power and immense influence would eventually bring down the interests and standing Black Tiger had built with such effort. Watching her influence begin to erode online, Kuroi looked satisfied.
〇
Mafuyu Sasaki was glaring at her phone like she wanted to kill someone. The screen showed the ridiculous accusations against her best friend, Karin Yamada—an obviously manufactured campaign of insinuations that kept spreading.
"Black Tiger... I never imagined they'd come after her with everything they've got...! What are they thinking!?"
She'd naturally feared Black Tiger might resent Karin for the Black Shell affair and seek revenge. But Karin's absurd personal strength, coupled with Mafuyu's move to strengthen her ties with the police as much as possible, should have deterred them. However powerful and influential Black Tiger was, she hadn't expected them to pick a fight with that arrangement over losing just one affiliated clan.
Yet they'd come at Karin with full force, as though the risk of her losing control and wiping them out meant nothing—as though NOT acting now would be far more dangerous.
(As long as Karin isn't hostile to Black Tiger, their best move should be to stay quiet. Acting like this is incredibly foolish. ...Unless they have some ability that gives them confidence about the future, about the consequences of their choices...?)
Given how quickly Black Tiger had grown to such power within a single generation, it wasn't out of the question. Public Security had been unable to pin them down for years; there was a good chance they had some unknown means of sensing risks.
(No, I can reflect on what already happened later. Right now I need to think about—)
"Mafuyuuuu! Wh-what do I DO, desu no!? I didn't stage anything to gain subscribers! I keep explaining that, and it's not working! We have to do something quickly! I don't want prison and stinky prison food, desu waaaa!"
"...First, calm down, Karin. Nobody's arresting you without evidence. And prison food these days is way better than the meager meals you usually eat."
Mafuyu answered with a little joke to calm her. Karin had panicked at the sudden firestorm and called her in tears; Mafuyu had rushed to Karin's house to work out a response. The longer this sort of organized 'suspicion' was allowed to linger, the more it would become accepted fact among casual observers who didn't look into things, until it became impossible to control. Her pale, terrified friend's insistence on acting quickly was right.
But—
"M-Mafuyu, what can we actually do!? Viewers are defending me all over the internet too, but it only turns into arguments that aren't Elegant at all, and nothing's settling down! I-is it possible there's no way to fix this...?"
As Karin feared, it wouldn't be easy. If this were mere slander, Public Security could secretly annihilate the offenders and be done with it. Indeed, under Mafuyu's lead, they were already putting together a list of people they would 'definitely kill socially' at breakneck speed. But Karin was under 'suspicion' this time.
If they rushed to punish the scum socially before dispelling the doubts, it would look as if they'd answered allegations with force rather than words. People would see it as Karin crushing an unpleasant problem by brute strength, inevitably affecting her dream of 'streams that everyone enjoys, by an Elegant ojou-sama.' There was also a very high chance that the enemy had a second blow prepared to damage her again if she took legal action.
Normally, after a commotion on this scale, legal action would still be the best choice despite the effects on her streaming. The trouble was that nearly a thousand Black Tiger operatives had routed themselves through multiple foreign providers. Disclosure requests would take considerable work to identify them, and even with the entire police force at it, arresting over a thousand people would take a long time. A nation's power was strongest inside its own borders. And since this campaign was organized, they were hardly likely to have chosen countries that cooperated smoothly with international requests.
If the police instead punished the media spreading suspicion or the crowds joining the attack, the hard-to-identify agents would plaster them with labels: 'A monster and the authorities crushing questions by force.' It was a meticulously prepared, deeply troublesome setup.
Bringing down Black Tiger itself would be difficult for the same reasons. If it were that easy, Public Security would have done it already. Karin going after them directly was out of the question. Mafuyu also sensed that the brazen hints of Black Tiger's involvement might be bait, designed to provoke Karin into lashing out so the nation would classify her as a monster to hunt. Acting without thought would make the situation worse.
So to break the deadlock, in parallel with preparations to destroy the scum responsible, they had to dispel the accusation first. But this was close to the problem of proving a negative. Proving someone HAD done something was easy enough if there was evidence; proving they HADN'T done it was extraordinarily difficult.
Karin's item box, inaccessible to anyone else, made matters especially bad. Even if she surrendered every piece of gear and every magic item she currently possessed to prove she couldn't deliberately trigger a dungeon collapse, people could simply claim she still had something hidden inside. She couldn't disprove that. And after she'd smashed common sense so many times, even the absurd allegation that she could artificially cause a dungeon collapse was hard to dismiss.
Above all, Black Tiger had created this situation deliberately. Answer one question poorly, and they would likely keep inventing ludicrous reasons for suspicion. Plenty of people would eagerly swallow those unreasonable arguments and join the firestorm. Ending it peacefully seemed almost impossible. There were any number of ways to simply crush their enemies, but very few that would preserve Karin's dream of being 'a streamer who entertains everyone Elegantly.'
(Then the only option I can think of is...)
As Mafuyu considered it with a sharp look—
Ding-dong.
The doorbell rang.
"Hm? Who could be here at this hour? Coming, desu no~" Karin opened the door.
"Karin ojou-sama, are you all right!?"
"Karin-sama, you okay!? You're not too upset!?"
"Karin ojou-sama... have you been eating properly...?"
"!? Mitsuki-sama!? And Nagisa-sama and Honoka-sama too!?"
Karin stared at the three women practically tumbling through the doorway. Each had come to check on her because they were worried. She was very grateful, but—
"Um, Mitsuki-sama...? I'm glad you care, but is it all right for you to come to my house!?"
Karin asked in alarm. When the uproar around her had begun growing, Mitsuki had posted this on social media:
"Unbelievable... My family told me not to associate with Karin ojou-sama or make analysis videos until this dies down, just in case... Unbelievable unbelievable unbelievable..."
The Shijou family was prestigious, and its eldest daughter Mitsuki was White Knight's leading young member. Karin had sadly accepted that her family's instruction was unavoidable and held back from contacting her. But Mitsuki was here in person. Would she be all right with her family?
"Oh, that's no problem. I severed ties with my family."
"...Huh?"
"I left earlier. I told them I couldn't believe I was born into a cowardly family that would abandon its benefactor over a baseless suspicion. I will be on Karin ojou-sama's side forever, even if the entire world turns against you. But please don't worry. I certainly wouldn't presume to move into your house. I only came because I was worried, and I've already arranged somewhere new to live. Yes, that's right, I'm not at all jealous that someone who seems to be your best friend is already here, or hoping I might be allowed to stay awhile too."
"W-wait—"
Karin was speechless at Mitsuki's alarming declaration, delivered with eyes burning intensely.
(She's serious!? I was delighted to hear she'd been my fan for a long time, but she cut off her family for me!? Will she really be okay!?)
As Karin stood stunned—
"—! —!"
"Hm?"
Shouting came from the living room. The television had been on throughout her conversation with Mafuyu. Karin returned to see what was going on, the others accompanying her. A live news broadcast filled the screen. It had repeatedly run stories on the allegations against her and was once again covering them by quoting online voices.
But someone utterly out of place had appeared on camera.
"Quit reporting this bullshit, you pieces of trash! The hell do you mean she might've caused a dungeon collapse!? Even IF that scatterbrained idiot could do it, you think she could plan a crafty scheme like that!? You have to be SMART to pull that off!"
"The old bastards at this station took loads of money from Black Tiger, didn't they!? Did Kuroi order this blatantly biased reporting!? HUH!?"
"Kagerou-sama!?"
Karin nearly lost her footing. A familiar face had stormed the live studio and grabbed a commentator by the collar. Naturally, chaos erupted there, while the internet went into festival mode. Staff shouted. "Someone call the Anti-Dungeon Division!" came a terrified cry.
But—
"Director, no good! The whole Anti-Dungeon Division is incredibly busy! They said it'll be THREE DAYS before they can come!"
"Bullshit! No way! They're covering for Karin Yamada, aren't they!? We'll expose police misconduct next!"
"Call a nearby clan! Any clan!"
Their panic was such that even that went out over the air. Shortly afterward, the screen changed to 'Please stand by.' Karin and the others stared.
"Oh, a message from my seniors? ...Huh?"
"What is it, Honoka? What'd they say... huh?"
Honoka froze looking at her phone, and Nagisa froze too when she peered over her shoulder. What NOW, desu no? Karin looked at the screen as well.
"Honoka~? The Anti-Dungeon Division's going to ask the commissioner-general for permission to go to all-out war with those Black Tiger scumbags. Want to come with us? (^^)"
"That dungeon cave-in looks pretty suspicious, but Black Tiger's always been freakishly good at keeping their tracks covered. If we arrest all the executives on unrelated charges and kill them—uh, question them and visit their homes, we might get a list of the sneaky soldiers spreading slander through overseas providers too. So come ask for war permission with us~ (^_^) We'll invite the riot police, Security Division and Public Security folks too (´Д`)"
"Oh, depending on how it goes, we might need the National Police Agency commissioner-general's permission too, so be ready ٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و"
"Huh?"
The messages proposed something outrageous in the tone of inviting someone to the convenience store. No police officer should have put any of that in writing. Karin stood as stunned as Nagisa.
"...! That's right, what's the point of joining the Anti-Dungeon Division if I don't act now...! Karin ojou-sama, Nagisa, I'm going...! You saved my life. I have to use it now...!"
"W-wait, Honoka!? Are you serious!?"
"Honoka-san, let me assist you! I'm still inexperienced, but I'll take as many Black Tiger members' heads as I can!"
Honoka and Mitsuki, who seemed to have formed a rapport without anyone noticing, shifted into full berserker mode. Nagisa stepped between them, urging them to calm down at least a little.
Amid the consecutive uproars, Karin suddenly grew still.
(I was so overwhelmed by my own scandal that I couldn't see anything else... But this may no longer be a problem that affects only me.)
She picked up her phone and, acting on instinct, checked Mochimochi Tamago-sensei's account, which she hadn't visited since the firestorm began. As usual, he'd been posting lots of new Karin fan art. But beneath the pictures were reply after reply attacking Tamago-sensei using Karin as an excuse.
He hadn't responded to a single accusation. Perhaps he and his publisher had decided to stand firm. As if answering the situation, he simply kept posting new illustrations of Karin and Dungeon Alive.
—ZING!
"""!?"""
The room changed in an instant. Nagisa and Honoka, who'd been shouting moments ago, froze and broke out in a cold sweat. Even level-900 Mitsuki stopped moving. An enormous amount of mana had set the very air trembling.
"This will not do."
Karin, the source of it, quickly contained that disaster-like mana and spoke quietly.
"This is unacceptable, desu no. If it were only me caught in the firestorm, that would be one thing... But my viewers can't enjoy themselves because they're constantly arguing, and people dear to me are being drawn into it. None of that is Elegant in the slightest."
No longer the girl who'd been crying about prison food, Karin turned to Mafuyu with a different expression altogether.
"Mafuyu. I know I'm asking the impossible, but please lend me your wisdom. I'll do anything to resolve this."
"...Sigh."
Mafuyu didn't break a sweat. She let out a long sigh at her friend's serious face.
"Well... I can't have you storming Black Tiger's headquarters. Same goes for those two loose cannons over there." As if casting aside the last trace of hesitation in her own mind, she added, "If you're willing, I have one idea."
"! You do!? But how can I prove I didn't do it!?"
"Proving your innocence completely is impossible. But we CAN knock aside this ridiculous accusation."
"??? What do you mean?"
"Put simply, we show that you had no REASON to do anything like that. That you had no need to boost your subscriber count by staging dangerous disasters. We do it in the most impactful way possible. One undeniable feat that blows away every baseless allegation and leaves people with no choice but to believe you're innocent."
The invention of photography had dramatically increased newspapers' influence on society. Television had brought the power of mass media to its peak. In other words, one shocking image could beat a hundred arguments and a thousand contrived excuses. So while Mafuyu and the police prepared compulsory investigations of Black Tiger's forces behind the scenes—
"We're going to reveal THAT on your stream."
Karin's eyes widened.
And the following evening—
【Important Announcement from Natural-Born Ojou-sama Karin Yamada】
Karin had scheduled a stream under that title. The number of people waiting was enormous, though it hadn't even begun. Karin had held off streaming for a while amid the uproar, while online operatives and some media outlets had stirred it up day after day. Interest was intense.
【What's the important announcement?】
【You're not gonna say you're quitting streaming, are you...?】
【If that obvious campaign makes Karin ojou-sama retire, it'd be the worst】
【Black Tiger can get fucked, seriously...】
【No, no! I'm sure she'll prove she's innocent!】
【But coming up with an explanation that'll silence the operatives and the antis who just want to attack her sounds pretty hard...】
【And some media coverage is horribly biased... How can she blow all that away...?】
【Certainly not with Karin ojou-sama's Elegant intellect...】
【Wish Kagerou had just destroyed that TV station...】
【A nearby clan showed up and carted him away...】
【Has Karin Yamada finally come to admit her crimes?】
【There you are】
【Of course they showed up... everyone report them】
Mitsuki and Honoka had collabed on a stream to heavily promote the announcement, which probably helped too. Over a million people were waiting, and countless comments raced across the dark screen even before it began.
Then—
"Good evening, everyone, desu wa. Quite a lot has happened, and I took a short break, but today I'm finally back on-stream."
The stream started on schedule. Concurrents and comments shot up together. Believers in Karin's innocence, gawkers and operatives all had their say, but most comments were asking about the person seated beside her.
【Wait, who's that?】
【It's not Mitsuki-sama... she's watching this with Honoka-sama on another stream】
【Face covered—someone who doesn't stream?】
【Wait, could this be... that best friend she's mentioned a few times????】
"I'll skip the preamble. It would be a waste of time."
With her face hidden, Mafuyu sat beside Karin and began firmly.
"Judging from the comments, many of you think today is a stream to explain the allegations. Unfortunately, we have no way to prove her innocence here and now. Proving that something DIDN'T happen is extremely difficult. But I can state unequivocally that my best friend, Karin Yamada, would never stage these events. Because she had no need to resort to anything that risky. Ever since she went viral after the incident with Saiga Kagerou, she could have gained ten million subscribers—or twenty million—at any time, simply by streaming a 'dungeon conquest.'"
As chat struggled with that astonishing claim, Karin moved forward to take Mafuyu's place.
"Um, so... I'm not entirely sure this will be enough to prove my innocence, either, but..."
Then she announced:
"On my next stream, I shall Elegantly bring you a feat no underage explorer anywhere in the world has ever officially accomplished: a solo conquest of the deep layers!"
【Huh?】
【Wait】
【What】
【WHAAAAAT!?】
Chat fell into chaos at a declaration so sudden it sounded insane.
Mafuyu, the schemer, and Karin, the powerhouse. Two girls stood head-on against a quiet war begun by one of Japan's most powerful clans.
――――――――――――――――――――
There were so many comments on the last episode saying, 'There's no way Karin ojou-sama's poor little brain could stage anything!' just like Kagerou-sama, that I was dying laughing, desu wa.
Also, sorry. It's a happy problem to have, but replying to comments has gotten a bit overwhelming, so from now on I might reply to some and not others. I do read them all and take them to heart, though, so please keep supporting the story, desu wa...!