After being elected as the governor of Tokyo, he will debut as a band!

Because there was no audience during the rehearsal, Hiroi Kikuri's "extraordinary" ability to create a lively atmosphere could not be brought to life, so the members of the Butterfly Group did not feel too impressed by the Sickhack performance.

In other words, they did not see the "superb stage presence" that the manager had described in the four Sickhack veterans.

Only Kurata Mashiro seemed to have noticed something about Aoyama Mukashi. After the rehearsal, she kept staring at him, wanting to talk to him but also hesitant.

Of course, they were from a prestigious girls' school, so even if they had doubts, they would still behave with impeccable manners. In addition, Aoyama and Hiroi's skills were indeed quite good, so they didn't need to flatter them. Therefore, the communication process before the official performance was still very pleasant.

The various admiring words typical of BanG Dream! members, spoken by juniors to seniors, made Hiroi Kikuri beam with joy. If the members of the Chodan group weren't all minors, she probably would have already spent a fortune to buy the most expensive drinks at the sports bar and treated the Chodan members to a good drink.

"I'm not as amazing as you guys say~ But if it's this year, I'm confident I can perform at both the Kohaku Uta Gassen and the Budokan!"

"...The Red and White Song Festival?"

The five girls were immediately shocked.

This thing is like the Spring Festival Gala next door; those who can appear are basically the top artists in Japan.

Speaking solely of anime idol groups, only Muse, who were at the height of their popularity back then, have ever been honored, which is considered the highest honor for Japanese entertainers.

"Don't listen to this drunkard's nonsense."

Iwashita Shima delivered a chop to Hiroi's head.

"This guy probably doesn't even know which way the NHK doors face."

"Well, everyone needs to have dreams, and it's never a bad thing to have a lot of confidence."

"Instead of pursuing your dreams, you should really think about finding a normal place to live. A poor guy who can only afford to rent a haunted house is actually here talking about 'I'm going to be on the Kohaku Uta Gassen this year' with such seriousness. Are NHK and the Ministry of Education inviting you to go on stage to tarnish the music industry?"

The young ladies from the Moon Forest had never heard of this before, and they couldn't help but whisper among themselves.

"Huh? Would anyone actually choose to live in a haunted house just to save on rent?"

"Is it really safe to live in a place like that? Wouldn't it be dangerous?"

"But living in a haunted house sounds very rock and roll. Our manager made us participate in this live performance because he thinks our music isn't 'clashing' enough. Why don't we take some time to visit Hiroi-nee's haunted house? Maybe it will help. I just don't know if it will bother Hiroi-nee."

Bassist Hiromachi Nanami suggested.

"No problem, no problem, but if possible, please bring some wine with you when you come, preferably the kind of high-end wine that you have in your family's collection... Oh dear!"

The outspoken Hiroi Kikuri was slapped again by Iwashita Shima.

"You scum, have you really sunk so low as to extort high school students?!"

As for Hiromachi Nanami's proposal, it was naturally met with unanimous opposition from the other four.

Going to a haunted house in an amusement park is considered a thrill-seeking experience, but going to a haunted house... that's not a place where the atmosphere of terror is artificially created like a haunted house. Who knows what might actually be there?

"However, there seems to be a saying that 'even ghosts are afraid of evil people.' If someone is extremely vicious, even the ghosts in a haunted house would be afraid of them."

The one who said this was Butterfly Group.

The violinist, the elegant Rui Hachishio.

To be fair, she has a pretty good eye for people; Hiroi Kikuri does indeed fit the description of "extremely hungry and poor".

……

Green Mountain as seen by the average person VS Green Mountain through a white girl's fantasy filter

Make way for me: 034 Ticket buyer carrying a large sum of money

"But Hiroi-nee doesn't seem scary at all; it's Mr. 'Hack' who seems like a villain."

Guitarist Touko Kiritani muttered under her breath.

"The mask she was wearing was also a bit scary."

After all, it is a mask of Yuchi Gong. As a door god in the folk religion of the Celestial Empire, Yuchi Gong originally had the function of driving away ghosts and evil spirits. How could a mask drawn based on his mythological image not be frightening?

"By the way, Shiro has been staring at Haku's mask the whole time. Doesn't he find it scary?"

Hiromachi Nanami poked Kurata Mashiro's arm with his finger and asked.

She wasn't too afraid of such things, after all, she was a member of the school's horror research club and had seen a lot of horror movies, so she had a very high immunity to scary things.

"Well, I just wanted to see if I could see something different..."

Mashiro answered somewhat embarrassedly.

From her perspective, during the SICKHACK rehearsal, a vision resembling a frenzy of butterflies did indeed appear, centered on Aoyama's face—a giant blue-winged butterfly surrounded by more than ten smaller, colorful butterflies.

"Huh? You said 'saw it again'? Did you see anything on Haku-senpai's face before?"

"...Ah, that's it..."

“Wait, wait, wait,” Hiromachi Nanami took out a lyric book from his bag and handed it to Mashiro, “It’s rare to see something special, why don’t you write it down?”

"Well, good."

Mashiro took the lyric book, but before she started writing, she looked up and asked Aoyama for his opinion.

Aoyama shrugged, indicating that she could use whatever material she wanted from him.

As someone who loves rock music, he is still happy to see himself inspire younger generations.

"..."

Kurata Mashiro closed his eyes and pondered for a while, then opened the lyric book and wanted to start writing.

But at that moment, a gasp came from the direction of the ticket office.

Aoyama hadn't been thinking about the girls anyway. After hearing the exclamations, he apologized to them and turned to walk towards the ticket booth.

A large crowd had already gathered at the ticket booth. When they saw Aoyama, a strange man wearing a mask, coming over, they made way for him. As Aoyama walked into the circle, he saw a man dressed as a dockworker stuffing a tightly bound bundle of brand-new 10,000 yen notes into his waist bag.

Because of the distance and the man's deliberate concealment, he couldn't see the contents of the fanny pack clearly. However, judging from the bulging state of the fanny pack, if it also contained Fukuzawa Yukichi, it must have been a large sum of money.

But why would a Japanese person carry Chinese currency with them?

That bundle of brand-new yen was also strange. Although the income of dockworkers in Japan was not low, they did not use cash much in their daily lives, so there was no reason for them to carry a large amount of cash with them.

something wrong.

The man dressed as a dockworker noticed the stares of those around him. He calmly zipped up his fanny pack and then smiled at the people around him.

"Well, it's payday again, isn't it? I just withdrew this money from the bank to give to the guys at the company. Luckily, the money was all tied up tightly with paper strips, otherwise, if it had been scattered all over the floor and a few bills had been lost, I really wouldn't have been able to explain it to the president."

After saying that, the man even looked relieved.

After hearing his reasonably reasonable explanation and finding nothing interesting to watch, the crowd quickly dispersed and started queuing up to buy tickets again.

Seeing that no one was paying attention to him anymore, the man dressed as a dockworker left on his own.

He didn't notice that in a dark corner not far away, Aoyama was watching his back from afar.

"This person looks familiar..."

Qingshan muttered to himself.

Because the man was wearing a baseball cap, Aoyama could only see the part below his nose; the part above his nose was only a rough outline.

Even so, Aoyama was certain that he had seen him somewhere before.

"Not from the yakuza side...it should be someone I've met before in the political arena, a candidate for a grassroots self-governing organization?"

Terms like election fraud and political donations came to mind.

But no matter what, there must be something wrong with that money.

Although the Japanese are known for their high cash usage rate among modern countries, it is now the 21st century, and bank transfers are the mainstream. Only special industries such as yakuza and sex work involve large-scale cash payments. Dockworkers, on the other hand, have legitimate jobs and can receive their wages through bank cards or PayPal. Even if there are people who cannot use bank cards due to credit issues, they are a minority and do not need such large amounts of cash.

Furthermore, Yokohama Port is currently the main area of ​​activity for neon cleanup groups, and the number of foreigners without legal status and unable to use bank cards is still in the early stages, so the money could not possibly be intended for them.

That man dressed as a dockworker must be hiding something.

Aoyama was pondering whether to follow them to see what was happening when he overheard people nearby talking about their tickets—

"Those are Changgu Logistics employee uniforms, right? I heard that company has been extremely busy lately, and everyone is staying home. I suppose that money is for employee bonuses?"

"But if they're so busy, how come their employees still have time to come to the concert? Last time our president visited Hachigaku Logistics, they even turned him away."

"He must be a newbie who hasn't been with us for long, right? I know most of the long-time employees at Changgu Logistics, but this is the first time I've seen that guy."

"They dared to let a newcomer carry so much cash? Their president must be incredibly naive."

"I don't know, maybe she's a relative of the president."

As the people who had been talking gradually walked away, Aoyama gave up on the idea of ​​following the man from before.

Now that we know which company the other party belongs to, we can just send someone to investigate; there's no need for me to take the risk myself.

Aoyama called Suzumiya Takumi, who was roaming freely nearby (Aoyama had also arrived in Yokohama in Takumi's car that day), and asked him to have someone investigate the situation of "Hagaku Stream," but not to show up himself.

The events that happened in Fold served as a reminder to Aoyama that although Takumi Ryoumiya had severed ties with the Yakuza, his influence remained, and his personal involvement might attract unnecessary attention.

After hanging up the phone, Aoyama turned around to go back to Sickhack, but before he could do anything, he suddenly felt a probing gaze on his back.

He turned his head slightly and saw the violinist of the butterfly troupe.

Rui Hachishio stood there.

"...You must be Miss Yashio? Is there anything I can help you with?"

Qingshan calmed himself down and asked in a composed tone.

“Excuse me…” Rui Yashio lowered her gaze and gently shook her head. “Haku-senpai, it might be a bit presumptuous of me to say this so suddenly. Has anyone ever told you that your back view is somewhat similar to that of a powerful political figure who can command the winds and waves?”

Make way for me: 035 got away with it.

Tsukimori Girls' Academy is one of the most prestigious girls' schools in the Tokyo area, and its students include many daughters from upper-class families.

As the student council president, Rui Hachishio's family background may not be the best among the students, but she is undoubtedly one of the best.

Such a person would naturally have no shortage of opportunities to interact with celebrities in the political and business worlds.

Aoyama had been active in politics for many years and had many interactions with these high-status groups. With so many visits, he inevitably came into contact with their families as well.

Rui Yashio seems to be a member of this group as well, and may have met Aoyama at some social event.

In addition, given that this girl is meticulous and observant, it is not surprising that when Aoyama was busy with other things and had no time to conceal his brilliance, she noticed his difference and connected his back view with the back view of Aoyama Tomohito in her memory.

"From behind?"

Aoyama, however, remained completely unperturbed.

If we could identify a person simply by looking at their back, then many countries wouldn't need fingerprint records and facial recognition systems.

A person's back view can only serve as a general physical feature to help people guess another person's identity, and such "guesses" are easily overturned.

"Miss Hachishio, you should know that many people have similar back views, but two people with similar back views are not necessarily connected."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything by it... I was just expressing my true feelings."

Rui Hachishio lowered her gaze and bowed slightly to indicate that she had no intention of offending anyone.

"Besides, Miss Hachishio, you just saw my performance on stage. My technique was pretty good, wasn't it? As for that rising political star you mentioned, I don't know who he is, but since you used such an exaggerated description as 'capable of summoning wind and rain,' his status must be quite high, right?"

"Yes."

"So do you think a politician can reach that position without dedicating himself fully to his political career?" He paused, then added, "Please answer me rationally."

Aoyama's question hit the nail on the head.

Human energy is finite; if someone puts in tremendous effort in one area, they will inevitably fall behind in other areas.

Of course, the world is full of wonders, and there are top geniuses who excel in multiple fields, but those geniuses are irrational and abnormal.

For example, Sir Richard Bull was not only a mathematical genius and a master of physics, but also a formidable politician. During his lifetime, he served as the Director of the Royal Mint, which was equivalent to a mini-central bank governor.

You can say that Newton was so amazing it defies logic, but if you say that you or someone you know is "as amazing as Newton," you'll probably be seen as a narcissist or a lunatic.

In addition, there are many so-called geniuses who are simply products of a deification movement, and their actual value cannot withstand any scrutiny, such as vocational school students who possess world-class mathematical talent.

As for Yashio Ryuu, she was someone who was used to thinking rationally. At this moment, she was guided by Aoyama's last sentence and actually began to think about the possibility of the situation that Aoyama mentioned, based on her own experience and her understanding of the limits of normal people.

The conclusion, of course, is "impossible".

As the student council president of Tsukimori Academy, Yashio Ruyu has seen geniuses in all sorts of fields. They may be able to master a skill effortlessly, but if they want to stand at the top in fierce competition, they either have to put in tremendous effort or their minds are completely transformed into the shape of a certain field, but in other fields or in daily life they are just idiots or weirdos. Especially in the field of rock and roll, which pursues wilderness and freedom, it is inherently contradictory to politics, which pursues order and stability.

However, neither of these scenarios supports her conjecture that "Hak and Aoyama are the same person".