The Death Mage Who Doesn’t Want a Fourth Time Chapter 203.2

Chapter 30 – The former idol who likes her third life

During Tsuchiya Kanako's first life, her childhood dream was to become an idol. Her parents, younger sister, younger brother and her friends all said that she was cute, and she thought of herself as a genius when it came to dancing and singing.

With the help of her parents, she attended the ballet cla.s.s in her hometown and did her best to practice singing. With effort, she did become good at these things, but… she realized that her talent was only average.

Perhaps her parents hadn't thought that she would survive in the entertainment world either, or perhaps they had actually been opposed to Kanako chasing such a career, or perhaps they had simply experienced financial problems. For whatever reason, they did not do the paperwork to register her at a training school.

And so, Kanako went through elementary school and middle school with no production crews miraculously spotting her talent. She experienced having leading and secondary roles in her school's theater club, but it was not the resplendent idol life that she had imagined.

And in middle school, Kanako realized that although she was the most attractive girl in her cla.s.s, there was at least one girl in each cla.s.s of her school that was about as attractive as her.

Around the time she entered high school, she became aware of how mediocre she was. It was true that she was relatively attractive, and she was certainly good at singing, dancing and acting for an amateur.

She stood out among the other students in her year, and she was popular in her cla.s.s.

But it would have been impossible for her to use those as her weapons to survive in the entertainment industry. The media at the time was obsessed with approachable idols that were “about as attractive as the cute girl in your cla.s.s,” but it wasn't realistic for Kanako to be among such idols.

Maybe it was possible for her to pa.s.s an audition. Maybe she could be chosen to stand at the center of a group of members. But Kanako would have needed to work desperately hard just to acquire the chips she needed to gamble on all of these maybes, and she would have been left with nothing if that gamble failed.

Not only that, it was possible that she would become mentally strained, fall into debt and be forced to appear in adult videos.

Kanako had heard the saying that failures were lessons in life, but in the end, she decided to give up on her dreams.

She would live a fulfilling school life, enter university and then get a job. She would look for a boyfriend while working, get married and, if possible, live a comfortable life as a housewife.

Forgetting her bright, childish dreams, Kanako spent her days thinking absentmindedly about living that kind of ordinary life. But when a terrorist incident occurred on the ferry during her school field trip, she made her best efforts to survive, but died in the end.

Tsuchiya Kanako's life was supposed to end here.

But through some kind of miracle, Kanako was able to live a second life. What's more, she lived in a world in which magic existed, with a variety of gifts given to her by a G.o.d.

It was a greater miracle than her talent being noticed by an entertainment production crew.

In Origin, she was born as the daughter of the owner of a company. On top of that, she had become even more physically attractive than before (This was subjective at the time, but other reincarnated individuals confirmed it later). On top of that, her average singing and dancing skills from her previous life were now real talents.

With all of these circ.u.mstances put together, it was only natural that Kanako strived to achieve the dream that she had failed to attain in her previous life.

A man was lying on a bed, laughing in a deep voice. “Very good… You're quite good at this, considering it's your first time…”

Meanwhile, Kanako continued what she was doing, making sure not to look at him.

“There really are people who laugh like that… Let's see, there are no hidden cameras. That's good, because I don't want to leave any evidence of my crime. But I've found the remote control that will have a bunch of scary men come running in here. I'll keep that to the side,” she said to herself. “All that's left is my objective… There it is! It really is a black notebook!”

Naturally, what she was rummaging through was the luggage of the man who was letting out erotic noises on the bed. As for why Kanako found herself in this chaotic situation, the events leading up to this point were a little complicated.

With the chance given to her through her parents' connections, Kanako had used her cheat-like ability and worked hard to debut as a child actor, and she had gained popularity in no time.

She had continued on to debut as a singer, maintaining her popularity as a talented singer, dancer and actor as she entered middle school.

Rodcorte hadn't granted her anything as convenient as 'talent for being an idol,' but as a result of her increased physical capabilities compared to when she was on Earth, her singing and dancing had become significantly better. Her acting skills came from her useful experience in the theater club on Earth and the serious study that she had done in this world.

Well, even then, I'm sure that there are people who think I cheated. There are problems like the one I'm dealing with now, after all, Kanako thought to herself.

Kanako had been granted a cheat-like ability… the one that would eventually come to be named as Venus. It allowed her to copy the memories and emotions of others and implant them into herself, and vice-versa. She had used this ability with no restraint.

She had implanted favorable impressions of herself on her producers and her co-actors, and turned the people who came to her concerts and autograph sessions into her own fans.

She had copied the memories of her rivals who were skilled at dancing, playing instruments, singing and acting in order to obtain these skills for herself.

Kanako didn't think of herself as having done anything wrong. Venus wasn't a powerful enough ability to brainwash others or cause large changes in their personalities. She had also only implanted favorable opinions of herself onto others; she had never implanted negative opinions of her compet.i.tors, and she had never made fans so engrossed with her that it would cause them trouble in their daily lives.

As for her dancing and singing abilities, they were the result of the hard work she had put in after copying the memories of other performers onto herself.

However, these methods had occasionally caused unexpected problems. Kanako was currently dealing with one of them.

The man on the bed cackled with glee. “That's right! Make me happy and I will endorse you to Director Michael Golden-Silver, so do your best!”

Kanako had used Venus to implant favorable feelings towards herself in one of the people in the entertainment industry, and that person had recommended her to a variety of masterminds and those who pulled the strings behind the curtain in the industry.

As a result, the man on the bed, who was one of the big-shots who had taken an interest in Tsuchiya Kanako, had tempted her with the possibility of being in the next work of a world-famous director and offered her a chance to sleep her way up the ladder.

Incidentally, Kanako was thirteen years old at this moment in time.

“So there really are people like this… It almost makes me cry to think how pathetic the entertainment world is to be controlled by lolicons like this,” Kanako muttered to herself.

“That's right! You're letting out some nice noises, I can't get enough of it! It's too good!” the man on the bed shouted in delight.

“… It seems that he's taken a liking to the edited fake memories that I've given him, but it's making me really tired.”

Though Kanako was the daughter of a company president, she could not stand up to the masterminds who ruled the entire entertainment industry. She had pretended to accept the man's demands, copied his memories and the emotions attached to them using Venus… She then edited them, creating false memories that she had slept with him in order to make her way up the industry.

She had no shortage of memories to use as base materials, as he seemed to have demanded plenty of other young girls to sleep with him to improve their careers.

Now, that man was on the bed, reliving his best memory of a girl sleeping with him for her career.

“Now then, I've secrets to use in self-defense once this gets out… All I need to do now is see how things unfold,” Kanako said to herself.

Having taken a record of the contents of the black notebook, she returned it to where it had come from. All that was left to do now was finding an opportunity to take a shower and have the man's employees take her back to the production studio. After that, she just needed to pretend that nothing ever happened… after all, nothing had actually been done to her body.

n.o.body would find out about this; not her manager, who was completely oblivious to everything, and certainly not her parents or older brother.

“Still, it's quite strange. That G.o.d gave us good fortunes and destinies, so why am I still running into trouble? If I were in a shoujo manga and I really did have good fortune and a destiny, then wouldn't I have been rescued by some handsome older man with a strong sense of justice?” Kanako wondered.

This wasn't the first time that she had found herself in trouble. She had once been abducted after unexpectedly discovering an executive director's conspiracy to take over the company, and she had also once been attacked by a stalker. During her older brother's engagement party, terrorists had snuck onto the boat on which the party was held.

She had also once gotten involved in a murder case that was straight out of a mystery manga.

Kanako had resolved all of these problems. Most of the time, she had done so by using Venus to pa.s.s clues that she had discovered herself onto others and make them the hero… She wanted to be an idol, not an action hero or a great detective. She couldn't afford to stand out in those kinds of ways.

“Those times were really troublesome,” Kanako recalled to herself. “If I were to ever become a suspect, my life in the entertainment industry would be over… Well, not that there were any criminals that tried to frame me, since I'm underage. Still, if I really am blessed with good fortune, wouldn't it be normal for me to not get caught up in these incidents?”

Of course, there was n.o.body to answer this question, and she naturally received no response. Her ability was one that copied and pasted previously-existing memories and emotions; it could not produce answers that n.o.body knew.

“Maybe I should think of myself as fortunate for being able to get through all this by using my ability, but… it isn't like I can ask the other reincarnated individuals,” she murmured.

Since Kanako was the daughter of a company president and also involved in entertainment, she came into contact with people from all kinds of industries. Among them were children her own age that she had never met before.

Politicians' sons and daughters, famous artists, local celebrities and children from well-known families. These people always averted their gazes when they noticed Kanako – these children with traces of the same features possessed by her cla.s.smates, the students from other year groups and the school staff who had died on the same ferry as her on Earth.

They probably didn't want to get involved with her. Kanako felt the same way.

Though they had been companions who shared memories together on Earth, they were now all living their own, separate lives.

There was no benefit in gathering together.

However, there had been one reincarnated individual who tried to make contact with Kanako.

“… I wonder if Asagi has really thought things through?” Kanako wondered.

It was her former cla.s.smate, Minami Asagi. He had sent her an encrypted message disguised as a fan letter… describing the events of their first lives in an essay with novel-like sentences, and asking her what she thought of reuniting with their former companions.

Back then, Kanako had replied, “I think it's strange. Wouldn't it be unnatural for us to gather without some large incident occurring?”

“My ability becoming known would be fatal for my idol career. I really hope there's no large incident,” Kanako murmured to herself.

The man on the bed had fallen quiet, so Kanako used Venus on him once more to plant false memories upon him, then returned to her production studio as if nothing had happened, just as she had planned.

Incidentally, as a result of this incident, she was cast in Director Michael Gold-Silver's next work as the niece of an Asian police officer, the secondary lead actor. Her character was kidnapped by a mafia group that was illegally trading military-grade magical media, and rescued by the main character. She was on-screen for just five minutes in total, and her only spoken line was “Thank you” after being saved.

After that, Kanako's life was supposed to go smoothly, but a large event occurred when she was eighteen years old.

The reincarnated individual Amemiya Hiroto publicly announced to the world that he and 99 others possessed special abilities. Following that, he united Kanako and the rest of the reincarnated individuals.

The truth was that Kanako and the other reincarnated individuals had received messages from him prior to his public announcement, but… that didn't change the fact that Amemiya had united them forcibly.

If they had refused, their special abilities would have been made known to the world.

Having reluctantly reunited with the other reincarnated individuals, Kanako formed a group with like-minded reincarnated individuals, including the 'Chronos' Murakami Junpei and the 'Gungnir' Kaidou Kanata. Together, they joined Amemiya Hiroto, as well as Asagi and Naruse Narumi who already knew him.

However, Amemiya and the others told them of a terrifying truth. Various nations' intelligence agencies were already learning of their special abilities.

At this rate, it was possible that they would be kidnapped in secret and placed in confinement inside research facilities. Amemiya's plan was to acknowledge their special abilities to the public and form a group so that this could not happen.

Under these circ.u.mstances, many of the reincarnated individuals cooperated with Amemiya and the Bravers organization that he formed soon afterwards. They used their special abilities that they had kept hidden up until now for the benefit of humanity, being of use to society. For them, this was their liberation from their secret.

But several of the reincarnated individuals, including Kanako and Murakami Junpei… were dissatisfied from the very beginning, as the revelation of their special abilities had cost them dearly.

Though the explanations of the Bravers' abilities to the public were brief, they had indeed been revealed. Kanako lied about her ability and told everyone that Venus was an ability that allowed her to charm others. If she were to try to pretend that her ability was something completely different, it would have been seen through by s.h.i.+mada Izumi's Inspector ability, and she would be very troubled if she were asked to demonstrate her ability… though she could have gotten away with any lie if it weren't for the fact that the cheat-like abilities didn't work as effectively on other reincarnated individuals, however.

Thus, people began to think that Kanako's popularity among her fans and the people of the entertainment industry was because of her ability. There wasn't any proof, and the media couldn't criticize the Bravers directly. Many of the fans didn't even care.

But the people of the entertainment industry took very clear steps to create distance between themselves and Kanako, regardless of whether she had really used her ability or not.

Not only that, but even her older brother and his fiancé had cut contact with her.

Kanako told herself that the changes in the way the people around her treated her were something that she had brought upon herself by using her ability. But at the same time, she did not forget her resentment towards Amemiya and the others. However, it was also true that she had nowhere to go except for the Bravers.

For about two years, she took part in international disaster rescue as a part of the Bravers. Being proficient in earth-attribute, water-attribute and life-attribute magic, she was quite active in the field, but it was difficult for her to make use of her Venus ability.

Its only real application was to charm the people she was rescuing to make them temporarily forget the trauma of the disasters they had experienced.

Following the 'Undead' incident and the revelation of the existence of the death attribute to the world, she began fighting against terrorists with the rest of the Bravers.

Kanako went through military training that she had never wanted to do, fought against terrorists with guns and magic, and used Venus to interrogate captured suspects.

But many of these political criminals refused to talk, even with favorable impressions of Kanako implanted upon them. Thus, Kanako secretly copied their memories in order to extract the information they knew.

“Now that I think about it, that was my first mistake,” Kanako said to the group gathered around her as she reminisced back to the past.

“Why? You've done plenty of copy-and-pasting with memories, so aren't you used to it?” asked Bilde, the Ghoul woman from the village that had been led by Zadiris.

“That's what I thought,” Kanako replied. “But once I actually did it, I started to throw up whenever I ate, have nightmares and hear auditory hallucinations. It was very troublesome.”

“Wow… So, the memories of those 'political criminals' were really bad?”

“That's right… I thought I'd be fine because I was used to it, but I'd underestimated the toll it would take on me.”

Up until that point, Kanako had believed that she had mastered the use of Venus, despite the fact that there was no Status system in Origin to check Skill Levels in numerical values, unlike Lambda.

Until she began her anti-terrorist activities in the Bravers organization, Kanako had only used her ability on ordinary people… There had been some criminals among them, but she failed to realize that they had all at least possessed sane minds.

The terrorists, on the other hand, had possessed extreme beliefs and values that were not accepted by society, and did not fear death. Kanako had been unable to accept those memories.

“We can only imagine how hard it was to copy and paste the memories of others, but… I shudder at the thought of having to relive the memories of someone like Rick Paris as if they were my own,” said Privel.

She was referring to the man who had deceived and then gruesomely murdered a number of Scylla, including Orbia, whom she had loved like a sister, in order to make his older brother the duke of the Sauron Duchy.

She could see the reasoning behind his actions, but he had seduced Scylla to fall in love with him and then murdered them. She could only think of the mind of someone who would do such a thing as grotesque. That was especially true considering that he had respected and loved his brother, Raymond Paris.

“I suppose it means that warriors taking lives to survive are different from political criminals who kill for their beliefs. I suppose Gordan would fall under that category, as well as Isla when she was still alive,” said Basdia.

Kanako nodded. In Origin, she had copied the memories of soldiers who had killed enemies in battle and policemen who had fatally shot criminals, but nothing had happened.

“Well, I never met Gordan or Isla while she was still alive,” Kanako pointed out. “But I think you're absolutely right. The memories of a fanatical fundamentalist and a Vampire who had disturbing interests for tens of thousands of years… I get the feeling that those would be pretty dangerous.”

“It was hard for you, too… I went through the same thing, so I understand,” said the 'Gazer' Minuma Hitomi, who was a reincarnated individual with similar experiences. “But I turned to alcohol to escape reality, attempted suicide and did drugs. Next thing I knew, I was in a hospital… You didn't get hospitalized, did you?”

“At the very least, you didn't appear to be suffering that much when you joined us,” said Pluto, another of Legion's personalities.

“I didn't do anything incredible. I simply used Venus to cut away the memories that were likely to be the cause of my nightmares,” said Kanako. “I'd delete my own memories or overwrite them with those of others. After doing that repeatedly, I became impervious to anything I saw.”

“Did that… go well? It sounds as dangerous as Vandalieu and Luciliano's experiments,” said Kachia, a former adventurer who was a Ghoul like Bilde.

“It didn't,” replied Kanako with a sigh. “I couldn't talk to anyone about it since I was keeping my ability a secret from everyone, so I did my best to manage on my own, but… in the end, I killed people, and I became the kind of person who felt nothing after betraying people who thought of me as an ally, like 'Marionette.' I totally forgot that memories aren't simply pieces of information; they have emotions attached to them and form the basis of the experiences that mold our personalities.”

The events following that were just as Legion and the others knew. Kanako had started spending time with Murakami's group of members who felt dissatisfied with the Bravers… Those who had also had their dreams crushed and those who felt that their work was dangerous and they were not being paid enough for it. Following that, the group had accepted the 'Avalon' Rikudou Hijiri's suggestion, kidnapped the hospitalized Minuma Hitomi, joined the Eighth Guidance and –

“And then I died, and now I'm here,” Kanako said.

“Wait, I think you just skipped over something important,” said the Arachne Gizania.

“Huh? But the stuff that happened after I was reincarnated in Lambda isn't interesting.”

“It is not that, it is the way you reformed or changed your way of thinking,” said the Empusa Myuze.

Kanako gave a confused blink. She didn't consider herself to have reformed.

She had betrayed Rodcorte and joined Vandalieu's side because she had thought that the reward for doing so was greater than the alternative. She hadn't decided that Rodcorte and Murakami were in the wrong and that Vandalieu was in the right.

From Kanako's point of view, Vandalieu versus Rodcorte wasn't a conflict of justice against evil. It was simply that their interests conflicted with each other.

It was the same as the wars that she had seen on Earth and in Origin.

Kanako didn't believe that Vandalieu was on the side of justice. However, she was certain that in this world, she stood to gain the most in Talosheim, the nation that he ruled.

“Hmm, I don't think I've reformed or anything. I mean, I suppose I haven't killed many people after being reincarnated here, but I have killed some for work, including the bandits that I killed in the beginning. To begin with, I never killed people for no reason in my previous life, either,” Kanako said.

“That might be true, but… Are you not aware of it?” Pluto asked her.

“You're surprisingly unperceptive,” said Enma.

“Aware…? Pluto, Enma, do I look like a saint or something to you? What do you think, Bilde-san?” Kanako asked, turning to Bilde.

Bilde gave her a smile. “Maybe not a saint, but I do think that you're a good girl.”

“That's right, that's… Wait, why do you think that?! The inside of my stomach is pitch black, you know?!” Kanako exclaimed.

“What?! Isn't that some kind of disease?! I've never heard of someone's internal organs being black!” Privel shouted in alarm.

“It means I'm a bad person!”

TLN: The inside of one's stomach being black is a j.a.panese phrase that means that the person is scheming, wicked or malicious.

“Kanako, leaving aside what you think of yourself, there's proof that you've reformed… or rather, that you're a good person. All of us received the divine protection of Deanna, the Moon Giant, didn't we?” said Basdia.

Recovering her composure after hearing Basdia's soothing voice, Kanako thought back to that time.

But it wasn't such a long time ago. When she, Darcia, Zadiris and Zandia were on-stage, Deanna had appeared along with Tiamat and given them her divine protection.

“That's true, but what are you trying to say? You and Pluto and the others received divine protections as well, didn't you?” said Kanako, not quite understanding.

“You know, Kanako. G.o.ds aren't all-knowing or all-powerful. But they aren't careless enough to directly give their divine protections to those who oppose their teachings,” said Privel, who was also Merrebeveil's shrine maiden.

Kanako fell silent for a moment as she considered the meaning of these words… and was dumbfounded. “I-I see… When I think about G.o.ds and divine protections, the impression that Rodcorte left on me is so strong that I never thought too deeply about it, but… Uwah! Should I go and thank her right now?!” she said hastily, having realized that she had received something very valuable.

But Privel and the others were still calm.

“Considering Kanako's reaction, this G.o.d called Rodcorte must be really untrustworthy,” said Privel.

“Ordinarily, granting a divine protection upon an individual is a way that G.o.ds show their belief in that person's qualities and personality,” said Gizania.

“Well, there are some cases in which individuals receive them through their connections,” said Myuze.

“That is true for myself and you, Myuze-dono, but… even so, G.o.ds do not grant them to those of ill nature.”

Indeed, receiving a divine protection from a G.o.d carried a great meaning.

The act of granting a divine protection was a declaration from the G.o.d that the recipient was an embodiment of their teachings, a holy person.

Divine protections were only granted to a handful of priests, ministers and clergymen who directly explained the G.o.ds' teachings to the ma.s.ses of believers. In other words, such individuals were those who had been chosen by a G.o.d.

Of course, if such individuals began to ignore the teachings and gave into immorality… In Vida's case, that would mean forgetting the preciousness of life and repeatedly committing meaningless ma.s.sacres, mercilessly wounding and killing pregnant mothers, babies and lovers.

The people would not revere a G.o.d who would give a divine protection to such an individual.

That was why G.o.ds carefully chose those whom they gave their divine protections to… or at least, most G.o.ds did.

When granting her divine protection to Kanako, Deanna would have considered Kanako's personality and thought that there were no problems. The people of Talosheim would certainly interpret it this way.

… As for Rodcorte, who taught nothing, did not lead the people or look back on the past, he had simply granted his divine protection to the reincarnated individuals to make them stronger.

“Calm down, it's alright,” said Basdia. “She might give you a bitter smile once she learns that you have only just realized it, though.”

“Really?!” Kanako gave a sigh of relief as she corrected her posture and faced Basdia and the others once more. “… It would have been more than just a scandal if I were to have such a great thing taken away from me so soon after I received it… I thought that my life as an entertainer, which I worked so hard towards, was over.”

“You're staunch, aren't you. It's true that you're not a bad person, but you're not a saint,” said Pluto.

“I've learned something I never would have expected, and things have turned out differently from how I imagined in the beginning, but… I'm going to turn over a new leaf and do my best, so let's all put in our best efforts together!” Kanako said, raising her fist into the air.

“Yeah!” everyone else cheered, raising their fists into the air with her.

“Hmm? Incidentally, what is everyone putting their best efforts together towards?” asked Myuze.

“Why are we all gathered here in the first place?” Hitomi questioned.

Everyone suddenly realized that there was something strange about this situation. Why had they all gathered in one room and listened to the story of Kanako's life?

“It's because I want you to help me with the 'Hundred Magical Girls' plan to make more idols, of course,” said Kanako in a casual tone, as if there was nothing out of the ordinary about what she had just said.

“What?! We can become magical girls?!” Bilde shouted in excitement.

“Bilde, don't get excited! Kanako, we haven't heard anything about this!” exclaimed Privel.

“Because I didn't tell you,” said Kanako. “If I explained it beforehand, I didn't think all of you would come.”

“So what was all of that talk about, then?” Privel asked.

“I hid nothing and told the truth, planning to persuade you by moving you to tears, telling you the pitiful tale of my past and saying that I need everyone's love and help for my new life,” said Kanako.

She had gathered everyone here without telling them the important main topic, planning to create an atmosphere where they would be willing to cooperate with her by telling them of her past to gain their sympathy and pity.

“I started suspecting that you had some kind of objective partway through, but…” muttered Pluto.

“But why do you need more members? It seems that you four are doing well,” said Hitomi.

“It only seems that way,” said Kanako. “There are so many things missing to continue our entertainment in a sustainable way. I'm not planning to create concerts every week or every month or anything, but –”

Kanako had only just recently experienced being part of her first idol concert in Lambda. She had used sermons and hymns to gather people, but the audience's response couldn't have been better.

However, if she were to stop here, the idol concerts would not take root as culture. There were more races with long lifespans than there were humans in the Dark Continent and the southern region of this continent, so they would not be forgotten quickly like it would be on Earth and in Origin. But there were no storage media like televisions, the internet or DVDs, so they would fade away unless they were conducted regularly.

That was why Kanako wanted to hold an idol concert every season if possible.

In order for her to do that, she needed members and facilities.

“Being an idol is not the main job of Darcisan, Zandia or Zadiris. We can't have Knochen be our venue every time, and I might not be able to work on the entertainment industry full-time,” said Kanako. “That's why I thought we should have more members that will be able to work regularly.”

Kanako was aiming to register several dozen idols… magical girls, and she would recruit the members that were free for sermons. That was the system she was planning.

The only requirement for becoming a magical girl in this world was being sufficiently accustomed at controlling one's Mana to manipulate the transformation staves, which were Magic Items. That was why Kanako had gathered the people who were present now.

“You only really need one member, do you not? So then, should you not be thinking about what to do when Knochen isn't available?” asked Gizania.

“Gizanisan, that would be too much for me to handle. I won't do that. And Vandalieu has promised that I can borrow Demon King Familiars for performances, so we'll be able to sing as long as we have a venue that is big enough,” said Kanako.

Speaking honestly, there was no better stage in this world than Knochen. He could improvise a stage at will in any location, and would pack himself up afterwards as well. Even on Earth and in Origin, there was no live performance venue as efficient and flexible as him.

But Kanako could not always rely on him. Unlike Vandalieu, Knochen could not make copies of himself.

“I can also use the Chaos Skill to glow a little, and I can also become transparent and make wings to fly,” Kanako added.

She had acquired the Chaos Skill by becoming a Chaos Elf, allowing her to temporarily transform her body. It seemed that there were differences between individuals in what kinds of changes could be made, but fortunately, Kanako could make many changes that would be useful in performances on-stage.

… These would have been evaluated as changes that would be useful in combat for anyone else, however.

That was why Kanako had decided to think about venues later. Talosheim had permanent theater facilities, and in the deeply religious nations of the southern region of the continent, there would always be churches. These churches had open s.p.a.ces in front of them for teachings to be preached and for ceremonies wors.h.i.+ping the G.o.ds.

These would be enough for singing and dancing.

That was why Kanako had prioritized gathering members.

“But are you alright with me? I only sang and danced as best as I could during festivals…” Bilde mumbled; she had wanted to become a magical girl, but she was hesitant now.

“It's fine! You'll become great soon, Bilde-san, I promise!” Kanako declared, leaning forward and grasping Bilde's hand.

“Really?!”

“Really. You have talent. I promise you.”

Kanako was not speaking insincerely. It wasn't just Bilde; she had gathered everyone here because all of them had talent.

None of them had received dancing lessons or vocal training, but they were all powerful warriors. Dancing lends itself to combat skills, and the reverse was also true to some extent. At the very least, none of them were hopeless.

Thus, Bilde would learn dancing relatively quickly if she practiced it. There would be some kinds of dancing that she would be suited for and others that she wasn't, but it was certain that she would become able to dance to a certain standard.

Her voice isn't bad either, and she's cute, too. She's the mother of an eight-year-old… Everyone else, too. Maybe it's because there's a lot of beautiful women in this world, or maybe it's because they're members of Vida's races, Kanako thought. In any case, everyone should s.h.i.+ne if I polish them.

Bilde grasped Kanako's hands with her own. “I'll do it! Varbie is cheering for me, too. I told her I'm going to meet you today, and she looked so excited, asking me if Mama's going to become a magical girl… I'll do my best!”

“W-wait, are you serious?!” shouted Kachia.

“Kachisan, please join us!” said Kanako.

“Me too? W-well, if you're counting on me then I'll try my best but…” Kachia said hesitantly.

“You invited me a long time ago and I did intend to accept. I'll be prioritizing taking care of the children; will you be alright with that?” asked Basdia.

She often left her daughter at nurseries and such while she went to work clearing Dungeons and hunting monsters; this was one thing that she could not sacrifice.

“Of course,” said Kanako. “In fact, you can bring them to the venues, and that would actually be helpful. It would be contributing to our efforts of expressing the teachings of the G.o.ddess of life and love through song and dance.”

On that front, it would be convenient to have an active idol who was the mother of a child.

“So, are you including me?” asked Privel.

“Of course. You can sing and dance, can't you, Privel?” said Kanako.

“I mean, I can, but… my body is different from yours. It's impossible for me to dance like you, you know?” said Privel, pointing at the eight tentacles that formed her lower body.

She didn't have a complex about these legs; in fact, they were a source of pride for her. They were quite beautiful legs, but performing the same dances as members of two-legged races would be impossible.

“For the same reason, I too cannot… and I think it would be dangerous for me to dance as actively as you,” said Gizania, a large-build Arachne.

It was impossible for her to dance like a human as well. On top of that, her spider-like lower body was very large and solid. An ordinary person being struck by it would be a recreation of a traffic accident on Earth.

But Kanako would not back down. “Privel-san, you can do Scyllstyle dances… no, I want you to. And Gizanisan, it will be fine since I will have you mostly singing for a while,” she said.

Many of Vida's races had bodies that were very different from humans, just like Privel and Gizania. This was an important point, showing that even these races could become magical girls, allowing Kanako's activities to reach a broader audience.

“Myuze-san, you're alright with it too, aren't you? Your scythe-arms aren't dangerous if you fold them away,” said Kanako.

“That is true, but… I am a ninja; is it acceptable for me to be so conspicuous?” Myuze wondered.

“… The recent ninjas of Earth and Origin go wild in a spectacular way without concealing themselves,” Kanako told her.

“Is that so?! In that case, I shall make an effort for the children that will bear the t.i.tle of kunoichi in the future,” Myuze declared.

“… You kind of lied to her, Kanako,” said Pluto.

“Well, the ninjas of this world don't hide either, so it's fine,” said Hitomi.

“More importantly, things are surprisingly going the way that Kanako intended. Does n.o.body feel hesitant about this?” Pluto wondered.

“I don't think they do,” said Hitomi, a.n.a.lyzing why Kanako's recruitment was going so well.

According to that a.n.a.lysis… First of all, Bilde, Myuze, Privel and the others did not have a negative impression regarding the 'entertainment world.'

In human societies, bands, theater groups and troupes of traveling entertainers existed; perhaps they could be considered the entertainment world of Lambda.

But the Ghouls had lived in Devil's Nests, the Scylla had been enclosed in their own territory and the rest of Vida's races had lived inside the Boundary Mountain Range. They had no connection to such entertainers.

Thus, they didn't have any bad impression of entertainers.

Second, none of them intended to bet their entire lives on their entertainment activities. It would be a side-job for them at most.

All of them were capable of hunting monsters in Devil's Nests and Dungeons on their own, which was plenty to make a living.

Also, they were from cultures where the women wore highly revealing clothes, but… to begin with, all of them were famous before even making their stage debut.

Basdia had been close with Vandalieu since before Talosheim's restoration, and she was the daughter of Zadiris, who had already debuted as a magical girl.

Privel was one of the daughters of the central figure of the Scylla race, a shrine maiden of Merrebeveil, and one of Vandalieu's fiancés. Gizania and Myuze fell under this category as well.

Bilde and Kachia weren't as well-known as the rest, but… even so, they were famous among the Ghouls.

Thus, they had almost no hesitation in standing on a stage.

“I see… So, you want us to stand on-stage as well? Sorry, but I'll leave that kind of stuff to Pluto,” said Baba Yaga.

“How terrible of you, Baba Yaga,” said Pluto. “We worked so hard together to gain fans in our previous lives!”

“You were blowing kisses at cameras before breaking them, weren't you?” said Hitomi.

“You don't have to dig up the foolish things I did when I was younger! That stuff has nothing to do with Kanako inviting us!” Baba Yaga shouted indignantly. “Kanako, you're better off asking Jeena or Tarea rather than us; they'll happily agree to join you! And you should try your friend Melissa!”

“I've been inviting Melissa at least once a month. She's kept refusing up until now, though,” said Kanako. “Also, Jeensan and Taresan have already agreed to it.”

“What?!” Baba Yaga exclaimed.

“Jeensan loves cute girls, so I sat on her knees and looked up at her as I begged her and she agreed right away, and Taresan said that she won't let Zadiris do as she pleases anymore,” Kanako explained. “Well, Taresan is busy with making equipment made of the Demon King's fragments, so she'll have to teach her team of workers to a certain point before she can take part in our activities.”

Kanako's reach had already extended further than Legion had expected.

On top of that, she intended to persistently persuade Legion to join her, including Baba Yaga. Currently, Legion could only transform into the original appearance of one individual personality at a time, but… in the future, perhaps they would be able to separate and all simultaneously take their original forms.

If that ever happened, they would be able to lead a sermon on their own. There was no way that Kanako would let such a valuable resource slip away.

“… You're living it up, aren't you? Aren't you even livelier than you were in Origin?” Baba Yaga muttered.

“Of course,” said Kanako. “In my third life, this is the time that I have been blessed the most. Well, I feel sorry for the family I left behind in my previous lives, though.”

Kanako's family had already cut contact with her in Origin, and in the end, Kanako was officially an investigator for the federal states, so they wouldn't have been harmed by the rumors surrounding her.

Kanako had asked about her family on Earth before she was reincarnated in Lambda, and it seemed that they had recovered.

And now, in her third life, the journey up until her becoming a citizen of Talosheim had been a great deal of trouble, but things had gone surprisingly smoothly after that.

Vandalieu had not only accepted her, but he had trusted Kanako and her companions unexpectedly quickly. Though it had been at Zadiris's request, he had given Kanako a transformation staff which was a state-of-the-art weapon, and he was also very cooperative with her entertainment-related activities.

Had there ever been an entertainer in history who had received so much a.s.sistance from the ruler of a country, and such a great country at that? No, there certainly hadn't.

Though Kanako had been promised a reincarnation in a world similar to Earth, there was no telling what would happen after that. A fourth life had no worth compared to the one she was living now.

“That's exactly why I can't devote myself completely to idol activities until a while later. I need to recruit and train members and staff, and set up a proper system,” said Kanako.

“Why?” asked Basdia.

“Because in the very unlikely event that Vandalieu is defeated by Alda's forces or Rodcorte or whoever, my blessed life will come to an end,” Kanako replied. “I'm definitely not weak, and I have Venus, so I'll fight while I'm able to do so.”

Though Kanako was no saint, it was only natural for her to want to do something in return for the wonderful way that she had been treated.

And so, Kanako gained new members, but Gufadgarn appeared the next day right after her lessons and took Darcia to the Bahn Gaia continent. Thus, Kanako needed someone to replace her right away.

And as she dozed off to sleep, searching through her thoughts for a good idea on who to go for next… the next thing she knew, she was standing in a dome-shaped building with an open ceiling.

She could see a countless number of lights being held by the audience that was sitting in the seats around her, and she could see everyone doing some kind of work on the other side of the audience.

Thus, Kanako a.s.sumed that this was some kind of stage, so she sang a song in order to cheer everyone on, but… in the middle of her song, she came to a realization.

The light from what she had thought were round glow-sticks was actually a countless number of glowing eyeb.a.l.l.s, and what she had thought was an audience was actually made of the silhouettes of squirming ma.s.ses of flesh, horns and carapaces. The white dome around her was actually an enormous skull.

She had actually been singing inside Vandalieu's head, which had been split in two!

Kanako awoke and stared at the ceiling, startled. “… You have to let me know if I'm not supposed to wear my shoes. I ended up stepping on those squishy grey things,” she muttered to herself.

And then she closed her eyes once more. In her dream, she took off her shoes properly.

When she woke up for real later on, she realized that she had received some mysterious divine protection.

“Just how much is that person intending to spoil me?!” she asked herself as she squirmed about in her bed.

Name: Kanako Tsuchiya

Race: Chaos Elf (Transformed from Elf!)

Age: 2 years old (Approximately 15 years old in appearance)

t.i.tle: Reincarnated Individual, Magical Girl, Evangelist

Job: Magical Idol

Level: 27

Job history: Apprentice Thief, Mage, Archer, Thief, Earth-Attribute Mage, Firework Technician, Magical Girl

Pa.s.sive skills:

Dark Vision (Transformed from Night Vision!)

Mental Corruption: Level 2

Intuition: Level 6

Death Attribute Resistance: Level 5

Enhanced Agility: Level 2 (LEVEL UP!)

Detect Presence: Level 5

Increased Attack Power when equipped with a bow: Small

Rapid Regeneration: Level 1 (NEW!)

Superhuman Strength: Level 1 (NEW!)

Magic Resistance: Level 1 (NEW!)

Allure: Level 2 (NEW!)

Self-Enhancement: Ancestor: Level 3 (NEW!)

Self-Enhancement: Guidance: Level 3 (NEW!)

Active skills:

Earth-Attribute Magic: Level 8 (LEVEL UP!)

Water-Attribute Magic: Level 7

Life-Attribute Magic: Level 6 (LEVEL UP!)

Mana Control: Level 7 (LEVEL UP!)

Singing: Level 7

Dancing: Level 7

Dagger Technique: Level 4

Unarmed Fighting Technique: Level 3

Archery: Level 5

Silent Steps: Level 5

Lockpicking: Level 3

Trap: Level 3

Throwing: Level 3

Compounding: Level 3 (NEW!)

Artillery Technique: Level 1 (NEW!)

Firework Manufacturing: Level 3 (NEW!)

Unique skills:

Venus: Level 10

Chaos (NEW!)

Deanna's Divine Protection (NEW!)

ヴ■■■■■'s Divine Protection (NEW!) [V]