Chapter 235 – The Town is in an Uproar. Gathering Spice Information.

A daу hаd passеd since Littlе Наzuki’s еnсоunter with Demоn King Mаrrоn Glaсé.

“Sо, whаt’s thе situаtion nоw?”

“From whаt I’ve heаrd thrоugh mу сonneсtions, thе whole world is in аn uрroar. It’s the first time а Dеmon King has been саptured on video. If thаt’s thе real dеal, thеn shе’s thе оne responsiblе for turning the wоrld intо this stаte… It’s going tо bе mоre than just а day оff from the Dungeon.”

“Yеаh, I bet. Thаt thing is sеriouslу bad news. Мy Grimoire sаys wе wоn’t be able to stand аgainst it unlеss wе hаve thе comрlеtе set.”

“I figured аs much… Асtuаllу, thе faсt thаt уou саn stand against it if you have the full set is surprising in itself.”

I’ve been chatting with Slayer V on Zakko since morning, and he seems kinda… into it, you know?

Maybe the blood of his days as a Labyrinth Conqueror is stirring.

After all, she’s a fated rival from back then.

“Well, regarding this incident, it seems Ikaruga Entertainment is plotting something. I’ve got a connection with Little Hazuki now, so information is pouring in.”

“I wonder what her sense of confidentiality is like,” Slayer V laughed, and that was the end of the conversation.

Now, about the movements in this circle…

The very next day, Charaway brought some astonishing news!

We went out for a meal together, and…

“Seems like they’re thinking of forming a team to concentrate Concurrent Viewers and take on the Demon King with that.”

“It’s come to that? A team, like, picking members from various companies?”

“Nah, each Agency will have its own way of fighting, and joining a team could create disparities within the Agencies themselves, so it seems the companies won’t join. From the info I gathered, they’ll probably gather Independent Streamers from all over the world.”

“Seriously? This is turning into something insane. But I guess it can’t be helped, it’s a crisis on a global scale. I’ll just cheer on the young folks doing their best.”

I’d been supporting Little Yuusha from the shadows the other day too.

As I was thinking that, Charaway was staring intently at me.

“What, what?”

“See, I think it’s better for something like this to have one seasoned veteran of life mixed in, like a mentor.”

“Hmm, hmm, I might agree with that. So, that mentor would be…? Why are you staring at me…”

“Even if you mixed in with the youngsters, Spice, you wouldn’t stand out at all, right? You’ve gotta do it. They’ll probably hold auditions, but you’d pass, Spice.”

“Me!?”

This was getting outrageous.

But it was true—if young Streamers were gathered, Spice wouldn’t feel out of place at all mixed in among them.

A style of teaching and guiding from within, huh?

The other members of Four Guys couldn’t do that.

“I’ll give it a shot and go out in a blaze of glory. That’s what my Listeners expect!”

“Challenging just to go out in style! You’re a pro, Charaway.”

Well, if it comes to auditions being held, I guess I’ll participate.

That’s what I thought.

As Spice, I continued Streaming as usual, leisurely Clearing Dungeons and playing games.

Occasionally, comments from those in the know would come in, like:

※ ‘Little Spice, are you going to audition?’

“What audition? What’s that? Spice doesn’t know~”

That’s backroom talk, right?

Isn’t that insider info?

※ ‘A Hero Party audition will be held soon, so please participate! Hazuki-chan said so on her Stream!’

That’s pigeon behavior (talking about another Streamer’s Stream on a different Streamer’s channel)!

Spice deliberately stopped picking up on that comment.

Soon, the Meat Brigade forgot about the topic and returned to their usual noisy, lively chatter.

Hmm, hmm… A Hero Party, huh.

Come to think of it, there was a Hero Club.

Maybe someone from there calculated and set up this current flow?

Like Kiraboshi Hazuki, for instance.

No, no, she’s just a high school girl.

Such power… she might have it, but isn’t that overthinking it?

Spice shook off his suspicions and focused on the Stream!

However…!

The Hero Party plan had been proposed and set in motion by none other than that Kiraboshi Hazuki…!!

The news that the audition was officially happening raced across various SNS platforms and news sites.

The participation requirement was to be a Streamer.

Gender, age, nationality, race, species—no restrictions.

Humans or Other Species could participate.

The application form was made public, and when I went to take a quick look, it was so popular the server crashed.

Seriously!

I let it sit for a day, and with a casual thought of, “Well, it’s probably just for the experience,” I applied.

If Spice gets in, it’ll be a chance to guide the young folks!

Judging from the application form content, it starts with a document screening.

There were over fifty thousand applications from all over the world, for only five slots.

And the Hero Party has six members total.

One is already decided!?

Is it Little Hazuki?

No, she seems to be in a producer role and won’t join the party.

Then who is it?

Just who is this member decided from the very beginning…!!

The town was abuzz with talk of the Hero Party.

The fear and sense of despair caused by the Demon King’s appearance were being overwritten in an instant.

Smooth.

This is a clever strategy.

Dungeons, and the monsters and Demons that emerge from them, change in various ways depending on people’s hearts.

The more people fear them, the more power they gain; conversely, if the fear is overcome or they are incorporated into entertainment, they weaken.

This strategy… is Kiraboshi Hazuki behind it?

If so, she’s an incredible schemer.

As I marveled at this, news of passing the document screening arrived at my place.

It seemed I had qualified to participate in the audition.