Chapter 224
The spirits stood surrounding the house in a tight encirclement—so dense that not even an ant could slip through.
Though they seemed to make an effort not to step onto the property where we had stopped, the road was completely blocked by the spirits standing still, and with flying spirits filling the skies, there was no way to escape.
This wasn't just a situation where we could excuse ourselves by saying, "As long as we don't trespass, it's fine." The sheer numbers made that impossible.
"Ah! It's Amina-chan!!"
And then—my involuntary shout at the overwhelming sight turned out to be a mistake.
The moment my voice reached them, the spirits all turned in unison, spotted Amina, and immediately rushed toward us at full speed.
"Huh? Wha—? What?"
Utterly confused, Amina froze in place, unsure of what to do. I panicked, thinking she'd be swallowed up by the wave of spirits if this continued.
"We've gotta run!!" "And go WHERE?!" "The sky, the ground—there's nowhere to go!" "I'll hold them off! Libertà-sama, you all need to escape!"
I instinctively turned to flee, but the path behind us had already been sealed off. In an instant, we were completely surrounded.
What in the world did we even do to deserve this?
The spirits weren't attacking—they had just encircled us and now seemed just as bewildered about what to do next.
"Um… guys, what's going on?"
Something was off. Amina, who had no clue what was happening, cautiously asked the question.
"Amina-chan! Is it true you're gonna leave the Spirit World if things don't go well?!" "Huh?"
One of the spirits shouted the question at her.
"If your live performance fails, you'll have to leave the Spirit World, right?!" "We couldn't just sit back after hearing that!!" "If there's anything we can do to help, just say the word!!"
Where the hell did that information leak from? The only possibilities were that they'd overheard our conversation with the Spirit King—or worse, the Spirit King himself had spread the news throughout the Spirit World.
At the very least, I didn't remember saying anything—
"Ah."
Then it hit me. There was someone who had heard everything—and who was innocent enough to blab without a second thought.
I slowly turned my gaze toward the small spirits hovering behind Amina.
"You guys… did you tell everyone about our talk with the king?" "Yep!"
In perfect unison.
I facepalmed as they nodded cheerfully. At first, I thought the dark spirits had spread rumors about the rewards, sparking jealousy—but no, the others weren't jealous. They were panicked.
This wasn't jealousy. This was the result of our little ones innocently sharing the story, which then snowballed into a massive rumor with exaggerated details.
"...I forgot to tell them to keep it a secret."
Normally, a contract with the Spirit King wasn't something you just went around talking about. Everyone, including me, knew that.
That's why none of us had breathed a word about it—but apparently, that rule didn't apply to the little ones.
You could argue it was common sense, but expecting that level of discretion from them was unfair.
This was on me for assuming they'd know better.
"Wait, so it is true?! She's really leaving?!"
Even my muttered words weren't safe—spirits had sharp ears. My slip-up only fueled the growing suspicion that the Spirit King might actually be against Amina's live performance.
This was bad.
Some were even starting to talk about protesting to the Spirit King.
If I let this slide now, it could spark a disaster later.
So—I clapped my hands as loud as I could, using Magic Edge to amplify the sound and draw everyone's attention.
Then, taking a deep breath, I organized my thoughts.
"EVERYONE, LISTEN UP!!"
First priority: calm the panicking spirits.
The shock of Amina potentially leaving had thrown them into chaos. This world didn't have established norms like idol etiquette.
In that case, the only option was to overwhelm them with sheer force of presence.
My booming voice brought a momentary hush over the crowd.
"Amina, summon a golem. We can't have everyone's attention split like this." "O-Okay, but..." "Relax, we're not fighting. We're just explaining the situation."
Seizing the opening, I had Amina summon Angler, then swiftly climbed onto its shoulder to address the crowd.
"I'm Libertà, leader of Amina's party! To put it simply, I handle live performances, management, and music! Hopefully, that makes it clear!"
With numbers this vast and spread out, shouting was the only way. Standing atop the golem and declaring myself the representative got the spirits to focus on me.
"From what I've gathered, you're all worried about Amina leaving. First, let me clarify—we did meet with the Spirit King and made several contracts! One of them involves the live performance!"
The mention of a contract related to the performance caused a ripple of murmurs, but they stayed quiet enough to listen.
"We've been granted permission to stay in the Spirit World and use the Ephemeral Dungeon under the condition that we hold live performances and organize events! The 'leaving' you're worried about ties into this!"
With this many spirits already aware, claiming "We can't talk about the contract" would only breed distrust toward the Spirit King. That would ruin everything.
So—the only option was to lay it all out and make them understand.
"The Ephemeral Dungeon, as you know, is an incredibly useful place for training and growth. But it's not free to use! It operates on the Spirit King's power as its cost! We're outsiders—it wouldn't be fair for us to use it without giving something in return!"
I had to make it clear: the Spirit King wasn't at fault, and we were the ones who had agreed to these terms.
"So, in exchange, we're planning a live event! We want to stay as long as possible and grow stronger, so we're giving this our all! All we ask is that you wait patiently for the performance!"
I'd heard of idol leaks causing fan uproars, but seeing it play out in real life—this intensely—was something else.
Even I had never experienced anything like this.
I wrapped up with a "Please keep supporting us!", but the spirits showed no signs of leaving.
Was the explanation not enough? Well, of course it wasn't. But this was all I could say.
Even if they didn't fully accept it, I just needed them to understand and disperse.
"Libertà!!"
As I stood atop the golem, watching the crowd, an earth spirit called out to me.
He looked dead serious, hesitating before finally speaking up.
"The dark spirits are helping Amina-chan, right?! Let me help too! The more hands, the better, yeah?!"
I had assumed the dark spirits hadn't said anything, but apparently, they'd been bragging.
"They got to see her live, right?! That's not fair! Let me help, and you gotta show me too!" "Hey, no cutting in line! I'll help too, so let me see!" "I shall lend my aid as well!"
Like a spark to tinder, the momentary silence erupted into chaos again.
I'm not Prince Shōtoku! I couldn't possibly process all their overlapping demands.
But one thing was clear—"Let us help, and show us the live!" A simple, yet troublesome request.
I hadn't intended to favor the dark spirits. They'd just been the most convenient option at the time.
The others seemed to grasp that much—they weren't ignoring the "help in exchange for access" deal.
But we couldn't possibly let everyone help just to watch the performance.
The commotion only grew louder, the energy escalating.
As I wracked my brain for a way to calm them, an idea struck.
A risky one—but the only way to regain control.
I took another deep breath.
"I UNDERSTAND HOW YOU ALL FEEL!"
My voice cut through the noise.
"But if we handle this individually, the live will fail! And picking who helps and who doesn't will only cause division!"
Think. Organize. Don't let this disrupt our plans.
My solution? Repurposing the clan framework I'd been planning.
Originally, I'd intended it as a combat group—but why not make it a support group instead?
"SO HERE'S MY PROPOSAL!! To make Amina's live even greater, and to ensure smooth operations—we're establishing a support group! A clan! The Amina Fan Club!"
Clans typically restricted members to one group, but the rules could be adjusted.
If the clan's regulations didn't forbid joining others, then multi-clan membership was possible.
And if we played it right, one person could even lead multiple clans.
With this many willing helpers, it was better to establish an official support network—Amina's fan club—than to leave things chaotic.
Sure, it was a far cry from the combat clan I'd envisioned, but the details could be worked out later.
Right now, the priority was meeting their demands without disrupting our plans.
"What's a 'fan club'?" "A clan? Like the ones humans form?" "How's that related to the live?"
The concept of a fan club didn't exist here. Even back in Japan, fan clubs didn't run live events.
Hell, there were no idol agencies or event companies here. We'd been handling everything ourselves, negotiating with the Duke and local merchants for support.
So why not create an official idol live operations clan, staffed by the spirits currently caught up in the hype? Train them, get their support in battle—kill two birds with one stone.
A crisis is an opportunity.
And I was going to milk this one for all it was worth.
But first—I had to explain it to the confused spirits.
Alright, time for a presentation!