| Izumi | Okay, we can end the etude practices here— |
| (Before long the inexperienced ones have already mastered it; maybe it’s better to get them used to performing in front of people…) |
| Let’s do some street acts in Veludo Way! |
| Tasuku | Street act, huh… |
| Izumi | (Somehow he doesn’t seem to be up for it…) |
| Oh, I see. If someone from GOD-za sees you— |
| Tasuku | No, they’ll find out eventually anyway. There’s no point in hiding. Let’s go. |
| |
| Tasuku | “Please wait, Chief Yukishiro!” |
| Azuma | …? |
| Tasuku | “What did you mean when you said that you’ll stop the transactions!?” |
| Azuma | “I have no choice. I won’t do deals with your company anymore. That’s just how it is.” |
| Tasuku | “That’s—!” |
| Izumi | (Azuma-san has been applying the basics better than before, and he’s gotten better at reciprocating.) |
| Haruto | ―― |
| Izumi | (Oh, that person…) |
| Tasuku | “Let’s talk this over—” |
| Haruto | No way, is that really Tasuku!? Why are you in this puny theater group!? |
| Tasuku | Haruto… |
| Haruto | To think that you’d tumble into Mankai Company… don’t you have any pride? |
| Izumi | Hey, you— |
| Haruto | From GOD-za to a puny little theater group - how low you’ve fallen, Tasuku. I’m at the top of GOD-za now. The top. |
| Tasuku | …Shut up, Yamada Genta. |
| Haruto | ―― |
| Izumi | Yamada…? |
| Hisoka | …Genta. |
| Haruto | Watch what the hell you’re sayin’, punk! Keep messin’ around and I’ll fuckin’ kill you! |
| Izumi | !? |
| (W-who…?) |
| Homare | Hm, “Keep messin’ around and I’ll fuckin’ kill you,” huh… It is a phrase that was not part of my vocabulary until now. |
| Azuma | How about trying to include “you punks!” at the end of it. |
| Haruto | ―― |
| Tasuku | Your dialect is slipping. |
| Haruto | S-shut up! I told you not to call me by that name! |
| Reni | …Haruto. You shouldn’t cause a commotion in the middle of the street. |
| Haruto | ―― |
| Izumi | (Kamikizaka Reni of GOD-za…) |
| Reni | It looks like you’ve started the Winter Troupe without any problems. |
| Izumi | …Thanks to you. |
| (After sending us a spy and blatantly showing his dislike, this guy sure can put up a calm façade.) |
| Tasuku | …It has been a while. |
| Reni | Heh, look who’s here. Does this mean that you’re the leader of the Winter Troupe? You traitor. |
| Tasuku | The leader is this guy. |
| Tsumugi | ―― |
| Reni | Oh? You’re from that time… |
| Tsumugi | ―― |
| Izumi | (Does Tsumugi-san also have some kind of connection to GOD-za…? He looks scared though…) |
| Reni | It looks like Mankai Company likes to gather our members. |
| Izumi | Tasuku-san and Taichi-san are indisputably our members. You have no right to complain. |
| Reni | What a gallant general director. But, I’ll have you pay the debt for stealing our members. |
| Izumi | ―― |
| Reni | GOD-za hereby challenges Mankai Company to a showdown act! |
| Izumi | !? |
| Tasuku | A showdown act, you say…? |
| Tsumugi | Against GOD-za… |
| Homare | What might that be? |
| Azuma | I’ve heard of a street act though… |
| Hisoka | …Zzz. |
| Tasuku | You guys sure are carefree. |
| Tsumugi | A showdown act is wherein two theaters perform in front of the same audience. It’s a match where the better performance would be decided by the audience’s votes. |
| Tasuku | The audience are decided by drawing lots, so there’s no cheating. It’s a real earnest match between two theater companies. |
| Azuma | What happens to the loser? |
| Tasuku | The conditions are usually set by the one who proposed the match… |
| Reni | I’ve already decided on the conditions. |
| If GOD-za loses, we will give all of the sales we earn in our next play to Mankai Company. |
| Izumi | Your earnings!? |
| Reni | If I remember correctly, you are in trouble because you owe a large sum of money. |
| Izumi | ―― |
| (To be honest, it’s tempting…!) |
| Reni | On the other hand, if GOD-za wins, then I will have Mankai Company immediately disband.[1] |
| Izumi | Huh!? |
| Tsumugi | To think that a disbandment is part of the conditions… |
| Tasuku | How ridiculous. There’s no need to accept that match. |
| Reni | However, can you betray these expectations? |
| Izumi | Huh…? |
| Passerby A | Apparently GOD-za is going to be in a showdown act. |
| Passerby B | Where are they going against? |
| Passerby C | Oh man, I can’t wait! |
| Passerby A | They’re going against Mankai Company? Never heard of it. |
| Passerby B | I want to go see it for sure! |
| Izumi | … |
| (At this rate, rumors of the match are going to spread…) |
| Tsumugi | He made the proposal out here on purpose so that this would happen… |
| Tasuku | —Tch. |
| Azuma | I see. He thought about this. |
| Reni | I will give you an extension. One week from now, you will let me hear your answer. |
| Haruto | You’re gonna run away with your tail between your legs anyway. |
| Reni | Still, that would only ruin your reputation. |
| Izumi | ―― |
| (Their way of doing things is terrible…!) |
| Reni | Think about it as much as possible. |
| |
| Homare | …What shall we do? |
| Tasuku | We should consult with all of the theater members. This isn’t something we should decide on our own. |
| Azuma | That’s right. Plus it’s a match where we’re at a disadvantage. |
| Tsumugi | … |
| Izumi | At any rate, let’s discuss it with everyone first. |
| Hisoka | …Zzz. |
| Homare | As usual, he does not have an ounce of nervousness. |
| |
| Izumi | …So, I want to hear everyone’s opinions. |
| Sakuya | A showdown act against GOD-za… |
| Banri | A big shot picked a fight with us again. |
| Sakyo | …When GOD-za said they’ll give us their earnings, how much are they talking about? It depends on that too. |
| Izumi | Ah, I didn’t ask. |
| Tasuku | It’s around over 1 million yen every time. |
| Izumi | 1 million!? |
| Tasuku | But if you exclude the expenses, the profits will decrease. |
| Manager | W-we’ll be able to pay our debt~! The god of theater hasn’t abandoned us! |
| Tsuzuru | No no, if we lose we’ll have to disband, remember. |
| Omi | The risk is too high… |
| Yuki | But either way, if we can’t pay our debts then we’ll have to disband anyway. |
| Sakuya | That’s true. If you think about it, it might be a good thing if we do our best in this fight. |
| Masumi | Is there any other way to repay the debt? |
| Sakyo | We have plans of doing regional performances come New Year; but to be honest, with our current income balances, it’s gonna be real tough paying the debt in time. |
| Muku | Which means, in other words… |
| Juza | …We don’t have a choice. |
| Sakyo | But, whether we do it or not is up to you Winter Troupe members to decide. |
| Tsumugi | ―― |
| Sakuya | If you’re going to do it, we’ll support you with all our might! |
| Tenma | It’s a problem that concerns all of us after all. |
| Banri | We’d be troubled if this place goes down. |
| Tsumugi | … |
| Tasuku | Hey, what are you going to do? |
| Tsumugi | I… |
| … |
| Tasuku | *sigh*… |
| Azuma | It’s a heavy responsibility after having just joined. |
| Homare | I think that there is no choice but to do it in this case. |
| Tasuku | How about Mikage— |
| Hisoka | …*snore* Zzz |
| Homare | Well, he is sleeping. |
| Izumi | (In order to keep the theater going, we have no choice but to accept this match and win.) |
| (But, if we lose, it would be as if it’s the Winter Troupe’s responsibility that we lost the theater.) |
| (Even if everyone else doesn’t think that way, it’s only natural that they’ll feel responsible for it.) |
| (If our chances of winning are 0, then we shouldn’t accept the match…) |
| (But, if our chances of winning increase even just by one, if the Winter Troupe members’ feelings can become one, then—) |
| Tsumugi | … |
| Izumi | There’s still a week before the deadline. Let’s think about it carefully. |
| Tsumugi | …Yes. |
