Family Time (2)

“To be perfectly honest, even though I was the one who suggested you become a Vtuber, I never expected you to turn into something this big.”

When dinnertime came, I was called into the living room.

I hadn’t noticed because I’d been playing the piano, but apparently Yuzu-neesan had already arrived, and she said that almost the moment I sat down.

“And… how should I put this? You’ve really come out of your shell.”

“That’s thanks to you, Yuzu-neesan. You gave me the push I needed to think that maybe I should change a few things.”

“If that’s the case, then good… Haah. Though now I’m starting to wonder whether it really was better for you to change or not…”

How rude.

Couldn’t she just be happy for me?

“There are a few reasons I came today. Nee-san, did you already tell her about your upcoming shoot?”

“Um~… Rinne-chan? Did I tell you about the shoot?”

“A shoot? Is it going to be a long one?”

“Yes, I’ll be filming overseas for about a month~. Up until now, whenever that happened, I called in a housekeeper, but you’re in high school now, and since you’ve become a Vtuber and probably want to keep your identity hidden, I figured you might not want strangers coming into the house so much anymore.”

“Mm, not really. If you’re saying I’ll have to handle meals and stuff by myself, I’ll be fine.”

Naturally, whenever Mom went away for an extended shoot, I’d be left alone.

In those situations, we’d usually hired a housekeeper to take care of things around the house, but now that I was in high school, it seemed they were thinking of stopping that.

Incidentally, before regaining my memories from my previous life, even when a housekeeper came over, I’d basically only ever spoken to them through the door.

…Hmm.

I’d never really cooked before, but maybe I could try learning now.

Ordering delivery for everything seemed a little excessive.

“While Nee-san’s away, I’m planning to come back here as often as I can.”

“…Yuzu-neesan, won’t that kill you?”

“…………I-I’m sure it’ll be… fine…”

To put it plainly, Vtuber managers had a brutal workload.

Yuzu-neesan in particular was the supervising manager for Gem Pro’s first generation and held a fairly senior position within the company. If I remembered right, she’d originally learned a great deal through managing Mom’s career and had been heavily involved in Gem Pro from the time it was first established.

I’d seen her suddenly get called in whenever something happened, so I’d already thought it would be difficult for her to force herself to come here too often… and sure enough, her eyes were darting away.

Our house wasn’t all that far from central Tokyo, but it still took around an hour by car or train.

She didn’t live with us precisely because she was in a position where she needed to be able to get to the office as quickly as possible if something happened.

“Um, Yuzu-neesan. Don’t push yourself. I’d be happy if you came over, but once a week is enough, okay?”

“…A-At least half the week…”

“Offering something that’s completely unrealistic but technically possible if you overwork yourself is a bad habit of yours, Yuzu~”

“Ugh…”

Yeah, I’d had subordinates like that in my previous life too.

They accepted workloads that were only manageable if they pushed themselves to the limit, so the moment anything unexpected piled on top, they became absurdly busy.

In one sense, people like that were convenient because they were motivated and capable, but as long as they kept doing it, they themselves suffered, while everyone around them stopped growing because they thought, It’ll be fine as long as that person is here.

It tended to lead in a bad direction.

And somehow, people like that always seemed to draw the short straw.

Apparently defeated by Mom’s pointed stare, Yuzu-neesan gradually shrank in on herself before finally letting out a sigh.

“…Fine. I’ll do that.”

“Hehe, thank you, Yuzu.”

Yuzu-neesan turned her eyes away in a sulk while Mom smiled brightly.

Well, their power dynamic was obvious enough.

Even Yuzu-neesan couldn’t beat Mom.

“More importantly, Rinne-chan. Have you applied for monetization yet?”

“Monetization?”

“Yes. It seems to have completely slipped your mind, but your channel already has enough subscribers and watch time to qualify.”

“Ah, right. I forgot about that.”

“Since you’re a minor, you also need parental approval. That’s another reason I came today. Nee-san, you’re okay with it, right?”

“Of course. It’s better for Rinne-chan if she can earn her own money too.”

“Thanks, Mom. And thank you too, Yuzu-neesan. That really helps.”

Yeah, I’d completely forgotten.

Or rather, Mom already bought me whatever I needed, and back in my previous life, once I’d become the Demon Lord, the idea of personally earning money had basically vanished from my mind.

But now I could earn money myself.

I see.

That would open up all sorts of possibilities.

“I’m the one who dragged you into this industry in the first place, so helping with this much is only natural. Though honestly, I’m surprised we’re already having this conversation. Things moved far faster than I expected…”

“Ahaha… I didn’t think it’d get this big either.”

“Honestly, part of me wants to drag you into Gem Pro even now. Though I suppose you probably couldn’t do things your way if you were with us. You’re too extreme for an agency to allow.”

“Yeah, I guess that makes sense if you’re agency-affiliated. Oh, speaking of which, is Ephir-san okay?”

If my style wouldn’t be allowed at Gem Pro, then naturally Ephir-san publicly declaring her support for me should have caused at least some trouble.

When I asked, Yuzu-neesan gave a wry smile.

“Effie’s fine. More than that, while we haven’t made any official statement as an agency, the overwhelming majority opinion inside Gem Pro is that your approach isn’t something worth condemning.”

“Huh. That’s surprising.”

“Oh? Did you pull some strings for her, Yuzu?”

“No. It’s simpler than that. This girl’s—Verchera Merisis’s—words have a powerful ability to draw people in. When people listen to her, they understand that she isn’t just being cynical, insulting others, or mocking them. She has the charisma to make people feel that instinctively. That’s why the controversy never fully ignites. After all, what you said genuinely moved a great many people. You can tell just by looking at Monology. Your words had that much persuasive force. That charisma must come from Nee-san’s blood.”

“Fufuun. Well, she is the child I gave birth to after carrying her in my own belly.”

Mom looked extremely smug.

Still, if I were merely an ordinary high-school girl without the memories of my previous life—especially memories of having been a Demon Lord—there was almost no chance things would have turned out this way.

If people wanted to believe there was some legitimate basis behind my presence or authority, that was actually convenient for me.

If Mom had been an ordinary person and I was acting like this… Yuzu-neesan probably would have wondered whether I had developed a split personality or some kind of psychological issue.

More than anything, though, I personally found Mom more incredible.

She was human and hadn’t even lived forty years, yet she’d cultivated enough presence in that short life to make people think I inherited mine from her.

After all, Mom hadn’t even lived one-twentieth as long as I had in my previous life.

She acted so carefree most of the time…

The entertainment industry was terrifying.

“Anyway, Rinne-chan.”

“Mm?”

“Are you set up to do collaborations and things like that? If not, there’s a free voice-chat tool called ‘Connect,’ so could you make an account specifically for Verchera Merisis?”

“Sure, but… why collaborations?”

“…Whether we make anything public and official right away or not, there are people saying they want to do one.”

“With me?”

“Yes.”

“Who?”

“…Starting with Effie, several of our talents.”

…………Huh?

“…Are they sane?”

“Don’t say that about yourself.”

I mean, I was pretty outrageous.

I was already attracting attention in a way that made me difficult for an agency to associate with, and I hadn’t shown the slightest intention of toning it down.

So why would anyone think collaborating with me was a good idea?

Our numbers were completely different too.

Considering all that, questioning their sanity seemed perfectly reasonable, didn’t it?

From a streamer’s perspective, collaborating with me in my current state wasn’t like holding a firecracker.

It was like hugging a block of C4.

“…If you’re the one bringing this up, Yuzu-neesan, then that means…”

“…Yes. Gem Pro’s current position is that we’re positively considering it.”

“…Are you sane?”

This time, even Yuzu-neesan seemed to have trouble answering.