"Hmm? What's that?"

  Azura pulled a poster off an electric pole. It showed the same photo he'd seen before—of Miracle.

  The image depicted Miracle standing on a tall stage, microphone in hand as if singing, with thousands—no, millions—of spectators below the platform.

  Noticing that Azura had stopped to stare at the poster, Kazuha walked back to look at it too.

  "Wait... This is a new poster. The one I saw earlier didn't have a date on it," Kazuha said before taking the poster from Azura's hand.

  "TOMORROW!? God damn it! And the venue is Voryzard Stadium, one of the largest stadiums in the world. We have to hurry, Azura," Kazuha said while grabbing Azura's hand.

  One thing Azura and Kazuha had noticed was that when the fans were under control, their eyes glowed with colorful gradients. This made them easier to spot.

  While they were busy running, Kazuha realized there were still many fans roaming ahead, searching for them. Suddenly, he yanked Azura into a modern clothing store to avoid the fans' sight.

  The cashier guarding the store was startled by the two of them bursting through the entrance door so forcefully.

  "Eeeeekkkkhhhh!!!" the cashier screamed as she saw Kazuha and Azura enter and hide behind the mannequins.

  "What are you doing!?" the cashier asked in a loud voice.

  Kazuha simply replied, "Shhhhh..."

  The cashier watched several crazed fans walk past the store, their eyes still glowing. For some reason, the expression on the cashier's face showed hatred toward those fans, but also resignation. She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

  Seeing that the coast was clear, Azura and Kazuha prepared to leave the store immediately, but suddenly they heard a voice.

  "Wait! May I ask you something?" the cashier asked.

  Azura and Kazuha slowly turned their heads back toward the cashier who had spoken, nodding at her.

  A young woman with whitish-purple hair tied in a ponytail, eye-length bangs and longer side bangs framing her face, sleepy-looking eyes, wearing a long-sleeved black shirt and short jeans, waved her hand at Azura and Kazuha.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "She's pretty too," Azura whispered before getting hit by Kazuha.

  "Are you two being hunted by those crazy fans?" the cashier asked again.

  "Oh? You know about it too? We're being chased because this guy wants to get his item back," Kazuha replied with a sarcastic expression.

  Azura could only glare at Kazuha with an annoyed face.

  "You must have serious business with Miracle. I was once chased by those zombie fans back when my career was on the rise."

  Naturally, Azura and Kazuha were confused by what the cashier was saying. They exchanged glances before directing their attention back to her.

  "Who are you?" Azura and Kazuha asked in confusion.

  With a confident smile and an overly dramatic flair kicking in, the cashier answered while propping one foot on the counter, "I am the Manace!"

  "Manace? So she's evil?" Azura asked Kazuha curiously.

  "That's not it!" the cashier replied, facepalming.

  She sighed before continuing, "You really don't know who I am? My career is truly ruined."

  The cashier covered her face and cried on the cold counter. Meanwhile, Azura and Kazuha? Utterly confused.

  It felt wrong to leave the store and let the cashier cry alone, so the two of them agreed to find out more about her—perhaps they could gain new information for their mission.

  "You mentioned that you were once chased by Miracle's fans too. What happened?" Kazuha asked gently.

  The cashier lifted her head slightly to look at them. "I... I used to be a singer on the verge of achieving my dream, but..."

  "But that damned woman used high-level magic to control her fans' consciousness, spreading it like a virus that forced them to like her."

  From the cashier's gaze, a grand concert flashed in her mind—with thousands, even millions, of spectators packed into the venue.

  "I'll never forget the screams of her fans, the atmosphere like an earthquake because of those crazed followers. One by one, the fans who listened to my music switched sides."

  "She... she destroyed my career, my family, and my friends," the cashier said, slamming her hand on the counter.

  "Miracle only won the competition by using high-level magic to control consciousness and force people to love her songs."

  "Before Miracle arrived, I was a very famous rock singer, even in Stellhaven—before I moved here."

  "That woman became my final rival—and the one who ruined my career."

  Kazuha wrapped an arm around Azura's neck, turned around, and whispered, "It seems she's Aeko Josei, the fairly famous rock-metal singer from back then."

  "I'm just remembering now because I used to listen to her songs a lot, but it's been a long time since I stopped—ever since Master Guround banned all technology."

  In a low voice, Azura replied, "Ahh... So that's it. Should we help her or not?"

  Both slowly glanced back to check on the cashier—now known as Aeko—who was still angrily staring at the counter before they whispered again.

  "If we help her, what can we even do?" Kazuha asked quietly.

  "What if we invite her to fight Miracle and take over her stage?" Azura suggested.

  "Sigh, she doesn't have any powers—how would we protect her? She'd just be dead weight."

  After Kazuha said that, Azura immediately smacked the top of his head before turning back to Aeko.

  "So, Manace, right? We actually have a mission to take down Miracle—that's why those crazy fans are after us," Azura said.

  "My high-level weapon was stolen by the leader of Miracle's party, that guy Blaze. So we want to defeat Miracle in hopes of getting Blaze's location and retrieving my weapon."

  "We're planning to crash Miracle's concert tomorrow. Do you want to join us?"

  Aeko quickly wiped away the tears that had been falling, her extraordinary enthusiasm returning after so long.

  "R-Really? You want to help me?" Aeko asked with high spirits and remnants of tears.

  "Ah... looks like I don't have much choice," Kazuha said after recovering from Azura's hit.

  "Thank you! Thank you so much! Finally, I have a chance to get my music career back and stop working as a cashier here!" Aeko replied, enthusiastically hugging both of their necks.

  "But before that, I need to give you outfits suitable for disguising yourselves," Aeko said, pushing them toward the changing rooms.

  A few moments later, they emerged from the changing rooms wearing clothes that were... quite eye-catching in design.

  Black coats, white suit jackets with black ties—basically tuxedos. Without letting them choose, Aeko had picked the tuxedo style for Azura and Kazuha.

  With the difference that Azura wore black sunglasses, and Kazuha had a black scarf covering his mouth and nose.

  Not long after Azura and Kazuha exchanged looks, Aeko came out from the middle changing room wearing similar clothes: a tuxedo with a black tie, black pants, and black leather shoes.

  "With this, Team Triple T begins the mission to destroy Miracle's career!" Aeko declared, linking arms with Azura and Kazuha.