165 – Speech
As we returned to our seats, Blanca asked with a worried expression.
“How are you?”
“Um…”
Where should I begin explaining this?
After thinking about the situation for a while, I just spit out one word.
“You will know when you see it.”
“…You didn’t do anything strange, did you?”
“Sure.”
It’s not exactly a lie. Because I haven’t done it yet.
I plan to do it from now on.
“Is there anything we can do to help?”
Yulia shook her head at her kind suggestion. I’m happy to help, but if I go out of my way here, there’s a possibility of ruin, so I have to be careful.
She sat down and quietly waited for the performance on stage to end. It was to the point where I was looking forward to how coolly I would sink if I went up in this heated atmosphere.
The underground space is so noisy that your eardrums hurt. The cheers of the crowd were no joke more than the sound of the music.
When the performance was finally over, applause poured out towards the stage to the point of deafening.
Now the time has come. When I turned my head, Drake stared at me and sent his eyes.
I was thinking of going up even if I didn’t stare like that, right?
They didn’t even know my heart, so I hit the player first from the other side so that I couldn’t beat it even if I took it off.
Alfred, who is in charge of stage management, went up on stage, grabbed the microphone, and drew everyone’s attention.
“Okay, while everyone is having fun, just pay attention. On a happy day like today, our bold newcomer says he has something he really wants to tell you. Shouldn’t you listen to what I’m talking about?”
“Wow!!”
The two people next to me looked at me asking for clarification as if they had read the strange atmosphere.
I just ignored it because I had nothing to say.
“Then let’s look forward to hearing it! Don’t be shy and come up, newcomer!”
Now they even point out with their fingers. At the same time, the eyes of countless people in the basement were all focused on our table.
From nob le mt l dot com
Julia lowered her head, as if her eyes were pouring, and Blanca let out a deep sigh as if drawn from the inside of her.
I got up and walked slowly to the stage. Alfred gave me a meaningful smile and handed me the microphone as I climbed up.
“Where do you do well?”
Okay then. Don’t worry, I’ll treat you well enough to widen your eyes.
As I stood in the center of the stage, I realized that dozens of people were all looking at me.
Unsurprisingly, I wasn’t particularly nervous. In fact, if you were only afraid of this level, you wouldn’t have even started working as a phantom thief.
Let’s start with a light greeting.
“Hello. It’s nice to see everyone having fun.”
There was no clear response. In fact, I didn’t care because it would be ambiguous to respond to such a formal greeting.
“Hmm. The reason I came up here is because I have something I want to ask you guys.”
At first, I was taken aback when I heard Drake tell me to go on stage, but now that I think about it, this was a very good opportunity.
Now, with the approval of the leader, I am officially speaking to all the followers.
Now that such a great opportunity has come, shouldn’t we make the most of it?
“What do you guys think of Kaito Raven?”
It is important to get everyone’s attention in the beginning. It is not enough to simply keep an eye on me. I have to make it so that all my nerves are focused only on me, so that I can be 100% immersed in the story I will bring out from now on.
The best subject for that is, of course, the story of Raven the Phantom Thief. Considering the purpose of the formation of this organization, it was an answer that came too easily.
As expected, I felt that people were paying attention to the words that came out of my mouth. Leaning forward, his bored eyes suddenly become colored with interest.
“Actually, to be honest, I came here and for the first time realized that phantom thieves are revered as heroes. I had never thought of it that way before.”
I haven’t even gotten to the main topic yet, but I can already feel the agitated atmosphere.
It might sound like you’re dismissing the phantom thief as not being a hero.
“I have no intention of denying that opinion itself. People’s thoughts and values are different from each other. It is a world where Cheol Cheon Cheol-cheon, whom some people really hate, is the most precious family to others.”
After deliberately pausing for a beat, he spoke the next word in a clear tone.
“However, it is not right to force one’s opinion on others. That is plainly wrong. People have the right to think and act freely without causing harm to others.”
I glanced around the corner and saw Drake glaring at me with a stiff expression.
“I can confidently say that. I don’t think Kaito Raven is a hero.”
I heard someone gasp. Looking at the front, I saw Blanca looking at me from the back with wavering eyes.
“A hero is one who sacrifices himself for someone else. He is bound by the fate of serving others. Do you really think that Kaito Raven is like that?”
Indeed, how many people will nod without hesitation at the question just posed?
At least as a phantom thief, my answer was very clear.
“No. Raven is the exact opposite of that. Raven is a soul who lives for herself without caring about anyone else’s gaze, and lives more freely than anyone else, unfettered by any restraints.”
As I slowly looked around the crowd, I was convinced. The atmosphere has already completely passed over me.
“That’s why Raven is called a phantom rather than a hero. If he’s a hero, there’s no way the government and media will condemn Raven. A hero must be a noble and perfect being without any flaws. Just like Lord Grace.”
I could see Yulia startled at my last step. She said this time she’s going to pass this one time she specifically didn’t see it.
“What made you fall in love with Raven in the first place? Was it because he was a hero? Or is it because he was more free and romantic than anyone else?”
Everyone was staring at me in awe. Meanwhile, Drake’s face was burning red with rage.
It was obvious why they didn’t stop me on stage.
The moment he does that, he admits in front of everyone that he was wrong.
I haven’t mentioned the name Drake once since I’ve been on the mic.
In other words, there is no justification for Drake to step forward because Drake pointed out the problem not as an individual but as a whole of the thief followers.
Of course, in the heads of those who listen to me, they must be thinking about who is the root cause of the problem I pointed out. At that moment, the blind support that had already been directed towards Drake had no choice but to stumble.
“Wait.”
At that time, someone stopped me. It was a familiar voice that I knew all too well.
It was none other than Blanca.
“Yes. Please tell me.”
“How can you be sure of that? Hero···. Raven-sama might consider you a hero.”
That’s right, you have to be sure. Because I am Raven!
Her desire to answer like that was like a chimney, but she barely held it in and stared at her.
A question that at first glance sounds like it’s betraying me and defending Drake.
But looking at Blanca’s swaying eyes, I realized that that was not the intention.
She’s just really curious.
She wonders if the image of the phantom thief she believed she was a hero was wrong.
I wonder if the existence of the noble hero that Drake so emphasized is just an illusion.
“As I said at the beginning, you are free to think what you think. There’s nothing wrong with considering Raven a hero. But what I wanted to say is that there was an atmosphere that forced everyone to think that way.”
“Anyway, you believe that Raven-sama is not a hero. Why are you so sure?”
Anyway, Blanca seems to want a definite answer.
Even her own mind is confused, she wants her to come to a definite conclusion.
Then you should do as you wish.
“The reason is simple. Because the thief Raven himself doesn’t consider himself a hero.”
“I mean, give me the evidence!!”
“Hmm. There’s no reason whatsoever. It’s just my feeling.”
Blanca seemed to be speechless and the atmosphere suddenly became confused. The number of people who looked suspiciously at me also increased rapidly.
“Some people will nod their heads after hearing what I just said. They must have thought of their favorite phantom thief and judged that they were far from being heroes. In fact, I’m sure most of you probably felt the same way.”
“·······.”
I looked to the side and saw Alfred coming up the stage frowning.
It seemed like they were trying to take advantage of the chaos in the atmosphere and half-forced me down.
Then shall we detonate the bomb at this point?
“If you have any questions, you can ask yourself.”
“… Huh?”
“Let’s ask the thief Raven directly.”
For a moment, silence fell in the basement.