The First Duchess Family Meeting

The long broadcast finally came to an end, and I had achieved Master rank in single combat mode as well.

In other words, it was time to kick the guests out.

"Thank you all for gathering here to cheer me on. Some of you came all the way to my house but aren't here right now, so let's save the celebration party for later."

Since some people had been grinding until dawn, a few of them looked utterly exhausted. This was basically a burnout story, wasn't it?

The burned-out few seemed like they wanted sleep more than any celebration party. So I simply sent everyone home.

"Then I'll be going."

"M-me too…."

Anna, who didn't particularly enjoy socializing, headed back to her place. Inagika still seemed awkward around her seniors, so she hurried home as well.

"Good work, Lora. That was seriously impressive."

Rinko patted my shoulder before leaving too.

Our schedules never quite lined up, so we barely talked, but she didn't seem to have any lingering feelings or complaints. It really felt like she'd only stayed to help with the karaoke stream.

After Rinko left,

Sora left as well.

"…I'll head out too. My voice is shot, and I have things I need to do…."

Since the karaoke broadcast had been led from Sora's channel, she'd thrown herself into it the hardest. Which naturally meant she was the most burned out of all.

She'd originally come because she was worried about me, so now that I'd finished the rank climb, there was nothing left for her to worry about.

Having accomplished her original goal, Sora quietly went home.

That left just two people behind.

"When are we doing the TRPG?"

If Sora had taken on the burnout role, then Chell had recently taken on the obsession role.

And.

"……Can I go home too?"

Ainatsu, who had taken on the role of regret, remained as well.

To be precise, it wasn't that she remained — she simply couldn't leave.

"Ainatsu, your house is quite close. It's not that far from here."

"Y-yeah…."

"Still, for the time being, stay where I can keep an eye on you."

I said it like that.

Since returning to Earth, this was probably the first time I'd suffered this much physical damage.

Her clothes were completely ruined, after all. The cleaning bill alone could be considered financial damage to me.

'Not that I'm actually angry.'

In truth, I wasn't particularly bothered.

It was true that as the villainess duchess I absolutely loathed anything unclean, but despite appearances, I'd lived quite roughly on the battlefield. My stomach was stronger than it looked.

Still, the fact remained that Ainatsu had caused me harm, so I decided I might as well put her to work.

"There are many places my hands can't reach. It would be nice if you could clean those spots."

If there was one thing Ainatsu had over me and Rion, it was height. Her arms and legs were long too.

She was practically optimized for changing light bulbs.

"And exercise a bit. Eat properly too."

That had bothered me from the first time I saw her.

I wasn't the type to pay much attention to others.

I was a villainess, after all. I rarely worried about other people.

Yet even I, the villainess, couldn't help but be concerned about Ainatsu's physical condition.

"Inagika doesn't seem to exercise much either, so the two of you should work out together. If I see you both exercising properly, I'll allow you a little alcohol."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Lora Mommy…. You really are my mom……. …Are we actually going to the district office?"

"You're older than me, you know."

I understood that if someone was even a year older, adoption was probably impossible.

It wasn't knowledge I particularly wanted, but now I knew it anyway.

***

And so our cohabitation began.

Ainatsu's intelligence was gradually degenerating.

"I bought bread to go with the black tea…. Did I do good…?"

"Thank you. Thanks to you, we'll have an even better tea party."

"Hehe, I got praised…. …Huh? Why am I doing this here? What exactly am I…."

Ainatsu suddenly came to her senses. It seemed cutting off alcohol had brought on severe withdrawal symptoms.

But even though she looked like she'd regained her senses, I knew that if I gave her the good-girl reward of beer (plus water), her intelligence would get wrecked again.

That's why living with Ainatsu was, quite literally, a life of being waited on hand and foot.

Ainatsu, who would even volunteer to be a bread shuttle just to drink even a little alcohol.

And me, thoroughly managing that Ainatsu's diet.

'It's more luxurious than I expected?'

No one had ever gone all the way to Daejeon on their own to buy bread to pair with black tea before.

I wondered just how badly she was craving alcohol to act like this, but it wasn't bad for either of us.

I got to eat bread I normally wouldn't, which was nice, and Ainatsu was gradually getting healthier, which was also nice.

And while it seemed like Ainatsu was becoming more and more burned out, that wasn't entirely true. It looked like she got lonely easily, so if I left her alone, she'd naturally go play with Rion.

'I'm the one who's getting a bit bored instead.'

Life had become more luxurious, but that also meant I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had grown idle.

After all, I'd finished climbing to Master rank in Labyrinthos.

I'd also written and submitted my Fantasy League application, and the draft would begin in about three weeks.

In other words, for these three weeks, I couldn't touch Labyrinthos anymore.

Of course I could still play ranked matches, but I'd already put in nearly three hundred hours. Playing more Labyrinthos at this point wouldn't be very fun.

And that lack of fun wasn't limited to the viewers.

I also found enjoyment in the process of setting a goal and working toward it.

Which made these three weeks feel incredibly awkward.

The next rank after Master would be Grand Master, but should I aim to reach Grand Master within three weeks?

Three ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠weeks felt too short to take it easy, but there wasn't really a reason to grind hardcore either.

Whether it was Master or Grand Master, they were both tier one.

Besides, climbing to Grand Master was a competitive ranking limited to the top two thousand players. That was something you did at the end of the season, wasn't it?

"It seems it's time to find new content."

I realized that fact.

Even if I did the TRPG I'd promised with Chell, the party playtime I'd promised with Anna, and a few collabs with Ainatsu… it still wouldn't be enough to fill three whole weeks.

I needed content that could carry three weeks.

"For that reason, I shall be taking content recommendations."

The First Duchess Family Meeting.

"Watching movies or dramas together would be good."

The freeloader offered a suggestion.

"Reason?"

"I want to see you cry."

"Rejected."

"Lora lacks understanding of subculture."

When I rejected it, the freeloader immediately changed her tune.

But she wasn't wrong.

It was something I'd felt quite strongly myself.

'Especially during the karaoke stream.'

Sora, Anna, Chell.

Not only them, but even Inagika, Rinko, Ainatsu, and even Rion who came later all knew a lot of Japanese songs.

I hadn't sung that many songs during the karaoke stream.

I'd sung Ripple, a few English songs like Imagine Dragons' Believer and Warriors, and finally ended it by singing Adult Observation together with the rest of the sixth generation.

Anna in particular had filled her entire set with anime theme songs, which was quite different from me.

In that sense, watching Japanese movies, dramas, or anime wouldn't be bad, but…

"It doesn't seem like it would make for a very interesting broadcast."

Streams like this need big reactions to be entertaining, but unfortunately, making a fuss wasn't exactly my specialty.

If I did it with the emotionally expressive Rion beside me, it might work, but Rion had a lot of work days, so Chell's idea felt a bit weak.

"Then how about just playing games normally? Something like Elden Ring, Black Myth: Wukong, or a story game like Alan Wake? That should easily last three weeks."

This time the prisoner spoke up.

The prisoner usually seemed half out of her mind, but surprisingly often gave perfectly normal suggestions.

After all, she was a senior VTuber in her third year of activity.

It would have been nice if she hadn't committed the crime of insulting nobility.

Anyway, it was the safest opinion, but…

"It's still awkward."

I'd already played most soul-like difficult games. There was a time when I was obsessed with PC games, after all.

Then what about the latest games? But those wouldn't work as three-week content either.

For example, I'd heard that a recently released game like Black Myth: Wukong had many bosses, but none of them were particularly difficult.

'At most a day or two.'

The math still didn't add up.

Story games were awkward too.

After trying Blue Archive once, I'd realized that story games didn't really suit me.

Unless I had someone like Rion to handle reactions, I probably wouldn't do story games.

"Then how about a survival game?"

The vice-chairwoman who had just gotten off work, a collateral blood relative, and the one acting as head maid — Rion.

Having finished her housework, she made the suggestion.

"A survival game?"

"Yeah. I actually have a good offer for you, sis."

Rion nodded.

"Dedraus Korea sent over an advertising proposal for you."

***

"Are you really not going to do it, Rinko?"

It wasn't in the plans, but Rinko was in the president's office.

It wasn't a common occurrence, but it did happen occasionally.

After all, Rinko was still EYEAI's flagship.

As such, she had more private meetings with the president than the other VTubers.

"Yes. Please redirect all those proposals to Lora."

"…But Dedraus specifically wants you to do it."

"Isn't it the management's job to handle that tactfully?"

Rinko said it like that.

At that, CEO Jung Ho-young's eyebrows furrowed slightly.

"You can just say it's for health reasons or whatever. From the beginning, isn't it Lora that Dedraus actually wants?"

Rinko unconsciously crossed her arms.

The EYEAI Cup Labyrinthos tournament that had been held last time.

The one-on-one match between Rinko and Lora that had been done as an exhibition match.

No matter how you looked at it, the one-on-one exhibition match had been far more of a main event than the 3v3 tournament.

From there, Dedraus Korea's intentions were clear.

The brilliantly debuted Aurora.

An undeniable expert at Labyrinthos with star quality, who had even gathered subscribers through noise marketing-like methods.

While Dedraus Korea had given Rinko various advertisements until now,

giving her more ads at this point would have much less effect than before.

That made sense.

The viewers who watched Rinko's streams had all been influenced by the ads at least once.

What difference would it make to give Rinko another ad in that state?

At best, it would only bring back a few users who had temporarily quit Labyrinthos after seeing her stream.

In comparison, Lora was a rookie VTuber who had debuted not long ago.

As such, she brought in a new viewer base.

She was also taking bold steps and growing her subscriber count even further.

There was no better VTuber to give an advertising proposal to.

But there was just one thing.

'They probably lacked trust.'

Rinko had built up trust by running many advertisements for Dedraus Korea.

So if they gave the advertising stream to Rinko, at least it wouldn't fail.

She would deliver a very stable broadcast.

Dedraus Korea could trust Rinko with the job.

On the other hand, since Aurora was a rookie VTuber, she was still an unknown quantity.

With little experience, she might make strange mistakes.

'That's why they made the exhibition match one-on-one.'

They had deliberately paired her with the experienced veteran Rinko.

It was a common tactic.

When giving advertisements to new VTubers, they paired them with existing veteran VTubers.

They built stability through the veteran and freshness through the newcomer.

By supplementing weaknesses that way, they verified whether the new VTuber was 'worth using.'

And that verification process had already been completed during the EYEAI Cup Labyrinthos tournament.

"Lora will do fine on her own."

"Good grief…."

CEO Jung Ho-young let out a deep sigh.

It seemed Rinko trusted Lora, but from the CEO's perspective, he didn't feel the same.

That's why he'd wanted to attach Rinko as a safety net.

"Understood. We'll trust her like you said, Rinko."

After nearly three hundred hours of broadcasting this time, Aurora's topicality had risen considerably.

It was still unsettling, but as the CEO, he probably had to trust his own VTuber. Sigh.

"But Rinko, you're not refusing the ad because you hate scary things, are you?"

"Who knows."

Rinko smiled ambiguously.

The title Surviving in a Zombie World.

It was a new VR survival game developed by Dedraus, set in a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠zombie apocalypse.