Chapter 203

**The First Clue**

“I look forward to your performance.”

This feeling of confrontation is truly exhilarating!

Ash took his belongings, grabbed a meal, and left casually, with no one daring to stop him. They didn’t even know what to say.

After a long time, Makoto clenched her fists, her voice coming out incredibly aggrieved due to its low tone.

“This is too much…”

Even though she had thoughts of wanting to retire, it didn’t mean she would just give up on singing. How could he simply take her voice away without a word?

“I really still love singing…!”

It was practically mocking her.

“Has Ash completely become our enemy?”

Rikka thought even more. This time he stole Makoto’s voice. What about next time?

Even now, Rikka still remembers the pain she suffered during the battle on the beach. Compared to before, Ash seemed to have no intention of holding back.

If he plays another game, will it be even worse?

“That person actually did this to Makoto, Dabi!” Dabi, who was Makoto’s partner, was the angriest. She felt like jumping on Ash right now and slapping him.

As a partner since their time in the Poker Kingdom, her bond with Makoto was deeper than that of other pairs. How could she not know how much Makoto had sacrificed for the princess, and how important her singing was to her?

And that scoundrel Ash actually took away Makoto’s voice!

“Summer, we have to make sure he properly apologizes to everyone!”

“But can he? The way he is now…”

“Stop saying that!”

A voice interrupted the fairies’ discussion, and they looked at Ai, whose face was filled with conflict.

She wanted to believe in Ash. She had seen the change in his attitude toward them, so she truly wanted to trust him.

But was her one-sided wish still valid now?

No, this isn’t the time to think about these things! Ai shook her head, trying to rid herself of the thoughts taking root in her mind.

“Ash has given us a time limit. To get Arisu and Makoto’s voices back, we must defeat the Selfish Beast before that, so we can’t waste any time!”

Unable to think clearly, Ai could only focus all her energy on this “game.” After all, she had said they had to win this game and bring Arisu back.

“But we don’t have any clues about the Selfish Beast, and we don’t know where Ash has hidden it. How do we even find it?”

Just as everyone was at a loss, the bell above the door of the pig tail pavilion rang as someone pushed the door open. Clearly, a guest had arrived, and even though they had no energy to entertain them at the moment, Ai forced a smile to greet the newcomer.

“Welcome! May I ask if you… ah, it’s you!”

The newcomer was a familiar face, Akuri, the elementary school student who had saved them on the beach as Cure Ace.

“Um, Ms. Cure Ace!” The three girls who felt grateful bowed to the younger Akuri. “Thank you so much for last time!”

“No need to thank me. But aside from the battle name Cure Ace, my name is Akuri. Just call me Akuri.”

Akuri, who was shorter than everyone else, schooled the middle school girls, especially with her mature demeanor contrasting with her elementary school physique, which was amusing.

“I heard your conversation.”

Of course, she had eavesdropped. However, Akuri also noticed Ash glance in her direction while he spoke, but he chose not to expose her; it seemed intentional.

“He’s definitely a tough opponent. I thought that from the first time I met him. You can’t predict his games with common sense.”

“Even so, Akuri, you saying that…”

Rikka’s expression seemed a bit forced. After all, what Akuri said was practically the most useless piece of advice, much like a commander telling their soldiers, “This enemy is strong, so be extra cautious!” But for soldiers who were already being careful, what did “extra cautious” even mean?

“But even he must have overlooked something!”

And I’ve already seen it!

Akuri called Ai over and had her turn on the store’s surveillance camera. At this point, the girls realized that the shop’s camera was focused right on the spot where Ash had been standing earlier.

“This is it. Zoom in, zoom in more!”

“This is a photo of the Selfish Beast on Ash’s phone?”

Fortunately, the camera at Ai’s house was a recently upgraded model that could capture every pore clearly. By aiming the camera at the phone photo and zooming it in to the utmost, Ai immediately understood Akuri’s idea.

“Exactly! This is a photo. If we can identify the specific location of the Selfish Beast based on the background in this photo, we can find our way there!”

“But is it really that easy?”

Rikka couldn’t help but complain. Without transformations, they didn’t have the precise dynamic vision like the Platinum Star, so identifying the background of the photo wasn’t going to be easy.

“No, I recognize this place!”

Makoto suddenly spoke up, cutting off Rikka’s next sentence. Rikka looked at Makoto with an incredulous expression, utterly surprised she was able to recognize it. Was this the kind of power an idol had? No wonder she was Makoto Kanzaki from the Poker Kingdom!

In fact, the reason Makoto could instantly recognize the background was not because she had awakened her Stand, Platinum Star. It was simply because she was more than familiar with that background!

“The large glass window behind that Selfish Beast is the famous department store in Daibei City, and directly across from it is a building of similar height—!”

At this point, the others also started to grasp what Makoto was indicating. Now that they understood, their expressions turned a bit awkward.

The place that fit this description was indeed the Daibei TV station, where Makoto primarily worked!

Could it really just be a coincidence?

The group didn’t dare to delay. After an afternoon of contact, the station agreed to Makoto’s request to bring her friends for a visit, with the appointment set for the next day.

Early the next morning, everyone gathered and went to the city TV station. Thanks to Makoto leading the way, no one stopped them, these middle school girls. The TV station had all sorts of novel props and performances that left the girls in awe, but this wasn’t the time for sightseeing, and they still focused on searching for the Selfish Beast.

Besides not finding any trace of the Selfish Beast, the entire process went smoothly, so smoothly that Akuri began to wonder if it was a trap set by the enemy to lure them in.

However, they didn’t encounter any traps but did run into another girl dressed like an idol. Given Makoto’s expression of surprise, she was likely a familiar face.

“Who is this? Isn’t it the big star, Makoto Kanzaki?”

The beautiful girl with brown hair in pigtails raised her brow when she saw Makoto, a smug expression on her face as she struck a proud pose, causing Rikka and Ai, who were beside her, to feel displeased.

“……”

Makoto didn’t respond. Her voice had grown weaker, and she also had no intention of arguing with this “acquaintance.”

Seeing Makoto not respond, the girl became more energized. She chuckled and her words became increasingly hurtful.

“What’s the matter? Didn’t you say you wanted to retire? Why are you back at the TV station? Could it be you’re suddenly having second thoughts?”

“True to your name as a big star, you can come and go as you please. But with your half-hearted attitude toward singing, you stand no chance against me now! A person without drive should just roll away!”

“Your era is over. The next top star will definitely be me, Tsubaki!”