Chapter 209

Chapter 106 Excessive Dreams

“I can assure you that I am not lying.”

“Then, who deceived you? The lovely Heartcatch Precures?”

Ash’s words lingered in the hearts of the Precures, fermenting and gradually beginning to consume their hearts. This was an unprecedented feeling for them, something they had never encountered before.

As long as they defeated the enemy and healed the damage, spreading goodwill among people and sprinkling love across the land, they could save the world and bring about peace.

This was the beautiful mission of the Precures, who were known as “cures”, meaning “healers”.

But now, facing this scene, their hands, which they had never been afraid of, were trembling. How could they fight?

Were they facing just a simple Selfish Beast that had fallen due to a corrupted Spirit Heart, or was it something even deeper?

In any case, time was their greatest enemy right now. Time was slipping away from them.

“What, the producer has left?!”

“Why are you all so frantic?” Akuri noticed the gloominess of everyone and grew anxious herself when she realized the situation was dire.

“Didn’t you defeat that Selfish Beast?”

“We—” Ai paused, then met eyes with Rikka beside her. Deciding not to tell her this excessive possibility for an elementary school student, she said, “We need to find the producer right now. Akuri, do you have any clues about him?”

“If you’re asking about his whereabouts, he probably went toward the props storage room.”

The three thanked Akuri and hurried off toward that direction. Akuri, puzzled, looked at Makoto, who had remained silent and bowed her head, then approached some staff members to inquire further.

“Excuse me, do you know where Miss Miku Tachibana is right now?”

Where?

Where is the true Selfish Beast?!

Exhausted from a battle, Ai rushed to a new battlefield without transforming back. Her heart was filled with the thought of saving others rather than considering her own condition.

Arisu, Makoto, we’re coming! We’ll definitely defeat the enemy and retrieve what you’ve lost!

“Rikka, this is the right place! Raquel!” Raquel’s voice came from the pocket, with a chubby finger pointing to a warehouse storing film props. The slightly ajar door indicated that it wasn’t locked yet. “I can sense the dark pulse reaction over there!”

“Selfish Beast, come out now!”

The girls stormed into the room and did not see the Selfish Beast. Instead, they saw only the back of the producer arranging something.

“It’s you.” The man with glasses seemed unsurprised after giving them a glance, continuing his undisturbed arrangement. “Of course, after all, you are the Precures protecting the world.”

“——!” Makoto tried to say something, but could only produce a hoarse sound. Realizing how serious things were, the other two girls stepped forward quickly.

“Mr. Producer, that’s not the true Selfish Beast! Please, if you know its real location, tell us!”

“I heard from Ash,” the man continued answering without looking back. “This monster is no longer made by extracting people’s hearts like before; it listens well and doesn’t cause destruction. Can you ignore its existence then?”

What a nuisance.

An idea surfaced in the minds of the girls. Could this Selfish Beast be a monster capable of manipulating people’s minds, thus making the producer willingly collaborate?

“No…” Unlike the Selfish Beast’s nature, the Spirit Heart, which represents positive energy, could easily discern dark reactions. Although there was a reaction indicating contact with darkness on that person, none in their body, suggesting they were not being controlled.

“This person is not being manipulated; he did this out of his own will, Sharu!”

The girls unconsciously swallowed hard, instinctively feeling something was amiss.

“How could anyone do such a thing!” Ai, always sweet-tongued except to Ash, shouted at someone else for the first time. “Don’t you know, the Selfish Beast took away Makoto’s voice? How could we possibly ignore it?”

“I know.”

“Huh?” The girls froze simultaneously, especially Makoto, who stared wide-eyed at this seemingly polite producer whom she had previously respected and trusted.

“Because, I instructed it to steal Makoto’s voice.”

The entire warehouse fell silent, only the sound of the man rummaging through items could be heard.

“The Selfish Beast stole the wonderful voice of Kanzaki Makoto, and I added it to the water given to Miku, improving her singing. Can’t you hear how much better her voice is?”

Gulp…

In this quiet world, even the thump of their hearts and the girls’ falling tears could be clearly heard.

“What did you do to Makoto?!”

The hearts of the girls were shaken, while Sprite Dabi could not tolerate his actions.

“Thanks to Mr. Ash, Miku is about to become a top idol surpassing Makoto, and her song sales will reach number one for the first time!”

No way…

They had strived to find the truth, only to be deceived. The deceivers were the producers who previously left a good impression and had earned their trust.

It was just like when Ash suddenly turned against them.

Even without being attacked, Ai knelt to the ground, clenching her fists in frustration and hitting the ground with a powerful impact that startled the man, causing him to drop and scatter the items he was rummaging through.

“W-Why would you do such a cruel thing to Makoto?!”

“All of this is for the dream I promised with Miku!”

Noticing the items scattered on the ground were microphones in a broken state:

“Six years ago, I, still a nobody, and future, then an extra actor, met. We agreed and promised that she would become a No. 1 singer!

“She has been working hard in various ways; all these microphones were destroyed by her shouting over these years, and I kept them all.”

“Together with her, we’ve come to this point,历经六年，而现在剑崎真琴从出道到成为第一，仅仅用了六个月，该死的六个月呀!”

The producer’s voice was firm, filled with resentment towards suffering and hardship. Without listening to the content, a tearful speech might make people think he was the victim himself.

“A dream placed in front of me, how could I give up now? How could it be possible?!”

“Is this dream really so important?!” Ai’s head lifted up, eyes burning with anger she had never felt before. “This dream is built on Makoto’s sacrifice! Don’t you understand such a basic fact?”

“Anyway, isn’t Kanzaki Makoto going to retire? If so, why not give her unused voice to our future?”

“A real dream should be achieved through one’s own efforts!” Rikka dried her tears and rebuked the man loudly. “By stealing others’ power to fulfill your own dream, you’ll never achieve your true dream!”

“Ash was right; you’re just a bunch of naive children who don’t consider the bad side.” The man sighed, uncertain whether it was for his own excessive behavior or for them. Then he drew a microphone emitting a dark glow from the pile. “Your idealism wouldn’t understand because I’m a realist.”

“For someone living in reality, the most important thing is the result!”