I SHOULD BE THE VILLAIN, BUT I PREFER TO BE A TYCOON-Chapter 35: He must be a huge idiot, right?

"Girls, everything okay, right?" Zayden asked.

"Yeah, I’d like to go." Erika agreed easily.

"Me too." The same was the case for Catherine.

Inoe showed a bright smile upon learning they accepted.

Although she’s not one of HHHS’s heroines, she’s ridiculously cute. Her innocent smile was captivating.

"C-Can we go with you guys!?"

Subaru, next to Emilia, spoke to them, stuttering as he asked to join them. And even while stuttering, he couldn’t hide the tone of expectation when asking that question.

"Subaru?"

Emilia beside him seemed surprised, and she wasn’t the only one.

Soon, several gazes turned toward Zayden.

’Why are they looking at me like I’m the leader of some field trip or something?’ He smiled wryly.

"I’m fine with it." He said.

"Since Zayden doesn’t mind, I don’t mind either."

Catherine’s and Erika’s responses were similar.

Riko looked at Inoe. Seeing her nod, she looked at Subaru and Emilia: "Alright."

Discreetly, Subaru clenched his fist as if celebrating a victory.

Emilia, on the other hand, her expression of confusion shifted to a sadder one upon seeing Subaru’s reaction, especially noticing his gaze toward Riko.

It seems she wasn’t so oblivious to others’ feelings, especially when it came to Subaru. Perhaps she even knew he had feelings for Riko, which explained the sad look as she lowered her head.

...

In a dimly lit room with colorful lights and a big screen standing out, there were five girls and three boys.

"So I, Riko Kohinata, will sing the first song."

"— — ♪"

Riko’s singing voice was in tune and the adorable kind. The song she chose was a popular anime romance song.

When she finished, they clapped.

"You sing well, Kohinata."

"Yeah, I was surprised."

"Hehe, thanks." She smiled shyly.

"I’ll go next." Emilia spoke boldly.

Riko handed her the microphone.

Background music started playing, along with the sound of nature.

The song she chose was a slow ballad.

When she began to sing, many seemed surprised. Her voice was soft, in tune, and captivating. Without realizing it, they swayed their heads to the rhythm of the song.

The song’s lyrics spoke of unrequited love. She sang with all her heart, moving them.

When she finished, she kept looking in Subaru’s direction, but his attention wasn’t on her—it was on Riko.

Before she could feel sad, an even more vibrant round of applause than Riko’s echoed.

"Emilia, that surprised me! You sing really well!" Erika gave her a sincere compliment.

Catherine said: "I have to agree with Erika, you really sang amazingly!"

"Your voice is beautiful." Riko commented.

Emilia blushed a little at so many compliments. She didn’t seem used to receiving praise like that. She thanked them: "Thank you."

"I thought Riko sang better..."

A somewhat unpleasant comment was made.

That single comment was enough to make Emilia’s happy expression vanish, her face turning a bit pale.

There were only three boys. And it wasn’t Zayden or Yamagi who said it, which left only Subaru.

His words didn’t make Riko happy. She even looked at him strangely.

Erika whispered to Catherine: "Is he an idiot?"

"It seems like it..." Catherine looked a bit disappointed.

Zayden picked up the microphone from the table.

"I’m not going to say who was better than who." He broke the tense atmosphere by saying: "To me, both of them sang really well and seemed to be having fun, and that’s what matters, right?" Smiling, he added: "Now, if you’ll allow me, I’ll sing a song for you all. I hope I don’t embarrass myself too much."

When the background music started playing and Zayden began to sing, Erika spat out what she was drinking.

She wasn’t the only one surprised, after all, Zayden’s song choice was actually an Enka song.

It was ridiculous how much he didn’t match that song. Even though he sang very well, the image of him with that music style just didn’t fit at all.

And seeing him sing with such passion was even kind of funny.

"When the dawn arrives at the Nagara River~~♪"

At the end of the song, Zayden, who had closed his eyes, opened them, and the room fell silent.

Soon, they clapped cheerfully, and the previous somewhat depressing atmosphere was gone.

"Haha, Zayden, you did great~!" Erika gave him a few pats on the back, full of smiles.

"Mm, I personally felt I did really well." Zayden replied proudly.

"..."

After a second of silence, they started laughing.

"Cocky~!" Erika patted his back even more cheerfully.

Zayden just smiled and passed the microphone to the next person.

It was Subaru who took the microphone.

He held it firmly while his face turned red.

He turned to Emilia.

"E-Emilia, sorry for the unnecessary comment earlier... A-As punishment, I’ll sing the next song."

He took a deep breath and turned to the screen.

To say that Emilia wasn’t at all moved when he said that would be a lie... At least until he started singing.

"You never get mad at me, you don’t understand me..."

By this part of the song, especially after saying he’d sing a song as an apology, it made it seem like he was singing for her.

"The more I lose, the more I hate even kindness — ♪"

Zayden massaged his temples: ’Is he an idiot? He must be a huge idiot, right?’

Intentional or not, his song choice was terrible.

The worst part was that he didn’t even sing badly; his voice was quite in tune and he sang to the rhythm, but when he finished, he only received a few weak claps.

Subaru seemed embarrassed as he finished and scratched his head, looking confused. He put the microphone on the table and sat down.

"I’m next!" It was Inoe.

She grabbed the microphone and held it with both hands.

Even before the instrumental sound, she said passionately: "If only I could fly!"

She continued to the sound of guitar and piano:

"You would never come back

For always longing

To touch the blue, the blue of the sky — ♪"

This was a very well-known song, whether because of the anime that made the song even more famous or because of the singer’s passion when performing it.

Inoe managed to successfully cheer everyone up.

"The blue, the blue of the sky to touch — ♪"

When she sang the final chorus, they clapped.

"Not bad, Inoe. You have a really good voice." Zayden said to her.

"S-Seriously?" Inoe was both happy and shy at his compliment.

Seeing her act so cutely, he ended up reaching out and touching her head.

"F-Fueeh? Z-Zayden?"

"Oh, sorry. You were so cute, I just..." He pulled his hand back.

"C-Cute?!"

Inoe’s face turned bright red.

Inoe sat next to Riko, who gave her a teasing look while lightly bumping her shoulder: "Look who seems really happy now~"