Chapter 265 – 17.3 Mysterious Forum

There is a Japanese TV program called ‘Sunday Station’.
It is a live broadcast where experts, politicians, celebrities, etc. Gather and discuss various social issues.

As the name of the show suggests, it is popular because it is broadcast live on Sundays. In particular, as the discussion is overheated, it is also a hot topic thanks to the live broadcasting feature that goes out even if a broadcast accident-level scene comes out.
The purpose of the program can be said to be closer to a stimulating debate show rather than a healthy discussion broadcast.

Why am I suddenly explaining such a program?

“Please, Knives.”

It was because he was asked to appear on a broadcast by President Mizuki, not by anyone else.

“Yes? Why is the chairman asking me?”
“Actually…”

Originally, it was a discussion broadcast that the chairman himself planned to go out.

The theme this time is ‘Does discrimination against rune holders really exist?’.
Since it is such a hot topic, high ratings are guaranteed, and it is said that the casting was done in a hurry to broadcast before the fever cooled.

“But in the end, I couldn’t go out…”

The chairman is also working energetically, thinking that he can row when the water comes in and that he cannot miss this flow.
However, this does not mean that you can directly participate in all events. Because the president only has one body.

“You mean me?”
“PD-nim made sure to ask Knives for something.”
“Hmm.”

After the video of the academy suppressing terrorism surfaced on the Internet, I blocked all calls from unknown numbers.
The same goes for broadcasts and interview requests. I turned down all offers because I thought there was no end once I started.

The number of views on YouTube videos of me suppressing terrorists ranges from millions to tens of millions. However, the only information about me is ‘Kadura’ that is posted on the Internet. Stories about me were a jumbled mix of plain truth and outrageous bullshit.

Maybe because I didn’t care and left it alone, groundless rumors about me grew more and more inflated. Now, even funny rumors such as ‘remodeled soldiers created by the Japanese army with illegal drugs’ and ‘AI machines without blood and tears’ were spreading.

No matter what I say when I go on air, just being on the air is good for getting attention from the broadcasting station. Anyway, the popular one is also a mask.

“Can’t I… ?”
“Hmm.”

To be honest, I don’t really want to go on TV.
However, it is also true that my heart is shaken when I see the desperate face of the chairman.

“Knives! Please! I’ll do anything I can!”
“Anything… ?”

My heart is shaken even more by the chairman’s words, ‘anything’.
I looked at Shinoshino.

“And Shinoshino too?”
“Hmm? Why me?”

Shinoshino frowned as the arrow returned to her.
The chairman also looked at Shino with a desperate expression. I don’t know, but I can’t even ignore the president’s wishes.

“… Good.”

In the end, Shinoshino was defeated as well.
I also nodded heartily.

“Hot ha! If it’s the president’s request, of course you have to do it! Trust me!”
“Thanks, Knives!”

Seeing the happy president made me feel good too.

Well done. Shinoshino’s resistance was strong, and anal development was slow.
Thanks to the “Anything Voucher” Of this venue, you can take a step closer to Shinoshino’s anus!

*

──I want to slap me in the back of the head for thinking so carefree.

If I had known the debate was like this, I would have decided more carefully.
Having been brought to the forum with Shinoshino’s anus as bait, I scratched the back of my head and regretted it.

“──The real estate value of Rune Town alone, which is rented free of charge to rune holders, is worth 700 trillion. That alone is equivalent to Japan’s annual GDP!”
“Ha.”
“In Tokyo, which is the center of Japan, and even in the most yolk land, they let you live for free just because you are a rune holder! Isn’t that strange?!”
“Okay.”
“This is not discrimination. It is reverse discrimination. My grandfather was originally a land owner in Tokyo, but he was kicked out without receiving proper compensation. You took our land and gave it to the Rune Holder for free!”
“Come on, the discussion is heating up——”

Does Rune Holder Discrimination Exist?
5 people in favor of this discussion. 5 opponents. And there is only one moderator.

Of course, I am on the pro-wing panel. Besides me, there is one university professor, one unknown politician, and two unknown entertainers.

And the person who is talking now is a female expert (?) From the opposite panel.
Some kind of lecturer is a professor, but he was spitting and insisting on reverse discrimination against rune holders.

Ok this is it On the other hand, from the point of view of the general public, there may be losses. That’s what you can do by talking to each other.

But there was a problem. With this woman, ‘I can’t communicate at all’.

In the first place, this woman had no intention of having a conversation. She presupposes that ‘I’m right and you’re wrong’, and she’s talking about herself as a grown-up teaches her child.
Is there any room for a proper discussion like this?

Ah. I hate it. I want to finish quickly and go home.
What are you doing on Sunday? If I had known it would be like this, I would have played house with my sister at home. If it was anal, it would be easier to seduce Akane.

I was yawning at her and letting her aunty nagging go down one ear.

“——That’s right. Besides, isn’t that person over there also a rune holder?”
“Huh?”

Aunt suddenly pointed at me.
Speaking of the support panel, I was the only rune holder here. And I wasn’t even listening to what he was saying because I was thinking about something else.

“I heard that the person in the video is that person? Oh my god. Even a man with a gun can’t move, so what should a weak woman like me do because she’s scared when she meets someone like that!”
“Swimming.”

A woman who makes a fuss and is afraid.
Well. Ajumma is more scary in my eyes.

“If you get into a fight, you have no choice but to be defeated, right? So I think the punishment for rune holders should be tougher to protect common people like us.”

The host nodded and turned to me.

“It was about that rune holders should be punished more severely. Then, Mr. Knives Windsor, as a rune holder, what do you think about the strengthening of the rune holder’s punishment?”

Finally, I got a chance to speak.

“Eh, if you commit a crime, I think it’s only natural that you deserve the punishment.”
“Isn’t it?”

The auntie’s spirits became even.

“But I think we should be properly compensated for that amount of sacrifice.”
“A sacrifice? Are you going to talk about conscription or war again?”
“Of course. This country doesn’t properly reward the rune holders for their sacrifices.”
“I would have told you that the land I lent to the rune holder was 700 trillion. What do you want more compensation for?”
“The land was not given as a reward to rune holders. They are forced to live in a dangerous area in order to use the rune holder as a breakwater in case another disaster strikes.”

As her aunt kept talking, her moderator turned off her mic.
I can barely talk now.

“In my class, I have a friend whose parents both fought in a major disaster, whose father was killed and whose mother lost both legs.”

I’m sorry Nanami, but I have to sell some stories.
I have to go back and apologize.

“Her father died and her mother lost both legs, so of course she couldn’t work. But I had to pay taxes. As she knows, right after the catastrophe, she had to pay huge taxes. She couldn’t afford to pay her taxes and raise her only daughter, so she moved her home to the rundown part of Loon Town. It didn’t reduce the tax, though.”

I spoke to the camera, not to the opposition.
The person I’m going to persuade is not an ignorant opposition lady, but a viewer.

“In the end, the last option her friend’s mother chose was to give birth to twins via artificial insemination. If you give birth to 3 or more rune holders, the tax will be reduced. Her disabled mother gave birth to twins alone and raised them. She can’t afford to pay her taxes.”

I can’t help it even if I curse because I’m an emotional arm.
I will use everything that is available to me. Just like Chairman Mizuki did.

Another man from the opposition took the microphone.

“I’m sorry, but isn’t that an extreme example? Even among ordinary people, there are people who live a difficult life.”
“No. Even though both my parents participated in the great disaster and were killed in action, the bereaved family’s pension is only 60,000 yen per month. 120,000 yen a month for two people. It was just enough for us two siblings to live without starving to death.”

If one of my parents had survived, it would have been much harder to live.
A joke like this wouldn’t sound like a joke, so I put up with it. I’ve grown too.

Then, the lady whose microphone was turned off shouted.

‘Isn’t it strange that foreigners receive pensions in Japan in the first place! It’s our tax!’

Even without a microphone, her voice resonated, probably because she had boiled the firebox of the train.

“… A foreigner?”

You did well
I laughed to myself and took off my clothes.

“The catastrophe happened precisely when I was 10 years old. Thanks to that, I was drafted as a child soldier ‘in Japan’.”
“Me, Mr. Knives Windsor? Why are the clothes suddenly——”

The moderator is embarrassed, but ignores it and takes it off.
It’s no exaggeration to say that taking off clothes quickly is my specialty now. Without anyone stopping me, I took off my top and got up so the camera could take a picture.

“These are all scars from fighting monsters in the Great Disaster when I was 10 years old. 10 years old, in the Tokyo you like.”

Oh oh! Voices of admiration and surprise were heard from all over the place.
I’m glad I didn’t neglect my exercise routine.
With this, it would be nice if I could have a fan club like the president. Exposing my upper body as if showing off, I asked the lady whose microphone was turned off.

“When I, a foreigner, was defending Japan there, what did you do? Did you forget to eat a tangerine in the kotatsu?”

Auntie became her shocked face.

‘Ah, a lady?!’

Are you reacting to it?