Radio Programs?

[Meihime, my Meihime… You old thief! When exactly is the Old Era Arc coming out?]

[Truly surprising. Who would have thought that Meihime, who only lived in the mouths of various characters, would be so good-looking in the anime?]

[With such great character design, if this were made into a game, she’d have to be a romanceable character, right?]

[…]

Inside the recording studio’s waiting room, Kazakami Ritsu was looking at the online comments about the first episode of Tales of the Ten Thousand Blades with the same expression as the “Subway, Old Man, Phone” meme.

As one of the highlights of the first episode, Meihime indeed became a topic of discussion for the vast majority of viewers.

New viewers were asking for information about this character, while original fans were condemning the original manga author for being inhumane.

Kazakami Ritsu was actually mentally prepared for the fact that no one discussed her performance.

“Is it really okay to have a bit-part character who appeared for less than five minutes as a guest on the radio drama?”

After muttering this, Kazakami Ritsu continued to scroll through the comments that interested her.

The door to the waiting room was pushed open, and Umemiya Hiro, wearing clothes similar to hers, appeared in her line of sight.

“Ah, so ‘Mother’ has already arrived. It seems I came too late.”

Umemiya Hiro joked as she looked at the junior whose seniority was far below hers, despite being similar in age.

Today, the junior-san was wearing a sailor suit with a bow tie and an over-knee skirt, just like herself.

These were the outfits they had agreed upon beforehand, just to create some program effect for promotion.

However, the junior’s lethally beautiful face really made one unable to resist casting glances at her.

After the female lead arrived, Kazakami Ritsu, who had been sitting casually, slightly adjusted her posture.

“Good afternoon, Umemiya-senpai. Actually, I came too early. Since it’s my first time doing radio work, I’m a little nervous.”

This was the truth, but after learning that the radio work also had a prepared script, she wasn’t that nervous in her heart.

Humans always fear the unknown; what is there to fear about the known?

Hearing that it was Kazakami Ritsu’s first time doing radio work, Umemiya Hiro asked thoughtfully.

“So it’s your first time? Hmm… Kazakami-san, do you know what we have to do?”

‘What to do… isn’t it just promoting the work through interaction?’

Thinking this, Kazakami Ritsu revealed an uncertain expression.

“Promoting the work… expanding influence?”

“Correct, so no need to be nervous. Just chat with me casually.”

“Okay… Speaking of which, where is Shikano-senpai?”

“His stomach trouble acted up, so we found you, who also had an important role in the first episode, to save the day.”

The two exchanged a few quick Q&As, and the staff brought over the script for this radio drama.

After opening the script, Kazakami Ritsu was dumbfounded.

‘Wait, why is this radio work so complicated?’

But before Kazakami Ritsu could think much, Umemiya Hiro beside her revealed a smile like a crescent moon.

“Don’t be nervous. The first episode is just a warm-up; more than half of the segments inside can’t be done yet.”

Hearing this, Kazakami Ritsu breathed a sigh of relief.

Making a rookie bit-part actor do the work of a regular guest—wasn’t that a bit too demanding?

However, there was no time for her to feel sad; the producer of Tales of the Ten Thousand Blades had arrived at the waiting room at this moment.

After receiving instructions from the staff, Umemiya Hiro, sitting behind the long table, reached out and grasped the microphone in front of her.

As the theme song of Tales of the Ten Thousand Blades finished playing, Umemiya Hiro began to read the opening lines in Destiny’s voice.

“Hello to listeners all over the country. Thank you for tuning in to the special radio program for Tales of the Ten Thousand Blades, currently broadcasting to great acclaim.”

Umemiya Hiro paused, and Kazakami Ritsu beside her very perceptively began to clap her hands clap clap clap.

“This episode is the very momentous first episode. I am Umemiya Hiro, voicing Destiny in the show. I hope everyone will continue to support our anime and radio drama in the future.”

Speaking to this point, Umemiya Hiro cast a glance at Kazakami Ritsu sitting next to her.

Kazakami Ritsu picked up the microphone, finding Meihime’s vocal range.

“With Destiny in your possession, you must be able to achieve victory just like I did, right?”

After delivering the classic line with full devotion, Kazakami Ritsu heard Umemiya Hiro add a sentence beside her in a voice that could be recorded.

“Ah, this feeling of connected bloodlines is…”

Umemiya Hiro’s improvisation almost made Kazakami Ritsu lose her composure.

As expected of an experienced senior, she easily controlled the situation of the whole venue.

“Hello everyone, I am Kazakami Ritsu, voicing Meihime. I hope everyone can continue to support our anime and radio broadcast. If you want to know more information, you can…”

After Kazakami Ritsu finished speaking a large segment of broadcast words, Umemiya Hiro naturally took over the conversation.

“Ah, please send us lots of letters too. We look forward to answering everyone’s questions. So then, let’s officially enter our radio program time.”

After saying this in her natural voice, Umemiya Hiro’s expression turned solemn as she switched back to Destiny’s voice.

“This voice, could you be…”

“Destiny… I never thought we would meet in this way.”

The wonderful performance of the two made the surrounding staff give thumbs up one after another.

After completing the warm-up segment, Umemiya Hiro, as the industry senior, threw out a topic first.

“Speaking of which, Kazakami-san, this should be your first time participating in a radio program, right? It’s also my first time as a regular host; it feels truly marvelous.”

Kazakami Ritsu praised the senior in her heart for her natural ease while saying these words, and she herself entered work mode.

“That’s different. Although I’m older in the show, outside the show, Umemiya-senpai is the real senior.”

She extended the topic along the lines of ‘in-show vs. out-show,’ and Umemiya Hiro beside her revealed a brilliant smile again.

‘I really didn’t misjudge; this child is truly quite interesting.’

“Eh, is that so? Ah, in that case, I’ll just call you Kazakami.”

Umemiya Hiro said this with exaggerated affectation, taking a stack of envelopes from a staff member running over from the side.

She glanced at the serial numbers on the envelopes and handed half of them to Kazakami Ritsu beside her.

“Ah, since it’s the premiere episode, the staff prepared several questions for us.”

Saying this, Umemiya Hiro opened the envelope marked with number 1 and took out the letter inside.

She unfolded the letter paper and read the content clearly.

“First question: What do you usually do to kill time when you are at home?”

Hearing the content of the question, Kazakami Ritsu raised her eyebrows in surprise.

‘Hmm? In a Q&A segment like this, the question isn’t related to the anime?’

Although somewhat puzzled in her heart, Kazakami Ritsu still answered the question very honestly.

“For me… I might watch some videos. Whether related to courses or other genres, as long as it’s a video that interests me, I’ll watch it.”