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Tl: Sam

…

“Mmm~♪ Delicious! There was nothing this cold and sweet in my country!”

　Lilicia, seated on a bench, happily licked her soft-serve ice cream.
　She looked genuinely happy; I’m glad I bought it for her.
　I sat down next to her and ate my soft-serve as well. I hadn’t had one in a while, but it was delicious.

“Even so, it’s peaceful…”

　I relaxed and looked around the area.
　Since today was a weekday, there weren’t too many people. Also, Lilicia was wearing the perception-obstructing bracelet, and I was erasing my presence, so no one was noticing us.
　It’s nice to have time to relax outside like this. Usually, my choices are limited to lounging around at home or being busy in a dungeon.
　Well, there are about five people from the Ministry of Monster Countermeasures monitoring us from a slight distance… but they’re not interfering, so they’re harmless as long as I ignore them. Lilicia doesn’t seem to notice the surveillance, anyway.
　As I was licking my soft-serve, lost in thought, I noticed Lilicia using a selfie stick attached to her smartphone to record something.

“Huh? What are you doing? Are you taking a picture?”
“No, since it’s such a precious memory, I thought I’d share it with my subjects.”

　Lilicia calls her viewers “subjects.”
　Apparently, her D-Tube channel is set up as the Japan Branch of the Elven Kingdom. Adachi was also impressed, commenting that it was a good setting that fully utilized her title as a princess.
　Well, Lilicia probably did it to entertain her viewers, not to try and grow the channel. As expected of a princess, she understands the psychology of her citizens well.

“Are you going to share a photo on social media?”
“No, wouldn’t streaming it be even easier to understand? Look, everyone is delighted.”
“…………Hm?”

　My blood ran cold instantly.
　I looked at Lilicia’s smartphone screen, terrified, and saw a flood of comments rushing past.

「What is this?! What are Shachiken and the Princess doing?!」
「They’re on a date, apparently」
「The two of them eating soft-serve, so cozy!」
「Date stream is a lifesaver」
「Lol at the Princess being outside normally」
「Where is this?!」
「Can’t tell since the background is a concrete wall」
「Identification Team, hurry up!」
「No, seriously, stop, it’s annoying」
「I won’t let you interrupt the Princess’s date (shedding tears of blood)」
「If the Princess is happy, I’m okay with it…」
「I can’t forgive some random nobody for dating the Princess, but I have to accept Tanaka!」

　The comment section was already in a frenzy.
　The concurrent viewer count was steadily rising: 100,000, 200,000, 500,000, 1,000,000… Haha… my head started to ache.

“Lilicia, what are you doing?!”
“Huh? I thought you’d be happy since it’s a special date…”
“But you knew this was supposed to be a secret outing, right?”
“B-But I made sure it can’t be identified where we are, so it should be fine! Surely, no one could pinpoint the location with such limited information.”

　Lilicia insisted, but she was being too naive.
　There is an ‘Identification Team’ on the internet. I’ve heard from Adachi that there are many people on the net with the special skill of pinpointing a location from a tiny bit of information, like a small part of a building or the shape of a mountain in the background.
　It’s true that the stream only shows a bench and a building wall, but there’s a good chance of being identified with just that. Should I have taught Lilicia more about internet literacy?

「They’re definitely underestimating the Identification Team lol」
「Don’t bully the Princess too much!」
「But seriously, is it possible? Too little information」
「Hmm, I wonder」
「It’s too difficult with just this」

“See, Tanaka. They’re saying it’s fine!”

「That’s right, Tanaka!」
「Yep, yep」
「Considering the direction of the sun and the shape of the wall. Also, that fence-like thing that flashed by a moment ago… maybe it’s that place… lol」
「Eh」
「The Identification Team is fast」
「Ah, that’s the Z** Zoo lol」
「Seriously?」
「The censoring is pointless lol」
「There are only a limited number of zoos in Tokyo」
「Oh boy, is it a festival?」

“A-Are you… okay? Huh? The flow of comments is strange.”
“That’s what I told you! Come on, turn off the stream and let’s run!”

　I snatched Lilicia’s smartphone and decided to leave the zoo.
　Well, we’ve pretty much seen everything she wanted to see, so it’s fine. Plus, we can always come back again.

「Aww, is this the end?」
「Damn the Identification Team for being nosy!」
「We’ll be waiting for the next date stream」
「Take care of the Princess!」
「Go, Princess!」
「Don’t make her cry, Shachiken!」
「Have a good date, bye!」

　I operated the phone and ended the stream while being cheered on for the date.
　There are many requests for a date stream, but if I do it, a lot of onlookers will gather, so I can’t. Well, frankly, I don’t really want to do such a “normie” thing because it’s embarrassing, but Hoshino and Rin really want to do it… youth is amazing.

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