Chapter 283: Salted Fish Is a Food with Deep Meaning
Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24
"How regrettable… but this humble one won't give up. After the fourth knight joins us, I'll work my hardest to obtain his trust and meet him in person!" Hisashi sent an emoticon of hard work and effort.
'No, you've already struck out, because his older sisters are watching this,' Seiji thought to himself. 'Have Rion and Kotomi guessed that this Milk Cream Sweet Sweet Pig was that hacker who messed with them before?' He suddenly wanted to know this.
It was the same for the reverse. 'Would Hisashi guess that Silver Crystal is actually the username of those twin sisters?'
Seiji thought about how subtle all this really was.
But that incident was long over already. He figured that even if they discovered each other's identities, nothing significant would happen.
He considered whether or not he should tell them about the truth of each other's identities. He decided to bring it up later if it was necessary; for now, he would focus on the task at hand.
"My third topic of discussion is about voice actresses," Seiji said.
"Voice actresses… my king means to give voiced lines to the main characters!?" Hisashi asked.
"Yes, I have another friend who's a skilled actress. She volunteered to be a voice actress for this game."
"Another one! As expected of my king; you have so many talented people around you!" Hisashi exclaimed.
"Don't praise me like that… I'm just fortunate to know such skilled friends." Seiji also felt somewhat overcome with emotion. "I believe that she's definitely skilled enough to be a voice actress, but I'm not certain whether or not our game needs voice acting, which is why I wanted to discuss it."
Professionally made dating sim games would typically have voice acting, but Seiji's group was just a non-professional group working out of their personal interests.
If they intended hire voice actors for the characters, it would obviously increase the difficulty severalfold. One voice actress wouldn't be enough, and they would need at least several.
It wasn't completely impossible for just one voice actress to be used for the entire dating sim game, but that meant it would have to revolve around only one female main character, and Seiji didn't intend to write such a story.
"If we do decide to add voice acting," Seiji typed, "then after we let her join, we still need to find other voice actresses, which will be rather troublesome."
"Indeed," Hisashi agreed, "it's not easy to find talented voice actresses, but we still have plenty of time, and we can take it easy. If we can't find enough people, then we can even contact professional companies and try hiring professional voice actresses!"
"But that will greatly increase our cost of production, and it'll also go against our original intentions in creating this game."
"Yes, so that's why it'll only be a last resort," Hisashi typed. "I wish to give our characters voice acting, because I feel that only with voice acting will our game feel alive! That's why I sincerely request my king to add voice acting to our game! This humble one will do his best to find those that can help us, and if we can't find enough voice actresses in the end, I'm willing to single-handedly pay the costs of hiring professional actors!"
There was a short pause before Seiji responded: "I also feel that a top-quality game should give voice to its characters! Sweet Pig Knight, I agree with your idea!"
"Ohh, my king!" Hisashi sent a passionately weeping emoticon.
"Then let's add voice acting to our game! After letting my friend join in, everyone should also look for other voice actresses. If we can't find enough in the end, I shall also help Sweet Pig Knight to pay the costs of hiring professionals."
"My king is truly wonderful! But it's not necessary for you to do so; I can handle it by myself. The small contract fee for hiring a few voice actresses is nothing at all for the first knight!" Hisashi sent an emoticon of grandness.
"I know," Seiji typed, "but this is a matter of responsibility. Since I made this decision as the group leader, I should bear the burden as well."
"My king…"
"Alright, stop going on about it—that's just how it's going to be," Seiji said bluntly, ending that line of discussion. "Now to the fourth discussion topic: I have yet another friend who can't help with anything as of yet, but still wants to join this group. Forcefully letting her join is of course out of the question, but I believe we can let her become a backup candidate. She may be able to help us as a voice actress or in some other way. Consider this as granting a personal favor for me—I know it's a bit unreasonable. If anyone objects, I shall give up on it… what are your opinions?"
"I believe that it's not as unreasonable as you think. We currently lack voice actresses, so it would be appropriate to make anyone that could potentially become a voice actress into a backup candidate. I agree with this idea and suggest giving our backup candidate the title of 'apprentice knight!'"
"I think it's fine as well; no objections here." Rion and Kotomi also agreed.
"Thank you," Seiji said, before sending a grateful emoticon. "I still need to ask for Ice and Fire's opinion, but he's not here right now, so let's tackle this issue later. At the very least, I have no more topics to discuss… do any of you have anything to discuss or add on?"
Hisashi and the twin sisters both indicated that they didn't have anything else to mention.
"Then let us end the Knights of the Round Table's first conference here!" Seiji declared.
Hisashi sent a bowing emoticon.
Rion and Kotomi also sent bowing emoticons.
"Now then, we can just chat about anything, or if any of you have something to do, feel free to leave now."
"This humble one would like to meet the fourth and fifth knights!" Hisashi said. "King, please summon them here! Oh, and also that apprentice knight!"
"Same here—I'd also like to meet everyone."
And so, Seiji performed a grand summoning… whoops, contacted everyone.
And so, "Disciple of the Light" (Hoshi), "Phantom of the Drama" (Chiaki), and "Cyan Bird of the Blue Sky" (Mika) all joined the chat group.
After exchanging mutual greetings, they all began chatting.
"This is a nice setting. Knights of the Round Table, I am the fifth knight, 'Phantom,' hereby joining in! I like this type of dramatic flair; it's quite fun." Chiaki sent a delighted emoticon.
"Wahh… all of you have such cool names; this humble one wants a cool name as well! I should change my name after all! My king, let's change our names together!!" Hisashi sent an emoticon of painful struggle.
"No need; I shall just enjoy being the Idle Fish King." Seiji remained calm.
"You should be the Indomitable King instead—that would be a really fierce name," Hoshi typed.
"I think so as well," Mika agreed. "Actually, on second thought, the Salted Fish King 1 sounds rather cute."
"By the way, why did our king choose such a name? Do you love eating salted fish crackers that much?" Rion and Kotomi asked.
"No, this has a much deeper meaning." Seiji used an emoticon depicting vast experience. "In the ancient civilization on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, salted fish is a food that has incredible meaning, with deep connections to hopes and dreams."
"Oh… I see." The twin sisters came to a "realization."
"It means hopes and dreams? How wonderful," Hoshi exclaimed.
"Then... 'the Indomitable Salted Fish' means to never give up on your hopes and dreams," Mika typed. "This truly sounds… royal."
"No way! Everyone, you've all been fooled! How could a salted fish possibly represent all that?He's just making it up!" Chiaki used a forceful-retort emoticon.
"Hmph, why do you say that, Phantom Knight?" Seiji used a pretentious emoticon to look down upon Chiaki's words.
"It should seem strange to anyone that even thinks a little about it! Just give up and admit it: you just randomly gave yourself a strange internet username!!"
Their joyous chatting and fun retorts continued for a long while.