Chapter 198: Shirou is Super Popular
When the music competition officially ended, Hiratsuka Shizuka won an overwhelming victory thanks to the votes of the elderly fan club, and Shirou and Jeanne took second place.
The team leader was absolutely beaming. He had never expected that the exchange program he was leading would achieve so many positive outcomes.
When they first arrived in Paris, the activities had stalled barely two days in due to the outbreak of the strange illness. He had already given up, planning only to experience life in Paris, with no concern for prizes or bonuses.
He hadn't expected that the arrival of Hiratsuka Shizuka and Shirou would bring about such a huge change—they were like great saviors. If he hadn't seen Shirou and Shizuka participating in school activities every day, he would have suspected they had solved Paris's strange illness.
However, as long as the result was good, that was all that mattered.
Although this was essentially an event aimed at boosting the Paris Branch School's reputation and promoting charity, winning was winning. The achievements made here could not be overlooked.
On the awards platform, Jeanne mockingly teased Erina with a challenging look.
But the blonde girl's gaze completely ignored her and was focused entirely on the boy next to her.
Shirou seemed to feel Erina's gaze at this moment and nodded to her.
"!" Erina saw the boy, instantly blushed, and turned her head away. Feeling this was embarrassing, she then stuck out her tongue and made a face at the boy.
Jeanne looked at Shirou, then at the girl, feeling that even though she had won, she was somehow still very unhappy.
At this moment, a man in a baseball cap holding a digital video camera and a bearded man holding a microphone walked up, followed by several people carrying various pieces of equipment.
"Hello, young man, young lady, may we interview you?" the bearded man said with a smile.
"Shirou, Jeanne, please, these are the reporters I specifically invited from the TV station," the school principal said, accompanying them.
Since the principal of the school requested it, there was no way to refuse.
"I understand." Although he didn't like attracting too much attention, Shirou nodded in agreement.
"Thank you so much. So, young man, have you studied singing? What made you perform this song in a way that achieved another form of perfection?" the bearded man asked curiously.
"I had just happened to hear this song and met similar people, so my emotions resonated with it, and it suddenly came out. It was just luck.
Even if you asked me to sing it again now, I couldn't reproduce that quality,"
Shirou said honestly. He was not particularly sensitive about life itself. Although his mindset had changed considerably since coming to this world because of his family and friends, fundamentally, he still lacked that sense of reverence and piety.
The reason he sang a song that was different from the original, yet had its own unique flavor, was largely due to his emotions being influenced by Sanson's life insights and feelings toward life.
If it were just him, he would probably only be able to sing a song like 'Absolutely Undefeated English Gentleman.' The effect might be okay, but other foreign songs would be out of the question.
"Then, to this beautiful lady, your seamless cooperation with the young man was fantastic, but you appear to be French, so what was the reason you partnered together?"
"Me? Today is the first time I've ever sung in front of so many people," Jeanne said, pointing to herself. "Huh? Reason? There's none of that. Ultimately, Shirou participated, so I participated. That's all there is to it."
"...Uh, is that so?" The bearded man and the cameraman in the baseball cap exchanged a look and shook their heads helplessly. This conversation was completely useless; there was no excitement, no point of interest, making it unusable.
Where was the youthful exuberance?
This is why dealing with Eastern people... always with the modesty and bowing.
At this moment, a young person with personality should jump out and declare himself the strongest baritone of the new era.
"Well, thank you for your cooperation.
We should really go find that female teacher and try to get an exclusive interview!" the bearded man decided.
"What about that footage? Should we use it or not?" the man in the baseball cap asked, fiddling with the digital video camera.
"Nonsense, delete it! Just showing their live performance video will be enough," the bearded man said, waving his hand to make the decision.
"They finally left." Shirou watched the TV crew walk away, feeling somewhat relieved. It seemed he didn't need to worry about attracting too much attention.
"Shirou, what were those people asking and filming? What exactly do they do?" Jeanne asked, confused.
"Ah, those are people from the TV station, probably making a show," Shirou said.
After all, for Paris, which had been suffering and depressed recently due to the dream world events, having some lively activities was worth promoting. And thinking about it, the principal must have done her fair share of public relations.
He just didn't know if Hiratsuka-sensei's singing would still have the same effect after being broadcast on television.
"TV station? Are they the ones who put things in that iron box called a television?" Jeanne asked, still not quite grasping it.
"You could say that, but there are many different roles inside. You just need to know that if they interview you, you might appear on television," Shirou explained.
"Huh? What's so great about appearing inside that glass thing?" Jeanne was even more confused. Although she had gained some common sense since being summoned to this world, there were still many things she didn't understand.
"Well... now that you mention it, there's really nothing for you to be happy about," Shirou nodded. After all, in Europe, and even the Western world, Jeanne was already an icon of religious culture. Her worldwide fame was probably comparable to that of Oda Nobunaga in Japan.
Literature, art, television, movies, and even politicians use Jeanne's story to promote their own views. Stories about Jeanne can be found everywhere in the world.
In France, she is particularly considered a national symbol.
Generations of famous figures and those in power have extolled the virtues of Joan of Arc. Some promote her nationalism and spirit of defending the homeland; some praise her loyalty to the monarch; others love her devout religious faith.
Saint Joan of Arc was born in the early fifteenth century, during the latter stages of the Hundred Years' War.
Because France was continually losing ground in the war, she received a divine revelation in a church when she was 16. After much effort, and successfully predicting the outcome of a battle, she gained an audience with the French Dauphin. After several twists and turns, she was granted the authority to lead a contingent of soldiers, lifting the Siege of Orléans, which turned the tide of the war.
When she joined the army, she was treated like a male soldier. Everyone had a short haircut and wore the same armor into battle. Then, again relying on divine revelation, she won the recognition of the army leaders, leading the soldiers to victory. There was no opportunity to be close to acquaintances.
Although she always formulated strategies, raised the banner, charged at the head of the troops, made decisive and wise decisions, and achieved one incredible victory after another.
In just two short years, she completed the transformation from a peasant girl achieving one miraculous victory after another to being captured and burned at the stake, becoming the most famous legend of the European Middle Ages. To this day, people continue to tell her story because of the tragedy of her death and the various spirits her deeds embodied.
It was precisely Jeanne's sacrifice that stirred up anti-English sentiment among the entire French population, awakening a sense of shared nationality and country.
Consequently, in the following decades of the war, they fought with increasing courage, eventually reclaiming most of the territory France had lost from England by the end of the Hundred Years' War.
Therefore, as a world-famous saint, Jeanne truly wouldn't have any particular reaction to being on TV.
"In any case, this is good. After all, if you become famous, it's going to be troublesome in all sorts of ways. You don't want people approaching you everywhere you go, do you, Jeanne?" Shirou said.
"Hmm, that's true," Jeanne nodded, half-understanding.
What Shirou didn't know, however, was that the video of him and Erina competing in a cooking showdown was filmed by French onlookers and uploaded to YouTube. Several of the videos had quickly surpassed ten thousand views.
'Oriental God of Cooking's Flame Technique.'
'Gods of Cooking Couple Decides Competition with a Cooking Battle.'
'God of Cooking Transforms into Soulful Singing God, Reinterpreting a Classic, Receiving Rousing Cheers.'
Not long after the TV crew left, someone else approached.
This time, two female students from the Paris Branch School walked up to the boy. A small, cute girl with long black curly hair stepped forward, accompanied by her friend, a blonde girl with a single ponytail.
"Shirou... Shirou... Shirou~," the curly-haired girl said, her face flushed with shyness, speaking with a slightly trilled accent.
It seemed that Parisian girls had mastered some advanced technique. Just calling his name, the accent of endearment employed had three variations.
"Yes?" Shirou raised his hand to his chest, blocking the girl's fiery gaze, signaling her to stop and not get any closer.
"Um... um..." The girl blushed, rubbing her hands nervously.
"Excuse me, is there something I can help you with?" Shirou asked the girl helplessly. Such attention-grabbing behavior was attracting more and more onlookers.
"Um... um..." The girl covered her blushing face, but the words wouldn't come out of her mouth.
The speaker wasn't in a hurry, but the surrounding spectators were growing extremely impatient.
"Ahhh! Seriously! If you don't say it, I'll say it for you!" the blonde ponytail girl next to the curly-haired girl shouted impatiently.
"No, no, I'll say it! I'll say it!" the small curly-haired girl quickly stood on her tiptoes, covering her friend's mouth, and said anxiously.
'Go, go, go!!!' The onlookers silently clenched their fists for the cute girl, wishing her well.
"Um! Shirou!" the curly-haired girl shouted loudly at the boy.
"Yes?" Shirou asked in confusion. These French girls were inexplicably unclear when they spoke. Was she stuttering? If so, he couldn't be rude to her.
So, Shirou looked at the curly-haired girl and gently comforted her, saying, "Don't rush, take your time. I'll be right here to listen to you finish."
'You should just agree first!!! It's so obvious, and yet you look confused!
'Don't rush, take your time!' What is even going on?!'
The onlookers mentally saw crows fly over and a herd of alpaca-like mythical creatures run past. They were all on the verge of rushing forward and shouting at the boy themselves.
"Thank you... Shirou!" The curly-haired girl's face seemed to turn even redder. She felt so warm and touched inside, but she really couldn't keep such a nice boy waiting any longer.
The girl mustered up her courage and asked the question she wanted to ask.
"Shirou! Are you going to be cooking again tomorrow?! I'm the manager of the Culinary Club, and I'd like to invite you to exchange ideas with everyone in the Culinary Department—and, of course, to taste and critique each other's food, hehehe." The curly-haired girl revealed her foodie nature as she spoke, and saliva couldn't help but trickle out.
Hearing what the girl said, Shirou suddenly realized. Come to think of it, the blonde girl next to her was the female chef from the Culinary Department who had participated in the cooking competition earlier today.
"Ah, so that's what this is about. Yes, I can. According to the schedule, I should still have an archery demonstration, but other than that, my time is free. Thank you for the invitation.
Actually, I learned a lot from tasting everyone else's cooking today," Shirou nodded and agreed.
"Is that so! Thank you so much!" the black curly-haired girl said gratefully, wiping the saliva that was about to run from her mouth.
"That's wonderful! This way, we can eat both Shirou's and Erina's cooking again tomorrow!!!" the curly-haired girl turned and hugged her good friend, the blonde ponytail.
"Yes, yes. Be mindful of your image. You're about to drool again. Let's head back and inform everyone," the blonde ponytail girl reminded her friend.
"Ehehe, well, Shirou, bye-bye~!" the black curly-haired girl smiled happily, waved to the boy, and then walked toward her classmates in the Culinary Department, holding her friend's hand.
The surrounding onlookers froze as if choked, then looked very frustrated, covering their faces one by one, and stomping away angrily.
"What exactly was I standing here watching for all that time?"
"From now on, if a girl runs up to someone with a red face, I'll just slap her!"
"Hmm? What's wrong with them?" Shirou asked, confused, looking at the people around him. They all looked like they would never believe in love again. What was going on?
"Don't ask me, hmph!" Jeanne turned her head away in displeasure. If that girl hadn't left so quickly, she would have wanted to set her on fire! Honestly, for some reason, all the girls she met since coming to the outside world were annoying her.
Read ahead (60 chapters) by supporting me on buymeacoffee com/varietl or ko-fi edwriting