“Huh…?”
Eventually, Tama woke up.
“Huh… Oh, right, I… was sleeping?”
“Yeah, you were. It seems you slept for a while even after the Invincibility Time wore off,” Yo explained simply, and Tama nodded, “I see,” before widening her eyes as she found Hibana and Kaito’s bodies.
“Hey, those two…”
…And around that time, Baka had also stopped the CPR.
No matter how hard they tried, the two’s lives wouldn’t return. Baka understood that much.
“Whew… I can’t exactly be happy about it, but still, I want to believe there’s some salvation…”
Tsuchiya looked at Tama and gave a tired smile.
“Yo-kun. Tama-san. The fact that you survived has given us a bit of hope. Thank you.”
At Tsuchiya’s words, both Yo and Tama looked complicated, but nodded softly.
…In just about ten minutes, so many things had changed all at once. Venus almost died, and Hibana and Kaito did die.
But there were also survivors. That was salvation. Without a doubt.
“…Maybe I should explain things a bit more properly.”
After a while, Yo, who seemed to have calmed down a bit, began to speak again after that preamble.
“I also woke up just a little before Tsuchiya-san and the others came in. So, I don’t really know the situation.”
“Hmm… So, you were unconscious?”
“Well, maybe so. You see, during ‘Invincibility Time,’ you can nullify all attacks against yourself and anyone you’re touching, but as a side effect, you lose consciousness. Naturally, you can’t do anything or get any information during that time. It’s like time stops just for you, if that makes sense.”
While listening to the explanation, Baka understood, “I see, so I can’t just tackle and blow everything away because I’m invincible.”
…In Baka’s mind, a scene from a certain racing game where he used a star to blow away other players with cheerful music was playing, but that was a no-go.
“And then… the effect wore off, I woke up, and when I noticed, Hibana and Kaito were already…”
“…I see.”
For now, that made sense.
Yo and Tama seemed to have been saved thanks to “Invincibility Time,” but they had lost consciousness in exchange. Therefore, they couldn’t know exactly what had happened to Kaito and Hibana.
But, for now, the two had survived. …That was the situation.
“Well… we also have some things we need to talk about. I’m sorry to ask in this situation, but could you give us a little time?”
Then, Tsuchiya said that and invited Yo to the Great Hall.
In the meantime, Baka picked up Kaito and Hibana and gently laid them down on a suitable bed and sofa.
…Their bodies were already gradually getting cold, and he could feel the presence of ‘death’ there. It was just sad. Baka cried a little.
“Well, I think the story of how Kabashima-kun took down the fish in the tank with just his voice is something we can skip for now…”
“No, I’m really curious about that…”
“And then, when I turned around a little, I saw Kabashima-san sticking to the ceiling…”
“That’s also curious… No, but I guess those are minor details…”
They couldn’t just keep crying. Baka slapped his cheeks with a ‘pashin’ to get himself together, then went back to the Great Hall where everyone was waiting, and bravely took a seat. Then, everyone’s attention turned to Baka, who was just being talked about, but Baka tilted his head, “Huh?”
“Ah… well, we were just talking about the company song from Kabashima-kun’s place.”
“Huh? Company song? Oh, Tama and Yo, do you want to hear my company song too?”
“Kabashima-kun. If you’re going to sing, please do it at a normal volume, a normal volume. Do you understand what normal is? The volume you use at work is no good, okay? Sing in a voice like when you’re talking.”
Tsuchiya emphasized it very carefully, so Baka nodded, “Got it!” and sang in a small voice, “Ahhh, Cutie Lovely Angel Construction~.” Both Tama and Yo had indescribable expressions. But Tama did clap for him, so Baka bowed with a smile.
“Well, then… we found this here.”
Then, Tsuchiya reached into his pocket and pulled out a bunch of Neptune Keys with a clatter.
“…There are a lot of the same keys.”
“Yes. It seems that keys started coming out of every fish we gutted. So, the discovery of the keys wasn’t a coincidence, and it’s probably part of the devil’s plan.”
It was quite strange that there were so many Neptune Keys, but it couldn’t be helped. They had gutted 11 fish, after all.
“And when we found a keyhole and opened the door in the floor, this was inside.”
Then, when Tsuchiya took out the Kaito doll, both Tama and Yo’s expressions stiffened.
“Is this… like a Substitute Doll, or something?”
“Who knows… Venus said it was a ‘lucky charm,’ but to be honest, I had the same association as Yo-kun. But I didn’t feel like trying it out.”
Tsuchiya sighed, and Yo nodded as if to say, “I figured,” and then, Tama…
“…Maybe in the other rooms, there are dolls of other people, too.”
That’s what she said.
So, Baka and the others came to the Iron Bars Labyrinth that Baka, Yo, Tama, and Hibana had first entered.
“There were keys in the fish’s stomachs, right? Then…”
Tama rolled the lion’s corpse with a “heave-ho, heave-ho,” and turned it onto its back with a “thud.”
“There might be one in the lion’s stomach too.”
“…I, uh, have never gutted a lion before…”
“Well, I guess no one has. Hmm…”
But while Tama looked at Mina with expectant eyes, Mina was shrinking back. Well, there probably wasn’t anyone who could gut a lion. Baka hadn’t done it either.
“…If I were the organizer, I don’t think I’d put the key in such a hard-to-find place like the stomach,” Yo said calmly, and walked around to the lion’s head.
“So, I think it’s over here… heave-ho.”
Then, Yo grabbed the lion’s jaw and started to put strength into it.
“Huh? Yo, what’s wrong?”
“I want to check, inside its mouth… hah, it’s surprisingly hard…!”
“What? Just tell me! I’ll do that kind of thing!”
Even though Yo tried his best, the lion’s mouth didn’t open much. So, Baka stuck his hand into the lion’s mouth and opened its jaw with a “Gwah!” There was a “Mekya!” sound, but well, it probably wasn’t a problem.
This was Baka’s specialty. Even the lids of hard jam jars, steel doors with lost keys, and safes with forgotten numbers, all could be opened with Baka’s power!
“Oh, this is…!”
“I knew it. I thought that if it was a lion, it would be here rather than the stomach.”
And so, one key was found inside the lion’s mouth.
…There was a sun mark on it. Yes. The Sun Key had been found.
“…The Sun Key, huh. Does that mean there’s a doll of me somewhere?”
The one with the most complicated expression among them was Yo. Naturally, this key was most related to Yo himself.
“If we’re going to search, let’s hurry. The night time isn’t that long either.”
Tama urged them, and everyone started searching the room at once.
Baka was also energetically crawling around on the floor, walls, and ceiling. Yo was shuddering, “Wow, he’s really crawling on the ceiling,” so Baka gave him a peace sign with a smile. Tama had a look of enlightenment, “He doesn’t fall even when he lets go with one hand…” Baka was happy, so he made a guts pose with both hands. He fell, as expected.
“…Hmm. Found it.”
Meanwhile, Tama seemed to have found a keyhole in a corner of the wall.
It was right next to the lever for operating the Iron Bars. There was a small keyhole there.
“Hmm… I see. Normally, you’d find the keyhole when you try to solve the puzzle, and then look for the key later, I guess.”
In the aquarium room, there was a keyhole at the bottom of the tank where someone was supposed to enter. This time, it was next to the lever. It was certainly a keyhole that seemed to say, “Find me.”
“Well, if it weren’t like that, I wouldn’t feel like going through the trouble of defeating a lion or gutting a fish…”
“That’s right. And with this, we know that the dolls are definitely something the devil intended. It seems the devil wants us to find them.”
Tama said that, took the key from Yo’s hand, and immediately inserted it into the keyhole and turned it.
“…See?”
And as expected, there was a doll that looked like Yo there.
“It’s kind of cute.”
“Right? Kaito-san’s doll was also a little cute…”
Yo’s doll was, as expected, popular with the girls. Mina and Tama were going on about how “cute” it was. So Baka joined in, saying “Cute!” It surprisingly fit right in.
“It’s a little nice to be doted on, but can I hold onto it for now?”
But then, Yo came over and held out his hand.
“I don’t know what this doll is, but I’d rather not be poked with needles.”
“…I guess so.”
And then, Tama nodded at Yo’s words…
“Then, let’s check its effect first.”
Saying that, she reached out with her other hand towards the Yo doll in her hand…
…and started tickling it with her fingertips.
“Huh!?”
Instantly, Yo’s body visibly jumped.
Tama confirmed this and… continued to tickle the Yo doll.
“W-wait. Tama, j-just, wait!”
“N-now now now! Tama-san! Stop it! You should stop!”
Yo immediately crouched down, and Tsuchiya, half-laughing, stopped her, so Tama stopped tickling the Yo doll, with one last tickle.
Yo was crouching, breathing heavily, but eventually, he slowly raised his face and glared at Tama with lifeless eyes.
“…Tamaaa.”
“…That was kind of fun.”
Tama smiled mischievously, which was rare, and handed the doll to Yo. Yo immediately took the doll and stuffed it into his pocket. You could feel his strong will of ‘I won’t be tickled anymore!’
“So, Yo. How was it? It was ticklish, right?”
“Yeah… it was. I felt like my whole body was being tickled. Seriously…”
Yo stood up, catching his breath, and glared at Tama. Tama still had a slightly satisfied look on her face. Baka’s eyes were shining, thinking, ‘That looks fun, it does look fun.’
“Well… that’s why I think this doll is dangerous. I can pretty much guess what would happen if you accidentally dropped the doll’s head.”
But this doll wasn’t for fun tickling.
“If you use this doll, you can kill other people remotely… That’s what it is, right?”
“Then… could it be that Venus was the same?”
Then Tsuchiya said, groaning.
Certainly, Venus had said she felt a ‘crushing pain in her chest’ at that time. So, could it be that she was being used with a Venus doll?
“Venus?… By the way, where’s Venus?”
There, Yo tilted his head. Come to think of it, they hadn’t fully shared their information with Yo and Tama yet. They hadn’t explained about Venus.
“Ah, she suddenly complained of chest pain, coughed up blood, and collapsed, but Mina’s Unique Ability brought her back.”
“Ah, I see. Mina-san is here, so she’s safe.”
Yo nodded in understanding… and then.
“…What happened after that?”
Tama said.
“After that… what do you mean?”
“Venus. What is she doing now?”
Hearing Tama’s voice, which was tinged with tension, Baka, Tsuchiya, and Mina looked at each other…
And then, they hurried back to the room where Venus was resting.
“…This is bad.”
And as Tsuchiya lamented, everyone was stunned.
…There, Venus was already dead.