And so.
“It’s awful! Why did you forget about meeeeee!”
Baka cried.
He was sad that Tama had forgotten him, and more than that, he was incredibly anxious in this confusing situation.
Yes. Baka had been anxious all along. He had been putting on a brave face to get this far. And yet, Tama was treating him like this!
But seeing Baka start to cry, Tama only became more wary. It was as if he were some stray cat. And Baka was like a stray dog, soaked in the rain.
How did it come to this? Baka was just anxious and didn’t know what to do.
Tama had said, “Hurry out of the room and head to the Great Hall. We’ll meet there.” And yet, that Tama was acting like this!
…But as Baka remembered that, he also remembered something else.
Tama was smart. Much smarter than Baka. (Most people are smarter than Baka.)
Because Tama was smart… she had told Baka what to do in this situation!
“Hey! Tama!”
“Eh, Tama, what’s that…?”
“I came here by rewinding time! And, and, uh… I was told by you! ‘Tell her, it’s a message from Tsugumi and Hikari. Cooperate,’ you said!”
…And so.
“…I can’t trust you at all, but…”
“Yeah…”
Tama just looked at the dejected Baka with a dumbfounded expression.
If she didn’t trust him now, it was hopeless. All his plans were exhausted. Baka just hung his head in disappointment.
“…But, it does make sense.”
But Tama was smart, so she seemed to have thought of something Baka didn’t understand. Seeing hope in that, Baka looked at Tama with teary eyes.
“That explains why you know my and Hikari’s names. And why you’re acting suspicious. Also… if I really did talk to you ‘before time rewound,’ then it makes sense to have you tell the ‘after time rewind’ me, ‘It’s a message from Tsugumi and Hikari. Cooperate’…”
“I don’t get it…”
Tama’s explanation was too difficult to understand. Even without that, Baka was already at his limit!
“But, there’s one premise we need to believe that…”
But Tama seemed to have convinced herself of something, and she slowly looked up at Baka and asked.
“…Are you a Baka?”
“Yeah! I’m a huge Baka! Oh, my name is Kabashima Tsuyoshi! I’m called Baka! Nice to meet you!”
Baka was happy and answered.
That’s right! Baka was a Baka! If she understood that, he felt like things would be okay somehow! His boss had also told him, “You’re a Baka, so it’s better to let people know you’re a Baka early on!”
“I see. You’re a Baka.”
“Yeah! I’m a Baka!”
And so.
Baka seemed to have gained some level of trust for being a Baka.
…Well, Baka didn’t really understand it!
“Then, tell me about what happened before time rewound.”
“Okay! Got it! …Uh, Yo died…”
“…Who’s Yo? And start from the beginning.”
“Ah, okay. The beginning… the beginning… uh, after we introduced ourselves, Amagi-jii-san went into a room by himself… oh, before that, Yo and Hibana were called by Amagi-jii-san and they talked about something…”
…And so, he began to explain what happened ‘last time,’ but Baka was a Baka, so his explanations were terrible. But Tama patiently corrected him and listened, so Baka gradually became able to explain things properly. Tama was amazing.
“I see… so, Hikari died.”
“Huh? Who’s Hikari? Are you talking about Yo?”
“Probably. …My lover.”
“Lover…”
Baka actually heard that from Tama and pressed his cheeks with both hands, “Kyaa!” Somehow, this kind of talk was ticklish! It was embarrassing! It was too stimulating for a Baka of his age!
“…And, I think ‘Yo’ will probably come soon. He’ll probably solve that kind of trick easily… Or, if someone is good at it, they might come first.”
Then, Tama said that and stared at the stairs.
…Come to think of it, Baka had destroyed everything with his muscles, but Tama had solved the trick in that room without any prior knowledge and at that speed. It was incredible. Baka could never do that. Baka sighed in admiration, “Tama is amazing.”
“…By the way, Kabashima-kun, how did you solve the trick in your individual room?”
As Baka was repeating “Tama is amazing,” Tama herself seemed to have noticed that Baka had escaped at an unusual speed. And, she also seemed to be worried, like, “Did this person really break through that trick…?”
But.
“Huh? With my bare hands. Like… I ripped off the collar, and then, I smashed the door, and came here…”
There was nothing to worry about.
Baka was a Baka. That was all. There were no tricks. Baka just destroyed everything with his power. He couldn’t solve anything that couldn’t be destroyed. That was all!
“…Ah!?”
But, unusually, Baka noticed something there. He let out a strange cry, which startled Tama.
“W-what?”
“That’s right! Tama! Should I rip off your collar!?”
Baka asked without paying attention to Tama.
“It seems like you get injected with some kind of poison from that collar! So, shouldn’t I rip it off!?”
That’s right.
If Baka could destroy something, he could destroy it. That was the same for other people’s collars.
But, Tama blinked and then made a complicated face.
“…Then, it’s probably too late.”
“Huh?”
“I think I’ve already been injected. When I entered this Great Hall, I felt something prick me.”
“N-no way…”
Baka was disappointed. At the same time, he was angry at his own Baka-ness, thinking, “If I had noticed sooner, I could have saved Tama!”
“But, we just have to play the Game, right? And, the me from the previous loop cleared it.”
“Yeah.”
“Then, it’s not a big problem. If we did it once, we can do it again.”
“Yeah…”
But, Baka knew. That Game was scary. A Lion suddenly appeared. But the Fish was delicious. Maybe it wasn’t scary after all.
…Anyway, if there was no need to play that Game, then everyone else wouldn’t have to fight or be anxious, Baka thought.
And more than anything… Baka didn’t really understand it, but the dolls. They seemed to be in each room. If those weren’t found, then Venus wouldn’t have died, right? Thinking about that, it seemed best to avoid entering the Game room.
“But, considering that there are people who want to fulfill their wishes even if it means killing others… hmm.”
Tama looked at the door of the Great Hall, thinking about something.
There was a lantern hanging there. Right now, they were all empty…
“…Then, Kabashima-kun.”
As Baka was looking at the lantern, Tama gently pulled on Baka’s sleeve from the side.
“Yeah?”
When Baka tilted his head and looked at Tama… Tama grinned and said.
“From now on, before people come to the Great Hall, can you catch them and rip off all their collars?”
…That’s right.
Even if Tama was a lost cause. Others were not. Baka finally realized that.
And so.
“Yo! Yo is alive! Yay!”
“Huh!? What are you talking about!? Who are you!?”
“Well, I’ll rip off your collar! Heave-ho!”
“W-w-w-what!?”
And so, the first victim was Yo’s collar.
“Wha… eh, eh, um… eh!?”
“Ah, Hikari. You came.”
“T-Tsugumi!? What is going on!?”
“There’s some amazing person mixed in. That’s the situation. And that amazing person is friendly to us for now. Also, they’re a huge Baka.”
“A huge Baka!?”
Yo was flustered with a completely confused look on his face. So, Baka smiled and offered Yo the remains of his collar.
“Ah, I’ll give you back the ripped collar. Here you go.”
“Ah, thank you…?”
Yo, who was handed the collar that had been ripped in half, looked lost, as if to say, “I don’t understand anymore.”