“Eh, eh… why Kaito…?”
Baka was simply bewildered, while Amagi snorted, “It’s obvious, isn’t it? It’s not wise to be with such a dangerous person. That’s all there is to it. Don’t you think so?”
“Eeeh…”
Baka was troubled by those words. He looked around, perplexed.
But… all the men who opposed Kaito’s proposal seemed wary of him, and the women also showed strong signs of caution and unease.
…That’s right! It seemed that Kaito was being ostracized this time!
The gazes directed at Kaito gradually became harsher. Baka, watching from the sidelines, was very anxious. What if Kaito ended up being bullied like this!
“Hey, I have a proposal…”
Amidst all this, Venus suddenly spoke up.
“Could everyone please go inside the door? Well, at least… I think that guy, Kaito, should go inside.”
“Y-you’re being ridiculous! Unlike you guys, I don’t have a collar! I don’t need to play this Game! Therefore, I don’t need to go through the door!”
“That’s right. But we have our reasons for wanting you to go through the door,” Venus said calmly and coldly, despite Kaito’s panic.
“Because if we leave you in the Great Hall during the day, you’ll definitely open all the remaining doors and ruin all the antidotes, right?”
Next to Venus’s remark, Mina looked anxiously at Kaito, while Tama stared at him calmly. Exposed to the three pairs of gazes from the women, Kaito wore a bitter expression.
“…I wouldn’t do that. I’m not stupid enough to do that when I can’t get any support.”
“Did someone call me!?”
“You’re a Baka, but I wasn’t talking about you!”
Baka, feeling dejected, backed down. He thought he was being called by Kaito, but it was a shame.
“…Well, I can’t trust you anyway. If possible, I’d like everyone without a collar to go through the door, but…”
“That’s a bit, well, I’m sorry…”
The women looked at the men with complicated expressions. Baka didn’t quite understand the situation, but he understood that ‘Mina is kind.’
“Sorry? Then, what about me?”
On the other hand, Kaito seemed a bit irritated by Mina’s words. He asked Mina, a hint of anger seeping into his tension. Then, Mina took a half-step back, looking frightened, and quietly clung to Venus.
“…Kaito-san, if possible, I don’t want you to be in danger. But…”
And even in that state, Mina looked straight at him with eyes full of sadness, anxiety, and suspicion.
“…I’m sorry. I can’t trust you either.”
…This seemed to have hit Kaito hard.
It was probably because the kind-hearted Mina had abandoned Kaito, and Baka could understand that feeling.
“…Well, it was too naive of me to not expect this,” Amagi said, looking at Kaito with contempt. Baka felt a little restless, thinking about how uncomfortable Kaito must be. Baka might not have much understanding, but he had empathy.
“Well, that’s why… the three of us girls will go and play this Game. If we’re together, we should be able to manage, and since we’re all collared, there’s little merit in betraying each other, so we can feel safe. And so…”
Then, Venus pointed her finger at Kaito and declared, “Kaito. You go and play this Game in another room.”
Baka was getting more and more restless. Kaito must be feeling very uncomfortable! Restless! Restless!
“…Alone, huh? What about the other members?”
Kaito, with a cornered expression, looked around. But no one offered a helping hand.
“If there’s anyone who wants to go with you, they can. But is there anyone like that?”
As if agreeing with Venus’s words, all the men remained silent.
That’s right. There weren’t many who would willingly risk their lives. Since they didn’t have collars, they didn’t need to participate in the Game.
“Hey, are you going to leave five people in the Great Hall? It’s not just me, they can open the doors too, you know?”
“Then, I can be a deterrent. As I said before, Tama is my lover. Since my lover’s life is being held hostage, at least I won’t open the door, or let anyone else open it.”
Kaito’s rebuttal was gently dismissed by Yo. At the same time, Venus and Mina seemed to have increased their trust in Yo, as if thinking, ‘Ah, then that person is safe…’
“Well, I’m a bit worried on my own. If I had to face four people and protect two or more doors, it’s a bit…”
But Yo said that, and while looking at Baka in particular, he let out a dry laugh, “Ahahaha…”
“Hmm. If that’s the case, well, I can help,” Tsuchiya said, smiling at Yo.
“I guess it’s okay to reveal it now. My Unique Ability is ‘the ability to create a Shield.'”
While everyone was stunned, Tsuchiya stepped forward to the center of the Great Hall, looking a little embarrassed.
“Well, it’s faster to show you than to explain. …Hmph!”
Then, as Tsuchiya strained, a large Shield suddenly appeared in front of him. It was transparent like crystal, and it was a mysterious Shield that seemed to be slightly enveloped in light.
“Woooaaah! Cooool!”
Baka was very excited by this.
That’s right. It was a huge Shield. It was like the kind of big Shield that riot police would have. Cool. Big things are cool! And since a cool Shield appears when you put in effort, it’s really cool!
Baka was completely excited, circling around Tsuchiya and the Shield. It was still cool from all directions. Baka was even more excited.
“…Well, that’s how my Unique Ability is. It consumes mental and physical energy to use, but well, that’s about it. Even now, I only feel as tired as if I had climbed three flights of stairs.”
I see. In other words, it was a Shield that could be created infinitely. For Baka, that is.
“Three flights of stairs… that’s a fatal amount of damage for some people…”
“…Mina-san, are you not good at exercise?”
“Yes. Very much so…”
On the other hand, for Mina, it seemed to be a ‘Shield that makes you unable to move after using it once.’ Well, this varies from person to person. Baka was convinced. He also secretly boasted in his mind, ‘I can probably do jumping jacks while creating 100 Shields at once!’
“Well, not to brag, but I’m in a job that’s half physical labor, so I’m quite confident in my stamina. And this ‘Shield’ Unique Ability is, well, just a Shield. It’s good at protecting from something, but it’s not suitable for harming anything. …I hope this will be a source of reassurance for the women.”
Tsuchiya said that, and while smiling slightly, he looked at the women, as if asking, ‘How is it?’
“That’s right. If you have the ability to create a Shield, it seems like you can protect the door. Of course, that’s only if we assume that Tsuchiya-san won’t betray us.”
“Well, even if he does betray us, his Unique Ability isn’t suited for attacking, right? That alone makes it a source of reassurance,”
“Yes… I feel a little more at ease.”
It seemed that Tsuchiya had succeeded in gaining the trust of the women. As for Hibana and Amagi, they were probably just ‘okay, I guess.’ These two also opposed the idea of opening the door, Baka nodded deeply.
…And then.
“It’s daytime now.”
The Bell rang, signaling the start of the day.
At the same time, the doors lit up. This meant that they could now open the daytime doors and challenge the Game…
“Well, Kaito. You should go quickly.”
With one of the doors behind him, Kaito was cornered.
“W-wait… Yo and Amagi-san are here, so it’s safe, right? Then, I…”
Kaito seemed to be struggling with what to do, his eyes darting back and forth between everyone…
“Yeah! Okay! Then, Kaito! Let’s go!”
“Huh?”
And Kaito’s eyes turned to Baka.
What Kaito saw was Baka with a big smile. And Baka opened the door without any hesitation.
“…W-what are you planning to do…?”
“Eh? Because, anyone who wants to go with Kaito can go with him, right? …Eh? Was I wrong…? Did I make a mistake…?”
Kaito and the others were dumbfounded. Seeing that not only Kaito but everyone else was surprised, Baka seriously wondered, ‘Did I do something wrong…?’
“S-sorry. I accidentally opened the door…”
And just as Baka started to fidget, thinking that he had to apologize to everyone if he had made a mistake…
“…No, it’s fine. It’s just as well, let’s have Baka-kun and Kaito-kun go into that room,” Venus said, sounding exasperated.
“If there’s someone in the Great Hall who can break their collar, then… we can’t feel safe, can we?”
Baka looked around at everyone as if to say, “Is that so?” Amagi and Hibana nodded deeply. Tsuchiya and Mina averted their eyes with indescribable expressions. Yo and Tama gave a small nod as if to say, “Do your best…” So, Baka decided to do his best!
“I see! Then it’s okay for me to go into this room with Kaito!”
“His straightforwardness is so extreme it’s making me worried,” Venus said with a slightly complicated look, but Baka was just happy that “My actions weren’t an irreversible mistake!” and didn’t pay it any mind.
“Um, I’m just saying, but are you really okay with this?”
“It’s fine, it’s fine! I wanted to get along with Kaito, and it’s perfect if we’re together!”
And so.
Baka turned a beaming smile towards Kaito.
Meanwhile, Kaito was looking up at Baka with an expression twisted by fear and tension.
“N-no, I don’t want to be in a room with someone like him…”
“Alright! Let’s go! See you all later!”
“Listen to what people are saying!”
But Baka, who was in high spirits, didn’t really listen to what people said.
Baka scooped Kaito up under his arm, opened the door energetically, and strode into the game room.
…And then the door closed, and Kaito’s screams could no longer be heard.
The moment the door slammed shut, Kaito somehow managed to wriggle out of Baka’s arm and headed towards the door that had just closed.
He tried to open the door, but failed miserably.
“D-damn it! Open! Open!”
“They said earlier that once it’s closed, it won’t open,” Baka pointed out.
“Shut up! Damn it… why, why is this happening…!”
Kaito struggled to open the door for a while, but eventually slumped down as if he had lost all his strength.
Baka was at a loss for what to say and stood behind Kaito for a while, but then Kaito suddenly stood up and walked past Baka towards the back of the room.
“H-hey, Kaito. Are you going already?”
Baka tried to call out to Kaito, but Kaito didn’t answer and kept walking.
Baka wandered around Kaito, wondering, “What should I do?” …Kaito seemed distracted by Baka, but still stubbornly ignored him and kept going.
…And then.
“Whoa, it’s huge… what is this?”
What the two of them saw ahead was a giant hanging balance scale.
And beneath the balance pans of the hanging scale, there was a bubbling hot bath of boiling water.