“W-What, what does this mean…”
As Baka was floundering in confusion, Kaito, with a sigh and a troubled expression, began to explain.
“Alright? There are nine of us here.”
“Y-Yeah.”
“Each of our collars has an astronomical symbol engraved on it.”
“Okay…”
Baka nodded earnestly at Kaito’s explanation, trying to show that he understood at least this much!
“Yo is the Sun, Mina-san is Mercury, Venus is Venus, Tama-san is Earth, Hibana is Mars, and ‘skipping one,’ Tsuchiya-san is Saturn, Amagi-san is Uranus, I’m Neptune, and Kabashima, you’re Pluto. …Do you understand?”
Baka didn’t quite get what “skipping one” meant. Unfortunately, Baka was Baka, so he didn’t know the order of “Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.”
“If you weren’t here, it would make sense. I could accept that ‘Pluto was excluded because it’s no longer considered a planet.’ Or, if Yo wasn’t here, that would also make sense. ‘Ah, the Sun is a star, so this is limited to planets.'”
“Uh…?”
Baka didn’t understand. But, for now, Kaito seemed to decide to continue his explanation.
“But, if you think about it normally, it’s impossible that the mark for Jupiter, which is ‘in the middle,’ would be missing.”
Everyone else nodded at Kaito’s words. Baka was the only one who didn’t understand.
“…Kabashima. You know the order of ‘Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday,’ right?”
“Uh, yeah.”
“If it were ‘Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday,’ wouldn’t you think something was wrong?”
Kaito, who seemed to finally understand that Baka was Baka, gave a simpler explanation. But Baka was Baka.
“Huh!? The day off is getting closer! Yay!”
“You’re the one who’s wrong!”
“Ah! But that means I’ll see my coworkers less! Sad! …Ah, then we can all go out on our days off. Ehehe…”
“You look so happy! Damn it!”
Seeing Baka’s cheerful face, Kaito gritted his teeth. Baka’s happiness was further irritating Kaito, but Baka was Baka, so he didn’t quite understand.
“Then, for now, let’s say it’s not ‘Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday.’ If the order of ‘1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9’ was ‘1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9,’ you’d think, ‘Ah, number 6 is missing,’ right?”
“Ah, I get that!”
And finally, Kaito’s explanation bore fruit. Baka could understand that.
At Baka’s workplace, they properly numbered the building materials and tools to manage their inventory, so he often heard conversations like, “Hey! Number 6 explosive is missing! Where did it go!” “Sorry! I ate it!” “Oh, okay! Then it can’t be helped!”
“…So, does anyone remember the number of doors in the basement?”
Kaito looked around at everyone, and they all looked troubled, tilted their heads, or frowned, but remained silent.
“Well… no one checked, huh? I figured. Then, at least… well, Hibana and Tsuchiya-san, have you heard any noises from the next room?”
Next, Kaito turned to Hibana and Tsuchiya. Tsuchiya shook his head, saying, “Sorry, nothing…”
But Hibana said,
“Nah, I didn’t hear anything. But, you know, actually, I wandered around a bit after leaving my room.”
“Huh?”
Baka turned to Hibana, thinking, “I didn’t know that!?” Hibana was surprisingly cautious!
And then.
“…I saw a door being destroyed further in, and I thought, ‘This is bad,’ so I quickly left.”
“Ah, sorry, that was me…”
…It seemed that Baka himself had crushed the possibility that Hibana might have checked the order of the rooms!
“…This Baka broke two doors, his own and mine. That’s what happened.”
“Seriously, what is this guy…”
“U-Umu, is this what they call a Unique Ability…”
And after the questioning, all they learned was that “this Baka apparently broke down iron doors with tackles.”
Baka was dejected. That’s because he had finally remembered, “Come to think of it, this might mean I have to pay for the damages… a written apology…”
“Well… we know that someone died before reaching here… which means that one soul will enter that lantern at the same time as the bell tonight, right?”
Leaving the dejected Baka aside, Venus said.
That’s right. The lantern.
…Here, Baka thought.
‘Wait? So, Amagi-san died, and his soul went into the lantern, right? Which means that in the previous two times, the person with Jupiter wasn’t there…?’
Baka wondered what that meant.
But even if Baka thought about it with his Baka brain, he wouldn’t find the answer. Baka stopped thinking. Because he was Baka.
“Well… now that we know there’s already one dropout, we need to be even more careful about forming teams.”
As Baka was making a “hoge” face, having stopped thinking, Amagi spoke.
“There will undoubtedly be a fight over one soul later. I don’t want to get caught up in that.”
Hearing Amagi scoff, Baka felt a pang of sadness, thinking, ‘So, Amagi-san doesn’t want to die.’ In the previous two times, Amagi had died quickly.
“Hmm… well, it’s the same no matter who I team up with. I don’t know anyone here. I don’t particularly want to team up with anyone… Does anyone have someone they want to team up with?”
When Tsuchiya asked, as expected, Venus was the first to raise her hand.
“If possible, I’d like to team up with someone who isn’t Hibana. I hate guys with bad attitudes like him.”
“What was that?”
…Baka was a little confused. Didn’t Venus say she knew Hibana last time? But why did they seem to be on bad terms? Baka could only be confused!
“Hah! I wouldn’t want a woman like you either!”
“Hmm… well, even if it’s a passive hope, it’s still a hope. If there’s nothing, nothing will be decided… Anyone else have any hopes?”
Tsuchiya shook his head at Hibana and Venus as if saying, “Oh dear,” and then, hesitantly, a hand was raised from the side.
“U-Um, I’d like to team up with a woman if possible.”
Mina’s wish seemed to be the same as always. Baka felt a little relieved. …But in Baka’s mind, the image of Mina trembling and trying to tear apart Venus’s doll, saying, “Please don’t come near me,” still remained. So, Baka was still confused!
“So, that would be Venus or Tama-san…?”
“Oh. Then I’ll team up with Mina. Nice to meet you, Mina.”
“N-Nice to meet you too, Venus-san.”
It seemed that Mina and Venus would team up, just like in the first loop. Baka was starting to stop thinking, making a “hoge…” face.
“I’ll team up with this Baka. …I promised him, after all.”
But when Kaito said that, Baka immediately perked up!
“Yeah! I want to be with Kaito! Nice to meet you, Kaito!”
That’s right! This time, Baka was with Kaito! Kaito still didn’t fully trust Baka, but Baka fully trusted Kaito, so there was no problem!
“So, we’ll have to add one more person to our group. It’s too much to play the Death Game with just two people…”
And Kaito glanced at the other members.
The ones who hadn’t decided on a team yet were Tsuchiya, Hibana, Amagi, Tama, and Yo.
Baka would be happy to be with Tama or Yo, who were already his friends (or so Baka thought). But Tama and Yo probably wanted to stay together. So, he would have to team up with either Tsuchiya, Hibana, or Amagi, who were alone.
And what Baka had to investigate this time was either Hibana or Amagi.
And if he had to choose which one he was more curious about, it would be Amagi…
“…But do you think anyone would want to join a team where two people are already working together?”
Amagi said, giving Kaito and Baka a sharp look.
Baka tilted his head. But Amagi seemed to not want to team up with Baka and Kaito.
Especially, the look he gave Baka was sharp. He glared at him, making Baka worry, “Did I do something wrong…?” Well, he had already broken two doors.
But in the first loop, he was the one who suggested, “Shouldn’t we kill this Baka?” so, thinking about it, this was still better. At least he wasn’t trying to kill him. Good.
“…Well, if that’s how you see it, that’s fine, old man. Then, we’ll team up with either Hibana, Tsuchiya-san, Tama-san, or Yo…”
Kaito shrugged as if saying, “Oh dear,” and looked at the remaining four…
“If possible, I’d like to team up with Yo.”
There, Tama expressed her wish.
“I was the first to arrive in this Great Hall, and Yo was the second,” Tama said.
“So, I guess that means we’re a good fit. I’m honored. I have no objections either. Nice to meet you, Tama-san.”
…It seems that Yo and Tama intend to keep their relationship a secret. Well, considering that Baka and Kaito, who acted like they were best buddies, ended up being disliked by Amagi, it might be the right thing to do.
“Hmm… so that means I, Hibana, and Amagi-san will each join Tama-san and Yo, Mina-san and Venus, and Kabashima-kun and Kaito-kun’s groups…”
Tsuchiya summarized.
Currently, the pairs are Mina and Venus, Tama and Yo, and Baka and Kaito.
And the ones left alone are Hibana, Amagi, and Tsuchiya.
“Then, I’ll join Tama-san and Yo’s group,”
Amagi was the first to volunteer. Baka was surprised that “Old man Amagi is trying to get along with someone!” and at the same time, he was happy. Tama and Yo are good people, so Amagi should be able to get along with them too. And if that happens, Amagi might not die.
“…It’s not wise to join a pair that was already formed. Furthermore, it wouldn’t be right for an old man like me to join two young ladies.”
“I see. Then, that leaves me with Mina-san and Venus’s group, and Hibana with Kabashima-kun and Kaito-kun’s group, right? It seems Venus and Hibana don’t like being together…”
And so, the remaining combinations were decided by process of elimination.
In other words…
“Well then, nice to meet you! Hibana!”
“Well, I’ll definitely need your cooperation. I don’t want to die either.”
When Baka and Kaito greeted her, Hibana replied with an “Oh.”
…It seems he’s been disliked by Amagi, but he might be able to get along with Hibana! Baka was determined to “do his best!”