“Eeeeeeeeeeeeh!? Whyyy!?”
Baka was confused! Utterly confused!
After all, it was a shocking declaration of murder! Baka may be a Baka, but he could tell when someone was trying to kill him!
“That’s… hmm, not very peaceful, old man. Why would you say such a thing?”
Tsuchiya interjected, and Amagi snorted.
“It’s obvious. …That one doesn’t have a collar. Why? Did he really tear it off? Ridiculous. …The answer is simple.”
Then, his old, thin finger pointed unwaveringly at Baka.
“He’s the enemy. He was never given a collar in the first place. He’s on the side of the organizers of this Game. Isn’t that right?”
“Eeeeeeeeh… I don’t know anything about that…”
Baka was just confused.
Even if they said he was on the “side of the Game organizers,” he was troubled. Baka had no idea what they were talking about. Troubled. Troubled!
“You’re a minion of the devil, aren’t you!? Aren’t you!?”
“No, I’m not… What’s with that? Was I not supposed to tear off the collar?”
“Well, normally, you wouldn’t… “
“Well, if you could destroy the collar before being poisoned, that would be the optimal solution… hmm.”
Venus and Tsuchiya also gave him a complicated look. ‘I guess it was bad after all, but I couldn’t find the Key,’ Baka thought, dejectedly.
“…In the first place, how do the devils view this situation? Even I think this Baka Island is an anomaly. Since it’s being left alone, the theory that he’s on the organizer’s side can’t be denied.”
“The purpose of the Game is changing. Baka-kun doesn’t have a collar. So he won’t die even if he doesn’t participate in the Game. …It feels like it deviates from the intention of the organizers who want us to kill each other.”
Even Kaito and Venus started saying such things. ‘Even if you say that,’ Baka was flustered.
“…Conversely, isn’t this all part of the organizer’s intention?”
Tama said that.
“Kabashima-kun’s Unique Ability is probably something like ‘Super Strength,’ right? If so, the devil who gave it to him must have foreseen that the collar would be broken. …So this Death Game was originally designed to allow the collar to be broken. By borrowing Kabashima-kun’s strength. …Can’t you think of it that way?”
At Tama’s words, Amagi frowned and took a half-step back.
“…If that’s the case, Baka Island’s position becomes quite significant. Considering the ‘Game balance,’ it’s impossible, but…”
Muttering something, Amagi glanced at Baka. Baka had a face that said, ‘I don’t understand at all,’ so Amagi got almost no information.
“Well… I agree with old man Amagi.”
But then, the delinquent Hibana said that!
“If he can tear off a collar, then he can probably kill a human with his bare hands, right? I can’t stand being with someone like that.”
Hibana was rational for a delinquent. But that rationality was harsh for Baka.
“If we can take him down 8 against 1, then shouldn’t we do it now? Huh?”
“Eeeeh… I’m troubled, I don’t want to become a murderer…”
“Huh!? Are you saying you’ll kill me if I try to attack you!? Don’t underestimate me!? Huh!?”
“That’s not it! I’m saying I don’t want to kill anyone, so please don’t kill me!”
Hibana seemed uneasy when looking at Baka, but Baka was also uneasy because he didn’t want to be killed.
“…Well, that’s true. I’ll refrain from commenting on whether to kill him or not, but I also think this Baka Island will be a hindrance to the Game.”
Even Kaito started saying such things!
“Baka is a Baka. We have no idea how he’ll act. I can’t play a life-or-death Game with someone like that.”
‘Oh no,’ Baka lamented. But indeed, he felt like his Baka-ness might hinder others in a pinch. In fact, this Baka had hindered others with his Baka-ness before…
“…I think it’s better to keep him alive, on the contrary.”
But Tama still wouldn’t back down.
“If he really has Super Strength to tear metal with his bare hands, then he’s valuable. Even if not, it’s better to keep him alive until we understand the opponent’s intentions. I think so. …They say, ‘A Baka and a pair of scissors are only as good as the person who uses them,’ right?”
“Yeah! They do!”
“You really have no resistance to being called a Baka…?”
Kaito had a complicated look, but Baka puffed out his chest and declared, ‘That’s right!’ so it didn’t bother him at all.
“Besides, whether Kabashima-kun tore off the collar or not, I think it’s better to consider that there was another ‘collar’ somewhere. There are nine of us, after all.”
Furthermore, Yo said that, and Tsuchiya, Venus, Mina, and Kaito nodded, ‘…Ah, indeed.’ Hibana tilted her head, so Baka felt a little kinship.
“Right now, the Planetary Symbols on our collars are the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune… ‘Jupiter’ is missing, right? So, I think Kabashima-kun’s collar was the Jupiter collar. What do you think?”
“Yo! You’re smart!”
Baka was impressed by Yo’s reasoning and patted Yo’s back with a full smile. He knew he could break their spine if he hit them seriously, so he did it gently. Pat, pat.
“So… does that mean, Kabashima-san, really tore off the collar…?”
“Yeah! That’s right!”
“Baka, shut up! …Well, I also have to agree with the opinion that there was a collar assigned to him. Well, even so, I don’t want to team up with him…”
Kaito was muttering, so Baka felt a little dejected. ‘You really don’t want to team up with me,’ he thought…
“But hey. Everyone thinks they have to kill someone, right? Then, it’s okay if it’s this guy, right? Hey.”
But Hibana wouldn’t back down. Hibana looked at each of the eight people.
“Or… not just this Baka. Who to kill, if we decide it here, then there won’t be any trouble later, right?”
…So. Baka didn’t understand well, but it seemed that Baka and the others had to kill each other here.
That problem couldn’t be postponed. Baka somehow understood that.
“Ah, this is getting nowhere!”
But then, Tsuchiya raised his voice. He seemed a little irritated, but that irritation seemed to be directed at himself rather than those around him.
“Let me say this first. I, Tsuchiya, have no intention of killing anyone to fulfill my wish.”
And, having declared that, Tsuchiya had a bitter but refreshed expression.
“Hee… you have a wish, old man?”
“…I do have a wish I want to fulfill. But killing someone would only push that wish further away.”
“What, were you in prison or something?”
“No, it’s not like that…”
Looking at Tsuchiya scratching the back of his head while being vague, Baka vaguely thought, ‘This old man is cool.’
A guy who can clearly state his opinion is cool. That’s what Baka thought.
“Ah, um! Then, I’m the same as Tsuchiya-san! I also don’t want to kill anyone to fulfill my wish!”
Following that, Mina also raised her voice. Some were surprised that the quiet Mina had raised her voice, but Baka somehow thought, ‘This older sister would be like that.’ Mina was also cool. Baka thought so.
“Then, Mina-san. Would you team up with me? We have Unique Abilities. So, it should be better to be with two or more people than to be alone, as we can deal with more things.”
“Eh? …Ah, I see, that’s right…”
Mina was confused by Tsuchiya’s offer, but nodded with a difficult expression. She couldn’t seem to give an immediate answer…
“…Well, teaming up with an unknown old man also takes courage. But, either way, we have to make a decision. When it becomes daytime, we’ll have no choice but to team up with someone.”
“Huh? When it becomes daytime? Why?”
While Baka was tilting his head, Tsuchiya looked at the watch on his left wrist and made a bitter face.
“…It seems that almost two-thirds of the night has passed. That means, there’s only about 30 minutes left. We should quickly decide who to team up with.”
“Eh? Why? Why do we have to team up with someone when it becomes daytime? Hey, hey.”
“You don’t know? …Ah, you didn’t know. Oh well…”
When Baka was confused, Venus shrugged and sighed. With a ‘what can you do’ face, she still explained it. She was a good person.
“There’s a room that opens when it becomes daytime for the ‘Game.’ It seems there’s a limit to the number of people who can enter.”
“A limit on the number of people…?”
“That’s right. First, the device at the back of the room only works between the time the room door opens and the next night bell rings. And, the devil said there are only enough for four people in each room. Moreover, the device is single-use.”
Baka listened, a bunch of question marks floating above his head. Kaito and Yo beside him wore faces that seemed to say, “Is he going to be okay?” but Baka didn’t notice!
“Furthermore, once you enter a game room, you can’t leave until nightfall. …In other words, if more than five people accidentally enter, at least one person will die without being able to detoxify.”
“I, I see…?”
Baka finally understood the explanation, so he felt relieved. ‘Don’t let more than five people enter one room.’ Got it.
“There are… nine rooms in total. That means we can only open three rooms per day.”
“If ‘no one dies,’ right? If the number of survivors drops below four, we could open seven rooms on the first day, right?”
Yo and Hibana added that as a supplement, and Baka nodded, “Hmm, hmm.” He didn’t quite understand yet, but well, he remembered that ‘you can only use three rooms a day.’
“Well then. That brings us to the question of who to team up with.”
Tsuchiya said that, and Baka nodded seriously.
For now, he understood the situation. Everyone here had to split into three teams.