“What to do when a dead person appears…”
Baka repeated Yo’s words.
A dead person. Right. Here, it wouldn’t be strange if someone died. Rather, this Death Game seemed to be built on the premise that someone dying was a given.
“Well… Kabashima-kun solved a lot of things for us, so we had this much time left, and we reached the goal without anyone getting hurt. …But, under normal circumstances, one person would have died.”
“That labyrinth… I haven’t thoroughly verified it, but I think it was designed on the premise of using someone as a decoy to advance.”
“Eh, is that so?”
Baka thought about it a little, and realized that he couldn’t understand even after thinking. So, he continued to listen to Yo’s story.
“It takes time to advance while trying to keep as much distance as possible between the space where the Lion is and the space where we are, but if we didn’t have to worry about the Lion, the number of times we’d have to move the levers would be much less. …And yet, luck is also involved to some extent. There’s no way the Lion will move according to our expectations.”
Well, that’s true, Baka nodded. The Lion wouldn’t move as humans wanted. That’s why the Lion was so interesting to watch.
“Furthermore, when the Lion bit, the Iron Bars broke, right? Since Kabashima-kun was there, it was the Lion that died, but if I had been there… I would have died. And then, everyone would advance while I was being eaten. I think that was the originally intended solution.”
“I, I don’t like that kind of thing…”
“Hahaha. Thank you. That’s right. That’s right. There aren’t many people who want to advance by sacrificing someone else. …But, this game clearly encourages killing people. It’s designed so that the game can be cleared easily if someone is sacrificed… or, so that it becomes incredibly difficult if someone isn’t sacrificed.”
Baka was confused. He had vaguely understood that that was how it was, but he hadn’t really understood. He hadn’t been able to grasp it.
A game designed so that someone would die. A wish that could be granted by killing someone.
…This Death Game was that kind of thing.
“That’s why… when we return to the Great Hall, it’s better not to assume that everyone will be there.”
At Yo’s words, Tama had a slightly gloomy face, Baka was feeling dejected and thoroughly down, and then, Hibana was…
“Tch. How lame.”
She spat out those words and laughed through her nose.
“Is it just now? Didn’t you come here prepared for that much? You took the devil’s bait, and now you need to be ‘prepared for someone to die’? Huh?”
Hibana said that with contempt, or perhaps bravado, and then turned away again.
…In other words, well, it wasn’t clear whether she had sorted out her inner feelings, but at least, Hibana was here having accepted that “this game is that kind of thing.”
“…That’s right. I wanted to ask you too. Hey, Hibana. You agreed to kill Kabashima-kun, didn’t you?”
Yo, who had been looking down, slowly raised his face and glared at Hibana. Then, Hibana glanced at Yo and laughed through her nose again.
“Yeah, that’s right. No matter how you look at it, that guy’s an anomaly. There’s no need to keep a guy who might be on the devil’s side alive.”
“Even so, I don’t think there was much merit in stating that in that situation. The same goes for Amagi-san, but if you’re really going to kill someone, it’s not a good idea to declare your hostility beforehand. Besides, it was only because Kabashima-kun is so mild-mannered that it ended there, but if Kabashima-kun…”
“Even if this Baka had tried to kill me and that old man Amagi there, it would have been the same. Then, it would be ‘everyone fighting for one side or the other.'”
Hibana said that and made a slightly bitter face.
“There would be people revealing their Unique Abilities, and some people might die. But it’s better that way, right?”
…Baka felt like asking Hibana, “Do you really think so?” Of course, Hibana was saying that because she thought so…
“Besides, I don’t think it was meaningless to propose ‘Let’s kill Baka’ in that situation. At least, Tsuchiya-san and Mina. Those two didn’t agree with old man Amagi… What about the others? Do you really think they didn’t agree?”
Hibana had a slightly smug look on her face, so Baka tried to think about the meaning. Well, he couldn’t understand even after thinking, so he just tilted his head with a difficult expression.
“…I see. There’s definitely merit in being known as an active participant. It makes it easier to gain allies who also have wishes they want to fulfill by killing people.”
“That’s right.”
On the other hand, Yo and Tama seemed to understand what Hibana meant. They were nodding with bitter expressions. ‘They’re really smart,’ Baka was impressed.
“Well, that’s the way it is. What do you do? You guys, wanna team up with me?”
Eventually, Hibana said that and grinned. Instantly, Yo’s expression became tense, but…
“…If we teamed up, what would we do? Talk about killing someone?”
Tama asked calmly.
“Hee. Well, you’ve got some backbone.”
“Do I?”
For a while, Hibana and Tama stared at each other. But after a while, Hibana immediately grinned again.
“Well, we can talk about that. But first, I’ll make it clear whether you’re willing to join.”
As Tama and Hibana stared intently at each other, and Yo was silent with tension on his face…
“…I’ll pass.”
Eventually, Tama said that.
“It seems more advantageous to be on the side of ‘not killing people.'”
Tama shook her head slowly, brushed the hair from her face, and began to explain while tilting her head slightly.
“Currently, the ones who are showing a proactive attitude towards killing are you and Amagi-san. Kaito-kun seemed a little hesitant. …Conversely, the ones who are against killing people are Tsuchiya-san and Mina-san. And… Kabashima-kun.”
“Eh? Me?”
“Yeah. Isn’t that right?”
Baka was surprised when the topic was suddenly brought up, but when he thought about it, there was no need to think that much.
“Yeah! I don’t want to kill people!”
“With that strength…”
“Strength is for protecting people and making things! That’s what my boss said!”
That’s right. Baka was a good-natured, righteous Baka. He firmly followed the instructions of his boss at work, and within himself, while not being good at expressing it in words, he had a proper sense of good and evil. At least, to some extent.
“Right? …Then, isn’t the conclusion pretty much out?”
Then Tama grinned.
“By the way, Venus-san seemed to be on bad terms with Hibana-kun. So, regardless of whether she’s for or against killing people, she probably won’t side with Hibana-kun. At this point, it’s 5 to 3, so Yo will probably join us, and with this much of a difference in strength, Kaito-kun will probably defect to our side too.”
Hibana’s expression twisted at Tama’s logical reasoning. By the way, she glanced at Baka, so Baka returned a smile. Then Hibana’s face became even more bitter. …Baka might have done something wrong. He felt a little sorry.
“In other words, because there’s no chance of winning, at least we won’t openly team up with you. No matter what happens, it’s certain that we’ll be making enemies of Tsuchiya-san, Mina-san, and Kabashima-kun.”
“Ah, I see. Tch…”
So, Baka didn’t really understand, but it seemed that Tama had talked Hibana down. Baka smiled, thinking, ‘Tama is amazing after all.’
“…On top of that, about what Yo said earlier,”
Then Tama started talking again.
“Regarding ‘what to do when a dead person appears’… I can only say that ‘it depends on who died.'”
“Hee. So, if Tsuchiya or Mina died, you’d side with us, huh?”
“Eh? Hmm…”
But she just tilted her head at Hibana’s question. Hibana was dissatisfied, saying, “What the heck.”
“…No. What’s more frightening is when the people who were proactive about killing die, I think.”
There, Yo muttered with a bitter expression.
“Hibana-kun was with us, so he has an alibi. But… for example, what if Kaito-kun died?”
When asked what if, Baka thought. He thought… and ended up tilting his head. It was a bit of a difficult problem for Baka.
“‘Those who said they wouldn’t kill,’ Tsuchiya-san and Mina-san, or Venus-san who hasn’t particularly stated her position, would have killed someone. Well… paranoia would accelerate.”
But Yo quickly explained, so Baka was able to catch up.
…Certainly, if someone died, it meant that someone had killed them, so it was scary. Baka understood that much.
“…By the way, if Amagi-san died, well… yeah.”
“Simply acting alone and dying alone would put Hibana-kun in a very bad position. The pro-killing faction would be completely isolated.”
…And with that, Hibana’s expression finally twisted.
But…
“So, how about a deal?”
Tama leaned forward, closer.
“Tell me what you were talking about with Amagi-san. If you do, no matter who died, I’ll team up with you for the next game. You understand it’s hard to clear the game alone, right? But in the next game, no one might team up with you. …They could even split us into 4 vs 4 vs 1, you know.”
…And so.
“…It feels empty.”
“That’s why! I told you so!”
After hearing the story from Hibana, both Tama and Yo had somewhat subtle expressions. Baka, on the other hand, just had a spaced-out look, saying, “Hoooh.”
“Okay… let’s organize this. So, what Amagi-san said was, ‘I don’t trust you.’ ‘I don’t trust the demons either.’ ‘Be careful of Bakashima.’ That was his point, right?”
“That’s what he said. Ah, I was disappointed, you know? Well, too bad for you! Tch!”
As Yo summarized, Amagi seemed to have said something like that to Hibana.
Even Baka could understand. It was like, ’empty.’
“Seriously, what was that old geezer trying to tell me that for…”
Hibana scratched his spiky blonde hair and clicked his tongue.
“…Wasn’t it just stalling for time?”
Then, Tama said something like that.
“Yo’s story wasn’t that important either, right?”
“Yeah… that’s right. After hearing Hibana-kun’s story, I’m convinced.”
Yo gave a wry smile, and then told Baka and Hibana.
“Probably, Amagi-san was just talking to us to stall for time… He called me and Hibana-kun, talked to us, and when the time came, he left us, not knowing what to do, and opened the door by himself. Isn’t that what happened?”
“…Then, we really don’t know what Amagi-san’s goal is.”
“Yeah. Even with such pointless talk, he wanted to enter the room alone, right? That’s really creepy.”
Well, in the end, Amagi’s goal was still unclear. If talking to Hibana and Yo was really just to stall for time, then he was just a weirdo who wanted to enter the room alone…
“Hey, Yo. By the way, what did that old man Amagi say to you?”
“Huh? Me?”
Baka realized, “It’s not just because I’m a baka that I don’t understand things,” and asked Yo. Then, Yo blinked with a surprised look.
“Well, for me too, it wasn’t anything important. It’s reasonable to think it was just to stall for time… well,”
Yo hesitated a bit, and then opened his mouth apologetically.
“…It’s a bit awkward to say this directly to you, but he said, ‘Don’t trust Kabashima.'”
“Eeeeh… Does Amagi-san really hate me that much?”
Baka had no recollection of doing anything, so he couldn’t say anything. But, from the first time they met, Amagi had been a bit cold towards Baka. Did he hate Baka? Had Baka done something to be hated? Baka felt a little down.
“Anything else? What else did he say? It wasn’t just about not trusting this baka, right?”
“That’s the thing… it really was just that. He kept emphasizing how untrustworthy Kabashima-kun is… sorry, I really don’t want to say it.”
“He said something so bad that you don’t want to say it!? Eh!? So, he hates me that much!? Seriously!?”
And with that, Baka was finally defeated! He was hated that much! He was hated to the point that he was lectured for a solid ten minutes!
“Yo! Am I really that untrustworthy!?”
“W-well… um, it’s true that you’re a bit suspicious in various ways. But, that doesn’t mean you’re someone I can’t trust at all.”
“Yo! Thank you! I believe in you, Yo!”
“O-okay. Thank you for that…”
Well, there was no point in being depressed. Baka decided to live positively.
“Anyway, I’ll ask old man Amagi when we get out. Maybe I did something to make him hate me…”
“O-okay. Yeah, it’s good to be positive… haha.”
That’s right. Positively. Positively. All problems are solved by charging head-on! That was Baka’s way. He couldn’t do anything else, and Baka thought that was fine.
After that, everyone took a short break. Yo suggested, “We should probably get some sleep. In this extreme situation, we need to rest when we can,” so everyone sat on chairs and relaxed for a bit.
Baka, on the other hand, slept like a log. He slept soundly. Thanks to that, Baka woke up feeling great. Good morning!
“…It’s almost time, isn’t it? The last part of the conversation was a bit confusing…”
Well then.
As Yo looked at the clock, Baka also woke up with a start and looked at the clock. …It was almost time.
“I’ve decided to team up with Hibana next, so I guess I’m good.”
“Tch… don’t betray me.”
“I’m not guaranteeing that.”
“What was that!?”
Hibana and Tama might not get along either. Baka was flustered and tried to stop them, saying, “Don’t fight!”
“Okay. The door is opening…”
While they were talking, the door opened. At the same time, the bell rang, “Ling-gon, ling-gon,” and ‘night’ came. Everyone tensed up for a moment, but no one died from the poison. It seemed that the antidote had worked, and Baka had been spared from the poison by tearing off his collar, which was finally proven.
“Okay, let’s go.”
Urged by Yo, everyone went outside the door.
And there…
“…Is this the upper floor of the Great Hall?”
They came out into a room that was roughly the same layout as the Great Hall. The only difference was that the center of the room was a large open space. And below the open space was the Great Hall. And there was a staircase that hadn’t been there before, allowing them to return to the Great Hall.
It seemed that when they entered a game room from the Great Hall, the next night, a door connected to the game room they had entered would open on the upper floor of the Great Hall. This was how they could return to the Great Hall.
Looking around, there were two other open doors besides the one Baka and the others had come out of.
…And then.
“This is so unbelievable! What are you thinking!”
Along with that voice, Venus came out.
“W-what are you saying! In that situation, that was the natural thing to do! Besides, it’s a demon Death Game, right!? I don’t deserve to be criticized for that!”
“So you push Mina away!? Do you even realize you caused trouble for Tsuchiya!? You’re the worst! The worst!”
“U-um, Venus-san. I’m fine…”
“Hmm… what should I do?”
Following that, Kaito was trying to explain himself to Venus, who was scolding him, Mina was trying to mediate, and Tsuchiya came from the back.
…But, the atmosphere among them was very tense.
“…They’re fighting.”
Baka thought, “Everyone, let’s get along…”
“…Well, so the four of you are there too.”
“Ah! You guys came back too!? Listen to this! Kaito here…”
Immediately, Venus, who had found them, walked towards them. But, Tama stood in front of her.
“Let’s report later. First… are there any injuries?”
And so, she looked at the other four again.
It seemed that everyone was safe. But, Tsuchiya’s clothes had some damage, there were obvious bloodstains on his shirt, Mina’s braids were undone, and Kaito’s hair was very messy, so there was no doubt that something had happened. Especially to Tsuchiya.
“Well, everyone is safe for now. Thank you. How about you guys?”
“Nothing happened. This baka killed a lion with his bare hands…”
“A lion with his bare hands…!? What on earth happened!?”
“I know you’re curious. I understand how you feel. But, there seems to be something else we need to confirm before reporting.”
While Tsuchiya was shuddering, “A lion with his bare hands!?”, Tama calmly turned around… and pointed at the open door.
“…It seems that Amagi-san hasn’t come yet.”
There was no one beyond the open door.