And so, Baka emerged from the water, shaking his body vigorously with a “brrr, brrr, brrr!” to shake off all the water droplets clinging to his skin. After that, he put his clothes back on and returned to the three others.
“Key! Got it!”
“Ah, ah… well then,” Tsuchiya was perplexed by Baka’s return, but… eventually, he smiled.
“…You did well, Kabashima-kun!”
“Yeah! Glad I could be of help!”
…Tsuchiya is a good guy. Because he’s a good guy, he praised Baka to avoid hurting him, who had worked so hard.
And Baka was happy to be praised. Being able to help everyone and being praised by everyone is Baka’s joy!
“…Mina’s fainted, what are we gonna do about this?”
“U-um… for now, it seems we can seat her in the Antidote Device even if she’s unconscious… let’s just detoxify her. After that, we’ll have to wait until she wakes up…”
Well then.
For now, the game in this room has been successfully solved. However, Mina seems to have fainted from Baka’s ridiculously loud Cutie Lovely Angel Construction company song, so we’ll quickly detoxify her and then wait for Mina to recover.
Baka carried Mina. ‘Girls shouldn’t be carried like bags of concrete! The foreman told me to carry them like this!’ Baka remembered, and he properly carried Mina in a princess carry, walking with a sway. Venus was looking at Baka with an indescribable expression.
Tsuchiya used the key that Baka had retrieved to unlock the door, and they quickly proceeded to the next room. As expected, there was an Antidote Device there, so they sat Mina down and finished detoxifying her.
“Augh… u-uh…?”
“Ah, good. You’re awake.”
And Mina seemed to have woken up from the shock of the injection or whatever it was during the detoxification. While Venus supported Mina, who was staggering as she stood up from the chair, Tsuchiya brought a suitable chair from the junk pile and had Mina sit there.
“Alright. Then I’ll go first.”
“Go ahead. We have plenty of time.”
Next, Tsuchiya finished his detoxification. After that, it was Venus’s turn. …And with all three of them having finished their detoxification.
Well then.
“So, what was that just now!”
“Huh?”
“That song-like thing… what was it!?”
Venus snapped at Baka. But Baka answered with a smile, unfazed.
“Oh, that’s the company song. I work at the Cutie Lovely Angel Construction Floral Muscular Branch!”
“Floral Muscular…!?”
“Yeah! The branch manager said, ‘In this day and age, even if you’re muscular, you have to be floral or you might be accused of harassment,’ so he changed the name from ‘North Saitama Branch’ to ‘Floral Muscular Branch,’ which is a cool name!”
“Cool!? Is that a cool name by your standards!? N-no, but still, wouldn’t it be awful if Saitama Prefecture became the Floral Muscular Prefecture!?”
“Floral Muscular Prefecture sounds great! Oh, speaking of which, there are a lot of prefectures in Japan with almost the same name, right? Maybe those prefectures should change their names too! Like, there are about five of those Fuku-somethings, right?”
“There are three! But first, apologize to Fukui, Fukuoka, and Fukushima!”
Baka is a Baka, so he hardly remembers the contents of the map of Japan. He can’t even quite distinguish between Nagasaki and Okinawa. That’s how bad it is. But at least he knows Hokkaido. Because it’s drawn on the cheese steamed cake.
“…A nightmare? Hey, Mina. Is this a nightmare?”
“I-I don’t even know what’s going on anymore…”
Venus looked exhausted, and Mina looked like she was about to faint again from the confusion.
Baka was humming the “Cutie Lovely Angel Construction Company Song.”
“Well… I didn’t expect we’d have this much time left over. It’s quite unexpected.”
“Really? It was like this for me earlier too?”
“Ah, yeah, I get it now. Right, when Kabashima-kun is around, things get resolved at an incredible speed…”
Well then. Tsuchiya brought chairs for Venus, Kabashima, and himself, and they all sat down. But even after sitting down, there was nothing to do. Because the game had ended at an incredible speed.
“Normally, we would have argued about who would enter the water tank, and getting the key wouldn’t have been easy either. Or, there might have been a death in either of those situations… Considering that, this is a very unusual situation. Whew…”
Tsuchiya said, leaning back in his chair. It seemed like his mind was exhausted. Baka could vaguely understand that feeling. Although he didn’t know that he was the cause.
“Well… I understand that Baka-kun is out of the ordinary in many ways. It’s just ridiculous, isn’t it?”
“Really? Everyone at my workplace does it pretty often, though?”
“What kind of company do you work for!?”
In Baka’s memory, he vividly remembered the time during a company trip when they were told, “The invasive rainbow trout have taken over this river, driving out the native species…” and everyone sang the company song, and that night they had a rainbow trout barbecue. Incidentally, due to this, the company trips for Cutie Lovely Angel Construction are usually to “rivers and ponds occupied by edible invasive species.”
“…Well, since Baka-kun is like this, we need to be careful about how we handle him in the future. It would be troublesome if he sided with the wrong person…”
As Baka was thinking, ‘I’m kinda hungry,’ Venus suddenly started talking about Baka.
“That’s right… hey, Baka-kun. Who are you planning to side with?”
“Huh?”
“A human soul is one. And the people who want to fulfill their wishes… even if we exclude Tsuchiya-san, Mina, and Baka-kun, there are still five people left. It’s inevitable that there will be conflict, right?”
That’s right. Baka remembered after hearing Venus’s words, that’s right. That’s how it is. After the third day… on the fourth day, conflict will definitely be waiting.
“No, I don’t want to side with anyone, I don’t want to do that…”
“Is that so? Well, if that’s the case, then it can’t be helped…”
The thought of conflict made him feel heavy. Baka didn’t want to think about things that were beyond his control as much as possible. There wasn’t much point in Baka thinking about it, and if thinking about it would only tire him out, then he shouldn’t think about it, Baka thought.
But.
“…But at least, you should be careful of Kaito. He probably tried to kill Tsuchiya-san.”
Baka was shocked when Venus said that!
“Eh… eh!? What do you mean!?”
As Baka was panicking, Mina was also panicking in confusion, and Tsuchiya was silent with a difficult expression, saying, “Hmm…” So, only Venus was talking.
“I think you heard the explanation earlier, but the ‘game’ in the room we entered was one where arrows would fly if you activated a trap. In other words, if you proceeded carefully to avoid activating the traps, the arrows wouldn’t fly.”
“I think that’s definitely something I’m bad at!”
“I figured. …So, we did that, which would have been difficult for Baka-kun. We were proceeding little by little, confirming our safety… and then, Kaito probably intentionally activated a trap. To kill Tsuchiya-san.”
Baka was a little troubled. He couldn’t quite imagine the situation. But, as someone who worked in construction, he could somewhat understand that ‘a mistake could cost someone their life.’
“…B-but, maybe it was an accident.”
That’s why Baka thought so. No one tries to cause a workplace accident to kill someone. Well, maybe there are, but not within Baka’s knowledge.
Workplace accidents are accidents. They’re not caused by someone’s malice. …That’s why, he thought that Kaito’s actions were probably like that too.
“Oh? Can you still say ‘accident’ in this situation? Even though that ‘accident’ almost killed someone?”
But Venus was harsh. And she was right.
A workplace accident is a workplace accident. It should never happen. If there’s an accident, someone will get hurt or feel sad. That’s why the employees of Cutie Lovely Angel Construction are all careful while working…
“Actually, even if it was an ‘accident,’ it’s the same, right? We need to be careful of someone who kills people by ‘accident.’ I don’t want to team up with someone who kills people by ‘accident.’ That’s enough.”
“O-okay…”
…Baka, as someone who has failed countless times, felt dejected by Venus’s words.
At the same time, he thought, ‘I’ve made a lot of mistakes at work, but I’ve never been abandoned, so I’m really lucky.’
“Well, the truth is, I didn’t actually see Kaito activate the trap myself. So, I can’t say for sure. I might have accidentally triggered it myself, or even if Venus did, well, logically it’s not impossible. I don’t intend to blame Kaito,” Tsuchiya said, sighing.
“W-Wait a minute! Are you saying I tried to kill you!?”
“I don’t mean to say that. But, if we start fighting amongst ourselves, we’ll be playing right into the devil’s hands, I’ll say that much.”
Venus looked a bit blank at Tsuchiya’s words, then made a bitter face.
“…Come to think of it, that’s right. Tsuchiya-san and Mina, you two don’t intend to fulfill your wishes, do you?”
“That’s right… Conversely, for you, does that mean the devil is ‘someone to team up with’?”
“Maybe. Well, there’s no guarantee that they’ll stay on my side, so I won’t misjudge when to withdraw.”
Venus laughed self-deprecatingly, then her expression clouded over. She looked so lonely and pained that Baka felt uneasy.
“…Hey, you know. Thinking about it, I’m getting hungry, aren’t you?”
“Huh?”
That’s why Baka proposed that.
Even when you’re sad, you get hungry. And when you’re full, you feel a little better.
In other words, the action Baka should take is…!
“Hey, can I eat that pilaf from earlier!?”
Procure food! That is, bring back the fish floating around from the company song fishing trip earlier!
“It’s a piranha. No, that fish was a Goliath Tigerfish, wasn’t it…?”
“It’s a Goliath Tigerfish. You can eat it, I suppose. However, we don’t have any fire or tools to cook it with…”
“No, there was a knife in the junk. I think I can cut it up.”
“Really! Then I’m fine since I like sashimi! Yay!”
Having received permission, Baka ran off energetically, shouting “Hyahho!” What motivates Baka now is about a quarter consideration for the other three, and about three-quarters his own appetite. Well, Baka is a kind Baka who wants to encourage others, but more than that, he’s just a Baka who’s gotten hungry.
Baka returned to the central water tank, which was leaking badly, and there, he grabbed a Goliath Tigerfish in each hand and returned to the Antidote Device room.
“Alright! You guys gonna eat too?”
“No, I’m fine.”
“I’m fine too…”
“U-Um… then, I’ll just have a small piece…”
Baka had brought it back with great enthusiasm, but the three’s reactions were lukewarm. Well, even so, Venus’s face had changed from a lonely one to a dumbfounded one, so it could be said that Baka’s attempt was a success.
“Is that so? Well, there’s still more, so tell me if you want some! I’ll go get it! Now, um, how should I cut this… like this?”
And immediately, Baka, with a knife in hand, faced the Goliath Tigerfish. He furrowed his brow, wondering how to cut it, saying, “Like this? Like this?” Of course, he didn’t come up with an answer.
“Please, let me do it.”
Then, Mina came over quietly, giggling, and took the knife from Baka’s hand. She then faced the Goliath Tigerfish and… smoothly, she began to cut into its belly.
As Mina moved the knife, the internal organs were immediately removed, and then the fish’s fillet was separated from the spine. The scene was like watching magic, and Baka couldn’t help but gasp.
“Wow, Mina, you’re amazing! You can fillet a fish!”
“Yes. Just a little…”
When Baka praised her, Mina looked a little embarrassed, but with practiced hands, she continued to fillet the Goliath Tigerfish, and soon the cleanly filleted Goliath Tigerfish was turned into sashimi.
“I’m surprised… Is Mina-san a chef or something?”
“No. Cooking is just a hobby. Oh, but I do work part-time at a restaurant.”
“Oh, that’s kind of what I imagined.”
Mina, while embarrassed, quickly cut the fish into pieces… and then.
“Aaaah!? Kabashima-san! That’s not the meat! That’s the liver! The internal organs!”
Mina screamed.
…That’s right! Baka was just munching on the internal organs he had taken out of the Goliath Tigerfish!
“A-Are you okay!? Kabashima-san, are you okay!?”
“Yeah! This is good too!”
“No! Not the taste! I mean, the parasites and stuff!”
“Yeah! My boss taught me that if you chew it well, it’s okay!”
While Mina was panicking, “A-a-a-a-a-a,” Baka was eating the fish guts with great gusto. He’s energetic. Baka is energetic. And Baka is a Baka.
“E-Eeeeeee… Oh man, he’s really a Baka…”
“U-Umu… The innards of a saury are delicious, but eating them raw is a bit much…”
Venus and Tsuchiya seemed to have completely given up, and were just staring blankly.
Baka, all alone, continued to munch on the guts in good spirits.
…But.
“Oh!? There’s something inside! Is it a seed!?”
“It’s not a mandarin orange… Huh? Something’s inside?”
“……Huh?”
“……What is this?”
At first, Venus was disgusted, but now, including Venus, everyone was staring at what Baka had spat out onto his hand.
There, was a key with a trident-like mark… that is, the mark of Neptune.