“Poisoning, huh… If we think about it simply, that’s probably the cause of death. Now, what should we do…”
“Furthermore, it’s not ‘death by poisoning,’ but ‘poisoning,’ so it can be taken as someone killed her,”
“Whether that someone is ‘the Devil’ or ‘Amagi’ is unknown… Damn, there’s too little information.”
The three smart ones are discussing while looking at the Hibana Doll. Baka doesn’t really understand, but somehow, looking at the Hibana Doll with ‘Poisoning’ written on its face, he feels a growing sense of ‘Ah, Hibana really is dead,’ and he becomes increasingly sad.
“…What’s the purpose of this doll, I wonder?”
“Looking at it, it seems to be an item that announces the cause of death, but beyond that, its effect as a ‘Cursed Doll’ seems greater… I think it’s a delicate matter whether it’s better to find it or not.”
Baka nods seriously at Yo’s words.
That’s right. Perhaps, this doll is something that ‘shouldn’t be found.’ Baka decided to be a little more careful in the future!
“I want to actively find the dolls of those who have died. Conversely, even if we find the dolls of those who are alive, it might be better not to touch them. But… hmm, to do that, we need to know which doll is in which room… um, from the Room of the Scales, the Venus Doll. From the Twin Maidens’ Room, the Mina Doll, huh…”
Yo starts thinking about something. Baka doesn’t know what he’s thinking, but for now, he cheers him on with ‘Go for it! Go for it!’
…However.
“Isn’t it Kabashima-kun’s turn?”
“Eh!? Me!?”
Tama says that, and Baka is surprised! He didn’t think there would be a role for Baka in something that clearly seems like brainwork!
“Because, Kabashima-kun has experienced ‘the previous time,’ right?”
“…Ah! That’s right!”
Indeed, there is a chance for Baka to do some brainwork! Because… Baka has ‘the previous time’!
“Kabashima-kun, tell us about the dolls you found ‘last time’.”
“…Wait a minute! I’ll try my best to remember! Uh, uh… Huh!? What was it!?”
…However! As expected, Baka is Baka! It’s also certain that he has a memory capacity that absolutely doesn’t deserve the ‘Time Rewind Ability’!
After that, Baka and the others headed to the exit, and Tama, as usual, used the Antidote Device to detoxify herself. And during that time, Baka was trying his best to remember various things.
He somehow managed to recall the story of ‘the previous time,’ which he almost mixed up with ‘this time.’ Tama was quietly cheering him on with ‘Go for it, go for it’ beside Baka, and Yo encouraged him with ‘Please try to remember!’ Kaito was confused, saying, ‘The previous time!? What on earth is that!? Am I the only one who doesn’t know!?’ So Tama explained everything to Kaito.
…And then.
“Um… In the Labyrinth room with the Lion behind the Iron Bars, there was Yo’s doll!”
Finally, Baka remembered that.
“I see. That room hasn’t appeared ‘this time’ yet, huh…”
“Yeah! There was a Lion!”
“We already heard that.”
“But when I punched it, it died!”
“…I could have imagined that without hearing it!”
Baka even remembered things he didn’t need to remember, causing Kaito to hold his head in his hands. Baka decided to declare to the Lion in his heart, ‘I’m sorry about that time! But, it’s the law of the jungle!’
“By the way, which door was it?”
“I forgot!”
“…Well, I could have imagined that too!”
“I’m sorry! Sorry! I’m a Baka!”
“Ah, I know. Good grief…”
…And so, Baka didn’t know the important things.
That’s right! The doors to the Game rooms all have the same design, with no markings! He didn’t count the order one by one, and above all, it’s difficult for Baka, who can’t remember such things, to remember which door led to which game!
After that, Baka tried even harder to remember.
“Then, in the room with the water tank containing the fish called Pilaf, there was Kaito’s doll!”
“Pilaf… Ah, you mean Piranha.”
It seems Kaito is already used to Baka’s language, and he immediately corrected Baka’s memory and words.
“No, they said it was a relative of the Piranha, but it actually has a different name. Mina told me, it was something strong… like a wolf or a tiger, or a gorilla…?”
“Ah, the Goliath Tigerfish, right?”
“That’s it! Probably that! Tama is knowledgeable too!”
And Tama, with her vast knowledge, helped Baka recall his memory.
“…Goliath Tigerfish, is that popular among girls these days? Hey, Tama, what’s the deal?”
“I dislike girls who are into that kind of thing!”
“Really? I think ‘those kinds of girls’ are cute though…”
Yo looks at Tama as if saying, ‘right?’, and Tama turns her face away. But when Yo pokes Tama’s hand, she intertwines her fingers, connecting only the tips. Kaito, who was watching this, made an indescribable face. Baka blushed, saying, ‘Kyaa!’
“…Well, that makes a total of four dolls we know about, right?”
Yo says that, takes out a pen from his pocket, and then finds some suitable paper from the junk behind the Antidote Device, and starts writing on it.
・Lion’s Iron Bar Room = Yo
・Fish Tank Room = Kaito
・Room of the Scales = Venus
・Twin Maidens’ Room = Mina
・Chiki Chiki! Sheep Dark Pot Chicken Race! Room = Hibana
Baka looked at the writing and thought, ‘Only Hibana’s sounds kind of silly.’ Well, there was no need to write the full name, so it feels like Yo’s arbitrariness is showing a bit.
“…Looking at it like this, we can see a common thread in the room games, right?”
Tama says that, and points to the written parts, tap, tap. Following that…
“Ah… I see. So, indeed, Leo, Pisces, Libra, Gemini and Virgo, and Aries!”
“That’s right. I think the games are probably related to the 12 constellations.”
Kaito understands, and Yo nods. …And Baka was surprised, saying, ‘The 12 constellations!?’ Baka, who should have the most information, was the slowest to understand!
“The 12 constellations are related to the planets, right? I’m not very familiar with it though…”
“…Well, it’s certain that Libra is Venus, Gemini and Virgo are Mercury, Aries is Mars, Pisces is Neptune, and Leo is the Sun, right?”
“That leaves Sagittarius, Aquarius, Scorpio, Cancer, Taurus, and Capricorn. …Is this related to Western astrology? If so, I don’t know anything about that. But, I believe the motif of Taurus is the form that the chief god of Greek mythology, Zeus, transformed into. If that’s the case, then it’s Jupiter, the star of Jupiter, who is identified with Zeus…?”
“No, I don’t think the myths of the constellations and the planets are that related. Libra is said to represent the scales of justice of the goddess Astraea, but I’ve never heard of Astraea and Venus… being identified with each other…”
The three smart ones are discussing something, but Baka doesn’t really understand. While not understanding, he’s trying his best to understand to the point where a cow is mooing in his head. Well, in other words, he’s hardly thinking about anything!
“I think Kabashima-kun is probably Jupiter.”
“Huh? Ah, yeah. I think I was told something like that last time too.”
Then, since the conversation turned to him, Baka vaguely remembers the previous time.
If I remember correctly, someone deduced that ‘Baka is the only one without a collar, and since there’s no one representing Jupiter, Baka is probably Jupiter!’
“…Well, I don’t know about the previous time, but this time too, no one has confirmed your collar.”
“Ah, yeah. I tore it off in the room and just left it there…”
Baka felt dejected. Because Baka is so strong, things don’t go well in these situations!
“…If there’s a next time, bring your collar to the Great Hall.”
“Got it!”
“And the explanation of your ability too! Be sure to bring it!”
“I got it… no, wait a minute. Where is that anyway… I haven’t seen it even once…”
Baka became dejected again, and Kaito stamped his feet, saying, ‘Aaaaaaaah! Seriously!’ Baka became even more dejected, thinking, ‘It’s all because I’m so strong…’
“It’s in the safe! The safe is in the closet! The closet opens with the key in the drawer of the desk that you unscrewed with a screwdriver! The safe is… um, the password is derived by combining blocks…”
“Eh… so, I just need to break the closet and break the safe, right…?”
“…That’s fine.”
Kaito had a tired look on his face, but Baka firmly engraved it in his heart.
‘Next time, I’ll definitely bring my collar! And I’ll break the closet, break the safe, and bring the contents to Kaito, Tama, and Yo to look at!’
And, thinking that, I felt energized! As expected, having a goal really does give you a boost!
“Well, I don’t think we can solve it with our knowledge. Unfortunately, I’m not that familiar with Western astrology.”
“It would be great if someone who knew about this kind of thing was here. Or, maybe Kabashima-kun could try rewinding time a few times and memorize it…”
“The Boss said my memory isn’t reliable!”
“You remember what the Boss said, so try a little harder to remember!”
Baka’s head was smacked, thwack, by Kaito, but his head wasn’t the type to be fixed by a smack. It was pointless. And since Baka’s steel-like head didn’t take even a bit of damage, it was truly pointless.
“…So, um, when should I redo it?”
But this conversation shouldn’t be pointless. Baka was properly thinking, “I need to ask this too!” and asked.
“Should I redo it right now?”
“…Hmm.”
“Well… if you want to, you can… but…”
The smart people’s answers to Baka’s question were rather vague.
“Well… you know, Hibana and old man Amagi died… so, if I’m going to redo it, I guess it should be sooner rather than later…”
Baka had completely forgotten, but he could ‘rewind’. So, the moment someone died, he could just redo it.
And this time, two people had already died. So, Baka wanted to redo it, but…
“…That,”
Kaito said, looking down, his words hesitant.
“…I’m sorry, but I have a wish I want to fulfill. The situation where people are dying… I know it’s bad for a good person like you… but for me, it’s convenient.”
“…Yo and Tama too?”
“We are…”
“…That’s right. It might be convenient.”
Baka was greatly shocked by the three’s replies. He was filled with thoughts like, “No way.”
Everyone wasn’t going to feel the same way as him. But Baka unconditionally thought, “These guys are good people, so they’ll definitely think about helping everyone!”
But… even good people have different sides to them.
Baka knew that. He knew it, but he had forgotten. Yes, Baka remembered.
“…I see.”
Baka was dejected. Then, Tama and Yo quietly turned their faces away… and Kaito.
“But… putting aside our circumstances, think about what you, Kabashima, want to do. That’s all I can say.”
He said, glancing at Baka.
“Okay…”
Baka became anxious.
Baka wasn’t good at thinking. He was a Baka, so it couldn’t be helped.
So, when he was told, “Think for yourself,” he felt like he had been suddenly abandoned and became anxious.
But… this was probably Kaito’s sincerity.
Kaito was a good guy, but there were definitely parts they couldn’t understand about each other. But… even so, Kaito was still a good guy. He could have said, “Do as I say,” but instead, Kaito said, “Think for yourself.”
“…Okay. I understand.”
So Baka nodded.
“Um… then, can I have one wish?”
And, he looked properly at Kaito, Tama, and Yo. He had to tell them.
“I’m going to have everyone come back to life. I’ll try asking the devil. And… if that doesn’t work, I’ll redo it then.”
“Would that be… no good?”
Baka asked anxiously, and Kaito chuckled.
“…Well, putting aside Tsuchiya, who said he wouldn’t kill someone to fulfill his wish, there are five other people besides you who want to fulfill their wishes. Sharing one wish among five people would be difficult. It would probably become a fight.”
Hearing Kaito’s answer, Baka was disappointed, thinking, “Ah, I guess it’s no good.” …But.
“But… even so, isn’t it fine?”
“Huh?”
When Baka looked up, surprised, Kaito said, awkwardly, trying to cover it up.
“No… it’s just that it would be fine for you. It’s not good at all for me. Not good at all, but… well, if we’re thinking from your perspective…”
Kaito said hesitantly… he glanced at Yo and Tama, then glanced at Baka… and said.
“…If two souls were fought over by six people, would you lose…?”
“…I’ll do my best!”
“I see. That’s how it is. Then that’s fine. You fulfill your wish with that. Oh dear… then, I’ll be fighting Yo, Tama-san, Mina-san, and Venus… it looks like I have no chance.”
When Baka was enthusiastic, Kaito sighed deeply. Even though he was sighing, he had a somewhat refreshed look, so Baka thought, “Kaito is a good guy after all.”
“Ah, yeah… um, Kaito. I have a suggestion, but for now, shouldn’t we put fulfilling our wishes on hold?”
“That’s right. There might be a better solution.”
And, Yo and Tama also said that, their expressions softening somewhat.
“…Well, let’s go with that for now. At least, I don’t have the confidence to win in a 2-on-1 fight right now. And… it’s a bit annoying to play along with the devil’s plans.”
Kaito also said that, and they settled on the conclusion of “Let’s think about the future later.”
…Having settled that, Baka also calmed down, thinking, “For now, let’s wait until noon on the fourth day, when we say our wishes, and then think about whether to redo it.”
Now then. And so, with only about five minutes left until night.
“Hey, Kabashima. I need to talk to you about something.”
Kaito whispered in Baka’s ear.
“…It’s about my Unique Ability. I’m thinking about where to use ‘Replay’ next.”
“Huh?”
“If it were you, what scene would you want to see?”
…Kaito probably consulted Baka because he had no one else to talk to.
But.
“I’m a Baka, so I don’t understand that kind of thing! I’m done! I don’t want to think anymore!”
“…That’s right. That’s right. Ah, really…!”
Baka was a Baka! That’s why Kaito was in charge of most of the brain work! Baka’s brain was closed for the day!
Baka smiled cheerfully, “I’m counting on you, Kaito!”