by Yuu Kamiya
“Heh…I have no regrets… If I could do it again, I would do the same—” With a self-satisfied smile, Ino instead decisively repudiated such introspection and vanished from Sora’s arms.
—In the dead silence that lingered, Sora looked to the sky. Wetting his manly cheeks with tears.
“Ino Hatsuse—how could you be so—ngkh!”
Despite Sora’s one-man show, everyone else looked on coolly.
—It wasn’t even worth chills. Ino wasn’t dead; he hadn’t even really vanished. He’d just been sent back outside the game. But Sora, as if having lost an irreplaceable brother in arms, trembled.
“What…is this—?!”
Sora shrieked at Plum, her eyes as disengaged as the others, as if about to cough blood.
“What is this?! Didn’t you say it was a sure win?! That man went as far as to sacrifice his own sensibility!! He went as far as to use a ‘cheat’ for you guys, so why…?! Why—didn’t the queen let him put it iiin?!!”
“—Uh, welll…you see, even with magic, do you really expeeect…?”
Plum’s muttered reply was actually quite reasonable. The same thought had floated through the back of the Shrine Maiden’s mind. It seemed more realistic to fall in love with some rock than with that. Still—…she thought. Regardless of the Shrine Maiden and her thin smile, Sora, on his knees, pounded the ground and raged.
“Don’t screw with me! Could there be any more of a man than that—?! I’m right, aren’t I? Shiro, Shrine Maiden, Jibril?!”
Responding to the voice that howled at them, the three whose names had been called just—
—nodded.
“…Wha-whaaaa?”
Steph winced back a step.
Meanwhile, squirming under Sora’s unbearable glare and flustered, Plum chided, “P-please calm dowwwn… Th-this was just an extreme caaase… We can retrieve Mr. Ino from Her Highness Amila, and, if you will just play normally once more, Sirrr…”
With these words, peering into Sora’s face, Plum—
“—…?!”
—felt her heart snatched and squashed. Or rather, the illusion of it. Before her—the Sora who had been there previously was no more. The man who had just been raging, raising his voice, swinging his arms, was no more. The man who had smiled frivolously as he listened to Plum’s request, the rake, was no more. The man crouching there—was someone Plum didn’t know. Wearing an insolently thin smile… A man with the eyes of a hunter pitying the prey that had fallen into his trap. This man, in a voice that chilled to the bone, said only this:
“Once more? —What for?”
—After all…
“We’ve, already…won…”
“—Huh…?”
It was Shiro who finished the thought of the man who slowly rose, his eyes devoid of the slightest warmth. And Shiro, too…had become a stranger to Plum. Her eyes were at absolute zero. Plum fell back a step at this transformation. She didn’t know these two. But Steph, Jibril, the Shrine Maiden, and Izuna…did. The only ones who tragically didn’t know these siblings—Sora and Shiro—were Plum and her cohort who of all people had made them an enemy. Standing before her with that bearing they had when they’d sprung a trap with no margin for escape—
—was the worst of enemies: “ ”.
“—That should be enough, right, Shrine Maiden, Jibril?” Sora asked, veering to face them.
“Aye, I’ve had my fill of fun. You can do it now.”
“I have obtained confirmation. I am ready—at your command.”
At the affirmations of the pair, Sora commanded hollowly:
“Knock yourself out, Jibril.”
“—As you wish.”
Thus bowing once, Jibril opened her wings.
—And with that, the rite constructed through the cooperation of dozens of Dhampirs—the game that meddled in the queen’s very dreams—was scattered as easily as the seeds of a dandelion as the group’s surroundings shattered.
CHAPTER 4
WILD CARD
—Space exploded. A shock reverberated such that Amila, watching the game from outside, could only react thusly:
“…Huh?”
—Greeting the party as the dream world ruptured and they awoke were Plum and Amila, their eyes wide. The rite Plum had woven with dozens of assistants, even supplied as they had been with blood, had been pulverized with one simple gesture of Jibril’s will—but that wasn’t what left them stunned. That was a consequence of Sora’s declaration as he rose.
“—Yo, check. Looks like we win.”
“…Uh, umm, Amila doesn’t really get what’s going ooon! Uhh?”
Sora and Shiro replied, casually and briefly, to Amila’s tense smile, and for the edification of everyone else listening.
“…We ‘saved and exited’…you…didn’t say we couldn’t…”
“No one said we couldn’t leave the game before we were all rejected. So we can exit the game no problem, yeah…? You gotta remember to set out covenant language carefully, you know?”
Disinterestedly filling in the entourage as they rose, Sora continued.
“All right, Jibril, go ahead. Bring back the air.”
“—At your command.”
Immediately, Jibril nonchalantly traced a magical path with her finger.
—And suddenly, a gale assailed the queen’s chamber. In a matter of moments, the water was repelled, and the chamber of the queen—filled with air.
“…Huh…?”
Jibril smirked at the dazed Plum and Amila. “Pardon me… I simply restored the air I brought along with me, compressed as a bubble.”
In the large hall, the water splashed about as it was pushed away and the air took its place.
“Kh-hhh…hh—…hff…huh, huh-huh…”
—Having until now remained utterly silent except in the dream, the Shrine Maiden, who’d thus far kept a mask of composure, warped her expression. Heaving her shoulders at finally being able to breathe, she laughed.
Her body instantly turned red, raising a steam of evaporated blood.
—She then casually divulged the secret.
“Bearing up against twenty atmospheres of water pressure for such a long time by brute force… Even with my bloodbreak, it’s too much.”
The Shrine Maiden, seemingly about to collapse in the recoil of the unreasonable strain that had just been lifted from her, but somehow stubbornly managing to stop at sitting cross-legged instead, sneered with her chin in her hand.
“Huh?”
Plum, Amila—and Steph all looked baffled. But, with no sign of engaging with them, Sora continued, all emotion falling from his expression as if it had been just a mask.
“—But to think, with that much water pressure, your blood won’t leave your body—that let you use your bloodbreak without leaving a trace for these guys to catch on that you were reading their minds to your heart’s content the whole time—nice job, Shrine Maiden. So what’d you find out?”
Seeing his face—
“…You surely know how to throw your weight around, don’t you…? All right, why not.”
—the Shrine Maiden smirked, as from her heart she was glad he was on her side.
“That Siren there—has no mind to wake the queen at all.”
—At this accusation, Amila’s expression clearly wavered, and at the words that followed, delivered with a tone of and not only that… she now clearly froze.
“What they came up with to be your bait—the ‘ante’ the queen put up—was malarkey as well—goodness gracious.”
Soothed by Amila’s and Plum’s reactions, the Shrine Maiden smiled as if embarrassed and continued to Sora with kind eyes.
“And that business about you being her type or handsome or somesuch, likewise all malarkey.”
“Well, yeah, I figured that much—. …God damn it.”
The Shrine Maiden beamed merrily at Sora’s vexation. And—as if mocking Amila and Plum—“…Did you think my senses would be dulled under the sea?”
She acted almost embarrassed, yet with her face warped into the most scornful of sneers.
“—Let me tell you, it’s no idle boast or drunken rave when it’s said I’m the strongest among Werebeast.”
Struggling not to let on he’d been hurt, Sora averted his eyes.
“Yes, Master. I can also say this without doubt.” Picking up his gaze, Jibril lowered herself reverently before her king and declared:
“The rite woven by Plum activated properly, precisely, to win the queen’s love just as it should have.”
This time it was Plum’s turn to freeze.
“—Without a doubt, it operated flawlessly, and the queen has received its effects properly.”
Sora silently considered the possibility that it had been faked, but Jibril answered that with a smile. “Fear not. This is the very reason we tested it on the Shrine Maiden first, is it not?”
Smiling back, Sora said finally—and turned to Shiro. But there was nothing more that needed to be said.
“…Mm…I got it all…down…”
—With these few words, Shiro answered all of her brother’s expectations. As if satisfied with every response, Sora nodded once. He wore his usual frivolous grin, but over that smile was the shadow cast by his bangs and the too-sharp light of his eyes. The combination was a convincing replication of a fierce glare as he spoke.
“—Hey, you guys. Did you really think you could eat us for lunch?”
Plum’s and Amila’s eyes faintly quivered at this accusation. If they thought that, of all people, Sora would be unable to read such a tell as a bull’s-eye—that would be just—
“Uh, uh, um, wh-what are you talking about?”
“……?”
Steph and Izuna didn’t seem to get what was going on. They looked back and forth, bemused. But, as if he had no intention of explaining further, Sora clapped his hands together and turned away.
“Okay, let’s go, Jibril. Back to the beach.”
“As you wish.”
As Jibril spread her wings and spun her halo, they all hurried to touch her.
“Uh, excuse meee! P-pleaase waiiit!”
As Plum likewise hurried to their side—
“Good call, Dhampir. You’re done playing the pitiful victim?”
—Sora’s thin smirk as he waited for her sent a cold jolt down her spine.
Amila spoke up.
“Whaaat? What about Mr. Inooo; we still ‘have’ him, you knowww? I wonder if you should really be going home alreadyyy. ”
Gazes collected at the spot by Amila’s feet where Ino lay sprawled. Izuna’s gaze nervously flickered between Ino and Team Sora.
“Yeah, sure we can,” Sora said smoothly. “’Cos, dude…you know what happens if you lay a finger on him—don’t you?”
Looking back at Amila’s widening eyes, Sora sneered mockingly.
“You think you can play dumb in front of me—? Never underestimate that which you should fear, noob.”
And turning his back to her:
“—We’ll be back, Siren. Underestimating us is gonna cost you.”
Then, by means of Jibril’s teleportation, all except Amila and Ino disappeared.
The party found itself once more on the shore. The sun had long since set, and the red moon and countless stars—along with a bonfire—were all that lit the beach. The waves and the sparks from the fire, too, were the only sounds as Sora & Co. conspired merrily.
“Oh, Shiro, looks pretty much done, huh?”
“…Tropical fish…you can eat them…?”
“It is a fish of the sea known as ‘rerité.’ I understand that the flavor is quite palatable.”
—All having been teleported by Jibril from Oceand to the beach—and inadvertently carrying a large seawater haul in their wake, Sora and crew now busied themselves cooking it on the beach.
“Hwaahh—. …Just the thing with some sake after a job well done… While we’re at it—” The Shrine Maiden knocked back her cup.
“While we’re at it—we might as well have sliced and fried some tofu—you mean?”
“—How did you know I like abura-age? Did I tell you?”
Sora and Shiro laughed at the Shrine Maiden’s bemusement. One step away from this pleasant and peaceful scene—
“What—what is this…? What is the meaning of this?” Steph shrieked dubiously, not seeming to fathom the situation at all. Beside her, Izuna looked down wordlessly. And, a little farther on yet, lingered Plum, also silent.
Casting Steph a glance and biting into his roast fish, Sora said, “Nothing in particular—it’s just Plum tried to play us. That’s all.”
As if to answer Steph’s wide-eyed glare at Plum, he added:
“When did we figure it out, you ask? Hey, Plum.”
Now addressing Plum as she lowered her face, Sora continued with a snicker. Plum looked up fearfully, but Sora went on, grinning casually.
“From the start—your story was fishy through and through.”
Taking his lead, Shiro, the Shrine Maiden, and Jibril smirked.
—All right, Dhampir and Siren were in a symbiotic relationship. It broke down when the queen went to sleep, and now they were on the brink of doom. Plum had had no argument with Jibril’s assessment—but. Grinning as if having heard a cheesy joke, Sora chuckled.
“‘We made a spell that can wake her up for sure; help us’—ha-ha, yeah, right.”
“…Huh? Wh-what do you mean?”
Steph seemed lost, so Sora proffered a stick of roast fish. “Wouldn’t it be way more appetizing to lie that you had a sure win, sucker ’em into an impossible game, and chow down?”
“……”
Hearing Sora’s smiling pronouncement of this sick notion, Steph’s face contorted independently of her will.
“—Having said that, there were a few things that got to me.”
Stuffing his face with fish, Sora continued.
“It didn’t look to me like Plum was lying. We even had Izuna in the same room, and she didn’t seem to catch on to anything—oh, hey, that’s right. Izuna, don’t you want fish?”
Remembering the night they first met Plum, Izuna rebuffed the stick Sora extended—
“……No thanks, please.”
Standing at a slight distance, Izuna shook her head minutely. Across from her, the Shrine Maiden, downing her sake, also closed her eyes and shook her head.
“Yeah, that’s why we took her to the Shrine Maiden’s place, too, just to be safe—and she wasn’t lying after all.”
Given that Jibril was on guard, any magic spells or such to camouflage a lie would have been seen through. In which case, it was assumed that before the Shrine Maiden, strongest among Werebeast, any lie would be sniffed out for certain. But—he went on, steadily applying a fish to the flame—“And then what Plum showed us, if can you believe it, really was a spell that could make someone fall in love for sure.”
Lit by the bonfire, Sora followed his train of thought, somehow seeming amused even as his smile swayed creepily.
“So if she really had a sure win—then why ask us for help?”
“Wh-what you’re saying, basically, is that she wasn’t lying, isn’t it?”
Wouldn’t that mean that she just genuinely wanted their help—? Fiddling with the skewer in his hand, Sora tackled Steph’s query:
“Right, she wasn’t lying—and therein lies the problem.”
—Sora dropped his gaze to Shiro curled up at his knees, who picked up the explanation for him:
“…June 20, 22:42 UTC… Brother…” Just like a recorder, word for word—
“…‘And what do we get if we win this game?’…”
Following the Coordinated Universal Time of their old world based on her phone—remembering everything down to the timeline and intonation—Shiro reproduced Sora’s words with the precision of replay, and everyone stared.
“—And what was it again that Plum said after I asked that?”
“�
�June 20, 22:43 UTC… Plum…” Expressionlessly, calmly. “…‘Um…We’ll guarantee you thirty percent of Oceand’s marine resources, and friendly relations for perpetuityyy…! …A-and also…uhh… Y-you can do anything you want with meee’…”
Sora smiled bashfully at Shiro’s “rewind” of Plum’s offer.
“Right—this is it. She wasn’t lying—but she wasn’t telling the truth, either.”
Sora took the stick he’d been playing with and thrust it in Steph’s direction.
“Steph, when they said we had to bet everything on their game, you were all in our faces, right?”
“Uh, yes… For they were the ones who requested help, weren’t they?”
“Yeah, you were right.”
“—Uh, what?”
Announcing it placidly, Sora went on shamelessly as he bit into his fish.
“I said you were wrong just to get them to spill what we needed to know. Let me make it up to you by revealing what it is that was nagging at you.”
That thing that had been nagging at her…a fear she couldn’t express except a certainty that something was off.
“This game, you know—it’s like a horse race.”
“A—a horse race? You mean, like gambling?”
Sora, nodding in his mind, I’m glad to hear they gamble on horse races in this world, too.
“A horse race is a game where people gamble on which horse will win… But the core contest is still the race itself—the rivalry among the riders.”
To put it simply:
“A horse race—is a game of chance based on a challenge among the jockeys—it’s a double game.
“We were the riders racing for the queen’s love.”
But—
“Meanwhile, the promises Amila and Plum made of marine resources and friendly relations were just the payout on our bet on the queen waking up. The racing and the gambling are supposed to be two separate games, yet they had us playing as both the horses and the gamblers—of course that’s fishy.”
…Oh. Steph took a sharp, surprised breath. Following along with Sora’s analogy, they were the racers themselves, and yet… They were prompted to stake it all by wagering on themselves—made to participate in both games.
