Vol 4 Chapter 4 (1/2)

Chapter 4 - Wild Card/The Fool

Part 1

The surrounding space exploded

And Aot the brunt

of the impact

“…Eh?”

- Plum and Amira were frozen in shock as they saw that everyone had

broken out of the dream world and woken up

The reason why they were surprised wasn’t simply because Jibril had easily

shattered a spell that had been constructed by tens upon tens of Dhampirs

that had recently consumed blood with the force of her will alone

It was because of what Sora said as he stood up

“- Alright, checkmate, in”

“…Eh, about that, Aet the situation~ ☆”

Amira spoke with a stiffsmile

However, Sora and shi+ro told her nonchalantly:

“…The rules didn’t say we can’t… 「Save and Quit」…”

“In other words you never said that we couldn’t leave the game until every

one of us was rejected, so there shouldn’t be a proble」

the gaes」 as far as you can, you

know!”

Sora replied impatiently, and spoke to everyone else who had just woken up:

“Alright, Jibril, we’re done here so restore the air”

“- I obey”

Jibril nonchalantly began drawing out the outline of a spell with her fingertips

- Suddenly, a gust ofstrong wind attacked the Empress’ room

In an instant, the water parted and inside the roo

“…Eh…?”

Plum and Amira were completely stunned, while Jibrilsmiled thinly

“Pardon me… I just restored the air that I compressed into a bubble earlier

to its originalstate”

In the roo apart the

waters

“- Cough -! …Phew…ugh…hah”

- She hadn’t said anything since earlier, when they were in the dream

Miko who had been pretending to be calm since earlier, suddenly revealed an

expression as though she was in pain

Breathing fresh air that she hadn’t got the chance to breathe in a long time, her

shoulders heaved up and down al

In an instant, stea from her completely blood-red body

- She revealed the truth straightforwardly

“To bear water pressure twenty tiher than normal with a body of flesh

and blood for such a long period of time… it feels pretty uncomfortable even

after using 「Blood Devastation」”

Miko appeared to be at the verge of collapsing, experiencing a liberating

reaction fro pain instead

However, she strengthened her will, sat cross-legged and cupped her face in

her hands while s

“- Eh?”

Plum, Aoing

on

Sora didn’t appear to pay any attention to them, and instead he continued

e a mask:

“- But 「Due to the water pressure, blood won’t flow out of the body」 - so

even ifshe used 「Blood Devastation」 it would be undetectable, which was

eren’t noticed and ere able to listen to your heartbeats to our

heart’s content – thank you very ive us your

verdict”

- Miko’s expression was…

“…You really like ordering people around huh… ah, forget it”

Miko thought from the deepest recesses of her heart 「Luckily these people

are on our side」, and replied with a thin smile

“That Seiren over there – she doesn’t want to awaken the Empress at all”

- Hearing her words, Amira appeared visibly shaken

And then… hearing her next sentence, she positively froze in place

“Next up we have Sora’s deduction – all that about co with the

Empress’ 「Bet」 was a lie as well – ah~ and…”

Upon seeing Pluenuinely happy, and

smiled bitterly

Miko looked towards Sora gently and continued:

“All that stuff about you being just her type, being a handsouy and all

that, those were all lies as well”

“I realized that long ago - …dammit”

Miko laughed cheerfully upon seeing his reactions

And then – as though she was looking down upon Plum and Amira

“…Did you really think being in the sea would be able to seal off my senses?”

She spoke painfully, but with the highest degree of hed with

a twisted smile on her face

“- The fact that I’est) 」 of the Werebeasts

isn’t a fluke, you know”

Sora tried extremely hard so as to not sho hurt he was, and looked

away instead

“Yes, Master, saoes with me”

Jibrilreplied while kneeling reverently at Sora’s feet and aze

“Plum’s spell actually did work properly, as in that it did make the Empress

fall in love with others”

- After which – it was Plum’s turn to freeze

“- There’s no question that it worked properly, and the Empress was actually

affected”

- Was there a possibility that it was a fake?

Sora confirhed and replied:

“Please don’t worry, that’s the reason why you let Miko-sama experience it

herself, didn’t you?”

Sora replied her with a smile, and lastly – turned towards shi+ro

They didn’t need any form of verbal communication –

“…M…”

- With this sentence alone, shi+ro fulfilled all of her brother’s requests

Seely satisfied with everyone’s answers, Sora nodded

He still had a cheerfulsmile on his face

Above that se and

an unbelievably sharp gaze

With a gaze that could lared at by a

wild beast, he spoke:

“- Hey you, Dhampirs and Seirens (you bastards), did you really think that

you could use us as 「Food」?”

Hearing those words, Pluhtly

If they really thought that sort ofsuspicious action wouldn’t be noticed by

Sora that he was 「Exactly correct」- that would be too –

“Eh? Huh? U on?”

“…?”

Steph and Izuna still didn’t appear to understand as going on

They looked at each other in disbelief

But Sora didn’t appear to want to explain any further, and instead clapped his

hands and turned to leave

“Alright, we’re going back, Jibril, take us to the beach”

“I obey”

Jibrilspread her wings and her halo began spinning, while everyone hurriedly

got in contact with her

“Eh? Um! P-please wait!”

Plum hurriedly ran over as well –

“You’re pretty observant, Dhairl

(victim) now?”

What welcomed her was – Sora’s thin smile, which caused a chill to run

down her back

- Amira spoke

“Eh~? Ino-saht to leave this early~ ♥”

Beside A motionless, and everyone looked over at him

Izuna began looking uneasily at Ino and Sora –

But Sora replied casually:

“Yeah, it’s fine”

“Because…the consequences if you do anything to Ino – you know them

very well, don’t you?”

Aly

“Acting like an idiot in front of ot to have a limit somewhere

when you underestimate others, outsider”

Sora turned around

“- We’ll be back, Seirens, and don’t forget that the price for looking down on

「Us」 - is great indeed!”

After which Jibril teleported the behind Amira and Ino

Part 2

They were back at the seaside

The sun had set long ago, leaving behind a reddish moon and countless stars

– and a beach lit up by bonfires

A of the waves and the explosions of the fireworks on the

bonfires, Sora spoke cheerfully:

“Oh, shi+ro, it’s alht?”

“…Tropicalfish…can we eat it…?”

“It’s a saltwater fish called 「Lelite」, I heard it tastes pretty good”

[28]

- Everyone was teleported from Oceande back to the seaside by Jibril

Since they had teleported a large amount ofseawater with them, they were

currently grilling the fish that were swept along as well

“Hah -! …This stuff is usually what I eat as side-dishes with alcohol after

work anyway… if only it was –“

Miko finished her drink in one gulp, ate her entire fish after which Sora

continued her sentence

“If only it was 「Fried tofu skin」 - aht?”

“- How did you know that’s my favorite food? Did I mention it?”

Ignoring the shocked Miko, Sora and shi+ro began laughing

And a few paces behind that peacefulscenery –

“W-what is this… what’s going on?”

Steph still appeared to not have understood as going on, and was

asking herself this question

Beside her Izuna was looking down, speechless

While further ahead – Plum was silent as well

Sora glanced at Steph, and spoke while chewing on a piece of grilled fish:

“It’s nothing – it’s just that Plum wanted to trick us, that’s all”

- As Steph was looking wide-eyed over at Pluh in

reply to her query:

“You’re going to ask when did I realize that – right? Plum”

…No, he was speaking to Pluround – and he

continued ly

Upon seeing Plum lift her head up in trepidation, he smiled bitterly and

continued nonchalantly:

“It was 「Fro」 - your story was pretty suspicious from the

start”

As though i Sora, shi+ro, Miko and Jibrilsneered as well

- The Dhampirs and Seirens had a relationshi+p of mutualism

And their relationshi+p was cru hibernation

Plum did not rebut Jibril’s words at the time – but…

Sora sh he had just heard a bad joke, and

continued:

“「Since we’ve created a foric to awaken her, please help us」- hah,

that’s impossible”

“…Eh? W-why is that?”

Steph was the only one that hadn’t caught on, while Sora passed a stick of

grilled fish down –

“Pretending to have a sure-wina

ga us to lose everything,

doesn’t this sound like an extremely profitable method to you? Wouldn’t you

do the same?”

“-…”

Steph’s face twitched instinctively upon hearing Sora as uttering such

cruel methods with a smile on his face

“That’s true, but there’s stillso that 「Worries」 me”

Sora spoke while chewing a grilled fish:

“I couldn’t see, and Izuna as in the

saoing to eat the

fish?”

Sora held out a stick of fish while recalling the night when they first

encountered Plum

“…No thanks, des”

Izuna shook her head slightly

Miko as drinking wine opposite them – closed her eyes and shook her

head as well

“So just in case she really was lying I even took her to Miko – but she still

wasn’t lying”

IfJibril was on alert, ic that could conceal a person’s lies would be

revealed instantly

So in front of the strongest Werebeast 「Miko」, any lies would be completely

exposed, or at least that hat Sora had thought

Sora began grilling another piece of fish over the fire

“But what Pluic that could make

people fall in love」”

Under the glow of the fire, Sora appeared to be genuinely enjoying himself

However, he then took on a sinister smile and continued:

“So she really had a spell that could guarantee victory – but why ask for our

help then?”

“Essentially, hat that ?”

So that would mean that she really needed Sora and the others’ help -?

Hearing Steph’s question, Sora began twirling a fish stick and replied:

“Yes, she wasn’t lying – and that’s 「The source of the problem」”

- Sora looked down at shi+ro as at his knee-height, and she replied:

“…UTC (Universal Time Coordinated) 6/20 22:42…「Nii」…”

As though she was a recorder, she recited his words out perfectly –

“…「If in the gaet in return?」…”

shi+ro adhered to the accurate time displayed on her phone from their

「Original World」- to organize her 」

his pitch as he spoke those words She spoke Sora’s previous words

co everyone there to widen

their eyes in shock

“- And in reply to this, what did Plum say?”

“…UTC (Universal Time Coordinated) 6/20 22:43…「Plum」…”

She emotionlessly, calmly –

“…「Um… illreward you with thirty percent of Oceande’s underwater

resources, and perood relations between our nations… a-and…

um… I-I will do whatever you wish」”

This time she 「Replayed」 Plum’s words and Sora smiled bitterly upon

hearing it

“Exactly – right 「Here」, she wasn’t lying – but 「There was also no truth」”

Sora pointed the stick he was playing with previously at Steph

“Steph, didn’t you have so」

in their game?”

“Y-yeah… because they’re requesting for our help, aren’t they?”

“Yes, you’re correct”

“- Eh, huh?”

Sora chewed on his fish while nonchalantly uttering shocking revelations, and

continued:

“I shot your protests down only because I needed to gather the necessary

infor such incongruity”

At that ruity could only be described as she felt

「Soht」, and that was –

“This 「Game」- is like a 「Horse race」”

“H-horse race? The kind where you bet money for horses to win?”

Sora nodded in relief at the fact that this world had horseracing as well

“Horse racing is to let horses race, a 「Game (Gamble) 」 to predict which one

in… but in itshorses race

against each other – which is also a 「Contest between the riders」 isn’t it?”

To be precise, what he meant was –

“Horse racing is - 「A ga sport created from a rider’s sport」- a doublelayered

game”

“The riders (us) race against each other (roame) to win the Empress’

love”

And –

“On the other hand, the resources and relations given as rewards by Amira

and Plu the

E) are clearly two different

gaamblers – of

course ould feelsoht”

…Steph inhaled sharply, realizing as going on

According to Sora’s example, they were the riders in a horse race

But they were forced to bet all they had on the forced

to take part in a second game

And Sora appeared to read Steph’s thoughts…

- He shook his head and said “That’s not the problem”

“So if this is a horse race, where did the riders’ (our) – 「Prize」 for the

coo?”

Sora looked evilly at Plum

“…Huh, it’s the love of the E her to wake up?”

“- If you make the Empress fall in love with the person, the Empress would

love the person forever? And she would wake up for her prince? – This

doesn’t ht? Where’s the

「Equal」 reward for the winner?”

Finally, Steph found the 「Source」 of her incongruity

Resources, good relations, and Plum’s free will – none of them sounded like

what the Empress would’ve bet

So, the ga by the

Pledges」

The 「Bet」 of equal value to both parties – to be given to the victorious rider

–

- Regarding that reward –

- She hadn’t mentioned it all!?

Miko laughed bitterly and began playing with her fish stick as well

“This series of games has two sides to it, but when Sora mentioned 「The

rewards for winning」, the Dhampir over there intentionally avoided the twofacedness

of it, so she didn’t lie”

She smiled and continued

“But even though she didn’t lie – it doesn’tthe truth”

Miko i in Plum’s heartbeat that told her 「I was

found out」, and she sain thinly

Sora spoke in an exaggerated fashi+on as though deep in thought –

“Alright, here’s where the 「Problem」 comes in – why couldn’t she mention

the two-facedness of the game?”

Sora looked at Plu the stick in his hands and continued:

“Before we reached the sea floor – the place where you thought you could

seal Miko-san and Izuna’s senses, you ignored the topic, why couldn’t you

just say so like 「Amira said there won’t be any risk」?”

At this ti them on

sticks behind Sora passed him a fish stick that was coated in salt, and

continued for him:

“- Because as long as she were to say that it would be 「Lying」… right?”

She s answered the question

Sora nodded, so what that fully

“…UTC (Universal Time Coordinated) 6/20 04:28…「Plum」…「Please save

our species!」…”

Nibbling on her fish lightly, shi+ro skilfully - 「Replayed」 Plum’s initial words

“If the words 「Our species」 wasn’t a lie – that would mean she really wanted

us to save the Dhampirs”

Which would mean –

“Which means – only – save the Dhampirs – so what should we do?”

Sora ignored Steph whose eyes ide as marbles

He flicked the stick he was playing with earlier – towards Plum as

sitting on the beach, and it stuck in the sand beside her

“Alright, so we have all the materials we need for the verdict, don’t we?”

Sora began throwing stick after stick in her direction in the same fashi+on

“There are three questions And, only one conclusion”

Looking over at the beach sand that had three sticks lodged in it, Sora spoke

to Plum

“- Are you prepared for this? Plum”

As though in reply to Sora’s words

- Under the light of the bonfire, the red moon and the stars

Four pairs of equally low

The first to react was Miko

“- Why would you avoid talking about anything related to the two-facedness

of the games?”

Miko threw out a stick at a speed that broke the sound barrier, hitting the first

stick Sora threw, causing it to split into halves

“Because you can’t lie”

After Sora replied, Jibril was the next to act

“Why would you request for our help even if you clearly have love ic?”

Jibrilshot out a stick that broke the sound barrier as well, hitting Sora’s

second stick – crushi+ng it into pieces

“Because Plum can’t lie”

Sora replied, and the last to react was shi+ro as sitting on his lap

“…Getting to the bottom of it… why – can’t you… tell a lie?”

The stick shi+ro thre an arc in the air and hit the center of Sora’s third

stick… connecting the two

“Because ifshe lies – she would be exposed”

- Exactly

“If this is a 「Horse race」, then oneon

different horses”

The Seirens bet on – the Empress

The Dhampirs bet on – Sora and the others

Two games, two aims

Co all the conclusions they had made

Yes, there was - 「Only one」 conclusion

“The Seirens plan to use 「The Eame」 to 「Feed on the

Imanity」”

“What -!”

Steph was the only one shocked by this

The Seirens had done what Sora had said initially

Pretending that the ga in would be a sure win, to

lure Sora and the others – the fullrepresentatives of Iame

In order to get new 「Materials for reproduction」- in this case the Imanity, to

avoid the crisis their species was in

But –

“The Dhae of this plan to betray the Seirens – they plan

to 「Free the Dhampirs」”

Yes – Plum did want the Empress to fall in love and awaken from her

slumber

While Amira – did not

“Since Werebeasts were present she couldn’t lie, but since she had another

plan entirely she couldn’t reveal the truth either”

Once again, Steph was the only one who remained speechless

But – as though requesting everyone to stop, Sora raised up one hand

- As though to say 「The fun has only just begun」

“Alright, so let’s allrecall, as the 「Prize」 if the Empress were to win

the game?”

Sora senuinely, and he looked away

After which – under the glow of the ht, four pairs ofsharp and unusual

eyes began discussing

“Would that bet let Amira – let the Seirens choose maintain their current

situation over awakening their Empress?”

A pair of bewitching golden eyes, Miko smiled thinly

“Would that 「Bet」 let Plum – let the Dhampirs achieve freedom if they were

to win it?”

A pair of cold aly

“…Regarding the survival of the Seirens…so that could return the

rights of the Dhampirs…”

A pair of emotionless ruby eyes, shi+ro smiled sympathetically

Each one of them spoke in order, and a pair of obsidian eyes, Sora

emotionlessly – revealed his conclusion

“What the Eht?”

- Plum bent her head dohile Steph inhaled deeply

Back when the current Empress first entered her hibernation, she wasn’t the

Empress yet – which meant she wasn’t a 「FullRepresentative」

But noas different

Now regarding the 「Bet」, as long as they were to fulfill the victory conditions

– they would win all the Seirens had as well

- Including the Race Piece as well, winning 「Everything」 just as the bet

implied

Sora s Steph

He casually uttered words that

“I’ve deduced everything up to this point before we even reached the beach”

“- What?”

“But…since I didn’t have enough evidence, I decided to go to Oceande

anyway”

Sora sounded like he was joking, but his voice carried a hint ofseriousness as

well

“We don’t get to go to the beach very often, so we definitely have to enjoy it

– which is to say…”

As he said this, Sora flashed an unbelievably cruelsmile in the direction of

Plum

In a single breath – he provided the solution to the rest of the riddle

“We brought you to the beach in broad daylight to weaken you”

“We let Miko-san and Jibril pretend to fool around to test whether 「Blood

Devastation」 could be disabled underwater”

“We also made Jibril venture forth to the oceans in order to confirm the

location of Oceande”

“The strain of using 「Blood Devastation」 the entire day was partly alleviated

by shi+ro as fondling Miko-san until nighttime”

“We didn’t wait for the 「Reception Boat」 that could very likely be a trap,

and instead we proceeded using Jibril’s teleportation

“We forced you, Plum, into a situation where you had to top up on fresh

Seiren blood to allow us to breath underwater and part ith us; while

Jibril used that tiht there;

casting extra preventive methods on Miko-san as well to prevent your

underwater breathingus to meet Amira

with her Werebeasts senses fully awakened

“- That’s it Do you get it now?”

…

… -

- Steph and Plum were both shocked to the point ofspeechlessness

While Sora was nonchalantly checking on whether his fish was grilled

properly

“It was iame started, since

you had to es, and to

expose your lies Miko-san had to be – in a condition where she couldn’t be

affected by your suspicious ic”

A ic that allowed them to speak and talk underwater –

And the caster was Plum as confirmed to be an 「Enemy」 as well, so

there was a high risk of herto cheat their sensory devices

After uncovering all the solutions, Sora continued:

“The Seirens and Dhaotten? They

part in both a horse race

and a gamble – so we have a sweepstake as well”

- Exactly