Zaregoto-Volume 3 Chapter 5

Whether you can trust or not isn't a problem.

1

In conclusion, rappelling while carrying Hime-chan succeeded. I had experienced doing this during my stay at the ER Program (at the time I carried a 50kg backpack), and the makeshift rope that used all sorts of string was sturdier than I expected. It took a while because I had to protect my was-dislocated-just-now arm, but I was not hurt, and we were not attacked on the way, so this could only be categorized as a success. After we landed on the ground, Hime-chan tried to gather the string she had used, but that apparently failed. She had tied the string together too meticulously, she said.

"These wires are rather useful. You can use them as rope like just now, but you can also make things like traps."

"Hmm... traps."

Come to think of it, tricksters use strings like this, I had heard. Stringmasters, wiremasters, I could not recall what they were called. They were not hitmen, but these could be used as weapons. Did that use the strings of a shamisen? Not that I really knew.

"Wire -- I see, string. Hey, Hime-chan."

"What yes?"

"If you use string like this, the sealed room for the dean's room would work, right?"

Hmm? Hime-chan tilted her head to the side.

"A sealed room with thread and needle?"

"Something along that line. Sealed room, but it was not a physically sealed-off sealed room. There are always slits and holes. Then even without entering the room, even if locked, you could succeed by manipulating the string. There was the ventilation shaft Hime-chan used, too. In any case, if you use string like this, you could wrap it around the dean inside the room, and then pull. And then you get a minced dean... right?"

"Impossible. That's."

"No no, you can't know unless you try."

"I know. Master, you're thinking positive about the wrong thing." Hime-chan walked to my side, having given up on retrieving the string. "First, how did the suspect hang the dean's neck from the ceiling? That's impossible without goign into the room."

"Ah, right..."

In the first place, wrapping string around the dean's body means you have to enter the room once, anyways."

"Right..., no, wait, hold on. If there is a ventilation shaft, then it is not a sealed room. If they enter from there and then leave from there..."

"You can't go in. I told you, right? The fan is nailed to the ceiling, so you can't enter, and you can't put it back when you're leaving. Even if they were invited in, they can't lock the door from the window or the ventilation shaft. Jun-san's checked that much. Didn't you notice?"

"Hmm..."

I did not.

In any case, that meant the ventilation shaft was no good. The palm-print lock was unmistakable (even that Jun-san had to resort to brute force to open it), so that meant the window, or the ventilation shaft, but.

"Any you know. You can use this sort of string to slice up a person nice and easy, but in that case you'd have clean cuts. You wouldn't end up with such rough edges."

Ahh. Right, the weapon was a chainsaw. If Aikawa-san decided as such, then that was probably correct. Contractor, Aikawa Jun. The number of corpses she had seen was probably on a different digit from me.

"Chainsaw... eh. Huh. Wait, Hime-chan. I was half-joking when I said it, ... but can you? Dice a human, with those strings... cut, chop?"

"Yes. It depends on the material. But I said if you touch it you'll get cut, right? It's the same reasoning. Cutting force is just about applying power to the minimal surface with the fastest speed over the minimum amount of time. This sort of thin string harbors plenty of violence when it comes to dismembering a human body."

"Huhhh. The same reason that paper cuts fingers."

"They're called wire saws when they're used as a weapon. I learned in class. String knife, steel string, hard string, and such. Assassination weapons, I guess. Even newbies can cut off fingers as long as they follow instructions, and expert hands can dice a human with vinyl tape."

"Sounds like a manga that Aikawa-san would like. But would it not be faster to just cut someone with a knife instead of doing something that troublesome? Not that I want to become Tamamo-chan."

"Indeed. But unlike knives, these have other uses. You can attack from all sorts of angles using pulley force. Like spider silk, a spider nest. It's a pretty typical combat style from the older days. They'd call the string being used Twisted Strands, and call the masters Strand Users, and such."

Strand users, eh. You do hear of it a lot.

"Nowadays anything that gets prefixed by true or practical never turns out well. Gosh... people from long ago think of the weirdest things."

Although I guess because they lived in an era where killing was a daily routine, they could not be helped, but there was no need to turn strings into weapons, was there?

"Indeed. Of course, there're only a handful of people that can pull off such street-stunt, science fiction-esque tricks nowadays. You can't learn it in an evening, and it's more like a type of legend. As Master says, it's faster to stab them with a knife."

That was why normally you just use it for safety like we just did, Hime-chan said, and then she flicked her fingers.

"Just a handful -- means they do exist?"

"Indeed. This school has one too. Yes -- called Zig Zag."

"Zig Zag..."

"Yes. A third-year named Shisei Yuma. Not that anyone calls Yuma by name. Top of the school, alongside Hagihara-san. Of course, the string used by Zig Zag is nothing like this, and is more serious."

"Strand... but, it is a story that lacks realism. Are we alright? If that person shows up?"

"I think it has more realism than detectives and sealed rooms. At the very least, it exists, historically."

"That is a scary thought..."

"A demerit, you might say?"

She said, and Hime-chan tucked the reels back into her pouchette. "Eek, it's stuck," she started fretting. But unrelated to her fretting, I found a new source of anxiety.

What if that Zig Zag, Shisei Yuma -- who was apparently worried over by Hagihara Shiogi and Saijou Tamamo, were to appear as an enemy, would I be able to protect this clumsy girl? That was not just a thought, because for as long as Hime-chan wanted to leave this academy, then Zig Zag would be an obstacle we would not be able to avoid.

I would be forced to decide. What to do. It would be best to return to Aikawa-san's place -- mankind's strongest would be able to deal with Zig Zag -- but we did not know if that Aikawa-san was still in the dean's room. Then would it be better to try to escape with Hime-chan? While avoiding the Strategist Hagihara Shiogi?

"A tough question..."

But in retrospect, that was irrelevant enough to not be a problem.

Instead, I was worried so much by that trivial issue -- that I had missed Hime-chan's expression when she was talking about Shisei Yuma.

As if she was talking about a proud Master, yet at the same time as if mixed with a bit of resignation, a paradoxical expression - if I had seen it, then perhaps something would have changed. If I could have imagined Shisei Yuma and Hime-chan's relationship.

But that was something that could not be taken back, --a failure.

"Zig Zag... that is a tough obstacle."

"Yes. To be honest, I think all we can do is run away with Aikawa-san. Zig Zag always wears gloves on both hands, so it'll be easy to tell. Strand Users have to wear gloves, or else their own fingers'll get cut off."

"I see. So it is visibly obvious."

Gloves. I just need to pay attention to that.

"Ahh, and when it comes to top, that girl -- Saijou Tamamo-chan, was the number one combatant among freshmen at the Hanging High School, and she's feared as Yamitsuki."

"She did not seem like it..."

"You shouldn't decide on appearance. Saijou-chan was different from Hime-chan and was the hope of the academy. Master was just unbelievably lucky back then."

"Lucky..."

It was indeed a hair's difference. If Hime-chan had not arrived, and if, afterwards my reaction had not landed perfectly.

But perhaps, because of that, I had become a target of Tamamo-chan? That was enough to send a chill down my spine. To be honest, that type of person, where you cannot discern what they are thinking, are worse for me than a strategist.

"That Tamamo-chan should not normally appear for an incident like this. But for her to appear, is probably related to Jun-san... and was probably Hagihara-san's strategy, I think."

Battlefield level-up.

"Even without Zig Zag, Hime-chan and Master stand no chance against strategies set up for Jun-san. We should meet up with Jun-san as if our livestock depend on it, before she leaves without us."

Animal fanatic?

"You mean, as if our lives depend on it. But you know, splitting in two is not a bad strategy -- you can call Hime-chan being by my side going behind the opponent's back, too."

"But, that's to odangerous."

"Indeed. This is definitely a case of allowing rest poor thinking. Let us rely on the professional..."

And then as we had walked a bit away from the building, perhaps I had gained some composure because there were less places for people to lay waiting in ambush, but I finally realized. Hime-chan had just spoken about it matter-of-factly -- and I too had thought about it matter-of-factly, but -- if Shiogi-chan were come up with a strategy for Aikawa-san, then did Shiogi-chan know of the dean's death? Shiogi-chan is a strategist, the tactician. She is staff, not the top. She must report to the dean every so often. Even if indirectly, even if through the faculty room -- Shiogi-chan and other students must have realized the truth.

If they were to not have realized -- then someone is hiding it. Then that person might be the suspect. Someone painting a self-serving picture -- was mixed into this academy. If this were a power struggle, it would be someone from the faculty room... or perhaps.

Perhaps, among the students. If there were to be.

Who would be the most suitable for that task?

"... Hime-chan. What sort of girl is Shiogi-chan?"

"Huh? Why're you beating about the bush?"

"... No, I just have a passing interest. You know, know thy enemy, know thy self, and triumph a hundred battles, said Cao Cao I think."

"Sun Tsu."

Hime-chan corrected me.

"Master, you're pretty unlearned."

With a follow-up attack, too.

"What are you saying. You know about Fermi's paradox? I am actually the one that solved it."

"Is- is that so! I apologize for my ignorant insolence! I bow to you!"

"....."

She believed me.

"... Anyways, I want to get some more data on Shiogi-chan. Can you tell me all you know?"

"Umm, you know. Right, you know, she's pretty strict. Acrimonious, maybe? Though you probably have to be, to be a strategist, but I feel like she still warps normalcy. She might be similar to the dean in that regard."

"Nothing is off-limits for achieving results?"

"No, Hagihara-san herself never creates objectives. She selects the most efficient method for achieving what she is told. Hagihara-san has no will of her own."

"... I see. Strategists cannot have their own goals, after all. If shogi pieces had a will of their own, it would be annoying."

"In that sense, Hagihara-san, rather than being suited for being a strategist, you might actually say she can't be anything else."

Hmm. As Aikawa-san said, similar -- I guess, similar indeed. When it comes to the person having nothing of their own, myself and Shiogi-chan are the same. However, it seems her choices are even narrower than mine. That was not her fault, but rather because she was locked away in this academy.

The difference between someone belonging to an organization and someone that does not. In that sense -- I became even more interested. Including suspicion of killing the dean.

"Ah, but just because she's a strategist doesn't mean you can underestimate her. Hagihara-san is a student of this academy, and we all are trained in self-defense."

"Yeah, my body knows that already."

"I guess the biggest thing about Hagihara-san would be kendo. She's a kendo ni-dan."

"Ni-dan? That is pretty ordinary for this school."

"No no, when it comes to kendo you can't underestimate ni-dan. They have always called it Kendo Saint Vulcan."

They do not.

Hagihara Shiogi -- Saijou Tamamo, and Shisei Yuma. This place was filled with exhibits ranging from the far-right culture to the far-left martial arts. --The road ahead seemed quite rocky. If there was any place for optimism, it would be that Yamitsuki and Zig Zag and other such direct combat students probably lacked tactical minds.

"But you know, Shiogi-chan and Tamamo-chan and such -- if I were to have met them outside of this school, they would be fun girls to be with."

Especially Shiogi-chan, I was fond of her.

"Master is soft toward enemies. They call that sending salt to the enemy."

"That would be finishing them off," I shook my head. "But you know, when it comes down to it, Shiogi-chan and Tamamo-chan and Yuma-chan, they are all people."

"The are all different people."

Hime-chan said, a rare occasion in which she said something pessimistic. Of course, her expression was that melancholic one.

Once again, I looked at Hime-chan. Originally, this had just been because Hime-chan wanted to quit this school, wanted to run away -- but did it make sense to blockade escape just to protect secrets?

Hime-chan called herself a failure, and I believed that, and Aikawa-san did not refute that -- but was it truly possible that Yukariki Ichihime, as a friend of mankind's strongest, was actually a nobody failure?

It was just a wild guess, but there may be another reason for why they obstructed Hime-chan's escape to this degree. For example, if Hime-chan had some special skill, some strange power, for instance... In other words, the dean did not want to part with Hime-chan, for instance...

That could be like Yamitsuki like Saijou Tamamo, or like Zig Zag like Shisei Yuma. But to this point it seemed like Hime-chan did not have any direct combat skill -- if so, she would not have been captured so easily by the Strategist's fence. But if you were to suggest she is a strategist or tactician like Hagihara Shiogi, I would say no. I would refute that clearly, as Hime-chan's actions, such as chasing me, lacked any sort of sense of reason.

Something felt off. It was like trying a seven-colored Rubik's Cube. Like a puzzle that had too many pieces and could not be completed. Too much evidence, too many hints.

What meaning did Hime-chan hold to this unrealistic academy -- if that were not a skill thing or a knowledge thing, perhaps a mental emotional skill? Something that could rival the Strategist or Yamitsuki, and even Zig Zag.

"... Hmm."

Then, from hereon forth, if we were to fail meeting up with Aikawa-san, and were to be obstructed by Hagihara Shiogi and Shisei Yuma, Saijou Tamamo and other such dangers, then maybe Yukariki Ichihime's hidden, secret power would awaken and save us from the pinch situation.

"Actually, Hime-chan was an ESPer!"

"W- what-! This is really a surprise! I was perfectly saved by this!"

"But I can't control this power... ahh, Master!"

"What is this! My right hand is Hannibal! A green aura is smoking from my shoelaces!"

.....

It appears I have no novelist talent.

An emo that lacks even imagination, is there a point to living?

Leaving that aside, in any case, probably, Aikawa-san was hiding something from me. And most likely, Hime-chan too. That is fine, obviously. I am hiding plenty of things as well as I live, and regardless of who, I will probably never speak them. Secrets are secrets because they are locked away. And could it be wished, that secrets remain secrets, that lies remain lies, and all will end as such -- I hope.

If I could, I wanted to end as an outsider. I had no intention of abandoning that wish.

As we were about to pass through a place that looked like a courtyard, smack, I tripped over something. After Hime-chan's story earlier, I had a cold sweat thinking it might be a trap, but nothing happened. It appeared that I had tripped over a ball that people had forgotten to store away.

"Jeez--"

But, just as I was about to pick up that ball, my thoughts caught up to my action. Sumiyuri Academy -- Hanging High School. In this abnormal academy, would something ordinary as a ball that people had forgotten to store away actually exist--

1. Written 病蜘蛛 (Sick Spider)
2. Written 闇突 or "dark stab," implying that she stabs in the darkness. It's a pun though, in that normally if you say "yamitsuki" you think of 病み付き, which means "with illness." Draw conclusion as you will.
3. She meant lives

2

In the middle of darkness, a rough-cut head in decapitated form.

No matter how insanely insane my mind may be, I could not remain calm this time. I respectively yanked my hand away from grabbing that, and then my mind stopped. I was completely confused. Completely deranged. The happening, the situation, I could not comprehend. I was misunderstanding everything. I could not figure out the correct answer. That which reminded me no matter what of Origami Noa's head hanging from the dean's room's ceiling lacked any expression and looked like she was just asleep, yet there was nothing below her neck--

"Careful!"

Hime-chan saved me. She tackled me with abandon at the waist to fling me away, and while normally being struck like that by Hime-chan who was maybe half my size would not even cause me to budge, my soul-less body was easily pushed aside, similar to what happened some hours ago.

And then that moment. Where I was standing was a bowgun arrow stuck into the ground.

My body went below freezing and I immediately grasped what was happening. Keeping crouched, I hugged Hime-chan to me, and then rolled. I could hear arrows going thud, thud into the ground behind us. If I kept rolling like this they would be able to right their aim -- I needed to go on the offensive.

The first arrow was fired from -- around there? Given the direction of the later arrows, I could make an estimate. Even if the enemy was moving while firing, then I can read that, too. While rolling, I grabbed a rock the size of a fist, and then changed direction. Seeing a arrow land a bit off, I stood, and threw the rock where I predicted they would be. At the same time, the bowgun attacks ceased.

Eventually -- in the darkness, the figure of one girl faded in. A slender form with a mesmerizing set of long, black hair -- and the black sailor uniform.

"These things are truly no good unless you are used to it--" she said, as she tossed the bowgun aside. It appeared she had run out of arrows anyways. "Hagihara Shiogi. Once again, I am pleased to meet you."

"-- me, too."

I stood in front of Hime-chan, as if to shield her. We had been ambushed yet again. It seemed Tamamo-chan had communicated our location after all. She looked dull, but she was properly acting in a group, Tamamo-chan.

But then why was a piece of Tamamo-chan on the ground there?

"I wanted to take advantage of your surprise. But it did not go as well as planned -- it is rare that my plans go wrong to this extent. Really, just what are you?"

The last question was directed toward me -- but that was my line. What is with this school. Just three hours ago I had seen a dangling head of a dismembered dean, and then three hours after that I trip over the head of a girl, and in between, I had almost lost my life a number of times.

Battlefield.

The word that had come up several times the first time I had encountered Shiogi-chan crossed my mind. Tamamo-chan was a comrade that had just been slain. Hence Tamamo-chan and I had nothing like friendship or love or sympathy -- but this easily, I saw her head like we're out of time so this is the end--

"... Is there a meaning to this?"

"It is meaningless to think of a meaning. I am always just choosing the most efficient, most effective plan. Of course--" Shiogi-chan shook her head with concern, without any trace of acting. Currently, her head was still attached. "-- More than half of the students lost their will to fight due to the appearance of Overkilled Red -- so this was not the most efficient, most effective. But still I was able to come up with the next most efficient fairly effective plan, so it was alright."

She said it in past tense.

Indeed, checkmate had already ended. Checkmate based on impeccable timing and action. Not a single bowgun arrow landed, but Shiogi-chan was able to learn that Aikawa Jun was not hidden nearby. She probably only half-intended to land a shot to begin with -- and if all that was here was Hime-chan and I, then a bare-handed Shiogi-chan would suffice.

"This is the end of the game of tag -- from now on, this is just a game of ogre."

Check...

There was no helping it... to this point, this was definitely our defeat. We were unable to escape from Hagihara Shiogi's iron fence.

In the game of going behind each other's backs -- but it was a satisfying defeat.

This was not bad.

Protecting Hime-chan was too much for me, after all. That was Aikawa-san's role, after all. It is a shame, Mr. User of Nonsense.

"... well, then."

Then, it is time to beg for mercy.

I was well-learned -- in begging for mercy.

I took a step forward, and Shiogi-chan also took a step forward, --and in between, Hime-chan slid in.

Spread her hands out, she created a small wall in front of me. That was, truly, a small and fragile wall -- but that meaning was understood.

"Uu, uuuuu--"

Hime-chan trembled, but she did not move. Covering me, she refused to move.

"....."

Shiogi-chan saw that and stopped. And then she sighed, exasperated, and then said, "Stop your futile resistance, Yukariki."

"I do not remember teaching you to struggle until the end. Now, here -- you do not have the reason to defeat me, you understand that in your head, correct?"

"-- That's," Hime-chan trembled, but with a firm voice, she answered Shiogi-chan. "Not certain until you try."

"To not know until you try -- are you that foolish?"

"Indeed. And I'm, fine with that," Hime-chan said. "I would rather be dumb like this, than smart like that."

-- Ah.

Why did I.

Why did I think of such a stupid thing.

Aikawa Jun's friend -- Yukariki Ichihime.

For that, special skills or strange powers.

Would such a requirement be needed?

She thought of me and cried.

She frantically stopped me.

She chased after me.

She saved me.

She -- smiled for me.

She is no failure.

Hime-chan.

You are -- a brilliant person.

Someone worthy of standing alongside mankind's strongest.

"... Gosh -- this is quite a masterpiece."

Then, fine.

I will continue our play friendship for just a little longer.

Good, good. I feel very good.

Right now, I -- feel, really good.

If I slip up, I may even start laughing.

"Hime-chan... you can go back alone, right?" I whispered. "You followed my trail in the first place, so you should be able to return alone, right?"

"... Master? What're you talking about?"

She seemed truly puzzled.

No matter what, they overlapped.

"Leave this to me and go on ahead -- is what I'm saying."

Now is the time to split. This is not my selfishness or my cowardice -- this is my strategy. Alright, Shiogi-chan. If the strategist you is going to treat Tamamo-chan like that -- then I'll throw away my role as the user of nonsense.

From now on, it's not about going behind each other's backs.

It's a fight to the death.

I'll kill you, slice you to bits, line you all up, trim you down to size, and set you out for all the world to see.

"But, Master..."

"And, it's a bit late, but a correction. I might not be able to be Aikawa-san's friend. But I do wish to be one. Just now, I thought so. So your nickname for me is terribly accurate... while I'm half-assed and vague, it's definitely and truly absolutely, ironically suiting. Then--" I glanced at Hime-chan for just a moment. I couldn't discern her expression. "-- If the apprentice doesn't listen to the Master, it's weird, right?"

Hime-chan.

Yukariki Ichihime nodded -- and then ran off, her mind set.

"! Wait!"

Shiogi-chan's expression turned to surprise, and at that moment, I ran toward her. First strike certain victory -- of course I wasn't choosing such a pretty strategy. This was just a simple act to buy time for Hime-chan to escape. Even if Hagihara Shiogi is aStrategist -- she must react to the threat in front of her. That's a reflexive action that can't be helped for as long as a human is a living being. To avoid that, you need become like a human failure, to have athletic prowess surpassing reflexes -- but unfortunately Shiogi-chan had a normal human girl's physique.

"--!"

Shiogi-chan barely avoided by attack, and then took three steps back, creating space between us. In kendo this would be called the space of nine steps. It was sufficient for enemies, and barely not enough for combat.

Shiogi-chan wistfully looked at Hime-chan, who was fading out, and then sighed heavily.

"I do not understand... why do you keep trying to throw off my calculations? I cannot read you at all. They say people are made of atoms, but you seem to have no motive whatsoever, instead just enjoying being a thorn in my side."

Motive? Ah... Tamamo-chan asked me that, too. Although I can answer that clearly, now.

"My motive was to get Hime-chan away from here. If you want a joking tone, a bit of a quick graduation."

"That attitude suits you more, you know. More than half-heartedly lining up nonsense."

Shiogi-chan too, had just allowed her motivate of Hime-chan to escape, yet she was undeterred. Even though her own plan had just been twisted out of shape. It appeared her mode was different from the Shiogi-chan of five hours ago.

"... I suppose as would be expected of Overkilled Red's partner."

"Partner? Hey, hey. I'm just a decoy that got dragged into this mess. Does that person have a partner... partners must be equals, you know, and an equal of mankind's strongest, that's illogical."

"The partner of the strongest is the weakest. And decoy? Were you forced into promising that you will return your nonsense? Your talent at effortlessly entering this Hanging High School and meeting up with Yukariki Ichihime -- this Hanging High School that boasts security befitting a golden castle, to manage to create enough confusion to let that red color to slip in unnoticed, to call that a decoy, no one will fall for it."

"....."

Aikawa-san -- was that her motive for using me? To begin with, she intended to slip in herself, so she tossed me in as the point-man. Actually, that made everything make sense. But, that was all.

"You're over-valuing me. I told you, didn't I? That's just luck and coincidence."

"If that were the case, it would be so much easier for me... you may not realize it yourself, so then, shall I tell you, as a souvenir for the underworld?"

"Souvenir for the underworld? Awesome, that's a wonderful phrase. I love the underworld."

"... That talent of yours is extremely dangerous. You are not doing anything, yet everything around you goes insane... If Nothing Is Bad, shall we call it. Has it never occurred to you? Abnormal incidents always occur around you, and strange people always are drawn to you, are they not?"

"... Nowhere in my soul."

Though to be honest I can't think of anything opposite. Or rather, did I have anything as wonderful as a soul?

"To use more popular words, you are like a type-that-magnetizes-talented-quirks along with being a type-that-causes-accidents. An even simpler way of putting it would be a simple troublemaker. ... in this case, your lack of motive or will is extremely irritating."

To a strategist like herself, she said.

"That is why we are labeling nasty existences like you Aimless Equation."

A system that exists for the purpose of being aimless and for the purpose of being nonexistent -- more than zero or Hitoshiki, an absolute equation that causes problems just by existing.

"... Of course. You and I are similar, but you've been given a motive, and I reject the motives that are given to me, so we're completely different. If you're a strategist, then I'm -- I guess you could say a scammer."

"... Is that so," Shiogi-chan closed her eyes and nodded. "... Then, I shall kill you back."

Shiogi-chan slide her feet one, two steps toward me, signaling that the discussion had ended. I stood awaiting, not bothering to set up a form. Shiogi-chan seemed to think this was suspicious, but she kept her feet moving, and closed the distance to where in kendo they would call it one-foot one-blade, and then--

"Wait."

I called time-out.

Shiogi-chan's shoulders slumped.

"Y, you know--"

"Don't misunderstand. I have no intention of being your enemy."

"...? What do you, mean?" she seemed to want to tear her hair out, as she took her distance from me again. "What other than being an enemy do you intend to do in this situation?"

"Betray."

I said, boldly. I overlapped myself with myself when I was declaring that I was escaping to Aikawa-san, and eliminated any fear or fright.

"Be... a tray?"

"Yup. if you think about it, there is no way I can win against a kendo ni-dan like you. And it does not look like I will be able to escape... then the remaining option is to betray, right?"

Scammers and silver tongues.

"betray... what do you mean exactly?"

"Where Hime-chan just ran to, and where Aikawa Jun is waiting, I will tell you."

"... Background, in other words. But I do not need to accept such a negotiation," Shiogi-chan said, glaring at me with an evaluating look. "I can just break one, two bones and force you to talk."

"But that is no good. That is not good not good at all, Shiogi-chan. If you were to do that, then I will declare right now that I will lie. And I will tell you now that my lying is pretty good."

"I have confidence that I will force you to say the truth."

"Yet some level of anxiety will remain. According to you, I am an equal of Aikawa Jun, right? And Shiogi-chan. In this case, for me to betray here holds graet meaning for you. You understand, as a strategist. You said it yourself... Overkilled Red is soft on friends. It is true, Aikawa-san did not pursue you that time. So soft on friends can also mean weak to friends -- am I wrong?"

"Let us say, that I were to hurt you," Shiogi-chan said, as if confirming. "Aikawa Jun would unleash her fury on us, but if you betray instead--"

Trust is sad. That is why betrayal hurts.

"-- There would be an opening for a strategist, correct?"

"... So. This exchange, what will you gain other than not being hurt here?"

"To be honest, I do not care. No, really, until just now I was seriously intending to let Hime-chan escape and take you on-- and then go down fighting, but I do not hate you that much. Inhumanity that does not think of humans as human -- I actually like that."

".....!"

Shiogi-chan seemed to be surprised by my line, as she took a step back. I had thought she would begin an argument with me over that, so this was unexpected, but in any case I could not let go even an unexpected chance caused by an opponent's slip-up, so I continued.

"I may be meaningless and aimless, but you too are not doing things for yourself. You too do not select motives for yourself. We have differences but we are the same. We are similar. Shiogi-chan, you know. I love proud, want-less, lonesome people -- and I do not want to become an enemy of people I am fond of... I want to be as friendly as possible."

"In other words."

Shiogi-chan seemed taken aback and took a deep breath before responding,

"You are saying that you have personal love for this Hagihara Shiogi?"

She said.

".........."

Something was wrong... or rather, everything was wrong... but whatever. Maybe that was Shiogi-chan's style as a strategist. Then all that is left for me is to follow through on my style. No, not just follow through. To penetrate.

"You can interpret that as you wish. Ah, of course, this betrayal... no, in your words, this exchange. Not that it really matters, but this is a match between a strategist and a scammer. It is not that we are creating a written contract, we are simply continuing our match. And possible, you may be being scammed by me. If you do not have the confidence to defeat me with a strategy -- then you do not need to accept. Break my arm or leg or whatever. I will not resist."

"....."

Shiogi-chan looked like she was struggling with this for a bit -- although unlike her usual self her acting was quite obvious -- and after another moment, she looked at me with suspicion and,

"Then -- if you can deceive me, go ahead and deceive me, Mr. Scammer."

She stretched her left hand out to me.

"That need not be said. I am good at deceiving and being deceived. Especially when it comes to girls I like."

In response, I reached out with my right hand.

"....." ".......... Hahah."

Hagihara Shiogi laughed, like a high school girl.

1. Pun! Underworld in Japanese is 冥土 (Meido). There's another type of "meido" that Ii-tan loves.
2. Worth noting here that it's written 無為式 (Mutameshiki) and ends with "Shiki." Wonder where that's come up before...
3. Pun! In Japanese betray is 裏切り which can be read as "back cut" (pretty direct...), but since that doesn't work in English...