Liar, Liar - Volume 2 - Chapter 4

Chapter 4

What I Hid

Akizuki challenged me to the Treasure Hunt Board Game, and as the name suggested, it’d involve finding a “treasure” that my opponent had hidden.

“Ah-ha…! Hey, can you see me? Can you hear me, too? It’s cute li’l Noa!  ”

“…”

I faced away from the projected Akizuki coming from my device, preferring to examine my surroundings. I was in one corner of Building A, where I took most of my regular classes. All other students had already left, leaving the place dim and unnervingly silent.

It was just past seven at night, about half an hour after I’d accepted the Game request from Akizuki. What had I been doing in the meantime? Akizuki had informed me that I needed “someone to serve as a partner,” so I’d had to make a call. I’d also confirmed I still had a voice link with Kagaya. That was about it, basically the bare minimum. I didn’t have a grasp of the Game’s basic rules, much less any kind of strategy.

But that was to be expected. After all, this Game wasn’t a competition for Akizuki. It was a throwaway match. One she was already guaranteed to win.

There’s no winning if I want to rescue Himeji. If I could abandon her, things might be different, but that’s not an option. Besides, even setting feelings aside, if word got out that I sacrificed my maid to save myself, it’d kill my reputation as a Seven Star. I’m going to lose no matter what.

I shook my head and sighed. I couldn’t afford to win this Game, or lose it, or even force a draw. Akizuki was an elite-level opponent—a Six Star with a Unique Star, which made her very close to a Seven Star. And since I couldn’t rely on the Company for much right now, I wasn’t sure I could hold my own at all.

“…Eh-heh-heh!  ”

Whether she was aware of it or not, Akizuki had a cunning smile back on her face.

“Isn’t this great, Hiroto? None of your friends from class are here. Too bad! I almost won by forfeit there… Hee-hee! Yep, it’s really too bad!  ”

“…”

“Aw, ignoring me again? Ah, well… We’re short on time, so let’s begin. First, question: Is your partner hiding on floor three or below?”

“A question? What are you talking about?”

I raised an eyebrow a bit. Silence was no longer an option. I knew that this was a Game that involved finding my opponent’s hidden partner, but beyond that I had nothing to work with. Being asked a question wasn’t a part of that as far as I knew.

“Um…well, it’s a question,” Akizuki replied, leaning as though she had her device perched on a windowsill. “It’s one of the commands available in Treasure Hunt. It lets you ask a yes-no inquiry. You can only ask one question per turn and must tell the truth when you reply. You’ll immediately lose if you lie, so be careful!  ”

“Mm… Okay. In that case, no.”

“Mm-hmm. Right. On to the movement phase… You have one of these per turn, too, just like the question. If you narrow down which classroom square your opponent’s partner is in, you can move there yourself. Three squares per turn is the max.”

“Three squares?”

I looked around, unsure what Akizuki meant. A moment later, I caught a glimpse of something on my device screen. I looked at it, as if sucked in, and realized it was a simple map, a grid six squares high by eight squares wide. These forty-eight squares apparently corresponded to actual classrooms inside this building. For example, I was on the fourth floor right now, in front of Class 2-J, the fifth classroom from the west side. On the screen map, a little S icon was placed on a square four up from the bottom and five from the left. An A icon was on the left side of the ground floor.

“…All right.”

Once I’d examined all this, I gave the projected Akizuki a nod.

“So basically, every classroom is a square in this board game, and we and our partners can use the movement phase to move up to a certain amount each turn?”

“Eh-heh-heh! Exactly!   You’re moving left or right for the most part, but if you’re on a square on either end with a stairway, you’re free to go up and down, too!  ”

Akizuki had to be in a good mood if she was willing to relinquish all this extra info. To add one other detail, our partners were hiding within different classrooms, and all the real-life doors were electronically locked. Presumably, they were set not to open unless we executed some kind of command.

“Got it? You know… It’d be no fun if it ended immediately, so I’ll stretch this out a little bit for you. I’ll move one square to the right, and that’s the end of my turn!  ”

She was egging me on and enjoying every moment of it. Her icon moved a square to the right, following her real-life movements.

With her turn finished, it was time for me to move or ask a question or whatever…but there was no need to rush this. Based on what my device indicated, I had up to ten minutes to execute my turn, so it was best to use them to their fullest to suss out the rest of the Game’s rules.

“Oh, but that was a lie, so…”

“Huh?”

“Eh-heh-heh! Don’t worry, Hiroto; I’ll explain just for you!   You see, the Ability in my first slot is Double Action, which makes it my turn twice in a row. So it’s time for another question. Hey, Hiroto, is your partner hiding on floor five or above?”

“Double Action? Are you kidding me? What kind of cheat Ability is that?”

“Huh? Aw, c’mon, it’s a totally normal Ability. I just did some tinkering with it, is all!   Eh-heh-heh! So what’s your answer, Hiroto? Better hurry up and give it before you’re disqualified!  ”

“Tsk… Okay, no.”

“Oh, wow, cool! Got it!   That must mean your partner’s on the fourth floor. Eh-heh-heh! I’m so cute, it must be making me luckier, too, huh?”

“…Hahhh. How would I know? If you’re going to keep praising yourself, at least save it for after you move.”

“Hmm? Oh, right, right. Okay, for my second movement, I’ll go one more square to the right, I think. I want to savor this chance to see you all irritated while I can… Eh-heh-heh! I’ll make you squirm before too long!   Don’t expect me to end this quickly!  ”

After all that, Akizuki finally ended her turns. Then, as she was waving goodbye very deliberately with both hands, her projection cut off and so did the audio. My surroundings were quiet for the first time in several minutes.

“…”

I still lacked a clear idea of what was going on, but Akizuki’s double turn made it clear how much of an advantage she had. I felt cold sweat and a nervous shudder run down my back at the same time. My frantic mind urged me to go faster.

“…Oh, right.”

Recalling something, I took out my device right after I’d put it in my back pocket. I hurriedly activated three Delays at once. These were the only Abilities I’d managed to bring to this Game. At level 2, each one wouldn’t amount to much, but they’d still extend the length of my turns somewhat. It was all I could think to install, since I’d had no time to consider the Game’s structure, but it had probably been my best available option anyway. I had a strategy meeting to conduct, after all.

“Okay…”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the remaining time go from ten minutes to twenty. I immediately contacted my partner.

“Hello? It’s me. Can you hear me?”

“Yeah, loud and clear. Am I coming through all right? I’m talking in a really low voice so the Little Devil won’t hear me.”

“I hear you just fine. A little throaty and weirdly alluring, but…”

I joked a bit, and the ruby eyes watching me through the screen narrowed a bit.

Yes, I’d invited none other than Sarasa Saionji to serve as my partner for the Treasure Hunt Board Game. She’d sneaked into Eimei the moment her classes at Ohga were over to keep an eye on me. For a disguise, she’d donned a well-worn Eimei boys’ uniform, combining it with a masculine cap and face mask to complete her ensemble. I think her intention was to play the part of a classmate of mine who happened to still be in the building.

I lowered my voice to match Saionji’s volume. “Um… Well, first, are you okay, Saionji? Because I think you’ll be locked in there for a little while.”

“Oh, I’m fine. I don’t have to do anything, so it’s actually pretty easy. It’s a little annoying how I can’t make any noise, though. Also, it’s kind of a bit chilly, too.”

“I guess April evenings do get kind of cold. Sorry about that. I should’ve lent you my jacket.”

“…! That, um, I think I’d need some courage to put that on.”

“Why? If you’re cold, then why refuse?”

I raised an eyebrow at a slightly pink Saionji. There was no lending her my jacket right now anyway. I felt a little bad for her and Himeji, who was serving as Akizuki’s partner. They’d just have to put up with the cold for now.

“Again, thank you, Saionji. If you hadn’t come, I might’ve been dead before the Game started.”

“Mmm… It’s fine,” she replied, leaning against a desk as she turned away from me. “I knew what I was getting into when I agreed to help, and…you know, if you lose, that’s bad for me, too.”

“…I appreciate it,” I said, relaxing a little when I noticed how self-conscious Saionji appeared. “Losing helplessly would’ve left me completely devastated, but I couldn’t rope in some random student without knowing the Game myself.”

“Yeah, I get that. Hey, did Yuki say anything? I doubt she’d just resign herself to being a hostage without another word.”

“No, we talked…but you can probably guess what she said.”

“Really? So, like, ‘I apologize for causing you such trouble, Master, but we can resolve this easily, I simply need to leave the Academy.’ Something like that?”

“Are you psychic or something?”

From the vocabulary to the intonation, the expression, and the pauses, Saionji had completely nailed it. She smiled at my flabbergasted reaction.

“Hee-hee…! Yuki’s always been like that. She gave her all to the real Sarasa, too, just as she does with you. Her leaving is such a stupid idea, but I’m sure she means every word of it.”

“Yeah, and that’s why I can’t allow her to go through with it. If Himeji takes a bullet for me and leaves the island, I’m positive I’ll never get over it. For now, we need to get a handle on the rules. I have just under ten minutes until the end of my turn, and I need to have a perfect understanding of the rules before then. Can you help me out with that, Saionji?”

She snickered at me. “Sure,” she said. “I’d be glad to. It won’t even take three minutes.”

“So, the Treasure Hunt Board Game basically consists of tracking down your opponent’s treasure.”

I was leaning against the weirdly cold wall of the school corridor while watching the projected display coming from my device.

“Our partners are the treasures. You’re mine, and Himeji is Akizuki’s.”

“…When you describe me as a ‘treasure’ and a ‘partner,’ it sounds really weird, you know.”

“Sh-shut up. That’s what the rules say, okay? …So the Game’s about finding the opponent’s partner before they can locate mine. If Akizuki finds you before I can find Himeji, I lose, right?”

I took my time going over this, making sure I fully understood everything. The victory conditions were simple enough. Nothing tricky so far. I used a finger to switch displays to the square grid representing this building.

“All right. This is Building A, the field of the Treasure Hunt. It’s the biggest structure on Eimei School grounds, with six floors and forty-eight rooms, eight per level. All three years of high school are taught here, with fourteen classes for each year. The rest of the rooms are things like teachers’ offices and the infirmary.”

“Mm-hmm. This is a simple six-by-eight map depicting it.”

“Got it. Player positions are displayed on the map at the start, and they’re updated in real time whenever we execute a movement. Meanwhile, the partners—you and Himeji—are hidden somewhere on this grid, placed by the players.”

“Yeah, I went to the fourth floor after you all but ordered me to.”

“All right, all right. Thank you for being so obedient, okay? Anyway, the Game starts after the partners are in place. It’s a turn-based system, and when it’s my turn, I have access to several commands.”

“You mean the question and movement phases? The Little Devil did both of those.”

Saionji turned to her right, squinting a little. Perhaps she was reading the same rule text I was, sifting through relevant sections.

“Umm, right, here… Players have access to four commands during their turn. The first, question, lets them pose a yes-no inquiry to their opponent. The other side must answer truthfully or be immediately disqualified.”

“Yeah.”

Akizuki had explained that to me. The question command forced your opponent to give you truthful answers, making it my main weapon for narrowing down my target’s position.

“I suppose the basic strategy is to start with broad inquiries as she did, then gradually close in on your target. Next up is movement. Each player can move up to three squares from their current position per turn.”

“Right, you’re serving as your own game piece, kinda. You’re moving as if you’re sitting on top of this grid here, up to three ‘rooms’ at a time.”

“I suppose so. You can move left and right up to three squares, either toward the gymnasium to the east or the schoolyard to the west. There are stairwells on both sides, too, so you can also move up and down.”

It was best to imagine it like chess, where each piece had its own restrictions. I was on a rectangular six-by-eight board, normally able to move only left or right, but I could also go up or down on the far edges. Both players were limited to up to three squares per move. It all corresponded with the real-life building and its classrooms. When I pictured it that way, movement wasn’t too hard to comprehend.

“Okay, next.”

I saw Saionji nod back at me, and we moved on to the other two commands. I hadn’t seen these used yet, so they were total unknowns to me.

Reading from the screen carefully to ensure I got nothing wrong, I said, “It looks like the other two aren’t used every single turn, unlike question and movement, but they’re a lot more vital to the Game. The third command is solve. You use it to say which square you think the opponent’s partner is located in. If you’re right, the Game ends there. However, to use solve, you have to physically stand in front of the classroom you want to target. Knowing the right square isn’t enough; you have to move to the spot and pick it. My opponent and I are each allowed to solve only three times.

“Three times, huh? So you’re only allowed to get it wrong twice…”

Saionji didn’t seem too thrilled about that. Having three guesses didn’t strike me as all that stingy, though. Allowing two mistakes was pretty lenient.

“The real tricky command is the fourth one, escape. With it, you can freely change your partner’s position during your turn. Functionally, it resets all the knowledge your opponent learned and removes your partner from danger. But using escape requires that you sacrifice one of your solve guesses.”

“Mmm… Right. So your guesses are kind of like a card hand you can use for offense and defense, huh? You can evacuate your partner if you think your opponent knows where they are, but then you’ll lose one of your attacks as well. No wonder the Little Devil brought in Double Action. She said she was taking it easy on you to start, didn’t she? But if she wants to, she can actually move twice as fast as you. That’s a lot of pressure to keep up with. I’m willing to bet you’ll burn through your guesses first, Shinohara.”

“Yeah, probably.”

Saionji’s conjectures made perfect sense. It made me sigh a little.

With question, movement, and solve, I had several options available each turn. However, the Game was all about deducing the location of the opposing partner and getting there as fast as I could. That, and using escape so my opponent couldn’t manage it first. Escape was a great piece of defense, but it also used up one of my guesses, so I could only use it twice.

With all that in mind, the strength of Akizuki’s Double Action became abundantly clear. Getting to use question and movement twice each turn meant she could play with double the efficiency—and that wasn’t all. Thanks to the position I was in, I had to constantly consider the distance between Akizuki and Saionji. She had two turns for each one I got, and if she deduced Saionji’s position in the first one, I might not be able to invoke escape before she won.

“Yeah, Double Action is way too powerful. She’s not going easy on me at all.”

“No. I’m willing to bet it’s another illegal Ability provided by the mastermind, just like that dual-layer Emissary and Destructive Impulse. If it was being passed around in public, I would’ve heard of it.”

“Yeah, I bet…”

I shook my head a little. I suppose Akizuki felt like tricking us wasn’t necessary anymore. Everything was on the table, and she had no reason to hold back. Undoubtedly she had some other busted Abilities in her two remaining slots, things just as bad as Double Action or worse.

“Shinohara…” Looking at the screen, I saw Saionji watching me, a little distressed. “That’s about it for the rules. What are you going to do now?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well…I don’t think you can win. If you do, Yuki will have to leave the Academy, and I’d hate that. But if you lose, you’ll have to leave, right? I’m…not sure how to handle this Game.”

“Oh… That’s what you mean.”

It took me a moment to understand the question. Saionji had a good point. The Treasure Hunt Board Game was painfully unfair, designed to leave me helpless before it even started. Win or lose, I’d be ruined afterward. But unlike Clash of Triangles, this Game was designed not to allow ties. Even if it did, I didn’t think it’d make much difference. As long as Himeji was a hostage, Akizuki enjoyed an absolute advantage over me. That’s why I needed to conquer this Game more urgently than any I’d played before.

“…” I fixed my gaze on Saionji. “I actually think there’s a way to solve that problem. I’m not certain, but I might have a plan to turn the tables.”

“Mm-hmm……”

Keeping an eye on the remaining time, I ran down the strategy in my mind with her. She listened on, her face deadly serious, but once I was done, she quietly nodded.

“Hmm… Okay. Yeah, that might have a chance of working. It makes sense so far to me, at least. Like, it may very well be the only viable option. You know, I thought this when you played Kugasaki, too. When you’re given the leeway to make the most unfair move possible at the last moment, you turn into this genius.”

“Thanks. It’s an honor to have the Empress’s seal of approval. If I want this to work, we need to play the Game as usual to start, right? I should play fair and act as if I’m doing everything possible to win. That’ll be my aim for the time being. I’ll set everything else aside and worry about winning.”

“Right,” Saionji replied, arms crossed. She closed her eyes, reviewing what we’d discussed.

“Questions to work out where her partner is hidden, movement to get there, and solve to give the answer. But we can’t forget escape. Cornering your opponent once isn’t enough. Yuki will be removed at the last minute. Your number of guesses is critical. If your opponent runs out of them, it’s as good as won.”

“Yeah. So what you need the most in this Game is speed. I gotta put my opponent in check first and make Akizuki use an escape. Do that three times, and she’ll be done for. That’s the minimum I have to achieve. However, Akizuki has Double Action. I’ll never win playing the normal way.”

“…So what will you do?”

Worry colored Saionji’s voice. I gave her a shallow grin. “What do you think?” I replied, trying to sound as bold and villainous as possible. “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and a cheat for a cheat. After everything she’s done to me, now she’s trying to cheat her way to victory against a Seven Star—against us. Time to make that Little Devil regret it.”

“Eh-heh-heh… Ready to surrender yet, Hiroto?  ”

It was shortly after Saionji and I had wrapped up our conference. I switched my device back to the Treasure Hunt Board Game just before my twenty-minute turn elapsed. Akizuki wore her usual sweet, provoking smile.

“…”

“Question time,” I flatly said, not reacting to her jab. “Is Himeji in the upper half of the building—the fourth floor or higher?”

“Huhh? What’s up with that? Borrrr-ing. This is your big chance to chat with cute little Noa. You could act a little happier about it, you know… No, not in the upper half.”

“Okay, then I’ll move three squares to the right and end my turn.”

I kept the conversation to a minimum, running through my turn at breakneck speed.

“Mmmph…”

Akizuki hemmed and hawed (as irritatingly as possible, of course). I imagine she didn’t like my attitude much, but she dropped the act quickly. Her second turn was coming up, and as before, she used Double Action to rapidly narrow down where Saionji was hiding. She was still “going easy” on me movement-wise, staying on the right edge of the first floor, but she already had Saionji’s location narrowed down. She could go hunting for my partner whenever she liked.

When my turn came up again…

“Well, Kagaya?”

…I contacted Kagaya, who was stationed outside of school grounds, to ask if she could intervene somehow. With her (or the Company’s) cheats, I’d have a lot more firepower, which would make draining Akizuki of her guesses easier.

“Hmmmm…”

Unfortunately, Kagaya didn’t sound too hopeful.

“No, I’m afraid it’s not looking good. I don’t think it’s a security problem. Probably a defense Ability. Noa may have placed a Wide-Range Barrier or something over the building. I’m talking to you via your device’s standard API, so that still works, but any nonstandard access routes are blocked. She must really be on the lookout for hacking… If I had the rest of the Company with me, that’d be one thing, but I might be stuck by myself.”

“Darn… Okay.”

Kagaya’s voice, underlaid by the sound of a clacking keyboard, made me shrug and lean against the nearby classroom door. Akizuki was nothing if not careful with everything she did. If she’d blocked all access from outside the school, I couldn’t ask the Company for any help at all. I fell silent, hand against my forehead.

“Well, look on the bright side,” Kagaya continued, a bit jokingly. “If you’re really the biggest genius of your grade, Hiro—someone as hyper-intelligent as Noa—maybe it’ll work out? But that’s not exactly where your talents lie, huh? Too bad, too bad.”

“Hmm… Kagaya, are you saying that if we had someone as clever as Akizuki on hand, this might work out?”

“Huh? I meant that kind of as a figure of speech…but to sum up, yeah, I guess?”

She seemed a little surprised at my follow-up.

“Before the 4WC began, I coded that Detect Devices program as one way you could avoid pursuers during the event. Real cool Ability, right? It filters the nearby devices based on whether their owners were still ‘alive.’ You guys are the only ones in that building right now. If you could use Detect Devices you could figure out Shirayuki’s location really easily.”

“Oh… Yeah, you’re right.”

“Sure am. But with that Wide-Range Barrier in effect, it won’t work. Detect Devices needs to run data through external servers to work. If a super genius was nearby, maybe they could reprogram the Ability for me so it could work stand-alone. Wide-Range Barrier only stops external interference, not internal cheating. I know the mods we’d need to make the program work, so I can relay them all to you.”

“It’s possible to reprogram the Ability without a computer?” I asked.

“Oh, Academy devices are way more powerful than top-of-the-line PCs, Hiro! Especially if you’re high-rank enough to unlock all the features. Boy, if I was in there, I could set everything up in less than two minutes. Too bad. I don’t see how that could happen. Better find someone el—”

“Well, one moment,” I cut in. “It might be possible.”

“Really…?”

I looked to the projected screen Saionji was on. “We’ve got an even bigger genius than Akizuki right here.”

“Ugh… I knew you’d say that. You really like using and abusing people, don’t you?”

“I don’t have a choice. You’re the only person I can count on here.”

“Me…? You think so? Hmm… Hee-hee!” Saionji blushed a bit for reasons only she knew, then nodded. “Hey, Kagaya?” she asked, sitting on a desk. “Kagaya is your name, right? I kind of hate admitting to this while we’re talking through his device, but I’m afraid I have some personal stuff that prevents me from giving you my ID. So we’ll have to keep using this channel, okay?”

“Oh, wait, is that you, Hoodie Girl?”

“Yep. Nice to see you again. I’m not wearing a hoodie right now…but let’s stop wasting time. I think I can do that reprogramming you were talking about, so can you tell me what it involves, exactly?”

“What?! Do you really mean that?”

“Of course I do. I’m not lying. I didn’t mention it last night, but I’m known to be a genius on the Academy. The Little Devil couldn’t hold a candle to me.”

“Wow… All right, then, Hoodie Girl, I’ll explain it all to you.”

Kagaya must’ve taken a liking to Saionji’s boasting, because she agreed without hesitation. “Just know,” she added, keeping her still-jubilant voice down, “when it comes to things like this…I don’t take prisoners.  ”

“The…second floor, fourth square from the right. That’s where Yuki is.”

After Kagaya relayed the required programming changes for Detect Devices, Saionji managed to implement them in just under ten minutes. It was close, but we wrapped up before my second turn ended. Saionji was now slumped against her chair, undoubtedly drained by Kagaya’s drill sergeant–like instruction.

“Hahhh… Hahhh… I’ll get you back for this later… You’re crazy to think that would only take two minutes. No one could code up something so complex that quickly.”

“What? No, I said two minutes if I was doing the work. No one else can manage it! But I gotta say, Hoodie Girl, you have a lot of potential! I had to spend a whole day putting Shirayuki through the easy beginner course, but you’ve absorbed it all in ten minutes!”

“I’ll take that as a compliment… You gave her an ‘easy beginner course’? You didn’t even try to be that nice to me. That was relentless.”

“Heh… That’s just how I prefer to express my love.”

“D-don’t expect me to fall for that, Kagaya!” Saionji whined with anger in her eyes. That was likely her way of recognizing Kagaya’s technical intelligence, though. I certainly couldn’t disagree on that front.

“…Oh, right.”

My turn was almost up. It was time to get back into the Game. I tapped on my device, now much surer of myself, and returned to the main treasure hunt screen.

Akizuki greeted me with a playful “You’re so late!” Then she leaned over to peer at me. “I can’t believe how cold you are to me, Hirotooo… Don’t get too full of yourself just because I’m going easy on you, okay? I want you to pay more attention to me!  ”

“I doubt that. You’re just looking to tick me off.”

“Huhh? No way! I want to chat some more, is all.”

“Oh, really? Can I ask you something, then, Akizuki?”

“Sure! I’m not just cute, but really smart and generous, too, so ask me anything!   Whether I answer is up to me, thou—”

“Not if I can help it. Question: Akizuki, did you hide Himeji in Class 1-K, four squares from the right on the second floor?”

“…?!”

I forcibly cut off the easygoing Akizuki to make an inquiry. It was the most decisive question, and I didn’t care how suspicious it made me appear. Honestly, it ditched the whole spirit of the Game, but per the rules of the Game, Akizuki couldn’t lie to me.

“Yes… What’s going on here? Are you cheating again, Hiroto?”

“What? Come on, don’t make it sound so disgraceful. I’ve never cheated before, and even if I did, there’s no way I could now, right? Not while you’ve got me trapped and I don’t have any decent Abilities to work with.”

“No, but…”

Disbelief, unease, and disquiet danced through Akizuki’s voice as she slumped. I’d actually debated whether to ask the question. It wouldn’t really give me any information, and it would put Akizuki on high alert, which was to my disadvantage. However, Akizuki was a powerful foe. Even if I’d kept quiet and marched for Class 1-K, she would’ve realized something was up. This tactic would hopefully throw her off her game.

“…”

I began my movement with a bold smile. By the end of it, I was on the second floor, two squares from the right. Class 1-K and Himeji were two squares from me. In chess terms, my move was akin to putting my opponent in check.

Akizuki watched silently onscreen. But after a few moments, she let out a light “Ah-ha!” wrenching her lips into a smile and letting out the most darling chuckle yet.

“That was a really good cheat you just did, Hiroto. All right. I’ll stop going easy on you. Question: Your partner is hiding on the fourth floor, two squares from the left. That’s the spot, right?”

“…Right.”

“Eh-heh-heh! I thought so!   You’re not the only one who knows where to go now. I narrowed it down ages ago, too! Still a little far, though…but I can address that real quick!”

A dark light flickered in Akizuki’s eyes despite her smile. She was true to her word about playing seriously. The third turn saw her move six whole squares, from the right edge of the first floor to the middle of the fourth. Double Action was not to be underestimated. After all her playing around, Akizuki immediately matched my check with one of her own.

Ngh…

I scowled internally. However, Akizuki was in her own little world, putting a sly finger to her chin.

“And before I forget,” she continued, “I’m using an escape, too. I’ll use up one of my guesses to move the maid to another room…and now the Game’s reset for you! See you soon!  ”

After a two-handed wave goodbye, she ended the call, a pretty blunt farewell by her standards. But she had to give instructions to Himeji—the room she needed to move to and the route. Akizuki would never keep a video chat with me open while giving those orders.

“Phew…”

I let out a sigh to relax my nerves.

“Hmm…? Hey, Shinohara, do you have a moment?”

“…? What’s up?”

“I’m not getting a signal from Yuki’s device any longer. I think she’s on to us.”

“Ugh…”

Saionji’s slightly stiff voice made me roll my eyes a bit. I supposed we should have seen this coming. After I’d gotten so close to my goal without using any questions, Akizuki was right to assume something was up. It would’ve been weirder if she hadn’t taken action.

“Himeji’s device might’ve been shut down, but it’s fine. We made Akizuki use her first guess. That’s more than good enough.”

“That’s true. Pulling ahead of her by one is pretty big. But—”

“Master?”

A pure, refreshing voice cut Saionji off. I whirled around, and there, standing as calmly as could be, was Shirayuki Himeji herself.

“Ah…”

My mind stopped for a moment, unable to process this. Honestly, it wasn’t all that incredible. The escape command was in effect, so of course Himeji had left her hiding spot. She’d been close enough that I was going to reach her in the next turn, so we were bound to pass each other.

“…”

Still, this felt entirely too abrupt. I stood there, unable to form a response. Himeji held her hands at around hip level, one on top of the other, and then she lowered her head in a deep bow.

“I’m deeply sorry, Master. Ms. Akizuki ordered me to cut off all access to my device. I don’t think any further methods involving it will work from now on.”

“Y-yeah, I figured. Are you okay? Is it all right to talk with me?”

“Yes. My device is still connected, so I imagine we are being overheard, but I won’t say anything that will put Ms. Akizuki at a disadvantage.”

She spoke just as she always did, and her silver hair swayed. I had no reason to doubt Himeji’s words. I muted the audio on my call with Saionji, knowing that Akizuki could hear anything said.

“So, using escape just means…walking somewhere else, huh? Kind of a letdown.”

“It appears so, yes. It would have been interesting if I warped to the next location, but apparently, not even the Academy has practical teleportation technology yet. I was also given a very troublesome, roundabout route, so as not to give you any information. Hahhh. I have no intention of disobeying her, but it’s certainly a handful.”

“Yeah, it sounds like it. Going up and down these stairways can be really tiring… Take care not to get cold after sweating, okay? It’s supposed to get chilly after ten, so you might get sick since the classrooms aren’t heated. My partner has already complained about the temperature.”

“Oh, really? I appreciate your concern, Master. I don’t want to spread anything, so I will be as careful as I can. By the way, Master, is my hunch about your partner correct?”

“Yeah, it’s probably who you think. So don’t worry. I’ll finish this Game and get you out of this soon.”

“Hee-hee… All right, Master. I look forward to it. If you’ll excuse me, Ms. Akizuki ordered that I move quickly, so I’d best be going.”

“Sure. See you later.”

“Okay.”

She headed for the stairs leading down, stopping only to throw me a slightly bashful look. Based on what she’d said, this was likely a feint. Judging her location based on whether I saw her go up or down was unwise.

“Phew…”

I took a breath as I thought over the Game. Glancing at the clock told me that it was a little past eight. Akizuki’s third turn wasn’t quite over yet—not until the escape command was complete—so I’d have a pretty lengthy time to work with.

I unmuted my call’s audio.

“Sorry. How’s it going, Saionji? I think you were about to say something.”

“Well, you cut me off without warning, so I don’t know how much you missed, but, um, I think we were talking about how to find Yuki. We still have two guesses left, but Detect Devices is now blocked, so what should we do next? We can’t just stall forever.”

“Mm… Yeah, you’re right.”

I nodded. As the last turn had revealed, it took full-on cheating combined with an opponent who wasn’t trying very hard at first just to maintain an even pace. We’d lose if we took the standard approach to narrowing down our target.

“The typical strategy would be to predict how Akizuki’s thinking and make guesses on where she might hide Himeji. However, that sounds pretty tough.”

“…? Why is that?”

“Simple. Akizuki’s been reading my moves throughout the entire Fourth Ward Challenge. She’s gotten in the way of everything I’ve done, and she’s seen right through each tactic. I think her actions are all based on what she believes I’ll do. And she’s using Eimei’s green Unique Star to make those calls.”

“Ohh… Right, you said it was stolen from the school. Hmm. But that makes things pretty bad for us. If she can anticipate your actions, then the green star has to possess a detection or data analysis skill, right? In the hands of someone with the Little Devil’s talents…”

“Yeah, exactly. I can’t be sure of it, but she might be reading my thoughts this very moment. Acting purely on supposition is dangerous for us. Akizuki might gain enough of an edge to dominate the Game.”

“You…might be right there,” Saionji agreed. She followed her words with a long groan, and I could definitely relate. If Akizuki truly could read my moves ahead of time… Honestly, there was no way to beat that. Worrying about it or ditching my strategy for some other one would have me going in circles, unable to do anything.

“But…”

“But?” Saionji’s projected image gave me a look. “Did you think of a way?”

“I don’t know if I can call it that. Akizuki’s been one step ahead of me all this time, but she messed up twice. Her reactions made it obvious that she didn’t expect what happened those times. The first time was during the Trial with Himeji; the second was moments ago when you pinpointed her location.”

“Mm… Yeah, that’s true. It’s strange. If she could fully read you, you’d think she would’ve dealt with those predicaments.”

“Right. So I thought over what made the difference, and I think it’s because I wasn’t the only person involved. Himeji and I were trading signals during Clash of Triangles, and our Detect Devices cheat was entirely yours and Kagaya’s work.”

“So…the Little Devil can only read your thought patterns?”

“That’s what it looks like. And if it’s true, we can use that against her. If we trust that Akizuki has used my thoughts to stash Himeji somewhere I won’t be likely to check, then…”

“…Then maybe it’d be easier for me to deduce, as a third party.” There was excitement in Saionji’s voice.

This could work. Akizuki, after all, believed the disguised Saionji to be merely a passerby, unworthy of attention. She thought I was going it entirely alone. And that mistake could be her fatal error.

“Okay,” Saionji quietly said. “Give me a moment and I’ll try working on this.” She quickly tapped her device and brought up the Treasure Hunt Board Game map, that flat six-by-eight grid with the S icon two rows up, two columns from the right-hand edge.

“All right. You’re here, in front of Class 1-M, on the right side of the second floor. You’re close to the stairs, so it’s easier to go up or down a level. We can immediately cross out the second floor. If Yuki went into one of those rooms, you would’ve seen her.”

“Right, that seems fair.”

“And that means the first floor is out, too.”

“Oh?”

Saionji used a paint tool to briskly draw double lines over the entire first floor of the grid.

“Are you sure? I get that Himeji can’t be on the second floor, but…”

“Think back to earlier. If the second floor was off the table, what question would you have asked the Little Devil? Assuming you were playing normal.”

“Hmm… If I’m here at the edge of the second floor, I’d like to confirm whether I should go up or down. I think I’d ask if Himeji’s on the second floor or below, or the third floor or higher—oh.”

“Right. If you asked that question and Yuki was on the first floor, you could get to the same level in a single turn. You might even be able to use a solve correctly in a single turn. I really doubt the Little Devil would make a mistake like that, so let’s set aside the first floor. Next up…the fourth floor is probably also out.”

More thick lines were drawn across the grid. But this time, I followed the logic.

“Is it because that’s where you are?”

“Exactly. I’m hiding in a fourth-floor classroom, and the Little Devil knows where I am. We know she likes to ensure everything’s perfect. She’d never risk my overhearing someone’s footsteps approaching. I can tell you that nobody passed by this room, at least.”

“I see. In that case…”

We pressed forward, as if solving a logic puzzle. I thought things over while watching Saionji’s hands.

“…So it’s probably not the third floor, either. Or the left side of the fifth.”

“Heh-heh! Right. The right side of the third floor’s right above you, and the left side’s directly below me. The left side of the fifth is right above me, too. The sound of someone walking might not reach across floors…but you know how deathly quiet it is in this building. Opening a door or pulling a chair out will echo no matter what you do. Even if it doesn’t, the fear that it might is ubiquitous. I honestly doubt Yuki would make a single sound, the way she carries herself, but I don’t think the Little Devil knows that. So that eliminates everything except the sixth floor and half of the fifth.”

“I see. That leaves us with twelve squares to consider… An even quarter of the rooms. That really narrows it down.” I frowned, putting a hand to my lips. “However, that’s still too many to give us a decisive answer.”

“No,” Saionji replied, looking right at me. “I think there’s more squares we can eliminate. I wasn’t sure whether I should say this or not, but if you’re not going to—in other words, if this isn’t part of your thought process—I think there’s a good chance the Little Devil will go for it. Listen…if you’re trying to play this Game efficiently, you really do need to make puzzle-like calculations. You need to constantly consider how many more turns your opponent requires to reach your partner. Given that, the most valid hiding spot would be a multiple of three squares away from you, plus one. This Game incentivizes wasting as many of your opponent’s turns as possible.”

“Uh… Okay, I think I get what you’re saying, but is thinking that far ahead typical?”

“Of course. It’s what I do, anyway. Judging by how the Little Devil has acted thus far, it’s obvious she likes to keep things efficient, too. She claims she’s playing seriously now, so I’m willing to bet I know her tactics. Putting all my suppositions together narrows down the potential hiding spots to Classes 3-E, 3-J, and 3-L.”

“…Whoa. You’re incredible.”

“What? This stuff’s obvious. I’m your partner, you know. And you’re supposed to be the best on the Academy.”

Saionji tossed that joke at me as she drew circles over three squares on the map. I know I was the one who’d suggested it, but I couldn’t help but worry about making such a leap without asking any questions. I had to hand it to the Empress. This was astonishing. There was simply no beating her at stuff like this.

Seriously, how did someone this crazy good lose to me so easily? She can’t be the type to break down because of some accident, or out of embarrassment or whatever. Maybe something else was going on with her that day…

“…? Shinohara? Hey, speak to me, Shinohara.”

“Huh? Oh, um, sorry.”

Saionji’s puzzled voice brought me back to reality. I shook my head a bit to clear it. My thoughts had gotten away from me a little. We were already halfway through the time allotted for my third turn, and considering I needed to order an escape, we didn’t have that much time.

“All right. So my question for Akizuki is clear, then. If we’re wrong, we’ll think up something else.”

“Perfect. Hee-hee! This should be a learning experience for you. We’ll learn in a moment who’s better, the Empress or the Little Devil. Naturally, the answer’s clear even without this test, but…”

Saionji gave me an intrepid smile, her ruby eyes shining through the screen.

“Wh…why?!”

A few minutes later, near the end of the third turn, I had gone up a floor, told Saionji to escape, then called Akizuki and issued a pointed question: “Himeji is in either 3-E, 3-J, or 3-L—is that correct?”

“Yes,” came the quivering reply from Akizuki. She shook her head, tossing her brown ponytails around, her emotions getting the better of her. “Why, why, why?! I cut off all outside interference, I made sure you couldn’t pull any other tricks…and you landed it on the first try?! Why, Hiroto?!”

She apparently didn’t care that she might reveal too much as she lobbed questions at me. I winced a little. Akizuki was raging so much, she might have lunged at me if we were in the same room together. I didn’t let any of that show on the outside, of course. All Akizuki saw was a smug grin.

“Why indeed? Guess I just used a method you don’t know about.”

“No. That’s impossible. I studied so hard. There’s no method on this island that I don’t know about. There can’t be. You know what that thing does, right? And you’re going around it… No, no, it should’ve caught you anyway…”

Akizuki immediately dismissed my assertion, then began mumbling to herself, clearly at her wits’ end. Her panic even caused her to talk about her previous strategy of acting all aloof and concealing things. I couldn’t blame her. It would take two turns to reach any of the squares where Himeji might be. Still, this was the second time I’d had Akizuki in check. She clearly had a tremendous advantage, yet I had gotten ahead of her twice. The Little Devil had to be extremely frustrated.

“Eh-heh… Okay. Enough.”

Suddenly, Akizuki lifted her head and spoke in a whisper. It sounded different from her usual cloying speech. It didn’t sound as though she’d lost herself in a fit of rage and panic. Call it a kind of strength, the sort backed by some kind of new resolve.

“I don’t know how,” she said with her usual twisted smile, “but…Hiroto, you’ve worked out your maid’s location based on my actions and habits and stuff, haven’t you? Yeah… That’s the only way. If you don’t have any cheats or Abilities, that’s the only approach you have left.”

“So what?”

“Eh-heh! It’s simple, Hiroto. If you’re gonna do that, then I’ll make the maid’s final hiding spot completely random. I’ll just use dice or a roulette wheel or something to decide. Eh-heh-heh… It’ll just be a test of luck between you and me!  ”

“Random? You’re that desperate?”

“Oh, not at all! I just realized that’s the most efficient approach… So it’s my turn next, right? Let’s see. First off…”

Akizuki’s calm bubbliness was rapidly returning, and she plunged into her turn—two questions and two movements. Her queries revealed that Saionji was hidden somewhere on the bottommost two floors. My partner was safe for now, but Double Action let Akizuki travel quickly. Danger was closing in. Chances were good that we’d both use our second guesses at nearly the same time.

“This is the worst thing that could’ve happened. Going totally random is the one thing we can’t do anything about.”

I leaned against the hall and gradually slid down to the floor. Akizuki’s shocking new strategy had me rattled. Random. Making a choice that didn’t incorporate any thought or strategy at all. It wasn’t desperation. Akizuki was right. Given the situation, it was her most effective strategy.

“We can’t use any Abilities.” Saionji sighed. “And there’s no cheating, either. Using the Little Devil’s thought process against her was effective, but we’re done if she takes the random approach. We can’t even begin to search for Yuki the third go-around.”

“Yeah… Man, I never expected it to blow up in our face like this.”

“It’s typically not an option someone would resort to. But now she’s dead set on it.”

“…”

I fell silent at Saionji’s ominous words. Noa Akizuki, the girl who should have stood at the top of Eimei School, was beyond a menace. She employed illegal Abilities and a stolen Unique Star, and they were paying off. Everything was proceeding how she wished.

“Hey, Shinohara?”

Just as I lost myself in thought, Saionji spoke up.

“Do you think it’s impossible, too?” she asked.

“What’s impossible?”

“I’m asking if there’s some way we can find Yuki. I can’t think of anything, but maybe you… I mean, you turned it all around at the end of the Game with Kugasaki, so maybe, you know, I thought you’d do something…”

Saionji toyed with her hair for a moment, then quickly turned around. Perhaps she was embarrassed. Soon she was beet red and shouting, “F-forget what I just said!” at me.

“What are you talking about, Saionji? If you’re referring to that…”

“I—I told you to forget about it! Stop being mean, Shinohara! I hate you!”

“No, listen to me. If you’re talking about that approach, I’ve had it ready for ages.”

“…Huh?” The moment I replied, Saionji stopped moving. Her large ruby eyes blinked helplessly. “You have it ready?” she parroted. “You have a way to find Yuki again?”

“Yeah. The third approach, based on cheating and using her Unique Star against her. Thanks to you and Kagaya, I’ve managed to keep it hidden. I think it can wrap up the Game, and I’ve been pondering over what to do after, considering the best way to finish this.”

“…”

“…? What, Saionji?”

“N-nothing… I’m just surprised, is all. I was half asking as a joke. You seriously have a plan? I’m finding it a little hard to believe.”

“I wouldn’t lie about this now. Especially not to you.”

“Oh, I know that. You should have told me sooner, though. I feel stupid for getting so worked up.”

She was glaring at me, but still heaved an exaggerated sigh of relief. “Sorry,” I said with a laugh as I mentally switched gears. The aftermath was vital, but I should have concentrated on the immediate issue in the Game. I might have a way to finish this, but that didn’t mean it’d necessarily turn out well. Plus, I only knew about two of Akizuki’s Abilities, Double Action and Wide-Range Barrier. The third remained a mystery.

“Hfff…”

I took a deep breath to gather myself.

“Saionji, what time is it, exactly?” I asked.

“The time? Um, eight forty-two p.m. Why? Doesn’t your device have a clock?”

“Yeah, but I also wanted you to be aware of it. Listen, for the next few turns, at least until we both use our second guesses and the Game’s reset, I’m going to stall for as long as possible. I’ll use every available second of my turn, and I’ll keep chatting away to make Akizuki’s turns go longer, too.”

“What does that accomplish? Are you trying to chip away at her mentally?”

“No. This will allow me to learn exactly where Himeji is.”

“Huh?”

“Assuming my signal goes through,” I added. Then I went into explaining my tactic to an utterly baffled Saionji.

Turn five of the Treasure Hunt Board Game was upon us.

Things were turning out largely as I’d assumed. Akizuki and I checked each other’s partners at virtually the same time (I was one turn ahead, though), and we wound up using our second escapes in succession. That meant we each had one guess left. Our backs were against the wall, yet Akizuki was completely unfazed.

“Eh-heh-heh! Wow, Hiroto!   I’ve never met anyone who could keep up when I get serious. Maybe we really are meant to be a couple!  ”

“Yeah? I haven’t heard anyone give me such an empty platitude in a long time.”

“Aww, c’mon, I mean it! No jokes or irony, okay? I really wish I could’ve met you under different circumstances… From the bottom of my heart.”

“…”

“It’s too bad we’re enemies right now.”

Akizuki looked right at me, and her lips curled into a warlike grin. I could sense the anger and hatred in that expression. There was also a weird sort of farsighted acceptance, as though she was certain of her victory.

“…Phew.”

I took my eyes off her long enough to check the clock, exhaled, and slowly lifted my head.

“Enemies, huh?” I calmly stated. “You might be right. However, that won’t be the case for long. This will be over soon.”

“Over? Why?”

“Because I’m getting tired of this. It’s long past dusk. In the past day, I’ve been chased by a mob, lost Himeji, and been forced into this Game. I’m exhausted. I want to go home and sleep.”

“Ah-ha!   Well, that’s fine. I think it’d be a lot faster if you just waited for me to win, but if you think you can end it, go right ahead.”

“Oh? And you’re okay with that?”

“…Am I okay with it? What do you mean?”

Emotions paraded across Akizuki’s face, bewilderment most of all. Meanwhile, I was trying to provoke her as much as possible with my smile.

“What do I mean?” I repeated casually. “Listen, I’m going to find Himeji this turn. Who knows how long it will take to reach her, but I’ll nail down her location in moments. So I ask again, are you okay with that?”

“This turn? Ha-ha! That’s just too funny, Hiroto. It’s simply impossible. There’s no way you can. You’d have to rely on a one-in-forty-eight shot—”

“If that’s what you think, Akizuki, then just watch me. I hope you don’t regret it!”

“…”

I took another look at the clock on my device, keeping my self-assured façade up. Watching the seconds rhythmically tick away, I thought a silent prayer for myself. Please…please notice. Please understand. If this bet doesn’t pay off, I’ll have nothing left. Akizuki will win.

A few seconds later, the clock struck ten.

“…Oh. Okay. Thanks.”

I gave a quick word of gratitude to the voice that came in from another projected screen, then sighed internally. It was time to give Akizuki my answer, acting as though I’d known it all along.

“You’ve hidden Himeji in Class 3-G.”

“…”

“Oh, and that’s not my question, by the way. I know I’m right. 3-G is really close to me, isn’t it? I could move one square right, go down the stairs, and there it is. I think I can solve it this turn, actually.”

One potential side effect of choosing randomly, I mused to myself. I began my movement phase, but took my time. I knew I’d be able to solve this turn without Akizuki getting to respond, so I didn’t have to worry about another escape. The Game’s end was near.

“…Wait.” After a few silent moments spent staring at her shoes, Akizuki whispered a word at me. “At least tell me how, Hiroto. How? How do you know? I’ve been really frantic for a while now…”

“Oh? You look calmer than usual to me.”

“…Hiroto.”

“What? It’s nothing worth getting so upset over. All right, if you want to know that badly, I’ll tell you. I admit my last move was a bit unfair.” I grinned. “You heard Himeji and me talking when we passed each other during the first escape, right? I gave a signal to her during that chat.”

“A signal? I didn’t hear anything like that.”

“No, you did. I don’t remember the exact wording, but it was something like ‘It’ll get pretty cold after ten, so try to stay warm,’ right? Himeji’s alone in a classroom after dark, so I am genuinely worried for her, but that’s not all I meant by that remark. How would she keep warm? What’s the one thing in a classroom that could help with that?”

“Huh? Oh. The heater!” Akizuki mumbled in a daze. Yup, the heater. My signal to Himeji had been an instruction to turn it on once the clock hit ten.

“S-so what? The heater doesn’t make that much noise…”

“True. But here at Eimei, and pretty much any other school, the HVAC system’s all controlled from the teachers’ office. That way, they can ensure it’s not too hot or cold. Plus—and this is important—they can keep tabs on which classroom has the AC or heat running.”

“S-so you…”

“Mm-hmm,” I replied. “My partner is hiding in the first-floor teachers’ office. At ten, I had her check to see if any AC units were running. There’s no reason for any to be on at this hour unless Himeji was kind enough to pick up on my signal and turn on the heat.”

“…”

At long last, Akizuki was speechless. First, it was hacking; next came reverse engineering her mind; now we’d reached the third method. The plan I’d hatched when Saionji complained about being a bit chilly had paid off brilliantly, much to my relief.

“Well,” I declared as I ended my movement phase in front of Class 3-G, “that’s it for this Game.” Akizuki didn’t react. Perhaps she’d finally caved, or maybe she was searching for something to exploit. I wasn’t certain. Regardless, she stood there, covering her face. I didn’t feel the need to worry about her. I had no reason to spend any more time on this Game.

Bringing my lips up to my device’s microphone, I seized the moment to say the magic words.

“Solve. Your partner, Shirayuki Himeji, is right here.”

Something unlocked the moment I said that, sending a click down the corridor. The door to Class 3-G opened itself. There was no other way to open these doors during the Game, so I guess they were programmed to react to a correct solve. Warm air, presumably from the heater humming inside the brightly lit room, caressed my skin.

“I’ve been expecting you, Master. Heh-heh. Thank you for finding me.”

Shirayuki Himeji stood there in her school uniform, her shiny silver hair bobbing in the warm breeze from the radiator.

“Yeah… Sorry I took so long, Himeji.”

I exhaled in relief when our eyes met. The solve had been a success. Despite how disadvantaged I’d been starting out, I’d captured Akizuki’s “treasure” before she got mine. Based on the Treasure Hunt Board Game rules, that meant it was all over. My victory was set in stone, and no one could complain about it.

That’s what I thought, anyway.

“Ah-ha! Ah-ha, ah-ha-ha-ha! Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!”

The sound of half-demented laughter boomed through my device. It was Akizuki, of course. I had her in checkmate. There was no way to flip this situation around, yet she laughed so hard that she looked ready to cry.

“Ha-ha! You used it! You finally used it, Hiroto!   And now I win!”

“What?”

“Eh-heh-heh!   I’ve been waiting this whole time for you to use up your third guess. Waiting for you to declare your epic triumph over me, leaving yourself totally defenseless. This whole time! Eh-heh-heh… Get ready! I’m activating the Ability Change of Fate! Your solve’s been canceled!”

The moment those ominous words were spoken, the environment around me shifted. Not literally; it wasn’t like the classroom transformed or Himeji vanished into thin air. However, my device’s display did alter. A moment ago, it had shown a screen with the words Solve Successful and a related animation, but that was all gone now, along with my final guess.

“…Eh-heh-heh!  ”

Akizuki, now back to her normal demeanor (I’m sure that depression earlier was all an act), gave me a smile so sweet that an oblivious observer might wonder if she’d fallen in love with me.

“Wasn’t that just the best? That’s Change of Fate, my ace in the hole. It’s an EX Ability reserved for Six Stars or higher that lets me negate one of my opponent’s moves. It’s a super-useful emergency power that I can call upon anytime I like, so I saved it for when I was in big trouble. Aren’t I just the best?  ”

“An emergency power… So you used that to erase my solve?”

“I sure did!   Eh-heh-heh… Now you can’t do anything at all, huh, Hiroto? So just sit back and watch me swing into action!  ”

Akizuki never wasted an opportunity to antagonize me…although right now, she sounded more relieved than anything else. However, she was right. Without the ability to make guesses, the solve and escape commands were off-limits to me, so I had no means to stop Akizuki. She could conduct movements and ask me questions as much as she wanted. Worse yet, I’d already told her Saionji was in the teachers’ office.

“From now on, it’s my turn forever!”

Striking a spunky pose on my screen, Akizuki immediately performed a movement, the tapping of her sneakers sounding from across the building. The Little Devil’s footsteps almost seemed like a countdown to my doom.

However…

“Hey, Himeji?”

…I turned to Himeji while keeping an eye on Akizuki’s moves. I whispered into her ear, her smooth silver hair tickling my cheek a bit, while holding my device up so Saionji could hear as well.

“…?”

She looked puzzled at first, but as I continued explaining, her eyes went wide in astonishment and understanding.

“Huh…? B-but that… All right.”

“It’s probably the only way.”

I gave her a small nod, peering right into her eyes. But even as Himeji and I had our little secret talk, Akizuki continued her movement phase. The concept of turns no longer applied to this Game, so there were basically no restrictions on how far she could go. She proceeded along, almost skipping as she did, and in no time she arrived at the teachers’ office.

Then, with her meltingly sweet smile, she declared, “Eh-heh-heh! Here I am!  ”

“No, you’re not. Quit trying to goad me.”

“Huh? What’ s with you? Stop raining on my parade, Hiroto. I saw how happy you were acting a minute ago!  ” Akizuki grinned at her camera and cleared her throat. “All right. I’ll finish this quickly, then. Solve! Hiroto’s partner is in this room! Phew! I’m feeling pretty tired, too. Sure hope I can crawl back into bed soon!”

She yawned like a puppy as she slid into the teachers’ office, the door having opened wide with her solve command. Her light footsteps bounced. She reached the center of the room, eyes darting around to scan her surroundings. Soon, she spied a girl seated at a desk on the other side of the room.

“…!  ”

I suppose she must’ve sensed victory was in her grasp. Akizuki approached the girl as though stalking before the kill, then looked up at her with hands clasped behind her back.

“Um… Are you Hiroto’s partner? I guess we haven’t spoken before.”

“Yes, that’s right. This is the first time you’ve seen me like this, anyway. But I’ve met you several times before. Honestly, I didn’t peg you as the type to resort to breaking the law in pursuit of revenge.”

“What? What’re you trying to say, huh? You’re…a girl, right? I don’t get it. Because I sure don’t know any suspicious girls who dress as guys and wear a cap and mask to hide their faces.”

“Oh, I’m not trying to hide anything. This is fashion. If you think it’s suspicious, that says more about you than me.”

“You…!”

The girl at the desk, speaking in a low, chiding tone, glared back at Akizuki. She raised an arm and removed her cap by the brim.

“…Huh?”

That little motion was all it took for that hidden ball of red hair to come tumbling down to her waist like magic, a breathtakingly fast transformation. She followed it up by pulling the mask off her mouth while her strong-willed ruby eyes trained themselves on Akizuki.

“Well?” she asked, stifling a laugh. “Do you remember now?”

“The Empress… Sarasa Saionji?! Wh-why are you here?!”

“Why? Oh, no major reason. I happened to be nearby, and it looked like that Seven Star was in trouble, so I thought I’d butt in and have some fun. I guess you don’t have what it takes to beat him, huh? What will it take to find someone who can finally stop that guy?”

“I don’t have what it takes…? What are you saying? I won. I beat the Seven Star. I reached out for some illegal Abilities, I took the star from Hiroto, and now I’m the new leader of the Academy—”

“Are you serious? Because if you are, I honestly feel a little bad for you.”

“Bad?”

“Yeah. You used illicit means to take down Hiroto Shinohara, right? Heh-heh! No wonder it turned out like this. He plays really mean, you know. Someone unaccustomed to cheating can’t beat him at his own game.”

“…”

A pregnant pause.

“Well, you did win the Game. There’s no doubting that, and I’m certainly not going to say otherwise. However, I think there might be some confusion about who you beat.”

Saionji looked at me through her screen. Akizuki, face white in fear, joined her.

“…”

My lips quirked up on one side in a half grin.

“You heard her, Akizuki. Just like that Six Star heiress said, you’re definitely the winner of the Treasure Hunt Board Game. Unfortunately, I’m not the loser.”

“You’re…not…? But that’s—”

“Oh, it’s very possible, trust me. I get the idea this sort of thing is really rare, so not even a knowledgeable player like you expected it. After all, it was only available in a single store run as a hobby. It’s not floating around the big markets or the internet.”

“…?”

“Let me ask you, Akizuki, have you heard of an Ability called Pinch Hitter?”

And there it was.

Winning and losing this Game had both led to doomed futures. Himeji had been taken hostage and there was no way for me to engineer a draw. I’d needed to find a way past this roadblock, and so my attention had fallen to this little trick, the special Ability, handcrafted by the owner of that janky shop Saionji had dragged me to. The one I’d purchased for Himeji as a gift. Pinch Hitter could be activated by someone outside a Game in progress, letting the user join the Game in place of the target player (if they gave permission). It was an extremely uncommon sort of substitution Ability, and while I had come into the Game with nothing but Delays in my Ability slots, there had been no need for me to equip Pinch Hitter.

I’d used it to switch places with Himeji. In other words, one of the players had changed from Hiroto Shinohara to Shirayuki Himeji. That swap was already set in stone, so Akizuki’s opponent was now Himeji instead of me. I hadn’t lost to anyone, and a Six Star like Akizuki wouldn’t gain anything from beating a Four Star like Himeji.

Of course, if Pinch Hitter were all I had, it wouldn’t amount to much. Akizuki had a huge advantage over me so long as Himeji remained her hostage. I’d still be making my way down the highway to my doom.

“It’s all thanks to you, Akizuki. As careful as you are, you added certain extra elements to this Game that made this move a lot more important than it seems.”

I smiled with Himeji beside me, making sure my face was in full view of the camera. I could feel all the pieces clicking into place in my mind.

“Listen,” I said, spelling it out so I could be doubly sure. “I just switched places with Himeji, so you beat her, not me. Let me say that one more time—you beat Himeji. Whether you wanted to or not.”

“Huh? Ah!”

“Finally noticed? That’s right. Emissary and Destructive Impulse, the dual-layer Ability you put in Himeji’s device, was set up to transfer to the winner’s device once Himeji lost, right? It just went from Himeji’s device to yours. You can’t treat her as a hostage any longer. I didn’t lose the Game, and best of all, that cursed Ability’s infected your device now. Well? What do you think? Because personally, I don’t think I could ask for a more perfect result.”

I presented the cold, hard truth as punishingly as I could. There was no way out for Akizuki. The Treasure Hunt Board Game was over.

“…!”

After hearing me out, Akizuki closed her eyes, resigned to her fate. I watched through my device’s projection as she quietly collapsed to the floor.

“So, ready to get into the nitty-gritty now, Akizuki?”

It was midnight, and I was in the teachers’ office. The room was illuminated by the bare minimum of light, making for a dim, eerie atmosphere. I sat across from Akizuki. I had chosen to go down to the teachers’ office mainly because Akizuki refused to budge, and talking to her through my device was starting to get old. We were the only two in the room. I’d asked the others to stay outside to give them a chance to rest. Plus, ganging up on an emotionally distraught Akizuki didn’t seem right.

“…”

Akizuki hung off a nearby chair, her small body curled up. She wasn’t on her knees anymore, but her eyes were downcast, and her right hand trembled atop her left. Her bangs concealed her face, but through them I could catch glimpses of fear and despair as well as a twinge of resignation. Despite it all, she kept an incongruous grin pasted on her face.

“Do I have to talk…? Eh-heh-heh! I don’t really want to, so…”

“It’s fine if you don’t. But I’ve got some business of my own to take care of, you know. If you refuse to talk, then I’ll keep investigating and hounding you.”

“Eh-heh! You sure are passionate about this, Hiroto. I love how dedicated you are to me… But maybe I should talk. This might be my last chance.”

…Her last chance?

That phrase stuck with me. Akizuki stretched, a deliberate gesture of bravado. Maybe that helped her reset a bit, because she faced me in her seat, looking a little more serious than before.

“You know, Hiroto… I’m going to talk about myself. A lot of it might not interest you, but it’s really important to me. It’s stuff I’ve never told anyone before now.”

“Oh? Okay.”

After all that confidence, this sudden dejection threw me off somewhat. Still, I nodded in acceptance. I was the one making her talk, so of course I wanted to hear anything she was willing to share.

Akizuki took a deep breath to steel her resolve and placed her linked hands on her lap.

“Um… I think you know this, but I’m a pretty smart girl. I took this ‘educational development test’ thing before first grade and received one of the best scores in history. That’s why I was recruited to join one of the primary school programs here on the Academy.”

“That sounds like more than pretty smart, but okay.”

“Eh-heh-heh! Thank you, Hiroto. Having you say that to me feels kinda weird, but I’m glad for it.”

That was, perhaps, the most understated reaction I had ever seen from Akizuki.

“The grade schools on this island are insane. There are a lot of good students at the high school level, but in the younger grades, it’s really nothing but future leaders of society. Not in terms of ability or talent or whatever. It’s more like families, bloodlines… Heiresses, the sons of CEOs—nothing but those kinds of people. Nobility, I guess? And they see the world differently. Common sense doesn’t work the same for them. They possess a completely different worldview. So someone from a normal background like me… There was no way I could blend in with them. I carried an inferiority complex around all the time.”

“Inferiority complex?”

“Yeah. Eh-heh-heh… Maybe it’s tough for a gifted guy like you to understand. When all these amazing people surround you, it sucks when you’re not so amazing. You start to think you’re no good. It’s not like I hated life. Nobody bullied me. I got along really well with everyone, actually. However, all I saw daily were these people in a different world, and I felt like I was the only one with no talent or value. But blaming everyone else just made me feel even worse. All I could do was bottle it up. I only ever felt less than.”

Akizuki’s expression remained dark as she spoke of her past, mixing in a dry laugh now and then. I could sense the great pain behind her words. Recalling those memories had to be painful, yet she drummed up the will to go on in her soft voice.

“But…but I wanted to try really hard. I knew how great everyone was and that I was only normal. Eventually, I thought that if I stopped being normal, if I became this really great girl, maybe I could catch up to everyone else. Maybe I could be together with them. So I studied as hard as I could. My classes, the Academy system, Games and Abilities… By the time I reached high school, I knew more about all of that than anyone else. After all, once you gamble stars on a Game, your name and money stop mattering. It’s a pure battle of power. I thought that people would learn to accept me that way. Maybe I could become something special.”

“I don’t think you were wrong.”

“I wasn’t. And thanks to all that effort, I made it into the top class at Eimei in my first high school year. I kept building up my stars and reached five last year… Everyone in my class said I’d be the next school champion. They thought I’d win the 4WC and represent the school. So I made that my goal. I needed to prove myself, you know? To make that inferiority complex go away…as a reward for all the hard work I put in. I wanted people to accept me. I wanted to be special.”

She was sticking to the past tense the whole time. I was starting to understand why.

“But…”

Akizuki looked up at me, her tearful smile all but confirming my suspicion.

“You ruined all of that, Hiroto.”

“…”

“…You know that, don’t you? Because in the end, no matter how hard I try, I’m still just an average girl. I’m no genius. Everything I’ve taken such pains to build up was instantly blown away by this hurricane that blew in from outside the island.”

Akizuki kept her voice even as she stated the truth flatly. I’d caught hints of her motives before our Game. However, they apparently ran deeper than I’d suspected.

“That’s why I hated you,” she continued, an assortment of emotions in her expression. “I hated the man who took so much of everything from me. ‘That’s mine. Stop taking it.’ My mind was so full of fear and despair. I kept telling myself I’m cute, I’m capable, I’m this really great girl, but I couldn’t smile at all. Nothing seemed to matter to me anymore. But you know what? For the normal Noa, that’s all it would be. I’m used to things not going right, and I keep screwing up, so no matter how hard it gets, I can deal with it. I’d never try to seek revenge. But…”

“But then you caught the attention of that ‘devil,’ right?”

“Heh… Yeah, exactly. They’re a lot scarier than a devil, honestly. It was around two weeks ago. I was out walking at night, and all of a sudden, I got a message from an unlisted account… It was creepy, yet I answered it. I felt like I had to.”

Akizuki paused. “Maybe that was a mistake,” she remarked, half-jokingly. She looked ready to cry, but she still managed to keep her voice firm.

“The devil who reached out to me was a man named Mikado Kurahashi, provost of the Seijo School in the Twelfth Ward. He’s also the chief superintendent of the ward, so he holds absolute power over there. He’s young, too, and polite, gentle, and talented… Just an amazing guy. Everybody looks up to him.”

“…But not you?”

“Well…I don’t know. It’s hard to say at this point.”

Akizuki shook her head, forcing a smile. I kept my eyes on her as I thought this over. Mikado Kurahashi, the mastermind interfering with the Fourth Ward Challenge. I had no idea how, but he’d contacted Akizuki when she was most vulnerable. And whether it was meant as a threat or an attempt at brainwashing, this was what Akizuki claimed he’d told her.

Do you hate him?

Do you hate Hiroto Shinohara, the man who trampled all over your hard work? Do you hate Eimei for abandoning you and allowing him to do that? Do you hate him so much for making you so powerless?

Well, I’ve got some good news. Between you and me, something’s definitely going on with Hiroto Shinohara. Normally, a kid can’t start at Four Star or higher when they come in, unless they pull a lot of strings. According to the data, he’s a Seven Star, so I can’t challenge him directly, but it’s hard to believe he’s completely legitimate. There might be a far-reaching conspiracy. What do you think? Hate him even more now, don’t you? Wanna take him down?

Then let’s talk business.

It’s simple, really. We’ll take advantage of the Fourth Ward Challenge, a time when thousands of kids across Eimei School will be fighting each other, and we’ll have you take a star from Shinohara. Huh? Oh, don’t give me that crap now. Like I said, Hiroto Shinohara’s clearly cheating. It’s only fitting that someone takes him down, y’know? Am I wrong?

And if you can pull that off, that’ll demote Shinohara and make you the new Seven Star. Once you earn that last star, I’ll have you ditch Eimei and join us here at Seijo, okay? That’ll earn me a new first-class talent, and you’ll get to be on top and get your revenge against Shinohara and Eimei. It’s almost hilarious how good a deal this is for you.

Consider it carefully, Little Devil. This is a big chance for you. And you’re far from the only person I could ask, you know. Only the Seven Star is truly unique on the Academy, and I’ve got lots of other Six Stars I could reach out to. But I went to you instead, okay? That’s all I’m saying.

If you can, try to reply to me by midnight tomorrow. I think you know what’s best for you.

“…”

“…Heh. So yeah, there’s your answer, Hiroto.”

Akizuki slumped back in her chair, staring at the ceiling while she spoke.

“The devil approached me, and I took his offer. Lie, cheat, do whatever it takes to seize a star from you. Then all my dreams would come true. I’d typically never take that offer. I think I was scared. All my hard work got destroyed before it could be rewarded, and I had no idea what to do. I felt like no matter what I did, I’d always be average and never catch up to those born special. Then I had this big chance out of nowhere…so no matter how suspicious I knew it was, I didn’t have any choice but to agree.

“But…but once I did, there was no more turning back. Once things started moving, I became a villain, and I couldn’t go back. I was the one doing bad things, so I couldn’t talk to anyone about it. I had to beat you, and I went so far as to take your maid hostage. However, I still couldn’t win.”

“You didn’t try to resist this Kurahashi guy?”

“Resist…? Oh, no way,” she said mockingly, quietly shaking her head. “You don’t get it, Hiroto. There’s no way I could ever take that man on. He’s got much more power, experience, talent, everything. And he’s really sly, too. Even if I accuse him, no one will turn up evidence of his involvement. I’m sure I’ll be framed to look like I acted alone.”

“…”

“It’s fine,” Akizuki said while I was still processing all this. “Forget about me. I told you what happened and why I did it. I don’t have anything else for you now. It was my fault for trying to cheat my way to victory in the first place. My fault for being normal and having these dreams of being anything else. Heh-heh! Don’t worry, okay? You don’t need to get payback. I’m in for something awful anyway. I didn’t uphold my part of the deal, so now I have to answer to him. I’ll be at his mercy…forever, probably. Eh-heh-heh! This was my last chance. Getting to see you, coming to this school… Today’s probably the last day for it all.”

“…”

“I honestly regret trying to hurt your maid. That’s all I’m truly sorry for.”

Akizuki bowed deeply, using a sleeve to wipe the tears from her eyes. She really did want make amends on that front, at least. I could tell she was about to disappear from my life forever.

What? Don’t give me that shit.

Listening to Akizuki’s confession filled me with irritation.

To sum up, Mikado Kurahashi was the mastermind behind all of this, and Akizuki was his pawn. He’d presented her with a tantalizing offer when she was at the end of her rope. Akizuki fell for the lure and then had no choice but to press forward. Her only option was to take a star from me, no matter what it took. She couldn’t afford to fail. That look of relief I’d sensed after she activated Change of Fate told the whole story.

That was all fine. It’s what came after that was the problem.

“Why do you think you can give up?”

“Huh?”

“‘Leave me alone’? ‘This is the last time you’ll see me’? Can you stop pretending to be the heroine of some tragic opera, Akizuki? Don’t drag me into this and assume you can dictate how it’s going to end. I don’t care if you were threatened or brainwashed, but don’t just quit.”

“B-but I can’t do anything else! Nobody’s going to help me. There’s no one out there who could ever beat that devil…”

“No? Well, maybe that’s just because you were too busy looking at the floor to notice.”

“Huh?”

I attempted to strike as heroic a figure as possible, hoping it might help Akizuki compose herself. Then I reached out to her and brushed her bangs away while tipping her head up so she would look at me. Tears filled her eyes. There was nothing but despair in her expression. However, after a moment, there was a sliver of confusion as well.

“Hiroto?”

I stared into her eyes, smiling boldly. “Did you forget? I’m the strongest on the Academy. Provost of the Twelfth Ward or not, no weakling like that stands a chance. He’s not even worth fighting. My victory’s been guaranteed from the start. So shut up and let me rescue you.”

“B-but there’s no way…”

“Sure there is. I’ll want your help to end the 4WC the way it needs to, though.”

The events that followed were all pretty one-sided.

After those wholly fabricated claims of strength earned me Akizuki’s cooperation, I marched straight over to Provost Ichinose with a befuddled Akizuki in tow. There we went over everything that had happened, including Himeji’s capture. We also informed the provost that Mikado Kurahashi from the Twelfth Ward was the mastermind supporting Akizuki.

“Oh… Him, huh? Yeah, he acts all mild mannered, but he’s a real trickster. It’s disgusting how well that dictator controls people with his words. Well, that makes things complicated. He’s not the sort of guy to fall from one student’s testimony.”

The provost winced at us. So I decided to throw a certain proposal her way, a method for getting back at the slippery, ever-so-careful devil. A critical hit of sorts that could end all of this in one fell swoop. Provost Ichinose listened intently. She smiled when I finished.

“In that case, why stop there? How about we add some more flash?”

The next day, as we’d predicted, Mikado Kurahashi called Akizuki over to see him. The location: The top floor of a building protected by multiple layers of security situated in a corner of the Academy’s Twelfth Ward. In a hidden room typically never accessed without permission, Kurahashi unloaded on Akizuki.

“Ugh… I’m completely disappointed in you, Little Devil. What the hell are you doing…? You’re a Six Star, aren’t you? The future champion of Eimei? So why can’t you eliminate a dirty cheater or two for me, huh? Do you realize how much I’ve lost thanks to you? It costs money to develop and troubleshoot illegal Abilities, you know… And that’s not counting the risks I take. Yet you’ve given me nothing in return?

“This is business, you understand. I told you that at the beginning, didn’t I? You got your end of the bargain, and now you’ve got to put up with mine. From now on, you’re mine.

“That’s right. Think of it as joining my private army. I give you orders, and you faithfully carry them out. My position prevents me from making attention-grabbing moves, so you’ll take all the dangerous dirty work for me. The best pawn I could ever hope for, and an easily disposable one.

“Hey, say something, you little brat. Stop being quiet and just speak already. Say you’ll serve me.”

Kurahashi wove a web of threats to break Akizuki’s heart and make her subservient to him. Akizuki was seated on his sofa, staring at the floor, but her fear drove her to make a run for the door. She didn’t get far before Kurahashi grabbed her. He forced her against the wall.

The light faded from Akizuki’s eyes as she realized there was no escape. “Yes,” she said, lightly nodding as despair filled her. “I…am your…”

That was when I stormed into the room.

A deafening explosion sounded throughout the building, blowing the door off its hinges. Once it had been a heavy thing that only Kurahashi could operate, but now it was a crumpled mass on the floor. That, of course, was thanks to the Company, but the shocked Kurahashi had no way of knowing that.

Akizuki, holding back her fear, flashed an adorable, cunning grin.

“Eh-heh!   What did you say? Be your slave? Did you really think I’d ever agree? Like, wow, way to scare me!   You sure love manipulating people, don’t ya?   What? Was I acting? Oh, come on! Of course I was. I may not look it, but I’ve spent my life deceiving myself since elementary school. Fooling you is a piece of cake by comparison!  ”

That’s right. Akizuki had been acting the whole time, playing the role of a loser who had abandoned all hope. All the while, she’d been contributing to our counterattack. The Emissary and Destructive Impulse Ability on her device included video and audio monitoring, so all of us on the outside had gotten to see the real Kurahashi.

“Ah…but that’s not all, either.”

I smiled a bit after rapidly revealing everything. All that remained was the lead-up to the final scene. My initial proposal had been to use the evidence we gathered to keep Kurahashi’s lips sealed for us—a relatively mild approach. But Provost Ichinose had no intention of keeping things mild.

“Hello, hello! Libra on the scene! Hee-hee! Just as you requested, Shinohara, that audio feed was broadcast across the island on LNN! The camera’s rolling right now, too!”

Libra, ever willing to stand up to the rich, powerful, and well connected, was here. To sum up, our provost had exposed Kurahashi’s abuse via the most influential media outlet on the island. Naturally, LNN’s feed showed me breaking in and rescuing Akizuki as well.

“You’re live…?! Libra?! Y-you… Hiroto Shinohara!!”

“Ha! What? Quit acting like such a villain, Kurahashi. Smile a little! You got thousands of people watching you right now.”

I sneered at him, trying to look as commanding as possible. Meanwhile, Kurahashi cursed me. That, too, was being broadcast, spread across social media at the speed of light. This was a huge story. Instantly, Twelfth Ward Superintendent Mikado Kurahashi’s reputation was ruined. Rumors were already circulating about a replacement.

“Game, set, and match.”

It was a perfect, utterly unassailable victory.

Now came the seventh and final day of the Fourth Ward Challenge. The round-robin tournament marking the end of the event was about to begin in Eimei School’s largest lecture hall.

Since anyone could challenge anyone else during the 4WC, there weren’t any rankings. There was a decent chance the event would end with multiple people surviving. Thus, any survivors at the end of the sixth day had to battle to determine a champion. It had long been a tradition at Eimei, but had only been codified into the rules recently.

If one participant remained before the final day, this event would be replaced with an award ceremony. Given the nature of the rules, the number of remaining players at the end could vary wildly from year to year. This time around, though, the situation was nothing if not straightforward.

“Um… Right, good morning, everyone.”

The dark-haired beauty at the lectern scanned the hall. She looked a little sleepy.

“I’m Ichinose, your provost. As you may have heard, we had some interesting events yesterday. And after drinking until dawn, I’m just a little tired. Hopefully, you can all laugh it off as a grown-up being irresponsible and paying for it. As our emcee just said, we’re about to kick off the round-robin tournament that marks the final stage of the Fourth Ward Challenge. Undoubtedly, everyone’s been keeping up with the news on LNN and the forums, but in case you’re unaware, we have two survivors left.”

The provost took a moment to face me and the girl next to me on the stage. Her speech was slow and stilted, but one look at those eyes past her glasses told me she was thoroughly enjoying this.

“The first is Hiroto Shinohara, the strongest on the Academy. The boy who’s been causing upsets since the beginning of the month. He’s been pursued by huge crowds of players, much like we assumed, but it’d be an unthinkable embarrassment if the Seven Star didn’t make it this far. He’s done his duty, you could say.”

“What a malicious way to describe it. I mean, I’ll take the compliment, but…”

“It’s the best praise I could ever give you. You should revel in it. Anyway, our second player is a Six Star from Class 3-A who’s finished in the top echelon of the 4WC for three years in a row. It’s the Little Devil, Noa Akizuki.”

“Mm…”

Akizuki nodded a little, barely acknowledging the provost’s introduction. There was no sign of her usual bubbly, cunning demeanor, which confused the provost a bit, but she quickly moved on.

“These two competitors will compete for the final bout of the 4WC. Both of them have already won spots on Eimei’s Interward League team, but it wouldn’t be right if we didn’t crown a school champion, now would it? Besides, there’s nothing I like more than a party, and a battle between a Six and Seven Star is one of the biggest parties of all. I’m expecting a clean fight from both of you—”

“Ah… Excuse me!!”

Suddenly, a nervous interjection filled the hall, interrupting the provost just as she was getting into her groove and psyching up the crowd. It certainly didn’t come from me. No, it was Akizuki.

“Um… Can I have a moment, Provost?”

“Of course you may. I always welcome curious minds. Are you asking about my glasses, perhaps? Whether they’re real or not, or if they’re packed with all kinds of features?”

“Um, when you describe them like that, I am a bit curious, but no. There’s something I wish to say before we continue. Um… I have no intention of fighting Hiroto.”

“Hmm? What do you mean by that?”

“Exactly what I said. I will not participate in today’s final battle… Or I guess it’d be easier to say that I want to withdraw from the 4WC.”

She was hesitant at first, but when Akizuki made herself clear, the several thousand students in the audience erupted into confused discussion. That was to be expected. Akizuki had a perfect 4WC record so far, yet she was bowing out at the last moment. It made no sense. Not to toot my own horn, but a free shot at a Seven Star was a rare, precious opportunity. I couldn’t blame the crowd for having questions.

“…”

Provost Ichinose stared back at Akizuki for a moment. Eventually, she quietly adjusted her glasses, and when she spoke, she was all business.

“May I ask for a reason? There’s nothing in the rules forbidding this, but the 4WC is one of Eimei School’s hallmark events. Dropping out will cause big problems for me.”

“I-I’m sorry…but I won’t change my mind.” Akizuki apologetically shook her head. She gave me a brief smile before turning and approaching the front of the stage. There, beneath the heat of the spotlight, she bowed deeply.

“I’m really sorry!!!”

Akizuki screamed loud enough to silence the entire audience. Her brown ponytails swayed as she bent over almost too deeply for it to be called a bow. She held that pose for ten seconds. When she straightened up, there was powerful resolve in her eyes.

“I think a lot of you saw yesterday’s live stream, but maybe some of you don’t know, so I’ll explain everything. To tell you the truth…I cheated during the 4WC. I wanted to be someone special, no matter the cost, and I used some really underhanded methods to try and take a star from Hiroto. While all of you were playing fair, I schemed to do all kinds of horrible things. For that…I’m truly sorry!”

Akizuki bowed again. She seemed a little stiffer than usual, but there was no wavering or hesitation. I’m sure she’d spent the whole night preparing herself emotionally.

“Eh-heh-heh…” She even managed to smile a bit. “But in the end, Hiroto’s so good that none of my plans worked. Still, cheating is cheating, so I really don’t think I deserve to stand here. I need to accept my punishment… So as of now, I hereby—”

“Hold it, Akizuki.”

Before she could speak the fateful words, I cut her off with a curt phrase. I didn’t shout, but I knew Akizuki heard because I saw her back shiver slightly.

“…What, Hiroto? I’m just about done here.”

“I stopped you because I can’t let you finish. Look, there’s no need for you to drop out, okay?”

“Huh…?”

Akizuki faced me, the surprise plain in her expression. Her mouth hung open for a few moments before she vigorously shook her head.

“Wh-what are you talking about, Hiroto? Of course I need to. I did a bad thing, and I have to take responsibility.”

“Punishment for those in the wrong is fine. But I’m not sure you’ve done anything bad. You were caught in a moment of vulnerability and forced to do another’s bidding. Kurahashi’s the bad guy here, and like you said, I ultimately wasn’t affected. There’s nothing for you to atone for.”

“Y-yeah, he’s the one who put me up to it, but…I accepted. Even if you say it’s okay, Hiroto, no one else will let it slide!”

“You don’t think so? Well, what if they do?”

“Huh?”

“If everyone agrees that you’re okay, then you won’t withdraw from the 4WC. Is that what you’re saying?”

“I…maybe. But that’s just…”

Akizuki nodded dispiritedly. Clearly, I was making her falter a bit. I smiled.

“Well, great.” I tried to sound all self-important. “I prepared this whole thing, and I was afraid it might go to waste.”

Thrusting a hand into my pocket, I took out my device. With a couple of taps, I projected a screen depicting a set of data. Akizuki gave it a puzzled look, not recognizing it at first. However, her eyes soon widened in understanding. “Ah… Is this…?”

“That’s right. It’s the results of the viewer poll that went live after Libra’s stream yesterday. It has a few questions, but I edited out the ones that didn’t require an Eimei ID to answer. ‘Who do you think is at fault for this?’ ‘How should Noa Akizuki be dealt with?’ And so on. Do you see the results here? Over 99.5 percent of the people here don’t think you did anything wrong.”

“B-but that was right after they saw that video—”

“You think some of them were sympathy votes? Yeah, I admit that’s possible…but take a closer look. What matters more is the number of people who responded.”

“The number… Eight thousand, nine hundred and twenty-three?”

Akizuki timidly read the number while staring at the projection. Eight thousand, nine hundred and twenty-three votes was a crazy number. There were around nine thousand high schoolers at Eimei and participants in the 4WC. Nearly all of them had watched that stream to the end. And after they did, they’d almost unanimously sided with her.

“Ha!” After checking to make sure Akizuki understood, I gave a little laugh. “Well? Are you still going to claim that you’re not special? That nobody accepts you? No matter how much influence Libra has, everyone watched yesterday because they saw ‘Noa Akizuki’ trending on STOC. You can look at the archives later if you want. It was really crazy. All the top-level champions from every ward posted about you, praising, sympathizing, acknowledging you as a rival. All of them were furious with Kurahashi. Do you still think no one’s paying attention to you? Even the Empress is sticking up for you.”

“You’re kidding…”

“You think I could lie about that? Look, Akizuki. All you did was get a little too worked up. You’ve held on to those feelings of inferiority for so long that you lost sight of your surroundings. Honestly, you’ve been special for a long time now—and you did it alone. It wasn’t anything Kurahashi’s power granted you.”

“…!”

Akizuki’s eyes seemed a size larger now. Large teardrops made it clear that she couldn’t hold out any longer. She covered her eyes with her sleeves upon remembering how many people were watching, yet the tears wouldn’t stop. The students sitting up front cheered for her, which only added to the waterworks.

I took a step forward, eyes fixed on Akizuki.

“So…I have a proposal for you.”

Akizuki raised her head. The crowd, perhaps sensing something, buzzed with anticipation.

“The winner of the Fourth Ward Challenge—the champion of this school—is you, Akizuki.”

“…What?”

“““Huh?”””

My proclamation was greeted with bemusement from Akizuki and the audience. Even the provost stared at me from her lectern, as if to say, “What the hell are you talking about?” But I ignored all their reactions.

“I’m withdrawing from this event, not you. I’m sorry to drop this on you after getting you worked up, but I have no intention of holding a Trial with you.”

“Ah… Uh, why not? Don’t you want to be champion?”

“Not really. I wasn’t dodging all those Trials because I didn’t want to lose. It was just a pain to deal with all those opponents. I have no intention of laughing off the tenacity you showed against me, but really, I just can’t get motivated for the 4WC. I never could. Plus—”

“Plus?”

“I’m already the strongest on the Academy, aren’t I? I’m not gonna spend my time beholden to little things like being Eimei’s champion. So I’ll let you have the title instead.”

“…! B-but…!”

“Sorry, objection overruled. Besides, I just pressed the button.”

I held up my device as I quietly revealed that fact, grinning as the audience went into a frenzy.

“My apologies to anyone who thought I’d win this, but think about it a little, won’t you? Being champion means representing the school on the national stage. There are obligations to participate in various other events and to work with the provost and student council president on administrative responsibilities. That all sounds boring to me. No way I could survive that. I don’t mind fighting in the Interward League, but being on top comes with way too much red tape. So if someone’s weird enough to desire all those tasks, I’ll gladly let them take them. Don’t think badly of me for pushing the work on you.”

“…”

I walked up to the dazed Akizuki and offered my prewritten excuse as arrogantly as possible. Once I was within arm’s length of her, I cut my mic and spoke softly, so only she would hear.

“Now you’re special in every definition of the term.”

“Ah!” Akizuki yelped. She stayed silent for half a minute before she nodded and faced the crowd.

“All right… All right. Fine. In that case, I’m the champion of Eimei School. I’ll become a perfect champion, one who will never lose to Hiroto in a fair competition. And I’ll make sure none of you are disappointed for choosing me. So…so follow me with everything you’ve got, people!”

“““Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!”””

The hall erupted into its greatest cheer of the day as Akizuki held her hand high.