*Kiyoko Sasaki's POV*
//June 14/2040//Thursday//
After Megumin have vented all of the things she wanted to tell us, she finally calmed down and stopped crying.
What the five of us had felt here inside the kitchen was really wholesome, and I knew right away from her face that Megumin is back to her normal self. The five of us went outside to where Kei is.
He told me that he doesn't want to come with us inside the kitchen earlier since it is not his cup of tea to help others with their problems. I guess he thought that helping Megumin doesn't benefit him just like how he thinks towards others.
I hope that one day I have the power to help Kei with his way of thinking towards the people around him. When we got out of the kitchen, we saw Kei together with someone who we did not expect would come to the cafeteria.
"Oh, so that is where all of you have been."
We saw Ichi sitting in front of Kei on the table we sat on earlier. I observed Kei's reaction, and he seemed to be pretty calm with Ichi being around him. Did they talk about something? I observed Kei closely, and based on how he acts, it seems like Ichi just came in.
"What are you doing here, bastard?" Asahi angrily asked.
I can't blame how pissed off Asahi was when he asked why Ichi was inside here. Looking at the other three, their guards were also up when they saw Ichi. After what happened yesterday, who won't be on guard when Ichi is around?
"Now, now, look, about what happened yesterday, I am truly sorry for acting immature towards you people. As your adviser, how I acted was really unprofessional of me, and I am really sorry."
"You're sorry about what happened yesterday? DON'T BULLSHIT ME!!! Don't you know that because of what you did, some of us had a hard time recovering from what happened yesterday?!" Asahi yelled.
Asahi was really pissed at Ichi, and this is the first time we saw how furious he is. This might be because of how terrified Ichika was after what happened yesterday. Both Asahi and Ichika really have a solid friendship together, and that may be the reason why Asahi is acting like this.
"Ryo Asahi, am I the one who controls how you people feel about the situation you were in? It's your fault for acting that way yesterday so don't blame that shit on me." Ichi said.
"Tch! Bastard…"
*SLAM*
The door in the cafeteria opened, and Ichika entered inside, then she looked at all of us.
"What is happening here? The first thing I heard when I was walking straight to the cafeteria was Asahi's voice. What the hell?"
Ichika asked us with an annoyed face as soon as she entered. But looking at her closely, it seems like she was calm, and composed even if she learned yesterday how absurd the situation we were in.
"I-Ichika are you okay?" Raku asked.
"Hmph! Don't get the wrong idea. I was really terrified of all the things that Sasaki, and Machida were talking about yesterday. But there is no point in dwelling on those kinds of things if you can do something about it."
I was really surprised by the things Ichika said. I can't sense that she was lying, and she really was sincere while talking with us. She is a strong woman. Ichika glared at Asahi with a disgusted look on her face.
"If you think that I am affected by what happened yesterday, then you are wrong. Just so we are clear, I don't need your concern at all."
"..."
Asahi was left speechless, and the whole atmosphere inside the cafeteria became awkward. I also do not know what to say in this kind of situation. I think it was really rude of Ichika to tell Asahi that she doesn't need his concern at all.
When Ichi is talking with Asahi, I can see how concerned he was to Ichika, and I was hoping that she can just appreciate how worried Asahi was towards her.
"Sigh… This is getting awkward. Ichi, just get straight to the point about why you want to talk to us."
Finally, Kei started telling us about something, and he got us out of this awkward situation we are in. But from what he said, it looks like the two of them talked about something while we were not around earlier.
"Yeah about that, there are a few announcements I would like to tell to all of you. It looks like Joichiro Hyakuzawa is not around so a clone of mine is talking with him right now."
"An announcement? And what would that be, Ichi?" I asked.
"First of all, since I am a loving school director, and adviser to all of you. I installed an elevator that everyone can access so you can easily go from one floor to another."
An elevator? How did he build one in just a short amount of time? No, it is possible. If he can hide Saitei University in the outside world, an elevator is possible to build in one day if this is Ichi we are talking about.
But still, having an elevator is convenient for all of us. It really is exhausting to climb from floor to floor every day just to go inside a specific room.
"Second, I would like to proclaim that a reward will be given to the last person standing here at Saitei University?"
"A reward?" Kanade asked.
"Yes, a reward. The last person who is alive inside this university will be given a prize of ¥Two Billion from me."
"T-Two Billion?!" Raku said.
"How is it even possible to get that kind of money?" Megumin asked.
Megumin has a point. How can someone like Ichi get that huge amount of money? Even a billionaire is not willing to give that kind of money to someone else. Everyone was really surprised by the reward Ichi was talking about.
I took a glimpse at Kei, and he was not surprised at all with the things Ichi was telling us.
"I know that you will ask that kind of question."
Ichi showed his palm facing up to us, and suddenly, a bright light appeared on his palm. Pixels are being generated, and then money appeared instantly in his hand. It was real money, not a fake one.
I can tell when a money bill is fake or not, and that is why I know what Ichi was showing to us was the real deal.
Everyone was shocked by how Ichi created money out of nowhere. This gave us proof that a huge amount of money is a small thing for Ichi since he can make it.
"No way…" Kanade said.
"Surprised? Didn't I tell you? I can do anything. After all, I am the God in this place."
I felt anxious when Ichi demonstrated to us that he can create money out of nowhere.
Even if I believe how unreal that is, it is enough to convince the people here inside that the reward that will be given to the winner is real. This reward Ichi is talking about can be a bad motivation for a person to have thoughts of killing others, especially Hyakuzawa who I think is the one who is the most discomposed out of all of us right now.
"Hmph, why are all of you acting like that? I thought that we would find a better way of getting out of this place? Just because you heard a huge amount of money, all of you became uneasy? Hmph! It looks like I overestimated you people."
Ichika was right. Even if the prize was real, it is obvious that Ichi was just pushing us into killing each other.
I slapped both of my cheeks to remove the anxiety I am feeling about this matter, and that is thanks to Ichika.
"Ichika was right. A human's life is not even comparable to money Ichi. Don't think of us like some monsters who will pick money over a living being."
Ichi looked at us and sighed. Ichi walked away, and before he went outside, he asked us something from what we told him about the reward with a cold gaze in his eyes.
"Who knows?"
******** TO BE CONTINUED ********