............
Suddenly, the door opens and Miyauchi and Kawashima enter the classroom in protective clothing.
"It looks like everyone's gathered together."
Miyauchi moved to the top of the podium while moving his gaze.
"I have something to report to you."
"Have you found the king?"
Yohei let out an annoyed voice and rushed to the Miyauchi.
"Is that so? Sousuke was arrested, right?"
"No, the culprit sent a new email to the prefectural police bureau."
"New mail?"
"Yes. It was written that no further investigations related to this incident should be carried out. I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry? Are you sure you want to stop the investigation?"
"If we don't, they're threatening to spread the Keldo virus all over Tokyo."
Miyauchi's hand, which was wearing protective clothing, trembled slightly.
"We gathered a lot of information. If the investigation had continued, I think it would have been possible for us to arrest the culprit. But that state is decided, If you not accept the demands of the criminal"
"Why? All you have to do is catch Sousuke hiding somewhere, right?"
"We haven't confirmed him as the culprit yet. And there's the possibility of multiple culprits."
Miyauchi's words made the classroom noisy.
Seiichiro rushed to Miyauchi.
"Hey! Is it possible for there be more than one king?"
"I can't say for sure. If that's the case, even if the king is arrested, there is a possibility that the accomplice will spread the virus throughout the city. Considering that, the country decided to negotiate with the culprit."
"A negotiation?"
"Ah..."
The lips in the protective clothing distorted slightly.
"The email said that the criminal would turn themselves in after the King's game was over. They don't mind if they get the death penalty after that."
"They don't mind if they get the death penalty?"
"Yes. If this is true, the perpetrator is not afraid to die. Do you know what that means?"
"What is it?"
"It means that the culprit maybe is in among you. If you're not afraid to die, you can be infected with the Keldo virus."
Miyauchi slowly moves his gaze left and right.
"We were investigating the relatives of Tomoki Kitamura, who committed suicide, the missing Sousuke Kido, and old his classmate, all those involved. But we can no longer investigate."
"Huh? Then what will happen to us?"
Seiichiro grabbed Miyauchi's protective clothing.
"You guys are fine. You're not infected with the Keldo virus, and you're not going to die from the King's game's punishment, But we never know when we will die!"
"....I'm sorry. I can't do anything anymore."
"Ha, ha, we were abandoned, huh..."
Seiichiro sat down on a nearby chair and held his head.
Before I knew it, I heard the voice of a female student sobbing from the surroundings. Yumeto bites his lip hard as if to endure the pain.
.....Police.....No, the country is going to end this case at our expense. Because the king's aim is only the students in this class....
Yuna grabbed Yumeto's shirt sleeve.
"Yumeto-kun... what will happen to us?"
"I don't know either."
Yumeto replied with a depressed voice.
.................
[Wednesday, November 3, 7:16 am]
Opening my eyelids, I could see the white ceiling of the computer room through the gap in my sleeping bag. Yumeto slowly raised his upper body. Tokisada and Seiya are sleeping in their sleeping bags with Yumeto sandwiched between them. Yuna and Fuka, wrapped in orange blankets, were sleeping on the floor a few meters away.
Yumeto stretched out in the sunlight shining through the window. Tokisada's eyelids opened as he noticed the movement.
"Hmm...morning....huh....."
Tokisada checks the screen of the mobile phone in his hand.
"What, it's not time yet. You're going to climb Mt. Akaikeyama at 8 o'clock, right?"
"Yeah. so it seems like it will be in time."
"Yes. It's a small mountain, and you can easily reach the top in two hours."
Tokisada rubs his eyes and repeats his yawn.
"Surprisingly, humans can sleep in such a situation."
"Recently, everyone hasn't slept properly. I think they're tired."
"Yeah, It's been six days since the King's Game started."
"It looks like it's still going."
"…..The only way to end it is to capture the king with our own power."
"If there is a king outside the school, there are nothing we can do."
"Sousuke... huh?"
"Does Tokisada think that Sousuke is the king?"
Tokisada groaned at Yumeto's question.
"Honestly, I don't know. I didn't get along well with my classmates. But if what was written in that letter is true, then it means that it's not Sousuke. The King should be participating in the King's game with us."
"In the end, you don't know the truth, do you?"
"The police can no longer investigate, though"
"Even so, I have to do something!"
Yumeto's hand changes into a fist.
"If we can't find the king, we'll keep playing the king's game forever. Until all our classmates die."
"Until everyone dies... huh? Also, the next order will probably lead to a fight between classmates."
"Maybe. The king's purpose is to make us fight, and peace is only until this morning."
"...I wonder if today's mountaineering will be the last class event."
Tokisada got out of his sleeping bag and picked up a bottle of water on his desk.
"For the time being, should I go get some food? It seems that food will be paid properly."
"Then, I'll order something for everyone. Also, drinks."
"Okay! Seiya and the girl don't seem to have much appetite, but I have to force them to eat."
At that moment, the door opened and Hideyuki and the others entered the computer room. When Hideyuki saw Yumeto and the others, he opened his closed lips in a straight line.
"Are you guys still here?"
"Are we still here?"
Yumeto's eyebrows wrinkled.
"Didn't we still talk about climbing Mt. Akaike together? Both Seiichiro-kun and Narumi-san said that it was fine."
"But they're not here. Nowhere on the school grounds."
"Ah....."
"Probably they went to Mt. Akaike. There's no other place to go."
"But why did they go first?"
"Maybe they're thinking about the next order. If you touch the stone pillar early and go back to school, then it's easier to deal with the search-type order."
"Is that so...? Next order?"
"If this happens, we should hurry too."
"That's right. Let's chase Seiichiro-kun and the others right away!"
Seiya, Yuna, and Fuka stood up, perhaps hearing Yumeto's conversation. All three of them stare at Hideyuki and the others with blank faces, as if they don't understand the situation.
Yumeto called out to his companions who woke up.
"Good morning. I'm sorry you just woke up, but can you eat soon? Climbing time will be fast than we thought "
.................
[November 3 (Wednesday) 7:46 am]
After finishing the provided meals, Yumeto and the others headed to the back gate of the school. There was a road along the wall that connected the back gate to the main gate, but it was blocked by a barricade, and only a narrow road leading up to Mt. Akaike passed through.
Large maple trees grow on the left and right sides of the trail, which is less than a meter wide, and the road is covered with yellowish brown leaves.
Yumeto and his friends started climbing the winding road with Hideyuki and the others. Seiichiro and the others had climbed the mountain first, and here and there, there were clearly visible marks from their sports shoes.
Ten minutes later, Yumeto looked back at the mountain path he had climbed while wiping the sweat with the back of his hand. The school building of Akaikeyama high school can be seen through the trees. Many police cars and trucks were parked outside the premises, and men in camouflage uniforms were moving around.
Yuna took a deep breath and she stood next to Yumeto.
"I wonder if we can't go home anymore."
"...Are you worried about your family members?"
"Yeah, especially my older brother."
Yuna closed her eyelids as if remembering her older brother.
"Onii-chan is a worrisome person. I get emails every day, like [Are you injured?] or [Did you eat properly?] like that."
"I think it's obvious. I've also received emails from my mother, but they're censored."
Yumeto touched the smartphone in his pocket through his pants.
"I'm sure Seiichiro-kun and Narumi-san's families are also worried."
"Yes. Everyone must have a family....."
"It's better not to think about such things too much"
"Because we're going to fight with the next order again?"
At Yuna's question, Yumeto silently nod his head.
"Ah, that's the top!"
When Yuna looked in the direction she was pointing, there was a place at the end of the mountain path that was shaped like an upside down bowl.
"...That"
"Hmm? What's wrong? Yuna-san."
"Even from here, you should be able to see the stone pillar at the top, but it's strange."
"Can't you see the stone pillar?"
Having a bad feeling, Yumeto quickened his pace. As he climbed the gentle slope, there was a square hole under his feet. Tokisada, who was behind him, pushed Yumeto aside and stepped forward.
"What is this? The stone pillar is gone!"
Hearing that voice, Hideyuki and the others rush over.
"That's crazy! There should have been a stone pillar here!"
"Why not? With this, I can't clear the order!"
"Anyway, let's look for it. Maybe it's fallen down somewhere in the wind."
Behind the pale-faced Hideyuki and the others, laughter could be heard. Everyone's gaze is focused on the owner of the laughter.
"So... Souta-kun?"
Yumeto muttered the name of the approaching Souta in a hoarse voice.
"No way, you ... the stone pillar?"
"Yeah. I hid it."
Souta replied with a smile.
"Well, it was hard too. we shattered it with a hammer, collected all the pieces, and moved it from here, but it was heavy. Well, we all shared the load, so we can managed it somehow."
"By everyone, do you mean everyone in Seiichiro's group?"
"Narumi-san and the others also helped out."
"Why are you doing this?"
"I'll explain it to you."
Seiichiro appeared from behind Souta.
"The reason I hid the stone pillar is to end the king's game."
"Are you going to end the King's game?"
"Ah...."
Seiichiro's eyes narrowed like needles.
"My father has a lot of police-related acquaintances, so I used a certain method to get information. The name of the king's suspects, whom the police had marked until yesterday."
"A suspect?"
Hideyuki ran up to Seiichiro.
"Are there any suspects among us that the police have marked?"
"Yeah. One of them is you."
"I'm... a suspect?"
Hideyuki's eyes opened wide.
"Why am I the suspect?"
"I don't know that far. But we can predict. You were the chairman of the committee, and you felt responsible for Tomoki's bullying. That's why you started playing the King's game with the whole class to apologize to him"
"Don't be silly. It's true that I regret that I couldn't stop Tomoki from committing suicide. However, there's no way I could infect myself with the Keldo virus just because of that."
"....Indeed, it may be so. Then, the second suspect, Takeshi, is more suspicious."
"Am I also a suspect?"
Takeshi's face turned pale.
"Hey, no! I'm not a king!"
"You seem to have a similar reaction to Hideyuki. If I remember correctly, you were crying at Tomoki's funeral. i still remember that, you know"
"Well, my classmate died, so there are times when I cry. Tomoki once became my opponent in shogi."
"It means that you guy got along well. Besides, judging from the contents of the order, the King likes games. You likes shogi, so you likes this kind of games, right?"
Suppressing Takeshi, who was about to object, Seiichiro turned his gaze to the Seiya next to Yumeto.
"But the most suspicious suspect is Seiya."
"Were the police suspecting me?"
Seiya looked at Seiichiro with a surprised face.
"Why are they suspecting me?"
"You're acting like you're on purpose. The reason you were suspected was the computer seized by the police."
"Computer?"
"There were traces of modifying the Nano Queen's program on your home computer."
At those words, everyone's eyes focused on Seiya. Seiya stood still with his mouth open, like a robot with dead batteries. A few seconds later, he started trembling as his open lips twitched.
"You're lying! I can't do that!"
"Then why are there such traces on your computer? Are you saying that the king sneaked into your house and tampered with your computer?"
"That's... But, I'm not a king!"
"Certainly, I am not 100% sure that you are the king. There are other suspects. But it is you who make us infinitely suspicious. You're good at computers, and apparently, you once talked to Tomoki outside of school."
"Wait a minute!"
Miki, the vice chairman, appeared in front of Seiichiro.
"In that case, you should make sure that only Seiya-kun doesn't touch the stone pillar! If that happens, Seiya-kun will die and the King's Game will end."
At Miki's words, Souta shook his head left and right.
"That's no good. Both Hideyuki and Takeshi were suspects marked by the police either, and I think you're suspicious too."
"Am I suspicious?"
"To be precise, the girl is suspicious. Cause I think the king is a girl."
"I heard that from Yumeto. Why is the women become king?"
"Hmm, there are a lot of things that bother me. For example, the flowers in the vase."
"Flowers? Um, the vase that contained the Keldo virus?"
"That's right. I was a little worried about that white flower. It doesn't really stand out, does it? It's a flower that seems to be blooming everywhere. So I looked it up on the internet. Then I found out it was a white clover."
"What's wrong with that?"
Miki twitches her eyebrows.
"It doesn't matter what kind of flower it is, right?"
"No, it's not. When I think about why you chose white clover. So I looked up the flower language of the white clover. Then I found 'revenge' in it.
"Revenge...."
"That's right. It's meaning to take revenge in the language of flowers. Doing something like this is girlish, isn't it? Also, my intuition is surprisingly correct."
"Does that mean you can get away with that?"
"That's right. That's why, at this time, I thought I'd deal with classmates who could be kings all at once."
Souta smiled innocently.
"Hideyuki-kun, Takeshi-kun, and Seiya-kun, who were marked as suspects by the police. And the girl I interest about because how girlish it is. If this many people die, I think the king's game will end."
"That's crazy!"
Yumeto yelled out.
"It's impossible for you to end the King's game in this way. Thirteen people will die at once!"
"13? Oh, Iwamoto-sensei is fine, i think. It looks like he touched the stone pillar properly before we hid it."
Souta puts his hand on Yumeto's shoulder.
"I'm sorry that this happened. I know that only you weren't the king, but if I tell you where the stone pillars are hidden, you'll tell everyone, won't you?"
"Of course. I'm in favor of finding a king, but at this rate, anyone who isn't a king will be punished and died!"
Yumeto brushes off Souta's hand.
"If the king is among us, you should just get only them. That's the end of the king's game."
"I don't know that, so I'm doing this. Listen, Yumeto-kun. You maybe trying to reduce the number of victims of the King's game, but I think we'll survive more people with my method. I mean, I think it's highly likely that there's a king among you, and if that's the case, Narumi-san and Seiichiro-kun's group, and Iwamoto-sensei will survive, won't they?"
"No, the king should know the contents of the order, so it is possible that they touched the stone pillar already."
"Yes. A part of the stone pillar was missing before we broke it. The King may have that fragment. But that's still fine."
Both ends of Souta's lips lifted.
"Because if that's the case, only the king will survive among you. All you have to do is kill them."
"Souta-kun..."
"Well, if Sousuke-kun, who wasn't infected with the Keldo virus, was the king, then my strategy would be meaningless to them. Sorry about that in advance."
"Sorry...."
"Hey!"
Tokisada grabbed Souta's thin neck with his right hand.
"Now, tell us where you hid the stone pillar! If you don't tell us, you will die before us!"
"It's no use. I will never speak."
"Then I'll do anything, even torture! It's a matter of life or death!"
"If you have the time, why don't you find the stone pillar? I think you'll have a better chance of survival that way."
"Damn... Damn it!"
Tokisada pushed Souta away and grabbed Yumeto's shoulder.
"Yumeto, let's find the stone pillar! We don't have time."
"Okay! Let's all split up and search."
Yumeto rushed over to Seiya who was stunned.
"Hurry up, Seiya-kun!"
"Eh... can I look for it too?"
"Naturally. It's not that certain you're the king. It has the possibility of other classmates. Besides, it's more important to touch the stone pillar now than to find the king, isn't it?"
Yumeto slipped past Seiichiro who was grinning and started running.
.... The place where the stone pillar was hidden should be near the top. Even if it were torn apart, it would still be heavy, and it would be difficult to carry around.
"I will definitely find it!"
Saying words of determination, Yumeto pushed his way through the pampas grass that was as tall as a person.
..................