..............
The hand holding the knife was wet with sweat.
"Well then, shall we begin?"
Saying that, Souta held up his wooden sword with both hands. He takes a step forward with his right leg and moves the tip of the wooden sword toward Yumeto into an ∞ shape.
"Well, can I attack first?"
"Souta-kun...really..."
Before Yumeto finished speaking, Souta's legs moved. He closes the gap in an instant and knocks down Yumeto's knife with his wooden sword.
Yumeto looked dumbfounded at the knife that had fallen under his feet.
"Ah, I'm sorry. Attacking you in the middle of a conversation was bad. Right now, it's okay now."
"..... It's fast. I didn't see any attacks."
"I'm weak in simple power, but I'm confident in my speed. That's why I apologize now."
"Apologize?"
"Yeah. I really want to kill you without making you feel pain, but that's impossible. I'll break your limbs so you can't move, and then I'll aim for your head. I think it hurts a lot."
"I don't like pain"
"Then stay still. I might be able to kill you with a blow to the head. If you loses consciousness before you feels pain, you will die easily."
"I can't do that"
"Well, that's right. Then, you can pick up the knife."
Souta backed away and distanced himself from Yumeto.
Seeing Souta grinning, Yumeto twitches his eyebrows.
"You can let me do this. Do you think there is no chance of losing to me?"
"No, maybe 5%. If you had a knife, I think."
"Are you letting me pick up the knife when I could die already?"
"That's more interesting, isn't it? It's like I'm fighting a knight protecting two princesses. Ah... so I'm going to be the villain?"
"From what you've done so far, I don't think you can stand on the side of justice..."
Saying that, Yumeto picked up the knife at his feet.
"I'll ask you one last question. I think you'll be able to give me an honest answer."
"What do you want to hear?"
"Are you a king?"
"No. I'm not a king."
Souta answered immediately.
"I'm just enjoying the king's game. You can't experience this tension in a normal life."
"I see...."
"Well, leave the king to me. I know the king is a girl. If I kill all the remaining girls, we won't be able to get the next order. And I'm definitely the winner of this game!"
Souta's eyes reflected the orange flames, shining mysteriously.
"Well then, shall we continue?"
"...I agree"
Yumeto picked up the knife and held it in his left hand. At that move, Souta's eyes widened.
"What do you mean? Yumeto isn't left-handed, is he?"
"I don't think I can win with normal methods."
He holds the knife in his left hand diagonally across his chest and raises his right hand to his cheek level.
"With this, can I attack from here?"
"Of course. But next time you drop the knife, I won't let you pick it up again."
"Understood..."
Saying that, Yumeto stepped forward. At the same time, Souta stepped forward. He heard the sound of the air tearing, and the tip of the wooden sword aimed at Yumeto's left hand. Yumeto quickly withdrew his hand holding the knife. At the same time as the wooden sword was swung down, he thrust the knife toward Souta's body. At that moment, Souta's wrist shook, and the wooden sword was raised from his feet. The tip of the wooden sword struck the blade of the knife, and his knife separated from Yumeto's hand.
However, Yumeto's movements did not stop. He clenched his right hand and punched Souta's face diagonally from below.
"Naive!"
Souta read that movement. He lowers his left leg and distances himself from Yumeto. The distance was less than a meter for him, but that didn't matter. Yumeto's punches don't reach. The moment Souta was convinced, he felt a strong shock in his left eye.
"Guu..."
Moaning, Souta dropped to one knee. Yumeto picks up the fallen knife and approaches Souta. The moment he raised his knife, Souta's wooden sword struck Yumeto's side.
This time, Yumeto groaned and took a step back.
"You did it this time....."
Souta kept his right eye closed and pointed the tip of his wooden sword at Yumeto. Thick, sticky blood oozes from the gap between his closed eyelids.
"Are you saying that when you picked up the knife earlier, you also picked up the stone?"
"That's right. I threw that stone at you. Actually, it would have been easier if you had passed out with it."
Yumeto answered Souta's question while still holding the knife.
"Do you still want to continue?"
"Of course. This order will continue until the six people die."
Souta opened his closed right eye. The area around his eyes is dyed red.
"I won't let my guard down anymore. I'll kill you with all my might."
"Oh, I want to!"
Suddenly, I heard a woman's voice from the other side of the river.
Yumeto took a few steps back and looked in the direction of the voice.
Narumi was standing on top of a huge rock that was several meters high. A nearby burning copse illuminates her.
Narumi opens her plump lips while combing her semi-long hair.
"So, you still haven't killed Yumeto-kun? Souta-kun."
"I will kill him now."
Souta said in a low voice.
"After that, you know, right? Narumi-san."
"I will kill Yuna and Fuka. I know. I think Iori will be here soon, and with Souta's support, it will be an easy victory."
Narumi's gaze shifts to Yuna and Fuka who are behind Yumeto.
"If Yuna and Fuka die, then we'll be left alone until the order is cleared. All that's left is to kill Hinako. I don't think of Yumeto as the king, but... Yuna, Fuka, and Hinako are highly likely to be kings."
"Well, that's about it. To be honest, I'm worried about Narumi-san and the others too."
"If that's the case, we're also thinking about the possibility that Souta-kun and Satoshi-kun will become kings. However, you were the group that bullied Tomoki-kun. Bullying Tomoki-kun and driving him to suicide, and then thinking about revenge for him, it's usually unthinkable."
"I understand, Narumi-san."
Souta smiled as blood flowed from his right eye.
"It's useless to think that either me or Satoshi-kun is the king. I'm just a player enjoying the king's game I'm in. And Satoshi-kun has that kind of personality. He's not the type to play king's game with the cost of his life."
"Then, the next order will not come."
"If you and Iori-san are not kings."
"Don't worry. Neither I nor Iori are kings."
Saying that, Narumi looked around her.
"For the time being, move over here..."
At that time, I saw a black shadow behind Narumi. The black shadow reached out their hands and shoved her from diagonally behind her.
"Ah!"
With a surprised face on her face, Narumi fell into the burning woods.
"Hinako-san..."
Yumeto muttered the name of the girl standing on top of the huge rock. Hinako has an expressionless face like a Noh mask, and she hangs her arms loosely.
"Gyaaaaaaaaaa"
Suddenly, Narumi screamed from the woods. Narumi clothes are on fire and her semi-long hair is emitting black smoke.
"Heh heh..."
Narumi tries to escape to the river, but her movements are slow, as if she has injured her leg. Her white and beautiful face turned red and turned black.
"H-help..."
Narumi fell to her knees, still enveloped in the flames. She stays as she is, and stops her movement in such a position that she bends over.
White smoke was coming out of her wide-open mouth, and her wide-open eyes were completely dry. Yumeto stared blankly at Narumi, who was surrounded by orange flames. She was already black all over her body and her hair was completely gone.
"That's cruel...."
Seeing Narumi's tragic appearance, Yumeto covered his mouth. Yuna and Fuka, who were behind Yumeto, were staring at the charred corpse with their mouths half-open.
When he moved his gaze, before he knew it, Hinako was gone.
.....Hinako started killing other girls so that she could survive. Even that Hinako-san.....
Yumeto's heart beats violently at the fact that the quiet girl wearing her glasses pushed classmate into the flames without hesitation.
"This is unexpected."
When Souta saw the corpse that had become an object, he let out a sigh.
"I wanted Narumi to kill Yuna, Fuka, and Hinako. If this happens, I have no choice but to ask Iori-san to do her best."
"I won't let you do that."
Yumeto gripped the handle of his knife and glared at Souta.
"I will protect Yuna-san and Fuka-san!"
"That's impossible. You're going to die now."
The tip of the wooden sword is pointed at Yumeto.
"You can't beat me. If it's something like before..."
Souta's words stopped, and the wooden sword he was holding fell to the ground.
"This...."
Souta bends his arm and looks at his own hands. His fingers, which had been trembling slightly, came loose from the base.
"What is this..."
Souta's hand is only a thumb and little finger, and from the base of the remaining three fingers, thick blood is flowing.
"Hahaha! My finger came off."
Souta laughed with a tense face. At the same time, the skin on his right cheek flakes off and hangs down from his chin to his chest.
"This is the punishment for the king's game, isn't it?"
"Souta-kun..."
Yumeto stared at Souta in front of him without blinking. Souta's white shirt is dyed bright red, and his abdomen is swollen. The skin on his chest and back seems to be peeling off.
.....Why is Souta getting punished? Souta didn't kill the girl.
"Ah....."
Yumeto's gaze turned to Narumi, who was dead in the burning thickets.
"I see. It wasn't Hinako-san who killed Narumi-san. She just pushed Narumi-san down, and the cause of Narumi-san's death was the fire."
"....I see."
Souta's cheek muscles twitched.
"Because I set the mountain on fire, it was me who killed Narumi-san. I can't believe I died in this way..."
Souta shook his upper body and approached Yumeto. With each step, skin fell to the ground from the hem of Souta's trousers.
"I wanted to enjoy the game more, but... so far..."
Souta fell forward in front of Yumeto. Red-black blood wets the surrounding ground.
"Yumeto-kun!"
Yuna and Fuka ran up to Yumeto.
"We were saved, right?"
Yumeto shook his head at Fuka's question.
"Yeah. I was saved by Hinako-san. I don't think she had any intention of helping us though."
"Yes. If it's like this, we might be targeted too."
"You should be careful. Souta-kun and Narumi-san died, but the order this time won't be cleared unless other else also dies. Iori-san and Hinako-san are the girls who are trying to kill both of you. And Satoshi-kun is aiming for me."
Yumeto checked his surroundings with sharp eyes.
"Let's move from here. Souta-kun should have contacted Satoshi-kun. I think Iori-san will be here soon too."
"But where are we going?"
"....Let's move to the riverside and go back to school! It's safer now."
Saying that, Yumeto turned his gaze to the direction of the school.
...................
[November 11 (Thursday) 05:52 am]
Yumeto poked his head out of the window on the second floor of the clubroom building. It was light outside, and no one was around. He looked up at Mt. Akaikeyama and saw white smoke rising into the sky. Some parts of the mountain are still burning.
Yumeto moved away from the window and sat on the floor quietly. In the corner of the room, Yuna and Fuka are sleeping wrapped in blankets.
Yumeto's mouth loosened slightly.
.....I treated Fuka-san's wounds, and she was able to rest. With this, you can do anything!
Yumeto closed his eyelids as he tapped his fingers on his knees.
...The only survivors other than us are Satoshi, Iori, and Hinako. All three will be working to clear orders, but it should be difficult to attack us in a group of three. Is Satoshi-kun the problem? Satoshi-kun is a boy, so he targets me of the same sex. And if I get killed, Yuna and the others will be targeted by Iori and the others.....
"This is something that make me can't die....."
Fuka's eyes opened as if she heard Yumeto's muttering.
"Hmm...Did you say something, Yumeto-kun?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I wake you up?"
"Uh-huh. Anyway, it's about time to get up."
Fuka checked her current time on her smartphone.
"This time I'll be on the lookout, so Yumeto-kun can sleep. You're tired from being awake, right?"
"I'm fine. I don't want to lose my nerves right now. Besides that, are you okay with your injury?"
"Yeah. The bleeding has stopped, and I disinfected it."
Bending her bandaged arm, Fuka smiles.
"Nobody seems to have come here."
"Maybe they are still in the mountains. But i don't think they will try to attacking us for now."
"Certainly, we are mixed men and women and act as a trio, so the chances of them attacking us are low."
"But you shouldn't let your guard down. There's no doubt that Iori-san and Hinako-san are working to clear the order. Maybe Satoshi-kun will also target me."
"Also, this order won't be completed until the two more people are die, right?"
"Yes....."
A deep wrinkle formed between Yumeto's eyebrows.
"Even if no one dies at this rate, someone will die at random. This afternoon, Souta and Narumi are dead, so there's no problem, but tomorrow afternoon, someone might die. unknown"
"Even if you don't fight with your classmates, you'll die as punishment for the king's game...huh"
Fuka's shoulders trembled slightly.
"I wonder if I should be prepared to die too."
"You don't have to think about that."
"But it's impossible for all three of us to survive if it still like this. Iori-san and Hinako-san can kill each other, and only one person will survive. Satoshi-kun has no other males than Yumeto-kun, so he won't die. After all, it mean someone will be randomly punished at least once."
"That is...."
Yumeto dropped his gaze to the floor.
.....Certainly, in this situation, there is a high possibility that either Iori-san or Hinako-san will die and other person will be remaining five people. If one more person doesn't die, we might die as punishment for the king's game. If someone have to die randomly, there's a 60% chance that either I, Yuna, or Fuka will die.
I feel my blood running cold.
....If I don't want Yuna-san and Fuka-san to die, I have no choice but to kill Satoshi-kun!
"Yumeto-kun, are you okay?"
Fuka peered into Yumeto's tense face.
"Ah, no, it's nothing."
Yumeto panicked and smiled.
"Anyway, let's think about protecting ourselves from Iori-san and the others. If the three of us act together, they shouldn't attack the other side either."
"That's right. For now, when Yuna wakes up, let's all go get some food."
"That's better"
Yumeto stares at the sleeping Yuna. Yuna curled up like a cat and closed her eyelids.
"She seem to be sleeping well today."
"Maybe she's tired. We're running around in the mountains for a long time."
"Let's wait until Yuna-san wakes up. Maybe now is the only time we'll have chance to sleep."
Seeing Yuna's sleeping face, Yumeto let out a sigh.
"At least, I hope you're having a good dream....."
A few hours later, Yumeto and the others brought food and water to the clubroom building. After that, they took turns keeping watch on the surroundings, but they never saw Satoshi, Iori, or Hinako on the school grounds.
...................