Published at 26th of March 2019 12:07 am

Volume 4, Part 4

▶Third Day {C} [Secret Meeting] with [Yuuri Yanagi], [Yuuri Yanagi]'s room

The player is all alone.

He alone has information that gives him an advantage in fighting in the game, but he is unable to share it with the NPCs. Therefore, ultimately, he can only use the information to trick them.

So it might be natural that he's going to fight alone.

Killing the NPCs in order to survive while being crushed by the feelings of guilt. I'm sure that's the right way to fight in this game.

But I'm here to stop that. Because I think it's the only way to save Maria. Because otherwise I would feel like having given in to the 'box'.

But---Is it really possible to do that?

In this [Kingdom Royale] where you can make no allies?

I enter Yuuri Yanagi's room in a gloomy mood. She doesn't even look at me. While knowing it's futile, I write a message on a memo sheet.

"......"

Yuuri Yanagi tears the paper, crumples it up and throws it away without reading it.

So she has no intention to respond to me anymore.

I bite on my lips.

How can I ever rule over her when I can't even communicate with her?

Should I try to make her listen to me by making clear that I just want to save her? ...No, that's futile. I started doubting those words myself, so there's no way they would reach her anymore.

"------"

I clench my fist and look to the ground. Yuuri-san has noticed my discouragement but still doesn't even glance at me.

Is there no way left?

Have I already lost by now?

In the next {D}-block, Iroha-san is going to force us to join her 《group》. If it goes like she expects, I won't ever be able to become the 《king》.

Suddenly, I notice the memo book on the table, which probably belongs to Yuuri-san. On it, this was written:

《iroha is the [revolutionary]》

I realized the meaning of this right off.

In other words, Yuuri-san's saying:

---If you step in, I'll kill you.

I guess she's telling the truth. Iroha-san was only able to proclaim her rule because she didn't have to worry about getting killed --- in short, because she's the [Revolutionary]. Furthermore, I suppose Yuuri-san's either the [King] or the [Sorcerer]. After knowing about that [class] distribution, Iroha-san surely concluded that she won't be killed.

And, a girl that can even cut off her own finger will also be able to kill me if it's necessary.

I confirm my present condition. I have made about everyone my enemy. Yuuri-san's obvious, but also Iroha-san and Koudai Kamiuchi are my enemies, and I don't know what Daiya is thinking, just as always. And I can't allow myself to depend on Maria, who supposedly is my only ally.

In such a condition everything I do will backfire.

So, can I not become the 《king》 anymore?

"......ugh..."

Even while telling myself not to give up, I can't think of a way to turn the situation around.

It's just too hopeless.

I fall on my knees at last.

It isn't possible anymore. I'll leave the throne to Iroha-san. I don't think that will turn out well, but it's better than moving myself. I should follow Iroha-san and pray to the heavens that Daiya and Koudai Kamiuchi won't get into mischief.

I should act like a mere stone and do nothing at all, just be there.

I have --- lost already.

I raise my head to beg for pardon.

Then they enter my sight. Yuuri-san's eyes which are looking down on me enter my sight.

---hollow eyes enter my sight.

"------ah"

Thanks to that, I get it.

«No, you hold a grudge against those guys that deceived you and killed brutally, don't you? They tried to kill you for their own life's sake even! Hehehe»

I suddenly get the answer to those words.

---No. I don't hold a grudge against them. But... I will smash them up until they give in to me.

When I tormented Yuuri-san yesterday, I thought it was because I may have already given in to the 'box'. That I was prepared to defeat her.

But that's not true.

Didn't I always know so clearly? My mission is not to be gentle to these people that are merely NPCs.

It's to rescue the real ones.

《Please kill me.》

In the second round, the 《real Yuuri-san》 said that to me. The 'Game of Idleness' drove her that far into a corner that she had to ask for that.

But was the 'Game of Idleness' really the only reason for her suffering?

It was not. Something was already tormenting her when she was in the real world. I know that now. Because I've learned one thing in this pointless, worthless 'box'.

Things can't be undone. Yuuri-san's sin for killing Iroha-san and the others won't ever disappear.

But isn't it possible to analyze and solve that problem she brought with her from the real world?

Wouldn't doing that ease her pain a little?

For that sake, I'll win.

And I won't shun smashing up the NPCs.

That will become proof that I kept reality, my everyday life, in sight. That will become proof that I didn't give in to something like the 'Game of Idleness'.

Which means,

"------hehe"

I haven't lost at all yet.

I stand up.

The players of this game are indeed alone. But I couldn't care less.

I'm the only one here who can possibly destroy the 'Game of Idleness', no matter how hopeless the situation may be. Other than me, nobody can save the others.

If so... I'll do it.

I'll save everyone, and making Yuuri-san give in is the first step.

"......what's with that smile?"

Yuuri-san is still looking at me with hollow eyes.

Thank you. I could only notice thanks to those eyes. I noticed that she's suffering because she has gotten used to suppressing her true self. I was able to confirm that I want to do something about that.

Still smiling, I roughly tear off the sheet on which 《iroha is the revolutionary》 is written and rip it to pieces in front of her eyes, making as much sound as possible.

The hollowness in her eyes gets replaced by astonishment.

Yeah, that's how it should be.

I won't let her make those hollow eyes again!

"Yuuri Yanagi."

She widens her eyes and gazes at me when I suddenly call her by her full name.

"You shall become nourishment for the real Yuuri-san."

As I know her very well, I know how she's going to react.

"......Ah..."

Aah, as expected, you made your face become pale, scaredy-cat.

You're not composed enough to ignore me anymore, right?

"For this sake, I'll destroy Iroha-san's 《group》 system. First, I'll start now with the work to make you leave it."

After being at a loss of words for a whole few seconds, she finally manages to object.

"W-What are you---T-There's no way I would leave! Besides that, I can't!"

"I said I'll 'make' you leave."

"If I tell her that... Y-You're going to get killed by Iroha, you know...? She's someone who might really do... no, she will definitely do it, you know?"

It seems she doesn't have enough composure to notice that this conversation will be heard by Iroha-san anyway.

"I know!"

"T-Then why do you say something like that?! That's suicide!"

"Because I'll also defeat her, of course. I won't be killed then."

Yuuri-san opens her eyes wide.

And shakes her head fiercely.

"Impossible... that's absolutely impossible. If you knew... if you knew how often I've experienced that already..."

Right---

That's it.

I finally realize the origin of her suffering is this mud sticking to her.

"So, if I defeat Iroha-san......"

The origin of the hollow eyes. It's---

"If I defeat Iroha-san, will you be able to prevail over your envy towards her?"

---her inferiority complex towards Iroha-san.

It's a sensation I can comprehend very well, being close to Maria and Daiya. We have to realize all the time that we can't reach them, and fight with the fear of seeming all so little compared to them.

Even worse, unlike me she's number 2. It must have been even harder to endure, always being just a small step behind.

Her distance from Iroha Shindou - she seems so close and yet she's out of reach.

Just how vexing is it to feel this all the time?

《Right, an idiot like me should better keep silent... everyone, I'm sorry for upsetting you.》

In the first round she called herself an idiot. She always looked very unsure despite being most intelligent and commendable from my point of view.

Because she's always been comparing herself with someone she can't reach.

"------Ah"

So was she aware of it, after all?

Yuuri-san is trembling so hard in disturbance, she's almost pitiful.

"You wanted to win against Iroha-san in something no matter what, right?"

Yuuri-san shrugs when I say so.

"You wanted to win against Iroha-san. You always wanted to win. Therefore, you also wanted to do so in this game. You thought for yourself that you could call it a win if you managed to control Iroha-san. Hence you operated accordingly."

I'm sure that's also why she deceived Iroha-san when she was the player and made Iroha-san suffer by telling her about her ex.

"S-Stop talking like you understand everything---"

She denies it uneasily, but with her usual acting-power having disappeared almost completely, it's very easy to read from her expression.

"But even now that everything went as planned, you didn't gain a feeling of victory at all."

"------!!"

"You were simply overwhelmed. Because you were forced to realize just how petty your plan is compared to the unbelievable determination that let her cut off her own finger."

"......Stop."

"And after witnessing her sublimity, all you could think of was to survive by depending on her. Because she made you realize just how weak-minded and unimportant you are."

"Stop."

"In the first place, it was already clear to you that you couldn't possibly win. After all, you already knew that something like that would never suffice to wipe away your inferiority complex when it didn't even disappear after stealing her crush."

"Didn't I tell you to stop!?"

Together with this scream, I feel a pain running over my cheek.

...did she just slap me?

I can't believe it for a moment. No, I mean, Yuuri-san slapped me? She, who can control herself more than anyone?

And she herself widened her eyes in surprise of what she did. She's silently staring at her hand while closing and opening it.

"---Ah..."

Then, her shoulders start to shake.

"I-I'm sorry---"

Even before she could end her sentence, tears started to well up from her eyes.

"......I'm... sorry. But, please... stop already.... please don't say such cruel things anymore... please don't trample on my feelings... please... please..."

I bet it's tough.

Tough to see her own unsightly feelings.

After all it's something she couldn't even confess to me when she disclosed her fraud in the second round.

But,

"No."

Why should that matter?

Exactly because she's begging me not to, I have to trample even more.

"Uh... aah..."

After hearing my cold words, Yuuri-san crouches down while crying and hides her face.

"If I let you go now, I won't be able to do anything for the real Yuuri-san. So, I don't mind if you hide your face, but don't cover your ears, okay?"

"Uh, uuh......"

Of course it's painful to see her suffer like this. But, even my own feelings don't matter now.

"Do you want to know what you did in the second round when you were in my position?"

I give her the finishing blow.

"You killed Iroha-san."

Her sobbing stops, whereupon she looks up to me with her reddened eyes.

"......w-what are you saying...?"

I purposely keep silent.

"...k-killing her...? I would never go this far! Certainly... I am a coward... but I wouldn't be able to do something like that!"

She honestly believed so, without a doubt. And I'm sure she's telling the truth. She could only do it because she was the player and the others, including Iroha-san, merely NPCs.

But even so, she did kill her.

Iroha-san got to know Yuuri-san as a mischievous girl that deceived and killed her.

This fact won't change anymore.

I guess she's realized that I'm telling the truth after looking at my face, being so good at reading from others' faces; she's fallen into silence and just continues to shed tears in an absentminded state.

But I continue to speak to her.

"Yuuri-san. I will tell you the details afterwards, but you and Iroha-san both won when you were players, so you already managed to survive."

Yuuri-san slightly reacts to those words. As it seems like she comprehends what I'm saying, I continue.

"But if we don't do anything, Iroha-san won't forgive you for having killed her. And you won't be able to forgive yourself either. It may sound fishy, but I want to help you with that!"

Then, I say,

"I thought about what to do about that!"

Yuuri-san's still shedding tears, but it seems like she could regain her will. She looks at me.

"Just grasp the right outcome. Speak your minds openly in this round, but after that you need to support and trust each other again. You just have to reach this outcome! If the both of you manage to trust each other in this game, you will be alright in the future. Iroha-san should be able to forgive you, Yuuri-san."

I say so calmly.

"Therefore, you have to tell her everything. Put all your emotions towards Iroha-san into words."

I wait for her reply.

She finally opens her mouth after having kept silent for a long time.

"...I don't, get it."

She said so with a lifeless voice.

"That we have already survived or that we just have to trust each other - that all makes no sense to me."

"...I see."

Fair enough. She knows almost nothing about the circumstances; there's no way she could understand.

"But---"

Hearing this contradictory conjunction, I raise my head.

She was smiling weakly.

"I don't mind not understanding, anymore. I'm at my limit of thinking about such cruel things all the time just to survive... it's enough already."

Saying this, she suddenly embraces me.

"So... may I depend on you?"

Apparently she can't properly control the strength of her embrace; it hurts.

This uncontrolled strength of hers seems forlorn to me.

And this surprises me.

No matter how hard it was, she's always fought alone, with her own methods. Even though she's always been anxious, she kept on fighting and withstood the pressure on her heart. Even when she was the player, she deceived all the NPCs, cornered them, killed them and, when she was overwhelmed by her feelings of guilt, regained the will to fight and managed to win in the end.

Yuuri Yanagi is such a strong girl.

"Save... me."

In spite of that, she can't do anything but depend on me anymore.

She can't do anything but cling to the frail hope in front of her eyes, without controlling anyone.

Her condition reminded me a bit of someone.

It reminded me of 《Nana Yanagi》.

But I won't mix 《Yuuri-san》 and 《Yanagi-san》 up anymore.

For the sake of saving no one other than 《Yuuri-san》, I return her embrace and say,

"I will save everyone, absolutely!"

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