R4STWH - Chapter 135
Chapter 135
“If you say so, then that must be it.”
Yumi shrugged as if she didn't care while answering.
“Shall we play hide-and-seek?”
Then, she tilted her head slightly while making that suggestion.
“……Hide-and-seek?”
I was baffled by the sudden words, so I asked back, and she tapped her lips with her fingers as if she was thinking about something.
“Hmm…… how should I explain this……”
Then, she quickly found the most suitable answer.
“Do you remember the S-5 type dungeon?”
“Yeah, it was that mission type dungeon where those who couldn't find the clues within the time limit would be forcibly transferred to the boss room one by one. Because of that, almost half of the members who were deployed lost their lives.”
“That’s right. Because the existing teams were all broken up, that's how we ended up in one team.”
She looked straight at me, so I couldn’t help but ask back.
“Are you saying that we should do that? You and I?”
“Yeah. Fighting each other head-on doesn't suit us.”
Even though she was making a suggestion, I knew that I wouldn’t have any choice but to accept, so I asked her what the rules were.
“What exactly are the rules?”
“It’s simple. I’ve hidden your friends all over this castle. I’ve also mixed in some ‘duds’ to make it interesting, so don’t be too disappointed.”
While saying that, Yumi took out an hourglass from her inventory and shook it playfully.
“Every time all of the sand falls, one of them will lose their life. If you're lucky, the 'duds' will be eliminated, but if not…… you'll lose a new friend.”
“……”
When I stared at her with blinking eyes, her expression changed awkwardly.
“Even if you look at me like that, it can’t be helped. A disaster has a fixed total amount. If I go easy on you here, a similar amount of hardship will be added to somewhere else. Do you want that?”
I pondered for a moment before shaking my head.
“……No.”
I couldn’t perfectly grasp the exact principle behind it, but Yumi, who was the smartest among us, must have set up the rules to best expend that fixed ‘total amount’.
So there was no way I could whine about our old bond like this. “Yeah, you thought it through well.”
I sighed lightly and turned to look at Elias. We had no choice but to divide the areas to search in order to find them as quickly as possible.
Elias nodded, having grasped my intentions.
“I’ll start searching from the highest floor.”
“Okay, then I’ll start from the basement.”
“Okay. If you've decided then, I'll begin.”
“Wait!”
I urgently grabbed Yumi’s wrist.
“Why……?”
“It seems like there is some sand remaining on this side.”
Like hell I was going to let her trick me……!
“……”
After examining the hourglass, Yumi quietly placed it on the table. While turning it upside down, having the side with more sand on the top.
“Once it’s fully emptied, I’ll begin.”
It seemed like she was trying to give us a hint about how long the hourglass would take.
As I was looking at the hourglass on the table, she handed me a plate of cookies that were filled with large chunks of chocolate.
“Want some?”
Of course, I didn’t refuse her offer.
“Thanks, I’ll eat it well.”
'Now that I think about it, the breakfast at the Imperial Palace was the last time I ate properly.'
As I was stuffing my mouth while feeling famished, Yumi poured me a glass of milk that was filled to the brim.
“There’s plenty, so eat as much as you want.”
……It was very sweet and delicious, but it wasn’t the time to be preoccupied with eating.
I also fed Elias some of the cookies while measuring the time.
“About 2 minutes?”
Based on the realistic calculations, I would probably not be able to save the first person.
Then I had to find everyone else by the time 4 minutes passed to prevent a second death.
“Does he like you that much?”
Yumi asked while watching me feed Elias cookies while also drinking milk so he wouldn’t choke, after having finished her glass of milk and cleaning my lips with a napkin as well.
“Yeah. It’s a slightly different kind of emotion, but I like him as much as you.”
Elias and Yumi both frowned at the same time. Elias quickly smiled, as if nothing had happened though.
“Didn’t you have someone like that? Even if it was before you were paired.”
“Hmm, I wonder……”
Yumi’s expression changed in a subtle way. It was an expression that was both smiling and frowning at the same time.
Though the expression was very different from when she asked me what my biggest regret was, the feeling that was expressed through her expression was similar.
“Perhaps there was.”
“Oh…… really?”
Then, did Yumi have a person whom she held dearly in her heart, even though she was forced to pair with Baeksa because of the established rules?
“Well, it didn’t end well, though.”
Or perhaps... maybe Yumi had really liked Baeksa all along.
“Check if there’s any sand left.”
Yumi grabbed the hourglass and passed it to me. It seemed like she had been trying to change the subject.
Even then, I couldn't ask her anymore. After all, it was a meaningless story now anyway.
“It seems like it’s done.”
“Okay.”
After taking the hourglass from me, Yumi looked up at the empty air.
“Alright, then.”
As those words were spoken, both Elias and I focused our mana, preparing to start the game.
“Begin.”
As soon as those words were spoken, Elias and I left the hall and headed for our predetermined destinations.
'It's not a difficult task. If I search calmly, I'll find them soon enough.'
While trying to shake off the worst possibilities that were attempting to unsettle me, I tried to focus.
What I had to worry about was not the fate of the first victim, but how I would find the ‘duds’.
Meaning, whether I should sacrifice another person who was not connected to me in order to save the people who were.
I wouldn't have had time to determine whether the others were innocent or not. Nor would I have been able to, since I wasn't a god.
'So I have to save them.'
With that resolve in my heart, I passed by the first person I found.
“Why aren’t you letting me go? I am the lord of this castle!”
I went past the man who was shouting with a flustered voice without any hesitation.
'Well, since I'm not a god, I don't need to treat everyone equally.'
It was uncertain how much Clea would harbor ill feelings towards me. Even so, as someone who had been Elias’s mistress, it was only natural that I wouldn't feel sympathy toward that trash, and it was already too lenient to have left him alone.
And then secondly,
“……Lady Ilesha?”
I had found Crow.
After quickly conveying the situation to him, I had him release the child that I found and head to the first floor.
“Yes, you are doing a great job.”
After I sent Crow up to the first floor after he had figured out the trick to dissolving Yumi's magic barriers, I finally started sweeping the basement.
'Why is the basement so big that it goes down to the third floor?'
As always, the ones with dirty secrets tend to hide in dark and secluded places. It was thanks to that that I had to suffer like this!
While scowling and grinding my teeth as I thought about how I would never leave the Protia family alone, I went up to the second basement.
'Why are there so many duds?'
I seemed to be finding an average of five ‘duds’ per floor.
It was obvious that making the game be truly a game required more ‘duds’ but…….
“Aaaagh! Why are you leaving me behind!”
As I was getting annoyed at finding nothing but the Protia lord or his mistress, I had the unfortunate experience of finding Clea as I cursed under my breath.
“Ah, umm…… s, sorry……?”
“It’s okay. Those who commit adultery are deserving of death.”
After apologizing to her for cursing in front of a child, she gave me an extremely cold answer.
“If you want to save your father, he’s in the deepest corner of the third basement…….”
“No, I’m going to go up first. If I send spirits, I’ll be able to find the Saintess quickly.”
After saying that, Clea left for the upper floors without even looking back.
'Yeah, that's right. You should have treated her better, you know.'
While clicking my tongue, I reached the very last barrier of the first floor, and finally found ‘that person’.
In a rather dark room similar to Ermitar’s dwelling where I first met Elias, a woman with dark grey hair and watery blue eyes was sitting serenely.
She looked as if she wouldn't care if she were to lose her life at any moment, while also being extremely composed.
Since that appearance was very similar to my first impression of Elias, I was able to recognize her immediately.
That woman was Elias’s mother.
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