The Empty Box and Zeroth Maria
Book 4: Chapter 12

🔶 Day 4 <D> The Common Area

I’m on the verge of becoming the king.

The fall of Iroha and Yuri really turned the tides. Iroha has quite a presence, which allowed me to finally be able to talk about the Game of Indolence.

I was able to explain pretty much everything except for what happened during the third game, which I decided was best left unmentioned. I laid it all out: that they’re all NPCs and that Daiya is the owner observing the game from outside, as well as Daiya’s promise to destroy the Box if we all survive for eight days.

Koudai Kamiuchi seems dubious, but with Iroha and Yuri following me unconditionally, it appears he can’t protest openly.

Either way, I was able to put it to them clearly:

“We all have to stay alive until the <E> time block of day eight.”

I plainly identified our goal.

Iroha’s plan was finished, and Yuri was tired of acting, so they both decided to go along with it. All I have left to deal with now are Koudai Kamiuchi’s capriciousness and Daiya’s trickery.

My first step in weakening the two of them was to have everyone reveal their Classes.

As for who is what…

Iroha Shindo is the Revolutionary.

Yuri Yanagi is the Sorcerer.

Koudai Kamiuchi is the Double.

And Maria is the Prince.

Daiya didn’t reveal his Class, but since I’m the Knight, by process of elimination, that makes him the King. I took possession of the knives and rations Iroha had collected from the others.

That should rob Koudai Kamiuchi of most of his power for now. He’s the Double, so he can’t kill other players as long as the King doesn’t act. If he does try anything, it’s going to take a lot of determination and effort on his part. Given his personality, he might just decide changing things is more trouble than it’s worth and keep quiet without looking for more fun in this game.

Kingdom Royale has pretty much ground to a halt.

But that doesn’t mean I’ve become careless.

When I go to the common area, Iroha, Yuri, and Koudai Kamiuchi are sitting on the ground talking.

“Hey, Hoshino, did you know? Our little Yuri’s apparently a virgin!”

“K-Kamiuchi… Stop it!”

That’s kinda—no, really unexpected.

“Is that true, Yuri?”

Yuri turns bright red and doesn’t say anything.

“Oh, so now you’re harassing Yuri, Hoshino? You’ve got a lot of nerve.”

“Ah. S-sorry…”

I apologize once Iroha points this out, but Yuri looks away sulkily, still blushing.

…When I really think about it, someone like Yuri, who distanced herself from social interactions to focus solely on studying, probably wouldn’t have much practice in that sort of thing.

So, as inexperienced as she was, Yuri was still able to play the pArt_she did in the previous games… I can see why Iroha would be envious of her ability to charm others…

As the thought crossed my mind, I suddenly wonder about something.

“…Yuri, have you ever told someone you like them?”

“Wh-why…Why are you asking that?! You said you were sorry, but you don’t seem like you really meant it!”

“S-sorry. I was just curious.”

“……I haven’t.”

Hearing this makes me smile. So I guess that means I’m the only one she’s ever confessed her feelings to. I’m a little proud of that.

“Huh? Hang on a second, Yuri. How were you able to go out with that guy?”

“All she has to do is flash a smile and maybe take his hand, and she can get a guy just like that.”

“H-hey, Kamiuchi! That’s not how my mind works at all!”

“Ooh, Yuri, you liar. You know it is. Okay, then how were you able to get him to ask you out?”

“Th-that’s…”

“You did something similar and made it so he just had to tell you he had the hots for you, right? Whew, you naughty girl! You vixen!”

“Ngh…”

Yuri’s mood is worsening under Koudai Kamiuchi’s teasing, and next to her, Iroha is scowling somewhat unhappily.

“Why is it always Yuri? I’m quite pretty, too, you know.”

“Hey, that comment was kinda cute, President.”

“Huh? How so? It was just me feeling sorry for myself.”

“The way you put your honest feelings on the table. I dunno—I guess I’m not into girls who are totally self-sufficient. If someone can solve all their problems on their own, then there’s no reason for you to be there beside ’em, right?”

“…Well, that’s a pretty interesting perspective. If you look at it from that angle, you could say the way Yuri punishes herself and calls herself a bad person over everything creates an aura that makes others want to protect her. Yuri is quite the devil.”

“Ohhh… Now even Iroha is being mean to me!” Yuri pouts.

Iroha hugs her almost automatically. “See, you’re so cute.”

I feel as though Iroha has softened up a bit since what happened earlier. Perhaps she had a small breakthrough when she let us see her crying like a child.

That’s definitely a good thing.

“……Iroha.”

“What is it, Hoshino?”

“Don’t worry. You’re going to get more popular with guys, too,” I tell her.

Iroha grins, then replies with a gentle smile still on her face. “Thanks for the condescending advice. It really pissed me off.”

…I guess not.

“At this rate, you’re gonna be a lifelong virgin, President. ◾”

“Shut it.”

“I mean, you’re missing a pinkie, man. It’s freaky. You look like a high school girl who had to settle her tab with the criminal underworld.”

“Ah-ha-ha, go curl up and die, Kamiuchi.”

—Koudai Kamiuchi is dangerous.

In fact, I’ve already conveyed that to both Yuri and Iroha.

I didn’t give them all the details, but I did tell them that he used a knife to murder people directly in past games and that he seemed to enjoy doing it.

Yet, here the two of them are, enjoying their conversation with him.

At my request.

If they’re obviously on guard and let their enmity show, I have no doubt Koudai Kamiuchi won’t have a good time.

That’ll cause him to lash out, plunge us all back into chaos, and stArt_Kingdom Royale. But if he’s having a blast like he is now, then that might seem like too much of a pain, which would prevent him from doing anything at all.

Well…I wouldn’t say that’s enough of a plan to put my mind at ease, though. I’ve been vigilant the entire time. I’ve been watching him like a hawk in the fear that the slightest thing might lead him to violence.

That’s why, simply put—

“Nah, you’re the one who’s gonna die, President.”

—what Koudai Kamiuchi did next went light-years beyond anything I could have predicted.

Shunk.

With that sound, another tragedy begins.

Iroha’s arms embracing Yuri slacken and fall, and her body slides down limply. Still unable to process what’s happening, Yuri simply stares in a daze at Iroha’s head where it rests against her chest.

Yuri looks at the palms of her hands.

At the red liquid stuck to them.

“—”

She can’t even cry out at the horrible sight before her.

Koudai Kamiuchi yanks the knife out from Iroha’s back, then grabs her by the hair and tosses her to the floor, faceup. He sits astride her body and stabs her with the knife. Over and over.

He spends a short while destroying her body with a rhythmical shk, shk, shk, shk, shk, shk, shk, shk, shk, shk, then stands up with a grin and spits, “Looks like you were a virgin your whole life after all. How sad.”

Why would he do such a thing…?

My sanity threatens to flee with each shk, shk, shk, but I wrestle it under control and think.

I have the knives stored safely in my room. I know for certain that I have four knives: mine, Iroha’s, Yuri’s, and Koudai Kamiuchi’s.

So how does Koudai Kamiuchi still have one?

……It can’t be.

I think.

How did Koudai Kamiuchi get around my predictions? I know how impulsive he is, so why didn’t I come up with a better countermeasure?

I thought I had done my very best. That means there has to be some element I overlooked.

And that element is—

“……Daiya.”

I murmur his name, but Daiya doesn’t look at me.

He just plays with the piercings in his right ear.

I don’t understand.

Why would he feel the need to do this?

An idea pops into my head, so I pull out my device and look for something.

Yeah… As I thought, Daiya had a Private Meeting with Koudai Kamiuchi on the first day, the second day, and today.

I’m sure Daiya was wary of me from the very beginning. Then, after seeing how I handled things yesterday, he implemented his countermove straightaway.

“I gotta say, I’m surprised.”

I look at Koudai Kamiuchi.

“Everything is going just like Oomine said it would. The president, Yuri, and you were all going to team up. Then you’d tell me everything would be okay if we survived for eight days and try to make me not want to play. That’s why you were being all friendly to me. If he got that much right, then I guess I should assume the rest of what he said would’ve come true, too.”

“……What did Daiya say……?”

“He said that once the three of you teamed up, you would kill the other three of us.”

That’s bullshit! How could he?!

“Now that I think about it, that would allow you all to win. I gotta admit, Hoshino, you’re smarter than you look. I’m not sure how you knew your own Class, but this must’ve been your plan all along, huh? Get the three Classes with the ability to kill to realize they can all coexist, then cook up some other condition for survival so that the rest of us lose our will to play the killing game. You were this close to having me fooled.”

Why does he have to interpret things that way?

But I guess that’s how Kingdom Royale is. It’s a game of deception and murder that makes your suspicions consume you.

I lower my gaze suddenly. Yuri has put Iroha’s head on her lap and whispers “Iroha… Iroha…” as she tries to push the organs slipping out of her back in.

Koudai Kamiuchi watches her with a grin of amusement, like he’s seeing a comedic duo at work.

“I’ll be through once I kill you and Maricchi…but maybe I’ll have a bit more fun before I do. It’s not like you have any way of fighting back now. Ah-ha-ha, you can’t get thrills like this in the real world! That’s what makes Kingdom Royale so great!”

In the end, Koudai Kamiuchi set off on a path of murder.

I failed.

No, that’s not it… I was led toward failure.

“Not a chance in hell.”

And Daiya Oomine was the one who steered me there.

“You’re an easy read. That’s how I know what the ‘real me’ was thinking.”

“—Oh.”

So that’s it.

No wonder Daiya did what he did.

I told him everything. I told the NPC Daiya Oomine what the real Daiya Oomine did. That’s how the NPC understood the intentions of the real one.

And once he knew, naturally he would act as the real Daiya would want.

The real Daiya is my enemy.

That’s why the Daiya here would of course act against me. He would try to obstruct my goal of having all us survive.

And thus, he brought my victory to a screeching halt.

…Who would’ve thought it?

I lost the moment I tried to get Daiya on my side.

“—Heh-heh.” Daiya’s laughter is muffled. “You never had a chance of being the king. Not the way you are.”

It makes me realize something.

I once criticized Iroha in my head as someone with a warped view of reality. What a fool I was to think that.

The one with the skewed view of reality…was me.

“……Ha-ha.”

Only one of us was ever going to become the king.

Daiya Oomine.

And thus, I was cast down from my false throne.

• Iroha Shindo, dead via seventeen stab wounds to the back and other locations inflicted by Koudai Kamiuchi