Future Diary Survival Game

Chapter 14: Majority - 3

They barely managed to stop their blades.

“Ugh!”

“W-what the hell!”

Both of them were in a far more dangerous state than I thought.

No—extremely dangerous.

Aina’s sword was touching Armelia’s neck.

I hurriedly spoke.

“Stop for now. I think I found a breakthrough.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Do you both remember? When we first gathered here, there was a woman who talked back to Magireta.”

They both seemed to dig through their memories for a moment.

Armelia spoke first.

“Of course I remember. Unfortunately, she was killed by Magireta.”

“Who said she was killed?”

“What?”

“What we saw was her being hit by Magireta and flung into a tree. We never confirmed whether she lived or died.”

Their expressions turned strange.

I continued speaking.

“After that woman was attacked by Magireta, the Bulletin Board opened. So we naturally assumed that the woman wasn’t a participant in the game.”

“Th-that’s correct, isn’t it?”

“No. Rule number three said that half of the people present here must pass. That woman was a person, and she was there. So of course, she counts as one of the ‘people present here.’”

“……!”

“If my guess is right, the total number wasn’t thirty-three, but thirty-four. Meaning, there should be seventeen who pass.”

Gulp.

At that moment, Magireta’s voice rang out.

“My little brother’s come up with another amusing idea.”

“…….”

“Then let’s test it, shall we? The three of you place your hands on the rock at the same time. If your brother’s guess is right, all three will survive. But if it’s wrong…”

“…….”

“The one who touches it even 0.001 seconds late will have their head explode. Sound good? Wouldn’t it be better to fight each other again, instead of taking that risk?”

At those words, Armelia and Aina’s expressions darkened.

But I shook my head firmly.

“Don’t be swayed. We’ve seen it enough times already—how that witch loves to toy with us.”

“Mason.”

“I have evidence to support my guess.”

Their eyes widened.

I turned to look at the tree where the woman had been thrown.

Then I strode toward it.

Behind me, Armelia and Aina followed.

“That’s the tree the woman crashed into.”

“……Indeed. It’s half crushed.”

“If she had died back then, what do you think happened to her body? You think Magireta buried her nicely?”

“Of course not.”

“Right. Knowing that witch’s personality, it’s far more likely she left it as it was. However—”

Step.

We stood before the tree.

There was no one there.

No grave, no body—just bare earth.

Aina wiped her cold sweat and asked,

“How does her disappearance serve as proof?”

“Because Magireta sent her.”

“What?”

“Magireta acknowledged that woman as a participant—meaning one of the ‘people present here.’ So, just like she scattered us throughout Bucklet Forest, she must have sent that woman somewhere else as well.”

“……!”

“In other words, the very fact there’s no corpse here proves that our total number was thirty-four. Isn’t that right, Magireta… sister.”

Magireta merely smiled and answered.

“If you’re so confident, go ahead. Place your hands on the rock—all three of you.”

I looked at Armelia and Aina.

“Let’s do it.”

“If your guess is wrong, one of us will die. But if we go with my previous suggestion, you’ll definitely survive.”

“I don’t want to lose either of you.”

“Mason……”

Armelia’s face flushed with emotion.

Aina asked sharply,

“The princess, sure, but why me? I tried to kill you.”

“The hidden que—no, there are still many difficult quests ahead. You’re someone I want to keep with us.”

“…….”

“Think back to when you asked me to partner up. You can take this as me feeling the same way you did then.”

Eventually, they both nodded.

We approached the rock.

Armelia spoke.

“I’ll touch it last.”

“What? Not at the same time?”

“That’s Magireta’s suggestion. We don’t have to follow her words.”

Somehow, that sounded exactly like something the princess would say.

But Aina widened her eyes and asked,

“Then why are you the one volunteering?”

“This time, it’s not really volunteering. We’ll all pass anyway.”

“That’s only if his guess is right…”

“I believe in Mason.”

For a moment, my heart pounded.

Armelia looked at me with a gentle smile.

“If it weren’t for you, I would have been eliminated in the First Quest. But thanks to you, I’ve made it this far safely. You even stopped me from making the terrible mistake of killing Cecil.”

“…….”

“So I plan to keep believing in you. I think that’s the key to surviving to the end.”

I could feel the firm trust hidden within her lighthearted tone.

As I was thinking about how to respond, Aina spoke.

“That kind of sentiment doesn’t work on me. If she’s giving up her turn, then I’ll go first.”

“Of course. You could have easily overpowered us and gone ahead anyway. The fact that you waited this long is already more than enough.”

“Hmph.”

Tap.

Aina placed her hand on the rock.

Of course, she passed.

Then it was my turn.

Armelia looked at me.

I slowly raised my hand.

And—

Tap.

“Ah! W-what are you doing!”

In an instant, I grabbed Armelia’s hand and pressed it against the rock.

Naturally, she passed too.

That made sixteen successful participants.

Now it was time to see whether seventeen would make the cutoff.

“Mason, why did you—”

“Are you crazy?”

If even one of them died in this game, I’d be dead three years later anyway.

Even if I avoided death for now, I’d only be waiting for the inevitable.

So I wanted to go out with some style.

A little bravado, maybe.

“Aina, thanks for agreeing to my plan without resorting to force.”

“Y-you…”

“Princess, don’t go betting your life so carelessly. You won’t live long that way.”

“T-that’s not something you should be saying.”

“All right, then…”

With a heart that felt like it was praying, I closed my eyes.

Tap.

I placed my hand on the rock.

And a few seconds later—

When I slowly opened my eyes, I saw the bright, smiling faces of the two women.

At that same moment—

“Ughhh! What a disgustingly boring ending!”

Magireta’s voice shrieked through the air.

Like a whining child throwing a tantrum.

After the three of us successfully passed,

Magireta summoned the remaining seventeen who hadn’t arrived yet.

Clap.

With just a snap of her fingers, the people who hadn’t been there moments ago appeared in the clearing.

“Haah… huh? What the—”

“Wait, isn’t this… the starting place?”

“Water… someone, please, give me water…”

“D-don’t tell me the game’s already over?”

Magireta answered the last person’s question.

“Yes. This quest is over, you slugs.”

“……!”

“Goodbye, losers. Try to be the victors in your next life.”

And with those words—

Thud. Thud.

People’s heads began to burst open one after another.

Among them was the middle-aged man we had met before.

And I could also see the woman who had first defied Magireta.

She must have been alive when she hit the tree but had later died somewhere else after being sent away.

Magireta had smashed even her already lifeless head to pieces.

“Ugh…”

“P-please. I can’t take it anymore.”

“Please, have mercy, Lady Magireta!”

“Uwaaah…”

The air was thick with death, fear, sorrow, and despair.

Aina bit her lip before speaking.

“She didn’t need to summon them here to kill the eliminated ones.”

“She must have wanted us to see it.”

“She’s insane. What kind of demon could something like her have come from?”

Armelia answered coldly.

“She can never be forgiven.”

“……On that point, I agree.”

“Help me.”

“Huh? With what?”

“No. I’ll tell you later.”

Armelia had already made up her mind to kill Magireta one day.

And she was asking for my help in that.

I felt the same way.

While I was glaring at Magireta, she suddenly looked back at me.

When our eyes met, she smiled faintly.

“Because of you, little brother, I missed the most entertaining part at the end.”

“Ahaha. Sorry about that.”

“Hmm. Well, no one has amused me as much as you have, so I’ll let it slide.”

Then she raised both hands to her mouth and shouted,

“Will you all stop being so pathetic? When are you ever going to get used to this?”

“……”

“Anyway, congratulations on surviving the Second Quest. Take your reward again.”

Shwaaa.

As expected, gold coins rained down from the sky.

During the First Quest, everyone had scrambled to gather them, but this time no one moved.

Magireta would probably put them neatly into our bags later anyway.

When the reward time ended, she continued speaking.

“Good work, everyone. Now, return to your places until the next quest begins.”

At that, I quickly raised my hand.

“Wait a moment!”

“What now?”

“Please don’t send me back to my hometown.”

Magireta tilted her head.

“Why?”

“……No reason. I just… ran away from there in the first place.”

“Ah, right. You killed that Mr. Forgotten fellow yourself. I suppose it’d be awkward to face the wife of the man you murdered, huh?”

You were the one who killed him.

I ignored her and said,

“Could you send me somewhere I choose instead?”

“That’s not hard. If anyone else has a preferred location, I can send you there too. Tell me.”

Then, a few people raised their hands timidly.

Thinking about it, most of them had probably killed the person they had spent the longest time with during that fake ‘Offering Sacrifice’ quest.

It would certainly be difficult to return to such a place.

At that moment, Armelia asked,

“Mason, where are you planning to go?”

“To be honest, anywhere but my hometown.”

“Then let’s go to the Mogiren Territory.”

“Sure, that’s fine too. …Wait, let’s go?”

“I don’t plan to return to the Imperial Palace either.”

This time, it was Aina’s turn to look shocked.

“What? Why?”

“Magireta said this insane game must never be revealed to anyone. If that’s the case, there’s no reason for me to be confined in the palace.”

“But you’re the Princess. If you disappear, the whole Empire will be in chaos.”

“Not really. There’ll be an official investigation, of course, but… I’m not exactly a beloved princess.”

“Oh, I’ve heard the rumors.”

“Let’s not talk about it now. Anyway, Mason, is that all right with you?”

I scratched my head and replied,

“Do you really need to follow me, though?”

“I want to plan our next move with you before the Third Quest begins. We share the same goal, do we not?”

Ah, she meant our shared determination to eradicate Magireta.

Then Aina asked again,

“But why the Mogiren region?”

“Because that’s where the Tower of Knowledge is.”

“The Tower of Knowledge—where every book of humankind since ancient times is stored.”

“It’s a massive library. I want to find clues there that could explain this game or that woman’s true identity.”

Aina hesitated for a moment, then said,

“I’ll go too.”

“Good.”

“Wait—aren’t you going to ask why?”

“I was actually waiting for you to say that. I’m not really in a position to reach out first.”

Armelia extended her hand.

“Then let’s stack our hands together. Both of you.”

“……”

“When knights swear an oath, they cross their swords like this. It later turned into this hand gesture.”

“All right.”

I placed my hand over Armelia’s.

Aina hesitated a few times, then placed her hand on top of mine.

And then Magireta placed her hand over Aina’s.

“……”

Huh? What the—?

“What are you all plotting over there?”

Before we knew it, Magireta was standing between us.

Startled, we pulled our hands away, and she smiled.

“Were you planning to kill me or something?”

“……Yes. I might as well say it plainly.”

Armelia spoke in an uncharacteristically cold tone.

“As the Princess of the Empire, I cannot forgive the likes of you for this madness.”

“I see.”

“I can’t do anything right now. But one day, I’ll drive my sword through your heart.”

“You can do it right now if you want. I won’t die anyway.”

“……Just what are you?”

Magireta shrugged.

Then she slowly rose into the air.

“Find that out for yourselves. You wanted to go to Mogiren Territory, right?”

Snap.

Magireta snapped her fingers again.

And our consciousness began to fade.

Then—

[You have successfully cleared the Second Quest, ‘First Come, First Served.’]

[The ‘Search’ function of the Diary Book has been upgraded.]

[The records from the Second Quest, ‘First Come, First Served,’ have been altered.]

[Some parts of the Future Diary have been modified due to the altered records.]

[Hidden Quest: Achieved ‘Armelia’s Survival.’ Reward: 100 points.]

[Hidden Quest: Achieved ‘Aina’s Survival.’ Reward: 100 points.]

[Current Points: 200]