“I love [Iriya Satoshi]. I absolutely want to be with him. But it’s also true that I don’t want to compete with friends over someone I like…”
“Reine-chan…”
Though I don’t have a very deep relationship with Reine, I thought she tended to avoid direct expressions. To put it badly, a contrarian. That’s why I was surprised by her straightforward feelings.
Looking at everyone, I could tell they were thinking the same thing. As people who experienced the same suffering, we all want to be happy together. We don’t want anyone to suffer misfortune anymore.
Four [comrades] who were continuously tossed about by fate—those feelings felt far heavier than those toward family.
But it’s cruel. The feelings toward [Iriya Satoshi], our savior, are even greater. Even though there’s no 『World’s Corrective Force』, we’ve fallen in love with the same person again, and though we don’t want to compete, we have to. Ironically…
But Reine’s next words surprised me even more.
“So, why don’t all of us here become his…?”
“Eh…?”
Having been struggling in my heart to make a tragic resolution, Reine’s far too outlandish proposal overwrote our thoughts. I couldn’t help but exchange glances with the other two. Then I tried asking Reine reservedly.
“Are you… serious about that?”
“Yes, I’m serious.”
We stared at Reine with various emotions dwelling in our eyes. Then Reine also looked straight back into our eyes.
The first to break the silence was Shuna—
“That might be good~! I’m in favor~”
“Really…?”
When I looked at Shuna as if searching for her true feelings, she responded with a smile.
“If we were just friends, it would be different~? But we’re comrades who experienced the same despair, right~? It’s not someone else’s problem anymore~. Right? Reine-chan.”
“Y-yes. That’s right. Shuna.”
With a fluffy smile, Shuna took the hand of the bewildered Reine.
“…So they say, but what about you, Shino?”
“Let’s see… of course, personally, I want him to choose only me. However—”
She took a breath. Then,
“It’s also true that I’ve come to feel close to you all. Perhaps as much as to him…”
“Then—”
“I also agree with Reine-san’s opinion. Besides, I myself was a concubine’s child anyway.”
Shino disclosed her own circumstances and smiled awkwardly.
Then the three’s gazes concentrated on me, the last one. I’m still confused, but my answer is decided.
“I surrender. I want to be with everyone too. But I’m number one, okay?”
I’ve accepted being with everyone. But I won’t give up being his number one.
That’s the condition for accepting this strange romance.
At that moment, everyone smiled daringly.
“Bring it on.”
“The position of legal wife is mine.”
“Fufu, I won’t lose~”
This kind of relationship isn’t normal. Just imagining him being with someone else makes my chest ache. If all four of us are together, a hierarchy will form, and I worry endlessly that I alone might be abandoned.
But there’s a part of me that wishes for this relationship to work out just as much.
“Iriya-kun will be surprised!”
“That’s right… suddenly having four girlfriends, and all of the [Four Beauties] at that. I wonder what kind of reaction he’ll have.”
“Fufu, I’m looking forward to it already.”
There’s no way he’ll refuse. Judging from the [Diary], he’s rooting for all of us. At the very least, if he hated us, he wouldn’t have risked his life to save us.
“I’m looking forward to it~ let’s all be happy
“—By the way,
what should we do about that scum?”
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“Eh?”
Shuna’s voice dropped as if it had fallen to the bottom of an abyss. When we looked at Shuna, we held our breath.
With her head tilted, a strand of hair was caught in Shuna’s mouth. Her pupils were open wide as if crazed, and cold, pure murderous intent dwelled in them.
Only the sound of the clock ticking echoed in the room. The cheerful room had transformed into the polar night of extreme cold.
“Y-you mean, Yuu—” “Could you not say that name?” “Ah, oh, I’m sorry…”
Reine was overwhelmed by Shuna and shrank quietly.
“What’s wrong… Shuna-san?”
Moving only her neck with a snap, Shuna looked at Shino.
“What’s wrong or not~ Conversely, why can everyone else stay so calm~?”
“…I don’t think that answers the question…”
“Then I’ll say it clearly—I want to kill [Sano Yuuto].”
Then Shuna returned to her usual smile. No, only on the outside. She couldn’t hide the evil that seeped out. Sweat dripped from even the battle-hardened Shino’s forehead.
Overwhelmed by Shuna’s atmosphere, Reine and I were like frogs stared down by a snake.
“You know~ I figured out what the 『World’s Corrective Force』 is~”
What came from Shuna was unexpected.
“…What is it?”
She smiled and looked at us. It felt like fear had grabbed my heart.
“We’re characters in the world called [LoD], right~? I don’t know the detailed scenario, but is it a romance~? Well, that doesn’t matter~ What do you think is at the center of a scenario?”
“Um, well—”
When you put it that way, I have no idea. Though they’re lumped together, stories have genres too. A love story and sci-fi are completely different things.
“The protagonist.”
“Ah…”
“The protagonist’s thoughts, background, actions, feelings, surrounding events—various things become factors that advance the story. So in the world of the story, the protagonist is the center of everything—in other words, what I’m trying to say is~, the 『World’s Corrective Force』 is like a device to maintain a world convenient for That Thing, isn’t it?”
That was unexpected. I thought Shuna was the type who wasn’t good at analysis or strategy. However—
“…I understand what you’re trying to say, Shuna-san. I think it’s an interesting analysis. But I don’t understand how the 『World’s Corrective Force』 and murderous intent toward [Sano Yuuto] are connected.”
“I thought that too. Even so…”
“That’s right. He’s someone I hate enough not to want to even say his name, but…”
I don’t feel murderous intent. Of course, I never intend to get involved with him again. Even if we meet at university, I’m thinking of ignoring him as much as possible.
“Didn’t everyone feel something off when reading the [Diary]~?”
“…Meaning?”
“That Thing~ accepted what Iriya Satoshi-kun did too easily, don’t you think~?”
“—”
Accepted too easily.
When I ruminated on Shuna’s words in my heart, it felt like I could see the bottom of an abyss I hadn’t been trying to look at.
“No matter how you think about it, it’s strange after all~ When something you have no memory of happens, wouldn’t you normally make a suspicious face~? But That Thing in my memories never showed such a sign at all~ Isn’t it the same for everyone~?”
“…That’s right.”
“Now that you mention it, yes…”
Both Reine and Shino must be experiencing the same sensation as me. Before I knew it, we were drawn in by Shuna’s words.
“Even giving a hundred steps of leeway, if he’s just a protagonist, I think we should ignore That Thing~ In the sense of being the creator of [LoD]’s puppet, he’s the same kind as us~”
Though [Iriya Satoshi] says the victims in [LoD] are us four, there’s also a way of thinking that That Thing was also a victim forced to play the protagonist character [Sano Yuuto]. Perhaps being made to like us was the same for him—that theory.
“However—”
Shuna’s face became serious again.
“That Thing is acting with the assumption that the 『World’s Corrective Force』 exists, right? Or rather, he’s aware that he’s the protagonist of this world, right?”
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