Symboli Rudolf and Air Groove waited, bored, near the secret door, when suddenly a broadcast crackled overhead.
"Mejiro McQueen, OUT, Mejiro McQueen, OUT…"
As the two of them wondered what that meant, they saw Mejiro McQueen walk out of the tunnel, head hanging low.
"What happened?" Rudolf asked, puzzled.
Ugh… I'm just not qualified… Mejiro McQueen clutched the hem of her skirt, then told Rudolf what had happened inside.
"Favorite and least favorite drinks, huh…" Rudolf lowered her head, thinking it over.
If it were her, she'd have written the same as Tokai Teio and the rest: [Milk] and [Alcohol].
Those are simple things you can observe—Mizuno always buys a bottle of milk at the school shop, and whenever he sees someone drinking alcohol, he shivers, like it reminds him of something bad…
All you could say was, Mejiro McQueen's a bit of an ojou-sama, never really paid attention to Trainer-san's details—so it's not surprising she was eliminated.
As Air Groove consoled McQueen beside her, another broadcast rang out from overhead.
"Daiwa Scarlet, OUT. Vodka, OUT…"
A minute later, Daiwa Scarlet and Vodka both trudged out of the tunnel, equally defeated.
"Eh? You two are out so fast too?" Mejiro McQueen was shocked.
She'd barely left before they got booted—wasn't that a little too quick?
"Was the third question that hard?"
"Uh… not really…" Daiwa Scarlet shook her head, then explained helplessly:
"Gold Ship asked us: If Trainer-san wanted a girlfriend someday, would we choose to go out with him…"
"I would!" Symboli Rudolf answered instantly, surprising the three others present.
Ugh… Daiwa Scarlet winced at how firm Rudolf's answer was, only growing more disheartened.
"President's answer is the correct one…"
"Because Vodka and I figured, from Gold Ship's logic, she wanted to know if, as his protectors, we'd take advantage and make a move on Trainer-san. If we answered 'yes,' that would be wrong. So we wrote 'no.'"
"But Gold Ship just said, 'If you can't even admit you like him, if you don't have the guts to go a step further, how do you have the will to protect him for life?'"
"So we got eliminated…"
"I see." Rudolf nodded, chin in hand.
"Gold Ship… not simple at all…" Rudolf turned her gaze to the tunnel behind the secret door. Even with the wall lamps, she still couldn't see the end.
Just how deep does Gold Ship's obsession with Trainer-san go?
...
"Eighteen floors?!"
Mizuno stared at the master floor plan on the big screen—Gold Ship had dug eighteen underground floors, and just looking at it made his scalp tingle.
"What are you, some kind of Yama King?!" Mizuno grumbled.
"Hmph, only you would get me…" Gold Ship was perched on Mizuno's knees, lips curled in a faint smile, both hands on a remote, live-controlling the puppet in the first quiz room.
"It's the depth of my love for you—and the test for those who want to steal you away from me."
"After all, if you don't have the guts and the strength to break through eighteen layers of hell, how could you possibly protect him?"
"At this rate, Teio and the others'll get here in the next era or something!" Mizuno shot back.
"Not my problem." Gold Ship shifted to a more comfortable position, reclining back into Mizuno's chest.
"All I care about is the result—how long it takes, that's for them to worry about…"
"And anyway, where we are now isn't even on the eighteenth floor—we're hidden somewhere higher up…"
"So even if they make it to the final level, they might never find us~"
"Whoa! Broshi, you're… too clever—no, too devious!" Mizuno almost praised her, but remembering they were rivals now, quickly swapped "clever" for "devious."
The final boss's room wasn't at the last level at all—it was hidden somewhere in the middle. Who would expect that?!
"Hmph, thanks for the compliment." Gold Ship smiled faintly, setting down the remote.
"Still, I'm surprised. I thought the first round would knock everyone out, but there are still four left?"
Gold Ship clicked her tongue, watching Tokai Teio, Rice Shower, King Halo, and El Condor Pasa, who'd all answered every question right.
"Looks like while I was gone, you managed to win over even more girls, Trainer-san…"
"Wah! Broshi, let me explain! I didn't mean to! I've been running away from them all this time! It's not like I want to seduce anyone!" Mizuno protested.
"I know you didn't do it on purpose…" Gold Ship pressed a finger to his lips.
"I'm just sighing…"
"Sighing that even though you know full well what happens if you get close to Uma Musume, every time you see them in trouble, you always say it's none of your business, but then secretly do everything you can to help them…"
"What a liar…"
"I'm not—I've always been completely honest! I've never ever lied… ever…" Mizuno stammered, awkwardly covering his face, as if afraid his nose would suddenly grow.
"Definitely needs a Uma Pyoi…" Gold Ship muttered, shooting a look at the guy behind her, then grumbling as she kneaded her sore stomach.
"Enough. Time to prep the next round."
She sat up, pressed a button on the control console, and opened the staircase to the second floor.
Then, using that creepy puppet on a bike, she guided the four who'd passed through the first round into the second room.
The second room was about the same size as the first quiz room, but even more spartan—no furniture at all, just a soft wrestling mat covering the floor.
Because Gold Ship's challenge for this round didn't need any props.
"If you want to protect someone, it's not enough to just know about them. You need the strength to fight off enemies too. So this round will test your fighting skills…"
"Duke it out. Whoever wins moves on to the next floor."