Splash— Splash—
The weather over the past few days seemed even stranger than expected.
The afternoon had been bright and sunny, yet as evening approached and Takumi continued walking, the weather suddenly began to worsen again.
After quickly hailing a taxi and getting inside, less than half a minute passed before torrential rain began pouring from the sky.
"The weather these past few days has really been bizarre."
The taxi driver wore glasses and appeared completely ordinary, though for some reason Takumi couldn't shake the feeling that he looked like one of the Ramen Four Emperors from the Kaguya-sama manga.
The man adjusted his glasses while driving and casually spoke to Takumi.
"Honestly, you're not wrong."
With another Instance looming ahead of him, Takumi wasn't really in the mood for conversation, so his reply was rather perfunctory.
The driver could clearly tell he didn't want to talk, so he fell silent as well and focused on driving.
Boom—
A pale flash of lightning streaked across the sky.
A moment later, a deep rumble of thunder reverberated through the air.
Holding an umbrella, Maki stepped out from one side of the street and looked toward the direction where the taxi had disappeared.
"So Takumi-kun really is heading to Oba-san's place?"
Her brows were tightly furrowed.
Although Takumi hadn't revealed anything, and he had seemed fairly normal while they were swimming, Maki had still sensed that something wasn't quite right.
That was why, after leaving, she had deliberately taken a detour and doubled back to look for him.
As for where the problem lay, the answer was actually quite simple.
Throughout their outing that afternoon, Takumi had hardly touched her at all.
Those little interactions between lovers were something Takumi usually enjoyed immensely.
Yet this afternoon, he had displayed an unusual degree of gentlemanly restraint.
From that detail alone, Maki could tell that Takumi's mood probably wasn't very good.
Throughout the entire afternoon, he had likely been adjusting his condition and preparing himself in advance for something that was about to happen.
So what kind of situation could make Takumi prepare himself so seriously?
So seriously that he barely even cared about flirting?
After giving it some thought, Maki concluded there were only two possibilities.
Either some powerful hidden enemy had forced Takumi to become serious...
Or he was about to investigate an extremely dangerous Instance and therefore had to make preparations beforehand.
Then there was Kaguya-obasan's strange behavior over the past several days.
And the fact that the maid who was always by her side had recently disappeared without a trace.
Combined with Takumi's decision to conceal the situation under the excuse that "Kaguya doesn't want to talk about it," and the fact that he hadn't displayed any particularly unusual behavior around either her or Fujiwara, Maki felt it was more reasonable to consider the Instance angle.
After all, if there were some hidden enemy involved, Takumi's personality made it unlikely that he would simply keep quiet about it.
An Instance?
But there are still many days left before the monthly Instance that all players enter together.
Which means...
Just like when Miko accidentally dragged Takumi into the regional Instance around Fujihana Middle School...
Has something similar happened again this time?
Or is Takumi planning to enter an Instance voluntarily?!
He had only just returned.
And he'd only rested for about a day.
Why is he pushing himself this hard?
He doesn't take care of himself at all!
Or has the situation really become so urgent that only he can personally step in and salvage it?
No matter what the truth was, Maki knew she had to do something.
To the girl she was now, Takumi's place in her heart had become something nobody else could replace.
Therefore, if Takumi truly intended to hide things from everyone and do something dangerous, she had to find a way to talk him out of it.
And if there really was a reason that made it absolutely necessary for him to go, then she would do everything she could to help him and make sure the operation proceeded as safely as possible.
Just like during the Fujihana Middle School Instance.
Back then, she, Chika, and Kaguya had contacted Kogawa Shu as quickly as possible, who in turn found Gotō Hitori and secured her assistance.
Through cooperation from both inside and outside, they had ultimately succeeded in opening a path for Takumi to clear the Instance.
Without hesitating any longer, Maki stepped forward.
Then she noticed Chika standing beneath an umbrella in a side alley.
"Maki-chan? Hehe, so Maki-chan noticed something was wrong too. Takumi was unusually gentlemanly today."
The pink-haired girl blinked and revealed a mischievous smile reminiscent of a little devil.
"But since Takumi chose not to tell us, maybe he has his reasons. If this really involves a Red Moon-level Instance, then information contamination would definitely be a huge problem. If we go looking for him, we might actually end up causing him trouble."
What came out of Chika's mouth next was a viewpoint completely opposite to Maki's own reasoning.
"...I know. But that idiot is just too worrying. Even if it's something he genuinely can't tell us, I won't be able to relax unless I at least ask."
Naturally, words like that weren't enough to make Maki back down.
"Mmm, figured you'd say that. Then let's go together. Come on, come on~"
"I know already... W-wait, stop squeezing over here. Hey, don't cling to me like that! You're making the umbrella tilt!"
One lively and one exasperated, the two girls' voices echoed through the curtain of rain, followed by the sound of their footsteps as they moved forward together.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, Takumi's taxi had already arrived at the gates of the Shinomiya estate.
Long before he reached the entrance, he had already spotted Kaguya waiting outside, with a servant holding an umbrella over her to shield her from the rain.
Clearly, while he had spent the entire afternoon leisurely enjoying himself, Kaguya had endured a painfully agonizing stretch of time, unable to relax no matter what she did.
To be honest, entering an Instance in that state of mind was hardly a good thing.
But putting himself in her shoes, Takumi realized that if Maki or Chika were trapped in danger inside an Instance, he probably wouldn't be able to stay calm and spend the day relaxing either.
After all, they were people close to him.
And in Kaguya's case, she was someone who had never had many close friends to begin with.
Even so...
She really was being unusually unsettled.
Takumi couldn't help recalling the first time he had awakened on the bed in Room 204 of the Shirakawa Apartments and turned his head to see Kaguya standing there expressionlessly.
Back then, he hadn't yet received any Blessings or enhancements.
He wasn't the extraordinary individual with all kinds of supernatural powers that he was now.
At the time, Kaguya had actually surpassed him in both physical ability and intelligence, and he had needed her help to clear the Instance.
Yeah.
Back then, she had definitely seemed much more imposing than she did now.
She had felt cold, but at the same time incredibly dependable.
If he had to describe it...
She had given off the vibe of a yakuza boss lady.
Splash—
Stepping out of the taxi, Takumi was immediately approached by a servant holding an umbrella over him.
"Have you eaten yet?"
Takumi looked at Kaguya and casually asked.
"...Not yet. The chefs have already prepared dinner. Let's go inside first, Takumi-kun."
Caught off guard by the teasing question, Kaguya paused briefly before answering, then gestured for him to follow her into the mansion.
Dinner was fairly simple, consisting mostly of easily digestible dishes.
Considering where they were about to go, neither Takumi nor Kaguya wanted to risk facing an extreme life-or-death escape situation immediately after eating, so they only ate until they were about half full.
Of course, since they were both players, being half full for them was already equivalent to a normal adult man being completely stuffed.
"Alright. You're ready, then?"
After organizing his equipment and gathering everything he needed, Takumi looked at Kaguya and asked.
"Yes. I'm ready."
Compared to her earlier anxiety and unease, Kaguya seemed much calmer now.
Now that the moment to enter the Instance had finally arrived, she had managed to adjust herself to peak condition and once again become the cold, composed Ice Kaguya she normally was.
"Honestly, this isn't much different from a first-time blind clear. The only things we can rely on are those four riddle-like game hints. In any case, be careful."
As he spoke, Takumi turned his gaze toward the sheet of paper lying on the table, covered in bizarre doodles.
In his mind, he reviewed the only useful information he had ever found on the player forums:
The four game hints for Hayadate Elementary School.
Unlike Fujihana Middle School, which had numerous hints, every group of players entering Hayadate Elementary School received the exact same four hints.
Even after the Sacrifice Game had downgraded the Instance to Dark Night-level, those four hints had remained completely unchanged.
Countless players had puzzled over this, leading many to speculate that perhaps one of the four hints simultaneously possessed both "truth" and "falsehood" as attributes.
The four hints were:
[1. Be obedient. Be obedient. Obedient good children won't be punished.
[2. Don't be afraid, children. The teacher is here. The teacher will protect you.
[3. I'm a smart child, not a stupid child. Adults can't fool me.
[4. I don't need anything. I'm no worse than anyone else.
Unlike the Sacrifice Game hints he had encountered before, these four seemed to possess a much stronger sense of dialogue.
Each one felt like something someone had spoken in a particular situation.
Unfortunately, because Hayadate Elementary School possessed extremely severe information contamination effects, Takumi had been unable to obtain any analysis of these statements from players who had cleared the Instance.
He would have to enter it himself before he could verify anything.
Come to think of it, both the Hayadate Elementary School and Yoruyama Middle School tickets ended up in my hands through "reasonable" means.
If that KP really intends to give me tickets to every area of Uncanny Campus, then what kind of "reasonable" method will it use to hand me the Baidōsu Academy ticket?
BOOM—!
A deafening peal of thunder exploded amidst the increasingly violent storm outside.
Click!
Then the lights abruptly went out.
In an instant, the entire room was swallowed by darkness, so black that one couldn't even see a hand held in front of their face.
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