Date A Bullet Volume 5

Date A Live’s LN Translation Page 1

○Prologue
Two girls walked through the empty hallway.
One of them would be regarded as a beauty by everyone that saw her. Fair black hair, white skin
like a porcelain doll, a clock piece device for a pupil, and an elegant Astral Dress called Spirit
Dress of God’s Authority No. 3 <Elohim>.
The other one was a white girl with lavender hair. Although the whiteness of her skin wouldn’t
lose to the previous girl, her eyes shining in curiosity stood in stark contrast. Above all else, she
was dressed in a pure white Astral Dress that gave an illusory atmosphere surrounding her.
If the former girl was a diamond, then the latter girl would be a rose quartz. The faintly red-
colored crystal-like girl was snuggling close to the sparkling diamond.
The girl jumped into the opened gate──Tokisaki Kurumi, as the other girl followed after
her──Higoromo Hibiki. Both of them departed for the Seventh Region Netzach.
“Kurumi-san, this is too boring. Let’s play Shiritori.”
Hibiki vigorously approached Kurumi after having enough of the long and monotone
<Shamayim Kaveesh>, but that girl was walking forward with her thoughts focused on another
matter.
──Kurumi thought about the White Queen.
Banouin Kareha was forced to die because of that love. In other words, the White Queen has an
understanding of what love is.
Then what was that love for?
The more she considered it, the more disgusting the premonition became……the perception of
an icy malice crawled up her spine.
If the White Queen was an inverse, then that would mean the awakening of her love would also
be twisted and distorted. ……What twists and turns brought the Queen to this conclusion?
There was too little information to be used in a conjecture.
However, the danger the White Queen presented to that person was imminent.
What should she do now? Even though she was moving towards the Seventh Region Netzach,
the First Region Keter was still so far away.
Not only that, even now she still──

──Couldn’t remember that person’s name.
And her love was growing day by day. She wanted to hear his voice, to walk beside him.
No, even if that was impossible to hold true──at the very least, she wanted to be near him.
The problem she put on hold reared its head once again. Tokisaki Kurumi, a Spirit, and also
clone of herself.
What was the reason for her existing in this Neighboring World?
Did she fall into this world dying like any other Quasi-Spirit, or perhaps──
“Ku─ru─mi─san!”
Opening her eyes, Kurumi felt dizzy. As Hibiki’s face pressed close to her own, it felt like her
cheeks were swelling up in frustration.
“……”
For the time being, just out of amusement, Kurumi used both her hands to pinch Hibiki’s cheeks.
Pushu, a noisy cry echoed across the air.
“Nya! Stop that! What do you think someone else’s face is!?”
“I don’t know why I want to do this, but the voice coming from my heart is telling me to do so.”
Kurumi clutched her stomach as she laughed. Hibiki adjusted her mood as she returned to
walking side by side with Kurumi.
“So, what were you thinking about?”
“I don’t want to say it.”
“Aah, so it’s about that person as usual.”
Having been suddenly exposed, Kurumi turned her head around while looking embarrassed.
Hibiki grinned, giving a look as if seeing through it all.
“Please──stop──that──”
“I──won’t──stop──”
Kurumi grabbed Hibiki’s cheeks and swayed it up and down. To be honest, this was a little fun.
“Speak up, why do you know what I am thinking?”

“That’s easy. Because that’s a face that Kurumi-san has never shown to me, an enemy, or anyone
else besides that person.”
Hearing those words, Kurumi reflexively buried her face.
“……S-So, what kind of expression is it?”
It felt embarrassing. When thinking about him, sometimes it was sorrowful and inconsolable, and
on other occasions she was beaming with happiness. But no matter what, she would always have
no peace of mind thinking about him. So her expression must look completely entranced.
“That’s not to say it is wonderful. However, as a Kurumi enthusiast, that expression just can’t be
missed! I really want to decorate it in a picture frame!”
“Please stop.”
If she didn’t ward off that girl’s words right now, a picture like that might actually be hanged in
the future. Therefore, Kurumi quickly moved to stop her.
After all, a long term friendship had been formed between the two.
After her revenge was completed in the Tenth Region Malkuth, Hibiki became Kurumi’s partner.
She was the sort of girl who would never give up her goal and do everything to her utmost ability.
If she ever spoke of decorating a picture frame, then that means she would really do that──
“……I’m asking you as a reminder to never do this, but how big is the picture frame size?”
“Eh, it’ll probably be a picture frame scale of 1000/1.”
So that was it. 1000/1 rather than 1/1000. Kurumi couldn’t help but imagine a nightmarish scene
of Hibiki, saying “Ladies and gentlemen, Kurumi’s face while in love is super cute! Why!” with
a photo of her face magnified to a 1000 times
“You listen well, absolutely, absolutely──never allowed.”
“Fine──”
Despite that carefree reply, Kurumi’s vigilance increased in a single run. It was to the extent of
being on alert the moment there’s an opportunity for a camera to be taken out.
“……Speaking of which, has Hibiki-san also not visited the Seventh Region Netzach?”
“Yes. But Ace of Spades-san wrote out an outline of Seventh Region Netzach. Would you like to
read it?”

“Sure, let’s read it together.”
Kurumi peeked into the letter that Hibiki opened.
──Degozaru!
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Isn’t that a greeting?”
──Ah──he─llo──he─llo, always in your debt, Ace of Spades.
“It seems to be like a frank business greeting.”
“So is the beginning also like this?”
──About the Seventh Region Netzach. To sum it up, it’s more or less like this. First of all, the
greatest characteristic of that region is the currency circulation. In that world, money is
eeeeeeeeeverything!
“Why is the face of a loan shark the first thing that comes to mind?”
“It’s a representation of how one needs to make the best effort in knowing how important money
is……right?”
──As for why a currency circulation, the answer is simple, the region holds a casino
establishment for gambling. Slots, roulette, mahjong, playing cards, everything that can be used
for wager is there. It is the best paradise for some people.
“Gambling.”
“Casino region.”
──Because it is like this, fraud and scams run rampant. Please be careful. My master, a beauty in
male clothes, who went first, recalls that it is absurdly easy to be swindled and thus wrote those
words in a hurry.

“Carte-san, she does have a face that looks easily deceived……”
“Aren’t there too many attributes there? Hibiki is once again in pout mode!”
──I am presently heading to the Ninth Region Yesod from the Eighth Region Hod to ask a
request for an important Quasi-Spirit from Banouin Mizuha. If something should happen to my
master……I’ll be eternally grateful if you’ll protect Carte À Jouer.
“Important……Quasi-Spirit?”
“Who could that be?”
“Is it a lover?”
“Or maybe a love card?”
──It’s a Quasi-Spirit lawyer.
“Ah…… (understanding)”
“Aah…… (understanding.)”
──Ah, also the Dominion Sagakure Yuri-dono is mad siscon scientist who manufactures a
mechanical doll little sister and sends her out to every region. No matter what you think, please
be careful because she is that sort of type.
“That’s quite fanatical.”
“It’s true. No wonder that person always felt a little lacking in human warmth.”
──Farwell, until next time.
“Ace of Spades-san, she feels like a Quasi-Spirit that would frequently come and go on Internet
chats of the past.”
“I don’t get why Hibiki-san is using such metaphorical expression.”

The letter ended there. Both of them sighed and folded the letter.
The door to the Seventh Region Netzach soon appeared right in front of them. It wasn’t locked.
Touching this door would immediately open it.
“Then, let’s proceed.”
“By the way Hibiki-san, are you the type that is easily deceived?”
“Hmm……I consider myself average. But I am confident in having a strong sense of smell.”
“Then I feel relieved. I will never be deceived.”
“That’s setting off a very dangerous flag!”
“It doesn’t matter. I can just use <Zafkiel>.”
“……Threatening with a gun, isn’t that a tactic of a criminal syndicate……”
In spite of this, Kurumi was capable of crossing over numerous scenes of carnage, the title Quasi
could not be attached to her.
It would be impossible for her to be swindled through. After all, they were only planning on
passing through this region. In any case, it was difficult to imagine Tokisaki Kurumi being
obstructed by Sagakure Yuri.
Both the Eighth Region Hod and Ninth Region Yesod tried to safeguard themselves by
obstructing her. But on the other hand, neither of them chose to confront her with violence.
That was to be expected.
She was likely the only Spirit currently in the Neighboring World.
Governing the laws of time and shadows, she was a monster that should have been excluded
from this Neighboring World.
“Yes, yes. There’s no need to be afraid.”
“Right──!”
It was because she was Tokisaki Kurumi.
Both of them smiled fearlessly as they clapped their hands.

Here was a gambling house filled with various schemes. A vulgar world, a place where the
currency humans yearn for the most fluttered and interacted with each other in the air.
Tokisaki Kurumi and Higoromo Hibiki have stepped into the Seventh Region Netzach───

○Casino Battle Royale
“──So that it’s just like that. With a payment of 100 million YP (Yui Points) to open the gate to
the Sixth Region Tiphereth!!”
After arriving at the Seventh Region Netzach, Tokisaki Kurumi and Higoromo Hibiki found one
of the several Sagakure Yui patrolling the gate (or perhaps that name was only given to the best
machines) and asked to be taken to the Dominion Yuri.
“─────────Yes, understood.”
Her expression stiffened a little at the proposal, but ultimately she faintly nodded at the two and
flew into the sky without the slightest warning.
“……That was surprisingly nice.”
“No, it’s too soon to be certain yet. Let’s be careful. Even so──”
Hibiki glanced around each direction in amazement. Although all of the previous regions so far
had their own unique characteristics, the Seventh Region Netzach had a sight that could only be
described as bizarre.
For instance, all of the clocks had the numerals I to V removed. When asking for an explanation
from Sagakure Yui, who was walking forward, she replied with a faint voice.
“In this region, the day is always 6 hours from 6pm to 12 am. The day begins at 6pm and ends at
12am.”
“That means……it’s always night here?”
Yui lightly nodded.
“But that is appropriately suitable for a gambling region.”
Speaking of casinos, most of them officially opened at nighttime. If it was nighttime for the
entire day, then the casino would always continue to operate.
Moreover, no matter which buildings with those clocks, they were decorated with neon signs that
were shining brightly.
“A nightless city……”
Even though the scenery of the sky was indeed that of nighttime, the buildings here were all
rejecting the notion of the evening. Even the Quasi-Spirits walking on the road, contrary to what
they had seen previously, had the illusion of a more mature style.

The Quasi-Spirits walking on the road held sake bottles in their hands. They jugged the bottle
down as they sang vigorously.
“There’s not much liquor in the other regions, but that’s different here. As long as they have YP,
residents can do whatever they please.”
“YP?”
“It’s an abbreviation for Yui Points.”
“Ara, seems you’re quite loved.”
“……”
Yui didn’t particularly responded, only slightly slanting her head. The transparent gaze seemed
to be lacking emotions unlike the Yui whom they had met in the Eighth Region Hod.
“──I am just a batch product. Performance is completely different from the Sagakure Yui that
personally attends to the master.”
“You have no emotions?”
“Yes.”
As Hibiki asked, the mass produced Yui only nodded. After some time had passed, the other
mass produced Yui also stared at Kurumi and Hibiki with a stern look.
“This is the center of the Seventh Region Netzach. Master is in the Casino IS.”
Hibiki raised her head to see a conspicuously tall building standing in front of her.
“IS……what does that stand for?”
Hibiki grinned upon hearing Kurumi’s question.
“I understand! It means Infinite · Sisters!”
“……No, it’s abbreviated for Imouto · Sisters.”
Both of them sincerely felt that abbreviation was in terrible taste.

The cheap metallic chair creaked. Leaning against it as if completely exhausted, Sagakure Yuri
looked at the two visitors with an indifferent look.
While lab coat piled up with a white dress. It was a strange style for sure. Each time she opened
her mouth, her sharp and jagged fangs were seen flickering.
“Want to go to the Sixth Region Tiphereth──?”
“Yes, yes. I really want to go there. So can I obtain your permission?”
“We have no plans of causing a ruckus here──!”
Swish, as if finding this boring, Yuri turned her chair around.
As the sounds coming from friction gradually increased, Kurumi frowned.
“So how about it?”
Behind Kurumi and Hibiki, the mass production Yui were lined up awaiting Yuri’s orders.
In the event that negotiations break down, a battle would inevitably erupt.
“Of course it’s possible. ──But shouldn’t there be a condition attached?”
Yuri gave a contemptuous smile.
“I’m just asking you to listen. Whether you follow or not is another matter.”
Kurumi already had her hands gripping on <Zafkiel>. As expected, known for being belligerent,
Kurumi-san’s reputation of having a low boiling point was well deserved. Hibiki wiped away her
sweat as she had no choice to watch on from the sidelines.
“It’s not anything difficult. Anyway, this condition cannot be changed. Good? If you want to
open the gate for the Sixth Region Tiphereth──”
──Please go make some money (YP).
Yuri instructed them to do so.
“Money……”
“Well, you’ll understand looking at that gate before shooting me with that gun. Is it too
troublesome? Well, then I really can’t help you.”

Snapping her fingers, the video screen on display behind Yuri changed its image.
The familiar sight of a huge gate, that which connected the various regions of the Neighboring
World with each other.
“This the door to the Sixth Region Tiphereth──, as you can see on the right side of the gate,
there’s a coin slot.”
Indeed, it was just as Yuri had said. The gate was tightly sealed by chains that were connected to
a device similar to a coin slot.
Yuri tapped on the big screen with her finger.
“When you insert YP here, the chains unlock and the gate will open.”
……Fu, after a brief silence, Kurumi asked.
“Is it possible to destroy it through force?”
“Don’t waste your time, Third Spirit! There’s no guarantee what will happen if you destroy it.
For example, the <Shamayim Kaveesh> may be destroyed. In the current situation where the
White Queen is causing trouble everywhere, the consequences would be fatal if we can no longer
connect to the Sixth Region Tiphereth. If you still intend to destroy it──”
“An all-out war can’t be avoided, that would be the conclusion led to.”
Behind the scenes, the Sagakure Yui already had their weapons ready. With a sigh, Kurumi let
go of <Zafkiel> and let it dissipate away.
It seemed that no matter what sort of person Sagakure Yuri was, she would never relinquish her
position as the Dominion protecting the Seventh Region Netzach.
So there was no other choice.
This was exactly just as they did in the Ninth Region Yesod.
“……So how much do we need to earn?”
Yuri showed off her jagged teeth as she smiled while informing them.
“Just pay 100,000,000 YP and the gate to the door to the Sixth Region Tiphereth!!”
Both of them were stunned to hear the words 100 million.
“We don’t have so much as 1 YP in our hands.”

“Ah, that’s fine. For people who arrive at the Seventh Region Netzach, a non-interest loan of 1
million YP can be obtained at the very beginning. It’s your choice whether to treat it as capital or
make more money through it by gambling.”
Yuri flicked a coin that came out of nowhere with her thumb. After receiving it, Kurumi frowned
upon inspecting the coin.
And expressionless and deformed image of Sagakure Yui had been engraved onto the coin.
“Yes, yes, one more question. How much longer will it take to earn work our way up through
this?”
“It should take about a year to earn 10 million.”
Hearing what Yuri had said, both Kurumi and Hibiki let out a shared sigh.
“So gambling is the only way.” “For sure.”
Kurumi threw the coin into the shadows.
“I’ll leave this to you.”
Cistus’s hand came out of the shadows to catch the coin.
“……Incidentally, if you don’t buy or sell the coins in a formal transaction, an error message
will occur. So, it’s useless to think of robbery.”
Tch, Kurumi clicked her tongue in open dissatisfaction.
“Now do your best. Oh, if you earn a certain amount, there’s a way to make a huge reversal to
earn even more.”
Yuri waved good-bye to send them off.
“Aah──really, this is completely unreasonable.”
“100 million, 100 million……”
“The route to earn money through working is completely out of the option. It’ll be too foolish to
spend 10 years.”
“And that also factors the cost for living expenses……”

In the blink of an eye, Hibiki confirmed the prices of drinks in a vending machine. It costed
around 12,000 YP. In other words, if using the yen of the real world as a benchmark, 1 million
YP was the equivalent to 100,000 yen.
“And I also asked Yui-san, but it seems even the cheap hotels cost 300,000 YP here. So anyway,
if we don’t do anything, we’ll be forced to sleep on the streets after four days. Considering the
money that we’ll also inevitably lose gambling, that time will become even shorter.”
The 1 million YP in their hands was completely unreliable.
“Let’s work hard today to change that 1 million YP into 3 million YP.”
“Is Kurumi-san good at gambling?”
“How could that be? I don’t have any memories of that sort of thing. But, we can always try to
swindle them like you said before.”
“That’s……”
“Hibiki-san?”
“Listen well! I’ve been trying to hide that part of me!”
“Yes, yes. Judging from past practice, Hibiki-san seems to have an unexpectedly powerful
ability.”
“Please listen to me properly! I may be strong at gambling, but that doesn’t mean I’m not well
acquainted with the taste of defeat. Long ago in the Sixth Region Malkuth, there’s the legend of
Hibiki shaving away her life with each match of mahjong!”
“So then Hibiki-san, which game should be played first?”
“Fumu.”
Hibiki looked into the map of the casino of the Seventh Region Netzach, which was distributed
free of charge.
“First of all, mahjong is bad. Even if the enemy’s abilities are lower than yourself, there’s still
the possibility of bad luck. Since it’s still too early to compete with the dealer, it’ll be safer to
head for playing cards or roulette. Let’s head to a game with a machine first.”
“A machine……”
There are slots! Let’s start from there!”

Hibiki grabbed Kurumi’s hand and pulled her towards a nearby casino.
Sagakure Yuri sighed as the Yuis wiped away her sweat.
“No, that level of pressure is bad.”
The mass produced Yui didn’t reply back. While knowing this, Yuri muttered to herself.
“If I had seriously refused, I would have seriously been killed. Even if I tried my best, it
probably would have been no good. As I expected, a Spirit is in a different league.”
Yuri’s words rang true. Although Tokisaki Kurumi had lost some of her power, she still had
enough strength to kill her and the mass produced types surrounding them.
However, Kurumi chose to cooperate──and follow the rules of the Seventh Region Netzach.
Was the reason to suppress the potential damage as well, or did she merely want to avoid turning
other Quasi-Spirits into her enemies?
Or, or, or alternatively.
Was she also considering the life of that girl?
“……Gather information about Higoromo Hibiki.”
“Understood.”
The dolls stepped back one by one. Seeing them off, Yuri softly sighed.
……After all, I still have a mission.
A simple desire, an important mission to protect and love her little sister──────
Night will never end for the Seventh Region Netzach. The neon lights will continue to shine the
glory of both prosperity and decadence.
Sagakure Yuri called for her little sister while watching this scenery from the window.
“Yui-chan, are you there?”

“──Yes.”
Very smoothly, Sagakure Yui appeared from the shadows. She was different from the Sagakure
Yuis that were in the room just now.
Different structure, different materials, and an overall different impression felt from her.
Of course, she was also a mechanical doll──however, looking closely, there were sporadic
differences in detail that could be seen.
“About Tokisaki Kurumi.”
“Do you want me on alert?”
“Leave that to the mass production models. You will follow after them. Do you understand?
Shouldn’t they already be acquainted with your face?”
As Yui nodded, Yuri whispered to her ear while smiling.

“……Come.”
Yui gently walked forward and kneeled in front of Yuri.
Yuri gently touched Yui’s cheeks, raising her brow at the coldness.
“Can you generate heat?”
“Yes.”
Her cheeks felt a little warmer. Yuri gave a satisfied smile while gently stroking her cheeks.
“My lovely, lovely, lovely Yui. No matter what, keep on living.”
“……Thank you very much for your care.”
Yuri reluctantly let down her hand.
“Now, go.”
Yui nodded, hiding in the shadows before disappearing in the blink of an eye.
There was no doubt that Tokisaki Kurumi was a foreign element. So for a foreign element, it was
necessary to prepare an appropriate interception system.
“Yuri-sama, those two have arrived.”
Hearing that, Yuri jumped out of her chair.
“Guide them here──”
Those words suddenly came to a halt. There were two girls standing behind Yui. The mass
production types turned around in a panic. It seems they didn’t notice being followed.
Yuri had no intention of blaming Yui. In the first place, both of them were anomalies comparable
to herself and Tokisaki Kurumi.
“There was no need.” “……I tried to stop her.”
One of them raised her chest as the other let out a sigh.
One of them was wearing an elegant dress, with a thin rapier at her waist and a graceful folding
fan to cover her mouth.
The other one was wearing a large winter coat and holding a book to the side.

Accompanied by that overwhelming Reiryoku, it was measurable to a bottomless extent.
Yuri welcomed them by stretching out her hands forward.
“Welcome to the Seventh Region Netzach. Miyafuji Oka, Yukishiro Maya.”
“……Yes, can you let us enjoy ourselves here for a while?”
“Is it only the two of you?”
Yukishiro Maya shook her head at that question.
“Eh?”
“No. Today is special for the Seventh Region Netzach. ──There still one more person coming.”
Hearing that, Yuri’s eyes widened.
Waking up from a calm nap, she found that it was nighttime.
“Are ~? What happened ~?”
The Dominion of the Fourth Region Chesed, Ariadne Foxlot leisurely muttered while looking
around. Below was her Astral Dress──Pleasant Sleep Spirit Dress No. 30 <Nightfall>, her attire
had changed to sleep mode with pajamas and a futon even added. Thanks to this Astral Dress,
not only could she fall asleep anywhere, but it also eliminated all insignificant hazards──rain,
wind, insects, noise, and so on.
Looking up to the sky, it was Ariadne’s favorite night sky. However, the neon lights flashing on
the ground emitted a sinister light.
“Ah, that’s right.”
Ariadne nodded to herself while recalling. Her request, the whims of her own temperament, and
the rumors heard about the Seventh Region Netzach, half cautious and half wanting to have fun
had brought her here today.
So when she arrived, she fell asleep early. The friend who was supposed to accompany her
seemed to have abandoned her.
Truly horrible person, Ariadne pouted while thinking about this.

“Are you awake?”
“Rererenore.”
Hearing Ariadne’s reply, the mass production Yui bowed.
“Hmm…….it’s nothing, nothing.”
“I will now guide you to the Dominion Sagakure Yuri.”
Ariadne stood up and transformed her Astral Dress into outing mode.
A light blue blouse and miniskirt to feign that she was a lively girl.
“Forget that, I don’t want to go. I want to play according to my own preferences.”
Ariadne spoke out as she stepped forward with footsteps as light as a feather.
“That also does not matter.”
The mass production type Yui trailed behind her. Ariadne wasn’t concerned as she stepped into a
nearby casino.
Slots were reverberating at high volume, cheers raised by Quasi-Spirits, and the mechanical dolls
on patrol monitored everything from the sidelines.
And also──
In a complete coincidence, Ariadne encountered her.
“Ah, White Queen……no this is Tokisaki Kurumi.”
When the White Queen appeared on the scene, she was wearing a completely white Astral
Dress……this was the complete opposite. This girl had a black and red Astral Dress covering her
body──Tokisaki Kurumi was standing there.
The name of the casino was called Octopus Pot.
“The meaning of that name can be interpreted as──”

“Once you’re pulled in you can never get out. Putting it like that really shows their full
enthusiasm for doing something.”
Kurumi and Hibiki spoke while looking around.
Ignoring the playing cards and roulette, they had their eyes first on the slot machines. From the
lowest of 1,000 YP to the highest of 1 million YP, all sort of slot machines were made available.
“777 having an x50 multiplier seems to be the foundation.”
“Now, where should we attack……?”
Hibiki whispered while staring at the slot machines. Since these were machines, there should be
a way to capture them. This was the so-called meoshi. (meoshi 眼押 is the act of trying to land the reels in a slot
machine just by watching and pressing the buttons at the right time)
Normally, many slot machines were in fact controlled by a program. The probability is set so that
a winning combination is not so easily established and some slot machine had already
determined the combination given the moment the coin is inserted.
Over 90% of slot machines in this casino can only be played in such a way that only pre-
determined points are given.
90%.
Looking at it from another perspective, the remaining 10%......no, perhaps even fewer than that.
Those were the slots that could be purely played through meoshi.
“Fumu, fumu. I see, I see. I’m learning a lot.”
“Well, that is only the basic stage. The bigger problem is determining which slots can be played
on sight. Which starting amount is better?”
“Ah, that doesn’t matter. Just stake all of the 1 million YP in a single throw.”
Kurumi cleared her throat and stood up.
“OH, are you crazy! ……No, are you serious, Kurumi-san, wouldn’t a single out spell complete
defeat!? Life debt! Destitution! Living life by the fire! Two people snuggling by the Kanda River!
Four and a half tatami-sized apartments! Ah, actually I think the last one would be nice too!”
“Please stop talking.”
After having her forehead pressed, Higoromo Hibiki regained her sanity.

“……No, anyway it definitely won’t work. It would be leaving it entirely to luck.”
“That’s no such thing. It’s rather easy.”
“Ehh〜……”
In spite of Hibiki’s dumbstruck expression, Kurumi once again looked at the 1 million YP slot
machines.
“Aren’t you forgetting that I am a gunslinger?”
“Eh? Ah, yes……but what about that?”
Kurumi pointed her finger at her eyes as she softly spoke.
“Isn’t it necessary to have sharp eyesight in order to shoot a gun?”
Hibiki seemed to hear a distinct ticking sound from Tokisaki Kurumi’s left eye.
Muu, Hibiki grudgingly nodded while grimacing.
“I understand. Well, even if Kurumi-san fails, it’ll still be okay somehow! There’s always the
Kanda River!”
“There is no Kanda River here.”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. Here we go, let’s fail!”
“Isn’t that somehow deviating from the topic? Anyway, Cistus!”
A girl emerged out from the shadows.
“Me will choose the slot machine.”
“Well, that’s fine, but I would have started from the 100,000 YP.”
Hearing what Cistus had said, the corners of Kurumi’s mouth were provoked into a smile.
“I’d like to run with the shortest distance.”
There were five slot machines in total with 1 million YP. It was a grand occasion. Those that had
earned YP through their previous gambling headed back to the slot machines like an infinite
stream.

Of course, most of them were defeated and had to go home. There were even some customers
that had thrown away all of their assets. There were also some rare customers that made some
money, but as a whole they constituted for less than 10%.
Kurumi and Cistus were watching this situation unfold from behind.
Out of the five, four were already out of the question. After all, it was a machine that displayed a
pre-set role at a fixed interval regardless of when the stop reel was pressed. Of course, if they
challenged it at the right moment, landing a 777 wouldn’t be just a dream. However, that would
require tens of thousands of trial opportunities.
But with only once chance, the meoshi strategy could be implemented to perfection.
The spin of the slots were much greater than the other slot machines, with each of the three
individual slots also going at different speeds. Therefore, in order to perfectly grasp this slot
machine, it was necessary to have the dynamic vision to simultaneously and accurately capture
three high-speed rotating objects.
However, Quasi-Spirits would not be able to make that distinction. Even though there were
Quasi-Spirits that were skilled at gambling, it wasn’t to the extent where they could accurately
see something spinning at such velocity. It was almost the same as confirming a specific raindrop
falling down.
However.
On rare occasions, there were a few who could see the raindrops falling.
This girl obtained her eyesight from a baptism of bullets pouring down like rain.
For this casino, in order to convey the false pretenses of equal opportunities, they made the
mistake of not putting one of these slot machines under their direction control.
And also, they had the great misfortune of being selected by Tokisaki Kurumi.
Towards a reel moving at 300 meters per second, Kurumi and Cistus pointed their thumb and
index finger forward like a gun and pressed down on the button after determining their target.
7 (direct hit) 7 (hitting the mark) 7 (landing the mark)
Tokisaki Kurumi using a Tokisaki Kurumi style, even Hibiki looking on from close proximity
could only stare while completely stunned.
The spectators watching on the side couldn’t move as if they were frozen.
Those that came to the casino didn’t care for anything other than watching the most expensive
slots. They had been spectating ever since they saw the coin being inserted.

And after that, a 777 suddenly came into play.
While the fanfare resonated, a ka-ching sound of 50 1 million YP coins were released from the
slot machine.
At the same time, a burst of cheers came from the surroundings. A one-shot game at the most
expensive slot with a magical 777 wasn’t something capable of coming from an ordinary person.
Furthermore, the more observant Quasi-Spirits were aware that this wasn’t due to simple good
fortune──the result was dependent on extraordinary eyesight.
“With this we have 50 million, so we’re already halfway to the goal.”
“Now I’ll hold on to this for you. It seems that it will be a while till the next round.”
As Cistus informed them, she jumped into the shadows with all of the coins.
“What’s wrong?”
As Kurumi was about to slant her head, Hibiki started to pull on her sleeves.
“Kurumi-san, Kurumi-san. Over there.”
Hibiki gave a bitter expression while whispering to Kurumi’s side.
“──My apologizes, honorable guest. Can I take up some of your time?”
The Quasi-Spirit and her subordinate’s expression seemed somewhat cramped as they called out
to challenge Kurumi.
On the outskirts, another girl was staring at this scene unfolding.
“That looks interesting.”
Ariadne Foxlot opened her usually sleepy eyelids while watching those two being taken to the
manager’s room.
“……Um.”
“Please be quiet.”
Ariadne hushed the mass production type by pressed her index finger against her lips and then
leisurely strolled forward.

“Can you please show us some mercy?”
The Quasi-Spirit that served as the manager deeply bowed. While prepared for high-pressure
coercion, seeing this caused Kurumi’s defenses to falter.
“Can you specify what you mean by mercy?”
The manager replied.
“It’s the slot machine. I won’t call it a foul──but we can win against you. Please refrain from
using that machine later.”
Once again, the manager deeply bowed.
After hesitating for a moment, Kurumi sighed and nodded.
“It can’t be avoided. I understand.”
Hibiki gave a look of asking Kurumi to pull back, but the manager quickly grabbed Kurumi’s
hand first while prostrating.
“Thank you! There is no issue with YP coins you’ve already earned before! Please continue to
enjoy the casino!”
──Soon afterwards, they were expelled from the manager’s room in no time at all.
“You’ve really done it now, Kurumi-san.”
“Huh, what do you mean?”
“……Hmm. Let’s go to the other casinos. This way, you’ll understand even if you don’t want to.”
Following Hibiki’s suggestion, Kurumi left the Octopus Pot for other casinos.
However──
“I’m sorry. This slot machine is out of order.”
“I’m sorry. This slot machine needs to be removed.”
“I’m sorry. This slot machine is completely suspended.”
“……I’ve done it now……”

“Right?”
Kurumi looked on bitterly at the casino that was greeting her enthusiastically. Being the third one,
Kurumi also quickly picked up on the situation.
It seemed that she was on the blacklist for the Seventh Region Netzach. It seemed that the
casinos have decided through their internal network that Kurumi cannot be allowed to proceed.
Likely they had contacted each other when she was taken to the manager’s room. More or less,
they had placed a clever disguise on their deception.
“Naturally, this is for me……but it looks like Cistus is no good either.”
“I would guess that our fingerprints and irises are scanned the moment of entering into the
casino.”
Because of the large amount of mass production Yui types, the progress of mechanical
engineering of the Seventh Region Netzach is among the best to the extent where analysis
techniques for fingerprints and irises have developed.
“Now this is troublesome.”
“Even when trying to play against the dealer, I couldn’t make much money……”
They sat in the chair to play blackjack and roulette, but the dealer would always withdraw early.
If there was ever the chance of making big money, their opponent wouldn’t let them take that
opportunity.
They wouldn’t lose, but even if they won they wouldn’t earn that much.
“Right now, we have a little more than 50 million YP. At this rate, even if we live in the casino
for 24 hours, it’ll take two months to make 100 million YP……no, it’ll be around three months.”
“We’ve been wasting time running around in circles. Absolutely not. It can’t be helped, there’s
only one way to do this……”
“Yes.”
Cistus nodded as she took out her old fashioned rifle. Naturally, Kurumi also took out her small
pistol.
“Robbery……”
“Impossible, didn’t they say that would be made invalid!?”
“Look here, I’m sure there should be at least one or two Quasi-Spirits doing money laundering.”

“Uh, that’s.”
After all, there wasn’t anything wrong with Tokisaki Kurumi’s sense of ethics. For her, the
Seventh Region Netzach was secretly trying to prevent her from going to the Sixth Region
Tiphereth.
From Kurumi’s perspective, this made no sense unless they gave her a chance for a comeback.
“──Hi, please wait a moment.”
A voice suddenly sounded. Kurumi, Cistus, and Hibiki all turned to that direction in turn. The
two of them raised <Zafkiel> towards there. In that instant, Hibiki also prepared her own
Unsigned Angel <King Killing>.
“Who are you?”
While inquiring, Kurumi forcibly took control of her own survival instinct to shoot.
Ordinarily, Kurumi wouldn’t have attempted this. However, her actions so far did indicate being
at an impasse.
Trying to kill this opponent wouldn’t be easy──Kurumi felt a faint sense of crisis in her heart.
If the opponent was holding a weapon or hiding something, Kurumi wouldn’t hesitate on pulling
the trigger.
However, the person being pointed at by <Zafkiel> didn’t take out a weapon and simply raised
her hands up in surrender.
This girl exuded a strangely relaxed atmosphere. Her cute eyes did look sleepy. No, perhaps in
this situation she truly was sleepy and yawning.
“Fuaah……my name is Ariadne Foxlot.”
“The Dominion of the Fourth Region Chesed, Ariadne Foxlot……!?”
It was Higoromo Hibiki who cried out in response to that name. Hearing that she was a
Dominion, Kurumi once again strengthened her vigilance.
As if troubled by this act, Ariadne once again raised her hands up.
“That’s right. I don’t feel like fighting you. Only, I’m suggesting that you don’t attempt robbery.”

“……Why?”
“Simply, it’s because the sacrifice would be too big. Of course, that means on your side as well.”
Ariadne pointed towards Kurumi. Kurumi revealed a sly smile as murderous intent reappeared
on her finger holding the trigger.
“Ara, ara. What you’re saying really is interesting. May I ask you for the reason?”
“Well. Likely, the reason will be made clear soon. So, can I talk to you before then?”
The other side had a gentle smile without any hint of murderous intent. But on the contrary, this
just made Hibiki feel even more uneasy.
Both Kurumi and Cistus, while seemingly taking in the atmosphere of a gambling room, were
fully armed with <Zafkiel>. If Ariadne showed any signs of hostility, this scene would become a
battlefield in an instant.
Hibiki understood. Of course, Ariadne also recognized this.
The problem was that Ariadne didn’t care about this in the slightest.
She dazedly was dozing off with a cat-like expression──while continuing to speak calmly.
“──What are you after?”
“That is not something you will understand.”
“──Why do you look exactly the same as the White Queen?”
“Because she is my counterfeit. If you wish to knock her down, please by all means do so.”
“──You have continued to advance from the Tenth Region Malkuth. How far do you intend to
go?”
“Until my goal is achieved, I don’t know how far I will go.”
“──So it turns out to be like this. Then your goal is the same as the White Queen?”
Hearing those words that would trigger Kurumi, Hibiki could feel every hair on her skin being
raised.
This was unmistakably provocation, with words that should never be spoken in front of Kurumi.
Sure enough, Kurumi narrowed her eyes. This was more than enough evidence to completely
regard this person as an enemy. But Ariadne stared back at Kurumi without any fear.

Her transparent eyes were neither turbulent nor hollow. Simply, it was as stable as the calm sea.
“The common point shared between you and the White Queen is your indifference towards this
Neighboring World. Because you don’t care, correct?”
“That’s──”
Although Kurumi tried to refute that point, her killing intent was slightly shaken.
Ariadne continued to pursue her attack.
“I also know about the rumors. Does that happen during the Compile? Children in my region
occasionally come across it──and then fall.”
Fall, Ariadne stressed that word.
Surely, it was just as she said.
“……But, I think it’s better than not being able to live.”
As Hibiki said that, Ariadne shifted her eyes towards her.
“……Although I have never experienced it, that love can definitely be used as food for living.”
“But, is that ■■■■ person present in the Neighboring World?”
There was noise mixed in with Ariadne’s words.
……Kurumi reflexively opened her mouth but then immediately closed it. For some reason, she
felt the need to refrain questioning this. But more importantly, Kurumi didn’t want anyone else
to discover this.
“Kurumi-san?”
“……No. It’s nothing. Even if there is no such thing, I will go to see for myself. If that person
isn’t present here, I will escape from this Neighboring World. Please do not hinder me.”
“I understand. But as long as there is the White Queen──we will need to monitor you. It would
cause complications if you act as you wish within our territories.”
There was a brief silence.
Kurumi quietly whispered in a freezing tone.
“──You just said our, correct?”

Rather it was a perceptual attack. Therefore, only Tokisaki Kurumi, who had encountered
countless battlefields, could react to this. Needless to say, Hibiki and even Cistus couldn’t
respond in time.
Kurumi intercepted by raising the <Zafkiel> in her hands.
The attacks of two Unsigned Angels came from both behind and front.
In front of her eyebrows was an Estoc sword and from behind her head was a huge Shinigami
scythe that emerged from a book. Kurumi pulled the trigger on <Zafkiel>.
In a flash, the situation had reversed. Both Hibiki and Cistus didn’t even move.
“──Nice to meet you, Tokisaki Kurumi-sama. My name is Miyafuji Oka. I am the Dominion of
the Sixth Region Tiphereth.”
“Dominion of the Second Region Chokmah……Yukishiro Maya.”
An elegant girl and a too serious looking girl.
And also, Hibiki, as an average existence, could understand the terrifyingly enormous Reiryoku
they had.
Including Ariadne Foxlot──no doubt all three of them were combat-type Dominions!
However, to describe Kurumi, who intercepted that attack, as extraordinary would be a gross
understatement.
The reason those two stopped their attacks at the last minute was due the premonition of death
that fell on both of them. The two likely sensed that they would be killed if they took another
step forward.
“……What are you going to do, me?”
Hearing Cistus’s question, Kurumi smiled fearlessly.
“Me (Cistus) does not need to get her hands dirty. Please, I will handle everything here.”
Listening to that command, Cistus took Hibiki and jumped into the shadows without any further
comment.
“Wait! Cistus-san, what are you doing!?”
“It’s better to leave it to her. If we are there……likely the battlefield would grow even more
complex.”

“……Complex……?”
“──To say it bluntly, there’s the high possibility of Hibiki-san only dragging behind.”
“……”
Silence. Hibiki understood that those words rang true. Neither her ability nor Reiryoku could
compete against them. If she had stayed there, she would have only hampered Kurumi,
No matter what I do, I can’t help her.
In such cases, you can only rely on Cistus.
That was very──very,
Hard to swallow.
Cistus sighed as she gently stroked Hibiki’s head.
“You don’t have to be so sad. That is definitely not the intention of me.”
Cistus using the same tone and voice as Tokisaki Kurumi just added another layer of sadness for
Hibiki.
On the other side, Kurumi, who was in a stalemate situation, pierced her gaze across her
surroundings.
“Three Dominions. That is to say, everyone here has decided to become hostile towards
me……is that the case?”
Ariadne replied──“Considering how this development flows, then perhaps?”
“You say that after trying to thrust a needle in-between my eyebrows?”
Oka replied──“……Honestly, I don’t want it to be like this. But if it because of the White
Queen, then it can’t be avoided.”
“So you all are trying to carefully observe the situation from behind?”
Maya replied──“In any case, we must know more about the White Queen.”
……With that silence, even the sounds of breathing stopped.

All four of them were growing impatient. None of the four wanted to go to war in the truest
sense. However, if any party gives in, that was the equivalent of defeat.
In that case, who would be the one to give in first?
Or rather who would be the one to pull the trigger? In this tense atmosphere, a fifth girl opened
her mouth.
“……Can you not do this now? Here is still my region after all.”
“Ah, Yuri-chan. So you’re finally here.”
Sagakure Yuri patted Ariadne on the shoulder.
“Ara, ara. Even though I just saw you earlier, what is the matter now, Sagakure Yuri-san?”
As Kurumi threw a provoking glare, Yuri smoothly warded it off.
“Hmm. My little sister told me a lot. So I thought it would better if I came here.”
“……That is to say, we are chess piece currently stuck in an antagonistic state.”
Ariadne sighed. In that instant, all of the murderous intent of everyone on the scene faded.
The thick odor of death didn’t leave behind any remnants. Now, it was a relaxed atmosphere
spreading around.
Slowly, Oka placed her Estoc sword back in its sheath. Without any malice, she informed
Kurumi.
“──My apologizes, but I don’t feel sorry at all. After all, you have power comparable to be
called another White Queen. It’s natural to do our utmost to avoid a rampage.”
Then, Yukishiro Maya pointed her finger at the book floating in the air.
The book closed as the Shinigami’s scythe floating in the air disappeared. She pulled the book
towards her, hugging the hardcover book tightly.
“I’ve heard about you from Kirari Rinemu. But I can’t trust you without looking at you with my
own eyes first.”
“Ara, how is Rinemu-san?”
“She’s fine. She still speaks her mind without any consideration. I was hoping that wound to her
heart would make that stop. But now I think it’s impossible for her to mature in the slightest.”

“There’s……nothing that can be done……”
Not only Maya, but Oka and the other Dominions nodded in agreement.
Even though she wasn’t a battle type, Kurumi somehow understood why Kirari Rinemu was
chosen to be Dominion.
Of course her talents as an idol need not be said. However, against tough and rigid Dominions,
perhaps the type of Quasi-Spirit that spoke whatever was on her mind was ideal against that.
“……So may I ask what you want from me?”
“It’s because here is the Seventh Region Netzach.”
Giggling, Yuri held out her hand. The Yui, who was a mock genuine little sister and not a mass
production type, nodded as she distributed out playing cards.
“A gambling match held for the remaining 50 million. If you win, you can go to the Sixth Region
Tiphereth. If you I win, please stay here for a while as an experiment. Of course, living expenses
will be provided and you can go to the Sixth Region Tiphereth after the experiment is over.”
“……By the way, although I don’t really want to ask, what is this experiment specifically?”
“Clone, replicate, and becoming a cyborg, are you interested?”
“No. I’ve had enough of that already.”
Kurumi let out a heavy sigh.
“It will be decided by a game after all.”
“I don’t want to do this either. But after all these preparations and Oka’s request, I had to listen.”
“……Oka?”
“Oka-chan, ah she’s sort of like the leader among the Dominions.”
“……So it turned out to be like this.”
Kurumi turned to gaze steadily at Miyafuji Oka. Startled, Oka took a strong step back. Judging
from her response, Kurumi took a step forward which further pressed Oka to take another
subsequent step back.
“……Why take a step back?”
“Please don’t mind. This is my habit. I like to keep a larger personal space.”

“In spite of that, I feel you’re drawing closer to those on the side.”
Kurumi shoot a glance at Oka’s side. Standing beside Oka was Yukishiro Maya. There were no
notable changes in Oka’s expression.
“Ah, Yukishiro-san is fine. My body knows she’s safe, so there’s no negative response produced.”
“And me?”
“Ariadne-san is a little scary, so please stay away.”
“Ehh, how shocking. Don’t say something that horrible……fuaaah.”
Despite saying she was feeling shocked, Ariadne stretched out an elongated yawn.
“──Anyway, a poker match with the five people present here. Is that okay?”
After hearing Maya’s calm voice, Kurumi considered quickly, shaking her head in disagreement
before deciding to nod in agreement.
“The contents of the game have changed over time. Well then, I won’t be able to win without
defeating all four of you.”
“……I’ve heard that Tokisaki Kurumi is the type to be quick to anger, but it seem her head is
also quite good.”
Maya muttered while having an unexpected face.
“Are you looking for a fight, do you want a fight? Then I promise that I will come after you
mercilessly.”
Naturally, the relaxed atmosphere on the scene instantly reverted back to a battlefield.
……However. Maya quickly said, “eh, why has the atmosphere suddenly change?” while
twisting her neck.
Oka coughed a little to interrupt.
“Ah, Tokisaki Kurumi. My apologizes. Yukishiro-san is the type to not be able to read the mood.
It’s a rather fatal shortcoming.”
“……Aah, so that’s it……”
Kurumi was convinced as she nodded back.

“How rude, I was just praising her. Ferociously strong and a good head and face on her shoulders.
It’s worthy of being called a Spirit.”
“Please remove the word ferocious. I am willing to accept the rest.”
“Just like a gorilla driven by violent impulses (praise).”
“So you really are asking to be killed!! Hand over your head immediately!”
“Yukishiro-sa───n! Please be quiet for a while!”
“Those words shouldn’t be said──”
Finding time passing too slowly, Cistus and Hibiki peeked out their heads to find everyone
present to be completely exhausted.
“Roughly, the agreement is not too different from before. I also have no reason to fight against
you all.”
“B-Because before I was the only Dominion…….”
“I see. So now that there’s three more, we’ve reached this antagonistic state?”
Yuri embarrassingly nodded to what Kurumi had said. However, it seemed that there was more
to this than just that.
“You said a poker match. In other words, there’s someone here stronger at gambling than
Sagakure Yuri-san──is it right to assume that?”
Those words caused Yuri to awkwardly fall silent. However, Kurumi didn’t miss the moment
where Yuri’s gaze turned to the other Dominions.
…….She roughly grasped the situation. Even though Yuri was not absolutely confident in
winning a game of poker, one of the other three must have absolute confidence.
So they chose to fight this way.
“How about it?”
“With all due respect, do think you can bluff your way out of this.”
“……”
──However, Kurumi had to accept this game. Although the risk was high, the potential return
was also considerable. Second, fourth, and fifth, she could make three Dominions recognize her

power and clarify her position. Doing so would make the second half of her journey go all the
more smoothly.
“I am willing to accept this game, but I have a condition I need you all to accept.”
“Condition……?”
“Everyone here is a Dominion, correct? If I win unconditionally in the poker game, allow me to
pass through each of your regions.”
“Mu……come over.”
“Naturally, otherwise I have no specific reason to fight against a Dominion.”
“……I don’t mind. What about you Ariadne?”
Ariadne waved her hand in agreement to Oka’s words.
“I don’t care. Is Maya-chan good as well?”
“……I’m going to be the dealer, so I’m not going to compete. However, I will only answer that
Tokisaki Kurumi’s request will be carefully considered.”
Kurumi frowned at the ambiguous reply. However, if she could easily pass through the Sixth
Region Tiphereth and Fourth Region Chesed, it should be fine.
“I hope the detailed rules will be written and not verbal. Please sign this document along with all
of the Dominions. Naturally, I will also sign this.”
“Understood. Ha, it’s finally over……so tired.”
Yuri rubbed her exhausted face. If there was just a single mistake, the Seventh Region Netzach
would have turned into a battlefield. It was an extraordinary high level of pressure.
“It’s over. Then let’s all take a nap, good night, Zzz……”
Ariadne, who had used up all of her strength, turned her Astral Dress into sleep mode and
entered into her sleeping bag.
“Ariadne-dono. Please don’t sleep here…..aah, she’s already deploying the sleeping bag.”
“Miyafuji Oka, Tokisaki Kurumi. I am asking for a correction. I am not a Quasi-Spirit that
cannot understand the mood. I will always look into the atmosphere of a conversation.”
“No, you can’t tell it at all. I swear on the name of the Dominion of the Sixth Region Tiphereth.”

“Yes, yes. You completely can’t read it at all. To imagine you would describe a person as a
gorilla.”
“Please don’t underestimate a gorilla. A gorilla is a gentle, polished, and burly intellectual
known as the sage of the forest.”
“I’m not looking down on gorillas!”
“To be honest, gorillas are quite graceful. So comparing you to a gorilla is actually a
compliment.”
“Your! Standard! Of praise! Is the problem!”
“……What’s going on here?”
Cistus asked a nearby Sagakure Yui. The difference between the special models and the mass
produced type was obvious. It could be understood at a glance if there was any polish to their
eyes.
“Um, actually……”
Cistus could help but clutch her head after hearing Yui’s explanation.
“……So you’re saying a Dominion in control of the Neighboring World and the sole Spirit there
are arguing about something completely pointless……”
Cistus sighed at this unreasonableness.
“Our reputation is at stake, me! And Hibiki-san, don’t you think so as well!”
Kurumi turned back at Hibiki.
Hibiki approached Maya with a steep expression while pointing and shouting.
“I need you to correct that statement. Yukishiro Maya-san!”
“Yes, that’s right. As expected of Hibiki-san. Yes, yes, you go tell her.”
“A girl named Tokisaki Kurumi can’t be expressed in such words like a gorilla! Listen here, for a
comparison──”
“Eh? This doesn’t feel right. Do you really need to continue?”
“Yes, for example, she is as beautiful as a butterfly.”
“……Uh. Well, that’s not wrong…..yes.”

“And possessing brutal poison just like a giant hornet.”
“Hibiki-san.”
“And with the same fierceness as a brown bear.”
“Hibiki-san, there’s something important you need to say.”
“And also, um, as beautiful as a flower blooming in a field.”
“Why did you go for such a weak analogy!? Focus on what’s important! What’s important!!”
Because of her connection to Hibiki, the situation grew even more and more chaotic.
After the contract was delivered by Sagakure Yui, the meeting spot here was temporarily
dissolved.
“……So it ends up being a game after all.”
Cistus muttered while having the same impression as Kurumi.
“Ugh, my forehead hurts like it was beaten by a plus screwdriver.”
Hibiki muttered to herself, clutching her head while having a grotesque expression. Needless to
say, that was the price for her previous behavior.
“But well, anyway……ouch……sure enough, it’s because that self-assured Dominion paid a
visit.”
“That’s right. To choose to make a legitimate gambling match, that can only be done with a
strong power backing her.”
“She’s confident in challenging a match because the three other Dominions came?”
“……Well, certainly Sagakure Yuri must have been considering the possibility of being defeated
by Kurumi-san in gambling if she was alone. With three of them, she must consider there to be
an opportunity now.”
“On the contrary, those girls cannot also show their shameful side of being a Dominion. We are
also as of this moment cannot turn back.”

Hibiki had a difficult look upon hearing Kurumi’s words.
“Ah, yes. Perhaps they’ll consider the results of the game fair……but is this game fair in the first
place?”
“──Cheating, is that right?”
Kurumi quickly caught on to what Hibiki was thinking.
“Yes. It’s not difficult to imagine those three have something like that in mind if they’re
confident Kurumi-san will lose.”
“The lack of understanding in the abilities of their Unsigned Angels is a fatal shortcoming.”
“That’s true. Only……there’s one thing I’m sure of.”
“Oh.” “What’s that?”
Hibiki spoke while raising one finger.
“They aren’t concerned because they have an ability to cheat in poker, or perhaps there is an
application with their Unsigned Angel that would allow them to cheat.”
After a moment of silence, Kurumi nodded as if convinced.
“The former should be considered a given. Incidentally, my own Unsigned Angel would be
considered ideal for cheating. As for the latter──”
“I’ve only heard rumors, gossip, and hearsay from information brokers. Among the Dominions
gathered here now, at least Ariadne Foxlot and Oka Miyafuji are battle-type Dominions. The
Unsigned Angel of Yukishiro Maya, the Dominion of the Second Region Chokmah, is unknown.
But judging from Kurumi-san’s story, it may be a summon battle type.”
“Summon battle type?”
“Rather than fighting directly with an Unsigned Angel, it’s the type that fights through
something created with the Unsigned Angel. In her case, perhaps──”
“That book, right? She sent out a Shinigami from the book to deal with me.”
“……There should be more to that. Anyway, besides Sagakure Yuri, all of the Dominions here
were chosen for their combat prowess. In other words, they may not be suitable for cheating.”
“That can’t be it. In that case, there would be no point in choosing a poker match.”

Cistus, being ever the pragmatic realist, refuted. The other side had proposed the game, so it
should be taken as a given cheating would be involved. Her accusation was cold but full of
veracity.
“……In any case, it’s useless unless I know their abilities.”
“But, if you gather information──”
“No. I think it would be more dangerous to gather information.”
“……Ugh.”
Hibiki groaned as Cistus slanted her head.
“What do you mean that it’s too dangerous to collect information?”
“Here is the Seventh Region Netzach, the mass produced Sagakure Yui types that serve as an
extension of Sagakure Yuri’s limbs are everywhere.”
“In fact, haven’t you already noticed the one behind us?”
A Sagakure Yui smoothly appeared hiding in the background. Not a mass production type but a
special model──it was the exact same Sagakure Yui that Kurumi had already once seen in the
Eighth Region Hod.
“Ah, I see. I understand. We are being guided.”
“I’m sorry. I’m not too familiar with the Seventh Region Netzach, so I can’t find a reliable
information store. ……And when the opponent is the Dominion.”
“Excessive information can also slow down thinking. Hibiki-san shouldn’t be too concerned
about this.”
“But. What will you do for countermeasures? That person──”
Hibiki shoot a quick glance behind at Yui. Yui hid in the shadows as if ashamed but still didn’t
leave this spot.
“As long as she’s here, the battle plan is sealed.”
“……Fufu, well that’s about true. Anyway, let’s head to the hotel first. Yui-san, can you please
guide us there? I won’t cause any ruckus in the hotel suite.”
“Y-Yes!”

Yui jumped out from the shadows and rushed to guide the three of them.
──Sagakure Yui thought to herself.
What they had said had largely landed on the bull’s eye.
The poker match──although she didn’t personally know too much about it──without a doubt
attempts at cheating from the inside would ensue.
Tokisaki Kurumi will be captured and used to fight against the White Queen. Or perhaps, she
will be dissected to find the White Queen’s weakness.
But.
Was that really possible?
In the first place, what did her older sister even desire?
Each time she was born, Sagakure Yui recognized her identity as Sagakure Yui and looked up to
Sagakure Yuri as her older sister and master.
If Sagakure Yuri commanded it, she would become a shinobi following Kirari Rinemu and
Banouin Mizuha.
“But, isn’t that like twisted?”
She recalled Kirari Rinemu once muttering that. When she used to be Dominion, she was
dispatched to monitor her and gather information.
……Well, it was like that.
Sagakure Yui also thought it was twisted. And sometimes, those thoughts would terrify her.
A tangled doll, a robot built only to be faithful to Sagakure Yuri.
……It should be just like that. For some reason, there was something deep in her heart that
couldn’t deny those words.
A terrifying thought, she was a thing to be made. But was it inevitable or by chance in this world?
Why think like this──to be able to have thoughts just like a normal girl.
Sagakure Yui was terrified by this.

And so, she envied the mass production Yui types they passed by.
They could devote everything to their mission without any worries.
スイート (Suīto), usually it is spelled S・W・E・E・T to refer to sweetness. However, when

that word was put in context of a hotel, the spelling becomes S・U・I・T・E. That is to say the
word holds implications of a “single set complete in everything”.
In other words, it means a place where people can enjoy luxury without any inconvenience.
That was the meaning behind a hotel suite.
“……Well, this should be fine.”
Kurumi looked around the hotel room and gave her rating. Yui’s choice was undoubtedly
selected a top-notch hotel in the Seventh Region Netzach. Valuing privacy, as long as they
stayed in this room, they couldn’t hear any noise from the outside world.
And at the same time──it also meant being closely monitored.
“I consider it a perfect score. Thank you, Yui-san.”
Hibiki bowed with a smile. With just that single movement, Yui’s entire body stiffened a little.
“No, I am honored to be able to respond to your expectations.”
In fact, Kurumi and her little sister Cistus (?) were also terrifying, but Hibiki thought that this
was scary in a difference sense.
Neither fanaticism nor obedience, it was a hollow girl staring at the world with transparent eyes.
Fighting against her, she wouldn’t lose. If including her <King Killing>, she wouldn’t lose even
once out of 100 times.
But.
What if fighting and losing to her was part of the calculations?
Higoromo Hibiki simply regarded herself as infantry (pawn).
In order for Tokisaki Kurumi (Queen) to survive, she would be delighted to lose if it would assist
in her triumphing.

“So then, Yui-san. Since this is a rare opportunity, why don’t we chat?”
“……No. I’m fine.”
“No, no. Haven’t we once fought against each other in the Tenth Region Malkuth?”
“That wasn’t me, but rather the same model. At that time, she was destroyed by Tsuan-san.”
“Ah, I see. You can synchronize memories after all.”
“Ah, yes......yes.”
Hibiki twisted her neck to the side.
“In other words, Yui-san has been dispatched to various regions. Sure enough.”
“Yes, by regularly collecting information and synchronizing memories.”
“……Is it okay to say that?”
“Yes, of course.”
……Yui knew of course that this conversation was a means of probing the other side.
Nevertheless, there should be no hesitation in elucidating conclusions that could be naturally
drawn by assembling logic and information.
In fact, all the Dominions──employ Sagakure Yui on this premise. Nevertheless, the reason she
is used at all is because her information gathering skills were that top notch.
They sneaked into hostile organizations and brought back information even if it meant dying.
Since there was no hesitation of them dying, torture wouldn’t work. Because of being a
mechanical doll, brainwashing abilities were ineffective. However, everyone was still wary about
information leaking into the Seventh Region Netzach.
However, there were no such traces.
The Seventh Region Netzach didn’t threaten any other Dominions, nor did it sell such
information.
Sagakure Yuri was only intently obsessed with improving Sagakure Yui’s performance.
Despite having said that, Yui also couldn’t disclose any information about the other Dominions.

However, she judged that otherwise there wouldn’t be any demerit caused to the upcoming
gambling match. After all, Yui also had no idea what they were planning to do.
“……If there’s anything else, please speak up.”
“Ah, may I also ask something about Yui-san?”
“Ha……eh……me……?”
Yui was left puzzled by those words.
“Ah, do you think I was going to ask about Yuri-san and the other Dominions? I wouldn’t do
something so inefficient.”
“No, but…...t-there’s nothing special about me.”
──I am just a mechanical doll, nothing more nothing less. Why would the opposing side ask
about such an existence?
“Your interests?”
“……I have none.”
“What do you like? Food or anything like that?”
“I don’t have anything of the sort.”
“Do you have a favorite movie or game?”
“There are no movies or games made in the Neighboring World. ……No, I know that we rarely
find something like that as a residue. There are still a few people working on this, but I’m not
interested.”
“Is that so?”
“Then──what do you dislike?”
“……That’s.”
For a moment, Yui wanted to answer earnestly.
Only after desperately keeping herself under control──a sudden agony emerged. Moreover,
Higoromo Hibiki was watching all of this carefully.
“Do you like your older sister?”

Continuing on, a deep part of her heart where she wanted to avoid contact was touched.
Just as Yui was about to stand up, Kurumi muttered.
“Your heart looks shaken and disturbed, Sagakure Yui-san.”
Hearing those words slightly calmed down Yui’s thoughts.
Sitting back on the chair, she corrected her posture.
“Yuri-sama is my older sister and creator. I definitely like her. I was a little upset. I offer you my
apologizes.”
“No, that was poor of Hibiki-san to ask, right?”
Kurumi smiled as Hibiki’s cheeks swelled up from pouting.
“I’ve also been thinking as much as possible in order to win──”
Feeling of danger, Yui tightened up. After all, the next question seemed to be what was needed
to win at the casino.
Although she didn’t know what this would be used for.
……Her master must know these next words.
“Ah, sorry. But may I also ask some questions?”
Suddenly, Kurumi asked for that.
“──Please ask away, as long as I can answer.”
“Do you feel scared?”
“……No, not at all.”
“Ara, ara. That was a lie. You are a respectable Quasi-Spirit. And by respectable, I mean that you
have a very upright personality. So then fighting and being hurt……are you scared?”
Kurumi’s words, more powerful than any bullet and sharper than any sword, deeply engraved a
scar on her heart.
“No, I──I am scared.”

“It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be. Right now, you’ve been on alert against us. If you weren’t
afraid, you wouldn’t be on alert. Without that alertness, you would be incompetent as an
espionage agent.”
“……Certainly that should be the case. But we have no fear of death.”
“Ah, but that sort of thing──shouldn’t it be considered natural?”
Yui tilted her head at those words.
“Fear of death is human……isn’t it normal for a Quasi-Spirit?”
“I don’t know what the ratio is. Some are afraid of dying. Others are afraid of something else.”
“Something else……?”
“Something like being useless.”
Suddenly, a cold chill struck Yui’s entire body.
Kurumi looked directly at her as if killing Yui with only her gaze.
“Rather than not wanting to die, it’s the regret of having to die here. And that has become the
source of your fear.”
“Uh……”
“Wasn’t that the case for the Sagakure Yui-san that was killed by Tsuan-san?”
Hearing those words, Yui remembered the moment she told them that their memories were
synchronized.
……It wasn’t unusual. For espionage missions, Sagakure Yui would be willing to die without
hesitation.
She had gone to the Tenth Region Malkuth to investigate about Doll Master for the sake of the
princess Banouin. And then she was killed without any effort by Tsuan.
Even though she wanted to emphasize there was no regrets…...
But right now Sagakure Yui could understand that regret even if she didn’t want to.
“……Do you think that I am mistaken?”
“No……perhaps. I am afraid of dying without doing anything.”

“Right?”
“But──that’s irrelevant for you.”
“That’s right. Yes, yes. That’s exactly correct. Well, we’ll take a rest after we get our room
service dinner. Ah, please also accompany us Yui-san. It would be troublesome if it’s poisoned.”
“My master wouldn’t use poison.”
“If it were me, I would use it without hesitation.”
“That’s terrible Kurumi-san. That’s not something to be proud of.”
Yui also greatly agreed with this.
Dinner brought by the mass production Yui types was first class. The dish was Amirstan lamb’s
thigh meat with bite sized avocado, cucumbers, and tomatoes all wrapped in lettuce and
garnished with Greek yogurt sauce. But the word Amirstan didn’t seem to have any meaning or
so Kurumi thought as it looked like ordinary sheep. This preference appeared to be a joke in poor
taste.
Hibiki shouted out delicious while eating.
“Just being French cuisine means showing a luxurious atmosphere.”
“Your impression is too rude to the person who cooked this. Who is the chef that made this?”
“I’m sorry. At the chef’s request, the name and face will not be disclosed. Another chef will be
responsible for cooking tomorrow.”
The mass-produced Yui coldly replied.
“Ara, ara. That’s not surprising. But if we ever stay in this hotel again, I would like the
opportunity to taste this again. Can you make a reservation?”
“……I will convey that to them.”
“──I’m so full! Kya, it was so delicious!”
Hibiki laughed as she spoke to the three of them. Although there wasn’t any need to do so after
dining together, Kurumi also nodded.

“So there’s no poison?”
“Um, you see, it could be a time-delayed poison.”
“Speaking of which, even if poison is used, I don’t believe the specifics of the game have been
exactly decided──”
The mass production type Yui gently took out a letter from the dinner cart.
“Everyone. After the meal has concluded, my master has commanded me to deliver this.”
Those words caused the soothing atmosphere to suddenly turn tense.
“……Synchronize to me. I’ll give the explanation.”
As Yui stood up, the mass production Yui shook her head.
“This is my job.”
“……R-Right.”
The mass production type took only a step forward, then spreading out her hands to read the
letter in a flat tone.
“1. The game will begin at 20:00 in seven more days. The game is Texas Hold’em. The players
are Sagakure Yuri, Tokisaki Kurumi, Miyafuji Oka, and Ariadne Foxlot.”
“Is Yukishiro Maya the dealer?”
Yui quietly nodded.
“2. Yukishiro Maya will be the dealer since her abilities are necessary for keeping the game fair.”
“Well, that is fine. Please continue.”
“3. Cheating qualifies for disqualification once discovered.”
“Yes, yes. It is exactly as you say. Cheating is not allowed.”
“4. The ranking of two of the players, Miyafuji Oka and Ariadne Foxlot, will not determine the
result of the game. The game will be decided on whether Sagakure Yuri or Tokisaki Kurumi
ranks higher.”
“May I ask a question? Who will win if Sagakure Yuri and I are equal in YP?”

“……5. In the scenario where no victory of defeat occurs, each player will be provided a loan for
a rematch. In this case, it will be a game only between Sagakure Yuri and Tokisaki Kurumi.”
“I see, I see. This is not the end, correct? There should be still many important details left.”
“6. For rules of Texas Hold’em, please refer to this rulebook.”
Kurumi received a green colored rulebook from the mass production type Yui.
“……That is all.”
“Ara, ara. That isn’t good at all, Yuri-san.”
Kurumi smiled, estimating that Sagakure Yuri must be listening through this mass production
model.
“I would like to add these additional conditions. First, Higoromo Hibiki and Cistus are allowed
to compete as members.”
Kurumi’s first additional condition surprised everyone present.
“Eh……!? M-Me, Kurumi-san!?”
Ignoring the crowd, Kurumi raised two fingers.
“Second. Everyone must vow in front of the cards that the cards won’t be altered in any way. In
particular, Yukishiro-san will be in trouble if this responsibility isn’t taken care of. I will not
accept a victory obtained through cheating in cards.”
“……”
“Third. Regarding funds. We currently can offer 500,000 YP. This should be regarded as the
limit that everyone should equalize their funds to. We will accept a little extra, but if you use 100
million YP to start an endurance war, there are no chances for our victory.”
Kurumi raised another finger.
“Fourth. No matter where the match is held, there should be no audience. Even if only watching
through a video, it is difficult not to speculate cheating when several people are looking around.”
Kurumi raised her final finger.
“Finally. Let us investigate the playing field three hours before the start of the match. We won’t
compete unless we can confirm that there isn’t stage equipment that could assist in cheating.”
Although the mass produced Yui was silent as if frozen, she nodded in response.

“I will convey this to the master. Please wait a moment.”
“No, I won’t wait. Anyway, shouldn’t this conversation be transmitted in real time? Please
answer immediately now.”
Kurumi stood up and stared at the mass production Yui’s expressionless eyes.
“Come on, come on, come on!”
The mass production Yui opened her mouth──as Sagakure Yuri’s voice could be heard.
“How scary. If I resist, you’ll start pointing your gun. Okay, I understand. There are no problems
with requests 2 and 4. Originally, there was no audience planned. As for 5, naturally we will also
be present. You could also set something up then on the contrary.”
“Of course, that is fine.”
“As for 3……let’s see, how about a 75 million YP ceiling?”
“70 million.” “60 million.”
“65 million, is that okay? Tokisaki Kurumi.”
“……Well, I’ll compromise on this.”
“And now for 1──that won’t be allowed. This game is meaningless unless it is competed by
Dominions. Even if it is your companion, it won’t work. Of course, the other Tokisaki Kurumi
is also rejected.”
“Hmm. So if it is a Dominion class Spirit, there should be a problem?”
“Eh, that’s……”
Kurumi grinned.
“Carte À Jouer. I will compete against you with her as my partner. Despite losing to the White
Queen, she is a former Dominion of the Third Region Binah, so there should be no issues with
that?”
“……Understood, that’s okay.”
Yuri spoke in a terribly blunt voice.
“But here’s my condition. She will share the same YP as Tokisaki Kurumi. In other words, it’ll
be a total of 65 million YP. I won’t yield on this point.”

Hibiki was about to complain that this was too much, but Kurumi pulled her back with a stare.
No problem, it was certainly a huge disadvantage, but the chance of victory in cards were much
higher than when playing alone.
Moreover, the amount wasn’t too much of an issue. Regardless if the amount was a billion YP or
half a billion YP, it will be gone in a split second. It was poker game after all. Rather than
focusing on the amount of money, just having one more member playing will increase chances of
victory, or so Kurumi thought.
While having a greater amount may be beneficial in the beginning, it could also lead to
carelessness and complacency. Kurumi judged that it would be wiser to have as little funds as
possible before the game.
“……Alright. This should be fine.”
“Then, goodbye. I’m looking forward to the match in a week.”
“I am the same. Then, goodbye.”
The mass produced Yui suddenly trembled. She opened her eyes and looked around. Then,
probably realizing the situation, she lowered her head.
“Then, please excuse me.”
After seeing her leave with the cart, Kurumi sighed.
“I managed to add that in.”
“Um, sorry, I don’t understand what happened at all. Ah but, I think the rules are
important……but the subsequent exchange……”
Hibiki raised her hand to ask a question.
Yui also slightly took notice of this concern. Meanwhile, Cistus was drinking her black tea with
a calm expression.
“Me (Cistus). I find it troublesome, but as me shouldn’t you also understand?”
“Yes, yes, of course I understand……but troublesome. The point is that we can’t say anything in
front of Yui-san, right?”
Cistus pointed to the shadows.
“If there’s something secret to discuss, please do so. I’ll stay here.”

“……Yes. Then Sagakure Yui-san, please stay here for a moment. I have something I need to
explain to Hibiki-san.”
After saying that, Kurumi jumped into the shadows with Hibiki.
“Eh……!”
Yui rushed over in a hurry, but Cistus stopped her in her tracks with an antique pistol.
“In the Seventh Region Netzach, there is nowhere you cannot see……did you imagine it like that?
Unfortunately, no one can peek into the realm of shadows and darkness that we control.
Leaving behind Yui and Cistus glaring at each other, Kurumi and Hibiki began secretly talking
within the shadows.
“So then. What does this mean in the end……?”
Hibiki looked around at her surroundings. Despite having experience in these shadows, she still
couldn’t get accustomed to this complete darkness.
“──First of all, there are eight or nine chances out of ten that our opponents will be cheating.”
“……Really?”
“Please remember the request made by the other side. When cheating is discovered, you will be
punished. If cheating isn’t discovered, you can cheat as much as you want.”
“Ah……that’s right.”
Of course even in the real world, unless it was physically established, it wouldn’t be considered
as cheating.
But here in the Neighboring World, a world where physical existence carries little meaning.
There were also many ways to lie. However, since their opponents did do, which was tantamount
to already confessing to cheating.
“Additionally, our opponent is aiming for me to cheat. It would be easier to accuse me of

cheating rather than risking it in the results of the game.”
“Are you going to cheat?”

“I wasn’t intending on it. But I’ll make them regret looking down at me.”
“……Fufufu.”
“Hibiki-san, what are you doing?”
“No, no, nothing at all.”
Within the bottomless shadows, the two of them were plotting out a sinister scheme……or rather
Hibiki was enjoying this as if whispering something secret during a school.
“Kurumi’s desire is to have control over how the other side cheats……is that right?”
“Yes, yes. But nevertheless, there will definitely be cheating present. On that basis, we’ll have to
prevail against whatever cheating takes place.”
“Ah, then what should we do about money?”
“……That is where I am worried. Gambling is game involving funds. At most, we have 50

million, while the opposing side has 195 million.”
In terms of gambling, funding is the equivalent to physical strength. No matter how strong a
hand could be, it made no sense if the other side had no incentive or risk to make a huge wager.
“I want to obtain at least another 15 million……but it seems that gambling is no longer possible.”
“In terms of earning money, we should look for other ways besides gambling. It’s impossible for
the entire economy of the Seventh Region Netzach to run entirely on gambling. Like this hotel,
there must be another way.”
“Will the Sagakure-sans get in the way?”
“No. It’s probably the other way around. They’ll overlook us until we get 65 million
YP……after all, pretensions of fair play should extend at least until there.”
“I see……. By the way, do you really want Carte-san to participate?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“If it was Carte-san, well……I think she’ll be happy to accept.”
Hibiki looked a little annoyed, but she then turned away to avoid showing this. Thinking over
this awkward performance, Kurumi grinned.

“Unfortunately, I can’t rely on her just because she’s fought alongside us briefly in the Third
Region Binah. Although I don’t think she would betray us, regardless there isn’t enough time
spent communicating for us to fight together.”
“Eh? Then what are we going to do?”
“……”
Kurumi grinned while looking at Kurumi.
Hibiki.
……Had an awful feeling.
“Ah, um, so I guess you want to use <King Killing>?”
“That is an excellent answer, Hibiki-san.”
“What nonsense are you saying now!? Well, seeing you like this, I already expected that it would
end up like this!”
“So, will it be possible to enact then?”
“……How long would Texas Hold’em take?”
“It would depend on the amount of bets wagered……but at most it shouldn’t take up an entire
day.”
“If it is just exchanging faces, I should be able to hold that up for half a day. But then I won’t be
able to make a copy of the Unsigned Angel. In other words, I would have nothing left to use for a
fight……”
“That is enough.”
“……?”
“Likely, just as the game begins, Hibiki-san’s identity will be revealed.”
“Eh!?”
“They should already know about <King Killing>. If Carte-san appears, that would likely be
their first assumption.”
“T-Then what should we do!?”
“It’s fine to leave that point alone. Once the game begins, it won’t be stopped.”

“……Huh?”
Kurumi responded by slanting her head.
“Do you remember my fourth request?”
“Ah, yes. Uhh……there’s no audience to hinder us, so they’ll just be watching through
video……right? I took that to be expected.”
“Listen, when I put forth my request about an audience, Yuri-san said ‘there is no audience’, In
other words, there will be wagers held via video over who will win.”
“……Aah!”
Hibiki clapped her hands together.
“──So, even if the other side has Higoromo Hibiki use <King Killing> in order to participate;
we won’t be able to refuse──”
As Sagakure Yuri sighed while informing this, Ariadne Foxlot simply shrugged in response.
“……Isn’t it fine? Because the name and abilities of the Unsigned Angel of that former Empty
has been seen through. Isn’t it a power that can be used to cheat in poker?”
Yukishiro Maya nodded in agreement to this opinion.
“Indeed, rather it would be more troublesome if it was actually Carte À Jouer participating.
There are too many unknowns in her ability. I don’t know if I’ll be able to handle it.”
“Don’t joke about that. At most, it will be the Empty that joins the game.”
Miyafuji Oka pursed her lips as she complained.
“……If Tokisaki Kurumi wins, can that be used as a means to deny her victory?”
“No, no, no, Mayamaya. That’s not a good move. Forget about it, that’s not okay to do in the
Seventh Region Netzach.”
Yuri nodded to what Ariadne had said.

“Absolutely not, Sagakure Yuri’s (my) credence would be affected by that. If cheating is
discovered after the fact, it can’t be disavowed.”
In the Seventh Region Netzach, all of the gambling was done on a massive scale. Although
viewers would accept the invalidation judgement if they found the improper behavior during the
real time video, invalidity proposed after the fact would not be accepted by the YP operating
tables gambling over the match results.
If this was done, someone may even attempt to impeach the Dominion.
If this were to occur, the situation wouldn’t be just limited to the Seventh Region Netzach. Maya,
Ariadne, and Oka, all three of them would be dragged into this as well for participating.
Therefore, it was to the extent where Higoromo Hibiki transforming into Carte À Jouer couldn’t
be called out as cheating.
“Fumu. Then it’s simple. We will win fairly. There are three people here. And isn’t Yukishiro-
san still the dealer? If so, then we must win with absolute justice.”
Clearing her throat, Oka proudly raised her chest. Maya clapped her hands in applause.
Ariadne secretly whispered to Yuri.
“Didn’t you tell her that we’ll be cheating?”
“Miyafuji-san’s sense of justice is too strong, so it’ll be scary to tell her……”
“……Do you plan to keep that from her?”
“I intend to if possible……”
“I find it difficult. But if you think so……I’ll think of a way.”
“Thank you. Please do so.”
“What about Maya?”
“Ah, I already told Yukishiro-san. But she said it was impossible for her to act so recklessly as
the dealer.”
“Understood.”
Without knowing that such an exchange was going on, Miyafuji Oka shouted as her
determination came to a boil.
“Absoooooolutely. We will triumph. Tokisaki Kurumi!”

──One person swore to win.
──One person intended to understand Tokisaki Kurumi.
──One person was committed only to her own desires.
──One person quietly waited for her chance.
After deciding on various matters, Kurumi and Hibiki came out from the shadows. Yui glanced
at them with a worried look, but Hibiki flashed a smile and began idly chatting with her.
……There are two reasons for talking to Sagakure Yui.
First, of course was to gather information about Sagakure Yuri.
Knowing more about her might reveal her weakness. Even if it wasn’t a weak point, it was
meaningful to know more about Sagakure Yuri.
That being said, nothing had been gained so far from their previous chats together.
“Cistus.”
“Yes, yes. It means staying up all night……but I understand.”
Cistus blended into the shadows. She was now going to be involved in information gathering.
Honestly, Kurumi thought about creating another clone using the Eighth Bullet <Het>.
However, Kurumi wanted to do that only at the most critical moment. ……Without him in the
Neighboring World, even if born, it would only give birth to something embracing an endless
emptiness.
……With that being said.
Cistus left the hotel without Yui even realizing it, all in order to gather as much information
about Sagakure Yuri as possible.
Kurumi and Hibiki were now speaking to Yui for another reason. Since this Sagakure Yui was
regarded as an individual, they wanted to see if they could pull her away from Sagakure Yuri.

Not only in this hotel, but everywhere in the Seventh Region Netzach was being monitored by
the mass production Yui models.
……In turn, this created a plethora of information. And here was the crux of the matter, from
chatting with her Hibiki was able to conclude that this special Sagakure Yui had an individual
personality.
While serving her older sister Yuri, this Sagakure Yui was thinking, worrying, and acting like an
ordinary girl.
Then treating her as an individual would help separate her from Sagakure Yuri.
Incidentally, this idea belonged not to Kurumi, but rather to Hibiki. Despite having no
experience being in the Seventh Region Netzach before, she had already once gathered
information about Sagakure Yui.
Of course, she didn’t know if this would work.
In any case, it was impossible for Sagakure Yui to betray Yuri.
But──if she focused solely on shaking her trust in Yuri just a little, the information Yui could
bring about Kurumi would deteriorate in quality.
While keeping that in mind, Hibiki kept talking.
As a result, Hibiki kept talking to Yui until she was weary and fell asleep. There was almost no
real content, but the voice of a single person could still be heard.
Incidentally, the contents were 10% about herself and 90% about Kurumi.
Feeling embarrassed by the contents of the discussion since the very beginning, Kurumi decided
to go to bed early.
Kurumi made earplugs to apply to her ears. While various forces were still targeting her, Kurumi
thought she should be relatively safe right now.
If she was on guard at all times, it would be long before her mind completely breaks down.
Despite several nights having already passed in the Neighboring World, she rarely dreamed.
Even if she dreamed, it wouldn’t be a dream about that person.
Longing for you.
The person she fell in love with.

The person that she cherished.
However, she couldn’t recall. She couldn’t remember. Everything, everything.
As if sinking into a deep sea, Kurumi fell asleep.
──The next day. Despite having said that, it was always night at the Seventh Region Netzach.
So even after opening her eyes, it remained nighttime outside.
For the remaining seven days, Kurumi’s basic policy was to collect information and earn money
outside of gambling.
“……This is the job magazine you requested.”
Kurumi and Hibiki read through the magazine that Yui presented.
“Uhh, there’s a bartending job.”
“Making a cocktail. ……No, let’s put a stop to that. I’m still a minor.”
“Eh, um.”
“……What does that response just now mean, Hibiki-san?”
“Kurumi-san is a pretty girl!”
“Alright.”
Having phrased it like that, Yui wondered if it was really alright.
“Anyway, this is no good. Unless it’s a job that earns 2 million YP per day, focusing on
simplicity is tantamount to hard labor.”
“Is there such a convenient part time job?”
“Yes, if the Seventh Region Netzach truly is a night city.”
Hibiki had learned that Kurumi only gave this smile when having to make a choice between
“something interesting” and “something boring”.
In this case, this was the former.
“Night city, doesn’t that mean it’s a naughty job?”

“That’s right.”
“Eh?”
Although it isn’t well-known, there are smartphones in the Neighboring World. Although it
consumed a bit of Reiryoku each time to use, there was nothing more convenient than long
distance communication. Despite saying that, due to the possibility of being monitored in the
Seventh Region Netzach, using it should be avoided as much as possible.
“Ara, ara.”
Cistus was staring at her vibrating smartphone.
It was extremely rare for Hibiki to try and contact her. Perhaps Hibiki kept her distance from
Cistus because she was also Kurumi.
……Nevertheless, Hibiki wasn’t hostile towards Cistus. In regards to supporting Kurumi, Cistus
and Hibiki shared the same position.
“Hello, is there anything wrong?”
“Cistus-san! Kurumi-san……Kurumi-san. Kuru──────mi-san!”
“Calm down. What happened? A sneak attack?”
“No, that’s not it! Kurumi-san……has become a rabbit!”
It seemed necessary to go to them as soon as possible.
Cistus decided on that.
──And so. This was it.
“Bunny girl……”
“Wooooooow! Woooooow! My Kurumi-san, Kurumi-san, has become the most popular bunny
girl in the Seventh Region Netzach!”
“You’re in the way, Hibiki-san.”

Kurumi, who had become a bunny girl, was standing there. High heels, fishnet stockings, a black
corset, and a rabbit ear headband.
Seeing this perfect bunny girl dressed up, Hibiki stood crying while on her feet.
“……What are you doing?”

“Working.”
Rather than a <Zafkiel> in Kurumi’s hands……there was a signboard there. It seemed to be a

part-time job promoting the casino.
“I see, so you’re working.”
Cistus deeply nodded while convinced.
“Please go do something else!”
“No, there’s nothing wrong. You will continue gathering information. The two of us will
continue earning as much YP as needed. Military funds will likely be very important.”
Cistus blankly shrugged before disappearing into the shadows again.
Already Quasi-Spirits with wallets began gathering one after the other.
“……Everyone, welcome to the casino Octopus Pot. Thank you all for your patronage.”
“U-Um.”
A Quasi-Spirit raised a trembling hand. It seemed she had won a lot of YP from the other casinos.
“Do you need funds?”
“……That’s right. I right now reaaaaaaally lack money. But if you raise money for me──”
“If?”
“I will be very happy.”
A brilliant smile, immediately afterwards some Quasi-Spirits began collapsing one after the other.
“Wooooooow, wooooooow, mine, mine──”
Then Hibiki grasped tightly on the raining downpour of YP coins.
“Well, Hibiki-san should also change clothes to work as well. You should also try your best to
earn YP. Let’s work together to earn money.”
“Uhh, this feels like something a gigolo would support……but it doesn’t feel bad!”
Hibiki whispered as she transformed her Astral Dress into a bunny girl outfit.
“That reputation isn’t pleasing to hear!? I simply need to make money independently!”

If Kurumi was a bunny girl wearing a black corset, then Hibiki was the exact opposite.
Everything but her black fishnet tights was completely white.
“Okay, please hold on. I’ll put on my most attractive face now.”
Hibiki rubbed her cheeks and then turned to face the audience.
“──”
Several Quasi-Spirits were trembling. In front of Higoromo Hibiki were bottomless everyday
optimists.
“I don’t know if I have a tomorrow because of an illness……without YP I’ll be very troubled.”
In front of them was a beautiful silver haired bunny girl with a melancholic expression.
“Uh. I don’t know if that illness is a lie……but I’ll still give you YP……!”
Several people were drawn to Hibiki.
“……If I’m a gigolo, then you’re a scammer……”
“I’m doing my best, so don’t say that!”
Hibiki intensely protested against Kurumi’s whispers.
In any case, the two part-timers were on the main street advertising for the Octopus Pot.
However, the twist was that the main source of income for those two came in the form a money
shower.
Of course, this was tolerable within their part-time job. After all, they couldn’t complain that
pedestrian Quasi-Spirits were simply throwing an offering of YP at them while they were
holding the sign.
In the first place, the audience size increased by 1.3 times each day since they took this job. Even
when deducting the 50 million YP Kurumi had already earned from them, an excess of money
was entering the casino.
Of course, these things were also passed onto her ears.
“Kurumi-sama!”
“Geez, you’re here.”

As Kurumi was walking on the main street, there was a joyful cry. Hibiki gave a look of disgust
at the girl who appeared as expected.
Top hat with a sleeveless white blouse, this look seemed more suitable for the Seventh Region
Netzach than it did for the Third Region Binah. She had fiery red hair and a teardrop and star
marks on her face.
“Cattle Mutilation-san who ran away from the Eighth Region Hod!”
“It is Carte À Jouer! My name doesn’t give the impression of kidnapping cows! And I’m sorry
for escaping!”
“Ah, it’s been a while.”
“Ah, Ace of Spades-san!”
As of Ace of Spades nostalgically called out, there were other cries of “Long time no see”, “It’s
been such a long time”, and “I’ve missed you so much” as the other trump cards jumped out in
harmony.
“I’ve heard all about it, Kurumi-sama! It seems you’re going to compete in Texas Hold’em! If
there is anything I, Carte, can do, just mention it!”
“Yes, yes. There are two things I wish to ask of Carte-san. Can you hear me out?”
“Yes!”
Carte replied immediately. It felt like she was going to follow no matter what order was given.
Hibiki thought that the coordinated outfits between those two right now looked subtly out of
place.
“First of all, I want you to lend your face to Hibiki-san.”
As Kurumi explained the situation, Carte gave a distressed nod.
“Gu, mu. But why shouldn’t I participate? I have some experience in Texas Hold’em──”
“Although I’ve considered that, I have another important role for Carte-san.”
“Mu?”
“Actually──”
Kurumi secretly whispered to Carte.

◇
“I can’t believe that Spirit is earning money through working. Doesn’t that Spirit have any
pride!?”
“Well, it’s not that difficult to do with that much popularity.”
Miyafuji Oka was biting into her handkerchief. Ariadne was giggling, Maya was impressed by
such a hand being played, and Sagakure Yuri was at a loss for words.
Of course, it was easy to place pressure on the casino where they worked.
However, this was different than the order placed on not letting Tokisaki Kurumi gamble. During
that time, the casino was suffering a loss in profits, so it gladly accepted Yuri’s order.
But this time was different. They were gaining profits.
And that knowledge was passed on to the other casinos. If they placed pressure on Octopus Pot,
it would just provide a chance for another casino to hire those two.
“Well, I don’t think you need to worry.”
Ariadne said to Yuri while enjoying her nap.
“It’s impossible to earn 50 million from that alone. At most it will be around 15 million.”
“Why?”
“It’ll get boring soon. There are not many people here obsessed with idols like in the Ninth
Region Yesod.”
“……That’s true.”
Sagakure Yuri gently stroked her chest. If so, the situation wouldn’t change.
“65 million vs 195 million. There’s an overwhelming gap in terms of funding. In this case──”
“It’ll be our victory.”
Miyafuji Oka’s eyes became as sharp as the tip of a spear.
Seeing this, Ariadne also narrowed her gaze.
“Ariadne-san, the lynchpin will be you.”

“Okay, okay. I know. Miyafuji-san, Yuri-san, I’ll also be in your care.”
As Ariadne said those words, the atmosphere of the room turned frigid.
The mass produced Yui models doing chores here firmly clenched their hands.
They are cheap mass produced models, almost like robots……but despite that they had some
degree of emotions left where they could still tremble.
It happened when they instinctively recognized failure and immediately withdrew as soon as
possible to for the sake of self-preservation.
That is to say, a feeling born when completely terrified.

○Texas Hold’em
──Seven days later, the day of the decisive game.
Texas Hold’em was a type of poker game. Typically, poker is a card game where five cards are
dealt to form a hand and compete.
Texas Hold’em differs from this in that only two cards are dealt.
Of course, each player’s hand (hole cards) is not enough to constitute a full hand.
Next, three community cards are distributed by the dealer.
The community cards are revealed face up to all players at the table.
Suppose you have these two cards in your hand.
♠9 of Spades ♦8 of Diamonds
Naturally, this wouldn’t make a good hand. However, suppose the three community cards were
displayed like this.
♥8 of Hearts ♥Queen of Hearts ♣4 of Clubs
At this point, the hand consists of a one pair of eights.
However, up to five community cards can be distributed. After the player makes the declaration
of the next choice, two more cards are added in.
♥8 of Hearts ♥Queen of Hearts ♣4 of Clubs ♣King of Clubs ♣9 of Clubs
Due to a good stroke of luck, 8 of Hearts and 9 of Clubs can be used to form a two pair.
Players who want win through this would add in more chips.
However──please pay attention to the ♣4 of Clubs ♣King of Clubs ♣9 of Clubs.
If another player’s hole cards are two club cards, then that player has a flush, which means the
other player would be defeated.
Naturally, there can only be one winner to gather all of the accumulated chips.

However, this was Texas Hold’em, not regular poker.
So for example, if a player who was watching the five community cards suddenly raised the
wager of chips, everyone else would imagine that this player would have a huge hand to play.
If the community cards contain 3 cards of the clubs suit, then the chance of there being a flush
with one of remaining players having at least two club suit cards is high.
……In this manner, folding is also an option. Damage is minimal if one leaves early enough.
On the other hand, a player that can’t skillfully make use of a flush will only get minimal chips.
That is the equivalent of missing the chance of a lifetime.
So a player must try to dodge their opponents’ heavy-hitting cards as much as possible while at
the same time trying to deceive their rivals.
That is what makes Texas Hold’em so thrilling.
A famous player once said this about Texas Hold’em.
“It takes a minute to learn the rules of Texas Hold’em, but a lifetime too truly master.”
──So, in order to challenge the game of Texas Hold’em, Tokisaki Kurumi and Higoromo Hibiki
formed a team.
“How about a secret communication signal?”
Kurumi thought for a moment about Hibiki’s question.
Communication, of course this meant communication through physical gestures and signals.
Naturally, that would mean getting a foul in game.
However, since this actually a three-to-two group battle, Sagakure Yuri’s side was likely to use a
similar method.
“Of course, we should decide on a signal. But I don’t want to use it every round. We’ll only
communicate when we have a decisive hand.”
“Are you worried about getting exposed?”
“Naturally, there are considerations on that regard, but──I intend to value my instincts for as
much as possible. I have a bad hunch that by sharing information with Hibiki-san──sooner or
later a fatal mistake will be made.”

There was absolutely no gambling. Just like in shogi or chess, the winner will be the one who
makes the best moves……
The only thing that could guarantee victory was a royal straight flush. But there is no chance for
a simultaneous royal straight flush in Texas Hold’em.
Also, there was no joker among the five cards.
“……I understand, Kurumi-san. Basically, unless there is a full house (A combination of three
cards a one pair, the fourth highest combo) I won’t get involved.”
“Yes, yes. Hibiki-san has her eyes straight set out for victory.”
“What if the hand comes in conflict with Kurumi-san?”
“I don’t mind. Refraining from playing your fullest on the battlefield will strain our luck.”
“What about abilities?”
“Cistus.”
Cistus’s head peeked out from the shadows, but her expression wasn’t quite good.
“No good. It’s completely no good. Just──”
“Just?”
“Sagakure Yuri rarely gambles and isn’t very strong in terms of victories.”
“……Interesting.”
“I tried searching for video records, but couldn’t find them. Anyway, she’s regarded as very
mediocre.”
“What about Ariadne Foxlot, Miyafuji Oka, and Yukishiro Maya?”
“Nothing, not even participation records were found.”
Hmm, Kurumi nodded her head.
“Well, the information will soon be available. Texas Hold’em is a game that embodies human
nature. Prudence, boldness, and cunning……as long as those parts are determined,
understanding their capacities will come naturally.”
“Is that right?”

Hibiki slanted her head as Kurumi nodded.
“That’s all there is to it. Then, let us go to the match, Hibiki-san. Let us be graceful, bold,
and──brilliantly seize control of victory.”
“Yes!”
Kurumi turned her face to Sagakure Yui, who was staring at them from the background.
“Yui-san, are you also coming along?”
“Yes.”
“Then, please make sure that we don’t cheat.”
“……Yes. I will watch over you. Because I feel that it will be connected to your victory.”
“Ara, ara. Is okay for you to favor us so much?”
Yui shook her head to reject that notion.
“Indeed, I am in charge of monitoring you. Of course, there are things that you may have not told
me. I know that very well. It is my role to report everything to my master──”
After a little hesitation, Yui spoke.
“But I will be cheering you on. Please do your best.”
……Hibiki was left confused by those words. This special model Yui was rich in emotions.
Rather, it can be said that her emotions were too rich.
It was so rich that she had to question if she was truly mechanical. Earlier, Hibiki had touched
her cheeks just in case, but it was so cold that she could instantly realize her as a doll. It was as if
she was a dead person.
An Empty was still more human. Because even though they are dying, they are still not corpses.
So Hibiki was confused.
──How could she exist?

The designated casino was not “Octopus Pot”, but rather “Ground Burner”. The largest casino in
the Seventh Region Netzach──over 1 billion YP exchanged hands in just one hour here.
Kurumi, as they had previously agreed, visited the casino three hours prior to the start of the
game.
“──Please let us guide you.”
The mass produced Yui models lowered their heads. The casino, which is usually in full swing
every day, didn’t have even a single Quasi-Spirit present today.
Hibiki had already plundered Carte’s face with <King Killing>. But because she despises this
face so much, she was constantly scratching it with her hands.
“Please investigate as you please.”
“Yes, yes. I will investigate it thoroughly, <Zafkiel>.”
“Eh.”
Kurumi summoned <Zafkiel> without hesitation and chose the selected bullet.
“──The Tenth Bullet Yud. Hibiki-san……no Carte-san, please place your face on the table.”
“Uh, are you going to do it? I’m a little scared……”
While saying that, Hibiki squatted down and pressed her face against the edge of the table. With
no time for the mass produced Yui to ask what they were doing, Kurumi shot at the table and her.
At that moment, the memories rushed into Hibiki’s mind just like a high speed slideshow.
However, most of it was unnecessary memories. It was like daydream about numerous unknown
people either suffering defeat or obtaining victory.
But in the last few days, there were no signs of this table being used or having been approached
by one of the Dominions. Nothing strange was done to this table. Nothing, nothing…….
“Okay, Kurumi-san, there are no signs of anything having been done to this table.”
“Yes, then let’s investigate the cards next. I’ll do this investigation myself.”
One of the mass produced Yui asked while trembling.
“Just confirming the memories, my bullet can read the memories left behind on an object.”
“……!”

A look of surprise appeared on their emotionless eyes. Hibiki silently watched them, but only to
discover that outside of being surprised──there were no other emotions such as fear.
As previously speculated, they haven’t set up anything with the table or cards. It should be like
this. Once discovered, it was of course Sagakure Yuri’s responsibility to accept defeat.
If they were in her position, they definitely not tamper with the table or cards. On the contrary,
they must be careful not to raise any suspicion.
But──
Hibiki glanced upward. There were significantly more surveillance cameras on the ceiling than
usual.
As long as there was an audience, surveillance cameras were a must. Generally speaking, the
cards in Texas Hold’em will be flipped as little as possible to prevent others from seeing the
cards. But there was no guarantee that they won’t be peeked at.
If they could confirm this, all they had to do was pass that information to Yuri through a
communication device. Part of the gamble was how to prevent this.
……In the end, they searched thoroughly for three hours and found no traces of cheating.
“Are you satisfied?”
Hearing those words, Kurumi looked back. Sagakure Yuri, Ariadne Foxlot, Miyafuji Oka, and
Yukishiro Maya, there were four Dominions present here.
They were four monsters that literally ruled over the Neighboring World.
As expected, Hibiki was overwhelmed by their power. The Reiryoku drifting from them was
magnitudes apart from other Quasi-Spirits.
Perhaps only the White Queen was on a comparable level or capable of surpassing them.
“Yes, yes. I am very satisfied.”
But there was one more person here. Tokisaki Kurumi was also a monster with Dominion-class
Reiryoku.
Hibiki felt a little strange that such a small existence like herself was mingling with five people
that could shake the very foundation of the Neighboring World.
“Then, next I think you should also know──”

After receiving the signal from Kurumi, Hibiki nodded and released <King Killing>. Miyafuji
Oka was startled as she stared at Hibiki……but Hibiki didn’t shamefully look away as she stared
back at them directly.
In the first place, the situation was much better than when she transformed into Tokisaki Kurumi
in the Tenth Region Malkuth. At that time, there was no one she could have called a friend.
“……Yes, yes. It’s Higoromo Hibiki. I know, I know. That’s fine. Rather, Carte would have
been more troublesome. No problem.”
Yuri shrugged and accepted Hibiki’s participation. Only Miyafuji Oka was staring at Hibiki in
dissatisfaction, but right beside her Maya gently touched her arm.
It was as if asking her to calm down.
Even Hibiki could perceive that, and of course Kurumi was going to use to this to aggravate her
further.
“Ara, ara. Are you dissatisfied, you over there……what was your name again?”
“My name is Miyafuji Oka. Does a Spirit have poor memory skills?”
Kurumi responded to Oka’s taunt with a provocative smile.
Of course, it was the same ferocious smile one might show to prey.
“Pardon me. It’s because you are of no concern to me. So, what are your complaints?”
“Naturally, this battle is──”
The moment Oka took a step forward to say something, Maya tightly pulled back on her arm.
“This topic is getting complicated. Stop it.”
“……No, it’s nothing.”
“Oh, really? Is that so? Are you sure? If you have something to say, by all means──”
“Tokisaki Kurumi, please don’t make unnecessary provocations……we came here to settle
things through gambling.”
“That’s right. Let’s decide the outcome through gambling.”
“……Although I don’t know what you are thinking, I’ve planned for that much at least.”
Standing in the dealer’s position, Maya gently opened a book.

“Break the seal──The Fourth Book <Light Law Apostles>.
“Unsigned Angel……!”
As Hibiki put herself on guard, Kurumi raised her hand to stop her.
“Is this supposed to give judgement?”
“You understand so quickly. This is one of my abilities. From here on out, I will forbid all acts of
cheating.”
“……Hoho.”
“Feel free to not believe at your own convenience──but I’ll prove it right now.”
After making that announcement, Maya raised her hand to make an oath.
“I declare a ban on cheating for this game. If broken, my face will be cut by a blade.”
The golden scales let out a rattling noise as if being unlocked. At the same moment, Maya’s
body was bounded by two chains that then mysteriously disappeared.
“──Oath accepted. If cheating occurs, your face will be cut.”
A dull system-like sound came from the scales.
“Tokisaki Kurumi and Higoromo Hibiki, please take to your seats. Don’t worry, this is just an
experiment.”
Hearing Maya’s request, Kurumi and Hibiki sat down.
“I’ll deal the cards. Now then……”
The moment when Maya handed two cards to Hibiki and Kurumi──it happened.
“Confirming illegal activity. Executing punishment under oath.”
It wasn’t the wind blowing or someone waving a sword, but deep cut appeared on Maya’s cheeks.
“……”
“W-Wait, are you okay!?”
Once again displaying her softhearted characteristics, Hibiki stood up. However, Maya quickly
pressed a handkerchief against her cheeks and shook her head.

“No problem. Now, Tokisaki Kurumi, do you understand what just happened?”
“……Well, it’s quite well-known. The second card dealt here is.”
Kurumi flipped over the second card that Maya had dealt.
Ace of Spades, it was arguably the strongest card. As long as one consciously gave that card to
someone, it is enough to put the others at a disadvantage.
“Well, I can constrain myself in this manner. Of course, I will impose heavier punishments
during the official game.”
“Only for yourself? Will we be fine?”
“Only if you allow it.”
Kurumi shrugged her shoulders and fearlessly smiled.
“Yes, yes. Of course I will have to refuse. Although I swear to not cheat, I honestly find it
detestable to have a third party mechanism mediate the process.”
“……Got it. Of course this side also shares the same sentiments. Then, let’s have everyone take
a seat. Let the game commence.”
Sagakure Yuri, Ariadne Foxlot, and Miyafuji Oka all took to their seats.
“First thing to do is to confirm the amount of money on hand. Tokisaki Kurumi and Higoromo
Hibiki share 65 million YP. Sagakure Yuri, Ariadne Foxlot, and Miyafuji Oka each have 65
million YP. The game is decided on whether Sagakure Yuri or Tokisaki Kurumi has more money
in the end. Therefore, a loss is determined when either of those two reaches a balance of zero.
The game uses Texas Hold’em rules. Cheating merits an automatic disqualification as soon as
discovered.”
After seeing everyone agree, Maya opened the book again.
“Break the seal──The Fourth Book. After the match begins, I forbid all act of cheating on
myself. If I break this vow, my left leg will be taken away.”
“──Oath accepted. If she cheats, Yukishiro Maya’s left leg will be taken away.”
“Yukishiro-san, can I ask a question?”
“Ask away.”
“Why choose to take your leg rather than your hand?”

“……If I don’t have my hand, reading will become difficult. I can still live if it’s just a leg.”
After hearing what Maya had said, Kurumi shook her shoulders as if stunned. Maya slightly
frowned upon seeing that expression, but Yuri coughed a few times to bring the topic back on
track.
“Excuse me. Now then, let’s begin Texas Hold’em match.”
Following Yukishiro Maya’s transparent voice, the game quietly began.
The Texas Hold’em match was roughly the following process.
1. Pay an entry fee (ante)
2. The Small Blind and the Big Blind pay the bet (The two people to the left of the dealer must
pay a fixed bet. If the Big Blind wagers 10 chips, the Small Blind must wager at least 5 chips.)
3. Hole cards are dealt in order starting from the Small Blind.
4. Players choose their actions in the prescribed order.
5. Dealer opens with 3 community cards.
6. Each player declares an action again.
7. If two or more players remain in with chips, the dealer will add one more community card.
8. Return back to step 6.
9. The winner is declared when the dealer reveals all five community cards.
The cards used in Texas Hold’em are marked with their number and suit in all four corners so
that it is easily noticeable. Still, cautious about the presence of surveillance cameras, Hibiki
gently flipped the two cards dealt face down.
(♥8 of Hearts and ♦9 of Diamonds……average.)
Kurumi had already spoken about their game strategy.

“Unless you have a bad hand, keep fighting until I say it’s good. Don’t fold.”
“Eh, what do you mean?”
“The main deciding factor in Texas Hold’em requires an understanding of the personality of your
opponent. Regardless of offensive or defensive, it wouldn’t be a true fight unless that is
measured first.”
“Hibiki-san is responsible for drawing out the personality traits of everyone on the table. In terms
of funds, do worry about squandering. Afterwards──”
First she needed to determine the outcome of this round. Hibiki placed her wager in chips.
During a game of Texas Hold’em, the Big Blind (BB) and Small Blind (SB) are responsible for
paying the forward wager of chips. The other players will then decide whether to bet or fold
depending on the quality of their cards.
Each time a round is over, the roles of BB and SB will alternate (with the initial pre-bets
gradually increasing over time). It is impossible to evade the game through constant folds.
Without participating, the amount of chips will continue to decrease.
Starting off, the Small Blind Miyafuji Oka paid 100,000 YP. Ariadne Foxlot, the Big Blind paid
200,000 YP. Next up, right beside her, Sagakure Yuri shrugged and declared a fold.
Kurumi also declared a fold.
Despite only paying 100,000 YP, it was still a loss paying for the ante fee. But Kurumi
understood that such loses were tolerable.
Gathering information was the most important when gambling with other people.
Kurumi considered this the most essential part as she thoroughly watched Sagakure Yuri and the
others.
After seven rounds, neither Kurumi nor Yuri’s side changed very much from their initial
positions. After a peaceful beginning, the strongest three cards for Hibiki were taken out.
In terms of chips──Hibiki was around 45 million YP, Kurumi at 32 million YP, Yuri at 58
million YP, Ariadne at 47 million YP, and also.
“Two pair. Sorry, but I’ll be taking it all.”
Miyafuji Oka was at the top with 70 million YP collected.

Kurumi glanced at her from sideways and was convinced.
The basic tactics of these three Dominions were roughly understood. They would lose if Yuri
lost all her chips. Then regardless if she goes before or after──
(Their approach taken was to ensure Yuri-san’s safety)
Of course, this was normal. Anyway, Yuri losing all of her chips spelled their certain defeat. So
she was hiding behind while Ariadne and Oka were out fighting forward. Considering Oka’s fast
progress, Ariadne was likely a sub-attacker……she was probably in charge of protecting Oka.
(Being common indeed means being commonly used. But──)
Kurumi glanced at Miyafuji Oka.
Her tactics are typical. Don’t fold when the hand is poor and fold when it is poor.
Just like playing baseball, the difference between offense and defense was obvious. There were
no weaknesses in that regard.
If that was the case.
It would be up to you.
Kurumi confirmed her hole cards and the watched Oka’s confident smile as she joined the game.
“Raise. 2 million.”
Oka announced a raise. Earlier Oka only did this when her hand was good, but to go so far──she
must have at least a two pair or more.
Until now, no one competed with her……
“……Raise. 4 million.”
It was Tokisaki Kurumi who declared the raise. The amount raised caused Oka’s eyebrows to
twitch with an unpleasant look.
“Call.”
Then, Hibiki also quietly participated in the final decision. Yuri and Ariadne announced their
folds early. Oka gritted her teeth while staring at Hibiki.
“Raise, 4 million.”

“……Raise, 6 million.”
“C-Call.”
Right now, Oka, Kurumi, and Hibiki have put out 25 million YP out on the table. Oka was now
forced to make a choice.
That is to say, she needed to make a choice between a raise and a showdown.
Oka adjusted her breathing and looked at her cards. Her hole cards are ♥9 of Hearts and ♥Queen
of Hearts, and the community cards are──
♥Jack of Hearts, ♥8 of Hearts, ♥3 of Hearts, ♠6 of Spades, and ♣Jack of Clubs
The community cards had one pair of ♥Jack of Hearts and ♣Jack of Clubs, so each hand will
have at least a fixed one pair, but the problem started here.
Miyafuji Oka’s greatest hand contained a five card flush of hearts cards. Usually, this would be
enough to settle the match.
But──
There are also two cards with Jack suit present, which means that Tokisaki Kurumi’s hand may
be a four of a kind.
In that case, a flush would be no problem.
She was forced into a corner……!
(──Do you two have any Jacks?)
Oka gently signaled with a hand sign gesture. Unfortunately, both of them responded with a no.
But──
(Ariadne-san, do you think Kurumi-san’s hand has a four of a kind?)
(No, that hasn’t arrived yet.)
Ariadne answered Oka’s question confidently. Oka believed this without any hesitation at all.
(Even if you lose 32 million YP, Oka still has more than 40 million YP. Let’s commence the
game.)
Oka also agreed with Yuri’s proposal.

Oka chose to raise the wager. Of course, Kurumi would also be forced to make a decision.
But somehow it ended just like that──
“Aah, fold.”
Kurumi quickly informed them as she tossed her cards away.
“Eh?”
Maya and Oka both stood frozen. Ariadne opened her eyes.
“Oh, no. Sorry, it seems my cards have been turned face up.”
Maya gave an incredulous look to Kurumi. Oka, Ariadne, and Yuri were also speechless staring
at her hole cards.
“♣4 of Clubs and ♦9 of Diamonds……?”
Although there was the one fixed pair, there wasn’t much that could be used with the community
cards.
“Ara, ara. How could this be. 7 million YP remaining. But the game is just starting now……right,
Hibiki-san?”
For the first time, Oka’s gaze turned to Hibiki.
Kurumi was aware. Miyafuji Oka wasn’t conscious of Higoromo Hibiki at all. Because of that
she was hardly even considered a player in her eyes.
Oka’s gaze was basically fixed on Kurumi. There was no response to Hibiki’s attempts to call,
raise, or fold. ……No, to be more precise, she was consciously trying to ignore her.
Perhaps it was due to her pride of being a Dominion.
However, in the end this turned out to be a fatal weakness.
If there was a weakness──now was the opportunity to close the gap and go all out!
“All in.”

In addition to the 25 million YP on the table, Hibiki added in another 20 million YP.
Then, Oka quietly stared at Hibiki.
“…………!”
“……”
(Fold, Miyafuji Oka.)
(I think it’s better to fold too. I didn’t even look at Higoromo-san.)
Oka wasn’t listening to Yuri or Ariadne’s proposal at all. If the opponent were Kurumi, Oka
would have already folded. However, she wasn’t dealing with Tokisaki Kurumi, but rather
Higoromo Hibiki.
It was as if poison seeped into Miyafuji Oka’s entire body.
(I refuse. Against, a mere……a mere former Empty……!)
To begin with, Higoromo Hibiki wasn’t something that should belong in this game arena.
Watch me get rid of her now……!
“Call! 13 million!”
Hibiki had already gone all in and Oka wanted to offer the same amount of chips as Hibiki’s bet.
Therefore, it automatically came to the showdown──where both of their two hole cards will be
presented.
Oka’s hand had a 9 of Hearts and ♥Queen of Hearts, which formed a flush with the community
cards ♥Jack of Hearts, ♥8 of Hearts, ♥3 of Hearts.
“Showdown. Miyafuji Oka, 9 of Hearts and ♥Queen of Hearts……flush.”
After the reveal of Oka’ hand, Hibiki’s hand was also laid open.
“Higoromo Hibiki. ♠Jack of Spades, ♣3 of Clubs. Full house……Higoromo Hibiki’s victory.”
“……!”
Oka couldn’t help but involuntarily clench her YP chips. Her 45 million YP, Kurumi’ 25 million
YP, plus the amount added from Ariadne and Yuri’s folds, it came to a total of 72 million YP.

From the perspective of a third party, Kurumi only had 7 million YP left and was forced into a
desperate corner. But for Miyafuji Oka, a tremendous sense of shame enveloped both her body
and mind. It was because this shame was ultimately rooted in a fear of being thoroughly defeated.
Also caught off guard by this, Yuri and Ariadne also noticed themselves growing a little more
restless. Until this mental upset subsides, it would be best to slow down the pace of this game for
as much as possible.

However, Kurumi immediately urged them to continue dealing cards.
With gestures brimming with self-confidence, Hibiki gave a determined look at Oka as if trifling
with her.
“Fold……”
Despite having a hand good enough to compete with a two pair, Oka was suppressed by Hibiki
and Kurumi’s smile. Seeing that the flow was poor, Yuri and Ariadne also choose to get out
early.
“Tokisaki Kurumi, one pair. Higoromo Hibiki, no pair. Victory goes to Tokisaki Kurumi.”
With their side in chaos, Yuri’s group chose to fold this round to calm down. Seeing that they
were the only ones left for this round, Kurumi responded to Hibiki’s 50 million YP wager by
choosing to go all in. Naturally, Kurumi won.
Therefore, currently Hibiki had a total of 67 million YP while Kurumi was at 37 million YP.
Both of them had nearly doubled their chips compared to when they started.
“……”
Oka clenched her teeth from the sheer shame.
She should have recovered. She should have bounced back and taken the challenge. Then, they
would have won without any problems. Just one more step away, they were pressed to the point
where it was just a single step from victory.
However, falling into the trap of being humiliated had distorted her actions.
She didn’t even listen to Ariadne’s suggestions when choosing to fold.
“──Would you like to take a small break? Oka-san over there seems to be quite exhausted.”
At that moment, Kurumi spoke.
“Yes. I suppose……I would want that. Maya-san, can we take a break?”
Maya nodded in response to what Yuri had said.
“Then, let’s take a ten minute break. However, you cannot leave this casino.”
Hearing those words, Hibiki breathed out a sigh of relief. Suddenly, she couldn’t even remember
the last time she could breathe out so casually.
Kurumi patted Hibiki’s shoulders.

“──Alright, the first barrier has been successfully traversed.”
“Yup.”
Kurumi and Hibiki had discussed dividing several tactics into parts. First is observation, second
is interception, and third is construction.
First, they needed to observe the enemy. Then, after setting up a counter for an opponent
examined as easy, they would build their foundation while the other side was still confused.
The first thing they needed to avoid power showdown. Compete only when a good hand arrives
and fold otherwise during a bad hand. After all, the level of funds was different on both sides.
Not to mention, their three opponents wouldn’t allow for it to be quickly settled in another major
reversal.
But the two of them have now achieved results. Having their funding double meant they had
effectively plundered away one person’s share of chips. Seizing 58 million YP was the
equivalent of closing the gap by 118 million YP.
“But is it okay to give our opponents the chance to rest now?”
“No problem. As expected, Miyafuji Oka is their vanguard. Even though she crashed then, if we
continue to attack it will be our turn to be killed next.”
Moreover, there was one more thing Kurumi was concerned about.
Staking it all in a huge match, having a flush meant Miyafuji Oka’s odds was great. The
probability of a flush in Texas Hold’em was around 3%.
However, when looking at the five community cards, there was the possibility of a large hand
appearing.
Therefore, Oka appeared nervous before betting. But──
Her tension was eased. At that moment, she exchanged eye contact with the other two. No doubt
they were exchanging information.
That didn’t matter. The question is what made her feel relieved.
“Sagakure Yuri and Ariadne Foxlot. That means……one of them was the true attacker. In the
next round, one of them would definitely take the initiative. “
“What will you do?”
“From here on out, it’ll be ad-lib improvisation. I’ll do as much as I want.”

Kurumi grinned.
──On the other side, with the three Dominions.
“……Really, that was such a great opportunity to end Tokisaki Kurumi.”
“I was in over my head……sorry.”
“At least it’s good we have Ariadne to undertake this task.”
“Does Yuri want to continue observing the situation? Well, anyway, I’ll be seriously involved in
the next round.”
“Oka-chan……well, it would be better if you calm down now.”
“I’m reflecting on it, really……because of Higoromo Hibiki I got it a little too passionate.”
Miyafuji Oka gave a smooth apology. Despite her being the Dominion of the Sixth Region
Tiphereth and assuming leadership there, Ariadne liked how she could properly apologize at
times like this.
“……Likely from now onwards that child will only be providing support. Because things are
already heating up.”
“Kurumi will step in from here on out?”
“Yup.”
If so, Yuri also understood that the deciding factor for this match will come soon. Shaking off
the fears of losing, she decided to challenge this game positively.
──This was to see clearly.
──To determine the future of the Neighboring World.
On the other hand, Miyafuji Oka was thinking deeper than the bottomless sea. She could also
clearly understand from that experience with Higoromo Hibiki.
Because she couldn’t stand Higoromo Hibiki’s presence here, she tried to consciously ignore her.
Obviously this was a huge gamble.

Treating her as if she wasn’t here, they took advantage of that shortcoming and launched an
attack.
“……Ariadne, can you?”
“Hmm……I can go. But I’ll have to concentrate on that. Won’t Yuri-chan also have to do her
best after this game?”
“Yeah……I will win.”
Seeing Yuri’s determined expression, Ariadne smiled.
“It’s rare to see you this motivated Yuri-chan. ……I thought you were only interested in your
little sister.”
“How mean, Ariadne. As a Dominion for the time being, I have a responsibility to protect the
Neighboring World.”
Ariadne wanted to confirm the truth of those words for a moment, but then decided against it.
Right now she didn’t have the time to focus on exposing hidden secrets.
The battle has yet to come.
Yukishiro Maya, who had taken the role of refereeing, carefully observed both groups.
Just at the moment where the observations finished, Tokisaki Kurumi boldly moved forward
with Higoromo Hibiki trailing behind her. On the other side, Miyafuji Oka, who had gotten too
hot-headed, had regained her calm temperament.
But from here on out it would likely be Ariadne’s turn. ……Maya did know how they were
going to cheat, but she knew that cheating would occur.
Moreover, it was likely the sort of cheating where it would be impossible to seize physical
evidence.
Therefore, Maya took the initiative to take charge as the referee.
“……Break time is over. Now then, the game will continue.”
Hearing those words, Kurumi and Hibiki went back to their seats. Kurumi took a deep breath
while looking around.
Now, the second round had begun──!

◇
Texas Hold’em had entered a feverish phase.
It was clear by now that the role of attacker had changed. Yuri and Ariadne had begun to move.
Oka was basically folding and only moved when her hand was good. Moreover, only when she
was completely confident……with at least a three of a kind or more is when she choose to attack.
Of course, the signs that Oka was aiming for a big hand was transmitted to Kurumi.
Kurumi resolutely adopted a folding strategy. Hibiki occasionally won or lost from going on the
offensive.
Kurumi had a hunch that it was almost time.
This was both a premonition of a decisive victory and a certainty of trap being set.
“……Raise. Add 1 million more.”
Ariadne chose a raise for the first time.
Kurumi’s hand contained a ♣9 of Clubs and ♠4 of Spades. This hand was to weak and couldn’t
form a role with the three community cards on the table.
However, Kurumi specifically chose to bluff.
“Raise, add one more million.” “……Raise, one more million.”
The three of them chose to fold as it became a one on one duel against Ariadne. The raises were
gradually accumulating.
……The air was heating up. Kurumi’s gaze began paying attention to Ariadne’s every move.
What habits or openings did she have? Kurumi endured her mind boiling up as she attentively
kept watching Ariadne.
In the end, this game turned into a huge round worth 10 million.
“……Showdown. Tokisaki Kurumi, no pair. ♣9 of Clubs is the highest.”
Well, this would certainly lead to a defeat. Kurumi was prepared for that.

Rather, the issue was with Ariadne. What sort of hand did she play?
“Ariadne. ♣2 of Clubs and ♥2 of Hearts. One pair. Therefore, victory goes to Ariadne.”
Kurumi was amazed. A pair of 2s was the weakest hand besides no pair. At the same time, in
Texas Hold’em with combinations formed from 7 different cards, this hand had the highest
possibility of showing up.
At the very least, it wasn’t a hand someone would wager in a 1 million level round.
“Ah, terrific.”
While saying so, Ariadne narrowed her eyes and smiled at Kurumi.
“You really are capable.”
“……It’s just being whimsical.”
After Kurumi coughed a few times, they went straight into the next round.
The next round was also a match pitting Ariadne against Kurumi. Ariadne chose to raise without
hesitation. Kurumi also kept raising her wager.
After Ariadne raised for a third time, the amount of chips reached 8 million. Kurumi also
intended to raise as she reached for her chips──
“……Ah!”
A piece of glass flew out from Hibiki’s hand, shattering and letting out a flashy sound as it
landed on the ground. In that instant, Kurumi suddenly stopped.
“Sorry, please continue. I’ll pick it up.”
“……No. The Yuis will handle it, so pleasie leave it alone.”
One of the mass produced Yui models in the distance quickly took out a broom to clean up the
broken glass.
“Let’s continue the game. Tokisaki Kurumi, what are you going to do?”
“……Fold.”
“No showdown. Ariadne wins.”

Kurumi quietly paid the 5 million YP while turning to look at Hibiki. Hibiki nodded silently
while tapping her finger lightly against her chest. A signal indicating for──an abnormal
situation.
Kurumi intended to adjust her breathing, but Yukishiro Maya wouldn’t give her that opportunity
as she started the next round.
In the next round, Kurumi’s hole cards ♥Jack of Hearts and ♣Queen of Clubs. It was a good
hand, but she quickly folded without even looking at the community cards.
One the other hand, Hibiki’s hand wasn’t quite good, so decided to call in order to stall for time.
Meanwhile, Kurumi thought to herself.
Something was done. Indeed, looking back, she had obviously lost control. Just like when
Miyafuji Oka made a mistake, she only thought about raising her wager.
……That’s right. At that moment, she was.
A fickle feeling at that moment──a flow of heat circulated in her heart.
Certainly, she realized that this enthusiasm for fighting happened to anyone every now and then.
However, this passion for victory was clearly different.
After taking a deep breath, Kurumi began examining her entire body carefully. This flame
burning in her heart──it wasn’t heat attached to victory. So what exactly was this? Love……no,
this is different.
“……”
Kurumi further restrained herself while turning to look at Ariadne Foxlot.
Was she simply sitting near the table acting on her on whims? Or was she already within the
range of her Unsigned Angel?
Regardless, she could understand.
She was right now being manipulated by a foreign enemy.
But this was certainly not as powerful as brainwashing. Just now, Hibiki had noticed Kurumi’s
strange behavior and purposely broke that glass to snap her out of her fervor.
However, this sort of manipulation was difficult to discover.
So what could be done about this──

“Showdown. Higoromo Hibiki, one pair of 3s. Ariadne, three 9s.”
“……!”
The round had already ended by the time Kurumi had even noticed.
Ariadne had snatched 15 million YP from Hibiki.
“Ah……”
Stunned, Hibiki looked back at her hole cards several times.
“I’m sorry……”
Hibiki’s mood felt down into a dejected state.
“It’s too early to lament.”
Kurumi comforted her by patting her shoulders. Yes, it all happened quite quickly. At this stage,
there was only an ambiguous hypothesis. But Kurumi could only believe in this and move
forward.
However, for this, Kurumi still needed time to think calmly.
It took less than a second for Kurumi to reach a conclusion and begin her implementation.
“……Ouch.”
Kurumi pressed her hand against the poker card.
“Tokisaki Kurumi?”
Yukishiro Maya asked out in surprise.
“Ah, sorry. I was cut by the card.”
“Is there any blood?”
“Yes, yes. I am very sorry. Can you replace this deck?”
The card that Maya had given Kurumi was indeed stained with blood.
“……I understand. I’ll replace the deck of cards.”
“Kurumi-san, do you need a Band-Aid?”

Hibiki took out a Band-Aid from nowhere, but Kurumi shook her head.
“This little pain can prove to be a distraction. How troublesome, <Zafkiel>.”
Suddenly, the surroundings caused a commotion as Kurumi took out her classical pistol. It grew
even more agitated as Kurumi placed the pistol against her own head.
“The Fourth Bullet <Dalet>.”
The Fourth Bullet could rewind time to heal injuries. However, Hibiki raised her eyebrows in
confusion. Releasing the abilities of <Zafkiel> came at a significant price. That was of course
referring to time.
By regularly replenishing her time, she could launch a skill that completely subverted the laws of
the Neighboring World.
……But if it was only to the extent of a scratched finger, Kurumi wouldn’t use the Fourth
Bullet──
(Ah, so is it by earning time?)
Upon a closer look, even Yukishiro Maya suddenly stopped after seeing Kurumi’s ability for the
first time. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Kurumi finished her analysis.
Kurumi then spoke with a devilish smile.
“Now then, let’s continue.”
Hearing those words, Maya hurried out to distribute the cards again.
Kurumi quietly looked at her face down cards while thinking it over.
Of course, her thought process was mostly based on a hypothesis. However, in the absence of
actual evidence, Kurumi could only but her trust in this hypothesis.
Above all else, this was also a battle.
Only fighting when there is 100% for victory and giving up when there is a 99% chance of defeat.
This was not the case for this fight.
For girls, for warriors, for us──
There are moments where they must absolutely fight.

The first matter was Ariadne’s ability. It had to be some sort of physiological manipulation.
However, it didn’t belong to the camp of brainwashing and hallucinations.
There was no doubt that there were cards in her hand and the community cards were also indeed
correct.
But what felt wrong was playing that round with a one pair hand.
What did she feel at that moment?
……Heat. A passion of not wanting to lose, it was a powerful desire that outweighed her sense
of reason.
The worst folly in gambling──getting too passionate and losing all sense of reasoning. This was
far more subtle than obvious cheat or illusions. If it took too long to notice, a person would think
that they were simply just losing.
Even after understanding that her heart got too passionate, if it still happened again she would
still lose.
In other words, Ariadne’s ability was to heat up the heart of a target at close range. That itself
wasn’t too difficult to imagine. In the real world, there are scenarios were a person’s brain would
purposely secrete simulants.
Anyway, if assuming her ability was like this, there was one more thing about this ability that
couldn’t be ignored.
Could Ariadne grasp also gauge Kurumi’s level of excitement?
In that case, Ariadne’s advantage was tremendous. For example, her hole cards right now were a
pair of ♥3 of Hearts and ♣3 of Clubs. Depending on the community cards, a 3 of a kind could
possibly be made, which would inevitably heat up Kurumi’s heart.
But if she could reach 3 of a kind from the community cards, her hand would be one of the
weakest pairs. The heat would disappear. If she could read this, she could determine how strong
or weak her hand was.
Just from this alone, the chances of victory would astronomically increase a lot even when not
adding the ability to control emotions.
……With this, she could cause her opponent’s cold heart to grow excited from a poor hand and
calm down the opponent’s passion during a strong hand.
Of course, even that wouldn’t guarantee a 100% victory. However, that reason only made this
ability even more terrifying.

Ariadne herself realized her ability wouldn’t be able to 100% read her opponent’s card values.
For example, if the fifth community card suddenly appeared shinning on the table──the chips
accumulated at that point would lead to a great sacrifice even after choosing to fold at that point.
On the other hand, even if having a strong hand from the beginning, there could be possibilities
where a weak hand could cut through latter on without hesitation.
In any case, Ariadne’s ability to increase her win rate was around 80%, but it was not perfect.
That was why Ariadne was still fighting vigilantly. And that was more terrifying than anything
else.
Based on the community cards, her hand may lead to a three of a kind.
And when her mental state was too good, she would likely try to interfere with her heart.
(This time──she needed to cool down.)
As expected, a chill struck her heart……the feeling of defeat filled her entire body. Even with
the chance of a three of a kind, it was only a high probability rather than being absolute.
Still, her hands were shaking. As if there was nothing good in her hand.
Nevertheless, she would try to go for a raise──but.
“Fold.”
The three of them on Yuri’s side immediately folded. Hibiki also folded after waiting for the
signal.
The chance of a three of a kind disappeared innocently with little to no damage against Yuri’s
side.
(……Yes. My heat……)
Feeling too weak would throw her off her game. However, if the sense of chill or heat reached an
extreme, it would also be recognized as a high stakes risk.
A rock solid foundation……and on top of that a level of caution from knowing that this ability
wasn’t perfect.
How should she approach this?

……First, if thinking rationally, only wager when having a good hand and folding when having
a bad one.
However, that was also the equivalent on giving up on bluffing. In Mahjong, this was a viable
solution by keeping to the optimal hands. However, this wouldn’t work in Texas Hold’em.
Moreover, the difference of funding against her opponent has caused a self-evident
overwhelming disadvantage.
Intellect, logic, reasoning, those sorts of things wouldn’t win in this game of poker.
The opponent was a Dominion, among the strongest in the Neighboring World.
Whether if it was fighting or gambling──she wouldn’t win without a power that defied ordinary
logic……!
──Ariadne Foxlot could manipulate the temperature of other people as Kurumi had noticed. Of
course, it wasn’t just limited to the mind. She can also control the physical temperature of the
body as well. But since that part of her ability didn’t make sense for a poker game, this aspect
was skipped.
The emphasis on this game is on her ability to manipulate mental temperature.
It wasn’t as simple as making one’s mood more positive or negative. She could make her
opponents more excited or nervous without them even realizing it.
For an easy to understand example, it was possible for her to induce a bad premonition or make
her opponents feel even more capable of themselves. A power exceeding rationality and could
manipulate the flow of the game against the other side’s will.
It wasn’t suitable for games like shogi or chess that only depended on logic. But gambling where
people value intuition and flow more than anything else, there was no trickier ability.
And Ariadne had one more power that couldn’t be ignored.
“……Raise.”
Ariadne’s raise increased Kurumi’s level of excitement. Ariadne noticed this and speculated on
the rest of her hand. Among the three out of five community cards face up, there was ♣3 of
Clubs, ♥1 of Hearts, and ♦1 of Diamonds.

Although none of the numbers there had the same suit, having ♣3 of Clubs leads to the
possibility of a flush.
……But Ariadne’s hole cards were actually different……no pair. On the other hand, Kurumi’s
hand may hold two or three pairs.
However, Kurumi was also intimated by the possibility of a flush. In this situation, she would
normally say raise without hesitation, but now she was pressed by a frozen sensation.
Perhaps Kurumi had also understood the situation. The feeling of something being manipulated,
but even then her intuition wouldn’t be able to function normally.
Additionally, Ariadne also had a perpetual poker face on. It was a somewhat sleepy face with a
gentle smile no matter how stiff the atmosphere got.
It was impossible to read her hand from expression alone.
“……Fold.”
Kurumi’s heat cooled down as she sighed.
Perhaps Kurumi had even seen through Ariadne’s ability. She had experienced countless
battlefields that Ariadne couldn’t possibly even imagine, so this couldn’t be taken for granted.
But that was it.
After all, there was no specific way of coping against this. There may be countermeasures for
abilities tampering with physical objects, but she was manipulating emotions rather than the
cards.
Sagakure Yuri was convinced that their victory was unshakable.
“…..I’ll have to do it.”
Kurumi sighed as she stretched.
Right now, Kurumi’s YP levels was much less than 50 million, sitting around 35 million. On the
other hand, both Sagakure Yuri and Miyafuji Oka were sitting around 50 million. Ariadne now
had 70 million, more than double what Kurumi had.
Since Hibiki also only had around 20 million left, there was no more room for retreat.
“There’s only one way that I can fight to turn this around.”
“That’s right. Please do your best.”

While saying so, Ariadne activated her Unsigned Angel <Taiintaiyounijuyonsetsuki>. An
extraordinarily thin thread of mercury used to measure temperature was her Unsigned Angel.
(Tokisaki Kurumi’s feelings are like the first day of winter……extremely cold despite still
wanting to win.)
In other words, she won’t win this game……likely.
This was only a guess. But perhaps Kurumi hadn’t even figured out her ability.
Nevertheless, Texas Hold’em is a game where the scenario could change drastically depending
on how the hole and community cards are used.
She needed to be careful of that, but──
Ariadne glanced at her hole cards. ♣Jack of Clubs and ♠Jack of Spades, both already formed a
pair. Depending on the community cards, the possibilities were endless.
“……Tokisaki Kurumi?”
It was Maya who first recognized the abnormal situation. Tokisaki Kurumi was remaining
motionless since the very beginning.
Yes, she didn’t even use her eyes to confirm the hole cards in her hand.
“I’ve already distributed the cards. You need to confirm it soon──”
“I don’t mind doing it like this.”
Everyone was shaken.
“K-Kurumi-san!?”
Hibiki stood up, but Kurumi still remained motionless.
“Sit down, Hibiki-san.”
“……Do you intend to abandon this game?”
In response to Yuri’s question, Kurumi shook her head.
“I don’t have any problems like this. Come, I’m choosing to raise.”
After saying that, Kurumi added in her chips.
“Hibiki-san, please raise as much as you can.”

This was──the signal to go all-in. Hibiki was almost about to faint in fear.
Hibiki’s hand was bad enough for this to be out of the question. All-in on the spot was
tantamount to giving up. After giving the okay signal, Kurumi lived up to her claims.
“……All-in.”
The scene fell into a riot. With all of Hibiki 19 million YP on the table, three community cards
were on the table.
Kurumi raised the bid to 25 million. If all of Yuri’s side folded, all of this would go to
Kurumi──but with the situation like this; no one was able to confirm Kurumi’s hole cards.
“Fold.”
Sagakure Yuri folded. Meanwhile, Miyafuji Oka──
“All-in.”
She also responded with all-in. This was part of Ariadne’s instructions. Hibiki’s hand was poor;
right now it was even worse than Oka’s single pair.
If she was bluffing, she would have to fold here. How irrational would she need to be in order to
let her hole cards be determined by chance?
Ariadne restrained the slight anxiety building in her heart as she tried to read her feelings.
Kurumi’s feelings were still in state of winter.
She was calm.
Just like this, she was behaving at an ice cold temperature.
“All-in.”
Yuri, Oka, and Maya all widened their eyes in shock. The trio desperately controlled their desire
to scream.
Even if her hand was good.
It was understandable that it should at least have a small possibility of being a good hand.
But she didn’t even look at her hole cards.

(Bluff)
(Should be a bluff)
(It should be a bluff──)
Ariadne looked at her in order to peek into the situation──but a chill suddenly traveled up her
spine.
She had been exposed. Kurumi was already staring back at her. It was on the level of being
observed through a magnifying glass or analyzed through microscope!
“I……”
Ariadne’s throat trembled with a small hint of fear.
Call, call, say call. Absolutely this was it──the perfect chance!
No, but just in case.
“──Fold.”
Who felt more relived now? Was it her or Kurumi?’
In any case, Oka would find out Kurumi’s hole cards after going all-in. Oka’s hand was a pair of
9s. Hibiki, Kurumi, and Oka had all gone all-in, so two more community cards were added. The
cards that appeared there were a Jack and King.
“……!”
If she didn’t fold, she would have had a three of a kind.
However, Oka’s hand had changed into a two pair with a King and 9. It was no exaggeration to
say that this hand was sufficient enough for victory. Hibiki also gained a one pair, but that was of
no concern.
And for Tokisaki Kurumi……
“……Please show your hand now.”
“Yes, sure.”
She gave her cards to Maya. Maya’s finger tips trembled. The first hole card was a ♥10 of Hearts
which formed a one pair with the community cards.

As for the second card……
“────────!”
With a startled sound, the second hole card was revealed. It was a ♣King of Clubs. In other
words, Kurumi’s hand had a two pair.
It was just by a little. But the value of one of the pairs marginally surpassed Oka’s hand.
“……I am the winner. So both Miyafuji-san and Hibiki-san are eliminated.”
“……Understood.”
Oka bit into her lips in regret.
On the other side, Hibiki handed her chips to Kurumi with a worried look.
“I’ll leave the rest to you.”
“Yes. I have been entrusted with everything.”
Kurumi calmly accepted the chips──and then finally revealed her emotions. A feeling as warm
as summer, it could be described as a peace of mind.
Was this pure intuition?
Did she go all-in while only relying on intuition?
……No. That was impossible. She must have been certain that her hand contained at least one
pair. On the other hand, she had no idea of knowing that Ariadne’s hand had a three of a kind.
This was completely bizarre and unreasonable.
She would have lost if Ariadne went in with her three of a kind, and only she could tell when she
would choose to fold──
At that moment, Ariadne held her breath.
That wasn’t it. Kurumi knew. Even without looking at her cards, even without caring about her
cards, she knew Ariadne would buckle down under this pressure.
Ariadne had no choice but to get off the moment Oka had declared herself going all-in.

It was because that was the safe option.
The eerie feeling of the temperature of emotions not fluctuating, the fear of being observed, and
finally the temptation of being able to watch this game from a safe zone.
Those conditions had taken away all of her choices besides folding……!
“……Would you like to take a second break soon?”
Before Ariadne could respond to Yuri’s suggestion, Kurumi struck the table.
“I’m in the flow of the game now. In that case, I would like to continue this game without a
break. We originally had rules two and three to prevent unfavorable conditions. Isn’t this sort of
suggestion agreeable?”
“But──”
Ariadne prevented Yuri from responding.
“I see. Okay. Un. Just as you say──let’s continue the match.”
“Yes, yes. Then let’s continue trying to kill each other. Ariadne Foxlot.”
Kurumi called out her name while staring at her with her clock piece marked eye.
With her sleepy eyes widened, Ariadne stroked up her hair.
“Okay. If that’s what you want, I’ll thoroughly accompany you.”
Laughter resounded.
Hibiki, after getting up and wandering aimlessly, sat down again and shifted her position to be
closer to Kurumi.
“I’ll watch over attentively!”
“Yes, yes, please do as you want.”
Hearing Hibiki’s words, Kurumi gave a faint smile before speaking. At that moment, Kurumi’s
vigilance on this game grew slightly lax. Or that is what Ariadne thought.
While it was unknown what sort of cheating Kurumi had used──it would be unlikely that it
involved the little girl standing behind her.

Ariadne knew that this was the decisive battle. Tokisaki Kurumi’s emotions went from the first
day of summer to minor heat. In other words, she was as high as the midsummer sun before the
results were determined.
Both Ariadne and Kurumi had almost the same amount of YP left in their hands. At this point,
YP was almost meaningless. Unless she drew a bad hand, Ariadne didn’t intend on folding.
And, as a first-rate gambler, Ariadne had a hunch.
For the two of them, there wouldn’t be a terrible draw that ruins this game. Without such luck, it
would be impossible to survive long in this Neighboring World.
So whether this comes up to huge victory or great defeat──would depend solely on whoever
will exhaust all of their luck first.
“……It’s getting interesting.”
Ariadne expressed a ferocious smile. In response to that smile, Kurumi let out a Kihihihi laugh
just like a Shinigami.
“Now then──let’s begin our war (date).”
Ariadne nodded to Kurumi’s loud declaration.
“Okay, baby. Come on, Maya-chan. Hurry up and deal me my cards!”
Maya dealt the cards to Ariadne, Kurumi, and Yuri.
“……”
Hibiki was trembling while watching Kurumi from behind. Kurumi lovingly covered the face
down card.
“……Are you planning on doing nothing again?”
“No, no, just a little magic spell. This time I will look into the cards as well.”
Alright, Ariadne mentally leaped at the opportunity. It was impossible not to see her cards when
standing behind her. Even if she couldn’t read Kurumi’s emotions, she could read Hibiki’s
instead.
Kurumi slowly flipped the corner of the card up. She didn’t seem to be on alert. Or perhaps she
didn’t intend to show it all.
Under this tense atmosphere, Kurumi slowly flipped her hole cards.

Hibiki perhaps unconsciously flinched a little.
This act was nothing more than trying to look into a card that she couldn’t see. Kurumi had
already turned her cards face down. As a precautionary measure, Ariadne read that Kurumi’s
emotions had already turned back to the first day of winter again.

Then, what about Hibiki?
Hibiki’s emotions were cold dew. This was a feeling of disappointment. In other words, Hibiki
was greatly discouraged from looking at that hand.
However, it wasn’t complete disillusionment. After all, hole cards were just two cards that
couldn’t even form a full hand.
The problem was in the community cards. No matter how bad the hole cards are, one could use
those to turn back the tide.
Her cards are ♦Jack of Diamonds and ♠7 of Spades. The community cards could drastically
change the level of this hand. Following Ariadne’s instructions, Yuri chose to fold without
disclosing her hand.
“Check”
“Check”
Both Ariadne and Kurumi chose to check first. Hibiki’s emotions lingered between restlessness
and excitement.
“Now then, here are the community cards.”
Three community cards were presented to the venue.
♣7 of Clubs, ♥8 of Hearts, ♥9 of Hearts
Only one pair confirmed so far, but this hand certainly had its advantages.
She began a confession abruptly with a gentle smile.
“……Well, I think it’s already been exposed. But it was I who purposed Texas Hold’em to
decide the outcome. Therefore, if I lose, Yuri-chan will declare defeat.”
“Ara, ara. Was that really the case?”
Kurumi glanced at Yuri while Ariadne’s attention was focused on Hibiki since she couldn’t fully
read Kurumi’s emotions. But even then she continued to smile happily.
Ariadne confessed this in order to keep Kurumi from easily giving up in this game.
“Anyway, I’ll go for a raise first.”

“Then, I’ll call.”
Hibiki’s expression stiffened. Her emotional change was too obvious. Ariadne stopped raising
and began to closely examine Hibiki’s emotions.
Her emotions were the awakening of insects……despite smoldering, the flames of hope had not
been completely extinguished. In that case, she should wait and see. Kurumi was as calm as
usual, but it should be enough by reading Hibiki’s feelings.
The fourth community card was placed on the table.
♥7 of Hearts
Hibiki’s emotions suddenly changed. First day of summer──as warm as summertime, bright
emotions began to dominate Hibiki. Yes, with this Kurumi’s hand was seen through. Three of a
kind, same as her, but Ariadne had a ♥7 of Spades. In this case, going by suits, it would be
Ariadne’s victory.
However, she had a hunch. If she added another card, this hand would become even better. She
was certain of this.
“Check.”
“……Check.”
In conformity with Kurumi’s check, Ariadne also chose the same option. A fifth community card
was submitted.
♠Jack of Spades
(It’s here……!)
Ariadne’s cards are ♦Jack of Diamonds, ♠7 of Spades, ♣7 of Clubs, ♥7 of Hearts, ♠Jack of

Spades──that is to say a three of a kind and one pair configuration……full house.
Hibiki’s emotions remained the same as the first day of summer. Of course there was still slight
anxiety from nothing being certain in this game yet, but she wouldn’t lose even if her opponent
had a three of a kind.
She believed so.

But,
“Now──”
There was also the matter of keeping Kurumi from folding this round. She must make her
believe that a three of a kind is enough to win.
“……Now then, your wagers.”
“Raise.”
Ariadne pretended to be lost for a few seconds, feigning being nervous as she timidly declared a
call.
Not surprisingly, Kurumi declared a raise. Ariadne declared a call with an astringent expression
in response to Kurumi’s raise.
Then, when Kurumi’s wager exceeded a certain limit, Ariadne displayed a fearless smile.
“All-in.”
Hibiki’s emotions suddenly froze. The warm feelings of the summer solstice suddenly fell into
the major cold in one single gulp.
“Huh……h-huh……!?”
“……”
Hibiki’s emotions were in chaos. Even Kurumi, who had kept smiling, lost her expression.
“Now, what do you want to do, Tokisaki Kurumi-san? Do you want to fold? Or do you want to
go all-in like me?”
Ariadne had the slight advantage in chips. The fact that she went all-in meant with certainty that
she had a fairly high level hand.
……But.
Kurumi was no longer in a standing position to retreat. Continuously raising the accumulating
YP (chips) to more than half of her assets, folding now would mean losing half of everything.
One could not bear that temptation.
Not to mention, she was Tokisaki Kurumi. According to the rumors coming from the Ninth
Region Yesod and the Eighth Region Hod, she was a girl with a queen-like temperament that
moved everything at her own satisfaction.

In that case, her being fearful of loss would be extraordinary.
“Alright.”
Kurumi pushed in all of her chips while staying emotionless.
“All-in. I will accept your challenge.”
“K-Kurumi-san, are you okay with that, Kurumi-san!”
Hibiki was shaking at her anxiously. Kurumi sighed while pinching Hibiki’s cheeks.
“It’s fine, so please sit back and don’t worry.”
“I-I understand. But sitting still can’t be done. I am a lightest weight type.”
“Ufufu, who are you talking about for a comparison?”
“Of course it’s Kirari Rinemu-san.”
Ariadne couldn’t believe that Kurumi was chatting so leisurely. It was almost as if she was
convinced that she would win.
“──Full house, right?”
“……!”
“Judging from the community cards, it should be a full house of Jacks and 7s.”
Ariadne handed her cards over to Maya while confused. Maya nodded after confirming the cards.
“Indeed, Ariadne Foxlot has a full house of Jacks and 7s.”
Ariadne asked.
“……Did you predict this……?”
“Yes, well. Almost.”
“U-Um. Why──”
How could afford to be so lax. Behind her, Higoromo Hibiki’s face had turned pale.
It was an expression as if convinced that they would lose.

“……Kurumi-san……Kurumi-san’s……card……”
Rather than just stroking Hibiki’s head, Kurumi stirred her head with enough force to shake her.
“──Yes, yes. I’m very sorry, Hibiki-san.”
“……Huh?”
“Objectively, it was just a simple accident. You see, didn’t we change decks because of my
blood getting on those cards. At that time, mysteriously a piece of that had stuck onto one of my
hole cards.”
Kurumi handed her cards over to Maya.
Maya turned over the cards with trembling hands. As she had said, there was ripped card piece
being stuck on there.
When the ripped-off part was removed, the two seemingly mediocre cards displayed explosive
destructive power. Tokisaki Kurumi’s hand did contain a ♥5 of Hearts, but rather than ♦7 of
Diamonds……it was a ♥6 of Hearts.
So Kurumi’s hand was──
♥5 of Hearts, ♥6 of Hearts, ♥7 of Hearts, ♥8 of Hearts, ♥9 of Hearts, it was a straight flush.
The strongest hand that even a full house couldn’t bare it’s fangs against.
“……!”
Even Ariadne had to stand up and look at the hole card as it was revealed. The ♥6 of Hearts was
slightly stained with blood. It was a red victory. She had lost. By now, she had been completely
crushed. Nevertheless, Ariadne was being shaken by pleasant emotions.
──How terrific.
For the first time, Ariadne experienced the sensation of her heart heating up despite being
defeated.
“Please wait. This is……cheating! It should be our victory!”
Faced with Oka’s questioning, Maya gently shook her head.
“……If the card was turned face up and been a fake, it would be considered cheating. But this is
not a fake. It was just an accident as Tokisaki Kurumi said earlier. Because so long as it is
recognizable immediately after it has been placed on the table.”

“But!”
“It’s fine, Oka-chan. ……I lost.”
“So then, all that remains is Sagakure Yuri-san.”
“Ah, no way. It was over when Ariadne couldn’t win. I surrender. Alright, okay. It’s your win.
Sagakure Yuri crumbled her hair and threw away her cards.
“Hmm, but hey. There’s something that I don’t understand. Can you please tell me Kurumi-san?”
“Ah, what is it?”
“Why couldn’t I read your emotions?”
Confronted by Ariadne’s straightforward inquiry, Kurumi laughed.
“Sure enough, you did read my emotions.”
“Hmm. Well, I think it’s already been exposed, so I’ll just say it. I can explore and manipulate
emotions. It’s possible to make a passionate child calm enough to fall asleep and vice versa. So
as a precondition, reading emotions can also be done. But……”
Ariadne stared at Kurumi with jade-like eyes.
“For a moment, I couldn’t read your feelings. It was just like──”
“It’s almost like I was thinking about something else……right?”
Ariadne nodded as Kurumi finished what she was about to say. Indeed, it was just like what
Kurumi had said.
Hibiki also realized what she had been thinking. The feeling of being too surprised caused her
shoulders to shiver.
“I’ve been thinking of a certain male in my heart. So there was no extra time that could be
afforded in paying attention to the cards.”
“……Eh, really?”
“I am serious.”
Ariadne sighed, as if exhausted from the bottom of her heart, and slumped against the table.
Then, she stomped her feet and shouted from the bottom of her heart.

“Because of such a boring reason, I lost a 100 million YP game? Unbelievable, I can’t believe it
at all!”
“Of course, I devoted part of my thought process to the game. That was how it could be
accomplished.”
“Um, Kurumi-san, Kurumi-san. Did you also plan on deceiving me as well?”
Hibiki asked Kurumi while pulling at her sleeves. To summarize the situation so far, Kurumi had
used Hibiki watching behind her as a decoy to bait Ariadne.
Kurumi asserted herself with her entire face giving a smile that would bewitch any person
looking at it.
“Yes, yes. It was quite the good performance.”
“Demon──────! Everyone here is a demon────────!”
Hibiki screamed.
“But shouldn’t you already know about that now?”
“Indeed!”
“Are you angry at being used?”
“Yes, I am very angry!”
“You are not angry, Higoromo Hibiki. You might as well be thanking her. Isn’t it such a joy to
come in handy?”
Kurumi looked over in surprise, but Hibiki silently shifted her gaze away. Her cheeks were
swelling and red as if proof of her own agitation.
But that also meant that everything was alright.
Truly she was an apologetic and simple woman that let others take advantage of her, but she was
also glad to be able to contribute to Kurumi’s victory. That was Hibiki’s current thought process
right now.
Still she couldn’t keep looking away and glance back at Kurumi’s direction.
Yes, of course. She must be smiling like a demon──
“Eh?”

It was impossible for Hibiki to not let out a dull sound of surprise.
“………………………………”
Silence and then a blush, for Tokisaki Kurumi it could be described as an expression completely
inconsistent with her.
Kurumi’s entire face was red as she looked at Hibiki with an embarrassingly numb look.
After some time passed, Kurumi rigidly jerked to the side.
Was this her way of teasing Hibiki? Of course, she couldn’t afford to back down now.
──Still, Hibiki saw a rare expression that couldn’t be seen even after a lifetime of searching.
Hibiki desperately tried to control the surge of emotions overflowing.
“……Ahem. Anyway, with this the Seventh Region Netzach has been cleared. At 100 million
YP, the gates to the Sixth Region Tiphereth will open. No issues to that I take it?”
“Leave it to me of course. I’ll open the gate responsibly as the Dominion of the Seventh Region
Netzach……but that’s not possible right now. After all, inserting in all those coins takes a while”
“Eh, you don’t have a 100 million YP coin?”
“No, no. This is a rare opportunity──do you want to come by my house? In terms of time, it’s
one o’clock in the morning right now. Of course, it is always night in the Seventh Region
Netzach. But right now it’s long past the time where other people are asleep in the other regions.”
“……Ahh, I do feel a little sleepy when you say that.”
Kurumi let out a small yawn.
“Ariadne, Oka, Maya, you guys also come by my house. There are many things I want to talk
about.”
“Is this a region meeting?”
“No, no, more like a girls talk!”
Miyafuji Oka gave a reluctant look.
“……I’ve heard you only talk about your little sister.”
“I’ll talk about something else!”

Then, Yukishiro Maya raised her hand.
“I have talked with Sagakure Yuri a total of 21 times on topics other than the regional conference.
20 times it was about the unique characteristics of her younger sister Sagakure Yui. Appearance,
status, and various other single topics related to her.”
“Hey, what about that one other time?”
Maya said silently while pointing her finger over her shoulder.
“Sagakure Yuri, there’s a piece of string on your shoulder. Wow, thank you. That’s all.”
“That one doesn’t count. So in short there are no topics that don’t involve your little sister.”
Oka tightened her eyebrows as if trying to endure a headache.
“No, no, no! I’ll come up with a different topic this time!”
“Um──”
A figure was suddenly inserted between the Dominions.
“Yui, what’s wrong?”
Sagakure Yui was watching the Dominions with transparently clear eyes.
“I’m sorry about what my sister says, but could you please listen to her request? I hope you will
enjoy it.”
After a brief silence, Ariadne, who looked tired, opened her mouth.
“……Okay. Your little sister has been taking care of me during my stay here, so I’ll listen this
time.”
“Hmm. If Ariadne agrees, I’ll do it too.”
Maya and Ariadne’s lines of sight turned towards Oka. Oka nodded while still looking reluctant.
“Kurumi-san, what about you? Or do you hate coming over to my house?”
“……Well, if it takes time, then it can’t be helped. If Hibiki-san doesn’t have any problem with
me. Yes, yes. Of course there is no problem.”
“──────”

At that moment, Hibiki’s body suddenly began to tremble. Right now, it seemed like something
had gone wrong. At that moment, the scene appearing in front of her looked extremely distorted.
Later, Hibiki would realize that her intuition was spot on.
The scene in front of her eyes, everything looked twisted──Higoromo Hibiki realized that.

○Uninvited Guests……
Guided to the mansion that Sagakure Yuri usually resided, Kurumi and the others were taken
aback by the sight.
“……Box?” (Ariadne Foxlot)
“……A box?” (Yukishiro Maya)

(TL Note: Yokan can mean a sweet jelly dessert or a western house)
“……Yokan?” (Tokisaki Kurumi)
“……Haah. Did someone just make a pun with Yokan just now?” (After five seconds, it was
Higoromo Hibiki who pinched her cheeks to confirm this was the pre-arranged place)
Anyway, Sagakure Yuri’s mansion was box-shaped, so the appearance of a box did feel suitable.
It had a dull, dark, and blue color that wasn’t very noticeable.
“It’s spacious and large inside. Rest assured. Come in♪”
As Yuri pushed their backs, the girls accepted her hospitality with helpless smiles.
The door opened.
The interior appearance gave a different impression of a faded inorganic material. Fading, but
there were also other strange things noticed in various other ways. For example, a chandelier was
on the ceiling, but it was surrounded by unpainted concrete walls. The red carpet was luxurious,
but it was underneath a transparent glass-like material brightly illuminated by the lights.
Was this modern architecture, pretending to be classical, or simply the whims of the Dominion
Yuri? Regardless, the meaning behind this design choice was quite unknown.
But compared to these strange decorations, Kurumi’s eyes were focused on a particular girl.
“……W-Wel……come.”
Accompanied by an awkward voice, the girl──Sagakure Yui, lowered her head.
“Ah.” “Oh dear.” “……” “Fumu.” “Mu.”
The reactions of all five people seeing her outfit were all completely different. Sagakure Yui was
not wearing her usual simple and elegant sailor fuku dress <Izuna>, but rather a maid costume.
Moreover, it was in a maid café style rather than a classical style. A miniskirt with a looming
garterbelt.
An attractive (eye-catching) type of maid outfit.

Not only was it fairly straightforward, but it had a comprehensive inclination towards a certain
type of sex appeal. An outfit that was both cute and erotic accompanying a beauty that could pull
it off. It was impossible for Yui to not be embarrassed wearing this.
“Well, well. Do you usually wear this?”
“No. But today is special, so. ……Even though I think my normal clothes are better for me.”
“What are you saying; Yui is the cutest little sister in the world!”
Yuri proudly raised her chest. Hearing those words, Yui sunk her head down even lower.
“The cutest girl in the world is seven year old Kurumi-san! No sorry, Kurumi-san is always cute!”
“……Tokisaki Kurumi. Doesn’t it feel a bit excessive to always threaten your partner with a
gun?”
“This is my arbitrary decision.”
“Anyway, I hope everyone can get a good rest here today. This extremely adorable maid Yui will
satisfy whatever requirements you need.”
“I’m in your care.”
Quickly, Yui bowed her head again.
“Hey. Yuri-chan, Yuri-chan……I want you to lift up her skirt with a smile. Is that service
possible?”

Hearing Ariadne’s request, Yui let out a small scream. After deeply thinking it over for a while,
Yuri answered slowly.
“Well……it’s possible……but I wonder if there’s no……”
“So it is possible……”
As Hibiki said while somewhat surprised, Yuri proudly straighten her chest once again.
“Because my Yui is so cute!”
──Then, at this moment, Hibiki felt a strange feeling passing through her head again.
(Huh?)
Just like a subtle contradiction, the feeling of something distorted. However, even Kurumi, who
was twice as sharp as a normal person, didn’t notice this.
Only Hibiki was able to feel this deviation.
But──. Hibiki eventually decided to ignore this sense of contradiction. It had nothing to do with
her or Kurumi, and she personally had no right to call it out.
If she was a good friend, Hibiki would have pointed out without hesitation, but they were as
close as strangers.
Well, this shouldn’t matter, as Hibiki whispered that to herself while grabbing Kurumi’s wrist.
“Come, let’s go and see our room. Kurumi-san!”
“That’s right. Can you please show us the way, Yui-san?”
“As you command, please come here dear guests.”
Yui began leading everyone. While starting to climb the central staircase, Hibiki unconsciously
felt her body shrink back.
“There needs to be a degree of not being shameful.”
Kurumi sighed in surprise as she looked away from Hibiki.
“……?”
Yui turned her head around and understood the meaning quickly from Hibiki’s posture. She then
hurriedly pressed her hand against her skirt.

“In a sense, it’s amazing that you are Kurumi-san’s partner.”
While letting out a sigh, Kurumi began shaking Hibiki’s head.
“I’ve been trying to toss her aside recently.”
“Sorry, but I’m about to vomit from this shaking, so please let go of me……”
──So then,
The room they arrived at under Yui’s lead was just as chaotic as the lobby room decorations.
The beds were as luxurious as any first-class hotel, but the walls were transparent glass bricks.
Rather than be lit by a chandelier, the entire ceiling was glowing.
“If you say ‘Yui turn off, the AI will automatically activate to turn off the lights in response.”
Yui’s words of course caused the lights to vanish and the entire room to be submerged in total
darkness.
“……Sorry. It seemed to have responded to my words just now.”
“If you don’t teach the words to turn back the lights as soon as possible, Hibiki-san will
transform into a pervert lurking in the dark.”
“Yui, lights up! Yui, lights up!!”
“Kurumi-san, isn’t your prejudice against me growing worse with each passing day!? Yui-san is
looking at me with incredulous eyes!”
Hibiki wanted to cry a little.
Sagakure Yuri lay on her bed and stared at the ceiling, suddenly recalling when Yui was still
alive.
She and her sister lived through fighting. Although Yui had dropped out midway through, Yuri
recreated her as a mechanical doll.
But the more she recreated her, the more she noticed.
She knew nothing about the girl named Sagakure Yui.

Their last conversation really was the worst.
──Sister, I have my own ■■■■■.
──So, I have to ■■■■■■■■■■ this house
──I’m ■■■■■■■■■■!
At the end of it all, they fought and parted ways.
And to this very day, this was Yuri’s regret. It was a lurking feeling of separating and being left
behind……even now.
However, regrets gradually disappear like letters drawn on the sandy beach.
Even though her sister died, she continued fighting in the Seventh Region Netzach and
constantly met various people. The joy brought by these various circumstances gradually diluted
the sadness.
Yuri thought there must be a degree of ruthlessness.
──It’s hard to say that I love my sister.
While thinking about that, Yuri would sometimes ask this to her mechanical dolls. But they
would always reply like this.
“No, that’s not true, Yuri-sama.”
The answer was exactly as she wanted.
Sure enough, the contents of her mind were strange.
The sound of knocking came from the door.
“Come in.”
Yuri responded in a somewhat lazy manner.
As soon as Yui left, Hibiki rushed for the bed.

“I’m· so ·tired────────────!”
Hibiki screamed.
“As the chief, I’m the one who should be tired.”
Maintaining a constant poker face was also quite tiring. Although they did win in the end, the
possibility of defeat was always present. Even the sweat trying to ooze out had to be controlled
by her willpower.
“By the way, what happened to Cistus-san and Carte-san?”
“Ah, Cistus was monitoring the casino’s cameras and Carte-san was watching for any
abnormalities around me. If anything went wrong, they would have contacted me right
away──that being said, nothing seemed to have happened in the end.”
Of course, even though Carte took the task with confidence, she was a little discouraged that
nothing had occurred. Right now she was at a bar being comforted by her four playing cards.
“Huh? Then where is Cistus-san right now?”
“With things having been successfully completed, shouldn’t she be having fun in a casino right
now?”
After hearing what Kurumi had said, the image of Cistus gracefully playing card games and slots.
Honestly, it was a bit amusing. For other people watching, it would probably be surprising seeing
someone who was the splitting image of Tokisaki Kurumi going around and doing that.
“Only, I’m a little worried.”
“What do you mean?”
Very unusually, Kurumi paused before speaking.
“Ah, it’s nothing. I can’t explain it too well. It just feels a little out of sync. Probably it’s just my
imagination.”
Inconsistent, although Hibiki also recognized that feeling, she didn’t think it was due to the
fatigue. Anyway, since good results have been obtained, she didn’t think they should bother this
too much.
“Finally, next up is the Sixth Region Tiphereth. This is the last region I can teach about. From
the Fifth Region and onward, it’ll be all unknowns. What will happen now?”
“Oh, aren’t you intending to keep following?”

Hibiki laughed at Kurumi’s question.
“No way. I’ll follow closely whether if it is the Fifth Region, Fourth Region, or beyond. ……But,
before that, we must find a way to go to the First Region Keter.”
“Yes, that’s why we’ll need to talk with the Dominions for that. At the moment, it seems we
have the most information.”
“Ah, I see……”
“The other side seems to want more information about the White Queen. Although the
information about around battle in the Third Region Binah has been passed onto Jugasaki-san,
the communication between Dominions doesn’t seem to be perfect.”
Jugasaki Retsumi. Although she succeeded Banouin Kareha and became Dominion of the Eighth
Region Hod──but it seemed she was too busy with work to exchange information to the other
regions.
“……If you think about it, if Retsumi-san contacted us properly at the casino, we wouldn’t have
to suffer that sort of mental torture.”
“It would be the same regardless. They wouldn’t be able to trust a new Dominion that easily. “
After all, they probably all wanted to know. The girl named Tokisaki Kurumi, how would a true
Spirit compare to them who are ‘Quasi”.
And at the same time, determine if she was also hostile against the White Queen.
“In other words, you passed their test, right Kurumi-san?”
“I didn’t use violence. Although I made some threats, it was within the acceptable range. And──”
Knock, knock.
“Come in.”
Hearing Kurumi say that, Ariadne, who had narrowed her eyes as thin as thread, opened the door.
“Ah, so you’re still awake. Are you free?”
“I am.”
“In that case, why don’t we talk a little?”
“……Yes, yes. Of course, I also want to inquire about all sorts of information.”

Kurumi stood up. Hibiki also naturally wanted to get out of bed, but Ariadne stopped her.
“Sorry. Hibiki-chan is a little impossible.”
“Hey!”
“Oka-chan doesn’t like Hibiki-chan being present. I’m really sorry.”
Miyafuji Oka──the Dominion of the Sixth Region Tiphereth. It seemed she couldn’t even stand
being in the same room as Hibiki.
“It can’t be helped. I’ll go alone. ……Hibiki-san, wait here for a while.”
“Guu.”
Now that Kurumi had spoken, Hibiki could only shut up and accept this.
Leading the way through the hallway, Ariadne asked Kurumi.
“What exactly is Hibiki-chan after all to Kurumi-chan?”
“Well, what about it? There isn’t enough time to explain it.”
“How long will it take?”
“Hmm……half a day?”
“That’s too pesky. Never mind then, can we trust her?”
“Of course. If she can’t be trusted, then there wouldn’t be anything real in the Neighboring
World.”
“……That’s a lot of trust. ……Well, let’s end that topic for now. Today, the topic that’s been
given priority over everything else is──”
“The White Queen, right?”
Ariadne nodded as she opened the door. Inside, Yukishiro Maya and Miyafuji Oka were already
waiting. Sagakure Yuri’s figure wasn’t present.
“Ara. Where is the critical Dominion of the Seventh Region Netzach?”
Miyafuji Oka nodded with a difficult look.

“Yeah. She said she was feeling a little sick.”
“……Can a Dominion even feel sick?”
“They can be. Although we Dominions can be compared to other Quasi-Spirits in the
Neighboring World……the intense strength of being called that wouldn’t make it simple to get
sick.”
“Even those disgusting Empties wouldn’t get sick.”
“Oka bluntly spoke out. Kurumi remembered about her in the Eight Region Hod while staring
sharply at Oka. Perhaps noticing Kurumi’s feelings, Ariadne pulled on her sleeves.
“She’s not saying this maliciously.”
“Doesn’t that make it even more extreme then?”
“……A while ago, her region came under attack from the White Queen. So her pride is a bit
hurt.”
The reason why the White Queen could sneak into her region was through manipulating the
Empties.
Although the Sixth Region Tiphereth had purged the Empties and temporarily restored stability,
that loss still couldn’t be ignored.
“……I heard about Banouin-san. But she was a Dominion. That means she couldn’t have been
an Empty──”
Maya raised her hand in objection to Oka’s words.
“……I think Tokisaki Kurumi-san should know something about this mystery.”
Maya stared at Kurumi with transparent pupils.
“Yes. ……Perhaps the person who knows that bet in the world is me.”
“Wait, before that, why are you a Spirit──”
“I’ll explain this in order. Of course, there are things I don’t want to talk about. Is that fine?”
For example, things such as the nature of her own existence and Hibiki’s painful wish.
Kurumi especially couldn’t say anything about Hibiki here. But for her motivations of going to
the other world, that could be said proudly here.

Ariadne laid on the table while twirling her finger in a round loop.
“……No problem. We also don’t want to say too much here.”
“Now then──where to start. Let’s begin with Malkuth as the starting point. ”
A lot had happened. Some parts were ridiculous and others were sad.
And most importantly, there were the fights.
It was a rare long speech coming from Kurumi. However, most of it wasn’t an emotional story,
but rather information about the White Queen’s specs.
For the Dominions, the White Queen was a complete enigma.
Defeating the Former Dominion Carte À Jouer in the Third Region Binah and began invading
the Spirits in other regions──no, Quasi-Spirits.
“Inverted clone. ……I see. Although this phenomenon hasn’t been seen in Quasi-Spirits, it
makes sense that the White Queen is such an existence.”
Certainly, Maya was nodding her head to that idea.
“However, the cause of inversion is still unknown. Could Tokisaki Kurumi be the reason?”
“I may or may not be the reason. However, the one thing I can say is my determination to kill her.
Although I am a traveler at best for this Neighboring World──as long as she is an inverted clone,
it must be settled between us.”
Maya and Oka both turned towards Ariadne at the same time.
“Hmm……probably true. There was some passion in your words just now.”
“I’m a bit reluctant to accept my emotions being read……but can this be used as proof of my
veracity?”
“Can be. ……Is that all about the White Queen’s abilities?”
“There’s──”
Ariadne raised her head after sensing Kurumi’s slight hesitation.

“……Your ability really makes it awkward. Really, it’s just conjecture right now rather than
being confirmed. Under that premise, do you still want to hear about it even though it may just
be speculation?”
“Of course. Tokisaki Kurumi’s hypothesis would be useful no matter how outrageous it is.”
After Maya said that, both Oka and Ariadne nodded in agreement.
“Alright then. It’s about how the White Queen is manipulating the Empty. The answer is that she
made them fall in love.”
There was a brief silence.
Finally, Maya asked a little hesitantly.
“……Fall in love?”
“Yes, that’s right. Yes, yes, of course even I admit it’s a ridiculous notion, but the events in the
Eighth Region Hod have made me come to this conclusion.”
Kurumi described in detail about Banouin Kareha’s journey into becoming an Empty until she
eventually disappeared.
About how she fell in love.
Real love was taken away as she was implanted with a false love. Under that pain and distress,
Kareha chose to let herself disappear.
By the end of that story, all three of them had frozen expressions. Among them, Oka’s
expression turned so ghastly pale that she looked like she was about to faint.
“……There’s something called a parasite over in the other world. Some parasitic insects can
even change their hosts’ original goals for survival and force them to commit suicide. That’s
exactly what she’s doing.”
Ariadne looked down sadly.
“……To have been taken away. That’s……really sad.”
“In other words……isn’t it meaningless to just expel the Empty?”
Maya answered rather than Kurumi.

“No, that wasn’t for vain. Assuming what she says is true, I’ll make further assumptions. There
are different stages a Quasi-Spirit must go through before becoming a slave of the White Queen.
Planting the feeling of love in the Quasi-Spirit and waiting for it grow until they become an
Empty and then finally her subordinate. As long as the first and second stages are noticed, it may
be possible to suppress this change.”
“……Well, that is something you Dominions have to consider. Now then, please give me the
information about how to get to the First Region Keter.”
“……”
The first person to speak was Oka.
“There are no clues in the Sixth Region Tiphereth. However, my region is the central hub of the
Neighboring World. If there is information, it should come to me first. If there isn’t anything,
that means──”
“There are no clues, right?”
“……I don’t have any information in my Second Region Chokmah. Well, in the first place my
region has almost nothing but a library tower.”
Hearing what Maya had said, Kurumi slanted her head.
“Library tower?”
“It’s the only building in my region. It’s where all the books in the Neighboring World are
collected.”
“……Is there any information about the First Region Keter written there?”
“No, I’ve already read everything. So when I say no, I mean no.”
Kurumi sighed after hearing what Maya had said.
“No clues.”
“……I have a clue.”
As Ariadne raised her hand, everyone immediately became nervous. Then, she spoke with a
smile as if intending to destroy the current atmosphere.
“The White Queen. Isn’t she also looking for the First Region Keter? If so, if you find her,
there’s bound to be some clues.”
“Ara, ara. Are those words intended for me to crush the White Queen, Ariadne-san?”

“Completely correct.”
As if there was no malice, the girl smiled innocently.
“……As I said earlier, we’ll have to settle the score eventually. But to be honest, there’s not
much I can do right now. In any case, the other side has countless troops. So, do you want to
assist me? Of course, I don’t think you have the right to refuse.”
“Of course.”
Oka nodded.
“……It can’t be avoided. But relatively speaking, I won’t be of much use. After all, I’m not a
Quasi-Spirit suitable for battle. If you want to appeal to such violent means, those two are
recommended.”
“What kind of Quasi-Spirits are you two?”
Hearing her question, both of them remained silent. Despite being friendlier, she didn’t have
their complete trust.
“Alright, then I’ll change the question. When I talked about the White Queen earlier, didn’t I
mention the three chess pieces following her? Rook is the only one I have fought against──can
you openly assert that you can defeat her based only on my description?”
“I can win” (Oka) “Probably” (Ariadne) “It’ll be 50-50” (Maya)
“That’s fine enough. For me, the last thing I want to see is being suppressed by numbers when
fighting against the White Queen. If it is just Empties, I can handle alone. But having three
opponents on the level of Rook would be……”
Even Rook alone was enough to make her struggle a bit. Furthermore, the White Queen was the
one who stood at the apex. Even when discounting for any possible betrayal or switching sides, it
would be difficult to make them succumb.
Even the ever reliable Hibiki was no match against Rook. Cistus and Carte À Jouer would be
enough for one piece each, but that still wasn’t enough.
Without at least one Dominion-class Quasi-Spirit joining the battle, this unfavorable situation
couldn’t be broken.
Oka raised her chest and spoke.
“Leave it to me, or rather to all of us. Every Dominion will spare no effort ensuring the White
Queen’s downfall.”

“Is that so? Wouldn’t it be difficult for the Ninth Region Yesod since there is several non-combat
type Quasi-Spirits there? The Eight Region Hod is still a mess. The Seventh Region Netzach is
also the same. Yui-chan has already said that Yuri-chan isn’t good at fighting……”
“Tsuan and Kagarike Haraka. There’s the two of them.”
“Tsuan-chan is in the Fifth Region Gevurah fighting against the invading Empty from the Third
Region Binah. Haraka-chan is participating in the killing game in the Tenth Region Malkuth to
find a replacement Dominion as soon as possible.”
“Ara. The person called Kagarike Haraka is in the Tenth Region Malkuth?”
“If that region is left in chaos, it’ll also have a negative effect on our regions. All of the Quasi-
Spirits in the Tenth Region Malkuth are bad guys. When those who enrich their lives through
killing each other enter other regions, our security will become threatened. Furthermore, it would
be problematic if the White Queen took advantage of the chaos to take control of the region.”
Maya summarized the situation calmly.
“That being said, what the three of us must do together……if……that……actually works……”
Ariadne’s words gradually became choppier. It seemed her drowsiness had reached its limit.
“So then it’s almost over. Ah, that’s right. Tokisaki Kurumi-san.”
Oka stood up and stretched out her hand.
“Thank you for the advice. Let’s fight together.”
After a little hesitation, Kurumi shook her hand.
Oka quietly left after gracefully bowing.
“──I’ll say good-bye as well. Ariadne Foxlot. Are you heading back tomorrow as well?”
“Yes. Shall we accompany each other along the way?”
“……So be it.”
Maya also left the room. Only Ariadne and Kurumi were left. Those two had just engaged in
fierce battle not long ago.
“That went surprisingly smoothly.”
“That’s not true. I can feel that everyone is hiding something.”

“Ah, are you the same, Ariadne-san?”
Ariadne smiled slightly but didn’t answer Kurumi.
──Nevertheless, the friendly discussion between the Dominions and Kurumi had concluded.
Starting from tomorrow, the siege against the White Queen was about to commence.
Yukishiro Maya, Ariadne Foxlot, Miyafuji Oka──
If they moved in unison with Kurumi, even the White Queen would have a difficult time.
But on the next day.
“Who……who did this!?”
An incident suddenly came that caused all of their plans to go away.
Sagakure Yuri was killed.

○What was Cut Down?
●──Tokisaki Kurumi’s Testimony
Let me see. After meeting with the Dominions, I returned to my room. In addition to Hibiki-san,
there was also Yui-san who saw my face and greeted me before leaving the room. I was so tired
that I immediately went to sleep without talking to Hibiki-san.
Dreams……I didn’t have any.
A while after opening my closed eyelids, it was morning the next time I noticed. No, even
though it was morning, it was still night time in the Seventh Region Netzach.
Then, after being shaken up by Hibiki-san, I used a triangle sleeper hold. No, I got up gracefully.
After saying good-bye to Yuri-san, we were planning on leaving the Seventh Region Netzach. So
we asked Yui-san to take us to Yuri-san’s room.
And then●──the corpse was found. That’s about it.
●──Higoromo Hibiki’s Testimony
Well, Kurumi-san went out to the meeting. I had nothing to do, so I went to go talk to Yui-san.
Um, Yui-san was trying to cover her legs by pulling on her skirt. But I told her that gesture
would be more stimulating eroticism instead.
……Ahem, anyway. While we were talking like this, Kurumi-san returned and Yui-san also left
at around the same time.
Kurumi-san looked tired, so I went to bed right away. Then, because I woke up earlier, I tried
waking up Kurumi-san. But after shaking her, she used a triangle sleeper hold on me. Don’t you
think that was too much?
Well anyway, somehow Kurumi-san was able to wake up and we went to go drink some coffee.
Then, I decided to go greet Yuri-san with Kurumi-san, so we called upon Yui-san. Yes, of course
it was the same special model Yui-san that I had spent all of yesterday chatting with.
Yui-san knocked on Yuri-san’s door, but there was no reply.
Yui-san twisted her neck and called out into Yuri-san’s room, but there was still no reply.
For a moment, Yui-san stared into the open space and opened her mouth. She whispered out
“strange” as she opened the door to the room.

Lock? Lock……there wasn’t a lock. Or at the very least, Yui-san opened the door effortlessly.
After opening, Yuri-san……was found dead.
●──Sagakure Yui’s Testimony
……Yes. I did chat with Hibiki-san. The conversation with Hibiki-san was mainly just gossiping.
I remember there were lots of topics related to Tokisaki-san. Although she asked a few
questions about my older sister……about Yuri-sama, it was a question that I couldn’t answer.
It was very late when Kurumi-san returned, and I left the room around the same time. Kurumi
looked very tired and decided to hurry up and go to bed.
Afterwards, just in case, I went to Yuri-sama’s room. After knocking, there was a response
telling me to enter standby mode and return back to my room.
Shortly before the scheduled wake-up time, I was called upon by Hibiki-san. I accepted her
request to give her greetings to Yuri-sama.
I went to Yuri-sama’s room and knocked on the door as usual.
There was no response or feeling of a presence inside. Considering the night before, I was about
to take a break, but then I asked about Yuri-sama from every mass produced Yui model present
in the mansion.
Since yesterday, there were no records of Yuri-sama leaving her room. I had a bad feeling as I
opened the door.
……Yes, although I had forgotten at the time, the door was supposed to have been locked. But
even if it was locked, I can pry the door open, so the results wouldn’t have differed.
Sagakure Yuri……I found my sister’s corpse.
Although the body was lying on bed as if still asleep, the room was covered in blood. So at the
time, it was already possible to judge that this was death rather than a serious injury.
Kurumi-san immediately fired her gun at the ceiling of the hallway. Presumably, this was to alert
the other Dominions of this anomaly.
Unsurprisingly, Oka-san and Maya-san rushed over immediately. Ariadne-san looked quite
sleepy as she was the last one to arrive. But the time arrived was almost the same for all three of
them. The time difference was at most five minutes.
……Soon afterwards, the body disappeared.

●──Miyafuji Oka’s Testimony
My testimony or whatever. We went to sleep after the exchange with Tokisaki Kurumi. I heard
the sound of a gun and jumped out of my bed to confirm what happened and hurried to the
source of the noise. Yukishiro Maya was trailing behind me while Ariadne was following behind
at a slower pace.
The tragedy of the room was of course seen with my own eyes. I also confirmed the corpse.
It disappeared afterwards……
Tokisaki Kurumi really made a fine play. Thanks to her, I was able to see Sagakure Yuri’s
disappearance with my own eyes.
The other thing to talk about……no, never mind.
●──Yukishiro Maya’s Testimony
I’m basically the same as Miyafuji Oka.
……In response, let me make my own observations. Sagakure Yuri disappeared at 7:32 pm.
There is a time lag of about ten seconds to ten minutes from data so far of when a Quasi-Spirit is
killed before annihilation.
Conversely, with ten minutes at most, everyone only has the alibi of being ‘asleep’. So everyone
is a suspect.
So, when confronted with the question of “who killed Sagakure Yuri?”, everyone would have the
same response.
The answer said would be──I don’t know.
Something doesn’t feel……right. The crime scene looks a little too terrible. In that case, the
sounds of a battle would have woken us up……
I think we should first check if the rooms are soundproof.
●──Ariadne Foxlot’s Testimony
I don’t have anything particular to say.
Only, is it a possible suicide? Although the motivation is unknown, was it because she was so
depressed that she wanted to die?

Also──why she didn’t participate in the discussion about the White Queen yesterday is also a
mystery. Even physical discomfort isn’t enough of a reason not to participate.
There are many mysteries.
What exactly happened?
The expressions of Kurumi and everyone else gathered in the reception hall were all rigid.
Regardless, she was dead. The corpse disappeared and at the same time the traces of blood were
also wiped away, but no matter how one phrased it, Sagakure Yuri was dead.
Moreover, there wasn’t any doubt this was definitely murder.
“So, staying just here is pointless. What are you all going to do?”
Kurumi opened her mouth to speak. Looking back at this attitude, Oka’s gave a complication
expression while staring back at her.
“……Of course, I’m not just going to stay here. It’s necessary to find the culprit.”
“Yui-san, are you okay now?”
Yui, who remained frozen after being overwhelmed, straightened her back slightly and nodded
after her name was called out by Kurumi.
“Yes.”
“What sort of security does this building provide against intruders?”
“……Including my mass produced models, I regularly patrol and use equipment like motion
sensors. Additionally, the floor that measures the weight of each Quasi-Spirit has confirmed that
there were no changes. From last night to this morning, there were no intruders inside this
building.”
As if to confirm this, Yui projected the data into the air.
Evidence of intruders──none.
Unknown errors or noise in sensors──none.
Yui sharply glanced at Kurumi, Hibiki, and the other Dominions.

“In other words, one of you killed Sagakure Yuri.”
Not surprisingly, a commotion was incited amongst everyone.
The first person to object that statement was Miyafuji Oka.
“Please wait. That may not necessarily be the case. Did one of the Yuis break down and kill your
master in an accident?”
“……We cannot go against Sagakure Yuri. Since the creation of the mechanical doll, our sister
has taken meticulous care managing that.”
“But──”
“Miyafuji Oka. Don’t say any more. If it was an accident, they would have reported it. We can
only assume that the criminal did so with malicious intent.”
Yukishiro Maya interjected.
“So then, who is the culprit?”
“This has to be investigated. There are quite the foreign elements in the mansion today.”
Maya stared at Kurumi. Feeling the intent behind that gaze, Kurumi lightly smiled back.
“Ara, ara. You’re talking as if I am the criminal.”
“You, or you guys.”
“Eh, me!?”
Hibiki jumped and pointed at herself.
“……I agree. If you had used your <King Killing> to replace a Sagakure Yui, wouldn’t it have
been not be suspicious to enter that room?”
Hearing what Oka had said, Hibiki furiously shook her head.
“Impossible, it’s completely impossible for me to have done it! My <King Killing> needs a face
to steal from! I would need to take it from someone else!”
“──Um. May I say something?”
Sagakure Yui glared at Hibiki.

“Wh-what is it?”
“I have just confirmed one thing. One of my mass-produced units is currently missing. I am
currently searching now.”
“Eh……”
Everyone turned to Hibiki with a surprised look. Kurumi’s smile disappeared while looking at
the entrance.
“Ehhhh, so it means something like this? Hibiki-chan stole the face of a mass-produced Yui-chan
and went to Yuri-chan’s room looking for an opportunity to kill her……”
“Impossible, that’s impossible! Don’t look at me like that; I’m just a poor, fragile little girl!
Fighting against a Dominion is impossible for me!”
“……Um. Actually, Yuri-sama’s fighting ability is no different from an ordinary non-combative

Quasi-Spirit. There’s basically no defense if she lifted her Astral Dress before going to asleep.”
Hearing Yui’s words, Hibiki, who had a twitching smile, soon realized the seriousness of the
matter. Everyone here didn’t have an alibi and the one with the greatest chance of committing
the crime was herself.
“W-Wait a minute……”
“Stand right there and don’t move, Higoromo Hibiki.”
Maya took a step forward.
“Hibiki-san, over here.”
Kurumi called to her. Ariadne didn’t move, but Oka and Maya were standing together. The
atmosphere grew tense. Both sides had faces that looked irreconcilable to each other.
At this point, Ariadne stepped in.
“Well, well. It’s still too early to draw conclusions now. If just talking about possibilities, both I
and Maya-chan won’t be exempt. Oka-chan……hmm, if she has the ability to conceal herself.
Moreover──”
Ariadne glanced as if trying to provoke Kurumi.
“Isn’t ten minutes sufficient enough for Kurumi-chan as well?”
“I was planning on leaving the Seventh Region Netzach right away. Shouldn’t I lack a motive to
kill Yuri-san?”

“That’s it.”
Ariadne pointed at Kurumi as if identifying the culprit.
“For example, if Yuri-chan went back on the promise this morning, wouldn’t you have a motive
for killing her?”
“That’s a pointless guess. I won’t accept this speculation.”
Hibiki noticed.
Already, everyone was at the brink. Soon there will be no choice but to fight and kill each other.
But, Hibiki pointed out the one thing that everyone had forgotten.
“Um, I think there is a bigger suspect.”
Those words were destructive enough to deter everyone from fighting. Everyone’s gazes
concentrated on Hibiki.
“That Queen, the White Queen. Can’t that person infiltrate everywhere? Wouldn’t that Queen be
the only person who could kill a Dominion without any signs of presence?”
“……But, in this situation she has no reason to kill Sagakure Yuri. We also don’t have a
reason──”
“There is one. Because I am here. Hmm, considering her thought process, she must be trying to
stir internal strife. Once that happens, I won’t be able to retreat, and wouldn’t at least two people
on your side be killed?”
“That’s on the premise that you’ll win. You don’t even know my ability──”
“I don’t know, but I will still win.”
Kurumi replied while straightening out her chest. Oka couldn’t help but remain silent. But in any
case, everyone’s thoughts were diverted from immediate conflict at least for the time being.
“Certainly, if we all fall here, there’s no doubt that the White Queen would be the happiest one.
However, it isn’t necessarily her who has done this.”
“……She has the power to lure people into a false love, remember? If that’s the case, there’s the
high possibility that someone under that power is the murder.”

“Ah──”
Hibiki covered her mouth.
Certainly, as Maya had said, this would be the safer option for the White Queen.
“Also……if everyone is convinced with my guess, I have one proposal.”
“Proposal?”
“Let Tokisaki Kurumi do the investigation. Let her investigate who killed Sagakure Yuri.”
After hearing Maya’s proposal, both Oka and Ariadne blinked unexpectedly.
“……Can you trust me?”
“It is you who told us what the White Queen is capable of. Logically, if you were on the Queen’s
side, there’s no point in revealing her abilities. Moreover, you have given the most reasonable
understanding of the White Queen’s actions so far.”
“Hmm……no way to refute that.”
Ariadne muttered to herself.
“Please hold on. I have no intention of pretending to be a detective……”
At the very moment she saw where this conversation was heading, Kurumi wanted to refuse.
“I agree with that opinion.”
No one was present, but a familiar voice was echoing from the ceiling.
“That voice just now was……!?”
“I am the emergency deputy Dominion of the Seventh Region Netzach, AI = Yuri. A system in
this building that automatically activates after the death of Sagakure Yuri.”
“Yuri……sama……?”
“Hearing the conversation of everyone after the death. Judging that the emergency is ongoing,
this mansion will be closed off. Transferring authority of mass produced type Yui models to Yuri.
To solve this situation, Tokisaki Kurumi is appointed as first-class system administrator. Please
solve the mystery of Sagakure Yuri’s death.”

“……Yui-san?”
Yui shook her head in surprise.
“I-I didn’t know……about this, Yuri-sama never told this……to me…… Authority of the
massed produced types……transferred……?”
As Hibiki turned her head around, several murmurs were heard.
The mass produced Yui models all gathered at the entrance door. Countless inorganic eyes were
watching them.
“Yuri-san, I want to ask a question. What happens if I intend to reject the detective role and try
to forcefully breakthrough?”
“The only energy source for the mass-produced models is a Nitro Dress. 103 mass produced Yui
models are currently active. If exploded simultaneously, regardless of what happens to Tokisaki
Kurumi, there is a 99% chance of at least Higoromo Hibiki dying in the process.”
“Gya! Being blown away in the crossfire would be awful!”
“……”
“──I cannot tell lies like a Quasi-Spirit. If Tokisaki Kurumi intends to flee, I will detonate them
all.”
“Looks like you’re serious, this AI……”
Then, Kurumi considered it for a while. She didn’t feel getting involved in the matter of
Sagakure Yuri was too good. But just like Yukishiro Maya had said, the possibility of the White
Queen intervening likely meant that this wouldn’t go off without a hitch.
“Yes, yes. I understand. I will solve this case.”
“Thank you. Then, I hope that everyone will stay in this mansion and not leave. Of course, that
won’t restrict everyone’s freedom in here.”
With that said, Yuri’s voice suddenly disappeared.
“Um, I don’t want to say this. But your older sister seems to have had a strange thought process.”
Hearing what Hibiki had said, Yui wondered what facial expression would be good in response.
“Well, everyone. There should be no complaints, right? I will solve this case. Let me investigate,
interrogate, identify the culprit, and hang her up indiscriminately.”

“……Are we also suspects?”
“I’m not satisfied, but it can’t be helped.”
“──Stop it, both of you. Yuri is right. Here is where we need to have Kurumi-san search for the
culprit.”
All three of them had a different response. Hibiki nervously observed the three Dominion facing
Kurumi.
Yukishiro Maya──she had an unconvinced, but understandable look. Although she hated being
treated as a suspect, she wasn’t hostile.
Ariadne Foxlot──she made no secret of her discomfort. But on the other hand, she gave a sort of
sarcastic smile that felt ambiguous for both allies and enemies.
Miyafuji Oka──she still looked a bit uncomfortable even though she expressed her
understanding.
On the other side, the special model Sagakure Yui had a look that combined both confusion and
sorrow.
Sadness……that was something Hibiki could be easily understood. Sagakure Yuri dying was
something that even a doll could feel sorrowful about. Perhaps the confusion was due to not
being able to keep up with the turbulence of this situation.
Well, it was difficult even for herself to keep following these circumstances.
What sort of development would lead to an AI Yuri threatening to bomb them if they didn’t
solve the mystery?
“……Maybe it’s better to take it one step at a time……”
Hibiki quietly whispered to herself.
“It really feels a bit shameful to say this. But if the White Queen is involved in this incident, we
cannot turn back. Now then──first of all, Yui-san.”
“Y-Yes!”
“I want to investigate the room. After investigating, I want to check up on the video feed from
the surveillance cameras. Now then, Yukishiro-san.”
“?”
“? What? Ah, before you used an Unsigned Angel to prevent cheating. Please use that.”

“……What do you mean?”
“Monitor us for wrongdoing. And above else, make us pledge we have not committed any crime.
Is that okay?”
After briefly considering it over, Maya nodded her head.
“Break the seal──The Fourth Book <Light Law Apostles>. I declare that I will not take any
action to disrupt the Sagakure Yuri murder case. If I break this vow, my cheeks will be cut by a
blade.”
A pair of chains from the golden scales bound Maya to the vow.
“──Oath accepted. Cheek will be torn if you take an action to impede the investigation.”
“……Now, I’d like to start the investigation……but there’s one more thing I want to say before
that.”
Maya looked surprised as she pointed at Kurumi.
“What’s with that look?”
Kurumi’s Astral Dress had changed form. What she was wearing today wasn’t her usual black
and Elegant <Elohim> or even the bunny girl outfit. It was a deerstalker cap and a brown trench
coat. That’s right; it was a cosplay of the world’s greatest detective, Sherlock Holmes.
“It’s all about the proper mindset, the mindset.”
“I also want to change my clothes, but what should I wear for a Mr. Watson cosplay? I wonder if
Mrs. Hudson would be better instead.”
“Hibiki-san, please do that, along with the speckled band.”
“That wouldn’t be even human anymore!?”
“……Is it really going to be okay……”
Anyway, the investigation had begun.
“Then let’s make a quick search of the room……but isn’t that right?”

“There’s nothing here.”
There was nothing in Sagakure Yuri’s room besides a bed and a table (accompanied by a single
chair). Both of them were stunned at the simplicity of the room compared to where they had
spent the night. Of course, all of the bloodstains had disappeared and there was no evidence of
her being here.
“Yuri-sama……just went back to sleep here.”
“But it’s true that she died here. Unless that was an illusion. ……Hibiki-san, do you remember
the scene at that time?”
“Ah, yes. Of course, I remember. I remember that it was here……she was sleeping just like this.”
Hibiki said while lying on the bed.
“There was blood everywhere. Was she killed here, or was she killed elsewhere and it was
deliberately sprinkled here? Hmm, it’s a mystery.”
“If she died elsewhere, wouldn’t the blood have disappeared on the spot?”
“There’s the possibility of immediately transferring into this room after killing. Well, then the
question becomes why it was necessary to do that, and──”
Kurumi picked up the pillow on the bed.
“Now then. The Tenth Bullet <Yud>.”
A shadowy bullet passed through the pillow and Kurumi’s head. Sure enough, even though it
was the second time seeing this, Maya watched attentively without changing expression.
The memories of the pillow were being reproduced right before Kurumi’s eyes. The memories
burned into Kurumi’s mind just like a roll of analog film.
Of course, most of the memories were useless and therefore skipped. Just as Yui had said, this
was always a place used for sleeping. At the very least, she needed to focus on the memories of
last night.
However──
A sudden chill, a silhouette was looking at the pillow. A huge eyeball, there was an object
moving at a tremendous speed. Like something out of a horror movie, a monster gave a deadly
stare.
“────! The Fourth Bullet <Dalet>.”

Immediately, Kurumi fired another shadowy bullet at herself. Hibiki, who was laying down, and
Maya hurriedly rushed over to Kurumi.
“Kurumi-san!?”
“……Invaded and contaminated (cracks), to make a fool out of me.”
“What happened?”
Kurumi looked at the pillow with some dread.
“The criminal predicted that I would try to read the memory of the pillow and prepared a trap for
me. It seems to have been intended to destroy my mind.”
“……That means.”
“This culprit knows about my ability quite well.”
Out of all of <Zafkiel>’s abilities, the Tenth Bullet <Yud> was the most suitable for searching
for the murderer. If the murderer’s weapon was left at the scene of the crime, she just needed to
shot at it to read its memory. No, just shooting the remnants of the crime scene ought to be
enough.
“……Can the Tenth Bullet <Yud> still be used?”
After hesitating for a bit, Kurumi shook her head.
“It can’t be used anymore. It was truly a moment of life or death just a moment ago and I may
not be so fortunate next time. We’ll need to use another method to find the culprit.”
“By the way, what did you see?”
“Something beyond description. The problems of having movement take precedence over form.
If Hibiki-san saw it, she would have died after vomiting out all of her bodily fluids.”
“That’ll be a horrible way to go out……”
“──So then, what’s next?”
“Of course, it must be through interviews. Hibiki-san, everyone including us must give their
testimonies. Only though──”
Kurumi sighed while staring at the vacant room.
“I hope that this culprit can be defeated logically. Well, that sounds unlikely.”

──And so, everyone gave their testimony.
Hibiki looked at everyone’s recorded testimony while scratching her head.
“Hmm……this is impossible to have been done without using an Unsigned Angel.”
“That’s right.”
Looking at the memo from behind Hibiki, Kurumi also agreed. Generally speaking, the time it
takes for a Quasi-Spirit to die and then disappear is very brief. The shortest time meant
immediately after death while the longest was around 10 minutes. Moreover, it was confirmed
that she was at least alive seven hours ago last night.
The main issue came from the surveillance camera.
“No one has entered her room since seven hours ago. It was me and Kurumi-san who entered the
room last──”
“Ten minutes ago someone killed her using an Unsigned Angel and then secretly left the
room……”
“That’s very reasonable as speculation. It is indeed possible to say that if it can be done. But
even so.”
“Yes, yes. It doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t make sense at all. Why did this person choose to kill
her in this situation? Even if it was to stir internal conflict, the risks are too great.”
“While we certainly were about to fight against each other, wasn’t it also possible that the
situation would go the complete opposite direction? Um.”
Going by the flow of the conversation, at that moment there was no chance of fighting against
each other when they were finally thinking about taking down the White Queen.
“Maya-san, I have a question. At the time of the conversation, did you feel any intentions
guiding it?”
Hearing Kurumi’s question, Maya went to immediately reject the notion.
“Absolutely not, please look at this.”
In order to let Kurumi see it clearly, Maya projected the conversation of when Sagakure Yuri
was killed into the air.

“You, Ariadne, I, and Oka, almost all of us were speaking under the drive of emotion and reason.
There was only one point of unnatural guidance. That was what Higoromo Hibiki said at the end.
But her goal was to calm us down, so that point can be ignored.”
Phrasing it like that, Kurumi could also understand. Speech exchanged during communication
was not the same as speech intended for guidance. During a natural conversation, deliberate
guidance always leads to artificial emotions and expressions.
Kurumi had carefully observed everyone’s face at that moment. There was nothing artificial,
everything felt natural.
“……Hmm, indeed……”
“That means sure enough it must be the ability of an Unsigned Angel. Isn’t that within the realm
of possibilities with Maya-san’s Unsigned Angel?”
“Even if there was──oops, that’s no good. In order to not hinder the investigation, I suppose I
have to tell you. ……I have ten books in total. Each number corresponds to the foundation and
underlying Spirit genus of each region.”
“So something like the Ninth Book can manipulate sound, is that right?”
Maya nodded just like a drinking bird toy.
“Hmm. That’s about right. Able to use all of the Quasi-Spirit powers in a well-balanced manner,
that is me.”
“Isn’t that the same as being jack-of-all trades and master of none?”
“…………Can be used in a balanced manner…………”
“Hey, Maya-san’s mood is plummeting! Kurumi-san! That’s the sort of truth you shouldn’t say
in front of a person!”
“Way to twist the knife further, Hibiki-san.”
For a period of time after that, Maya kept muttering, “I am well-balanced……” to herself.
“So Oka-san, what is the ability of your Unsigned Angel?”
“Hate me all you like for not speaking, but I’m using my right to remain silent!”

Miyafuji Oka said that while trying to sound intimidating. While that may have been her
intention, Kurumi felt it was a little cute.
“Well, that’s excusable.”
Hibiki shrugged while saying that.
“So then, let me change the question. Is it possible for you to kill Sagakure Yuri without our
knowledge?”
Oka hesitated on answering. Kurumi quickly picked up on that from her awkward expression.
“So it is possible then?”
“……It depends on the method. But if it were me……the corpse would have become something
different altogether……”
“Something different?”
Faced with Kurumi’s question, Oka waved her hand.
“The main thing is that……it would have been more grotesque than what you saw.”
“Hmm, so it was done, then the shape of the corpse would have been different. Thank you for
you answer, Miyafuji-san.”
“Do you believe me?”
“Yes, of course I believe you.”
Kurumi had already discovered that Miyafuji Oka was not the best at lying. She couldn’t say for
sure, but it may have been a little too difficult to consider her to be the criminal.
“Ariadne-san, you──”
“Hmm……isn’t it impossible?”
Before Kurumi could finish, Ariadne had already given the answer. It could be even said that she
was the most suspicious candidate.

“……Can you do it?”
“If it is just killing. After all, I can control body temperature even through the wall.”
“Hmm. Generally speaking, humans will die if their body temperature exceeds 50 degrees. There
should be no difference between Quasi-Spirits and humans on that point. Of course, it’s another
matter if an Astral Dress is equipped, but the limits of the human body shouldn’t change.”
Even if there is an Astral Dress that could withstand thousands of degrees, if not worn then the
person would still die on the spot once body temperature exceeded 50 degrees.
“Yes. Basically people would already lose consciousness at around 43 degrees, so it shouldn’t be
a problem.”
“In other words, you think Ariadne-san is the culprit?”
“Hmm……what do you think, Kurumi-chan?”
“Whether you can’t or won’t do it are two completely separate concepts. And there is one more
problem remaining. Regardless of suffering from a surprise attack, it’s impossible to not run into
some level of resistance. Not to mention with both sides being Dominions, shouldn’t you have a
certain understanding of each other’s abilities?”
“Well. Even if I were to try and kill Yuri-chan with my abilities, I would run into resistance first.
The Yuri-chan’s Astral Dress is so durable that it would take around five seconds (if worn), and
that would give her enough time to plan countermeasures.”
Ariadne said that in one second for becoming aware of the attack, in two seconds for recognizing
the attacker, in three seconds to think up of a countermeasure, and the remaining two seconds are
enough to put a fight.
“But if it’s through the wall, the precision won’t be particularly accurate. So it’s difficult to say.”
“Oka-san said something similar. While theoretically possible, there also some sort of
shortcoming. Incidentally, it’s impossible for me. Even passages created from the shadows can’t
be used to pass through walls.”
Kurumi had innocently lied. Actually she could pass through walls by manipulating the shadows.
But she wasn’t stupid enough to say that on the occasion where she was still under suspicion.
Although Hibiki looked like she wanted to say something, Kurumi winked at her to keep quiet.
“That means everyone is equally suspicious, with everyone having some means that can be
played, which can then lead to being implicated. Ah, but I am the exception.”
“Wouldn’t you have the power to do so if you used <King Killing>?”

“Ah, Kurumi-san is being too ill-tempered. Didn’t I say it before? I won’t be myself anymore if I
completely steal someone else’s power. I’ll become the person that I plundered.”
“You can’t revert back?”
“I don’t think a miracle will happen for a second time.”
Once, there was a miracle in the Tenth Region Malkuth. But they had mutual consent then. One
person abandoned what was seized and returned it. The other no longer despaired and accepted
what was returned.
After all, what was needed is mutual understanding.
Without this, Higoromo Hibiki was just a weak and helpless Quasi-Spirit.
“Hibiki-san is not weak at all. She has to be very strong. For example──”
“Don’t say gorilla!”
“……Actually, I wanted to say orangutan.”
“You wanted to say gorilla, but switched it at the last moment after I caught on!”
“No, no. There’s absolutely no such thing.”
Seeing Kurumi doing as she pleased and Hibiki flying into a rage, Ariadne looked on at both of
them with keen interest.
Likely noticing her gentle gaze, Kurumi coughed a few times.
“Anyway, thank you Ariadne-san. That only leaves three more people.”
“Three? One of them is Sagakure Yui-chan, right? Who are the other two?”
“The mass produced Yui-san models and──Yuri-san. Those two are obviously important as
well.”
The special model Yui blinked her eyes.
──Sagakure Yui was a mechanical doll made by Sagakure Yuri.
And the special models even surprisingly had emotions. But on the contrary, she didn’t even
have any taboo code. Like a Quasi-Spirit that couldn’t disobey, she had to follow her master’s
orders.

“Live freely. That’s enough.”
That’s what Yuri first said to her after she opened her eyes.
But for a mechanical doll, living freely was an incomprehensible concept. So at the time, she
probably questioned the other special model Yui──and got this answer.
Their role was just this.
Seeing it like that, Yui understood.
In general, they were important assets and weapons for the Seventh Region Netzach.
In order for the Seventh Region Netzach to survive, they had to undertake the task of information
gathering.
There was not distaste, fatigue, or exhaustion.
There was only the slight fear when death arrived. And even this fear gradually faded through
constant synchronization.
Yuri said that she loved Yui.
She loved both the mass produced and first class models.
The surrounding Quasi-Spirits considered her to be a little broken and strange siscon, but Yui
didn’t think so.
It wasn’t just a little, but she was completely broken.
It would just take one example for a person to understand. She had missed her little sister so
much, that I reappeared in this world as a mechanical doll.
While that certainly wasn’t ethnically correct, it was still logically sounded. She was trying to fill
up the feeling of sadness in her heart with comfort.
However, she mass produced Sagakure Yui.
Separating them in first class and mass produced types, she let them play out their missions. And
let that consume them. That sort of thing──in any case was already a complete logical failure.
Despite having already lost her little sister, she let even the one filling the roles of that sister
continually die.

Dozens of special class models have been produced and most of them have died in their missions.
Some of them were killed by the White Queen’s minions, while others never returned back from
the killing games in Malkuth.
In the case of the mass produced models, they often died without any trouble. Breaking apart,
sometimes that happened when intervening between conflicts of different Quasi-Spirits. In other
times, they died simply because of accidents.
Death, death, death──as her little sister, Sagakure Yuri died over and over again.
That’s why Sagakure Yui felt it was strange. However, she seemed to be the only one to
recognize this. The other Sagakure Yui, regardless of type, naturally believed that a “so-called
little sister should be like this”.
──Is there something wrong with me?
Even when she saw the corpse, she was shocked rather than sad. Was that because she was a
mechanical doll?
She wanted to cry.
She thought that she would cry. But the tears wouldn’t spill and there was no stagnation in her
testimony. Even wanting to catch the culprit came only from a sense of duty.
──I am a shallow existence that wouldn’t be sad even if my sister dies.
That was what Sagakure Yui vaguely thought. Even the mass produced Yui models that couldn’t
feel sad wouldn’t have a reason to feel sad anymore.
Rather, it was as if she felt a sense of relief.
Bishop found it to be a little difficult.
Cause discord or assassinate. Certainly, there had been such a plan.
However, as long as Tokisaki Kurumi was here, there was a need to concentrate on the
investigation. There was a desire to uncover both her strengths and weaknesses.
……With the White Queen’s “replacement” for the first time in a while, they had changed their
strategical approach. Instead of actively promoting an invasion, the concept was now focused on
infiltration.

Originally, she had come to the Seventh Region Netzach to discuss information about the White
Queen.
Because when it comes to Tokisaki Kurumi, it must be in the Seventh Region Netzach.
Unsurprisingly, she came to the casino……but as expected, she was very alert.
Lurking in the shadows, another person (Cistus) was prepared for any attack.
In the first place, it was impossible to bring their army into the Seventh Region Netzach.
Therefore, this contact should have at least been done in a robust manner.
Obviously, that should have been the case.
“What happened……?”
Someone has killed Sagakure Yuri.
This led to a conflict between the Dominions and Tokisaki Kurumi, which then led to a situation
where she would investigate all of them as a detective.
Although she wasn’t the culprit, she was also a servant of the White Queen.
If examined, this may become revealed. This disguise may be seen through.
The envoy of the White Queen, the noblest out of the three messengers──Bishop.
Tokisaki Kurumi was an existence that even the White Queen couldn’t kill.
She was by herself and it was certain that the other Dominions would also be participating in this
conflict.
They weren’t opponents that she could beat.
That being said, it was impossible to just run away now. Not only would she be mistaken as
Sagakure Yuri’s killer, but her identity as Bishop may also be exposed during the escape.
Right now, the White Queen’s army was scattered everywhere. The Dominions were being led
by the nose. Even half of the Fifth Region Gevurah was already under the control of the White
Queen.
This was all thanks to the information she’s provided as well as the passageways she’s created.
She wasn’t afraid to die.

If she was afraid of death, she wouldn’t be the White Queen’s subordinate. It was the same for
Rook or Knight.
Death was not scary. There were countless alternatives for herself.
However──Bishop understood as one of the three executives. Some of these replacements were
hopeless and useless.
And she wouldn’t be able to accomplish anything.
Fighting and then losing, a meaningless death with what meager resistance she could offer.
……That thought alone was terrifying.
The White Queen only remembered useful pieces. But if she wasn’t useful──it was impossible
for the White Queen to remember a piece that couldn’t do anything. It should be like this. Why
would you remember someone who did nothing?
I have to be useful.
I must be useful.
But──what should be done for that──
Ah, her head was confused. She couldn’t even concentrate thinking at all. Even the memory of
joyfully serving the Queen was becoming murky. What should I do, what should I do……
“──You are the Queen’s subordinate.”
There was a voice coming from the ceiling.
“……!”
Holding a weapon──gazing at the ceiling.
“Please calm down. The Queen’s subordinate, I am not an enemy.”
──Just now, what did this person say?
“If I am really against you, I would have informed Tokisaki Kurumi by now. However, she is
still focused on the investigation. If you still have doubts, go out and see for yourself.”
Not an enemy?

Bishop was left bewildered. Of course, the White Queen often did things without telling them.
But, but──
“I have inherited Sagakure Yuri’s last wish as an AI. As such, I have concluded that it is best to
work with you for this.”
Sagakure Yuri’s last wish? Bishop frowned while holding her suspicion.
“In order to fulfill that last wish, there is one thing that must be done. I hope you can make
Tokisaki Kurumi──”
I want you to get rid of her. She had asked.
Bishop froze. What was she saying? Kill Tokisaki Kurumi in this situation?
“Of course, I will cooperate. I am in charge of the control system for this entire mansion. So
make a plan, and you and I will be accomplices from here on out.”
Those words were certainly persuasive. Of course, there must be an ulterior motive for this. But
attacking Tokisaki Kurumi was also an irresistible temptation.
And most importantly, Bishop had no choice.
She had already been threatened. If she was starting to doubt her own identity, Tokisaki Kurumi
and the other Dominions would no doubt come to the same conclusion after investigating. If
exposed as Bishop, everything would end regardless if she wasn’t the culprit. And something
useless wouldn’t be remembered……!
I accept.
Bishop made that declaration in humiliation.
Sagakure Yuri was killed. A simple fact, but it was one that created complexity in countless
ways. She was a Dominion and the mansion was under her close surveillance with many other
Dominions present. And most importantly──
“I’m here, what’s the matter.”
“……Has our existences here also help contribute to this complexity?”
“Yes, yes. Now then──”

Kurumi suddenly closed her mouth, grabbing Hibiki’s arm and throwing her into the shadows
without any questions.
“Fugya!?”
Besides that wailing noise, Kurumi gracefully fell into the bottom of the shadow.
“One more thing, that AI Yuri is suspicious.”
“……Did you enter the shadows just to avoid that AI?”
“Yes. If her voice can be heard from the ceiling, doesn’t that mean she can hear every voice
within the mansion? Considering the number of surveillance cameras, it’s natural to assume
being spied on in the rooms.”
“But isn’t it more suspicious to hide in the shadows……”
“It’s better than being eavesdropped on. Well, first of all, this is strange.”
“Do you mean all three of them are suspicious?”
“If it is suspicion, we are both the same. Rather, why doesn’t this AI point out the culprit in the
first place?”
It was because of starting up after her death.
“Isn’t the story of starting up after death strange? What is that AI for anyway?’
“Eh. No, now that you mention it!”
“……The three Dominions are indeed suspicious. But the most suspicious person is undoubtedly
Sagakure Yuri. I even wonder if she’s really dead.”
“A camouflaged suicide……?”
Certainly, Hibiki also agreed to this. That was the most questionable thing.
“Yuri-san chose a sham death in order to achieve some sort of goal. That’s why we became
witnesses. ……Early in the morning, I wanted to say good-bye and found the corpse. Even in the
Neighboring World, that sort of thing seems too unreasonable to be a mere accident.”
“Maybe. If it wasn’t an accident, was it intended for us to see?”
“I think so.”

Hearing Kurumi’s words caused them to reevaluate the situation again. ……Kurumi and Hibiki
wanted to say good-bye before leaving the Seventh Region Netzach. That sort of thing was
completely predictable. But what wasn’t clear was when they would do so.
They may have said their good-byes over breakfast (or dinner in the case of the Seventh Region
Netzach) or perhaps they would have waited out in the hallway rather than going directly to her
room.
Nevertheless, she died at the very moment where Kurumi and Hibiki could testify that she died.
The timing was too good.
“……If that’s the case, then Yuri-san became Yuri through a fake suicide?
“But that also leaves us the question of why she made us the detectives.”
“Indeed, it is a contradiction to lock up the mansion and appoint us to solve the murder.”
Was she convinced that Kurumi and Hibiki would never reach the truth?
No, then she won’t have pushed the detective role onto them otherwise.
“……Ah, I’m thinking up an endless loop. What should we do Kurumi-san?”
The moment they reached a truth, there was an opposing fact about that truth.
Who was the culprit and the truth of how the walls in the room were overcome.
Even if that person wasn’t the culprit, it was still a fact that she made Kurumi and Hibiki act as
detectives.
“Then there’s only one thing to do. Delve into the facts. To do that──”
Kurumi glanced at Hibiki.
Hibiki tightly gripped her fist to showcase her motivation……but this time she couldn’t be
helpful.
After being identified as an assistant, she could escape playing the part of the clueless helper. In
any case, there was one more person now added. Even if she (Yuri) might be standing opposite
to them now……
“Whether or not we can trust her……alright, we’ll need to talk to her.”

◇
Sitting across from the table, Sagakure Yui felt a burning sensation travel up her face. Was she
had maybe considered an alert look──or perhaps it was viewed as a hostile one.
“……Um……uh…...”
Yui felt her words grow more incoherent as her eyes tried to glance away.
“I’m sorry to ask this of you so suddenly, Yui-san. Can you assist me in my investigation?”
“Yes. Of course.”
“Yui-san is a mechanical doll, correct?”
“……Yes, that’s right.”
“I’m a little puzzled, but what is the difference between you and an ordinary Quasi-Spirit.”
“I’m not the same. My blood is artificial and I have no sense of pain. And above all else we can
synchronize with the mass produced and first class types.”
“Synchronize?”
“That is to say, the experiences and memories obtained by each model can be shared with each
other.”
“Ah, I see. So that’s why you’re so rich in emotions.”
“……Yes.”
Was she really rich in emotions? That was something that even she didn’t fully understand about
herself. But even though it felt a little out of place, Tokisaki Kurumi had asked if she was “rich
in emotions”.
“Then let me ask you right now. Do you have a method or motive for killing your older sister
Sagakure Yuri?”
“No. My Unsigned Angel <Shichihōgiyōjiya> can only temporarily seal the senses of the target.
It is impossible for me to kill Yuri-sama in an instant.”
“Is that also the same for the mass produced Yui models?”
“No. Their weapons don’t have the abilities of my Unsigned Angel.”

“They…… Do you feel yourself different from the mass produced Yuis?”
It felt as if time had stopped.
That question was a burden that Yui had always carried.
“I……”
“Well. You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. You feel distressed about their affairs.
Understanding that is enough.”
“What are you──”
Kurumi ignored Yui’s question. She stared at Yui──while Yui looked back at her eyes.
Yui felt as if she heard a ticking sound coming from the clock on her pupil.
“……So this is my last question. Do you want to know the truth?”
“……I want to know. No matter how cruel it is.”
Kurumi suddenly laughed and snapped her fingers.
“?”
It was the feeling of being swallowed as something grabbed her ankle. There wasn’t even enough
time to scream or swing her weapon as she was helplessly pulled into the shadows.
“Who!”
“Wait, wait! Yui-san, it’s me Higoromo Hibiki!”
As Yui was preparing for pain, Hibiki lifted up her arms and shouted.
“Hibiki-san……?”
“Yeah, I’m sorry to have scared you. Usually I’m on the opposite end as well, so even I wanted
to do it once to someone else……”
“That’s a frightening reason to scare such an adorable girl. By the way, Hibiki-san isn’t cute, so
there are no problems there.”
“That’s saying too much! …...So, Yui-san, are you okay now?”
“I have a request.”

“A request?”
“Actually. ──────────”
As Yui was still confused, Kurumi softly whispered into her ear. Yui’s eyes widened upon
hearing the request.
“That would be────”
Wouldn’t that be a betrayal of her older sister?
“Do you think so?”
“……Yes.”
Although hesitant, Yui still replied. Regardless of her personal distrust, Yuri was very
responsible as the Dominion of the Seventh Region Netzach. She couldn’t imagine a betrayal.
On the other hand, Kurumi’s findings were also very convincing. Indeed, the theory that the
other Dominions were the culprit felt like something was wrong. And she did feel that Yuri was
hiding something.
“This is not betrayal. To believe in her, you must confirm it for yourself.”
Those words broke her psychological defense.
Sagakure Yui wanted to believe in Sagakure Yuri as well as the AI Yuri. So this was not betrayal.
She had already convinced herself of that.
“──I understand. I’ll go fetch those two now.”
As Yui disappeared, Hibiki asked Kurumi.
“Is Yui-san going to be okay?”
“That person, while a mechanical doll, is rich in emotions. So I do think she will easily accept
this status quo…….yes, yes. That’s more than I expected.”
“Tokisaki Kurumi (me) has a single goal. In order to achieve that, we are not afraid of death.
However, for them──that is to say for Sagakure Yui’s mass produced models, they don’t even
have a sense of purpose. ……There is a robot with the same face as herself. If that were the case
for Hibiki-san, how would you feel?”
“Hmm……uhh……to be honest, I would feel a little sick.”

A clone was fine enough. For example, with Cistus, she had her own thoughts and personality
despite having the same face as Kurumi-san. She could even talk about Kurumi’s charms all
night with a different Hibiki. However, it would be a different story if that clone was a mass
produced robot.
Hibiki felt that would be──terrible.
“The mass produced Yui-san has been treated quite roughly. How could she do that to something
with the same face as her sister? That is my question. And during our discussion, I learned that
the first class Yui-san also had the same question.”
“Ah, I see. So that’s why you think it is fine.”
“Of course, it is also a gamble. But doesn’t that somehow feel suitable for the Seventh Region
Netzach?”
Ufufu, Kurumi softly laughed.
Hibiki held her breath as her body felt a little chilly.
This has always been the case since arriving at this mansion.

○Thus the Mansion Collapses
Chance, she was waiting for that opportunity.
As Yuri had said so, Bishop began to wait for that opportunity. Tokisaki Kurumi rarely had any
openings. But rarely didn’t mean never.
There are inevitably blanks that occur unconsciously, which then leads to careless mistakes.
After that, she would strike first.
She would use all of the power of her Unsigned Angel to kill her relentlessly.
──But when exactly would this opportunity appear?
Yuri remained silent. Bishop followed behind Kurumi while suppressing her anxiety.
“Kurumi-san, what are you going to do now?”
In response to Higoromo Hibiki’s question, Kurumi shrugged and whispered.
“……Well, since the opponent is likely a subordinate of the White Queen, it is better to take the
initiative than wait……”
Kurumi and Hibiki were having a conversation. She didn’t pay any attention to that. She
understood Hibiki’s ability. She knew most of Kurumi’s powers. No problem, Bishop breathed a
sigh of relief from her chest.
The two of them continued to talk.
“By the way, how do you usually investigate a murder in the Neighboring World?”
“Hmm. There wouldn’t be any investigation in the Tenth Region Malkuth. In the Ninth Region
Yesod and Eighth Region Hod, the investigation would be carried out by Banouin-san’s private
soldiers.”
“……So you’re saying that the Neighboring World does a good job in maintaining order.”
“How can I to describe it? It’s said that a person traveling from the Tenth Region Malkuth to the
Sixth Region Tiphereth can be rest assured. However, it does feel like walking through a thin
tightrope at times.”
Just like a fleeting dream, her head felt mysteriously cold.

Ah, I want to kill. Make it happen as quickly, violently, and cruelly as possible. If she was killed,
there wouldn’t be any need for anything else.
It doesn’t matter even if she was also killed afterwards.
Kurumi turned her head suddenly──her eyes turned to Bishop. There was no awareness at all.
Although her face had a fearless smile, there was no hint of hostility. Bishop didn’t take any
action while looking naturally at her.
“Do you think so as well? Miyafuji-san?”
Miyafuji Oka (Bishop) nodded gracefully.
“Of course. Let’s settle this in one fell swoop.”
“Hibiki-san, please go along with Yui-san and Ariadne-san. I will act with Miyafuji-san.”
“Eh, we’re going separately!? If I am alone, Ariadne-san would kill me instantly!?”
“It’s okay. I’ll deal with the enemy.”
Higoromo Hibiki didn’t even try to conceal her reluctance. It seemed that Kurumi regarded
Ariadne as the major suspect and intended to use Hibiki as bait.
“So, Miyafuji-san, is that alright with you?”
She didn’t notice this fatal mistake. Oka nodded with a smile.
“Yes, of course.”
──It was now when Bishop made her decision.
Being alone with Tokisaki Kurumi meant that she had lowered her guard. Allowing someone to
walk behind her with her back defenseless was proof of that.
“Tokisaki Kurumi, this is Yuri. When scanning the entire mansion, there was a response from a
suspicious Sephira Crystal fragment. A suspected intruder has appeared.”
Yuri must have reached the same conclusion. She was trying to guide them to an unoccupied
room. This was going as planned. Separate Tokisaki Kurumi from Hibiki and the other
Dominions and move her to a room where a surprise attack can easily be done.

Immediately after entering the room, Yuri would replace the door with a wall.
The Sephira fragments were dummies planted by Yuri. The trap will be set off the moment she
approaches it.
Dazzle her eyes with a flash of dizziness, the moment her thoughts are distracted──she would
be killed mercilessly in a single blow.
“Is this the room? Is this……a warehouse?”
“Yes. Apparently, she was hiding in the debris in the warehouse. Being so camouflaged, it was
difficult to discover her.”
“I don’t think we’ll need to be careful, but Miyafuji-san.”
“Yes. Leave your back to me.”
“Ah, how reassuring. Thank you.”
Kurumi opened the door. She wasn’t even holding out her pistol. Oka sneered at her carelessness.
She already summoned her Unsigned Angel. Of course, Kurumi believed that this was to protect
her from behind.
With her back turned, she approached the Sephira Crystal fragment.
“……Speaking of which.”
Kurumi said while turning her head. Oka, with her weapon out, froze. But Kurumi wasn’t
emitting any killing intent.
“I want to ask you. Miyafuji-san and the other Dominions have already met the White Queen
already, correct?”
“Y-Yes……I’ve encountered her……”
She issued a declaration of war during the region meeting. If anyone asked for the reason, she
did it for Bishop.
The action showcased her solid foundation and also cleared her of any suspicions.
In order for the current infiltration strategy to proceed smoothly, Miyafuji Oka needed to
continue being a Dominion.
But.

This was great opportunity. A huge chance to crush the White Queen’s only unrivaled enemy,
Tokisaki Kurumi──
She would remain forever in the White Queen’s memories.
Bishop succumbed to the temptation of obtaining the Queen’s love.
“I heard Miyafuji-san didn’t succumb to her pressure and drove her away with intimidating
words.”
“Y-You’re exaggerating too much. I didn’t do anything extraordinary.”
Her thoughts grew anxious.
That was an act. The White Queen couldn’t be scared away by a Quasi-Spirit like herself. It was
just an act; she was playing around, just──
She needed to shake off these thoughts.
“What’s wrong, Miyafuji-san?”
Kurumi stared at Oka as if a little lost. Suddenly, her back was overcome with a chill.
Did she know?
Had she been exposed?
If that was the case, a surprise attack couldn’t be done here.
No……that wasn’t it. If she already knew, she wouldn’t have led herself into this situation.
She was defenseless. She didn’t even have her weapon out.
In other words, was she getting suspicious? ……In that case, there would be no chance for a
second opportunity.
“What’s the matter, Miyafuji-san?”
It was Yuri’s voice──Oka regained her calm composure.
“No, it’s nothing. I was just a little surprise by how much you look like the White Queen.”
Kurumi described the phenomenon as being an inverted clone. Oka thought this must be a lie.
In any case, there was unmistakable proof that Tokisaki Kurumi was similar to the White Queen.

That was a fact she was absolutely reluctant to accept as Bishop, one of the three executives.
That was all it was.
But then Kurumi frowned sadly as she spoke with incredible incredulity.
“Yes, yes. I’m sorry this is all because of my failure. I let that sham survive. Doesn’t it feel just
like leaving spoiled leftovers on the table? Isn’t that embarrassing enough to lose face over?”
For a moment, Oka’s brain refused to accept what Kurumi had just said. But the moment she was
able to understand the meaning of those words, her entire body was trembling from anger.
“You──”
Kurumi turned around and left her back open to Oka.
“Say, let’s focus on the investigation for now. Solving the mystery is the first priority right now.”
“……………I agree.”
Ah, that’s right. But even if she was right.
She couldn’t forgive, how could she forgive, she absolutely couldn’t approve of those words.
She wanted to deny and reject all of her existence. To that end, she must kill her right here.
“As you say──”
Exercising the full might of her Unsigned Angel, raising the rapier──<Cold Cruel>. Bishop’s
joker, it was able to double both the mental and physical gravity of anything it struck.
The moment she struck, her body would be crushed by the gravity of 500 G.
Although it was too cheap to kill her instantly, her frustration disappeared at the chance of
offering joy to the Queen.
That’s right.
Right here and now, die────────────die!
At that moment, Oka lifted her Unsigned Angel above her head. A second later, Tokisaki
Kurumi would undoubtedly be ushered with a miserable death.

“Ah, how fortunate. Landing such a huge jackpot so early on, it must be a reward for all of my
good deeds.”
The girl who had her back facing the attacker didn’t even bother to turn around.
Oka suddenly noticed the muzzle exposed from her armpit.
“Wha……”
Then Miyafuji Oka──Bishop suddenly let out a cry from the bottom of her heart.
──This person wasn’t even looking back.
“The Second Bullet <Bet>.”
Tokisaki Kurumi was the opposite of the White Queen.
But that didn’t mean she was the White Queen’s opposite by being sweet and gentle like an
angel.
“Uh, gu……!?”
Rather it should be said that she was as crafty and cunning as a demon.
“Originally, I would have stopped your time with the Seventh Bullet <Zayin> and killed you
without asking any questions. Ah, but──”
Kurumi faintly smiled, gently stroking Miyafuji Oka’s face as she was lifting up her rapier.
Slowly, slowly, time flowed just like the movements of a jellyfish.
Her fear felt like a cotton rope slowly tightening around her neck.
“I have already decided to never forgive the White Queen’s subordinates, no matter what the
circumstances.”
With that said, she mercilessly shot her right knee.
“Ah, ku……!?”
Kurumi reached out for the pistol under her arm. Oka crudely collapsed. Then, the moment she
tried to get up, she felt a muzzle being pressed against her head.
“……Thank you Yuri-san. The timing was perfect.”

“Wha……”
Slowly, Oka looked up.
“Betrayal……I was betrayed……?”
“No, that’s not it. I have been set up as Sagakure Yuri’s AI to solve this case. According to
Tokisaki Kurumi’s request, I was to identify all three Dominion suspects as the White Queen’s
subordinate and request for cooperation. In the end, only Miyafuji Oka agreed to the proposal.”
“……So……simple……”
A sense of shame scorched her body. If everyone was a suspect, then all they needed to do was
test everyone. That was the sort of logic that an AI would use over a human being. From the very
moment she had confessed, her death had been guaranteed.
“It doesn’t look like you’re the type to excel in sneak attacks. Rather than thinking about those
useless things, it was even more dangerous for you come out and directly attack me. So then,
who are you?”
“……”
Silence, there was no obligation to answer. Rather than waiting for a chance to strike back, her
thoughts were preoccupied with thinking of anything that could be done for the White Queen.
“Well, it doesn’t matter if you don’t answer. Anyway, you’re just a messenger at best. You’re a
poor supporting character that was implanted with false love for the White Queen while you
were an Empty. I would pity you if my anger wasn’t seething so much.”
“Don’t……screw with……me……! I am……I am one of the three proud executives of the

Queen. Bishop……remember, remember my name……!”
A clanking sound resounded. Kurumi was sitting in a chair with her legs crossed, staring at her
with contempt while speaking indifferently.
“I won’t. You are my enemy. You are my enemy’s subordinate. I regarded you as strong, so I
caught you in trap. But that’s not enough for me to remember. Anyway, your ability isn’t
much……but still, thank you being a Dominion and hiding your true nature up until now.”
In a somewhat disgusted manner, Kurumi let out a sigh.
But there were openings in every regard. The effects of her bullet were starting to weaken. For
another five seconds, as long as the opening was still there, she still had a chance to win with her
Unsigned Angel……!
Four seconds, three seconds, two seconds, one second──

“I,”
Without a word, Oka swung her Unsigned Angel. Kurumi’s eyebrows slightly twitched to the
side as she evaded the expected blow.
However.
Kurumi’s boots were slightly grazed by Oka’s <Cold Cruel>.
──It worked!
“……!?”
“<Briller Acier>!” (Kanji reads as weight metamorphosis)
Relentlessly, gravity was set to 500 G. Her feet should be as flat as paper. After that, one more
blow from her rapier would end it all.
Oka overwhelmed the other Dominions not only in leadership, but also in individual combat
since her Unsigned Angel <Cold Cruel> had an irreplaceable role there.
She could manipulate the gravity of an opponent that was cut and crush them with it.
However.
“──────Huh?”
But.
Even a weapon capable of victory in a single hit was meaningless if the blow couldn’t land.
“Ara, ara. What’s wrong, Miyafuji-san? Did you see in a dream of your Unsigned Angel hitting
me?”
“This power is……!”
Oka turned around with a startled look. Ariadne looked at Oka with a rare look of extreme
disappointment.
Not just her, Yukishiro Maya and Higoromo Hibiki were there as well. Maya, who usually had a
poker face, was frowning sadly. But for Oka, this scene seemed strangely familiar.
“──So it was Ariadne-san.”
“……That’s right.”

Ariadne sadly jabbed Oka with her fingertips.
“What I can manipulate is actually more than just emotions. It’s also possible to operate lower
and upper settings for all five senses.”
“A secret technique?”
Ariadne nodded. Her abilities can even tamper with sight.
“Because I won’t be trusted for having an ability like this, so I really didn’t want to use it.”
Oka also thought that would be the case. If the necessary organs for obtaining outside
information were being manipulated, the difference between dreams and reality would become
completely ambiguous.
She can’t even tell who was in front of her.
Who would ever trust a Quasi-Spirit that could accomplish such a thing?
“But I can’t let you kill Kurumi-chan. ──And above all else, you were the one who deceived us
first. Oka-chan……no, or rather it should be Bishop.”
Ah, Oka figured it out.
The fact that she moved to attack with <Cold Cruel> was part of reality.
However, her sense of visual distance had been tampered with.
“……How uncouth of me ……”
“Yes, yes. That’s right. You’re completely right. But your unsightliness is nothing new. You
have been hopeless the moment you as a Dominion succumbed to the White Queen.”
“Fu, fufu, fufufufufu! The hopeless ones are you all! This Neighboring World is a hysterically
twisted and inevitably corrupt place! I just need to ask you all!”
A terrible smile, she asked while preparing for death.
“This Neighboring World is wrong. It shouldn’t exist. Moreover we will never die──whatever
we do is meaningless.”
“……What do you mean……?”
Bishop sneered at Hibiki’s question.

“Because all of us──are dead. We died in reality and came to this Neighboring World. We are
only souls that can live in this prison forever. What’s the difference between this and hell?”
“……!”
“Yes, we are just shallow insects crawling forever. I’ve had enough of this foolish life. In that
case, I would rather work for that person. Fighting for that person’s love is──”
It was a much more exciting life.
As she said that, everyone went silent. The thoughts accumulating in the abyss gradually came
crawling out from inside Kurumi and the others’ minds.
What is this Neighboring World?
Is this world even real?
We’ve died long ago and are only seeing our dreams here.
There’s no future or past here.
There’s only cruel reality facing in front of them──
“No, that’s not it.”
A resolute voice came to challenge that notion.
“Anyway, we are living in this world. Because we died in the other world, we have to also die
here as well…… I don’t think such a fallacy should exist.”
Hibiki made her declaration to wake everyone up.
“……In the first place. What you’ve said is something that everyone has considered once or
twice. After all, isn’t there anything that can be done about it? This dream-like world cannot
exist at all. The more you understand the other world, the more you will think so.”
Both Ariadne and Maya said nothing after hearing those words.
The thing they feared as Dominions was the false reality of this world.
“So it is understandable to think about that sort of thing. But someone once told me this. Since
this is a world of dreams, then it’s good to live like you’re in a dream.”

──Kurumi softly sighed.
This wasn’t Kurumi’s idea. Although she recognized that this place was different than reality,
she still believed that she was alive. It was for this reason that she was aiming for the other world
right now.
So perhaps those words came from someone Higoromo Hibiki once loved from the bottom of her
heart.
That name was certainly──
“Hiriyu Yue-san, right?”
As Kurumi whispered to herself, Hibiki’s face brightly lit up.
“Ah, you remembered! That’s right, those were her words. Thanks to her, I can live a healthy life
now!”
Between good or bad, it was good. From boring or interesting, it was quite boring. But regardless,
the atmosphere of this place had been successfully changed on the spot.
It went from a serious to a relaxed mood.
Needless to say, Bishop──Miyafuji Oka was carefully invested in taking advantage of this
opportunity to launch a counterattack.
However, even she was at a loss for a moment after having her theory strongly refuted.
Confronted by what the former Empty Higoromo Hibiki had said──she couldn’t say a single
rebuttal.
“Miyafuji Oka.”
Yukishiro Maya approached Oka without any fear. She was staring coldly at the traitor and
summoned her Unsigned Angel without any hesitation.
“When did you betray us?”
“……”
“Was it when you became a Dominion? Or did you replace the real Miyafuji Oka along the way?
Which is it?”
Behind her, a huge bookshelf emerged.
“Break the seal──the Fifth Book <Firehouse Mystery>.”

Maya opened a long, slightly worn out 17 x 11 cm paperback book. It was just like a mystery
novel one might find in a bookstore. Suddenly, a box-shaped flame appeared from the pages of
the book.
“……Let me first explain first. This flame will not only burn you, but also the oxygen around
you until you suffocate to death. Because it is a flame, trying to crush it with gravity wouldn’t
change the end result.”
“Well, even if you tried to crush it with gravity……couldn’t my Unsigned Angel reverse your
concept of up and down?”
As Ariadne added that point, Kurumi shrugged and stepped back to watch the Dominions’
performance.
She also had something else to consider.
“……”
“If you don’t confess, we’ll torture you until you die.”
Oka laughed a little after hearing what Maya had said.
“Either way, I will disappear from this World.”
“In that case──”
“But, forget it. Forget it. If there’s nothing that can be done, I’ll tell you. I, Miyafuji Oka,
became Bishop. Since……um, when did it begin? It must have been a long time ago, so far away.
Yeah……it should be.”
“Impossible. You were on the front line more than anyone else. When your risked your life
taking hits for others, you were already Bishop? Do you think we’ll believe something as stupid
as that?”
The flame began to flicker as if to match Maya’s passion.
Kurumi thought it felt more like sadness than anger. Yes, probably Ariadne also felt the same, a
feeling of sadness over her being Bishop. And also a hidden desire of wanting this to be wrong.
However, she had already confessed to being Bishop.
However, the confession just now was──
Miyafuji Oka laughed. Despite the serious warning just now, the corners of her mouth were just
like crescent moon. Her hand──was still holding onto her rapier.

“……This is my last warning.”
As Maya said that, Oka remained silent.
But at the very next moment──
“Gah……!”
A bitter cry, Oka’s Sephira fragment had been gouged out.
“This is──”
As Maya was at a loss for words, Yuri’s voice echoed.
“I’m very sorry. Hesitating in this situation could be critical, so I took the initiative to annihilate
Miyafuji Oka.”
A girl was standing alone at the corner of the room. Hibiki, Ariadne, Maya, and even Kurumi
didn’t notice her.
“Mass produced……Yui?”
“Yes. It was an emergency.”
Miyafuji Oka stared blankly at the hole in her chest.
“Huh……this……? Yukishiro-san, Ariadne-san. Hey……”
Without even giving her a chance to say her last words, the mass produced Yui model delivered
the finishing blow. With a painful groan, Miyafuji Oka’s body completely disappeared.
All that remained was her Sephira fragment. However, the fragment that should have been
shinning blue had been bleached white.
“……Oka……why……”
Maya sadly lowered her head as Ariadne also looked displeased as she turned her face to the side.
Meanwhile, Kurumi was looking up at the ceiling.
“──Now. It’s become clear that Miyafuji Oka-san was Bishop. Then is it okay to assume that
Miyafuji-san was the one that killed Sagakure Yuri-san?”
Hearing those words, Maya glared at Kurumi with an unpleasant look. Ariadne frowned and
slanted her head.

“……I……suppose……?”
“──No.”
Kurumi had rejected that notion.
“It couldn’t have ended like that. If asked why, it was impossible for Miyafuji-san to kill
Sagakure Yuri-san. Even though Miyafuji-san was Bishop, she was not the culprit.”
“Huh……?”
“W-What do you mean, Kurumi-san!?”
Kurumi raised up two fingers.
“Everyone is mistaken. Miyafuji-san was Bishop. That is fine enough. I don’t know if it was
innate or acquired──but she has already confessed. However, even if she was Bishop, she still
had no opportunity or reason to kill Sagakure Yuri.”
Maya and Ariadne were staring fixated on Kurumi. A sense of disbelief mixed with being struck
by admiration.
“So what does that mean? Who is the one here that killed Sagakure Yuri? No, no. That’s the
wrong way to think. This series of incidents were all to pin the crime of killing Sagakure Yuri
onto Miyafuji Oka. Don’t you think that makes sense?”
Maya took a step forward to refute Kurumi.
“……Hold on. She did admit to being Bishop and she wanted to kill you. In that case, she can
only be considered the culprit. Above all else……”
“If you view yourself as not the culprit, then only Ariadne-san would be left. Wouldn’t it be even
more painful to be further betrayed by your allies?”
“……”
Maya lowered her head.
Ariadne had a rare look of confusion as she spoke.
“Wait, so you think I’m not the culprit?”
“Yes, please rest assured Yukishiro-san. Whether if it is it is Ariadne-san or Maya-san, Hibiki-

san, Yui-san, and Oka-san, none of them are the culprit.”
Everyone’s eyes widened at Kurumi’s words.

“Yuri-san. Is it okay for me to ask a question?”
“Yes. Please ask away.”
“The blow that killed Oka-san was truly wonderful. Even I was caught off guard.”
“Thank you for the compliment.”
“I have nothing to say about the first attack, but I do find the second attack unacceptable. She
was already at the point where her life would soon fade, but you didn’t even leave her the chance
to say her last words.”
“I was concerned about hostile action.”
“For an excuse, I didn’t expect a lame one like that. Were you afraid that, Miyafuji Oka, after
having her Sephira fragment hollowed out, would speak the truth?”
“I don’t understand what you are trying to say. She was trying to fight back──”
“Look, look! Doesn’t this AI have any bluffing ability whatsoever?”
“Wait, Kurumi-san, Kurumi-san. Please hold on! We haven’t caught up with this story at all!”
“Hibiki-san (Watson), thank you for your question. I have said it before. The White Queen
creates faithful servants by letting Quasi-Spirits experience a false love.”
“……Ah……”
Maya and Ariadne reacted at almost the same time. They looked at Kurumi in
astonishment──and then towards the ceiling.
“I can’t say there is no possibility of that trait being inherited by her subordinates, correct?”
“Of course, this power is certainly much inferior to the Queen herself. But──”
“But. For example, what about this sort of ability? Parasite. Like say being able to transfer your
memories onto someone else?”
“Yuri doesn’t know what you’re talking about……?”
“……Well, there are various puzzling things. But what puzzled me the most was the reason
Sagakure Yuri asked me, Hibiki-san, and even the other Dominions to stay the night here.”
Yes, that was the most suspicious point from the very beginning.

“Playing cards aren’t enough for me and Ariadne-san to suddenly become close friends, right?”
“Of course. And losing felt so uncomfortable.”
The two of them fought in a struggle against each and shook hands after it concluded. It wasn’t a
scenario where the victor gained all of the spoils, nor were they going to break out and try killing
each other immediately. However, there was an ambiguous competitive spirit boiling of wanting
to be victorious next time on both sides.
“Yuri-san must have felt that atmosphere. But she still begged us to come over and stay in her
mansion. This point is already strange. Yuri-san made that request as soon as we made our
intentions of quickly leaving the Seventh Region Netzach. At that time──”
“……We had to talk about Tokisaki Kurumi and the Queen. But it’s ridiculous to get everyone
to stay in one place just for that. We were all frankly nervous of having Tokisaki Kurumi nearby.
She can stop time and manipulate shadows. ……It was impossible to rule of thoughts of a
potential assassination. After all, Tokisaki Kurumi has already killed Doll Master in the Tenth
Region Malkuth.”
Kurumi shrugged.
“That act was justified. Well, I’ll leave that aside for now. Anyway, the next strange thing is
Yuri-san starting up after Sagakure Yuri’s death.”
“──Is there anything wrong with me?”
“Everywhere is full of strange points. Why make me the detective? Generally speaking,
shouldn’t you have chosen Yukishiro-san? No, rather it would have been better to find an
external person to solve this case. The only times where an outsider comes in is when the subject
is a talented person from an official agency like Sherlock Holmes, who has been recognized as a
perfect third party. In that sense, it is hard to be a detective for this case. It’s because everyone
here has a stake in this case matter.”
Hibiki also vaguely recognized this truth.
Everyone knew what Tokisaki Kurumi wanted to say next. At the same time, it was guaranteed
to be quite the dangerous act. That was why the atmosphere in the room grew much tenser.
“On the contrary, Yuri. I wanted to know what your goal was. But I finally understand after
Miyafuji-san’s death. She was a scapegoat, just a victim. She probably just became Bishop
recently. Or maybe it was just around last night?”
“I don’t understand what Tokisaki-sama is trying to say.”

“In the Eighth Region Hod, I saw a Quasi-Spirit turn into an Empty and then even fall under the
control of the White Queen. And she served as the Dominion there. In that case, Miyafuji Oka is
probably no exception. She was……the one chosen to be the culprit and die here.”
The Dominion of the Sixth Region, Miyafuji Oka.
If she was Bishop and providing information to the Queen, the other Dominions would both
understand and despair at the same time.
“Since the Sixth Region Tiphereth is the hub region, did you intend to divide each region?
Yukishiro-san, you said that Miyafuji-san was the leader of the Dominion conference,
right? …….So what do you think will happen if its revealed that she’s been under the control of
the White Queen since before becoming a Dominion?”
Maya briefly thought for a while before shaking her head as if wanting to forget the bad delusion
that came to mind.
“In this Neighboring World, it may cause the greatest chaos since the establishment of the
Dominion system. Suspicion would take over and Quasi-Spirits wouldn’t be able to tell enemies
and allies apart from each other.”
“Then, what if Miyafuji Oka accidentally died while fighting Bishop?”
After thinking over Kurumi’s question, Maya thought for a while before answering.
“……There will be damage. There still will be damage……but I also think it’ll be possible to
recover.”
If former members like Carte À Jouer are included, there were eight people who could still be
called Dominions. They are all extraordinary people worshipped and admired by Quasi-Spirits
for their pure power.
Even for the White Queen, a great sacrifice would be needed to confront them.
No perhaps, she still looked down on the Dominions. However, it was a different story for the
three pieces under her control.
Because they lived in this world to fight, kill, and sacrifice for the Queen.
So they came up with a plan.
It was a plan to target the Dominions’ weakness and destroy them from the inside out.
In order to achieve that goal, it wasn’t just enough for Miyafuji Oka to die. They had to let her,
as a Dominion, commit an act of betrayal.

And everyone had to witness it.
That was the motivation and the method of crime was simple. After all, Oka had already come
into contact with the White Queen. She was afraid of a power that easily invaded her region.
And from that fear, the White Queen created love.
The three chess pieces led by the White Queen are Rook, Knight, and Bishop. The three
executives in fact will not die for as long as the White Queen is alive.
“So Bishop. Just use this bullet to hit her and she will become you.”
Bishop, receiving a light-red bullet (although it more resembled an insect) from the Queen,
gently hugged herself.
“Thank you, my Queen.”
No matter how many times Rook and Knight are destroyed, they can be resurrected by shooting
the Scorpio Bullet <Akrab> into an Empty. In addition to the Scorpio Bullet <Akrab>, Bishop
can create a second or third Bishop by parasitizing others.
The difference from Rook or Knight is that she can be anyone. Even if it isn’t an Empty, Quasi-
Spirit with a life goal can be insidiously eroded by the seed called Bishop. So, unlike Rook or
Knight, Bishop’s personality can vary.
“But even so. Although there are many Empties that have gladly died for me, you are a little
special. Wouldn’t you feel reluctant?”
“──No, not at all.”
Bishop calmly replied.
For her who made and abandoned her little sister, it wasn’t a big deal betraying, killing, or
convicting a friend.
Miyafuji Oka would transform into Bishop and be condemned to death.
Of course, it was possible to use Miyafuji Oka as a powerful Quasi-Spirit. However, that choice
also contained many flaws. It was likely to be seen through by Yukishiro Maya, Ariadne Foxlot,
Kagarike Haraka, and Kirari Rinemu──these intuitive people would likely develop
countermeasures for this.

The method of dealing the most damage to the Dominions would be having Miyafuji Oka die
immediately after attacking her allies in the name of Bishop.
Even if meant another Bishop dying, that was fine for Bishop.
Originally, the premise worked alongside her own destruction as well.
Two Dominions and two Bishops would die to spiral the Neighboring World into chaos.
Bishop’s plans were crude but unavoidable.
“I have another question.”
“……What is it?”
With an innocent and childish look (something completely unimaginable from the earlier White
Queen), she asked her.
“Why are you still sane? Don’t you love me just like my dear Empty-chans?”
Her breathing and heartbeat came to a halt at the same time.
──Answering that question would no doubt cause her to die, so how should she reply?
Only this, Bishop couldn’t remember much.
Kurumi looked up at the ceiling with a faint smile.
“This isn’t what you wanted to happen. Such a development is outside your expectations. That’s
why you tried guiding us while also hiding your own existence. Isn’t that right, Sagakure Yuri-
san?”
──The moment of silence was surprisingly short.
“Yes. So have you solved all of the mystery?”
Hearing her indifferent response, Maya and Ariadne grew angrier.
“So, then……Yuri-san committed suicide……?”
Hearing what Hibiki had asked, Kurumi nodded.

“Yes, that’s right. Sagakure Yuri-san……no, Bishop. Are you still alive and pretending to be
dead in front of us? Or is it something different? Regardless, your goal was for us to believe your
deception, the lie that Miyafuji Oka is the culprit.”
“So the corpse……was a fake?”
“For example, she might have disguised a mass produced Yui as the corpse. In any case, if you
search the mansion inside out, you should be able to snuff her out. Or──”
There was a sudden earthquake.
“Sorry, wrong guess. I am no longer Sagakure Yuri. I am Yuri, the one that has full control of
the AI running this mansion. That part wasn’t a lie.”
“Or you’ve transformed yourself into something else……I see, so it’s like this.”
The mass produced Yui models, which had remained motionless since the very beginning, turned
their heads to stare at Kurumi. Everyone saw the robots begin to assume different battle positions.
As she opened her mouth, Yuri’s voice leaked out from outside.
“I wasn’t intending to kill you here. I was planning on hiding if possible. However, the
possibility of the situation escalating to this point was within expectations.”
“Oh, so that’s it. From here on, it’s easy to understand. Actually, it’s very easy to guess.”
“……! Kurumi-san!”
The mass produced Yui models leaped to attack with speed far surpassing humanity.
Kurumi raised her antique pistol and roared loudly.
“──────<Zafkiel>!”
The sound of loud gunfire. After a brief silence, there were the sounds of parts being broken.
“Everyone, kill them.”
“Kill them.”
As the countless mass produced Yui models rushed in one after the other, Kurumi’s night had
begun.

○Eternal Bond
Before Sagakure Yuri became Bishop, she hadn’t reached the position of Dominion yet.
At that time, she was just an ordinary Quasi-Spirit living humbly in the Seventh Region Netzach.
Nevertheless, she still had a life goal.
Make her little sister Yui happy.
There were no memories of the other world besides seeing the irresistibly sad and beautiful
sunset while pushing her little sister on the swings.
It was always night time in the Seventh Region Netzach, so it was a shame of not being able to
see the sunset.
Life in the Neighboring World was difficult, hard, and ordinary. There was no sense of time,
with yesterday being the same as tomorrow.
──One day, her little sister Yui died.
In this Neighboring World, no purpose for living can be entrusted to the dead.
“I’ve lived only for her (Yui).”
In that case, being absent also meant her own value for existence was lost.
A girl dressed in a pure white Astral Dress spoke softly and slowly to her.
At such a moment, at such a moment.
“Ara, ara, ara. If it goes on like this, you will disappear.”
Just like that would be fine, Yuri replied back to her indifferently. However, this girl didn’t listen
and reached out her hand.
“Come with me.”
“……With you? Why?”
“Because I fancy your talents. Your cruelty is simply of too great value to wastefully disappear.
Isn’t that right? Because of your selfishness, you even killed your little sister in order to prevent
her from leaving you. That greed is truly praiseworthy.”
She glanced at Yuri and revealed the truth.
──Sister. I have my own life.

──I want to fight. I want to prove myself through battle.
──So I can’t stay in this home forever.
──I’m not my sister’s doll!
“You weren’t satisfied with just breaking the wings of a bird that was about to fly away──”
Her entire life had been taken away.
If this wasn’t greed, then what was? Facing Yuri who had everything seen through, the Queen
offered her hand.
“Take this hand. Then, offer it.”
“Offer what?”
“All of it. Including your very life. Everything.”
Arrogant words with arrogant gestures, but──
“Does everything also include this entire world?”
Yuri spoke while holding her hand back. The Queen affirmed so without being upset.
“Yes. I will destroy this world sooner or later. Before the arrival of the King, I must wipe out all
of these pests.”
Who is King?
Overwhelming information and Reiryoku was poured into her by grasping that hand.
And so, she saw.
The identity of the King. What sort of existence he was. What his life was like and how he had
spent it.
──So dazzling.
That was the first impression. A sense of purity to cleanse her own shallow and greedy self.
“The King is that man. But don’t you think there’s too much riffraff in this Neighboring World?”
It eroded away.

All the desires she had for her little sister had gone to him.
Ah, that’s right. There was something like this? I had given up doing nothing with my life, but
this was──
“So let’s destroy this Neighboring World. Destroy all of the Quasi-Spirits and clean up here.”
“I understand. My Queen. You are the only one worthy to stand beside the King.”
“Thank you. Starting from today, you will be my Bishop. Serve me until the moment you die.”
“It is my honor.”
There was only one thing Sagakure Yuri had lied to Queen.
──Sagakure Yuri’s mansion had become a fierce battlefield.
The mass produced Sagakure Yui models constantly sprung out. Although they were also not
afraid of death just like Empties in the White Queen’s army, they didn’t charge in chaotically
and recklessly. Rather, they acted extremely efficiently while aiming to kill Kurumi and the
others.
A single unit was a small-fry with decent individual fighting power, so they were attacking
together in the form of a ten-fold army.
Nevertheless, their numbers were deadly.
“How many of them are there!?”
It was no wonder that Hibiki screamed. Currently, nearing 100 Sagakure Yui models were
rushing towards Kurumi. Tokisaki Kurumi, Higoromo Hibiki, Yukishiro Maya, and Ariadne
Foxlot, these four people were facing a countless and innumerable amount of Sagakure Yui.
“…… <Zafkiel>. ──The Second Bullet <Bet>!”
With the power of <Zafkiel>, the movements of the approaching Sagakure Yuis became sluggish
as Kurumi shot the down with the long rifle. However, even then they couldn’t be fully
suppressed.
“More are coming!”

The mass produced Yui models approaching Ariadne kept attacking in the wrong direction
numerous times. Ariadne kept avoided their attacks by disrupting their vision. But being a hair
breadth so close to the attackers, even a single blow could prove fatal.
Maya opened her Fifth Book again──flames scattered around as she tried to provide cover. But
of course, the most critical situation was for Higoromo Hibiki.
“Kya! I’m going to die!”
“……Hibiki-san!”
Kurumi kicked Hibiki away, allowing her to avoid the attack, while she also continuously fired
to scatter the attacking Sagakure Yui.
“Cover here for a while!”
“O-Okay!”
Kurumi smacked her lips. She thought something like this would happen, but didn’t expect it to
be at this extent. Likely every Sagakure Yui in the Seventh Region Netzach had gathered here.
The quality and quantity were completely different from the dolls that she fought against in the
Tenth Region Malkuth.
In any case, the number of Sagakure Yui defeated by those four had already exceeded 100.
In other words, the 100 Sagakure Yui initially in the mansion had already been killed. However,
the situation hadn’t changed at all. Not only that, Kurumi caught a glance of something that
unconsciously made her tremble.
Sagakure Yui models were appearing from the walls of the mansion. That meant that Sagakure
Yui could be supplied in an unlimited quality.
“Should we just devour them all?”
Ariadne whispered while holding Yui’s Sephira fragment in her hand. In fact, there are people
who kill Quasi-Spirits to devour their Sephira fragments after being victorious. This was
especially commonplace in the Tenth Region Malkuth. But for Dominions, they had a degree of
disgust for this and refrained from preying on other people’s Sephira fragments.
However, just a moment ago, the mansion had swallowed Sephira fragments to create a new
Sagakure Yui. In that case, they needed to devour them to──”
Maya expressed opposition to Ariadne’s proposal.
“I think it is best not to do that. I feel like there could be a negative effect from devouring these
Sephira fragments.”

“I agree with Yukishiro-san. Their color has been bleached white to indicate they have been
specially treated. If you eat them, you may end up being the one devoured in turn.”
“……I see, I suppose that’s true.”
Ariadne sighed while further accelerating her Unsigned Angel. Her Unsigned Angel was a
flexible thread of mercury. There was no handle for grasping, but each end was connected to her
fingertips.
Thin strands of mercury were connected to each finger, reaching up to a total of ten. Through
these threads, she could manipulate the emotions of others and cause the physical body to go
rampant.
And of course, by bundling the threads to form a whip, it becomes a vicious physical attack.
“One, two, three.”
Accompanied by a small beeping sound, numerous Sagakure Yui were sliced apart by the
mercury threads.
However, one of the Sagakure Yui bit through the threads with her teeth, which gave the chance
for another one to jump forward.
“……!”
Just barely, the interception from the threads on her opposite hand came just in time.
──However, another Sagakure Yui attacked while both hands were now occupied.
16 kunai flew towards Ariadne.
“The First Bullet <Aleph>……”
Kurumi shot Ariadne without looking back.
“Ooh!”
Ariadne’s arm speed suddenly doubled. Rather than defend against the 16 kunai, she entangled 5
of them with her mercury wires and flicked back the remaining 11, instantly killing five
Sagakure Yui in the process.
“Amazing, that was really amazing just now! Do that again!”
“I refuse. Excessive use of time is detrimental to your health!”

For a deeper reason, Kurumi was also worried about the gaze watching them from the very
beginning. There were inorganic eyes, eyes, eyes, fixed on them everywhere. But within those
stares now──there was a hint of passion in those pupils.
Obviously, this was Bishop.
So of course she couldn’t keep revealing her trump cards.
“Ah!”
Hibiki fell into a crisis once again──Kurumi immediately kicked her up to the ceiling.
“Too cruel!?”
“Sorry Hibiki-san, but please stay on the ceiling for the time being.”
“I have a suggestion, Tokisaki Kurumi. There is no point in this situation. For such a large
number of enemies, there is only one effective way to strike.”
Hearing what Maya had said, Kurumi nodded in agreement.
“Destroy the main body, or that is to say, crush the main force behind all of these troops. Either
way, without defeating Bishop, our enemies can be described as endless.”
“Ariadne and I will create an opportunity for you. So I want you to be the one──who kills her.
When everything is over, I want to be able to trust you!”
Ariadne’s eyes rounded after she heard those rare passionate words coming out from Maya.
“……With that being said, it’s unclear where the main body is hiding.”
Kurumi replied while still shooting. Maya closed the book she was using and pulled out another
book (a bulky mass market paperback edition) from the bookshelf behind her.
“Break the seal──the Ninth Book <Soul Stalker>.”
Maya tore off a page from the book without hesitation. Then, she folded it into a butterfly shape
before handing it to Ariadne.
“Just one finger is enough.” “No problem.”
The mercury thread connected to Ariadne’s pinky tangled around the page, causing it to begin
flying like a real butterfly.
“This page can track Sephira fragments. I’ve set it to track Sagakure Yuri. Follow that thread!”

“Got it.”
Kurumi lightly laughed before shouting towards the ceiling.
“Hibiki-san, get ready!”
“Aye, aye, sir!”
Hibiki released her hands clinging onto the chandelier and landed right behind Kurumi.
“The goal is that butterfly. Keep your attention focused on it. You must not lose sight of it. And
I’ll intercept the Yui-san coming after you.”
As the two of them start running, Ariadne watched her leave while whispering to herself.
“Ah, isn’t that a so-called unbreakable combo?”
“I don’t quite understand, but we can only place our hopes onto them. Otherwise, it’ll just be a
matter of time before we lose.”
Numerous Sagakure Yui chased behind after Kurumi and Hibiki.
“Anyway, let’s create an opening for them first. ──Ariadne.”
“Okay. Unsigned Angel <Taiintaiyounijuyonsetsuki>──<Hitotachi Setsukaseisō> Let’s go!”
Ariadne joined her hands together, entangling her mercury threads into the form of a whip which
she vigorously swung.
Breaking through the sound barrier, a sonic shockwave passed over Kurumi and Hibiki. All of
the mass produced Yui models standing near them were shattered and disappeared.
“My ears hurt……”
“I’ll remember this later……!”
Kurumi and Hibiki yelled at Ariadne as the passed through the corridor.
“Remember, huh. ……Well, maybe if we can survive this.”
“In any case, if we are defeated, I hope you can at least allow me to survive.”
“Are the words ‘at least you’ something that should be said right now?”
“I have a duty that I have been entrusted with. So I can’t die until I have fulfilled it. So if I end
up stumbling, I’ll use you as shield to facilitate my escape.”

Ariadne, who knew that Maya wasn’t the type to joke around, grinned.
“Okay. Then I guess I’ll need to work harder to survive. Here comes a big move. <Hiō Yōei
Kamikizuki>!”
Cold clear threads of mercury.
The threads penetrated the bodies of the Sagakure Yui, connecting onto the Sephira fragments
they were using as a power source.
“One, two, three……!”
The Sagakure Yui suddenly turned their heads to the opposite direction, launching an attack
against a companion who she had just been cooperating with.
“I didn’t expect this. You can do such a thing?”
“I didn’t want to show it off since it’s such a great technique.”
Five fingers x2, a total of ten Sagakure Yuri turned friendly. They attacked the enemy with
machine-like precision.
As Maya looked to the side, she noticed Ariadne was swiping away sweat. Since it was such a
big move, it wasn’t uncommon for it to waste Reiryoku and require great concentration.
…………Gently, Maya let out a sigh.
Certainly, she thought now was not the time to hold back. Now was no longer the time where
Dominions should hide their trump cards from each other.
“Break the seal──The First Book <Novum Testamentum>.”
For a moment, the dazzling light caused Ariadne to lose her concentration.
The shape was a huge broadsword. However, it was a sword formed by stacking countless sheets
of paper.
“Three valuable books disappeared from the Neighboring World. Ah, what a waste, what a
waste.”
While complaining, Maya casually swung the sword. Just like that, several of the surrounding
Sagakure Yui had disappeared.
“Amazing.”

“There’s no use other than attacking, so it’s inferior to the other books in that regard. However, I
think I can compete for a while with this. According to my calculations, it should last for around
30 minutes.”
“More or less, my operating limit is around the same amount of time.”
However, Maya and Ariadne, after revealing their trump cards to each other, grinned.
“Alright, let’s do this. Continue fighting and leave the rest to Tokisaki Kurumi……!
Chasing after the flying butterfly, Kurumi and Hibiki rushed forward like mad. Standing in front
of them where the mass production Yui models whose numbers had swelled to over 200.
Kurumi’s brain quickly made the judgement that there was no way to overcome this. The mass-
production types surpassed ordinary Quasi-Spirits in quality and were overwhelming in their
numbers.
She could survive, but that would mean abandoning Hibiki.
Kurumi unconsciously ruled out this option.
There was one problem. Gradually, the Yuis were learning that Kurumi was trying to protect
Hibiki.
“Kurumi-san! I’m fine!”
Of course, Hibiki also noticed this. She was obviously holding her back. But it was too late. The
moment Kurumi left Hibiki’s side, the Yuis would annihilate her.
Finally, Sagakure Yuri also noticed.
“You are protecting her, Kurumi-san.”
Kurumi answered that question with silence and gunshots. She couldn’t afford to talk. She fired
as many bullets as possible from <Zafkiel>.
Shooting the Yui who kept rushing forward, repelling the kunai they threw, and earnestly
marching forward despite the injuries acquired.
However, as the attacks concentrated on Hibiki, Kurumi couldn’t proceed any further.
“This……!”

Close combat was already inevitable. Surrounded by the Sagakure Yuis, it was almost
impossible to move. Regardless if it was jumping or dodging, everything became quite difficult.
No matter how made shots were made, there was no fear nor did they flinch from seeing their
allies being killed.
They waged a battle that mechanically ignored individual life for the sake of efficiency. Kurumi
tried to push Hibiki into the shadows──but that was also prevented.
Their commander Sagakure Yuri was familiar with Kurumi’s abilities.
There was a fundamental difference when compared to the battle against Doll Master in the
Tenth Region Malkuth. No longer was Tokisaki Kurumi the most vigilant in the Neighboring
World.
“……The First Bullet <Aleph>!”
Striking their shoulders, the mass produced Yui flew up. Then, she took the chance to shoot them
down with <Zafkiel>. She kicked away the Yuis before they blew up.
This was a waste of time in both senses of the meaning. If she chose to use the <City of
Devouring Time>, she would come under attack the moment she tried to concentrate. Also,
Hibiki could also get caught in by being nearby.
And there was already no more chance to step back. Ariadne and Maya had likely also switched
from defense to offense.
“……”
A kunai stabbed into Kurumi’s wrist. She held back the pain and didn’t make a sound.
“You seem to be in a jam.”
“……Shut up.”
Kurumi fretfully interjected──although it wasn’t sure if she could sense her agitation, Yuri
smiled happily.
“Don’t give up, Tokisaki-san. Anyway, you can’t beat the White Queen. The White Queen can
easily turn this situation around, but it seems that you can’t. It’s because you are impure. How
sweet, do you intend to beat me while also protecting Higoromo Hibiki?”
“Please shut up.”
Her vision was blurred by sweat. The accuracy of her shooting also began to decline because of
her irritation.

Although the kunai were not worth mentioning in front of her Astral Dress <Elohim>, harm
couldn’t be avoided if the damage kept accumulating.
One point of damage was stacking up to one thousand points of damage. The attacks that Kurumi
were receiving were like this now.
“Alright. One hundred bodies added. Is it over now?’’
“That’s……”
Hibiki muttered to herself in shock. It was hopeless. New Sagakure Yuis gushed out one after the
other from both the ceilings and walls. They were both inside a barrier and Sagakure Yuri’s
stomach. Even Tokisaki Kurumi was just waiting to be digested.
──Grit her teeth.
──Never back down, she insisted on moving forward.
──And it was necessary to protect Higoromo Hibiki.
Her breathing grew ragged. Her vision seemed blurry as if drunk. There was a tinge of pain
coming from the kunai stabbing her wrist. However, Kurumi still displayed a contemptuous
smile.
“It’s coming.”
With that said, she turned the muzzle towards herself.
“The First Bullet <Aleph>.”
Accelerating herself──with flock of Yuis hot on her heels. Kunai poured from the sky like rain
for Kurumi.
“The Second Bullet <Bet>.”
Kurumi shot the deaccelerating bullet at the kunai.
Acceleration and deceleration of time, by combining both Kurumi gained even more speed.
But she still couldn’t make the best of it. She was still using 30% of her power to protect Hibiki.
For Kurumi, that was a natural response.
“Um, Kurumi-san! I’ll think up something on my own……!”

Hibiki purposed with a painful expression, but Kurumi merely continued silently chasing after
the butterfly. With each step, blood was dripping on the ground. The remaining five minutes
probably couldn’t be maintained. It was difficult to even continue holding out any longer for five
minutes.
But.
“Kurumi-san!”
However, she could still move. She could continue fighting for a while longer. An opportunity
would emerge soon.
Endure for five minutes, keep on enduring. Blood and wounds were everywhere, but Hibiki was
still almost unharmed. Kurumi kept blocking attacks that could kill Hibiki a hundred times over.
Hibiki knew she was holding her back.
Please abandon me, she cried and begged──Kurumi kept rejecting that firmly. But because of
that rejection, the attacks made by the Sagakure Yuis grew even more intense.
The attacks from the Sagakure Yuis were incredible, relentless, cunning, and cruel.
Kurumi’s heart creaked and twisted. If she collapsed or retreated now, she would lose.
But at the next moment, that finally came.
A black pillar emerged passing through the first and second floors.
“……Compile……!?”
This was a memory from the other world left by the Spirits. For a moment, Sagakure Yuri,
confused by the unknown substance that just appeared, suddenly stopped her own movements.
“Kurumi-san!”
Hibiki pushed her back without hesitation.
“Wha…don’t, don’t, don’t!!”
Sagakure Yuri screamed. In terms of common sense, it wasn’t wise to do this during a battle.
Touching this black pillar may cause her to stagnate or tremble.
But.
If the memory of the other world in this prism was related to him──

No matter what the situation, Kurumi had no choice but to touch it.
It seemed like this memory had been bugged.
Kurumi thought about that while looking at the mosaic-filled landscape. In some places, the
texture was peeled away like a thin cloth and connection between scenes was fragmented.
Both the characters and events were diverse. But Kurumi understood immediately.
“Spirit──”
There are Spirits other than Kurumi. The first Spirit, the second Spirit, the Fourth Spirit, the Fifth
Spirit, the Sixth Spirit, the Seventh Spirit, the Eighth Spirit, the Ninth Spirit, the Tenth Spirit.
They gathered together in a scene and had various conversations.
Or it was a scene of summoning determination and courage during a battle.
They risked their lives fighting. They risked their lives trying to save someone. Perhaps, it was
for someone she didn’t know, perhaps it was for a friend of the Spirits, or perhaps it──was for
him.
The colorful memories continued, but there was no Tokisaki Kurumi there.
It was as if they were mocking her, saying that they could still enjoy this happy life without her.
“……That’s not wrong at all.”
A single sigh, she let out all of the feelings boiling inside her.
She had realized for a while now.
Time came to a stop. The Spirits disappeared, the landscape disappeared, and in the end only one
person remained.
“■■-san──────”
She muttered his name, a name that she still couldn’t completely recognize
There were all sorts of memories, but she couldn’t record these thoughts for long.

In her brain, there was a void-shaped cube. And this sense of nothingness seemed to have taken
something important from her. And the void was increasing with each passing day.
And finally she will become an Empty.
So be sure to burn this in her head.
Don’t spill even a single drop of water from both hands.
Run through.
Go back to the beginning.
Don’t think about others.
“But──”
No, that’s not it.
It’s strange for her to want to protect. The gears had gotten out of order. Don’t lose track of her
goal.
Tokisaki Kurumi was selfish, with her motto being unparalleled in cruelty and arrogance.
If that’s the case, Higoromo Hibiki wasn’t an existence that should be protected──
“Ah. I really forgot something important.”
While saying that, Kurumi smiled──it was a smile Hibiki was familiar with, but also one that
gave her an ominous premonition.
“……Um. I have a bad hunch.”
“The First Bullet <Aleph>.”
With no questions asked, the accelerating bullet struck Hibiki’s head.
“I won’t protect you anymore, so shall we fight together?”
“R-Really───────────────!”

Hibiki shouted loudly while shaking <King Killing>. This acceleration felt like cheating. Her
body felt abnormally light and fast.
But Hibiki was also convinced.
──Tomorrow, there’s definitely going to be so much muscle pain────────!
Then, with a vicious claw as her weapon, Hibiki began tearing apart one mass produced Yui after
the other. Kurumi smile seeing this scene before moving on.
“Hibiki-san, follow me!”
Hearing Kurumi’s commands, Hibiki nodded with joy as she ran side-by-side with Kurumi.
The Yuis rushing to pursue them could no longer stop Kurumi, who was no longer protecting
Hibiki, or Hibiki who had just been empowered by Kurumi.
“More reinforcements……!”
Hearing Yuri’s words, Kurumi let out a wicked kihihihihi laugh.
“Regretfully for you, this world is truly wonderful. As long as enough time is stalled, the reward
for that time spent will come from others.”
“──What?”
They had finally arrived.
Kurumi turned to the direction of the entrance. Then, she gave a slightly helpless shrug.
“……Really, you are too slow.”
Slam, the door to the entrance had been violently opened.
“Hahahahaha! March to the battlefield! Good morning, ladies and gentlemen! You’re looking at
Tokisaki Kurumi’s number one servant, Carte À Jouer!”
“Wha……!”
“Ara, ara. Why are you covered in blood, me?”
Elegantly appearing behind Carte was another Tokisaki Kurumi. A part of her past that had been
extracted, her name was Cistus.
And.

Sagakure Yuri saw something that was not possible.
She was standing in an impossible position.
“──Yuri-sama.”
“Yui-chan, what are you doing?”
“Because I was worried that this situation would grow out of control, I invited these two who
might be able to help. The former Dominion of the Third Region Binah Carte À Jouer-sama and
another Tokisaki-sama, Cistus-sama.”
“Why did you do this……!?”
“That’s exactly my question. Yuri-sama, why are you trying to kill the Dominions?”
With a cold expression, Sagakure Yui had asked Yuri.
“Ah, that’s──that’s because, Yui-chan.”
“No, there was no need to ask anymore. For me, I only see this current reality. I can no longer
stand by your side.”
Silence, all of the mass produced Yui models looked at the first class Sagakure Yui at the same
time.
“……So, you are a failure.”
“Yes, I am a failure.”
This was still painful nonetheless. Yui thought it was as if being rejected by the parent that gave
birth to her.
However, that wasn’t all. As her creator, it was even more important to correct her mistakes.
There were countless victims because she was looking away from this.
No matter how she tried to justify it──she needed to be killed.
Taking a deep breath, she swallowed all of the uncomfortable and out of place emotions she has
had until now──
She took out her kunai.
“There’s a decisive difference between the mass produced model and me. Their weapons are just
ordinary kunai. Mine has the different function that you’ve assigned to me. You should know as
the person who gave this to me, but even so.”

Five kunai were being held between her fingers. Sagakure Yui took in a deep breath. Her
momentum delayed Yuri’s response for a few seconds.
“Sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste, the five senses inherent within a person. My kunai will
sever all five. Thus is the authority of hell.”
“Wait……”
“──I won’t wait. <Shichihōgiyōjiya>!”
Yui’s kunai pierced the wall of the house. However, the moment the kunai smashed the lighting,
the entire mansion began to shake.
“──! Gu, ku……aaaaaaaaaaah!”
Immediately, the mass produced Yuis stopped their attack. They started frantically looking
around. It seemed they couldn’t focus on a target now that Yuri’s senses have been sealed.
“I’ve cut off Sagakure Yuri’s senses! Now!”
“Got it!”
“……Auto mode! Kill everyone that you see in front of you!”
Once again, the mass production type Yui began to move. However, their movements now were
somewhat dull and automatic.
It was impossible to not take this chance. She pulled Hibiki’s arm and ran against the wall.
“Cistus, Carte-san. I’ll leave them to you!”
“Leave it to me! Look here, come on out! Ace of Spades, Nine of Diamonds, Queen of Hearts,
and Four of Clover!”
“Leave it to us!” “Aye aye ma’am!” “Look at us!” “Hold back the applause; we are the four
playing cards!”
“I don’t think we’ll be able to hold on with these numbers? So hurry up and clean up quickly!”
Carte, with her team of four playing cards, and Cistus began their fierce attack.
Kill everyone in front of you. Because of those orders, the larger those two’s actions served as
bait, the more attention they grabbed from the mass production types──so they flashily moved
without any reservations.

The situation had completely reversed. Moreover, Yuri had no way to retreat.
Carte À Jouer and her playing card subordinates brilliantly defeated the mass produced Yui
models, Cistus was steadily shooting them down, Ariadne Foxlot was slicing or manipulating
them with her mercury threads, and Yukishiro Maya was using all of her books to form a solid
castle wall.
They were defeating the mass produced Yui models without remorse or mercy. By the time Yuri
recovered from her senses being robbed by <Shichihōgiyōjiya>, it was already too late.
Maya muttered to herself.
“After all, they are just the mass-production type. It is incomparable to the Sagakure Yui on our
side. The same can be said when the Sagakure Yuri is not operating these mechanical dolls. Even
infinite bullets can’t defeat a single round of a silver bullet.”
Ariadne also earnestly spoke.
“Yuri-chan’s abilities and wisdom is excellent. But our region isn’t above a little bullying.”
Carte À Jouer said while resolutely holding her arm against her chest.
“I suppose Tokisaki Kurumi-sama is invincible! That’s right!”
“I’m happy with this recklessness.” “Don’t underestimate the toughness that survived in the
Third Region Binah!” “Please don’t think you’ll have a second chance!” “Die proud with how
much trouble you have already caused!”
Cistus shrugged her shoulders while speaking.
“Well, even if we haven’t arrived, me would have found a way to deal with you. But would that
have made my work a little easier?”
And finally, Sagakure Yui sighed.
“Let’s end this. Yuri-sama──no, sister. It’s over. Let’s finish this. You’ve deceived everyone
too much.”
The butterfly created by Maya was fluttering as arrived exactly where Sagakure Yuri was.
“……………………Don’t……”
A faint voice, Kurumi listened carefully but didn’t stop.
“……………………Don’t……”

Hibiki also kept running. However, she understood what Yuri was trying to say.
“……Please. Don’t…...”
──Ah, what compelling words. A wish that was full of deception.
“………………Please, stop………………!”
“I refuse……!”
The butterfly rushed into a room. At the same time, Kurumi and Hibiki had also arrived there. It
was an empty, inorganic room.
“This is……Yuri-san’s room……?”
The butterfly kept going until it violently crashed into the wall, falling down as if completely
exhausted. But even so, its role had been completely fulfilled.
“She hasn’t taken a single step from the very beginning──so it turned out to be like this. Really,
I should have just done this in the beginning.”
Kurumi pointed at the wall with <Zafkiel>.
She pulled the trigger.
The wall shattered and a secret room was exposed.
“To hell with all these tricks, really.”
“Here is……”
The structure was made to resemble a huge cave.
In the dark space, there was a table just like a science lab with a semi-finished Sagakure Yui
mounted on it.
They entered the darken interior.
It was more spacious than expected. Aah, aah, they advanced forward to a lamenting voice.
And so, Kurumi and Hibiki were reunited with Sagakure Yuri.
Her back was connected to cable extending from the wall. She looked like some kind of prisoner.
But she was still alive and an enemy.

Her appearance was unchanged. However, her glimmering eyes exuded a strange feeling. She
was heavily breathing. With a calm look, Kurumi pointed her pistol at Yuri’s head.
“……Why, my, sister, suddenly, betrayed……me……”
“……I won’t spare your life. And I won’t conduct a foolish interrogation by asking you of what
you know. There’s just one point though. Were you planning on dying from the very beginning?”
“……Maybe.”
“Why?”
Sagakure Yuri smiled disdainfully. It looked like she held disdain for everything. Then, she
quietly opened her mouth.
“──Because, even that person isn’t here. ■■-san is missing here.”
Noise. She had said someone’s name, but she couldn’t recognize that name.
“……I love him. I am in love with him. But as a Dominion, as a Bishop serving the White
Queen, I will never be able to meet him. So I wanted to destroy this Neighboring World in order
to see him.”
She told them as if dreaming.
No, this was different. This was not as sweet as a dream. She shed tears while realizing her
wrong choice.
For a brief moment, neither Kurumi nor Hibiki could say anything.
Noise. As expected, the name couldn’t be comprehended.
“Love, this feeling is definitely love.”
Kurumi somehow finally understood Sagakure Yuri’s feelings.
The Dominion of the Seventh Region Netzach, the traitor, one of the White Queen’s three
executives Bishop, a girl in love had chosen to throw all of that away.
“……Do you think I can see him after I die?”
“I don’t know. However, I think there is a chance.”
A single chance. If she died in the Neighboring World, maybe she’ll be able to return back to the
other world. Waking up from this dreamland and return back to reality──

She knew it was just a pipe dream. She knew that she just trampled on everything for this.
“I’ve treated Yui horribly. I did something horrible to Oka. For the other Dominions and Quasi-
Spirits, I’ve brought endless trouble just gambling on a possibility──”
But, but, but even so.
“──■■, I want to see him.”
Sure enough, that name couldn’t reach Kurumi’s ears.
But as she whispered, she felt their feelings intersect.
“……I pray that you can see him.”
The trigger wrapped around her fingers felt heavy, but Kurumi still pulled it.
The sound of gunfire echoed.
Did Sagakure Yuri return to the other world? Or did her soul extinguish and fade into
nothingness? Either way, it meant a world that was unknown to Kurumi.
Sagakure Yuri died and the title of Bishop would probably transfer to someone else.
Only Kurumi and Hibiki knew about her love.
“……Isn’t it better to keep this secret from Yui-san?”

“Either way is fine, but──no matter how cruel, I think it’s something she needs to know.”
Hibiki gave a feeble smile upon hearing what Kurumi had said.
Suddenly, there was a feeling of silence. Looking back, a special model Yui-san was standing
there.
“……Yuri-sama was slain?”
“Yes, yes. You can say that she went peacefully.”
Yui gently touched Sagakure Yuri’s crumbling cheeks. She seemed to understand everything.
“She was a terrible person.”
“……Certainly.”
“Traitor, I don’t have anything to fondly recall. You were domineering and selfish. Even if I died,
you wouldn’t spill a tear and say there will just be a next one.”
She mass-produced her own little sister. That was an inhuman act for sure. She abandoned Yui
and continued to make one replacement after the other. So don’t be sad. In fact, Yuri has never
cried for Yui up until now.
“But. That person fell in love. And it wasn’t fulfilled. That──makes me feel very sad.”
Sagakure Yui didn’t believe in that. She felt that everything will end once she dies in the
Neighboring World. All that can be inherited are the memories of those that disappeared in the
Neighboring World.
So she thought her sister had died without any meaning.
Because of that, she also felt sad. Being a loving sister, status, reputation, loyalty, she discarded
them all and ended up with nothing.
“……But. Even then she would have no regrets.”
She lived for love, cried for love, and dissipated for love.
“I should hate you, but this is too pitiful──”
Yuri disappeared under Yui’s watch.
“Yui-san, are you going to be okay?”
Yui nodded at Kurumi’s question.

“Yes. Originally, I can do everything, including maintenance, on my own as a first-class model.
For the mass-production types, they won’t be so lucky.”
In response to that, Hibiki left the secret room and peeped at the corridor.
“Wow.”
All the mass production types were motionless. It was a space where time had stopped. The four
people who were still fighting took advantage of this to run to their side.
“……Is it over?”
Hibiki nodded at Ariadne’s question. The mass production Yui models had already ceased all
activities. But the sacrifice was great.
Miyafuji Oka was killed and Sagakure Yuri had betrayed them. On the other hand, the White
Queen’s strength remained the same. A new replacement Bishop would soon be made. And the
next Bishop won’t betray the Queen.
There was the feeling of being gradually oppressed──as if being crushed by a falling ceiling.
“……Tokisaki Kurumi. No, everyone here, I have something to tell you.”
Maya spoke with a decisive look on her face.
“The White Queen’s goal is to open the door to the other world in the First Region Keter. And
she believes the Neighboring World must be destroyed for this purpose. And──”
The words that Maya said shocked everyone that was present.
“……That seems to be true.”
“Please, Tokisaki Kurumi. If the White Queen knows that, it’s all over for the Neighboring
World. The entrance must be blocked. One is in the Second Region Chokmah. And the other is
in the Fifth Region Gevurah.”
“Fifth Region Gevurah, if that’s true. Right now it’s being invaded──”
“Yes, Kagarike Haraka’s beloved disciple Tsuan is organizing a resistance there. However,
recent reports have shown that the White Queen’s attacks have increased in intensity lately. So I
want you to head to the Fifth Region Gevurah rather than the Sixth Region Tiphereth. She will
be responsible for showing you the way.”

With that said, Maya pointed at Ariadne.
Ariadne replied with, “Eh, I haven’t heard about that”. But still she reluctantly nodded. After all,
this was a veritable──world crisis.

○Epilogue
“So it turned out to be like this.”
The White Queen examined Bishop’s records and giggled a little.
“That girl was thinking those sorts of sentiments. I feel like my own child has betrayed me.”
Meanwhile, the White Queen began to forget that Sagakure Yuri was Bishop. It was information
that was no longer needed and trying to understand her would only place unnecessary pressure
on her brain. Therefore, she didn’t hesitate to forget about this.
Compared to that, there were also several pieces of important information. First of all──
“You.”
She spoke to a nearby Empty. The White Queen pointed her gun at the nervous girl who
approached her.
“Become Bishop from now on. The Scorpio Bullet <Akrab>.”
The sound of gunfire──the venom from the scorpion flowed into the Empty’s body,
transforming her.
“……Please accept my sincere service.”
The other Empties looked on in envy at the girl who became Bishop.
Becoming one of the Three Executives was the ultimate promotion for the Empties that served
the White Queen. To be able to offer advice to the Queen, listen to the Queen’s orders, and send
orders down to them.
“That’ll be the end of the infiltration operation. I understand Tokisaki Kurumi’s weakness now,
so let’s clean up that rebellious element in the Fifth Region Gevurah.”
“You mean──”
“Yes.”
The White Queen smiled as she spoke.
“Let’s proceed to the Fifth Region Gevurah. The decisive battle will be on that barren land. Upon
arrival, my personality will switch to the real one.”

And Spring Arrives
I am Higashide Yūichirō, the wandering gambler (self-professed).
The fourth volume of Date A Bullet was released in the summer of 2018. But that date passed by
in the blink of an eye as this volume. By the time this volume is placed in bookshelves, the third
season of the Date A Live anime will usher in the climax.
As you grow older, people often say that time moves quicker. But when this is studied as an
actual sensation, several hypotheses have been taken.
One of my favorite hypotheses is that “children experiences are fresh and novel” and “adults
experience countless things over and over again”.
Entertainment, study, work, discovery, every experience is fresh for young children──so in
order to be able to engrave it in the memory, the sense of time has slowed down.
Now, based on the above, Date A Bullet has finally reached five volumes. In each volume, I’m
working hard to make the attitude of a girl named Tokisaki Kurumi feel refreshing.
This time was a bunny girl & detective. And the genre is gambling & mystery.
Also, my love of Mahjong is stronger than playing cards. So I wanted to make use of the rare
opportunity of girls playing Mahjong in the future. But because that would feel abnormal in this
volume, I abandoned the idea in favor of playing cards.
I really wanted Kurumi to say, “How rude.” “Your back is stained.”….. (Famous line said to the protagonist
of むこうぶち )
As always, I would like to thank everyone involved. Editor-sama, thank you for your continued
patronage. Tachibana Kōshi-sensei, thank you for always checking that Kurumi remains
consistent with the flow of the original story. NOCO-sensei, thank you for always drawing a
variety of sexy & stylish outfits for Kurumi and the others.
Also, the new volume of Date A Live is also being released on the same day!
But well, if you’re already reading the postscript for this book, I suppose you must have already
bought it as well!
Next volume, the Sixth Region Tiphereth is skipped in favor of the barren land of fire and lava.
In addition, it should be noted that in regards to the Fifth Region Gevurah being a barren
wasteland and the chest size of the cute little sister that appears in the main story of Date A Live,
there is no causal connection whatsoever!
Higashide Yūichirō

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Date A Live’s LN Translation Page 1

Date A Live’s LN Translation Page 2

Two girls walked through the empty hallway.

“Kurumi-san, this is too boring. Let’s play Shiritori.”

──Kurumi thought about the White Queen.

Then what was that love for?

There was too little information to be used in a conjecture.

Not only that, even now she still──

Date A Live’s LN Translation Page 8

“So, what were you thinking about?”

“I don’t want to say it.”

“Aah, so it’s about that person as usual.”

“Speak up, why do you know what I am thinking?”

Date A Live’s LN Translation Page 9

Hearing those words, Kurumi reflexively buried her face.

“……S-So, what kind of expression is it?”

“Eh, it’ll probably be a picture frame scale of 1000/1.”

“You listen well, absolutely, absolutely──never allowed.”

Date A Live’s LN Translation Page 10

Kurumi peeked into the letter that Hibiki opened.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Isn’t that a greeting?”

──Ah──he─llo──he─llo, always in your debt, Ace of Spades.

“It seems to be like a frank business greeting.”

“So is the beginning also like this?”

Date A Live’s LN Translation Page 11

“Who could that be?”

“Or maybe a love card?”

──It’s a Quasi-Spirit lawyer.

“That’s quite fanatical.”

──Farwell, until next time.

“I don’t get why Hibiki-san is using such metaphorical expression.”

Date A Live’s LN Translation Page 12

“Then, let’s proceed.”

“Then I feel relieved. I will never be deceived.”

“That’s setting off a very dangerous flag!”

“It doesn’t matter. I can just use <Zafkiel>.”

“……Threatening with a gun, isn’t that a tactic of a criminal syndicate……”

That was to be expected.

“Yes, yes. There’s no need to be afraid.”

It was because she was Tokisaki Kurumi.

Both of them smiled fearlessly as they clapped their hands.

Date A Live’s LN Translation Page 13

Date A Live’s LN Translation Page 14

“……That was surprisingly nice.”

“That means……it’s always night here?”

Yui lightly nodded.

“But that is appropriately suitable for a gambling region.”

Date A Live’s LN Translation Page 15

“It’s an abbreviation for Yui Points.”

“Ara, seems you’re quite loved.”

“You have no emotions?”

“IS……what does that stand for?”

Hibiki grinned upon hearing Kurumi’s question.

“I understand! It means Infinite · Sisters!”

“……No, it’s abbreviated for Imouto · Sisters.”

Both of them sincerely felt that abbreviation was in terrible taste.

Date A Live’s LN Translation Page 16

“Want to go to the Sixth Region Tiphereth──?”