In the end, my team won.
“Grr! That’s cheating!”
“What’s cheating?”
“The ball disappeared and then suddenly came back!”
“...Ahem.”
Just as Tohka had pointed out, the ball had indeed vanished and reappeared in the middle of the play.
Well, that was because I had slipped it into my inventory and pulled it back out.
Every time the ball slipped from my grip, I performed a quick little routine: stow it away, summon it back, and throw it again.
Just a little bit.
“Maybe don’t launch balls directly at my face, then.”
“Ughhhhh!!!”
Tohka looked thoroughly frustrated, but a win was a win, so she eventually accepted the result without further complaint.
However, Tobiichi’s gaze was... strange.
It was brimming with hostility.
“...Instant storage and summoning of an object. [Knight]...?”
Her mutterings made it clear why she was glaring at me.
Come to think of it, I had only ever used my abilities in front of Tobiichi while wearing my armor. I had never used them bare-faced, so she didn't know what I looked like under the helm.
“I got too excited.”
Since I had let my guard down and used my ability right in front of her, it was only a matter of time before she connected the dots.
“Ha, haha! I need to use the bathroom for a bit...”
I quickly slipped away and headed for the men’s room.
After taking care of business and stepping back outside, I found Kaguya waiting nearby.
“Hm? Kaguya?”
“Hey, I’ve got something to say. Is that okay?”
Kaguya’s tone wasn’t her usual chuunibyou act. It was perfectly normal.
I was a little startled by the gap between her two personas, but since she said she had something to tell me, I decided to hear her out.
“Yes, that’s fine, but...”
“What I want to say is...”
“Is that tone really okay?”
Since she had suddenly started speaking so differently, I wondered if something was wrong.
At that, Kaguya jolted, bringing one hand to her face. “F-fufufu! You’ve fallen for my magnificent acting! How amusing it was to see you dancing in the palm of my hand!”
Her voice cracked as she spoke, making it painfully obvious that the normal way of speaking was her true self.
“What’s with that look!”
“No, I just wondered why you were talking like that.”
“Well, I am a great spirit, aren’t I? So I need a certain level of dignity to match, or something like that.”
“Is that so? I think both ways of speaking are cute, though.”
Her chuunibyou voice was cute because she sounded like a child fully committed to a bit, and her normal voice was cute because the contrast made it even more endearing.
“Ngh...!”
At my words, Kaguya immediately snapped her head away.
“Kaguya?”
“Anyway! What I wanted to say was!”
Keeping her face turned away, Kaguya continued.
“Tomorrow, you’re going to choose between me and Yuzuru, right? We have to settle this.”
“That’s right.”
“When the time comes, choose Yuzuru.”
“...Huh?”
I couldn’t wrap my head around Kaguya’s request.
She was suddenly asking me to choose Yuzuru instead of her, even though they were locked in a duel to decide which personality would remain after they merged.
“Request. Hieta, please choose Kaguya in this match.”
And then Yuzuru said the exact same thing.
She, too, asked me to choose Kaguya instead of herself when the moment arrived.
When I asked why, they both answered.
“Because Yuzuru is ridiculously cute, right? She may not be very affectionate, but she’s obedient, her chest is huge, and she’s basically a hyper-moe character—a delusion given form!”
“Explanation. She’s a little rough around the edges, but she’s innocent. When you hug that slender body that looks like it’ll snap if you touch it, the pleasure can only be described as heaven.”
Both of them spent the time praising the other.
Which only made my head spin more.
“B-but if I did that, then Kaguya (Yuzuru) would—”
““Of course I’d disappear.””
Once again, the two of them gave the same answer in unison.
They wanted the other to live because they believed the other was the one truly suited to being a Yamai.
They even added that if I chose them, they’d blow this whole island away.
Usually, they acted as if they hated each other, constantly hurling insults, but in truth, they cared for each other more than anyone else in the world.
“...This is insane.”
This just got harder.
My mind remained a tangled mess as the hours passed.
***
When the sunset had faded and the dark night had descended, the moon and stars softly lit the land.
At that hour, I stepped out into the hallway and looked up at the sky to clear my head.
“...You! ...Honored guest!”
“Huh? Ah? Yes?”
I snapped back to reality at the Fire Keeper’s voice. She had somehow appeared beside me, and I turned to look at her.
“Honored guest. Did something confusing happen today?”
“...Was it that obvious?”
“Fufu. No. I just felt that way.”
The Fire Keeper turned her gaze away from me and looked out the window.
“Honored guest. Would you like to go see the night sea?”
“......Yes. Let’s.”
To cool my thoughts, I went outside with the Fire Keeper and stared at the ocean in awe.
“...It’s incredibly beautiful.”
“Fufu. Yes, it is.”
The countless stars reflected on the water created the illusion of an ocean made of starlight.
And the moon floating high above brought a strange, soothing sense of calm.
“Honored guest. If you have any worries, please tell me. I may not be able to solve them, but I can at least listen.”
At the Fire Keeper’s words, as we stood together gazing at the sea, I thought for a moment before deciding to open up.
“Kaguya and Yuzuru both asked me to choose the other one.”
“What? Then...”
“One of them will disappear. And even so, they asked me to choose the other. Because they want the other to live, even if they themselves vanish.”
“......How cruel.”
“......It is cruel.”
It really was cruel.
They loved each other so deeply, yet one of them was absolutely destined to vanish.
If God exists in this world, then that bastard is definitely a psychopath.
As I dwelled on the cruelty of the situation while looking out at the sea—
“Hah?! I don’t get what that means!”
Along with a sudden gust of wind, Kaguya’s voice rang out.
“Kaguya?!”
“Yuzu’s supposed to choose me? What are you talking about!”
“Repetition. Demand.”
Yuzuru had also overheard the conversation between me and the Fire Keeper.
“Did Kaguya say to choose Yuzuru?”
““Don’t be ridiculous!!!””
“Oh no!”
The two of them manifested their angels and drew them forth.
“<Raphael (Wind Master)>! [El Re'em (Piercer)]!”
“<Raphael (Wind Master)>! [El Nahash (Binder)]!”
As their angels manifested, enormous winds began to swirl violently around them.
Reacting to the wind, I grabbed the Fire Keeper’s shoulder and pulled her toward me.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes. Thanks to you. But those two...”
The Fire Keeper couldn’t finish her sentence as she looked at the two spirits.
They were fighting because they cherished each other so deeply; because they loved each other so much.
She was left speechless by the pitiful, cruel reality: that they were fighting so that the other could live, and so that they themselves could disappear.
“There is one way, though.”
“Then say it already!”
“The problem is whether they have feelings for me. That’s the issue.”
The only way to render this cruel fate void was to seal them both at the same time.
But even that would only work if they had romantic feelings for me.
I couldn’t give them false hope over something uncertain and drive them into even deeper despair.
“Honored guest. If you’re going to say some nonsense like they don’t have feelings for you, I won’t listen.”
“Miss Sachi?”
“It’s strange to say this in a situation like this, but I do have feelings of love for you, honored guest.”
At the Fire Keeper’s sudden confession, my brain overloaded.
What? Suddenly? Now? In this situation?
“And while theirs are weaker than mine, I can tell they have feelings for you too.”
“Huh? But how would you even—”
“A woman’s intuition. So hurry up and go change their choice. So they won’t have to sacrifice themselves for each other. So they can stay together from now on.”
The Fire Keeper looked at me with absolute sincerity in her eyes.
What was I doing, when even the Fire Keeper—who wasn’t especially close to Kaguya and Yuzuru—was saying this much?
What was I worrying about, when two people were being forced to sacrifice themselves for each other and fighting so desperately over it, and I had the power to solve the situation?
After hearing her words, I couldn’t believe how stupid I was being.
“...Yes. Understood.”
Fine. Like the Fire Keeper said, I’d at least try.
Having the power and still not acting—that was practically a form of deceit.
Whatever. How many times would I have to die, anyway?
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