“Nope, I’m the real thing.” “………Are you really?” Pearl A eyed him suspiciously. Fay, of course, knew that he was indeed his real self, but then, from his own perspective, he didn’t know whether Pearl A was real or fake. In other words, they each had reason to doubt the other. “First things first. Pearl, listen to me.” “What is it?” “I know we’re both feeling a little suspicious, but I think we should work together. Then we should each suggest a plan of action that would be advantageous to the real us. Because any plan that would benefit the real us would be a disadvantage to the fakes. They would have to include some lies in their idea in order to make it more beneficial to them.” “I get it!” “If we can pinpoint those lies, we’ll know whether we’re real or fake, right?” “……” Pearl A looked silently at him. “Is everything all right?” “It’s nothing… That’s a very real-Fay-like idea, but then again, it’s always possible that you’re the fake, and you only came up with such a convincing idea to make me think you weren’t…” Fay could only nod at that. It was possible. This was a god’s idea of a game, so there would certainly be tricks to confound the real players. “Okay, but you can’t know that for now,” he said. “How about we take a walk first?” “No objections from me!” “Cool. While we walk, let’s go over our victory conditions.” They started into the maze, turning in the direction Minotaur had smashed through a few minutes earlier. “Um, well, the basic premise of our victory is…that the real players reach the finish line before the fake ones, right?” “Yeah, I think so. One of the four real players has to reach the goal first. The catch is, you can’t be in too much of a hurry, either. The ideal thing would be to run into as many other players as you can while working your way steadily toward the goal, considering that once you get there, you’ll have to say who’s real and who isn’t.” Figuring out which was which—that was going to be the real test. “Truth Touch really is the only way to tell for sure who’s real and who’s fake, isn’t it? It’s just like Li’l Mino said—it’s beneficial to the real players. Using it the right way is going to be the key…” Pearl A glanced over at Fay, clearly contemplating whether she should use Truth Touch on him. “Hold it, Pearl. It’s dangerous to use Truth Touch while it’s just the two of us. Let’s wait until we find at least one more person.” “Huh?” “There are no witnesses.” Fay held out a hand to forestall the impatient young woman. “If you’re going to try Truth Touch to confirm whether I’m the real thing, we ought to have a third party here. If one of us is a fake, they might claim the Truth Touch had exactly the opposite outcome as it did.” “Oh… Yeah, of course!” “One more thing. Truth Touch gives us two choices. This is just my take, but I think it’s better to go with ‘You’re real’ than ‘You’re fake.’” (For the case of Pearl A) 1. Tells Fay B (real), “You’re fake” = wrong, so Pearl disappears. 2. Tells Fay B (fake), “You’re fake” = correct, so Fay disappears. 3. Tells Fay B (real), “You’re real” = correct, so both remain. 4. Tells Fay B (fake), “You’re real” = wrong, so Pearl disappears. “We know this much: If all four of the real players disappear, we can’t reach the goal. So instead of option one and option four, which would cause the real player to disappear, it’s better to do the touch with ‘You’re real,’ where we both stay here, like option three.” “Huh… I guess I see.” Pearl nodded vigorously. “That’s very convincing. It’s almost as if you’re thinking like one of the real players…” “I told you, that’s because I am one of the real ones!” The two of them were interrupted by a loud tak! of shoed footsteps behind them. “Stop right there! I’ll thank you to add me to your company!” Leshea came flying around the corner, vermilion hair billowing. On her chest was a B badge. “I heard what you were saying!” “Leshea?! N-no, I suppose I should be careful to call you Leshea B. Anyway, you stop right there!” Pearl hurriedly thrust out her hands, trying to keep Leshea from getting too close. She was probably wary of any fakes. “Fay, do you think Leshea B here is the real thing?” “As far as I can tell.” The young woman’s appearance and voice fit Leshea’s to a tee. Even Fay couldn’t detect anything suspicious about her—and yet it wouldn’t have been surprising if she was the fake. Poseidon’s transformations were just that flawless. “I hear you. You’re saying you don’t know if I’m the real thing or not.” Leshea came to a screeching halt. “One thing I know. At the very least, one of you two—I’ll take the liberty of calling you Fay B and Pearl A—is definitely real.” “Huh? H-how do you know that?” Pearl asked, looking as shocked as if she’d been trapped by a fox spirit. “As far as you know, both of us could be fakes, right?” “I think that’s very unlikely, which is why I came jumping out. Listen, I was hiding just around the corner, listening to the two of you.” Leshea B pointed down the hallway. “You started going over the rules of Truth Touch, right? But two fakes would never have that conversation—because they’re all Poseidon in disguise. She knows perfectly well how Truth Touch works, so she wouldn’t need to talk it over with herself.” That meant at least one of them was a real player who needed to confirm the rules. Because she’d been able to deduce that either Fay or Pearl were real, Leshea B had been willing to show herself. “Once I knew that, I knew this was my chance. Because when I use Truth Touch, the real one of you will report the results faithfully, right?” “U-um, on that subject…” Pearl furtively raised her hand, then looked back and forth between Fay and Leshea. “If we’re going to use Truth Touch, I think I should be the one to use it on one of you. Can I do that, Leshea?” “I won’t stop you. But what’s your reasoning?” “I just thought it might be heartening if I could be sure who was the real Fay or the real Leshea. If I’m wrong, all it means is that I’ll disappear, and, uh…I won’t be that much of a loss to our team’s strength. If there’s a risk, I should be the one to bear it, I thought.” “……” At that, Fay traded a long look with Leshea B. It made a certain sense. In her own way, Pearl was thinking through the best means of using Truth Touch. If they could confirm who the real Fay or Leshea was, that alone would be a big boost to the human cause. The question is, is it really Pearl? If this is about the risk to our “strength,” then it might as well be me using Truth Touch. From Fay’s own perspective, actually, he had the most trouble envisioning how he was of use in this game. Nel and Leshea were fleet-footed, and if they knew which Nel or Leshea was real, she could help them out by getting to the goal faster than the fakes. As for Pearl, she had her Shift Change. Even if one of the fakes was within touching distance of the finish line, Pearl could potentially swap them with a real player and turn things around. Pearl, Nel, and Leshea all have abilities that could prove really useful in this game. I’m the “coin” that’s least valuable. But perhaps this thinking was too hasty. Should they really take the gamble called Truth Touch right now? “I appreciate what you’re saying, Pearl. But my feeling is that we can hold off on Truth Touch for now.” “S-still?!” “Who knows? Maybe there’s an item or something somewhere in this maze that can determine who’s real and who’s not without using Truth Touch.” The labyrinth itself had to have some tricks, traps, or other gimmicks. They could take the risk of using Truth Touch after they had found out what those were. After all, Fay suspected the Truth Touch system itself was a trap. “As far as Truth Touch goes, I’m perfectly happy either now or later.” Leshea B looked left and right down the hallway. “But whatever we do, I want to hurry up and work on this maze. The fakes—the god—know this place inside and out. They have the rules down pat, and they’re going to have the advantage over us.” “I agree with that,” Fay said. “Something else bothers me, and it’s the name of this game. ‘And Then There Were None.’ It’s disturbing, right? Like a warning: One way to lose this game is for everyone to disappear. And we know that the gods aren’t soft—you can’t win their games without taking some risks, right?” “Yes! I feel the same way! Especially about the second half!” Pearl A thrust her hand into the air. “Sooner or later, we’re going to have to use Truth Touch—and I don’t think it would be so bad to get some traction in this game by trying it out! And you, Fay…or should I say, Fay B?! You’re trying to slow down that traction by saying we should wait. Maybe you’re the fake after all!” “Huh? Wh-whoa, hang on, there!” Fay wasn’t talking to Pearl—Leshea, eyes shining with curiosity, had grabbed him from behind. “Give it a shot, Pearl!” she said. “It’s a game—we might as well try anything and everything!” “I’m telling you, just wait!” Fay shook his head as hard as he could, although it didn’t get him out of Leshea’s pinion. This was bad—he was the real thing! But at the moment, Pearl looked deeply suspicious about that. Meaning she was about to declare, “You’re a fake!” “Take a good look at me, Pearl! I’m the real Fay! If you try to determine whether I’m real by touch, you’re the one who’s going to disappear!” “All that shouting isn’t making you look any less suspicious!” The golden-haired girl stalked closer, her eyes gleaming. “Haah…haah…I can touch Fay as much as I want… N-no, I mean, this is a perfectly official and legitimate Truth Touch. And so—touch! You’re a fake!” Pearl A charged! “Yarrrrrgh! Stoppp!” Fay squirmed wildly, moving so fast that Pearl’s hand missed him—and landed on his captor Leshea’s shoulder. “Oh…” “Oh…” “Oh…” Pearl A looked on, flabbergasted, as Leshea B vanished in a puff of smoke. Truth Touch successful! As Leshea B is the fake, she is removed from the game. “Wait, whaaat?!” Pearl yowled and fell flat on her backside. As she looked, dumbfounded, at the spot where the vanished Leshea had been standing, a blue-haired god holding a trident appeared. “Huh! You got lucky, human.” She looked down at Pearl and sniffed. “There are three more of me running around. Better get to work!” Then she vanished, leaving only Fay and Pearl A. “Leshea turned out to be fake?” Fay remarked. “I knew we’d never figure it out by talking to each other.” He hadn’t been able to tell until the bitter end. If Pearl hadn’t come charging in, it would probably have become almost impossible to ever find out. “Heh… Heh-heh-heh! I knew it! I knew she was fake! My eye is quite discerning!” “You were about to erase me!” “All according to plan. Hah!” Smiling as if she really did feel deeply accomplished, Pearl wiped sweat from her brow. “And at the same time, I’ve gained some faith in you, Fay. You, Fay B, are the real thing!” “You mean because I tried to stop you from touching me when you were going to say I was fake, right?” “Yes! If you were fake, you would have been better off trying to get me to trust you and use the touch. Then I would have been wrong and disappeared. But the fact that you stopped me from doing that gives me a lot of reason to trust you!” By the same token, Fay could also now give a great deal of credence to Pearl A. Truth Touch is a high-risk, high-return move. If you get it wrong, you disappear. But Pearl took that risk on herself, instead of making me do it. If she’d been fake, then Pearl A could simply have said, “I’ll leave it to you, Fay!” If he’d touched Leshea B and declared her to be real, he would have been the one to disappear. In other words: Real: Fay B (confirmed), Leshea A (confirmed), Pearl A (presumed), Nel (?) Fake: Fay A (confirmed), Leshea B (confirmed), Pearl B (presumed), Nel (?) He was certain about four out of the eight players and had a good guess about two more. If he could use Truth Touch on either Nel A or Nel B, he would have all eight of them pinned down. “This is going smoothly…too smoothly, I fear,” he said. “You think? I saw it all coming! Wait, what…?” There, in the spot where the fake Leshea had vanished, the air began to shimmer, and then a rainbow-colored orb popped into existence and flew straight into Pearl’s hand. Truth Touch reward: Swapping Orb Break the orb and name a person of your choice. The two of you trade places in the maze. “I got some kind of item!” “Hey, that’s neat. It’s like the unrestricted version of your Shift Change. It would let you change places with whoever is closest to the goal, which would be pretty darn helpful all by itself. Plus…” “……” Fay fell into silent thought, keeping Pearl’s orb in the corner of his eye. “Fay? Is everything all right?” “It’s fine. Effectively, what this means is that what the fake Leshea said was right.” Truth Touch offered a return commensurate with the risk. It was just as the fake Leshea had said: They needed to assume some risk in order to advance in the game. “So the fakes don’t always lie, huh?” “Wha…?” “That Leshea may have been fake, but what she said was dead on. That means a fake player gave us info that would be useful to us, in order to pass as one of us. This could get tricky…” The god had proven extraordinarily, frighteningly adept at weaving together truth and falsehood. Fay felt like he was finally getting a glimpse of this game’s true nature. It’s not a game about figuring out whether the players are real or fake. It’s about figuring out whether your conversations are. It’s not even really a race. It’s a contest with the god to see who can deceive who. He set off into the labyrinth with Pearl A. They came to a branch in the road, with its two signs, WAY FORWARD and WAY BACK. Which to choose? Fay and Pearl each pointed, almost simultaneously. Just then, a crazed voice came from the direction of the “way back.” “Y-you! You! Are you my fake?!” There were two Pearls. Yes: Pearl A, who had been with Fay, and Pearl B, who came racing up. Pearl A pointed at her double and said, “You’re a step behind, fake—or should I say, Li’l ’Don! I eliminated the fake Leshea. The real Fay, Fay B, saw me do it!” “Huh?! What I’m hearing is that you’re both fakes!” Pearl B said, getting ready for a fight. “This was all a plot for you to face me two-on-one and claim I was the fake by majority vote! You know, I knew my double was kind of a jerk, but I’m starting to think the fake Fay isn’t as nice as the real one, either!” “What are you talking about?!” demanded Pearl A. “This is the real Fay!” “When one of the fakes says that, you know they’re fake! O-ooh, just you remember this! I’m going to go find the real Fay and get you both back!” And with that, she went racing off. Incidentally, she went in the direction of the “way back.” “Oh no! The fake ran away! Should we chase her, Fay?!” “No… Let’s keep moving forward. If we spend too long chasing her, we could end up right back at the start point.” He was sure now that Pearl B was the fake. By getting her to rush back toward the entrance of the maze, one could say that the real players had gained another advantage. When they followed the “way forward”… “Huh? Fay, what’s this?” “Must be another of this maze’s little gimmicks. There are exactly as many of these shells as there are of us.” There were seven semitranslucent glass shells hanging from a particularly large piece of coral. Exactly as many shells as there were players. Each of the shells seemed to show what one of the players was doing, like a monitor for a game. What got Fay’s attention was the order of the shells: 1. Nel A (?) 2. Fay A (fake) 3. Pearl A (real?), Fay B (himself) 4. Leshea A (real), Nel B (?) 5. Pearl B (who had just run away from him—fake?) There was no shell for Leshea B (fake), who had been eliminated with Truth Touch. “Your shell and mine are right next to each other, which makes me think…maybe this represents progress through the maze?” he said. If that was true, then the two of them were currently right in the middle. Nel A was closest to the goal. “Fay, look! The real Leshea is behind us, so if we retrace our path, we should be able to link up with her. That would make me feel much better!” “Yeah. Except… Turning away from the shells, Fay crouched down, picked up the sharpest rock he could find among the many that lay at their feet, and started scratching a map into the sand of the seafloor. “The shells only show the order. The trap is that we don’t know how much space there is between us. What if it went like this?” 1. Nel A (?): right near the goal. 2. Fay A (fake): still a ways from the goal. 3. Pearl A (real?), Fay B (himself): still a ways from the goal. 4. Leshea A (real), Nel B (?): still a ways from the goal. 5. Pearl B (fake?): at the start point. “If Nel A is one of the fakes, then we’re in trouble. From my perspective, I know for sure that the Fay who’s behind her, Fay A, is one of the fakes. And if the two people closest to the finish line are both fake…” “They’re going to beat us to it?!” Minotaur had hinted that the various starting positions were different distances from the finish line. Maybe Nel A had been the closest to the goal from the beginning. “This is just my opinion, but…knowing Nel’s personality, I think there’s a good chance she would race straight for the goal as fast as she could because she wouldn’t want the fakes to get there first!” “Yes, but you could say the same thing even if Nel A is fake. The doubles are perfect imitations of us. So there’s every chance that a fake who copied Nel’s personality would also race straight for the goal.” “Oh, there sooo is! We have to do something about this, stat!” Pearl A held out both hands. In her palm was the Swapping Orb, which shimmered a rainbow of colors. “Fay—you just need to use this orb to change places with Nel A. Please, go to the head of the field!” “Me?” There was no question that this was a good time to use the orb—but it was Pearl who had earned it. A rare item, gained for being willing to take the risk of using Truth Touch. Shouldn’t it have been Pearl, then, who changed places with Nel A at the front of the race? More than anything, though, there was the simple fact that, from Pearl A’s perspective, she still couldn’t be completely sure that he, Fay B, was the real thing. “It means a lot to me that you trust me, but are you sure? As far as you know, there’s still a chance I could be the god in disguise, right?” “I have faith that you’re the real thing, Fay B. And one thing’s for sure: If Nel A is fake and we leave her where she is, she’ll get to the finish line, and we’ll be done for!” What was more, Pearl couldn’t very well use Truth Touch on Fay at that moment, because there wasn’t really any point to it if there wasn’t a third party present to attest to the result. From my perspective, the moment she offered to give me the orb, I was as good as certain that this Pearl is real. If she weren’t, she would trade places with Nel A herself and head for the goal. What about him, then? What could the Fay with the B badge do to make Pearl confident that he was real? “Pearl, touch me.” “Wha—?” “I don’t mean Truth Touch. You have to have touched something in order to use Shift Change on it, right?” “Oh…I see!” She quickly placed a hand on him. For the next three minutes, she was able to trade places with Fay. “I’m going to go on ahead,” Fay said. “But if you ever think I might be fake, just Shift Change and trade places with me. Then you’ll be at the front.” 1. After activating the orb: In first place, Fay B (self); second place, Fay A; third place, Pearl A and Nel A (?). 2. After using Shift Change: In first place, Pearl A (real?); second place, Fay A; third place, Fay B and Nel A (?). That way, Pearl could go to the front if she wanted. “Um…Fay!” Pearl was looking intently at the seven shells. “Once you use the Swapping Orb, Nel A is going to show up with me, right? Do you think I should use Truth Touch on her, saying, ‘You’re fake!’?” “Meaning…?” “Meaning! If Nel A is fake, she’ll be scared of my touch and run away, just like my fake (Pearl B) did earlier!” “And what if she doesn’t run away?” “Then that means there’s a good chance she’s the real thing, so I would change to ‘You’re real!’ Then again, I guess the fake could always stand her ground to make me think she was real…” It was fair enough: By deciding which declaration Pearl would use ahead of time, Fay could confirm the result even if he wasn’t present to witness it. Suppose Pearl said, “You’re real,” and administered the touch. If, as a result, she and Nel were both still left, then Nel was real. If Pearl disappeared, then they would know Nel A was a fake. “If I disappear, that will prove Nel is a fake, but if both of us get through this, then I want you to believe we’re both real!” In spite of her bold pronouncement, Pearl couldn’t hide the tremor in her voice. This had worked the first time, against Leshea—but there were no guarantees that her luck with Truth Touch would hold out twice in a row. And if she was wrong, then she was gone. “If I’m completely honest…I don’t love this plan,” Fay said. He understood how Pearl felt. If Truth Touch worked this time, then not only would they know whether Nel A was real or not, but by extension, they would also know whether Nel B was the real thing. It would virtually hand them victory. But with the potential for that immense payoff came the very real risk that the real Pearl would disappear. “At the same time, Pearl, your reasoning is solid. So as much as I’m not a big fan, if Nel A’s reaction makes you sure—really sure—about which she is, then go for it.” “I will!” “Just don’t get ahead of yourself!” Fay cautioned her, and then he flung the orb to the ground. It shattered, shards of rainbow-colored light glittering around him… Fay found himself standing alone at an intersection somewhere in the maze. “I guess this must be where Nel A was,” he said. He had swapped positions with her. That means I’m the one closest to the finish line now. If I just start running, I could get there first. But I can’t do that. I still don’t know for sure which of the other players are real or fake. In other words, it was time to go back. Fay A should have been the next person behind him, and he was definitely fake. In third place behind them was Nel A, and Pearl should have been with her. “I’ve got to know how Pearl’s Truth Touch turned out!” Fay mustered his resolve and turned around, racing through the vast sea maze, following the WAY BACK signs at every turn. He ran so fast for so long that he was breathing hard, and yet… “Dammit! I haven’t seen a single other person!” This was feeling stranger and stranger. He was running as fast as he could, yet he never saw anyone. Surely everyone hadn’t started working backward through the maze at the same time? With a mounting sense of dread, Fay was just about to turn left at an intersection when— “Hey! It’s those shells!” He saw glass shells lined up on a massive piece of coral. They were the same position indicators he and Pearl had found, except there were only six of them. “Oh no…!” Fay walked up to the coral with a sense of desperation. He looked at the players projected on the translucent surfaces, silently biting his lip. “………” None of the shells showed Pearl A. There was only one conclusion—her Truth Touch had gone wrong. But at least she’d left evidence that Nel A was a fake. This meant that Fay was now all but certain of who was real and who wasn’t. Presumed Real/Fake Status (in order of proximity to the goal) 1. Fay B (self) 2. Fay A (fake) 3. Nel A (fake) 4. Leshea A (real) and Nel B (real) 5. Pearl B (fake) Out of Game: Leshea B (fake); Pearl A (real) Now that he knew who was who, should he run straight for the goal? No. There was always a possibility that there was another Swapping Orb out there. I might be in first place, but I’m on thin ice. If somebody used an orb on me when I was within touching distance of the finish line, it would all be over. He suspected that in Atlantis, the undersea maze, choosing to advance ahead was itself a trap. He would wait to go for the finish line until he had obtained at least one more orb. I have to be especially careful of Fay A and Nel A, going backward. Leshea and Nel are right behind them. The worst-case scenario was if the fake Fay A joined up with the real Leshea and Nel and got them to think that he, Fay B, was the fake. “Which means I need to beat him to them…” Fay turned on his heel and resumed running. Now he realized that the WAY FORWARD and the WAY BACK signs at the branches were a trap, set by the god for the players. No matter how much you rushed and raced forward, you could always have your progress undone by a Swapping Orb. That was why he was running backward. He would keep choosing the “way back” until he was able to join up with the real players. “………” And yet… He didn’t understand. Why did something feel so wrong? Why couldn’t he quiet the pounding of his heart? His emotions and his mind were reaching a fever pitch, and yet his skin felt cold as ice. If he had to compare it to something, he would have said it was like a poker game where he was confident he was winning when actually the opponent had a view of Fay’s cards. It was an odd, floaty feeling. But he wasn’t given the time to think about this nagging doubt. He heard voices and footsteps. “Those voices…” From the other side of the seawater wall, mingling with the roaring of the waves, he could hear people talking. He followed the voices around the corner, and there he found… “Mistress Leshea, you must believe me! I, Nel A, am the real Nel!” “Don’t let her deceive you, Mistress Leshea! I, Nel B, am the real thing! Take a good look!” “Gosh… What do I do here?” It was a very distressed Leshea A, flanked by both Nels. Fay, his breath still short, broke in. “Is it just the three of you here?” “Fay!” said Leshea. The two Nels spoke at the same time, both saying, ““Master Fay! Perfect timing!”” Whichever one was the double, it was truly divine work. Every nuance of Nel’s speech had been copied perfectly. “I’m sorry to jump right to this. I can’t exactly prove that I’m the real thing myself.” Fay jabbed his thumb at his B badge. “But I can tell you about the others. Leshea A here is the real thing.” “Ooh!” The Leshea with the A badge grinned widely. “Am I glad to see you. There are two Nels here, but I don’t know which is which—and I can’t even prove to them whether I’m real! Speaking of which… How do you know that I’m the real deal, and not Leshea B?” “Because she’s gone.” “Huh?” “She disappeared when we used Truth Touch on her. Pearl A and I found her, and when Pearl A touched her while saying, ‘You’re a fake!’ she vanished, so that proves it. Leshea A—in other words, the one standing right in front of me—must be the real Leshea.” “Goodness. So my double is already gone? I feel a little bad for her.” Leshea A—well, really, just Leshea now—let her shoulders slump in disappointment. It was a very Leshea reaction to be not only unhappy, but actively disappointed, that her doppelgänger was gone. “I have a feeling I can trust what you’re saying, Fay. A little earlier, we came across these weird shells that showed all of us, but there were only seven of them. Which would line up with my fake having disappeared via Truth Touch.” She nodded vigorously. “Working backward, that would imply a good probability that Pearl A, who eliminated my fake, is also real. Isn’t she with you?” “Uh, well…Pearl A also disappeared.” That was all Fay said to Leshea before he turned to the two Nels. To the one wearing the A badge, he said, “Hey, Nel. Pearl A used Truth Touch on you a few minutes ago, right? You remember that?” Nel A gasped and flinched as though frightened. She was silent for a hesitant moment, then said, “Yes, that’s exactly right, Master Fay. I encountered Pearl—the one with the A badge on her chest.” “What?!” Nel B burst out. “Well, well. You didn’t see fit to mention that earlier,” said Leshea. Both were staring hard at Nel A with suspicious looks on their faces. Clearly, Nel A and B had been arguing about which of them was the real Nel, leaning on Leshea to be the judge. But Nel A had been hiding the fact that she’d encountered Pearl. “N-now, wait just a second! I admit, I concealed the fact—but Pearl appeared in front of me so suddenly. She was muttering something, talking very fast, and before I knew what was happening, she had touched me—and then disappeared. But if I’d tried to tell you that, it would just make me sound more suspect, wouldn’t it?!” “I see…” Nel A’s explanation matched what Fay would have expected. Except that where Nel had said Pearl was “talking very fast,” in an effort to avoid telling them what she had been saying, Fay knew what it had been—because they had agreed ahead of time. “I would change it to ‘You’re real!’” Pearl A had used Truth Touch on Nel A, saying, “You’re real,” but she had been wrong and disappeared. Nel A had been trying to distract them from that fact. Because, of course, if she didn’t, they would know she was the fake. “Based on my information, Leshea A is definitely real,” Fay said. “I’m less certain about this, but I think there’s a high probability that Nel B is also real, and Nel A is the fake.” “J-just a second!” Nel A exclaimed. “What proof do we have that you’re real, Master Fay B?! You could be a fake Master Fay trying to turn the others against me!” She wasn’t wrong about that. Neither Nel knew for certain whether he, Fay B, was real or fake, and the true danger here was that a real player might not tell the truth, and more to the point, a fake one might not lie. Truth Touch only confirms whether someone is real or fake, but being fake doesn’t mean they’re necessarily a liar. The god knows how to mix in a deft bit of truth. The truth or falsehood of a conversation existed separately from whether a player was real or fake. That was part of what made this game so difficult. “Let’s see… Personally, I think what Fay B’s saying sounds pretty credible. Although it doesn’t hurt that he’s saying I’m the real me.” Leshea crossed her arms and looked up at the sky. “I wonder what would happen if we provisionally trusted Fay’s explanation. On which theory—here! Touch!” “Mistress Leshea?” Leshea had placed her hand on Nel B’s left shoulder. As Nel turned at the physical contact, smiling… “If Nel A is the fake, then you must be the real thing, right?” Truth Touch rendered its judgment instantaneously. Truth Touch Failed As Nel B is the fake, Leshea A has failed the test and is removed from the game. “—?!” Fay gasped. That was impossible! The objection bellowed in his mind, but he was so shocked that only a choked squeak came out of his mouth. “Goodness,” said Leshea with a look of surprise. She was enveloped in light, then she whipped into the air at incredible speed. Not back to the human world, Fay suspected, but in the direction of the goal. “No way…” Leshea had been mistaken and ejected? Confronted by that fact, Fay began to doubt his own eyes. This was his mistake. This, from someone who could probably count on one hand the number of times he’d made serious errors in the games so far. It was hard to believe. What in the world had happened? “Nel B is the fake?” Fay asked slowly. Something was going on here in the Ocean Maze Atlantis, something strange. Fay had only suspected it before, but now he knew: Something was wrong. He had been virtually certain that Nel B was the real Nel. The fact that Pearl A had been removed from the maze was the ultimate proof. And yet Truth Touch was telling them that Nel B was the fake. Did I misunderstand the message from Pearl A? What other possibility could there be?! “Mistress Leshea?!” cried Nel A. The Nel who’d been confirmed as real by Truth Touch now turned a hard look on Fay. “I should have known. You deliberately painted me as the fake to confuse Mistress Leshea and trick her into failing Truth Touch. That would make you the fake! Time to see how you like a taste of your own medicine!” “No! Wait, Nel!” Nel advanced on him with her hand outstretched. Fay retreated until he felt his back press against the wall. If Nel declared him the fake, she was the one who was going to disappear. What do I do? Something is all out of whack here. And the strangest thing of all is that no one else seems to notice! At that moment, they heard two sets of footsteps approaching. “Hey, Nel!” “Thank goodness we found you in time!” Fay knew who the voices belonged to before he saw their owners, and a shock of disquiet ran through him. Of course. They would show up now, just to make sure they sowed the maximum chaos. “Sorry to keep you waiting!” Pearl B called as she ran up, out of breath. And who should be with her but Fay A, the one who from Fay’s perspective was certainly fake. “I don’t know which of you Nels is the real one, but Fay B is fake—Fay A here is the real one!” “I knew it!” cried Nel A—the real one—clenching her fist. “Let me handle this, Pearl. In the name of vengeance for Leshea, I want to Truth Touch this fake Fay with my own hands!” Confronted with Pearl and Nel thirsting for victory, Fay shouted, “No! Don’t do that! Please! I know you’re feeling very suspicious right now, but…!” I can’t blame Nel A and Pearl B for doubting my claims. I cast doubt on both of them, and my mistake got the real Leshea in trouble. And it was at exactly that moment that the fake Fay had shown up. It was only natural that the two of them believed the fake. Neither Nel nor Pearl is sure the other is real. Meanwhile, they’re completely convinced that Fay A is the real me. At this rate, the human players were going to take one another out with Truth Touch. They were supposed to be teammates, and they were going to destroy each other. The name of the game would come true: There would be none…of the real players. This was the god’s trick—her secret plan. And Fay and the others had fallen for it hook, line, and sinker. I have to remember. Think back to the moment something felt off. No—it wasn’t just a moment! I have to follow it back, get to the place where my entire hypothesis began to go wrong. 1. Nel A was real. 2. That was the reverse of his expectation. (From his own perspective, Fay had been convinced that Nel B was the real one.) 3. Why had he thought Nel B was real? 4. He’d derived it from the vanished Pearl A’s message. Had he misinterpreted it? 5. For that matter, was Truth Touch always correct? 6. What if there were a way to fudge the result of Truth Touch? “………” Fay didn’t make a sound. This was much like the battle with the Bookmaker: He was trying to figure out what game, so to speak, the god was playing, but because he was dealing with a god, no possibility could be ruled out. He had to leave every conceivable explanation on the table. “All right, then. I want to hear from each of you,” Nel A said soberly. “Since all five players are standing here, there’s no fear of the fakes reaching the goal first. So let’s start with you, Master Fay A. What do you think is our best move here?” “From my perspective…” The fake Fay pointed to the badge on his chest. “I want you to use Truth Touch on me. There are two of me here. It would be best if one of you—I don’t care if it’s Pearl or Nel—can prove which of me is right about things.” “I agree! It would be really heartening to know which Fay is the real one!” “That’s certainly true!” said Nel A, apparently already convinced. Raring to go, she wheeled—on Fay A. “I’m going to touch Master Fay A! Sure you want me to call you the real thing?” “Naturally.” At that moment—precisely because he had seen all of it play out before his eyes— Fay saw the god’s trick. “That’s it! Nel, wait!” “Wha—?” Fay grabbed her wrist before she could move. “This is exactly what Poseidon wants. She’s trying to eliminate you, the real you, here and now.” “What do you mean?” Nel A said, frowning. It was only natural. From her perspective, he (Fay B) was the fake, and she was understandably wary of a fake suddenly grabbing her hand. “When your Truth Touch fails on Fay A, the real Nel—you—will disappear. And then what do you think happens?” “I’m hoping you can tell me.” “The worst thing that could occur in these circumstances is that the real you disappears and the fake Nel stays behind.” “…?” Nel gave him another questioning look. She could hardly grasp how important she was at this moment on some level because she herself was the key. “You’re the fastest runner here, Nel, and if only the fake you is left, then the rest of us lose. When the other Nel sets off for that finish line, none of us is ever going to catch her.” “…!” Nel gasped. “This is a simple pattern breakdown. From your perspective, if you use Truth Touch on Fay A, what happens?” A Truth Touch by Nel (real) has one of four outcomes: 1. Touch Fay A (real) and say, “You’re real!”: Both the real Nel and real Fay remain. 2. Touch Fay A (real) and say, “You’re fake!”: The real Nel disappears, leaving only the fake Nel. 3. Touch Fay A (fake) and say, “You’re real!”: The real Nel disappears, leaving only the fake Nel. 4. Touch Fay A (fake) and say, “You’re fake!”: Both the real Nel and real Fay remain. This was a Truth Touch trap, set by the god to get rid of the real Nel. That was the whole point. “The same logic would have applied to Leshea—if the real Leshea had still been around, she could have forced her way to the goal. So Poseidon came up with a trick to get her out of the way first. She led me into making Leshea disappear, so that everyone would start to doubt me.” The god’s plot was to eliminate the real Leshea and the real Nel from play. Then it would be checkmate. Fay (real) and Pearl (real) would have no hope of stopping the fake Nel from racing for the goal. “…………There’s some logic to what you’re saying,” said Nel A—the real one. She slowly drew her hand away from Fay A, no longer about to give him the Truth Touch. “Master Fay B… The truth is, I still think Master A is the real one. If you claim I’m wrong about that, then I’m giving you one more chance to prove your innocence.” “I hear you. This time there’s no mistaking it.” He let go of Nel’s wrist, then pointed at Nel B and Fay A. “These two are the fakes. The other two were already eliminated by Truth Touch.” Fay’s declaration shocked the remaining inhabitants of Atlantis, the Ocean Maze. But the most violent reaction of all came from the fake Nel B. “I—I’m the real thing! Pearl, you must believe me!” Pearl hadn’t been there when they found out Nel B was the fake. She didn’t know which of them, Nel A or B, was fake, so maybe the false Nel thought she could talk the other girl around. “And you, Master Fay B!” she went on. “You say I’m the fake—but how can you prove that you’re real? And if you say Truth Touch, how is that situation any different from what Master Fay A suggested?” “Of course I’m not going to say Truth Touch. There’s another way,” Fay said. Everyone there gasped—even the god’s fakes. “I think the real players here are Pearl B and Nel A. I have a question for them. What percentage chance do you think there actually is of winning this game?” “Huh?” Pearl said. “Uh, well… You have to correctly guess who’s real and who’s fake among eight people, so I guess it would be a fifty percent chance to the fourth power?” “N-no! You know whether you yourself are real, so it’s only fifty percent to the third power!” Nel said. “The real answer is fifty percent, plain and simple,” Fay told them. There was a one-in-two chance of victory. He turned to the real Pearl and Nel and held up two fingers. “When you think about it, all you really need to do in this game is get all eight players together and use Truth Touch systematically. You’ll be left with two people whose reality you don’t know. After that, even relying completely on luck, the human players will win one out of every two times. In other words, you can play this game as a pure gamble.” However… Would a god ever accept such a tepid contest? “Instead, you think, I want this game to be a little more exciting. Right?” This time Fay turned to the fake Fay and the fake Nel. “So, Poseidon…or maybe I should say, Li’l Poseidon. You did a brilliant job of taking a game of luck and turning it into a game of psychological warfare. I have to admit, I never saw it coming.” He jerked his thumb at himself. “Your trick, your stratagem, was to confuse one of the real players. Make them believe something that wasn’t true. And the only person here who’s made that kind of mistake is me, Fay B. Which means I must be real.” Only he had misapprehended Nel A and B. Which meant, reasoning backward, that he could confidently say he was real. “The god needed to fool the real players so that they would take one another out. But by the same token, it means any person who was fooled is by definition real. And the only one who was obviously tricked here was me myself. There’s your proof.” “I admit, it’s very much like the real Master Fay to find a way to explain things that doesn’t rely on the most obvious features of the game,” the real Nel said slowly. “But that still leaves us with the biggest problem: One of the real players has to reach the finish line first.” Among the five of them standing there, there was no one whom all of them could agree to be absolutely, unquestionably the real thing. From Pearl’s perspective, it was impossible to judge between Nels A and B. For both her and the Nels, the same was true of Fays A and B. And further from the Nels’ perspective, the veracity of Pearl B was impossible to be certain of. So which of the five of them should make for the finish line first? This was the final challenge. It had seemed like the only way to resolve it was to use Truth Touch…until Fay pointed toward the goal. “Nel, Pearl,” he said, turning to them. “Do you know the secret for always coming in first in a marathon?” 2 The human-beast god Minotaur stood at the finish line of the Ocean Maze Atlantis. Behind her were Lesheas A and B and Pearl A, removed from the game by a mistaken Truth Touch. Normally, being “out” of one of the gods’ games meant being returned to the human world, but this game was an exception. Here, everyone awaited the judgment of truth after the finish line was crossed—the final challenge with which the players were confronted once all eight of them were together. “Oh, look! Look there! Heeeey!” Minotaur waved a big racing flag. Now, who was in front? Lesheas A and B and Pearl A all watched with bated breath…and then all of them gasped, their eyes going wide. They heard five sets of footsteps, and five people rounded the final corner at the exact same time, walking abreast. “Oooh! I get it!” Minotaur stopped waving her flag and grinned broadly. “The five of them all cross the finish line together and in hand. If they don’t know who’s real and who isn’t, then they can all reach the finish line at once!” Precisely. Fay’s suggestion for how to “always come in first” was to hold hands and walk side by side. The order was this: Nel A (?)—Nel B (?)—Pearl B (?)—Fay B (real)—Fay A (fake) For one thing, it was impossible to check whether the Nels and Fays were real or not. Another important point was that the fakes couldn’t eliminate the real players. So long as the real players kept choosing to do nothing, the fakes couldn’t use Truth Touch to cause havoc. “Good thinking! By holding hands, not only can they all make the finish line at once, but the real players can keep an eye on the fake ones right up to the moment they reach the goal!” said Minotaur. As the five players reached the finish line tape together, there was a burst of confetti. “Congratulations! I acknowledge that you’ve met the first victory condition!” Minotaur applauded unabashedly. “Now it’s time for the judgment of truth! In the spirit of the victory conditions, only a human may answer, and only one of them may do so. Who’s going to give the answers?” “I am.” The declaration to the god of who would represent the eight players standing at the finish line came from Fay—who was pointing at the B badge on his chest. “Only a human can give the answers about who’s real and who’s fake, and I, Fay B, have proven that I’m real. Right?” At that moment, there was a minor explosion. Fay A convulsed, and a girl—in fact, a god—with a trident burst into view. “Hmph!” she said. “All right, I’ll allow it! Very well. Begin the judgment of truth!” “You heard her. Okay if I handle this?” Fay looked around at the two Lesheas, the two Pearls, and the two Nels. ““Sure, go for it!”” both Lesheas said in unison. ““Y-yeah, of course! I never would have guessed B was the real Fay…,”” the Pearls answered together. ““Mm-hmm! I wasn’t able to tell which Master Fay was which even to the bitter end. But now that I know you’re the real thing, how could I ever object?!”” the two Nels replied in harmony. The real and the fake players said the same thing at exactly the same time. Even with the finish line reached, they remained perfect copies, impossible to distinguish from their words or actions alone. That meant the only way to tell which was which was by reviewing what had happened in Atlantis. “First things first. I can say for myself that Fay B is the real player, which makes his counterpart, Fay A, the fake. Everyone good with that?” No one raised any objections. Even Poseidon had already thrown off the guise of Fay A. “I can also confirm Leshea straight off,” Fay said. “I saw Pearl A use Truth Touch on Leshea B and cause her to disappear, so I know the real one is Leshea A.” “Going well so far!” Leshea B disappeared, and a second Poseidon popped out in her place. Fay had expected that, of course, but the Nels, who hadn’t been sure whether Leshea was the real thing, backed up in surprise. “Here’s where the fun begins!” The deity leveled her trident at Fay. “Those four were obvious. Truth Touch gave you the answers. But you’ll have to do the rest yourself!” Poseidon wasn’t taunting him; it was a simple fact. The true battle of wits started now. The two Pearls and the two Nels were left. One pair who hadn’t been tested at all by Truth Touch, and one pair who had—but about whom there was still doubt. “Let’s move on to Nel,” Fay said, turning his gaze on the black-haired girls. Nels A and B looked absolutely identical, and they both sucked in a breath when he said that. “Knowing which one is real isn’t actually a problem—because the real Leshea was kind enough to test them with Truth Touch.”
Chapter 91
44 min read