I’d better get changed into my Red outfit!
I ran as fast as I could down the hall, but when I turned around to check on Kei—
“—Kei?!”
—I turned to find him flat on the ground a ways behind me.
H-hey!
“You okay?!”
I ran back to him and propped him up, and I noticed his forehead was drenched in sweat now. His face was pale, and he was breathing heavily.
“Sorry… Running made my seasickness worse…,” Kei whispered with what little voice he could muster.
He was in a really intense battle with his nausea and dizziness
“Is it so bad that you can barely move?! And you’ve been ignoring it the whole time?!”
“What was I…supposed to do…?”
Ugh! I’m such an idiot! And here I was enjoying myself during the party, leaving all the work to Kei…
I didn’t realize how bad he was feeling…
I’m the worst partner ever!
“Now’s not the time, Asuka…”
R-right. I can’t be down in the dumps right now.
Okay…!
“Kei, I need you to hold out just a bit longer for me!” I said, putting both of my arms under Kei. I stood up, lifting him up with me princess-style.
“H-how…? What’re you…?”
“Trust me! Shut your mouth if you don’t wanna bite your tongue!”
This is my first time lifting Kei, but I know I’m strong enough to run with his weight!
With Kei in my arms, I dashed as fast as I could down the hallway.
For turns, I veered to the side to create a curve, letting me turn more tightly on corners and getting us to our goal ASAP—Kei’s room.
“Kei! Your card key!”
Kei fished out his key and swiped it in the door. It opened with a beep, and I went right in, dropping Kei on the bed.
“Eugh…”
He was beyond pale. I could see him gritting his teeth to hold back his nausea. I ran into his bathroom and changed into my Red uniform in a flash.
I grabbed a bowl by the sink before returning to the room.
“Use this, Kei! And here’s your computer!”
I handed Kei the bowl, and he looked up at me with a contorted expression.
“Asuka… What are you…going to do…?
That should be obvious!
“I know you’re in pain, but I need you to hold out just a little bit longer and be my navigator! I don’t want your effort until now to go to waste, so it’s my turn from here!”
✦ ✦ ✦
“Are you sure this is the right way?” I asked Kei as I ran down the hallway as fast as I could.
I’d better stop myself from thinking about Kei’s condition for now. The reason he held out for so long was to defeat Fantasista, after all. If I let this opportunity Kei created for me slip away, then it will make all that effort for nothing!
I knew Kei would pull through for me, so I focused on running. Thankfully, most people were up on the deck, leaving the hallways empty for me.
“Yeah… This is the way… If the fireworks and illusions were the work of Fantasista…then he’s definitely going for the Black Tear as we speak.” Kei’s voice sounded weak even through my earpiece.
“How do you know where the Black Tear is? Kotone said she had it locked back in its special safe.”
“I was able to figure it out because she said it was special. I have a schematic of the Flower Song’s construction, and the only spot that makes sense is the bottom of the ship.”
I stopped. I’d reached the door to the stairwell that led to the lowest floor.
The lowest floor would be the machinery room. It was where the ship’s engine was, so nobody but cruise operators were allowed down there.
But seeing as this is an emergency, I should be clear to go, right?
I looked around once before taking the door handle. It opened up smoothly, with no resistance. It was unlocked.
“Down the stairs is the machinery room—it’s where the boat’s power source is.”
I slid into the door.
Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang.
I could hear the machinery ringing out in the dim light.
It was dark, but not so dark that I needed any night vision equipment.
The bigger obstacle was all the heavy machinery; the room was pretty packed, without a lot of room to move.
It was hard to believe that this was the same boat as the luxury cruise above.
I needed to be careful; I didn’t want to accidentally bump my hands into any of the moving parts.
“There should be a door that leads to the room where the safe is coming up on your right. You’ll be able to—”
“There it is!”
I saw a big door with two guards unconscious in front of it.
Since it could be a trap, I approached with caution, but the two men were out cold.
“Fantasista must’ve gotten to them…”
Duh!
The door to the storage area behind the guards was open enough for one person to walk through.
I looked through cautiously. I could still hear the machinery, but no one was near the door.
I quickly jumped in, hiding behind some crates near the entrance.
Slowly, I peered out to get a better sense of the room. There were piles of wooden crates and cardboard boxes all throughout the room. The ceiling was high; it appeared to be between thirteen and sixteen feet.
“Honestly, this looks like any regular old storage space. Do you think there’s a safe here?”
“Those boxes are a disguise…to make it look like a regular storage space. I’m sure only a few members of the ship know about the actual safe, so they needed it to look like normal storage…”
Avoiding a collision with any of the boxes, I walked toward the back of the storage space.
“Ah!”
In the farthest corner of the storage area, there was a giant black safe built into the wall. It was at least eight feet tall, and about as wide as I could stretch both my arms out.
That’s not the problem, though!
“The safe is…”
The thick door to the safe was…half-open?!
I walked closer to take a peek inside.
“Geez…,” I accidentally said out loud—there was a whole mountain of cash and blocks upon blocks of gold stacked up inside the safe.
Everything seemed organized, though; it didn’t look like anyone had touched anything.
In the center of the money, there was a fancy leather jewelry box sitting snugly on top of a cash pile.
I picked the box up. “Oh no!”
Th-there’s nothing in it…!
The velvet padding inside the box was empty!
He beat us to it! Fantasista has the Black Tear!
“Calm down, Asuka. Only eight minutes and twenty seconds have passed since the start of the fireworks show. Even if some ally of Fantasista was in charge of the distraction, it would take a few minutes to knock out the guards and unlock the safe. And the only way out of the bottom floor is the way you just came, but you didn’t run into anyone.”