Once again, his plan didn’t unfold the way he’d hoped. Vagia had redirected his question to the absentee participants instead of fulfilling the request. Silence was all that answered her. Apparently, the statues had no intention of naming themselves. They were quite the cowards compared to Yu and Takuto, who had ventured into the Succubus’s love den despite the danger…
Takuto was exasperated by their cowardice, but didn’t think it was the wrong move. Cowardice can sometimes be a rare gift.
Still, I’m opposed to giving out information without getting any in return after going the extra mile myself.
Takuto’s primary goal was to collect as much information as possible. Information on the Players was of the highest priority. It was worth the risk to get what he could.
His mind made up, Takuto prodded things along in Yu’s place, since he was sullenly sitting back in his chair, arms crossed.
“The silent treatment, is it? But the dice more or less gives you away. It’s been a hot minute, hasn’t it, Kuhara? I see you also chose to attend this All-Faction Conference. Where are you right now? Have you been eating well? Are the two Saints in good health? Won’t you be kind enough to let me hear your voice?”
“…!” A sharp inhale.
“It’s so mean of you to give me the cold shoulder after all we have been through, Ku-ha-ra.”
He got a reaction from the object. Takuto was all smiles on the inside. It was only the slightest of inhales, but it more than conveyed the other person’s fear. Keiji had to be wary of this conference if he wasn’t willing to talk. Plus, his reaction when Takuto spoke to him proved he had an aversion to him.
Kuhara’s GM abilities scare me, so I’m happy to learn he’s terrified of me. I might be able to use this to my advantage later…
Just as Takuto had deduced, the Player known as Keiji Kuhara had a visceral aversion toward Takuto Ira. One could even say he feared him. Keiji’s spirit was utterly crushed during their battle. Takuto’s side also felt a certain aversion toward Keiji, as Mynoghra’s victory had been a narrow one…
“…! ––!!!!”
Signs of an argument came through the dice statue. Was someone else with Keiji? Takuto assumed it was the two Saints. Their whereabouts were unknown, so it was natural to assume they were hiding together.
I’m curious, but I’ll leave him be for now. Kuhara doesn’t seem interested in saying more, so focusing on the conference comes first. Takuto decided, shifting his focus away from Keiji just as a question was directed his way.
“…Who’s that?” Yu asked, sullenly seeking an explanation about Takuto’s little exchange.
Oh yeah, I asked Yu about the time he defeated Kigou, but I didn’t tell him much about when I took down the TRPG forces, Takuto realized. I’ll fill him in, though just on the parts I don’t mind everyone else finding out…
“The tabletop RPG Player. I killed his Witch, but he escaped.”
“Oh, the guy who cuckolded Atou? Too bad you couldn’t kill the bastard!”
“He did not cuckold Atou. Word it better if you don’t want to piss me off.”
Takuto was about to lose his temper, but he knew if he snapped here, Vittorio, who was standing behind him disguised as Atou, would be utterly delighted. He suppressed his mounting rage to prevent that. If he had a stat for stress resistance, it just leveled up.
“Ack!” Yu panicked. “Sorry! I’m seriously sorry, man! You’ll just laugh it off, right? Hahaha! Anyways, we now know one is this Kuhara guy, but is there actually a Player behind the other object? Haven’t heard a peep from it. Is it defective?”
“Kuhara is a shy guy, so we can write off his silence as a given. But I was wondering the same thing myself.”
“Hmph,” Yu snorted. Ai said nothing behind him.
Yu’s unusual display of annoyance seemed to indicate he disliked people like Kuhara and the other Player who kept themselves hidden and made their move behind closed doors.
He definitely won’t get along with Kuhara, who stayed concealed during his whole fight with me. Fortunately, there are no plans for the two of them to meet any time soon, but I’ll pair Yu up against him if we ever clash again, Takuto decided.
“Is that guy playing the silent game, too?” Yu accused the unknown Player. His voice brimmed with irritation. While his attitude wasn’t exactly explosive, it didn’t help the tension.
Takuto glanced at Vagia. She watched over the proceedings with an amused expression. She seemed to have no intention of mediating or intervening.
After what felt like forever, he actually replied. “I can hear you… But I don’t intend to share about myself. Sorry, but I ask that you respect my decision.”
“Uh-huh, sure…” Yu replied dryly.
The unknown Player’s voice sounded like that of an adult man. He sounded older than the rest, but not on the level of an old man or someone who would be their fathers’ age. He sounded like a man in his twenties or early thirties. That would be a safe assumption as long as he wasn’t making use of a voice changer or some sort of disguise skill.
He sounded cautious. At this rate, Takuto’s party would be one-sidedly handing over information without gaining anything in return. Takuto decided to put on the heat to see if he could squeeze out anything more.
“You could at least tell us your name. We can’t just go around calling you Anon,” Takuto pointed out.
“That’s truuuue. Then why don’t we just call him Mr. H? That’s what I call him, ehe♡!” Vagia answered in place of the final Player. That was a bad sign.
Takuto instantly guessed the position this Mr. H held. I figured they wouldn’t give much away with him being their ally, but they’re even hiding his name? They must be very close allies if the Succubi are prioritizing his privacy even when it means worsening their standing with us.
It would have been one thing if the Player had told them to call him Mr. H—but it came from Vagia. And they were even keeping his name a secret. This strongly suggested that the Succubus faction was saving this mysterious Player known as Mr. H as a trump card.
If nothing else, this made it clear that the conference host had no intention of revealing their hand and engaging in friendly talks. Takuto realized that the possibility of this being an enemy trap was far higher than he initially thought.