Chapter 16

“It’s no good… His HP won’t come back.” Tomori Shimizu shook her head softly and lowered her hands. She had been attempting to use the Holy Healing spell on Takeshi Moro’s body, which Yuuma and Kenk had carried back inside the shop. Even after she cast the spell, however, Moro’s face remained pale and his eyes never opened. Moans and sniffles began to escape from the students gathered around. Two boys stepped forward from the crowd and knelt down next to Moro’s body. “You weren’t supposed to go and die on us…,” one of the boys moaned. He sounded heartbroken. He was thinner than Moro, and he wore his hair in a moppish bowl cut. Naruo Wakasa, student number 41. The other boy kneeling next to him, with his mouth open in shock, was Masato Takio. His hair was also in a bowl cut, but it was less of a mop and more of a helmet. Together with Moro, the three of them had been the geeks of the class, into obscure things, although each had their own unique obsession. Wakasa was into military stuff, Takio was into anime, and Moro had been obsessed with voice actors. During lunch, they always crowded around Moro’s desk to nerd out together. Sometimes Sugamo would give them a hard time, yelling stuff like “Shut up, you geeks!” but they would just laugh in his face and tell him that he was a geek, too—just a geek for soccer. As a closeted game nerd, Yuuma had always been jealous of how comfortable they were with themselves. There were no tears in Wakasa’s and Takio’s eyes, but no one could doubt how close their friendship with Moro had been. Yuuma, too, felt overcome with remorse, but his grief was at least as logical—or rather, calculating—as it was emotional. Priests were far too valuable at the moment. They’d had just three in the shelter to begin with, and thanks to Yuuma’s carelessness, they were now down to two. Come to think of it, Moro had been standing near the counter when those giant caterpillars fell out of the ventilation ducts and invaded the shopping area. He probably climbed over the counter as soon as trouble hit and then fled through the door to the back room. Unfortunately, one of the bugs had apparently come through the ceiling in the back, too. Moro had probably fled to the storage area, but the creature must have chased him down and bitten him on the back. It had drained too much of his blood while he was still paralyzed, and now…Moro was dead. Yuuma finally understood why the caterpillars—the Tabanus Hellfly Larvae—had given him so much experience despite being so easy to kill. Getting bitten and paralyzed by one while alone was almost certainly a death sentence. And it had taken only a few minutes for the pupa that fed on Moro’s corpse to grow into an adult insect. Those adult flies were likely far more dangerous than the larva versions had been. If the creatures attacked again, Yuuma and the others would probably be able to react better, but that wasn’t going to bring Moro back to life. Tomori Shimizu and Aoi Soga would have to take care of healing the remaining nineteen students all on their own now. We have to protect Shimizu and Soga no matter what. They might not like it, but someone should be guarding them both at all times—students from the Warrior class. We need to get everyone up to speed as soon as possible, and any spell casters should raise their utility magic skill level high enough to at least learn Healing Droplet. That’s objective number one. No—there are other things that probably need to be done first. Yuuma stepped away from Moro’s body and approached Sawa. “There was a bathroom in the break room area in the back,” he whispered. “People will probably start needing to go soon. Everyone should go together. You take the girls first, and then I’ll take the boys.” “Okay… Good thinking.” Sawa nodded and headed over toward Tomori. Next, he called over the tallest and strongest of the boys—Kenk, Oono, Sera, and Hokari. Sugamo would have fallen into that category as well, but he was still lying down in the eat-in corner, being fussed over by Aria. “You saved our butts again, Ashihara…,” Oono said as he drew near. He seemed embarrassed. Sera and Hokari hung their heads in frustration as well. “Even after changing class, I still couldn’t do anything…” “When I saw those big caterpillar freaks, I just froze…” “It was no one’s fault… There was no way to know they were poisonous. Besides, you protected the girls. Thank you.” Yuuma smiled at them. It still felt strange. “But the next time another big melee monster shows up, it’s you guys’ turn,” he added. “You can count on us!” The three boys grinned back at him. There was something else Yuuma needed to mention. “I know there’s a lot for us to do right now, but we should probably start by finding some way to seal up those ducts in the ceiling. I’m willing to bet there are more of those bugs still out there.” “That’s a good point,” said Kenk, joining them and nodding. “The ventilation system isn’t working now anyways, with the power off. We should just shove something big and bulky up where the ducts enter the room and seal them off at the source.” “Something big and bulky…,” said Sera, glancing around the shopping area before suddenly snapping his fingers. “What about those?” He pointed toward one of the display shelves. Most of the shelves were still full but mostly with just small miscellaneous merchandise. The shelves that Sera was pointing to, however, contained several stuffed animals large enough to hug with both hands. They rushed over to the shelves, and Yuuma picked up one of the stuffed animals. It was an eagle, Althea’s mascot. Yuuma was pretty sure it was named Nasr. It was kind of cute. The girls would probably balk at the idea of stuffing the plushies into a bunch of dirty vents, but fortunately all ten of the girls—except for Aria Misono—were in the back area using the bathroom. The five boys grabbed two stuffed animals each and hurried over to where the complicated network of ducts first entered the room. The exposed rectangular ceiling ducts were just above the registers and counter. The nearest vent cover had already been knocked loose. Since Oono was the tallest, he climbed up on top of the counter while Yuuma handed up stuffed animals for him to shove, one at a time, into the square vent hole. Oono had to really push in order to get the tenth stuffed animal into the hole. He climbed back down from the counter after he was done. “There, that should do it for now. I wish we could solidify it with something like glue, though…” “We’ll have to look for some later. Thanks, Oono,” said Yuuma. He glanced at the clock in the lower-right-hand corner of his vision. It was 4:40 PM, around when the sun would usually start to set. With the electricity and lights off, however, there was no sense of time inside Althea. The clocks in their stomachs, however, would not be so easily fooled. Students were probably going to start asking for something to eat soon. Yuuma’s and Sawa’s inventories were currently full with the large amount of onigiri, baked goods, and other food they had secured from the vending machines in the break room at the center of the first floor. But with twenty-three mouths to feed—no, twenty-two now—that food wouldn’t last long. Even with strict rationing, the food probably wouldn’t last a whole day. Yuuma was still hoping that things would settle down by then and that firefighters and police would come to their rescue. But he remembered what Sawa had said back in the break room. “There’s a good chance we won’t be getting out of here for a while. Two days, three days, ten… Maybe even longer if things don’t go our way.” Did Sawa have a good reason for thinking that was true? She clearly seemed to know something that he didn’t. As her twin brother, Yuuma didn’t mean to doubt her. She must have had her reasons for not sharing what she knew. But if she was right, and all twenty-two of them were going to be stuck in here for days, it was vital that they find a way to regularly replenish their food and water supplies. Come to think of it, the fact that there was an eat-in corner in the shop must mean there was also a stock of snacks and other simple food being kept somewhere. They should probably move that all into one spot as well, before fights occurred. But who could they trust to manage it…? Yuuma was still worrying over various details when the girls returned from the back room. After making eye contact with Sawa, who was at the front of the group, Yuuma raised his right hand and shouted so that the others could hear. “Any boys that need to use the bathroom should come with me. It will be safer if we go in a group!” Several of the boys began to walk toward Yuuma. The very first to reach him was Teruki Sugamo, despite the fact that he had been lying on his back only moments earlier. Well, Yuuma figured, even Sug needs to use the bathroom. He was about to ask if Sugamo was feeling better, when suddenly— “Ashihara!!” Sugamo shouted, his tone accusatory. “Just who do you think you are, bossing everyone around?!” “I…I’m not trying to boss anyone around—” Sugamo didn’t seem interested in listening. “You think you can just appoint yourself leader and tell everyone else what to do! But let’s not forget! The reason that Moro died…” Sugamo thrust a finger toward the corpse of Takeshi Moro, which was still lying on the floor near the left wall. “…is because of you!” “Because of me?!” Yuuma hadn’t meant to shout, but he didn’t understand how anyone could possibly reach that conclusion. “Sug!” “You no-good creep…” Kenk and Sawa marched in Sugamo’s direction, but he ignored them, striding past Yuuma and heading toward the counter. Yuuma realized Sugamo was holding a small metal mallet—probably meant for breaking the glass to escape during emergencies, such as in the event of a fire. Sugamo used it to strike the counter as hard as he could. Dong! A high-pitched metallic ring echoed throughout the room. Everyone fell silent. Yuuma wanted to tell Sugamo to stop. That all that noise was going to attract monsters. But for some reason, he couldn’t seem to get the words out. There was something deep in Sugamo’s eyes. They smoldered faintly in the dim emergency lighting. Something that intimidated Yuuma into silence. “His ratio is increasing…,” Sawa whispered from behind Yuuma. Yuuma was about to ask her what she meant, but Sugamo was already shouting again. “Everybody, listen to me!!” Everyone—the girls who had just returned from the back room and the boys who were preparing to take their turn—turned to stare at Sugamo with serious expressions on their faces. He rapped the mallet on the counter once more and began to speak. “Ladies and gentlemen of Yukihana Elementary School Class 6-1, it is time for us to hold a class meeting… No, not a meeting. A trial.” Silence descended again. Several seconds passed before one of the girls finally spoke. “Is this really the time for that?” she admonished. She had a rich, mellifluous voice. “There’s tons of important things we need to do and not a lot of time.” The speaker was Sayu Kenjou, student number 4. Her slightly wavy hair was gathered into a side ponytail with a white scrunchie. Cute and a talented singer, Sayu was probably the most idolized girl in their class—with the exception of Sumika Watamaki, of course. Most boys were quick to take Sayu’s side. Sugamo, however, remained unswayed. “Could anything be more important right now? Our dear friend, our classmate—Takeshi Moro—is dead. Unless we get to the bottom of why that happened, the very same thing could happen again.” “Get to the bottom of what, Sug…?!” shouted Sera. Before he could finish, however, Sugamo rapped his mallet on the counter, silencing him. “Student council is in session, and this trial has already begun! If anyone wishes to speak, raise your hand and wait until you are called. You may refer to me as Class President or Your Honor.” Sera clicked his tongue and then raised his right hand to about shoulder level. Sugamo pointed the hammer toward him and called his name: “Takato Sera.” “Your Honor, you said you wanted to get to the bottom of what killed Moro, but the answer is obvious. It was one of those big stinking bug freaks.” Several students nodded in agreement. Of course, none of them had actually seen the caterpillar attack Moro, but the body showed six bite wounds arranged in a circle on his back, and the Tabanus Hellfly Larva sported six fangs. What else could have made that mark? There was even an identical wound, still visible, on Sugamo’s neck. But apparently that was not what Sugamo had meant. “True, it was one of the insects that drained Moro of his blood. Nonetheless, it was Yuuma Ashihara who truly killed him!” “What’s that supposed…” …to mean? Yuuma began to say, but Sugamo pounded his mallet angrily. “Ashihara, when those insects attacked us, the first person you helped was Tomori Shimizu, was it not?” “Well, yeah… Because Shimizu is a Priest…” “And after that, you saved Youichi Oono. At which point Ria…ahem…Aria Misono asked you to pull off the bug that had attacked me. But you ignored her, didn’t you, and helped Takato Sera and Haruki Hokari instead! All people who had already sided with you! The truth is you were picking and choosing who to help, weren’t you, Ashihara?! All the better to position yourself as leader! Takeshi Moro wasn’t fortunate enough to be chosen. That was why he was forced to flee into the back room. That was what killed him.” Sugamo’s tone was icy. As he finished speaking, Yuuma could swear he saw a faint red glint in his eyes. Sugamo had gotten at least one fact wrong when describing Moro’s death: Moro had fled to the back room immediately, as soon as the bugs had shown up. Not that Yuuma saw any point in trying to correct Sugamo. Yuuma and Kenk had always seemed to rub Sugamo the wrong way, but that still didn’t explain the way he was acting. Yuuma had waited to save Sugamo only because he figured Sugamo still had plenty of HP left. Yuuma had nonetheless gone back to save him later. Yuuma wondered what Aria thought about all of this. He glanced over toward the eat-in corner, where she stood frozen, looking uneasy. Their gazes met. She, too, seemed to think that Sugamo was acting strangely. Yuuma turned back, staring into Sugamo’s eyes again. The red glint he had seen earlier must have just been an illusion, a trick of the light. Still, Sugamo wasn’t acting like his normal self… “Sug, you sonofa…” It was Kenk who spoke. He stepped forward, his giant hammer still in his right hand. Yuuma reached out in a panic and grabbed his friend’s arm, stopping him. “Kenk, quit it!” “But we can’t let him get away with this!” said Kenk, still trying to push forward. Yuuma struggled to hold him back. Spurred on by Kenk’s outburst, student after student began to raise their hands. Oono, Sera, Hokari, Tomori, Aoi, and five other students all raised their hands high. Sugamo, however, just banged his mallet repeatedly on the counter. “Enough! Everyone, open your ISSS voting modules!” ISSS (commonly pronounced “ice”) stood for Integrated Study Support System. It was a support app installed on their QRESTs, which they used at school for everything from test taking to homework. Not just for core subjects, either, but even for things like art, music, and gym classes. It had a range of extra features, including a tool that could be used for taking votes. Apparently, Sugamo was planning to use the ISSS to decide whether Yuuma should be held responsible for what had happened to Moro. But their QRESTs were offline. Most of the ISSS’s features should have still been unavailable…or so Yuuma thought, but a dialog box suddenly appeared, asking him to approve an ad hoc connection. Of course; as long as they were this close, they could just connect their QRESTs directly to use the voting module. Yuuma approved the connection and started up his module. A prompt appeared in thick bold letters, likely set up by Sugamo. ANONYMOUS VOTE: Do you think Yuuma Ashihara is responsible for Moro’s death? YES NO Underneath the prompt were large and buttons, with a short, thirty-second timer, indicating the time in which they had to cast their vote. Yuuma quickly pressed the button and waited for the timer to run out. Naturally he felt a little worried, but it was hard to believe that a majority of the twenty-two students in the room—twenty, excluding Sugamo and himself—would actually press the button. Obviously those bloodsucking caterpillars had been responsible for Moro’s death. The idea that Yuuma wouldn’t have helped him on purpose was just nasty speculation. The other students had to know that… Even Sugamo probably knew better than to believe that. So then, why on earth was he insisting on this crazy vote? The counter beneath the prompt window continued to tick away. Finally it reached 0, and the and buttons were replaced with a Show Results button. Ignoring his misgivings, Yuuma pressed SHOW RESULTS. There was a brief moment of digital static—and then a giant appeared, filling the entire screen. Yuuma Ashihara had been found guilty.