“They’re being reckless, considering these roads in the winter.”
“D’you think they might be locals, Senpai?”
The women didn’t seem concerned about the approaching van. They were an unlikely pair, one in a sober suit and the other dressed casually but fashionably. I had a ton of questions for them, but that could wait until we were out of this mess.
“I’m gonna move this to the highway. Don’t want any civilians getting in an accident ’cause of us.”
“Good thinking. The highway around here is always empty.”
I didn’t know the geography of this place, so I was no help. I just focused on keeping Carol occupied. She had her face pressed against the window, captivated by the view.
She was beaming. “Yoshio! The outside is going by so fast!”
Guess I didn’t need to worry about her. I thought she’d be scared, but she seemed to be enjoying herself. I leaned over to buckle up her seat belt.
Our other passenger was splayed over the headrest, a serious gaze fixed on the approaching van. Destiny and I narrowed our eyes and focused on the scene. The punk was driving with Habatake in the passenger seat. I couldn’t tell if the rest of the guys were in there, too.
“We haven’t introduced ourselves yet, right? Yoshio-kun?”
I turned at the sound of my name.
“I’m Sewatari Seri,” said the woman in the suit. “I’m on the side of the major gods. I play a god who governs fortune.”
She played a god of fortune? Sounded like she might be related to the God of Fate.
“I’ll go next,” said the girl in makeup. “What’s up, I’m on the major gods’ side, too. I work with Senpai, and I play the God of Na—”
Sewatari-san coughed suddenly, cutting her off.
Was she about to say something she shouldn’t? Something against the rules?
“I’m a hot girl who likes to chill! My name’s Nattyan! Nice to meetcha!”
I didn’t know if I would call her hot. And since she was driving, she had to be at least eighteen—more a woman than a girl. I didn’t say any of that out loud, of course.
“I’m Carol! This is Yoshio! And this is Destiny!”
I was about to introduce myself when Carol did it for me. Destiny waved its tail amicably from Carol’s arms as she held it up.
“You really are adorable, Carol-chan. Would you like to be my daughter?”
“You love little girls like her huh, Senpai? Kinda creepy.”
“No, it isn’t! There’s nothing more precious than the innocence of a little girl!”
Sewatari-san’s response was so passionate that I resolved to keep Carol away from her. Just to be safe.
Still, this conversation told me one thing: Carol could understand them. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have known to make an introduction after they made theirs. So they weren’t lying about playing the game.
“I’d love to explain properly, but we should really do something about our predicament first. Don’t they know that clingy men are unattractive?” Sewatari-san looked behind us in disgust.
“I dunno,” Nattyan said. “I kinda like it when a man knows what he wants.”
I glanced behind us. The minivan was even closer than before. As we were talking, we’d sped out of town and onto a long, straight road that cut through wide fields of snow. It was impossible to tell whether the fields were farmland or simply empty wilderness.
I’d seen long roads like this stretching out toward the horizon on TV before, but the actual sight was so much more impressive that I was at a loss. It wasn’t just me; Carol had her face glued to the window again, captivated by our snowy surroundings. It was like our car was racing through a world made entirely of white. A fairy tale.
“It’s beautiful, right? Even though there’s nothing here. It’d be great if we could slow down, and you could really take the time to—”
Sewatari-san’s words were drowned out by the sound of a horn behind us. The van was so close now that I could clearly see the faces of the men in the front seats.
“They’re not gonna try an’ ram us, right? You’ve still gotta pay this car off!”
“I’ve only had it for two years,” Sewatari-san said. “I don’t think they’ll be that reckless. They’re not allowed to harm another player directly. Hence all the underhanded methods.”
Ramming into us had to be against the rules. Did that mean we were safe so long as we kept driving?
“We can’t let ’em keep following us like this.”
“Nope. We need to shake them off, but I’m not sure where to start.”
The rules worked both ways, unfortunately. We couldn’t harm them directly either. But there was someone who could.
Destiny was still staring out the back. Noticing my gaze, it turned and looked at me with its big, round eyes. Destiny’s powers didn’t count as miracles, so they were the only thing that could get us out of this mess. I ran through our options in my head, trying to come up with the best one.
“Um, Nattyan-san? Do you think you could slow down a little?”
“Just Nattyan’s fine. Sure, I could slow down, but they’ll catch us!”
“That’s why I’m asking.”
It sounded like an absurd request, but I bowed my head as deeply as I could, hoping I seemed like I knew what I was doing.
“Hey! You got guts, you’re kind, and you’re humble! I like that! Funny, ’cause you look super plain on the outside.”
Was she trying to praise me or insult me?
“Yes! Yoshio-kun gets this really cool glint in his eye when he’s made up his mind about something.” Sewatari-san sounded almost proud, like she already knew me, but I couldn’t remember ever meeting her.
“Okay! Whatever you say, Yoshiocchi! How slow should I go?”
“Well, the satnav says there’s a big curve coming up. Do you think you could drop to twenty miles per hour just before we reach it?”
“Easy peasy! I do that kinda stuff all the time in games!”
That wasn’t particularly encouraging, but I had no choice but to trust her. Now I just needed to make sure Destiny and I were on the same page.