For now, I deploy a Sanctuary in this staff room.

With this, even if the monsters outside spot us, they shouldn't be able to get inside.

Though for now, even though they should be able to see us, they don't seem to be attacking.

Then I opened a nearby drawer and started rummaging through it.

Every time I rummaged through the contents, Nemusia peered into it with a puzzled look.

"What are you looking for?"

"Food, for now. I figured there would at least be some snacks."

"Ooh, sweets? I like sweets too!"

"Provisions, not sweets."

"You are substituting them for a meal...? Ngh."

Grumble, her stomach growled.

I stopped my search and stared intently at the source of the sound.

Then Nemusia quickly covered it with both hands, her face turning red as she glared at me with half-lidded eyes.

"A-Are you thinking it's a shameful stomach!?"

"As expected of a Queen, even your stomach growling sounds like a harp played by a goddess."

"You're making fun of me, aren't you. You are definitely making fun of me!"

To the indignantly fuming Nemusia, I handed a bag of rice crackers I found in the back of the desk.

"If you were acting alone, you probably couldn't get a proper meal, right? Eat that."

"...Thank you."

She says thank you surprisingly honestly.

"But, this bag is transparent and rustles. Can it be eaten?"

"You can't eat the bag."

"Is that so..."

Nemusia stared at the rice cracker bag curiously.

It seems she understands Japanese because she inherited a part of Yumemi chan's memories, but I guess it's not everything.

More like, she's struggling a lot because she doesn't know how to open it.

I took the bag from her, opened it, and handed her just the contents.

"Ooh, so you just tear it like that!"

"Here, a soy sauce rice cracker. I don't know if it'll suit your tastes. Also, it's not sweet."

"It's not sweet..."

You don't have to look so dejected.

"Sniff, sniff. It has a strange smell. Are these fermented beans...? Nom."

She took a modest bite.

"Ih'sh hahd."

Perhaps it was harder than she expected, as wrinkles formed between her eyebrows.

But it's not so hard that she can't chew it.

She immediately started munching on it with a crunch.

"Umu... It has a strange fragrance, but it's not inedible."

While watching her and wondering if she didn't like it that much, she ended up gobbling it all down regardless.

Then Nemusia held out her palm towards me.

I silently placed the bag of rice crackers on it.

This time, she opened the bag herself and started munching away.

...I guess she liked it.

Or is she just hungry?

Anyway, I'll investigate the staff room while she's quiet.

◇◇◇

What I've gathered so far are candies, cookies, potato chips, and other similar items.

Plus a few boxes of coffee and tea packs.

They aren't exactly essential for survival, but having this kind of stuff might put my mind at ease a bit, so I'll take them just in case.

I also collected scissors, box cutters, pens, notebooks, and so on.

For now, I'm putting everything inside my smartphone, but I wonder if there's a limit to this.

It's so convenient that it actually makes me anxious.

By the way, Nemusia also joined the search halfway through.

But rather than looking for things, her curiosity towards things she had never seen before seemed to take precedence, and I was bombarded with questions like "What is this?" and "What is it used for?" at every turn.

Her reactions were big and I found it amusing, so I didn't really mind.

Then I got to the last row of desks.

There, I suddenly remembered something important.

"Come to think of it, Nemusia, do you not have an Ability... um, a power like a Hero's?"

"I do not."

"It's amazing you survived until now."

"I managed somehow with a blinding flash and short-distance teleportation. I have always been good at running away."

So that teleportation has a distance limit.

It's convenient, so it's only natural it would have that kind of restriction.

"Can you use any other magic?"

"I can use a few, but they lack the power to be used for attacking. As expected, one probably cannot oppose them without being a Hero."

"Hmm, then do you want to join my party?"

"Is that alright...?"

"We're going to be acting together from here on out—wait, we are, right?"

Come to think of it, we hadn't discussed that yet.

Even though we're together as if it's the most natural thing in the world.

"If it is not a bother to Erika, I had intended to do so."

"Then I'll send you a party request."

"Send? Oh? Wh-What is this! Is it speaking directly into my head!? Is it telepathy!?"

"Just accept it."

"I-I accept..."

Now that she mentions it, this system doesn't make any sense.

Words like 'Do you want to join the party?' just suddenly pop into your head.

"Okay, with this, you're a member of the party. You can now use the same power as what you call an Apostle, Nemusia."

I showed Nemusia her status displayed on my smartphone.

She brought her face close to the screen and squinted, staring at it intently.

"I have been wondering for a while now, but what is that piece of board? It seems to be taking the place of a Book of Adventure."

"Ah, this? A smartphone. It's a tool that lets you contact people who have the same tool by voice, or show your figure and talk to them, I guess."

"Is it something like a crystal imbued with communication magic?"

"So, you have things like that where you're from too."

"It is not an item that commoners can possess, however. It is used when high-ranking officials of various countries converse."

"Over here, basically everyone has one."

"Everyone!?"

"You can also use it to look things up, listen to music, or play games installed on it."

"It can do anything. I had a faint suspicion, but it seems civilization in this country is more advanced than my homeland. Mgh, how frustrating. Shall I take this 'smartphone' thing back with me and have my researchers investigate it?"

"We don't have magic or anything in exchange, though."

"That sounds inconvenient."

"Right? Watching you use magic, Nemusia, makes me think it looks really convenient."

"Umu, it is extremely convenient! The crystallization of Adrasia's technology!"

Praise her and she immediately gets carried away.

It's cute like a child, but because she looks like Yumemi chan, my feelings are complicated.

After that, we continued rummaging through the desks while exchanging casual conversation, and finally arrived at Ooki's desk.

Honestly, no matter what's in here, I wouldn't want to eat it.

But I thought it was worth investigating.

I opened the deep, heavy drawer at the very bottom.

Inside were plenty of documents bound in files.

I took them out and read them, but they only contained details regarding school duties; it didn't seem like I'd get any information about Kaisei kyou.

The other files were the same.

I pulled everything out, but there was nothing hidden in the back either.

"I guess they wouldn't leave Kaisei kyou information in a place like this."

"Say, Erika, isn't that drawer a little strange?"

Nemusia, who was peering into the drawer from behind me before I realized it, said that.

I wonder if she got bored searching on her own.

"The bottom board is strangely thick. There might be something hidden."

Now that she mentions it, it is.

I pierced the edge of the bottom board with Dreamer and tried lifting it.

It turned out to be a false bottom, and a hidden new file appeared.

"Heheh, just as I thought. So, what was inside?"

"It says 'Bullying Promotion Manual'. Basically, something like a guidebook for anti-bullying measures. I don't know why it's hidden, though—"

"It promotes it even though it's a measure against it?"

"Eh? Ah... you're right."

When I spread it out on the desk, what was written there was—methods on how to spark bullying in a class, and how to escalate that bullying.

I read aloud from a randomly opened page.

"At Hikarinomiya Academy, during the entrance exams, we prioritize the admission of those with a high aptitude for becoming victims of bullying. This is called the 'Sacrifice Quota,' and in order to continuously offer souls to Giraiguu, we must ensure the enrollment of a certain number of sacrifice candidates every year. In cases where the parents are believers, the child may have been intentionally subjected to an education that raises their aptitude as a sacrifice. Regardless of their exam results, ensure these individuals are prioritized for admission."

It was something I already knew, and compared to Yumemi chan's records, the impact is weak.

However, even so—the very fact that something like this exists is proof that this school is hopelessly messed up, and I couldn't stop the anger welling up as I read it aloud.

Ah... no, wait.

Could this, perhaps, be about me?

Marin said it, didn't she? That our mother was the believer.

And my treatment in that house.

Was I not just treated as if I didn't exist or as a defective product—but raised to be tormented and killed?

"Are you kidding me... ha, haha..."

I instinctively covered my face with my hands and sighed.

I thought of myself as inferior trash, but does that mean that was intentional too?

Like Rea's house.

Or like Yumemi chan's house.

"Erika, are you alright?"

"I'm not alright... I feel like throwing up again."

When I said that, Nemusia hurriedly brought a nearby trash can over to me.

I appreciate it, but I don't really intend to throw up.

"I kept thinking it's messed up, it's messed up... At first it was just my surroundings, then it became this school, and now it's this entire city... somehow, it's making me dizzy. What is this place. Just by being born in a place like this, my life was already checkmated..."

"Um, I do not know what to say, but..."

"I'll just accept your feelings of encouragement. It's okay, compared to what happened to Yumemi chan, this is nothing. No, rather, I think I've gotten some energy back. That's right, the number of people to kill just increased. Not just the people in the school. After getting out of here, I just need to slaughter those shitty parents and the scumbags involved with Kaisei kyou! Pure and simple! Because the current me can do that!"

"U-Umm..."

"I'll read the rest."

"Should you not stop? There should be no need to read through the contents."

"Furthermore, we will also prioritize the admission of those with a high aptitude for becoming perpetrators of bullying."

"Erika... you..."

"To corner the sacrifices more effectively, they are divided into several categories so that a 'society with the sacrifice at the absolute bottom' can be efficiently created in each class. A quota for successful applicants is set for each of these categories, and when assigning classes, care must be taken to ensure that individuals with the same talents do not overlap."

What, so it wasn't a coincidence that my class was full of trash.

The other classes were like this too, after all.

Could it be that the perpetrator quota here was also intentionally raised by believers?

Thinking about those pieces of trash acting all high and mighty while being raised exactly according to their parents' expectations is comical.

Come to think of it, Rea too—didn't she say a part of Giraiguu was put into her when she was a fetus.

Every single one of them, what do they think their own children are?

Tools to be raised exactly as they want? Disposable lives existing solely for Giraiguu?

They're trash. If they wanted to do that so badly, they should have just offered their own lives.

"Mental care for the sacrifices... In order for Giraiguu to enjoy them deliciously, teachers must interact with the sacrifices and corner their minds further. Praise the perpetrators at every opportunity to increase the frequency of violence against the sacrifices. Occasionally, heighten the sense of unity by engaging in violence together, and foster the awareness that the sacrifice is a shared tool. In certain classrooms, it is possible to spray chemicals that excite humans. Provide these to students as easily discoverable locations by others, and execute sequential spraying of the chemicals to lead the perpetrators into a state of extreme excitement. Furthermore, by slipping specific audio into the school broadcast chimes, etc., the stress of the students can be increased. Especially by broadcasting this after school, when violence against the sacrifices is prone to occur, the growth of the sacrifice can be promoted—"

An enumeration of malice.

A list of madness.

To feel that as "correctness" and perform it calmly, that is what the people of Kaisekyou are. That is how I understand it.

At the same time, I realized that it truly couldn't be changed by anything other than power.

The many worries I've held until today.

Regrets.

About the value of life.

About the meaning of my existence.

All those philosophical, unanswerable self-questioning soliloquies—all of them were meaningless.

I feel like the inside of my head is becoming incredibly light.

Simplifying.

Enemies and allies.

White and black.

With that boundary line becoming clearly visible, if anything, I even started to feel that this ridiculously messed-up document had meaning.

"Haaaah..."

Having read everything aloud, I let out a heavy sigh.

I felt like I had eaten a stomach full of extremely greasy food.

"Nemusia... you said earlier that you'd act together with me, but are you okay with killing people?"

"I am not okay with it. However, I am used to seeing it."

"I see, then that's good."

I generated an Illusion Dagger.

Threw it forward.

A desk was sliced cleanly in half, and it pierced into another desk beyond it.

"U-Uwaaaah!" a man's scream echoed.

"Is someone there!?"

"They've been sneaking around out of our line of sight since a while ago."

Plus, many snack bags were open, and there was fairly new trash scattered in the trash can.

Probably, someone survived by hiding here.

And this staff room is connected to that underground altar.

The possibility of it being a teacher is high.

It's just a high possibility, not 100%, so I shouldn't just suddenly stab them, but—my intuition told me to.

I'm probably right.

Moving to the destroyed desk, there was a man in a suit, bleeding from his leg and crouching down.

"Oh, it's just Usumine sensei."

"U-Uugh... Y-You are... a student of our school, right...?"

"Second-year Kuragane. I took your class in my first year."

"I know your face... But, why... doing something like this so suddenly!"

"Because you're a teacher at this school, right?"

"Huh?"

"Well, whatever. Sensei, lend me your smartphone."

"Why."

"Lend it to me if you don't want to be killed right now."

"Hya... h-here it is, so please don't kill me...!"

I had Usumine sensei unlock it as well, and rummaged through the smartphone.

What I'm checking is the messaging app.

Contact with someone seemingly related to Kaisei kyou is—oh, he's talking to Ooki.

What's more, on the morning of the day the incident occurred.

"Wait, Kuragane, you can't look at that!"

I slice off the hand he reached out with.

"Gyaaaaaaaah!"

Ah, this guy was doing it, wasn't he.

Calling Yumemi chan a sacrifice, the two of them are rejoicing that the completion of the ritual is near.

He's also boasting about having a sacrifice in the class he's homeroom teacher for, and how many people he's killed so far.

For the teachers at our school, is this the standard?

No wonder Meiji sensei despaired.

"Unlike Ooki, you didn't receive any power, Usumine sensei. Is that why you were cowering here all alone?"

"Hii, my arm, my arrrrm!"

He's annoying, so I sever his other arm too.

If both are gone, he'll lose any lingering attachments.

"Hiaaaaaaaaah!"

"Sensei, if you don't answer my questions, I'll kill you right now, okay?"

"Hii, I-I'll answer! I'll answer!"

"Why did you flee here alone? Because only you didn't have power? Or did you chicken out after seeing the other teachers turn into zombies?"

"Seeing them turn into zombies... I-I got scared. I thought I would find happiness once Giraiguu descended!"

"I see, then die."

I thrust Dreamer into his stomach.

"Wha—"

I didn't kill him right away, so I kept my promise, right?

I lifted Sensei's body by the hilt just like that, and casually tossed him up with one hand.

"Why."

Do you want to ask why I'm killing you?

Then there's only one answer.

"Because you're alive, Sensei."

Taking aim at Sensei's softly floating body, I unleash a skill.

"Full Burst."

Countless knives floated up into the air, and rushed his body all at once.

Sliced open to shreds and resembling a filleted fish, Sensei is crucified to the ceiling by the piercing knives.

A sprinkler of blood stains the floor.

Eventually, the illusionary knives created by the skill vanish, and the corpse falls.

Catching it with my hands, I hurled it toward the window glass.

The glass shatters, and the mass of flesh and skin falls outside.

Even though such a creepy object fell right before their eyes, those humans with holes in their faces showed absolutely no reaction.

"Those monsters noticed our presence through the window even before I deployed the sanctuary. Above all, Usumine sensei hadn't been attacked either. I think they are harmless entities for now."

While calmly analyzing the situation, I looked back at Nemusia.

She had a pale face.

I gasped, realizing something important.

"Ah, right. I killed him too quickly in the heat of the moment. Oops, when I was on the first floor, I still had the leeway to think about making my opponents suffer longer or things like that. Just now, I was so disgusted by living in the same world as that guy, I ended up killing him with all my might."

Nemusia closed her eyes, took a deep breath—and looked at me once more.

And smiled.

"How you kill them is entirely up to you. However, by all means, take care of your own body. It would be a waste for your beautiful clothes and adorable face to be stained with blood."

She probably had something she wanted to say.

But she swallowed those words for me.

Recalling the records we saw underground—convincing herself that the teacher was one of the perpetrators.

"You're right about that too. Thanks."

◇◇◇

As I was told, I washed my body with Water, changed into a fresh uniform to tidy myself up, and went outside.

A large number of monsters with holes in their faces were walking around.

However, they do not attack us.

"I wonder why they are not attacking us."

"They just feel like amusement park guests. They're clearly different from the zombies we met on the first floor."

Not that I think they're safe entities, though.

But even though they don't voice it, they are recreating human activities by riding the attractions and having fun, and buying food at the stalls, just like humans.

Perhaps it's just lifeforms from another world living normally—keeping such a possibility in the corner of my mind, I begin exploring the amusement park.

"The humans of this world only make bizarre rides. Why ride in teacups? Why does a ship hang in the air! Why hang suspended in the air at such a high place and spin around!?"

"It's fun if you ride them, you know?"

"This is madness. However, to build such a massive facility solely for entertainment purposes—it is proof of prosperity."

"Your perspective on looking at things is completely different."

"Because I am a Queen. If you say it is fun, I think I would like to ride one at least once... but I suppose that is impossible here."

"Yeah, even I wouldn't want to, I guess. If it's been teleported here, does that mean the real Hikarinomiya Fantasy Land is gone?"

"Are there usually this many guests at this 'Fantasy Land'?"

"On weekdays there shouldn't be this many, but I don't think it would be zero."

"I see... Then there is a possibility that people outside of the school were also dragged into this."

At the very least, these hole-humans aren't humans who were originally here.

In that sense as well, they were different from zombies.

Also, it was bizarre that Hikarinomiya Academy classrooms were dotted around the amusement park like prefabricated huts.

The mixing seemed random; some rooms were embedded in the rides, and there was even a room placed on top of a tree.

"Is there a map of this place?"

"I think there should be pamphlets placed around here somewhere... Found it, over there."

Next to a stall selling juice and such, there were pamphlets with a map.

I doubt how helpful it will be, but it should serve as some reference so I want to keep it.

I run over to the metal rack.

Then, I noticed a pink mascot handing out balloons in the distance.

"Ah, it's Rabi Rabi chan."

"Rabi...? What is that."

"A rabbit mascot character. There's a person inside that one, though."

"Even I can tell that much just by looking."

"She's one of the famous characters of this amusement park. She's always handing out balloons to kids like that."

Even when just the two of us, Yumemi chan and I, came here, she pulled my arm while I was acting embarrassed, and we got a balloon.

Even though there were only kids around, Yumemi chan is really pushy sometimes.

"Rabi Rabi chan is looking our way."

"She might attack us soon."

"Do not say such ominous things."

"But that mascot costume's hands are bright red."

"Mgh... Furthermore, there seems to be another animal beyond Rabi Rabi chan."

"Ah, Kuma Kuma kun."

"Is the thing that one is hugging not a human?"

The brown bear mascot had a human who still had a face in a full nelson.

And as it pressed its hands against the person's face—it sank them in with a squelch.

The human's body convulsed in agony, but soon stopped moving.

When Kuma Kuma kun's arm was pulled out, blood trailed stickily.

And the released human collapsed to the ground, with a gaping hole in their face.

But a few seconds later, they stood up as if nothing had happened, became a member of those hole-humans, and began to enjoy the amusement park.

"It seems I was mistaken to think this was better than the first floor just because we can breathe outside air."

"Nemusia, are you ready to run?"

"You are faster, so do not leave me behind."

Before the opponents could make a move, we turned our backs to Rabi Rabi chan and started running.

To head back to the staff room for now.

Then, an announcement began playing throughout the park.

『That's no good, you guys, it's a rule violation. Here, you mustn't stand out more than the "Cast".』

It's probably a message directed at us.

『Because this is Fantasy Land. A place where everyone equally dreams happy dreams.』

Villains love to talk about equality and happiness.

And it's always "happiness" that's convenient for them.

『Therefore—I have to take your faces equally.』

Here it comes.

Simultaneous with that announcement, the hole-humans turned towards us all at once.

Furthermore, they began to ooze a dark green substance from the holes in their faces.

When it touched the ground, that spot rapidly decayed and crumbled away.

"They are related to zombies after all!"

"But their movements aren't that fast. Neither are those mascots."

Rabi Rabi chan and Kuma Kuma kun are also chasing after us while running, but they are only slightly faster than the hole-humans.

Nemusia's level is still 1, so her Agility is low, but perhaps because she's trained reasonably well, she's fast on her feet, and above all, she can use teleportation in an emergency.

We can escape this—

"Erika, there is a pig coming from the front! A pig is riding a horse!"

Just as I thought that, a new enemy appeared from ahead.

"Buta Buta kun is riding a merry-go-round horse!?"

What's more, he's riding it incredibly well.

Contrary to the absurdity of the visual, a life-threatening crisis was closing in on us, having been caught in a pincer attack.