『Why are you here? Why in a place like this?』

Ushizawa Ai heard a girl's voice in the darkness.

Even when she reacted and opened her eyes, her vision remained dyed pitch black.

『Hiiro?』

She tried asking the owner of the voice, but there was no response.

『Even though I wanted to end it. To think even Ai would get dragged into this.』

『It sounds like Hiiro's voice to Ai. Answer me, Hiiro. Where are you?』

『I am here.』

『Where is that? Ai doesn't know. Close? Far?』

『...Ai. Ah, why. Ai.』

『Hiiro. Wait Hiiro, if you're safe, I want to see you. Ai has been looking for you this whole time!』

Ai stands up.

Or rather, she felt like she did; she doesn't know if she actually stood up.

With her vision closed off, and perhaps lacking even physical sensation, she didn't even know if she truly existed "there."

However, for some reason, she had the tangible feeling that she was moving forward.

『You mustn't. You mustn't come. Ai, you shouldn't be here.』

And the further she advanced, the closer Hiiro's voice became—piercing through the black curtain, Ai burst out under the light.

『A castle...?』

It wasn't a hotel, but inside a stone castle like those in real fantasy stories.

It was what you would call a throne room.

A red carpet was laid down, and at the end of it was a throne—or so it should have been.

『Hi...』

Ai's voice caught in her throat.

What was there was not a throne.

Though she hadn't seen it, it was a massive monster that filled the wall, reminiscent of "Homesick" from the 1st floor.

It was a new life created by stitching together the severed bodies of various animals.

A monster like that.

A rabbit's face sprouted from a pig's belly, and a bear's arm pierced a squirrel's mouth.

Bird wings grew from human eyes, and dozens of cat legs were attached to a horse's back.

Moreover, every single one of them was moving like a living animal.

The room was filled with the stench of beasts, the smell of rot, and the scent of blood, making her feel sick just by breathing.

『Wh-What... Ai doesn't understand anything...』

Terrified, Ai slumped down.

Then, Hiiro's voice echoed through the room.

『You mustn't come. Ai, I absolutely didn't want you, of all people, to come.』

『Hiiro? Hiiro, where are you!?』

『Ai... this isn't Dreamland or anything like it.』

『Hiiro—』

Ai finally found Hiiro's figure.

In the center of the monster writhing before her eyes, as if crucified, with her limbs buried within it.

『Hiiro! Wait, Ai will save you!』

Ai started running.

However, she was blocked by an invisible wall and repelled.

『Augh! No way, a wall. If Ai had power, she could break it... but right now, Ai can't do anything.』

『Hey, Ai. This is a stage for revenge.』

『What do you mean? Ai doesn't understand.』

『The one and only stage for revenge granted to us who were unrewarded. It was the same for Shimakawa Yuya. For me too. And—』

『Let's go home, Hiiro! You shouldn't be in a place like this!』

『Ah... why. Why are you here, Ai. For this... for this to happen...』

Hiiro's voice was fading away.

Ai tried to scream, but she could no longer even raise her voice.

Eventually, the scenery was also closed off by a black curtain, enveloped in darkness.

◇◇◇

"Hah!?"

With a gasp, Ai sat up, raising her upper body.

"Uwaaaaah!?"

Then, a man yelled loudly right nearby and fell on his backside.

Ai's body jolted with a start, and reacting to it, the others resting in the hall also woke up.

"What was that voice just now..."

When Mitsurugi, who was sleeping next to her, said that while rubbing her eyes, the man hurriedly ran out of the room muttering, "Crap."

"Was that Myourenji just now? Don't tell me he attacked you in your sleep—Ushizawa san, your face is pale. Did he do something to you!?"

"...He didn't. It's okay, Ai wasn't even touched."

"Thank goodness..."

Mitsurugi placed a hand on her chest and let out a big breath.

The other people locked in this hall also seemed relieved to hear Ai's words for now.

"I saw it, though... that man just now was holding a camera, right?"

Said a girl in a school uniform.

She was a second-year, Akabane Kanako, one of the students kidnapped by Suguro and his group.

"That Myourenji guy, he used to take secret photos at school a lot too. Good grief, what did he intend to do by taking pictures of sleeping faces!"

"Haa... haa..."

"You were scared, weren't you, Ushizawa san."

"Y-Yeah. But Ai is..."

Her pale face wasn't just because of Myourenji.

That nightmare she just saw—it was stuck in her head and wouldn't leave.

(Hiiro, where are you. If you're nearby... Ai wants to see you soon...)

◆◆◆

Awakening from sleep, I open my eyes in the dim restaurant.

"Heavy..."

Nemusia was lying on top of my body, breathing softly in her sleep, looking happy.

Perhaps because of that, my arm was numb and wouldn't move properly.

 "...She looks exactly like Yumemi chan when she's sleeping."

Even though her hair color is different, her face is exactly the same.

My heart pounds loudly.

But immediately, guilt squeezes it, making it painful.

As expected, I still haven't sorted out within myself how I should interact with her.

When I lightly stroked her hair, Nemusia muttered sadly, "Nn... Big brother..."

"I'm not your brother'. How cunning."

I'm sure until "something" happened in the Adrasia Kingdom, she lived without even being conscious of being a Queen.

The innocence and childishness she occasionally shows must be remnants of that.

As I continued staring at Nemusia's face for a while, footsteps approached.

The one who showed his face was Akabane san.

He was holding a business bag in his hand.

He checked the direction where Inoue san was sleeping once, then called out to me.

"Could I have a little of your time?"

"I don't mind."

Feeling curious, I nevertheless nodded.

Then I gently sat up and placed Nemusia's head on my lap.

He sat in the seat opposite me and spoke in a low voice so as not to wake the others.

"You're going outside today too, right?"

"Of course."

"Then I have one request. I want you to find this person."

Saying that, he opened the bag placed on his lap.

Inside were various documents and a Fantasy Land name tag, among other things.

He took out something like a pamphlet from there and pointed at a certain photo.

The person in the photo was a middle-aged man.

"Who is this?"

"Tsumori Takuro. The director of Hikarinomiya Fantasy Land—in other words, my boss."

"When did you get separated?"

"Rather than separated... I haven't seen him once since the Hole-Men appeared and we couldn't go outside."

"Then isn't he already dead?"

"I want you to make sure, just in case. Because he should probably be in his office."

"...Just tell me roughly where his office was, for now."

I displayed the map and had Akabane san teach me the general location.

Like the hotel, it should at least serve as a reference for direction even in this amusement park that turned into an alternate world.

"But why me? Couldn't you ask Inoue san?"

"That... of course I considered it. But she's been protecting this place all alone until now. I can't put a burden on her."

The logic makes sense.

But I couldn't shake the feeling that he was hiding something.

◇◇◇

After Nemusia and Inoue san woke up, we head near the hotel again today.

Since their companions just died yesterday, I thought Ooki and the others would surely be on high alert and wouldn't come outside—just as I thought that, a message arrived from Gii.

Saying that two people were going outside today as well to get supplies from the stalls.

Honestly, I think they're way too careless, but well, I'm thankful they're letting their guard down.

I think I'll go "hunting" today too.

Yesterday, we managed to reach the hotel without being spotted by Casts even once.

Perhaps because they are serving the Hole-Men, their field of vision isn't very wide.

So we should be fine today too—or so I thought, but.

"We should have been completely hidden. Why were we discovered?"

"That mascot costume was sniffing the ground."

"Inu Inu kun noticed us by our scent!"

I never expected them to use senses other than sight.

Since dogs are sensitive to smells, does that mean the other mascot costumes also have traits associated with their respective animals?(TL Note: Inu means dog)

Inu Inu kun caught up to Nemusia, who was slightly inferior in speed, and pounced on her.

"You dog beast, I won't let you!"

However, when Inu Inu kun touched the Reaction Cast, wind magic activated, and the mascot costume was shredded to pieces.

But during that time, other mascot costumes and Hole-Men closed in on us.

"If we hide while they're all down, they won't chase us anymore, right."

"Yes, that's correct."

There are two methods Inoue san told me to escape the Casts' pursuit.

One is to escape into a sanctuary.

And the other is to defeat the enemies and disappear from their sight before they regenerate.

Satisfying the latter requires defeating all Casts, making the hurdle high, but right now, not a significant number has gathered yet.

"We can do it now. Inoue san, fire a volley too!"

"Roger that. Gatling Shot!"

"Full Burst, gooo!"

Inoue san fired countless bullets from the tips of her tonfas, turning the Hole-Men and Casts into honeycombs.

A massive amount of knives joined in, and fireworks of blood bloomed proudly on the ground.

In the blink of an eye, the ground was dyed red, and a hellscape of massive amounts of rolling flesh was completed.

Lately, I often see her using them as guns rather than for striking. Do those really need to be tonfas?

Well, if I say that, she might say 'You only throw knives too, shouldn't you just use a projectile weapon from the start?'

But this is a memento of Yumemi chan, after all.

"Alright, let's run."

"Wait, Inoue san. There's a living Cast over there—"

The moment I pointed at Rabi Rabi chan crawling on the ground, its head was sliced open by a blade of wind.

Then, on the cross-section of the wound, I saw something different from flesh, something reflecting light embedded in it.

What is that, a thin plastic case?

"Nemusia, thanks."

"Heheh, for a Queen, this is nothing."

Having safely annihilated them, we quickly run and hide in a nearby shadow before they get up.

The Casts that finished regenerating immediately stood up and searched the surroundings for our figures, but gave up immediately when they couldn't find us and returned to their normal duties.

Rabi Rabi chan ignoring the Hole-Men corpses and handing out balloons to the living Hole-Men.

Then, playing cheerful music and with colorful flashing lights, a car approaches the corpses.

"Inoue san, what is that?"

"A cleaning car. It seems it was originally a parade car, though."

The car sucks the corpse in through a hole in the front.

Hearing a grinding sound means it must be crushing the corpses inside.

"What an unpleasant sound."

"It's not good for the heart to watch it too much."

"Yes, let's move on."

◇◇◇

Based on the information I got from Gii, we set a Reaction Cast at the stall.

We hid in a place where we could see the state of the store and waited for the targets to arrive.

Until then, it was awkward to stay completely silent, so I asked Inoue san about something that had been bothering me.

"Inoue san, that pendant hanging from your neck..."

"Ah, this?"

"Isn't it in the way when you fight?"

"It is boorish of you to comment on a maiden's fashion, Erika."

"I can't help it, I was curious."

Inoue san is a woman who doesn't wear much decoration.

Given her line of work, it might be better not to stand out.

Amidst that, since she always wears only that necklace, I thought she might have some emotional attachment to it.

Then she placed the pendant on her hand and opened the lid.

Inside was a lump of green origami, though I couldn't quite tell what it was.

"Is it some kind of magical object?"

"Fufu, no. You see, this is a charm my little sister Hiiro made for me a long time ago. It's supposed to be a four-leaf clover. She gave it to me when I participated in a club tournament, saying 'Do your best, big sis,' and ever since I won that tournament, I've cherished it."

"You said she was a much younger sister, right."

"Yes. I'm confident I doted on her even more than our mother did."

To call it doting herself, she must have spoiled her quite a bit.

"A sister so precious it wouldn't hurt to put her in your eye, huh. It is natural you would want to carry that around without letting it leave your skin." (TL Note: 'so precious it wouldn't hurt to put her in your eye' it is an idiom that means loving someone dearly)

"Yeah... Besides, when I hold this, I feel like I can sense Hiiro's warmth. The fact that it's warm means she must definitely be alive somewhere, you know."

Inoue san said that as if praying.

The whereabouts of Inoue Hiiro remain unknown.

There's been no report from Gii of seeing anyone resembling her either.

A 10-year-old child should stand out among a crowd of high schoolers and adults, though.

"I also think she is alive. Even now, somewhere, she must be wanting to see her older sister."

"Thank you, Nemusia chan."

Nemusia herself is a younger sister, so she must feel some sympathy.

Perhaps she wants to find not only the Adrasia Kingdom but also her missing older brother.

But her awareness as a Queen doesn't allow her to act on personal circumstances.

"Ah, looks like they're here."

While we were talking, two men came walking from a distance.

One was an unfamiliar face.

He isn't wearing a school uniform, and he looks like he's over 20, so he's probably a guest at Fantasy Land.

Was he pulled in as a companion because he got along with Shiromachi, Suguro, and the others?

The other is my classmate Haida.

Honestly, he didn't leave much of an impression on me, but he's an ill-mannered student often talking with Shiromachi.

They stood in front of the stall and slowly started playing rock-paper-scissors.

And the winner, Haida, stood outside as a lookout, while the other man went inside.

It seems they are at least being cautious because of yesterday.

Then they shouldn't have come outside.

"It is almost time."

The next moment after Nemusia said that— "Gyaaaaaaaaah!" a man's scream echoed.

Inoue san averted her eyes slightly from the store and bit her lip painfully.

Startled by the voice, Haida hurriedly went inside the store, but—a few seconds later, his scream could be heard this time.

At the same time, the sound of something breaking like crack-crack came from inside the stall, and the entire building shook violently.

Haida came out crawling on all fours, his face contorted in terror.

Showing such an unsightly figure, my satisfaction level is high.

Would it be bad for Inoue san if I laughed?

But sorry, I don't think I can hold it back.

Chasing the crawling Haida, a flabby, fat monster appeared while destroying the wall.

"Its shape is different from the bone monster from before."

"This time it resembles a Ghoul."

The monster approached Haida while shaking its giant body.

Then, while running away, he took out his smartphone and contacted someone.

"Shiromachi!? It's me, Haida! Right now, I'm being attacked by a monster at the stall! Hosokawa was probably killed by that thing too! Makuchi and Rikitomi too, maybe!"

This is helpful.

They're concluding on their own that they were killed by a monster, making it even less likely they'll find out it was us.

Good boy, Haida kun. To cooperate with me even in death, I wonder if he intends it as atonement.

While enjoying his escape drama, I suddenly felt a gaze.

Right next to me, Nemusia was staring intently at my face.

"You have my older brother's face."

"What's with that phrasing. Didn't you say I didn't look like him?"

"Looking closely, the eyes might be a little similar."

The "avenger" part probably matches, and if you look for them, there might be some similar parts.

But that doesn't mean she should seek his vestiges in just that one aspect, I think.

"It's flabby and incredibly huge! It's neither a Hole-Man nor a Cast! A-ah, it's no use. I'm going to be caught. Sorry, Shiromachi, this is as far as I—"

"Buooooooooooooh!"

The monster swung its clasped hands down towards Haida kun.

He was flattened as if smashed by a hammer.

The splattered blood bloomed magnificently, just like a flower.

With a squelch... drawing red threads, the monster lifted its arms.

Then, from the corpse stuck to the ground, a monster also resembling a Ghoul crawled out.

Compared to the ruin of the man named Hosokawa, it had a protruding belly, short legs, and thick arms.

How those characteristics will affect its fighting style, I won't know until we fight it.

"They are just standing there."

"It seems they haven't noticed us. Shall we just leave them like this?"

"No, let's defeat them and clean up the corpses before anyone comes. It'll be good for leveling up too."

"Is there a need to erase the traces that thoroughly?"

"Yesterday, Suguro said his companions' HP became negative. Probably when you die and become a monster, it's displayed like that."

"In other words, when that negative becomes zero, the monster dies?"

"And seeing the behavior of that HP, someone with good intuition might realize that those are the ruins of their companions. I want to keep it hidden for just a little longer."

"I'll leave that judgment to you, Erika chan. If it's better to defeat them, let's go quickly."

"Umu. The opponents are strong enemies excelling in durability. We must attack all at once with high firepower!"

We leaped out from our hiding place and charged at the monsters.

◇◇◇

"What's the meaning of this... what the hell is going onnnn!"

Barking that, Shiromachi kun kicked the wall.

A few minutes after our battle ended—as if swapping places with us, Shiromachi kun and Suguro kun arrived in front of the stall.

Only traces of a battle remained there, and let alone Haida and Hosokawa, not even the monster corpses remained.

"What did Haida chan get attacked by. Why did Hosokawa chan die!"

"It's the same as yesterday."

"Does that mean yesterday's guys were done in by monsters too!? This is messed up, didn't Ooki chan say Giraiguu is on our side!"

"Yeah... but this is what's actually happening."

"Dammit, we're loved by God, right? We're even offering tributes. It's happily gobbling them up every day! That's right, Haida chan and Hosokawa chan came here to get those tributes too. Yet Giraiguu killed them! Why! Why did it betray our faith!"

Shiromachi kun, what are you talking about?

To gather tributes? Does that mean Giraiguu is inside that hotel?

"You're jumping to conclusions too quickly. It's not necessarily Giraiguu that did it."

"But come on!"

Suguro kun placed a hand firmly on the panicking Shiromachi kun's shoulder.

"If Giraiguu betrayed us, we who were given its power should have died a long time ago. Am I wrong?"

"...That's, true but."

"Inoue might be taking revenge on us. Or perhaps a new faction is approaching."

"This is a closed-off place. Where would they even come in from."

"Assuming Kuragane is alive."

As expected, Suguro kun is more troublesome.

He's clearly calmer than Shiromachi kun, and if he's fighting Casts daily, his level should be higher than ours too.

Ooki and Nakami san's true strength is unknown, but my intuition tells me he's the most troublesome.

"How would she survive that? You made the stairs unusable, didn't you? Moreover, are you saying she controls monsters!?"

"I don't know. I don't know anything. That's exactly why we should act preparing for the worst-case scenario."

"Suguro chan, you look like you live by instinct, but you say surprisingly calm things, don't you."

"Have you calmed down?"

"Yeah, my anger is still boiling, but I can think things through properly now. Alright, after checking the stall, let's hurry back to the hotel."

"Yeah, there's no mistake Haida and Hosokawa were ambushed. First, we need to find the cause of the information leak."

Finishing their conversation, the two began investigating the stall.

Even though there were no traces left there.

"Erika chan, was this fine?"

"Perfect. Now Gii will guide them well."

"Then shall we return."

Having achieved our goal, we left the place and began heading back toward the hotel.

◇◇◇

On the way back, I stopped.

"Erika chan, is something wrong?"

"Actually, there's a place I want to go. But since it's a place related to the school, I want to go just with Nemusia. Inoue san, you go back ahead."

Inoue san looked suspicious for just a moment, but immediately returned to a smile and nodded.

Was my excuse for splitting up bad?

Since she's kind, she accepted it without asking anything, though.

"Got it. Be careful not to get hurt."

"You too, make sure you don't get spotted by the cast when you're alone."

"See you later."

We waved and parted ways.

And when Inoue san was out of sight, I turned my eyes toward my destination.

"Wouldn't it have been fine to bring Inoue along? You are just looking for the director, right."

I had already told Nemusia about the circumstances.

However, I think the reason for not bringing Inoue san is a feeling only I, who actually spoke with Akabane san, can understand.

"Akabane san's way of speaking bothered me strangely. He spoke in a way that sounded like there were circumstances that would be bad if Inoue san knew."

"Hmm... If that is what you felt, Erika, I will tag along."

And so, we advance into an area we haven't set foot in yet.

Our destination is the office where the director is said to be.

◇◇◇

Along the way, we got spotted by Casts, encountered replicated fake offices multiple times, and the search took more time than expected.

But after four hours, we finally discovered the target building.

The place where the human called "Director," who supervises this amusement park, is—I had high expectations that maybe there'd be someone like a boss who controls the Casts.

But in reality, even Hole-Men were sparse around the office, and it was so deserted there wasn't even a Cast in sight.

The door was unlocked, and we entered the office so easily it was anti-climactic.

When we closed the door, the inside was enveloped in complete silence.

"It is quiet."

"Yeah... unnaturally so."

In this world where massive amounts of monsters roam noisily, a quiet place doesn't necessarily mean it's safe.

Conversely, it's often the case that "something bad" is lurking.

Our footsteps naturally grew heavy.

First, on the left, is what was likely an office where many administrative staff worked.

When I opened it—no one was there.

In fact, the room isn't even particularly messy.

"It is orderly."

"For an amusement park suddenly attacked by monsters, it's somewhat clean."

"Was this place unharmed?"

"Then shouldn't someone have escaped here?"

We searched the room thoroughly, but only found things like snacks.

While gratefully tossing them into my smartphone, we didn't find anything significant in this office.

There were futons laid out in the adjacent break room, but there was no sign of people, leaving only the reference room in the back.

"It smells."

"Umu, it smells of rotting humans."

The smell of rot drifting from inside—to confirm its source, I open the door.

The stagnant air was released all at once, and I involuntarily grimaced.

I thought I had gotten used to the smell of rot while spending time on the 1st floor, but had it been overwritten by the "relatively" clear air of the amusement park in just one day?

I step inside.

On the shelves on the left and right, documents packed into cardboard boxes are placed, and various supplies are also placed depending on the shelf tier.

And at the very back of the room, there was a slightly older PC, and in front of it, an equally well-worn chair.

Someone is sitting there.

Hearing the sound of flies buzzing around, I was a little moved that bugs had wandered in here too.

When I briefly looked at Nemusia's face, her eyes were wavering anxiously.

Our eyes meet.

When I smiled at her for now, she smiled back weakly, seeming to have cheered up a little.

Having recharged my power, I placed my hand on the chair and spun it around.

What appeared was—the decomposing corpse of a middle-aged man.

There was no name tag hanging from his neck.

His face was discolored, but it still retained traces of the photo Akabane san had shown me.

"Is this the director, Tsumori Takuro?"

"So he died here. We will have to give Akabane an unfortunate report."

"It's rare that he didn't turn into a Hole-Man or a zombie. Is this wound on his stomach the fatal injury?"

There was a circularly gouged wound on his abdomen.

The blood that overflowed from there had oxidized, staining his dress shirt a dark red.

"Looks like a gun... I wonder if Shiromachi did this."

"Would that man come all the way here with a reason to kill Tsumori?"

"Seems unlikely but It'd be nice if there were some clues."

I reach out to a file placed on the desk.

When I opened it, it looked like a scrapbook, with clippings from weekly magazines pasted inside.

"The Light and Darkness of Hikarinomiya Fantasy Land. Why Was the Shooting Incident Covered Up?"

"What is that."

"It seems to be an article dealing with an incident from six years ago."

Reading the contents, it seemed to be a weekly magazine reporter who investigated the incident in detail, harboring doubts about the unnatural reporting by various newspaper companies.

"Despite the sensational content of an active-duty police officer being shot and killed by a culprit wearing a mascot costume at an amusement park, nationwide media hardly covered it in the news, and even looking at the newspapers, the victim's name is withheld."

Six years ago—I feel like it became quite a topic locally, though.

But now that they mention it, even though these kinds of incidents are a favorite for nationwide news, they might not have handled it on a grand scale.

Even I don't remember the victim's name.

"H-Hey, Erika."

"What?"

"This name is—"

At the part Nemusia pointed to, the name "Inoue Yoshino" was written.

"Inoue san... Eh, the one who died in this incident was Inoue san? And it's not just someone with the same first and last name!?"

"I do not understand either! However, is there anyone else who is a police officer bringing her little sister, and a 26-year-old woman?"

"What does this mean? Are dead humans being resurrected? Not as zombies, but as humans."

I've seen so many unbelievable things up until now, but I can't help but be bewildered by this.

It's not about monsters appearing or magic existing—but a human who was supposed to have died in the past is alive.

Besides, why was Tsumori Takuro investigating that incident?

Why was he shot to death here? Moreover, shot in the exact same spot as Inoue Yoshino.

At that moment, I noticed what Tsumori was clenching tightly.

I open his stiffened hand and took it out.

"Why does... this man have that?"

I harbored the exact same doubt.

What was there was a four-leaf clover made of origami.

Because it closely resembled the charm Inoue san had received from her little sister, Hiiro.