Future Diary Survival Game-Chapter 32 : The Deal – 2

Chapter 32: The Deal – 2
Yes.
Participants of the quest could make a “deal” with Magireta.
However, one had to be very careful about what to offer and what to ask for.
Because inside Magireta’s mind existed a virtual scale.
On that scale, she placed the participant’s request on one side and the price they offered on the other.
If the scale tilted toward the side of the request… meaning they asked for more than what they offered in return?
Then their head would explode — as punishment for trying to deceive Magireta.
‘Still…’
It struck me once again how far ahead Edgar was compared to the other participants.
He monopolized so much information that no one else knew.
‘That guy really is a balance breaker by himself. But well, it can’t be helped. He hasn’t broken any rules.’
She asked,
“Shall I send you now?”
“Yes. Let me just stretch first.”
Edgar approached the edge of the cliff and looked down toward the Deut Territory.
“Ugh—aaah.”
With a strange sound, he stretched widely and muttered,
“Would be nice if they fall into the trap… but if they don’t, I’ll just have to kill them next time. After I make plenty of subordinates.”
And in the next instant—
Both Edgar and Magireta completely vanished.
I was gripping the Diary Book with trembling hands.
[Please don’t shake me like that. You’re making me dizzy.]
‘……’
[You don’t even need to hold me, you know. I can open to any page you want.]
‘W-what the hell is this now?’
The page I was looking at was the last one.
Wondering if my lifespan might have been extended because of this incident, I paid 50 points and turned to the final page.
But—
<Year 327, January 10.
I survived until the last game.
So I believed this damn nightmare was finally over.
……
……
Looking back now, I was doing fairly well up until the early stages.
But Edgar Tyler.
He ruined everything.
Edgar annihilated Armelia, Aina—
And every other revealed “possibility.”
As if crushing filthy insects beneath his feet.>
‘It didn’t change. It didn’t change, so why did you take my 50 points, huh?’
[P-please calm down. I’m seriously going to vomit.]
‘The only thing you’re going to vomit are the points you stole!’
[The page you’re seeing is definitely different from before. Keep reading.]
I glared at the Diary Book suspiciously and read further.
<……
……
I really thought he was dead.
Aina had sworn it herself, and I confirmed his death too.
But he was alive.
I realized that during some quest—I can’t even remember which number anymore.
Because Edgar was part of that quest as well.
He waved at me with a bright smile.
And I remember every word he said.
–“We meet again, huh? When I set the trap and waited forever, you never showed up.”
I asked him how he was still alive.
He casually replied that it was the first-place reward from the Second Quest.
An elixir granting Extra Life, guaranteeing five lives.
He said he’d already died once to Aina, and another time when he made a deal with Magireta to set the trap.
So now, he only had three lives left and was feeling depressed about it.
Damn it.
……
……>
“Huh.”
A low exclamation escaped me.
That meant all the belongings we retrieved—his clothes and other items—were just trash.
Then Armelia’s voice rang out.
“What’s wrong with you? You’ve been waving your hands in the air like you’re grabbing something.”
“Yeah, you look completely insane. Well, not that you weren’t already.”
“You’ve had a hard couple of days, that’s all. I’ll lend you a room—get some rest first.”
We were having dinner at Berseum’s house.
I shook my head.
“Edgar is alive.”
“……!”
“Cough, hack—what?”
“He’s alive. I confirmed it through astrology.”
Boom.
Aina shot up from her seat.
“That’s impossible. I definitely—”
“The first-place reward from his Second Quest was an elixir that revives life.”
“W-what?”
“He can only revive five times, though.”
“That crazy bitch Magireta really can do anything, huh.”
Then Berseum spoke with a solemn expression.
“As expected, your astrology isn’t just astrology. You couldn’t have discovered that with mere divination. It’s magic, isn’t it?”
“Yes. Well, it’s a different field than yours, but still.”
“Fascinating. Tell me more—”
“Grandpa, is that really what matters right now? We should hunt him down and kill him four more times first!”
Berseum lowered his head with the expression of a grandfather being scolded by his granddaughter.
It seemed he couldn’t go against Aina anymore.
I said,
“No. He’s lying in wait, with traps already set.”
“What kind of trap?”
“I don’t know. But precisely because I don’t, we shouldn’t go after him yet.”
“……”
“Don’t worry. Sooner or later, we’ll meet him again in another quest. That’s how it’s meant to be.”
I spoke firmly.
“When that time comes, we’ll kill him then.”
“Grrr.”
“Calm down, Aina.”
Armelia elegantly sliced her steak as she said,
“If Mason has spoken with such confidence, then that man’s life is already forfeit.”
“You’re getting crazier by the day, you know that?”
“Do you disagree? Surely you don’t think Edgar surpasses Mason.”
Aina sulked for a moment, then muttered,
“That’s absolutely not it.”
“Good. Then there’s no need to worry. Sir Berseum, please calm yourself as well.”
“I wasn’t agitated in the first place.”
Everyone looked at me with eyes full of trust.
I scratched my head.
In the Diary of the Future, the “me” there had lost them all to Edgar in some unknown quest.
But that wouldn’t happen to this me.
[Because I’m here.]
‘Yeah. Because you’re here. I’m always grateful for that.’
[……]
‘What’s wrong?’
[I-I just wasn’t expecting such a sincere thank-you all of a sudden. Uh… I should be the one thanking you.]
The Diary Book fluttered like a bird, then vanished with a pop.
I let out a faint chuckle and raised my glass.
Inside the glass was a special wine made by Berseum himself.
“Then let’s make a toast—to that bastard who’s destined to die someday.”
Everyone lifted their glasses with laughter.
Clink.
“Aina, you mustn’t drink that. Imperial law forbids drinking before adulthood—”
“Gulp. Too late, I already finished it.”
“……”
“Don’t glare at me. It’s juice.”
“I-is that so.”
“But why can’t I drink anyway? How old do you think I am?”
“Sixteen, aren’t you? The youngest daughter of the Noel Family should be that age.”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“Then you can’t drink!”
The table erupted into cheerful laughter.
Noisy, but oddly warm and pleasant.
It was a lively, happy night.
And amidst that joy, the Diary Book chimed in once more.
[I almost forgot. Mason, you said something weird just now, so…]
‘What did I even say?’
[Anyway, please check this.]
[You have successfully cleared the Unexpected Quest ‘The Light of Despair.’]
[The records during the Unexpected Quest ‘The Light of Despair’ have been altered.]
[Due to these changes, parts of the Future Diary have been updated.]
[The function ‘Shop lv.1’ has been upgraded.]
[You achieved the survival of Armelia in the Unexpected Quest. You receive a reward of 100 points.]
[You achieved the survival of Aina in the Unexpected Quest. You receive a reward of 100 points.]
[You achieved the survival of Berseum in the Unexpected Quest. You receive a reward of 100 points.]
[Current Points: 453]
Ahh.
The wine tasted amazing.
—The next day.
We decided to take the entire day off.
Berseum went to work as a gardener as if nothing had happened yesterday.
For some reason, Aina secretly followed him, but later I heard that he only treated Eris as his “employer,” just as Bake would.
Eris, in turn, treated him as an employee, not her father.
“For now, that emotional gap won’t be easily mended,” Aina remarked.
Armelia tilted her head.
“But didn’t he already confess yesterday? That he’s her father?”
“Emotions don’t work like ‘one plus one equals two,’ you know.”
“Hm.”
“Besides, if they really want to talk deeply, the topic of the quests will inevitably come up—and Magireta strictly forbade that.”
In other words, Berseum seemed to plan on surviving every remaining quest before finally approaching her as a father.
Anyway, after that, everyone spent time separately on personal maintenance.
Armelia spent her day reading all sorts of rare books in Berseum’s house.
Aina wandered around all day, saying she needed to restock some tools.
The four of us gathered again for dinner that evening.
We found a rather elegant-looking restaurant, and Aina asked,
“Hey, old man. How’s Eris doing?”
“Thanks to the medicine you gave her, she’s doing much better.”
“Tell her not to skip doses just because she feels better.”
“Of course.”
He stroked his mustache and continued,
“Eris also asked me to pass along her regards to you.”
“I see.”
“Well, our vacation was only for today. What should we do next?”
Berseum said that, then turned his gaze toward me.
The others followed suit.
Apparently, I had naturally become the leader of this “party.”
It didn’t exactly suit my personality, but since I was the one reading the Future Diary, I supposed it made sense.
“For now, Edgar will likely stay quiet for a while, and we’ve also learned some of Magireta’s secrets… Let’s try to find out what the next quest will be.”
“Can you even do that?”
Instead of answering, I called upon the Diary Book.
‘Hey, Diary Book.’
[Yes.]
‘The next quest… Wait, hold on. Didn’t you say something got upgraded last time?’
I had meant to ask yesterday but forgot.
A new feature—Shop lv.1.
I understood the “Shop” part, but what did “level 1” mean?
‘What’s this used for?’
[You can check it yourself later. For now, your companions are waiting for your answer.]
‘Hmm… Right.’
Still, a “shop,” huh.
In some ways, this Diary Book was even more mysterious than Magireta herself.
But it was a mystery that helped me. That was enough for now.
‘Tell me someday—who you really are.’
[I’ll do my best.]
‘Anyway, I’ll check the shop feature later. For now, let’s find out what the next quest is.’
[Understood.]
Soon, the Diary Book opened with a soft flutter.
[Using search function to locate details about the Fourth Quest.]
[Cost: 100 points]
[Remaining Points: 353]
<Year 324, April 15.
The two-day-long Fourth Quest ended safely.
Once again, I survived.
The Fourth Quest was “Hide-and-Seek.”
……
……
It was quite a difficult quest, but somehow I managed to make it through safely.
When it was over, Magireta sent everyone back to the place they desired.
Naturally, I asked to be sent to where Armelia, Aina, and Berseum were.
In this quest, it was the first time I couldn’t be with my companions.
And when I came to my senses—
I saw Aina pacing anxiously.
Beside her stood Berseum, biting his lip.
When they noticed me, both of them ran toward me, their faces bright with relief.
After celebrating my safe return and the joy of reunion, Aina asked,
–That Princess woman? Wasn’t she with you?
I told her no.
Apparently, during this quest, the four of us had been placed in completely separate locations.
We waited for her for a long time.
But she never returned.
We waited deep into the night, through dawn, until the first light of morning.
By then, we already knew the truth.
We just didn’t want to say it aloud—because the moment we did, it would become real.
As the morning sun rose and birds began to sing, I spoke heavily.
Armelia had been eliminated.>