Future Diary Survival Game-Chapter 37 : Hide-and-Seek – 2

Chapter 37: Hide-and-Seek – 2
Aina spoke.
“Don’t move.”
“……”
“No matter how talented you are, once you’re buried this deep, you’re no different from an ordinary person. I learned something useful today.”
“Who are you?”
“The daughter of the man who hated you most in the world.”
“Noel… Aina Noel, I see.”
After a moment’s hesitation, Ian quietly took his hand off the sword.
Then Aina, too, put away her needle.
Ian spoke.
“What an interesting combination. Judging by the looks of it, that old man of yours isn’t an ordinary person either.”
“I’m merely a gardener.”
“You sure talk big. That face of yours is fake—I can tell just by looking.”
“They said it was top-grade, but I keep getting caught these days. I feel cheated.”
“Whatever. Edgar only told me not to provoke him recklessly and to bring information to him….”
He grinned sharply and continued.
“But I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to remove some of his obstacles while I’m at it. That would directly affect my own survival, after all.”
“I can’t understand you. What could he have possibly told you to make you trust him in just five minutes?”
“No need to know. You’ll all die in this quest anyway.”
At that moment—
Five people cautiously approached us.
They seemed to be those who had been pushed out of the other team.
“Uh… there are five of us. Would you consider teaming up with us?”
“Hmph. I’m not part of this team.”
“Pardon? But the other side’s already full with ten people.”
“Fools. Didn’t I say I’m not with them?”
Ian said that and began walking straight toward the opposite team.
And then—
Thud!
He suddenly drove his fist into one participant’s stomach.
The man, caught completely off guard, collapsed forward with a gasp.
Ian grabbed him by the collar—
Whoosh.
“Urgh!”
—And threw him at us.
Armelia frowned deeply.
“What a violent man. I disliked him ever since he smirked and asked me for a dance at the banquet.”
“I thought you said I was smirky too.”
“Your kind of smirk isn’t like his.”
“Well, anyway, we’ve got ten members now. That works out fine.”
“Hmm?”
“Let’s take this chance to eliminate that guy. Then the flimsy sandcastle of connections Edgar just built will crumble.”
Everyone nodded.
At that moment—
“Done! Team division complete!”
Magireta’s cheerful voice rang out.
The fourth quest had begun.
With a relaxed tone, Magireta spoke.
“Each team, send out your representative.”
From the opposite team, Ian strode forward without hesitation.
I could bet he hadn’t even consulted his team.
I looked back at our teammates and asked,
“Who should go for us?”
The six ordinary participants, excluding the four of us, quickly averted their eyes.
This wasn’t some social club election—they were being asked to be the representative in Magireta’s game.
No one in their right mind would volunteer.
In the end, the representative had to come from the four of us.
Then Armelia said,
“I’d prefer if you became the representative.”
“Me? Shouldn’t someone with the most legitimacy take this role? Like the Princess, perhaps?”
“Legitimacy from our world is meaningless in a game like this. What matters is who has the ability to actually save everyone. Someone like Mason, for instance.”
We exchanged glances and chuckled quietly.
It wasn’t new, but it was clear—the Princess’s way of thinking was fundamentally different from any of the nobles I’d met.
Anyway, since Aina and Berseum both nodded, I strolled lazily toward Magireta.
She held up a coin.
Then flicked it into the air and caught it in her palm.
“Heads or tails?”
“Heads.”
Before I could answer, Ian said it first.
I shrugged.
“Me too, heads.”
“What nonsense. I said heads first.”
“You’re supposed to be one of the most skilled people on the continent, right? And swordmasters usually have sharp eyes. That means you might’ve seen with those impressive reflexes which side of the coin landed facing up.”
“So what?”
“So what do you mean, so what? If you said heads, then it must be heads. I’ll just go along with you.”
Ian growled.
“I’ll overlook your insolent tone for now. But I won’t forgive you for trying to overturn the rules of the game.”
“Huh?”
“I said heads first. So why—”
“Since when does saying it first mean you own the choice? Where’s that rule written, that you get exclusive rights to heads just because you spoke first?”
Grit.
Ian ground his teeth fiercely.
Magireta giggled.
“Quite the mental sparring right from the start, huh?”
“……”
“Then how shall I satisfy you, little brother?”
“Please let us choose heads or tails before you toss it.”
Ian immediately objected.
“Don’t make arbitrary requests like that. Magireta, I object. We should pick after you toss.”
“Mm. To be honest, I don’t need either of your opinions. I prefer it that way too—choosing after the toss.”
“……”
“I’ll toss again. But this time, both of you turn around.”
She placed the coin on her finger.
At that moment, the coin was showing heads on top.
We glared at each other briefly, then turned our backs to Magireta.
Soon, the sound of the coin being tossed reached us.
Whish. Tap.
“All right. Guess.”
“Tails.”
Once again, Ian answered first.
And in that instant, something flashed in my mind.
That guy—he’s certain!
That wasn’t a one-in-two gamble.
Ian knew that the coin Magireta caught had landed on its tail side.
Without even looking—how is that possible? Ah, could it be…?
I faintly recalled something an old retired mercenary once told me when I was working as a waiter.
A true master who stood at the top of the continent didn’t fight with just his eyes.
He perceived everything—the enemy’s killing intent, their presence, their breathing—
—and analyzed all that information to move his sword.
“Little brother. You need to choose too.”
“……”
“Going with him again? Tails?”
Ignoring Magireta’s prompting, I focused on organizing my thoughts.
Ian had precisely sensed the number of rotations the coin made as it spun through the air.
Since the coin on Magireta’s fingertip had clearly shown its front side at the start, he must have calculated its rotations and deduced the correct answer from that.
Did he figure it out by sound?
Or perhaps by the faint flow of air stirred by the spinning coin?
Either way, with such a cheating-level ability, he’d have an overwhelming advantage in a game like “Hide-and-Seek.”
Suppressing my racing heartbeat, I spoke calmly.
“Heads.”
The next moment, Ian smirked.
If he had that kind of ability, then even if we flipped the coin a thousand times, my chance of winning would be zero.
Right now, what mattered more was not letting Ian realize that I’d seen through him.
Magireta asked in a subtle tone,
“Hmm. You sure about that?”
“Yes. This time, both of us had our backs turned.”
“Good. Then, shall we check?”
We slowly turned our bodies toward Magireta.
With a bright, expectant smile, she opened the palm that had been covering the coin.
“It’s tails.”
As expected.
Magireta turned to Ian.
“You won, so you get to choose. Do you want to be the seeker or the hider first?”
“I’ll take the seeker’s role.”
“All right. Then the little brother’s team automatically becomes the hiding team.”
With a cheerful grin, she continued,
“As written on the bulletin board, your team will have the first six hours to find a hiding spot. Once that time’s up, I’ll send the seekers into the game area.”
“……”
“Then they’ll have eighteen hours to search. That makes twenty-four hours total before the roles switch.”
“Where’s the game area?”
“That would be…”
Snap.
She flicked her fingers.
“Go see for yourselves.”
The next moment, our bodies were transported somewhere else.
“W–what is this place?!”
“My goodness. It’s so magnificent.”
“This isn’t… where I think it is, right?”
“Come on. No way.”
Our hiding team had arrived six hours earlier than the seekers.
My mouth hung open as I failed to hide my awe.
Even Aina and Berseum, who were usually composed, looked equally astonished.
“Ha. To think I’d ever set foot in this place.”
“How in the world did Magireta get access to a location like this? No—‘access’ might not even be the right word.”
“Haven’t you been here before, old man? Back when you were famous across the continent?”
“Mm. Indeed. When I was awarded a medal for my academic contributions to the Empire. That was before you were even born.”
Meanwhile, Armelia had a strangely nostalgic expression.
We were standing in the very heart of the Empire—the capital itself.
And not just anywhere within it.
We were inside the Imperial Palace, the very throne hall where the Emperor’s seat stood high and distant.
—The Emperor’s Audience Chamber.
That was the setting of the fourth quest.
And we weren’t the only ones there.
Armelia murmured softly, almost to herself.
“Father…”
“……”
“No—His Majesty, the Emperor.”
“You don’t have to correct yourself, you know.”
“Ahem.”
Indeed.
The chamber was filled with people—those who normally occupied this place.
Upon the throne, the Emperor sat with a stern expression, speaking something.
Officials lined the hall, bowing their heads as they listened reverently to his words.
Countless knights clad in full plate armor guarded the entrance and surrounded the Emperor.
The problem was—
—all of them were frozen in place.
“This is incredible. This person’s completely stiff.”
Aina tapped the armor of a nearby knight as she spoke.
Of course, there was no response.
Berseum, his face full of curiosity, said,
“I still can’t sense any trace of mana. Judging by what we saw with Kanesella, Magireta can indeed use magic, but… to stop this many knights? Even magic shouldn’t be enough.”
“Could it be that time itself has stopped? For everyone but us?”
“I’d prefer to think they’re just really well-made dolls. Otherwise, my head might explode.”
“No, old man. These people are all alive. Their hearts are beating.”
What on earth was going on?
Anyway, I clapped my hands lightly to gather attention.
“Everyone, please focus. It looks like this Audience Chamber is our game area. Rule number three said the hide-and-seek zone must be within a five-hundred-meter radius, and this place fits that perfectly.”
“Hmm.”
“First, let me introduce myself. My name is Mason Gear.”
Since I’d made quite a scene during the first quest, many already recognized me.
Some even said—
“I know you. You were amazing during the third quest, right?”
“Huh? How do you know me? I don’t recall you.”
“Wasn’t it the Tower of Knowledge? One of my friends was among the survivors.”
“Oh.”
“He advised me—if I ever end up in the same game as someone named Mason, I should stick to him no matter what.”
I scratched my head.
Armelia nodded in satisfaction and said,
“As I thought, Cecil was right. Kindness always comes back to you.”
“No, it hasn’t come back yet, has it? That guy hasn’t even done anything for us.”
“You’re as cynical as ever. Don’t suddenly act nice now—it would only mean you’re about to die.”
“You’ve gotten pretty sharp with words lately, Princess.”
“I learned it from Mason.”
Anyway, I slowly began to speak.
“Since we’ll be acting as one team this time, let’s come up with a strategy together.”
“D–do you already have something in mind?”
“Not so much a plan as information we need to share. In this game, we’re at an overwhelming disadvantage.”
Everyone’s expressions stiffened.
I could feel my own face darkening slightly.
“Back during the coin toss…”