Vol. 5 Chapter 9.1

Translated by SoundDestiny Edited by SoundDestiny

Eve of the Death Game

Placing the headphones over my ears, I flicked the switch.

Amidst a crackling radio noise, a whisper-like voice reached my ears.

“『Onii-chan, today… I cooked hamburgers with Okaa-san. I learned how to make them properly and even dad said they were delicious… I want you to try them too.』”

“Sly devil…I wonder if she’s realised…”

Murmuring softly, I sipped on my lukewarm coffee.

It had been six days since I started monitoring Saori. So far, I hadn’t caught onto anything at all.

She behaves as an ordinary—no, one might even say, a well-behaved girl, to the point of being an exemplary student.

This voice I can hear through the listening device on the other side is part of her daily routine.

Before she goes to bed, she reports daily events, probably to Fumio’s picture or something.

After once intruding into her room forcefully, just after radio callisthenics, demanding, [Tell me about school!] and setting up the bug while she was preparing drinks, every night since then, I’ve found myself eavesdropping on these maiden-like reports.

[Teruya-senpai scolded me and I cried] or [Sunflowers bloomed in the field along my way to school] or [I won a prize with an ice candy] None of them are devilish reports.

After getting into bed, Saori sleeps soundly without doing anything inappropriate and she falls asleep quite quickly.

However, she seems weak in the mornings and tends to whine quite a bit when her mother comes to wake her up.

Her mother, well aware of the situation, says things like, [You don’t want to show an untidy face to Fumio-kun, right? Wake up! You’ll run out of time to get ready] and drive her out of bed.

I muttered with pursed lips.

“At this rate, there’s no way I’ll make any progress…”

If there’s no progress after a while of monitoring, I’ll have no choice but to use a slightly forceful approach.

Even a demon would reveal their true nature when their life is in danger. However, revealing their true nature requires being prepared to engage with the demon in a serious manner.

×××

“Where’s Claudia?”

When I asked, Hikari pointed upwards with an [Nn]. She must be on the second floor.

For a while now, that child has been continuously monitoring and eavesdropping on Saori Moribe.

“Coach, what do you think about Moribe being a demon?”

“To be honest, I can’t believe it. That awkward girl being a demon… it’s hard to imagine.”

Even though Hikari tried to shorten the distance to make monitoring easier, she was unbelievably slow.

Her running figure was reminiscent of a countryside girl running through a flower field.

Due to her rather awkward gait and slow pace, we’re currently working on skeletal alignment through stretches with both Hikari and her partnering up.

“But you know, if Claudia says so, then it must be true. There’s never been anything she’s been wrong about before.”

“Hmm.”

Teruya narrowed her eyes sceptically. Her face was covered with plasters and bandages.

Lately, it seems she got a boyfriend but he’s apparently quite a violent guy. Her body is covered in bruises and marks and there’s hardly a day when her face isn’t under a bandage.

Claudia and I tried to advise her to break up with such a violent man but she didn’t listen.

“However, he’s kind to me sometimes…”

With a somewhat joyful expression, her mentality is something I can’t quite understand.

As I thought about these things, Hikari spoke up──.

“Oh, by the way, I got a message from my big sister.”

──She said so.

×××

“So, where do they put gasoline in trains?”

“Gasoline!? They don’t use gasoline! It’s not like that.”

“Ahaha, trains are amazing. They run without gasoline? Isn’t that dangerous?”

“Hahaha, Taka-chan, you always say funny things. Trains run on electricity because they’re trains.”

“Oh, I see! Gen-san, you’re so knowledgeable!”

While talking to the slightly chubby, glasses-wearing rail enthusiast, I chuckled inwardly.

‘Yes, this is how I’ll get another vote!’

Playing dumb for a man with no significant traits. Lowering myself beneath the other person to stir up protective instincts, praising and flattering and finishing with a gaze of moist eyes and a slight upward glance.

I’ll make him believe as if I’ve fallen for him, fostering that illusion.

By repeating such actions, on the fourth day of working, I finally secured the first place in the popularity poll.

Understanding the rules and putting in the effort accordingly will naturally lead to better results. This applies to both working at a girls’ bar and studying.

However, the day I secured the first place, Rena-san wasn’t working.

And today, when Rena-san came to work, I easily slipped down to second place.

I couldn’t help but clench my teeth.

Although it’s purely a calculated scenario, if more than seven days pass without me regaining the first place by the end of summer vacation, it’s game over. I won’t reach the earning goal of three million yen.

At this point, I’ve already wasted five days. There’s truly no more room for mistakes.

Before my shift today, I was once again watching the DVD from start to finish, searching for any hints.

I’m confident in my gal language. My attitude and service are on point too. I might even be better than Mako-san by now.

“What’s the difference between Rena-san and me…?”

Honestly, if I do my makeup properly, I’m more beautiful than Rena-san.

But most customers who talk to both Rena-san and me tend to vote for Rena-san.

As I watched the DVD like this, I even began to think that it would be easy if I could just use my body to make the customers go crazy.

The moment I had that thought, I felt like I understood what was missing in myself when I’m compared to Rena-san.

Her guard is a bit loose. There’s a vague atmosphere that suggests if one pushes a bit,they might be able to get intimate.

Yesterday, even when a drunken customer approached her, saying things like, [Hey, Rena-chan, let’s get married] she casually responded with a laugh, saying, [Haha, like seriously, getting married without even being pregnant is so not gonna happen].

‘Hold on a second!? Getting pregnant comes before marriage?’

I was shocked, but at that moment, the customer seemed embarrassed.

Pregnancy = Sex. I think that’s the kind of association they had. So, what I need to work on is cultivating a sexy atmosphere.

I gazed at the DVD cover and tried striking the same pose as the actress in front of the mirror.

I pulled aside my bikini bra to expose my chest and spread my legs wide. It felt embarrassing. Still, with an expression that seems like I’m feeling it, I stuck out my tongue and made a peace sign with both hands.

It looked silly. In my mind, I could see customers licking their lips and their lustful gazes focused on my cleavage. I imagined myself earning votes smoothly by catching those desire-filled looks from men.

‘If I can adopt this kind of atmosphere, I’ll definitely secure the first place tomorrow. That’s right! A bikini with even less fabric and a more seductive vibe would be better.’

I felt reassured—this is what I thought.

Effort never betrays. That’s my motto, Takata Takaka.

×××

“Perfect, Devi!”

Lili nodded enthusiastically and smiled warmly.

Finally, the preparation for the Death Game was complete.

It was a large room with about eighty tatami mats, all in white.

In the centre, there was a white round table that could seat eleven people and on three of the walls were twelve doors. On the remaining wall, there was a large monitor that covered the entire surface.

Only one door was painted red, and the names of the participants for this round were written on the other doors.

“Well… it was quite a challenge.”

The main difficulties this time were the installation of the large monitors, which couldn’t be provided through furniture, and the surveillance cameras for each room.

Lili had arranged everything that didn’t require wiring, but still, the process of securing them was all manual work. With the help of the maid staff, we managed to get it done.

“Tomorrow, when we talk about the contract at the office, it’s time for execution, Devi. Are you planning to take Oppai-chan and [ Nan de ya nen ] with you from the start, Devi?”

[Natsumi Shima]

“Yes, I want to introduce them as new models I’d like to transfer together…I think that way, it’ll create a more involved feeling rather than them suddenly appearing.”

“I think that’s a good idea, Devi. Also, let’s have Freesia and Torture kidnap the female and male model for the game, Devi.”

I nodded once and looked around the Death Game field again.

Kurosawa-san said that [Death Game is out of season] but at this point, I couldn’t contain my excitement.

It felt like the day before a school festival, that kind of mood.

Well, I’ve never actually enjoyed a school festival in reality, not even once.

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