The moment we stepped out of the café, we were greeted by pleasantly warm weather. Compared to Korea, where the temperature would skyrocket toward the end of spring, early summer in Kivotos was practically paradise.
"So, where are we heading now?"
"Ahaha, to be honest, this is my first time in this district too. So it's a little hard to say for sure what's good…"
The original Mika had probably been here at least once, but I'd been genuinely too busy to ever set foot outside the Trinity district. The only reason I even made it to our meeting spot was thanks to my map app.
"…You confidently told me to just trust you and that we were going to have fun, and you're telling me you said that without any plan whatsoever?"
Hina, when you jab me with those horns of yours, it hurts…
"Hmm, well, in times like these, you just wander where your feet take you, Hina-chan! If we see something interesting, we check it out. If we see something that looks tasty, we eat it! It's the D.U. shopping district, so I'm sure it has all the essentials, right?"
"Haaah… It's not like I know the area, so you take the lead, Mika. You did promise you wouldn't disappoint me, so I guess I have no choice but to trust you."
Right, she has a point there…
"Ahaha, did I say that?"
"…"
"Yup, yup, I sure did. Hina-chan, let's check that way first!"
Hina's silent stare was piercing. The mask she wore only amplified her intimidating presence. She had the impression of a mini-Saori, but unlike Saori, who I could beat for sure, Hina was genuinely scary.
…I have no idea what I'm doing. Let's just walk! I'll figure it out as we go. It'll all work out somehow!
I snatched the hand of Hina, whose face, I could tell just from her eyes, was in a total sulk.
"Wait! Hey, why are you holding my—!"
"Hmm? What about it?"
What's the big deal? Isn't it normal for girls to walk around holding hands? Was I mistaken about that? I don't think Hifumi ever refused.
…Wait, was Hifumi just too polite to refuse?!
"…No, it's nothing. Just hurry up and walk."
Hmm, judging by Hina's reaction, it seems that wasn't the case. Maybe she was just surprised that I grabbed her hand so suddenly. Sorry for doubting you, Hifumi!
Holding Hina's hand, I led the way, scanning the nearby shops. Just as I expected, there were clothing stores, cosmetic shops, and all sorts of restaurants lined up. And being the central district of Kivotos, it was quite crowded.
As I was racking my brain, trying to decide on our first stop, Hina spoke up from beside me.
"People are really staring at you for some reason."
Huh? At me?
"Hmm? A misunderstanding… no, that doesn't seem right. This is…"
I was definitely getting a lot of looks. If that's the case, could this be what they call 'narrative logic'? I remembered getting similar stares when I went shopping with Hifumi before.
I mean, a princess isn't called a princess for nothing, right? Her looks are radiant even when she's just standing still, so how could people not stare?
Though, it wasn't quite this intense back then. A good portion of the reason for the extra attention this time was probably Hina's presence next to me. Not because people recognized her, but…
"Isn't it probably because people are looking at a duo that, by all accounts, just doesn't fit together~☆"
It had to be because of the peculiar combination of a Trinity angel and a Gehenna demon. Wouldn't anyone do a double-take if they saw these two walking around holding hands? They'd probably doubt their own eyes.
I know I would, so it's perfectly understandable. It's a fact that we're just that mismatched of a pair.
"I don't think that's the reason, but we'll go with that."
Hey, Hina. It would be a little much for me to just start bragging about myself right here, you know? I know why they're staring.
Honestly, now that I was dressed in casual clothes, my already shining looks were shining even brighter. Having lived my entire life as a man, it was hard for me to grasp female fashion sensibilities, so I tend to just pick outfits that look pretty from a guy's perspective. Other than that, I get a lot of help from Hifumi.
Today's outfit was a simple combination: a white off-the-shoulder blouse and a beige miniskirt. For my hair, I used the scrunchie I usually wear on my wrist to tie it up neatly in a ponytail.
In all honesty, the miniskirt… I felt a great sense of shame at first. But after wearing them for a while, I got used to it. As expected, your mindset is what's most important.
And with this kind of thing, the more you care about what others think, the more embarrassing it becomes. But since the streets are filled with only female students, robots, and beastmen, I don't feel that embarrassed.
If I had my way, I'd just wear pants, but after wearing the Tea Party uniform every day, I don't even think about them much anymore. The fact that you couldn't find a single pair of pants in Mika's wardrobe was a problem in itself, I suppose. I did buy a few pairs recently, though, so I'll try them on when I think of it.
"Well, from what I can see, it looks like you're getting quite a few looks too, Hina-chan~"
"Tch, no way. I even wore a mask to draw less attention."
I couldn't be sure, but even with a hat and mask hiding her face, Hina's beauty couldn't be concealed, so I figured there were probably quite a few people looking at her.
Besides, a mask covering the lower half of the face has the effect of drawing one's gaze to the eyes, which often leaves an even better impression. Honestly, when a woman with eyes like Saori or Hina covers her lower face with a mask, it creates an incredibly cool look.
"Ahaha, as long as they don't figure out who we are, who cares what others think? Oh, Hina-chan! Let's go check that place out!"
"Huh? That's…"
Hina, having followed my pointed finger, blinked a couple of times. Then she gave me a peculiar look, as if to say, Are you serious?
"That's the one☆"
An escape room café. It was a place I'd personally wanted to try at least once, but I never had anyone to go with, and going alone felt a bit weird. You might think I could just go with friends, but my only friends were the type who would say, "What kind of guys pay money to go to a place like that?"
"I've heard a thing or two about them. Alright, let's give it a go."
Seeing Hina's "let's see how fun this really is" attitude made me a little worried, to be honest. It was my first time doing something like this too, and I'd heard the quality varies wildly from place to place.
Hmm, but it's not just anywhere. It's in the shopping district near Sanctum Tower in the D.U., so maybe I can trust it a little…?
As it turned out, most of the themes were already occupied by other customers. All that was left was a medium-difficulty Zombie Apocalypse theme, a high-difficulty murder mystery theme, and a horror theme set in an abandoned school.
Since it was Hina's first time, and mine too, I really wanted to try an easy difficulty, but it was a shame. We could have waited for 20 minutes, but surprisingly, it was Hina who expressed that she'd rather just try one of the available ones than wait.
From the available options, Hina chose the Zombie Apocalypse theme. She said the mystery theme felt like an extension of her Disciplinary Committee work, and she wasn't particularly fond of horror.
"In our Zombie Apocalypse theme, any attempts to use unconventional methods, such as intentionally using physical force to subdue the zombies, will result in an automatic failure."
It might sound a little strange, but among students, some possess exceptional physical abilities, so it wasn't a meaningless concern from the establishment. The prime example of that was right here with me.
"The time limit is 60 minutes, and you can use a total of three hints. For medium difficulty and above, we offer a special souvenir if you succeed without using any hints, but please be aware that the difficulty will be higher in that case."
After storing our belongings in a locker, we followed the robot employee's guidance and entered the room.
The first area was structured to look like a laboratory. It was just a theme, so the accuracy probably wasn't perfect, but the atmosphere was definitely on point.
[To begin, please touch the screen of the tablet next to you. Also, please note that you can request hints through the tablet as well.]
With those final words, the robot employee closed the door and left. At the same time, about half the lights in the room went out.
"…Let's do what it says."
Hina raised her hand and touched the tablet's screen. A video began to play.
[You are a researcher at a national laboratory that was developing a cure for the zombie apocalypse. And surprisingly, you succeeded in developing that cure. However, one of the researchers hid the fact that they were infected with the virus through some unknown route during the development process, and because of this, the laboratory has turned into a nest of zombies.]
"Ahaha, what an interesting setup! This looks fun!"
"Mika, be quiet. The video isn't over."
…Hina seems like she's already completely immersed in this scenario. This must mean the problem really was that she didn't know how to have fun, right?
[In a laboratory overrun by zombies, you have taken shelter in a research lab with a sample of the cure. To see your family, who are under government protection, once again, you decide to send a rescue request to the government while avoiding the zombies roaming the institute. The key to solving the zombie crisis is in your hands, but parts of the facility's systems are down because of the zombies. Find the clues, solve the problems, and send the rescue request.]
The moment the video ended, the timer began to tick down.
"I get the gist. This means zombies will be waiting for us in the next area."
"Yup. They said subduing the zombies means we fail, so probably? They can't be real zombies, of course… so they'll be like robots dressed up as zombies!"
The setup was quite interesting. It seemed Hina was intrigued as well, showing a willingness to actively participate.
"First, this door. It's locked with a padlock, but I've never seen a lock of this type before."
Hina was pointing at a directional lock, the kind where you input a code by moving a central button up, down, left, and right. What was this thing called again…?
Next to it were instructions: Press the central ring twice firmly before entering the code, and pull the lock down after entering it. It was a type of lock that a beginner might not know, so they were kind with the detailed instructions.
"Clockwise, each direction corresponds to a number from 1 to 4. It might be easier if we translate the clues into numbers."
…Hina, wasn't this your first time too? How are you grasping the situation so quickly? I feel a little betrayed.
While Hina, who had somehow entered full-brain-power mode, began searching a table for clues, I decided to examine the area with beakers, test tubes, and other props.
[RINSE]
On the front of a beaker half-filled with what looked like water, a word was written in black letters. Rinse? That's a bit random. I'll keep it in mind.
Next, I checked eight test tubes arranged in a row. Four of them were empty, while the other four were filled with brightly colored water.
Hmm… come to think of it, these test tubes have markings. From the left, they read 70ml, 30ml, 10ml, 90ml. This has to be a password.
"Mika, I figured out the password for the door."
Just as I was about to call Hina, wondering if this was the password to open that door, she called my name, and I flinched. No way, it hasn't even been three minutes. She already solved one?
"Eh, already? How?!"
I decided to put aside my own findings for a moment and moved toward the table where Hina was standing.
"The phrase on the first page of this report: 'Only death is our salvation and our escape.' Seeing that, I guessed it might be related to the lock. The second and third pages had nothing important, so I quickly skipped to the last page… and in the process, I noticed that the first sentence of every even-numbered page started with a number."
…?
What the heck?
"If I'm right, the password is 13213414."
At this point, isn't it true that Gehenna's Disciplinary Committee is run entirely by Hina alone? I was once again reminded that the workaholic Head of the Disciplinary Committee, a master of both literary and martial arts, was just a broken character who threw game balance to the dogs.
Click— Clack—
Hina stood triumphantly before the door and began to undo the lock.
"…It opened?"
"It's open."
The lock was dismantled by Hina's hands in less than five minutes.
"Whoa! Whoa…! What the heck, Hina-chan! No way! That's amazing!"
Medium difficulty or not, isn't this a moment worthy of unrestrained admiration? I decided to think so.
The Disciplinary Committee Head is amazing! She's so freaking cool!
"Ahaha, at this rate, we won't even need to use hints. If we just trust Hina-chan and keep going, this will be a piece of cake☆"
Those were words that anyone would recognize as a death flag. As I said them aloud and opened the door, I came face-to-face with one of the robot zombies roaming the next area, a hallway.
"Waaah—oh?!"
I slammed the door shut with the speed of light and collapsed right there on the spot.
To be honest, beyond being startled, the makeup was just too realistic… I thought I'd seen a real zombie!!!
"…Looks like the lock wasn't the end of it, huh."
I tried my best to feign composure, but when I heard Hina let out a small chuckle, I finally covered my face with my hands.
Ugh, I'm so embarrassed…