The Silver Team, led by Six, was currently operating with their numbers reduced to two. It wasn't that they had lost comrades to an enemy attack. Chel and Tokunosuke had knocked out the other three.
Rather, it was an action taken out of consideration for the trio of Rogue Dogs. There was too great a gap in combat ability between civilians and the likes of Chel and her partner, who were Nen users and former members of Saherta's special forces. No matter how it played out, they would only be a hindrance.
With the level of skill Chel and Tokunosuke possessed, it was possible to fight while protecting them, but when the opponent was a Nen user, there was always the possibility of a worst-case scenario. They had allowed the trio to accompany them until the battle with the Grandfather of the Galaxy, but combined with the fact that the three had suddenly started becoming mentally unstable afterward, it was decided they should be knocked out and evacuated to a safe location.
"Dammit! I can't believe they moved this fast...!"
However, that action had backfired. In the report about the game's additional rewards broadcast throughout the ship, the Rogue Dogs were visible among the captured hostages.
They should have been extremely careful when choosing the evacuation spot. They had discarded all the wristbands, which carried the risk of leaking location data, and chose a room they reached by passing through areas with no surveillance cameras.
They should have handled hidden cameras perfectly as well. Once one becomes a master, they can even sense a person's gaze through a camera lens. They could predict where hidden cameras might be based on intuition and experience. Despite that, they had made a blunder.
The enemy's response was far too fast. It was the kind of move that couldn't be made unless the enemy was monitoring their movements at all times. There was a possibility that their actions were being leaked through some kind of Nen ability.
"It can't be helped. We have to go save them as soon as possible."
"Please wait. We should prioritize the execution of the mission over that."
"...Of course. But ensuring the safety of those three is important for building a relationship of trust with Six. We can't neglect it."
"What I'm saying is that you're being too emotional. You're getting too attached, Miss Chel."
It wasn't that Tokunosuke didn't want to save the three of them. However, they had a mission more important than that. Depending on the situation, they might have to make the cold-blooded decision to abandon them.
"Those guys... their attitude didn't change even after they found out who we really were... they still called us 'Big Sis Arthur' and 'Master Hideyoshi' just like before..."
Even after being told that Chel and Tokunosuke were actually Saherta intelligence agents, the trio had treated them exactly as they had before. They said they were big fans of Six-chan, and no title beyond that was necessary. Though, it might have just been that they couldn't wrap their heads around the idea of intelligence agents.
"I promised to protect them. And look at this mess. It's only natural to go save them."
"That's exactly what I mean by emotional."
Chel glared fiercely at Toku and grabbed him by the collar.
"Then are you telling me to leave them to die?!"
Once she developed a sense of camaraderie, she found it hard to make the decision to cut someone loose. Toku didn't dislike that part of Chel's personality. Still, while she was indeed a bit soft-hearted, normally she would have listened to Toku's advice. She wasn't the kind of person who would forget her position and act on personal feelings.
In other words, her current mental state was not normal. Toku, who was with her constantly, could tell. She was trying her best to remain calm, but the aura Chel wore was showing signs of disturbance. It was a change so small you wouldn't notice unless you observed closely, but she was clearly different from her usual self.
Toku suspected it was related to the incident where the Rogue Dog trio had suddenly entered an unexplained state of excitement. Those symptoms, like dilated pupils and an increased pulse, were similar to the effects of a psychotropic drug. That effect was also influencing Chel.
Toku felt that no change had occurred in his own physical condition. He didn't know how it looked objectively, but at least subjectively, the only ones acting abnormally were Chel and the other three. He speculated that the reason he was the only one in the Silver Team to remain normal was because of the wristbands.
Toku was the only one who had never worn a wristband. He thought he had checked for risks carefully, but he had only looked at the internal mechanical components. Drugs were outside his area of expertise. He hadn't predicted the existence of a new type of drug that could produce such an effect just by coming into contact with the skin.
It was a blind spot he had fallen into precisely because he took pride in the fact that analyzing machinery was his specialty. He couldn't help but feel responsible for the judgment he had made so easily. He regretted it deeply, wishing he had stopped them back then.
Toku asked Chel if she felt any changes in her body, but she only said she was fine. However, she was a Nen practitioner of some standing. She likely was aware of the abnormality. Whether she had judged it to still be under control or was trying to hide it so as not to worry Toku, he couldn't be sure.
"While carrying out the mission, I'll also look for Pomerni's hiding place. With my En, it won't be that difficult."
Chel was a master capable of using a wide-reaching En. Inside a complex structure like the ship, it was time-consuming to probe the situation behind walls, and it was difficult to keep it active at maximum range, but it was still more efficient than searching room by room.
Chel was being somewhat emotional, but for now, she appeared to still be maintaining her reason. However, there was no predicting what would happen from here on out. Toku braced himself, determined not to take his eyes off her.
Another name disappeared from the list of players on the electric scoreboard. We remained in the stadium to prepare for an enemy attack. This place had good visibility, so there was little worry of a surprise attack.
With this many iTubers gathered in one place, someone might target us and try to pick a fight. There was a high possibility they would stay away because they didn't like our numbers, but conversely, if they did show up, it meant they either had a lot of confidence in their power or had circumstances that forced them to fight.
Because of the earlier broadcast, the flow of the game was starting to move in an even worse direction. Fortunately, none of the people related to those of us gathered here had been taken hostage.
I had been informed about the special invitation tickets by the management as well, and there was a time when I considered using them. However, I didn't have any acquaintances to invite. I thought about inviting the children I had played with in the snowball fight before, but I couldn't get enough tickets for everyone, and I didn't know what to say to them, so I gave up on the idea.
That decision had been the right one. I shuddered at the thought of what would have happened if the kids from that club team had been captured as hostages. I could only imagine how the players whose loved ones had been taken must feel. If I put myself in their shoes, it was possible that a player aiming for the finals would come here.
Among the hostages, for some reason, were the three members of the Silver Team. The two who said they were intelligence agents didn't seem to have been captured, but I wondered if something had happened afterward. Even in this situation, I wanted to help those who had supported me as fans, but wandering around looking for them without any clues would only lead to danger.
If I moved, Noah and Blade—who was taking on the escort request—would follow. Since I had also formed an alliance with Velvet, I couldn't force everyone here to search for hostages just because of my own selfishness.
We would wait here without rushing. That was the conclusion we had reached after everyone discussed it. And then, a person exactly like we had expected appeared at the stadium.
"Hey, sorry, sorry! I'm late!"
A small man dressed in a Santa Claus outfit—the prank-type iTuber, Jack High. His red triangular hat was pulled low, casting a shadow over his eyes. Perhaps because of that, only his grinning mouth left a vivid impression.
"I thought everyone might be getting a little hungry around now, so I brought some souvenirs!"
As Jack approached while pulling snacks out of a large gift bag, we stood our guard with an attitude that was far from friendly.
"...Huh? Are you on guard for some reason? What's wrong? Aren't we allies who formed an alliance?!"
"You said you had an acquaintance who had come to the venue, didn't you?"
Jack had indeed formed an alliance with us and stated he wouldn't be hostile. However, immediately after that, he had gone off on his own.
He said a friend of his was participating in this meet-up and that he was going to look for them to confirm their safety. There was a fear that the friend had been invited via a special invitation ticket and was currently being held hostage by the enemy.
"...Ah, they were safe. I didn't invite that person with a ticket. They entered with a general admission ticket, so they were spared."
"Then why didn't you bring them here?"
"I thought we might have to fight other iTubers from here on, so I thought it would be dangerous for them to be with us, and put them in a safe place..."
"Where is this safe place? Wouldn't it be safer to keep them by your side? Or did you judge that it would be more dangerous to bring them before us?"
The smile vanished from Jack's face.
"Looking at that attitude, it seems I won't be trusted no matter what I do. Does that mean the alliance is dissolved?"
"We didn't trust you to begin with. I knew about your background—that you might be more dangerous than Tsukuteku depending on the situation. Isn't that right, Mr. Tabakal of the 'Bound Lion'?"
When Velvet negotiated with the Saherta intelligence agents, she demanded they take out the other players who weren't here, but she hadn't excluded Jack's name at that time. Even though there was an alliance, Velvet had recognized Jack as a potential enemy from the start.
We had been told the basis for that later. The name Jack High was nothing more than a pseudonym he used on the internet. That in itself was normal, but his background before he became active as an iTuber was the problem.
"What, you knew? That name."
"Scandals are my specialty. Don't underestimate the information network of a controversial-type iTuber."
Seven years ago, a large-scale war involving several small Middle Eastern nations was triggered on the Aizien continent. The war, which originated from religious issues, became a quagmire and caused immense damage until the multinational force dispatched by the V5 intervened. Even now, it was said that the flames of war hadn't completely died out, and it remained a conflict zone where small-scale clashes occurred frequently.
At that time, one of the mercenaries who became infamous in that war was Tabakal. That man was supposedly the current Jack High.
"Mercenary? I see, a mercenary. That information network of yours isn't all that great after all."
"Is something wrong?"
"I don't intend to correct you. People like you wouldn't understand anyway. How those who 'had to fight' felt."
Jack threw his gift bag high into the air.
"Bakshish: Alms of Life."
The bag burst, and a roar and a flash of light stripped away our senses.
Doing Stuff: Pomerni
Pranks: Jack High
Hunter: Blade Max
Idol: Noah Heliodor
Magic: Answer Bat
Making Stuff: Tsukuteku
Controversial: Velvet Alecto
Animal: Six
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