Choice
The dungeon is starting to collapse…? Does that mean that aphid was the final boss of this dungeon?? No, now’s not the time to think about that.
"Both of you, run!"
"Huh, but what about the traps!?"
"If the dungeon’s functions have stopped, the traps probably won’t activate either. More importantly, getting caught in that vanishing effect seems way worse!"
"True dat. It’s dead silent, not a single sound, but damn if it ain’t creepy as hell…"
Beyond the wall that had dissolved into particles of light was pure darkness.
It closely resembled the pitch-black void that served as the dungeon’s entrance. But since it likely didn’t lead anywhere, who knows what’d happen if we got sucked into it.
"Then we’d better hurry! I’ll scout ahead. Masaru, let’s go!"
No sooner had she spoken than Serai-san leaped onto Masaru’s back and smacked his shoulder."Bffhunn!"
"Hey! Serai-san!"
"Kyaa!"
Instead of a whip, it was a slap that spurred Masaru into a forward-leaping kangaroo dash, nearly knocking me and Nina-san aside. But I barely managed to dodge as Masaru, still carrying Serai-san, went bouncing off at breakneck speed.
"Honestly, that girl’s reckless as hell…"
"You okay, Nina-san?"
"Yeah, I’m fine. More importantly, we’d better hurry too."
"Right."
...
After running down a long passage, Nina-san and I arrived at a small, still-lit room. Cone-shaped, with two objects placed at its center—and Masaru and Serai-san standing before them.
"Machii, running off like that was dangerous, y’know?"
"Sorry. But more importantly, look at this…"
<figcaptionattachment__caption"">Where Serai-san pointed, there was a large wooden chest and a small treasure chest placed apart from each other.
"Wooden chest on the right, treasure chest on the left?"
"Guess this is the treasure room, huh…"
The cone-shaped room had nothing else in it, and the only odd detail worth mentioning was that the chests were "slightly off-center, closer to the entrance."
"Hey, Egetsu-san. Think this is a choice between the two?"
"Definitely. The placement feels intentional."
"Then it’s about which one we pick, huh? But if we dawdle, the vanishing stuff’ll catch up to us."
"Hmm… A big wooden chest and a small treasure chest, huh? Feels kinda like ‘The Sparrow’s Tongue.’"
"Then we should pick the small one, right?"
"Ehh?! No way, it’s gotta be the big one!"
But here, Serai-san unexpectedly chose the larger one.
"Why the big one, Machii…?"
"Cause no way a tiny treasure chest has a weapon or anything good in it, right? But this big wooden chest? Feels like it could have an awesome weapon or armor inside!"
Hmm, true—the big wooden chest was about the size of a person.
Big enough to fit a large fridge, honestly. Meanwhile, the small treasure chest was seriously tiny. Like, the kind of metal storage box you’d use to keep a bunch of company stamps in.
"But we don’t know that. What if the small one’s packed with diamonds or expensive gems? We could sell those and buy good weapons—same difference, right?"
"With all the scams going around, no way we’d get a proper magic weapon that easily. And even if we did, it’d cost a fortune. So we gotta take this chance to get something solid!"
Huh? Wait, now their opinions are completely split.
"Hey, what do you think??"
"Hey, Egetsu-san, what do you think??"
And now they’re putting me on the spot?!
"Umm… I think both sides have a point, and either could be right. So how about rock-paper-scissors? Or just let Masaru decide?"
Absolutely NO to me being the deciding vote.
Our relationships—both personal and romantic—are balanced on a razor’s edge. Picking sides and upsetting that balance is the last thing I should do.
"If Egetsu-san says so, fine. Shizu, let’s settle it with rock-paper-scissors!"
"Sure. If you can beat me—the queen of mind games—then I’ll praise you for it."
"Then no time to waste, one round! Ready, go—AHH!!"
"Eh?!"
Just as the two were about to settle it with rock-paper-scissors, Masaru—who’d been wandering around—suddenly hugged the wooden chest. Oh right, kangaroos love clinging to stuff like punching bags, don’t they…? Well, this is a problem.