The beginning of the week. Monday.

I went to school like usual. Together with me are  Kunisaki and Maria.

"Morning, Raika, Kunisaki, Maria!"

We were greeted with Ruirui waving hand at us when we entered the cla.s.sroom.

Yesterday, she creeps into my room at night as if that is normal.

The extent of her nerve really did surprise me.

"Good morning, Ruirui."

"Good morning~! Ruirui chan!"

"Good morning."

After exchanging our greetings, we get to our seat.

By the time I"ve the book for the lecture today on the table, Ruirui comes approach us.

"Wow~ all three of you are always together in the morning, huh?"

"Since we came from the same South dormitory."

Maria answered honestly towards Ruirui question.

It"s a given, there is no need to ask about it.

Thinking about it properly later on, perhaps she just wants a topic to start a conversation.

Actually, that is what it seems to be, since Ruirui is not giving up and start to open another topic.

"Now that reminds me, have you heard about that rumour?"

"Rumour? What kind?"

Kunisaki leans forward to join the conversation.

Ruirui comes sit at my desk and starts grinning.

『——ooh! Good a.s.s! 』

Shut up you f.u.c.ked up Evil G.o.d!

Like that, I need to deal with Bálor even early in the morning.

Anyhow.

Ruirui began to talk about the rumour.

"Somehow, since the entrance ceremony, students have gone missing in this school."

"Missing?"

And since this is happening continuously, won"t this become a serial missing case?

Both myself and Maria is looking at each other.

We are enrolling for the purpose of investigating this school.

However, seeing that it"s not been long since the entrance ceremony, our priority still remains on surveying the island and the school. We"re too focused on the Sacrament Management Organization that we have no time yet to investigate student rumours.

There is no denying that I got involved in this Representative War due to myself lacking information, that is not an excuse.

There is a continuous missing case involving this school"s student.

It"s risky to leave this rumour alone.

Even if it is a rumour, it"s important to give full attention.

Of course, since the one telling it is Ruirui, I need to investigate the truth myself.

"Ruirui. The rumour, you think it is true?"

I asked for confirmation.

Ruirui burst into a chuckle,

"It"s the truth."

So, she answered.

This girl is under my Evil Eye control.

She is supposed to tell the truth towards my question just now.

For now, I"ll just listen to her story first. Later on, I"ll check her source.

"The rumour that you heard, can you explain it more explicitly?"

"The rumour us quite simple. One day, a student disappeared, and ever since then more students disappeared and never come back to dormitory."

"Did they have any common traits at all, anything?"

"Who knows? I don"t know anything like that."

I narrowed my eyes and glare at Ruirui, but she simply shrugs it off and plays dumb.

Apparently, she doesn"t seem to know.

Maybe she finds it an interesting topic, and simply wants to gossip.

"Wah~ that story is quite scary, don"t you think?"

Behind me, Kunisaki open his arms in exaggeration.

Then, at that moment,

"What, what? What are you guys talking about?"

The moment I heard that voice, my facial expression almost got distorted.

It"s a familiar voice that I"ve been hearing since first time I enrolled in this school.

"Morning~ Tenka."

"Good morning."

Good morning, everyone!"

Except for myself, everyone gives their greetings to this girl——Tenka.

If it was three days ago, I would have returned her greetings effortlessly.

However……

"Raika kun too, good morning!"

Tenka face this way, and greet me like usual.

I wonder how am I supposed to feel, now that I"ve know the truth.

"Aah……good morning, Tenka."

"Eh~ somehow you seem lethargic today?"

Tenka laugh innocently.

A lovely gesture that will breed joys on those who witness it.

Looking at her closely, I……

I"m going to slaughter him.

『——your hobby is f.u.c.ked up, you know? 』

You are wrong.

Today is the third day after I learned about Tenka real ident.i.ty.

I still haven"t regained complete control on myself yet……

However, it seems that the stupid bout last night was somewhat effective in reducing my stress. My emotion is more under control than what I expected.

By talking with Bálor, I can create a chance to distract myself.

Nonetheless, I need to put my almost overwhelming killing intent under the lid as soon as possible.

Either way, I will get my revenge.

Until that time arrived, I can"t let the others know that Tenka is Zeus.

That is because Tenka will kill everyone once his ident.i.ty as divine apotheosis is exposed.

I must take account the safety of others if I"m to enact my revenge.

This is very frustrating, but it can"t be helped.

In the end, I will get to clear my grudge, that is for sure.

That"s why I will continue my daily routine like usual.

"I"m fine. It"s just that I"m not a morning person, unlike Kunisaki."

"Is that so~"

"Oi, are you implying that I"m a simpleton?"

I apologize to Kunisaki who is protesting.

Watching us, Tenka burst into small laughter, and quickly shifted her glance to Ruirui.

"Then, then? What were you guys talking about?"

"Well~ you see~"

Asked by Tenka, Ruirui began her story once again.

And then, softly, the front door of the cla.s.s opened.

"Ah~ Good morning~ ……please return to your seat."

The one who entered was our homeroom teacher, Kushigenoki.

Along with his sleepy face, while yawning, he starts writing on the attendance sheet.

He sluggishly moves toward his desk.

Then, he waited until all students return to their seats……rather, he is just standing in front sleepily.

"Nn~ Ah~ ……before I take todays attendance, I have something to tell everyone."

While stroking his beard, Kushigenoki overlooks the cla.s.s.

"Actually, it was reported that there are many students who don"t return to their dormitory recently. I heard about it in today"s morning meeting."

I was shocked to hear Kushigenoki announcement.

In other words, this is probably the same missing case which Ruirui just talked about.

"You guys already know it, going out at night is prohibited……. you even need to slip through the guards, so you better not to go out at night. Plus, there is no shop that opened at that time even, so why bother?"

Kushigenoki keeps on talking sleepily.

Since the rumours turn out to be real, I start asking inside my consciousness.

What do you think about this missing accident, Bálor?

『——nothing, I don"t care. 』

I don"t care about your personal thought. I just want to know if this is related to Representative War or not.

『——oh, that rumour. 』

"Uhihihi", Bálor laugh creepily.

As usual, his laugh really gets into other people nerves.

『——before that, tell me what you think about it, Raika. 』

Let"s see……

This school is located at an isolated island.

There are almost no means for students to get outside the island other than graduation.

Besides, the Sacrament Management Organization has their eyes throughout this island.

Furthermore, in order to shop on this island, the only means available is to use credits issued by the school.

The credits are supplemented to each student electronics notebook monthly, and it is easy for them to trace every transaction.

By following these student transaction history, the Sacrament Management Organization can easily trace their whereabouts.

But if the opposite happens, it"s understandable that they aren"t capable of tracing the students.

In other word, the missing students are not spending their credits.

That means they didn"t buy any meals or drinks.

Just how many days can a regular student survive on this isolated island, when they were cut off from food, clothes and shelter……?

It"s hard to believe that the students are going missing on their own will.

The only believable case is that there is external factor.

The problem is whether the external factor is related with Representative War or not……

The possibility that this missing case is involved with the current Representative War is, perhaps, around 60 %.

『——it"s not that high, but it"s not that low either. A subtle number. 』

The probability that this is the works of G.o.d remains the highest, but there is no doubt that there are still other suspects.

『——hmm? 』

The Sacrament Management Organization.

Since they are managing the whole island, it"s an easy task for them to erase a student or two without leaving any evidence.

『——that is surprising. I never thought you will doubt your fellow human. 』

They are not worthy of my sympathy since they are the one holding the Representative War.

Still I don"t have a definite proof.

For now, I"ll just keep them in my head as one of the possible suspect.

So, what is your opinion on this matter?

『——hmm? I don"t know. If it were me, I will only kidnap the ladies and do stuff, but I wonder what the culprit in this case is doing. 』

……you b.a.s.t.a.r.d, I don"t ask you to get this foolish answer.

I ignored Bálor silly jokes, effectively stop our conversation.

Before I noticed, Kushigenoki has stopped talking and the homeroom is over.

"Fuuh……"

For now, let"s gather some more information regarding this missing case first.

If this turn out to be some divine apotheosis works,

Then there must be some reason.

If I can understand their purpose, then I can come out with a way to deal with it.

Although there is no guarantee that I will learn anything, there is no harm to investigate a bit.

As I set my future plan, I began preparing for the first lesson.