It's been a while, hasn't it?　Hidaka

It was Saeki who was there.

''Saeki........''

Saeki sat down in his seat, as if it were a given.

'Where have you been all this time?　What are they?　Is he one of yours?

Saeki grinned and smiled at me as if I was an idiot.
He still has that look on his face.

'Who are you?　You're not Saeki, are you?

Why would you think that?　Could it be that you're wrong?

I didn't say anything.
That's because he used the word "mistaken" as a metaphor.

"I'm a dungeon challenger. That's why I'm here. That's all it is.

Then Saeki stood up.

'I didn't expect you to be alive...'

I'm gonna tell you again. Who are you?

Hey Hidaka... how do you feel about killing Aries?　Did you have a good time?　Hmm?　Are you satisfied?

I then turned my hand to Saeki Modoki.

'What's that? .........hahaha!　Are you nuts?　Do you really think you can kill me?!

He looks exactly like Saeki.
His tone of voice and that look in his eyes are the same as the one I remember.
But I know it's not the same.
One of the things that proves this is the fact that Saeki wears a uniform.
But that's not the reason.
--It's the situation and intuition.

'Masamune?'

Toa asked me with a worried look on her face.

'Are you acquainted with him, Nito-sama?'

Sufilia also wants to know about the person in front of her.

That won't be a problem. This is Saeki. He is one of the brave men summoned to this world, just like me. But what's inside is probably--

'Not that!　Your eyes ... what's wrong with you?

"Eyes?

That's when Toa said something strange.
Then Toa looked at me with a stunned expression with his mouth open.

'What?'　What about those ... red eyes?　Only your right eye is glowing, okay?

Right eye?

I touched my eyelids with my hand.

'Not that way but...'

Oh, there you go.

From Toa's point of view, it's my right, or left eye.
And it seems that there's something wrong with my left eye.
But I don't have a mirror at hand right now....

Ah....what is it? ........What is this?

But I noticed.
In the glass window of the classroom facing the corridor, there was a single red spot of light.

I approached the window as if I were in a hurry.
Then I saw it more clearly this time than before.
I could see my face reflected in the glass window.
And I could see my left eye, which was glowing red.

''What.......is this?''

I was confused by my own eyes, which I had never seen before.
But I saw something in those eyes.
--It was Oliver Joe.
He had this look on his face when he was looking at me.
In Oliver's case, though, it was two eyes.

When did this happen?　How long has this been going on...

Just now. As soon as he showed up.

"He" is Saeki.
You mean since this guy showed up?
But why?

You?　What have you done?

'Ha! Is that you?　That's what you got to say, isn't it?　Hidaka

No, not you. I can see that. This is probably my problem...

Somehow, I can see that.
It's hard to put into words, but do you see any similarities between Oliver then and me now?
.........
Anyway, there must be something I don't know about.
But in particular, I don't feel anything wrong with my body.
It's about the same as usual.
It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for.

"Masamune?

Toa looked at me with concern.

'I'm fine. I don't know what's causing it but there's nothing wrong with it. He should be fine in no time.

Don't be a f*cking deer!

Saeki raised his voice.
But what has changed about me?
It's amazing how little you feel.
The old me would have freaked out immediately.

"You're too stupid to be an adventurer.　You're already dead!　That day, when Aries sent me out of town!　You're not supposed to be alive anymore!

'What's next for the Nightmare?　Hmm?　You think that would work on me?　You think you can break my spirit by hurling words at me like that?　Is that what you thought?

"I hear you, Hidaka, you're Nito?　But if you ask me, you're a crook. And that's what you are, isn't it? Cheating?　Right, Hidaka?　What kind of cheating did you do?

Then Nem interrupts.

'You!　How dare you call your master a master!　I can't stand Nem anymore!

Then six balls of fire appeared around Nem, slightly larger than ever before.

Saeki glanced at Nem, then returned his gaze to me.

'You're one of them?　You're not one of them?　　Don't make me laugh, no one wants to save you. Even in this world?

Eat it up!

Then Nemu fired six fireballs at Saeki.
But as soon as they hit Saeki, all six burst into flames and disappeared.
Then he brushed off the debris that had sparked his uniform with his hand as if nothing had happened.

''He may look like a Saeki, but he's a dungeon monster...''

'Hidaka?　You're going to continue to be bullied by me, aren't you?

Well no, you won't. I'm going to kill all of you.

All of them?　Ha!　Did you say all of them?　You're going to kill someone who has nothing to do with it?　Kawachi and Ichijo too?

....

I'm not going to tell this guy anything.
This guy is a monster.
But even if it were Saeki, it would be the same.

Crazy, right?　You're going to kill not only me, but all the people around me as well?

But my mouth works itself.

'It's not irrelevant. We all knew and just tried not to notice. It's just that it's too much trouble and they don't want to get involved.

'You're going to kill me because you didn't help me?　How self-centered are you?

Saeki looked down at me and gave me a grin, as if to mock me.

'Unreasonable ... is that what you're trying to say?

"Unreasonable, self-centered. Whatever. You're arrogant. And it's ugly!

Saeki pointed at me and was furious.
It was as if he was making some kind of speech.

'Then why was it me?'

What?

You don't have to be me, do you?　Don't you think so?

What do you mean?

'Saeki, you could have been anyone. I happened to run into you in front of a vending machine that day. And we happened to be in the same class. But what if it had been someone else?　Didn't I find someone else you liked?　But it was me... right, Saeki?　That's unreasonable, don't you think?

You were bullied anyway. You know that already, don't you?　You were born on a planet like that!　You have a problem with yourself!

'No, I don't think so. This is unreasonable.　It's unreasonable for me to be bullied. But that's just the way it is. That's the way the world works...

That's right. There's more than a few of those in the world.

How about it?　Don't you think that's what those guys would have done if I had killed them?

Are you saying you're gonna get away with murdering us?

'Yes. Those guys were spectators and bystanders. They weren't irrelevant when they were at the scene of the abuse. If you think that's unreasonable, then maybe it is. I'm not denying it. But so what?　It's unreasonable, so what's the big deal?　You pretend you didn't see my unreasonableness and then when they get themselves into an unreasonable situation, you call them out on it?　That's what's so self-centered, right?

That's just a backhanded resentment on your part.

No. Resentment is something that comes suddenly and unintentionally. Call it unreasonable ... resentment ... that's all you're saying.

'You can't complicate things. You're just trying to be convenient.

"Events have their own causes and happenings. I didn't do anything wrong. But there must have been some cause........ The only thing that was there was the antisocial perpetrator, Saeki.......you. You're the only one to blame.

You saying you're going to kill those people is just as bad as they think you are.　What I'm saying is a mess.

'No, I don't. They're the ones who are evil to me in the first place. That's why I'm going to kill them.

What?　I didn't do anything, but it's evil?　Hahaha!

'No, not in essence. I told you earlier.　Because they were spectators and bystanders. Not because I didn't help. They put a wall between them and me in that moment, making it clear that they had nothing to do with it. They refused to accept me for who I am.

What's the essence of it?

Saeki's eyes narrowed.

'You should know that by now.'

No, I don't understand. Everything you're saying is goofy!　That doesn't make any sense.

There's no plot. It's all about the will.

That's your decision?

"They chose to look away from me, to be spectators and bystanders, and I'm sure they felt every ounce of guilt. But they still made their choice.　Why?　-- because that's where the will was. It was their will to do so. They chose to do what they wanted to do, to measure themselves by their own measure, and to believe.

The three of them were silent, refusing to speak to me.
Toa had a difficult look on his face.
Nem found himself looking down.
Sufilia just smiled.

''And I'll just do the same. My will has decided those guys are evil.

'It's just a quibble. You know you're not doing it right. You know what you're doing is not right.

I'm going to tell you something.
This guy is trying to get me to question things.
I'm not sure why.

"Right and wrong are at the discretion of each individual. Especially in a world like this. The point is, there's a choice between trust and not trust. And I can trust that I'm not making a bad decision. And then I remembered something much simpler, much more important than that, and that is what I really meant when I said 'I'm going to kill them all'."

You mean, really, really...

'The beginning was unreasonable. And what was born was the oppressed and the unreasonable again. Your unreasonableness is none of my business. I don't care what happens to you. I don't care what you do to me, just as I don't care what you do to me. I'll do what I want, too.

Then Saeki grinned and smiled meaningfully, and suddenly raised his right arm.

'I understand your intentions, no more.　This is the last time.

And then he snapped his fingers.

--that was the moment.

'What?' .....

I felt a shaking under my feet.
Gradually, all the chairs and desks in the classroom began to clatter and shuffle.

'Saeki, what did you do?'

You know that already, don't you?

Saeki's tone of voice suddenly changed.
Then Saeki's face gradually distorted and lost its original form.

''Masamune!　What's going on?!

Toa said, looking impatient.

'I am afraid!　They wobble!

Nem, hold my hand.

Nem did as he was told and held his hand.

Then the shaking became more and more intense.
And Saeki's face and body began to gradually enlarge.

''You are... what?''

I'm a selector.

'Selection? ...What do you mean by that?

The abyss don't doubt yourself...

What?

The guy smiled with a distorted, twisted, pristine face.
Then he muttered the same words as Vel.

The shaking gets more intense.

'Master!'

Masamune!

Master Nito!

Three of them grabbed me and called my name.

Then the shaking, which had intensified to an extreme degree, ceased in an instant.

'Hmm?'

But the next moment, desks and chairs, walls and chalkboards. And the floor.
Everything around us was moving away from us at an unspeakable speed.

We lost our footing in an instant.
But strangely enough, we didn't fall, we stayed on the ground.

The landscape was changing at a pace I couldn't understand.
Every one of them was a place I remembered.

Is that an elementary school?

What's that? .........
Some of them were scenes I didn't even want to remember.
And the scenery that had been intermingled stopped moving.

At that moment, the floor and the ground came at us again from a distance.
The three of them were terrified by the sight and clung to me.

'It's okay,'

Then the floor, walls and ceiling, which were approaching with the same unseen speed as before, created a certain amount of space and then stopped.

''Huh?''

Toa was puzzled by the situation.

'Where are we ... where are we?'

Sufilia looked around.

''--The gym.''

It was a civic gymnasium that I had visited when I was in junior high school.

And in front of the three of us was the same squishy figure of "Saeki" who had lost his original form as before.
No, it was no longer Saeki, but a piece of meat.

"He who doubts the abyss cannot be a king. It's not worth it.

And then it just stared at me.

"What?　What are you talking about?

I couldn't keep up with the understanding of problem after problem that came my way.
I don't even know what this guy is talking about.

"Then I'll select--

The moment I said that, that thing in front of me began to bloat even more, as the clothing I was wearing tore and my skin swelled up.

The first thing that appeared was a huge red arm and claws that gouged the ground.
Then the legs.
And then its torso gradually showed itself as well.
The walls and ceiling of the gymnasium expanded even more in line with its bloated body.

''Masamune.......what is this?''

Toa noticed.

And that long neck and those eyes that caught the enemy and wouldn't let them escape.
And the countless fangs that could be seen from the mouth.
And finally, those huge wings.

At that time, the gymnasium had been transformed into an incredibly spacious space.

''Ah ... it's a dragon.''

In front of me was a red-scaled dragon.