The Final Five Hours (2)
By the time they finished loading the supplies from the warehouse and reached the meeting place, Pena was already speaking with the captain.
"How did it go?"
"It went well. I'll tell you later."
Even though the bribe had already been arranged, they both thought it better to talk somewhere private.
"Let's get going soon. One thing I should make clear: I'm only guiding you. I can't promise I can buy off the captain of the guard—he's a rigid stickler for his principles." The ship captain said this as Shirone's group left the harbor and entered the royal castle—more precisely, they slipped in through the palace's back gate.
The layout matched a real castle exactly, and many people were working without rest.
Iruki said, "They're all programs executing set roles. Maintaining a huge world like Melkidou can't be easy. From what I've played so far, it's actually a well-made system."
Shirone agreed, but his heart ached at the reason the world had been made.
'Cain,' he thought.
According to Omega's records, Cain was the son of Mito Kondria Eve—specifically, Lillis's son.
"Here." The captain pointed to the captain of the guard's office and knocked.
"Come in."
When they opened the door, a stern man with a scarred face waited inside.
"Good evening, captain of the guard. Here is the list of supplies that arrived tonight. Please sign here."
This was a process that required high authorization.
The captain of the guard scanned the papers slowly, then looked up and glared at them.
"What are those?"
"What are they??????"
Shirone stepped forward.
"One of my comrades has been falsely accused and is in prison. I beg you to show leniency."
If the bribe went through, logic hardly mattered, but Shirone still couldn't bring himself to stoop to Nade's level.
"Comrade? Who?"
Curtis's intel had said that to buy off the captain of the guard, there had to be someone actually in prison.
"Curtis."
The captain of the guard's expression changed.
"No. That man is a serious criminal. If I listed every murder and stolen item he's responsible for, it would fill dozens of files. I cannot release him."
"No—Curtis is innocent in Melkidou. Please give us a chance to persuade you." The man who had been glaring at Shirone finally spoke.
"You think you can persuade me? I'm stubborn. The cost to attempt persuasion is fifty million points."
Just as Shirone had expected.
"All right." Shirone answered, and the captain's office transformed into an arena of shifting space, leaving only the conspirators behind.
A message sounded.
- Bribery program activated. Destroy the captain of the guard's principle with Crime Dice.
The captain of the guard stepped in from the other side of the space.
'This is unexpected,' Shirone thought.
While the group hesitated, the captain produced his Crime Dice.
Nade frowned at the sight of four eight-sided dice.
"What the—he's stronger than us? Isn't persuasion decided with the same dice?"
Shirone's party had three seven-sided dice—both the number of dice and the faces were a rank lower.
The captain of the guard smiled coldly.
"Hmph. I don't know who you bought off to get this far, but I'm different."
Shirone felt it instinctively.
'A stickler for rules. Unlike other admins, the captain of the guard won't break his own rules.'
A message came.
- Both sides roll their dice; the numbers rolled are subtracted as Crime Points. One pip on a Crime Die equals 10,000 points. The team or user that reduces the opponent's Crime Points to zero first wins.
"Phew!" Nade realized the seriousness of the situation.
'It's not a one-shot duel. Three seven-sided dice can at most total 42 with doubles counted. No matter how many points the captain has, Shirone can't handle it alone. We have to roll too.'
"How many Crime Points does the captain have?" Iruki asked.
- Fifty million points.
Eden wore a troubled expression.
"As for us… since fifty million was deducted a moment ago, we have about eight million points left."
'Simple math: if the dice total reaches 800 points' worth of pips we're bankrupt.'
Shirone rested his chin on his hand and thought.
'So when Curtis said at least fifty million, this is what he meant. Were we too unprepared?'
No. That wasn't it.
'We're the unusual case—other people probably come here with a hundred million points. For them, a simple dice match might be easy.' So this duel meant…
"Items." Shirone asked, "Can we use items?"
- The captain of the guard's principle is "put everything on the line and clash." For this persuasion, there are no restrictions.
"So we can change turn order, too?"
- Possible. However, before a turn is called, one person cannot participate twice in a row. Under the same rule, one person cannot use two items at once.
"I see."
They had acquired a fair number of items while rifling through the harbor warehouse.
"Nade's kleptomania comes in handy now."
"Hey!" Nade protested with an offended look, though inwardly he was relieved.
'Thank goodness. I insisted on spending those points for this.'
"If items are applied, it won't take more than twenty turns. Each turn will be crucial," Shirone said.
"I'll go first." The captain of the guard said. It was unusual, but arguing with a principled man would be pointless.
He drew a card.
"The Captain's Authority."
"What's that item?"
- The captain uses an admin-only item. Not available in shops.
The card's effect activated.
- Divide incoming attack power by the lowest number shown on the opponent's Crime Dice. Lasts three turns.
As they listened, the dice were thrown.
'Come up 1! Please!' Nade prayed, but the captain's dice landed 3, 6, 2, and 7.
'Divide by 2.' For the next three turns, damage dealt to the captain would be halved.
"Is there really an item like that?" Eden muttered.
"It's admin-only. Let's change the turn order. We have enough items, but with Captain's Authority active, Shirone attacking now would be inefficient."
Shirone's turn had to be decisive.
"All right, I'll go." Eden drew a card.
She used a top-tier item, "Genius' Insight," to combine die results into the maximum possible number.
If a double occurred, the two results would add together; the highest expected value was 15,540,000.
"7, 3, 4." The combined maximum of 7,430,000 was halved.
"…That's disappointing." It was an excellent result, but against the captain's fifty million points, it didn't feel like enough.
The captain drew a card.
"Punitive Conviction."
- The resulting value doubles each turn. Lasts five turns.
Iruki's eyes narrowed.
'A 32x critical on the final turn. He expects to finish this within five turns.'
The captain's dice showed 5, 1, 7, 4.
"340,000 deducted. It's tolerable for now, but next turn will be harsher."
Iruki's eyes flashed.
"Wait—let me go." He stepped in for Nade and used "Accountant's Delusion."
- This turn's value is applied to the next turn.
'Even if we go all out, we have too few points. We have to bet on this.' A double appeared, bringing the total to 27.
"Foolish. You gave up the chance to use other attack items because you feared the Captain's Authority."
It was the captain's turn again. With a 4x applied this time, 1,640,000 points were deducted.
The captain raised the corner of his mouth.
"I will grow stronger next turn. You cannot break my conviction."
No one answered—because they all understood Iruki's plan.
'This persuasion isn't a guaranteed win. Quantum collapse alone won't win it for us.'
They couldn't reveal the plan because the opponent could counter with items.
"Accountant's Delusion." Nade used the item, and the captain frowned.
'Again?'
- Accountant's Delusion stacks twice. This turn's result will carry over to the next.
'They're going to use Wind God,' the captain realized. 'A user-only item. Clever, but hard to rely on—unless huge numbers come up repeatedly, the multiplicative effect falls off fast.'
'I'll win anyway. The chance of wiping out fifty million in one blow is laughable,' he thought.
Nade hurled the dice with all his strength.
'Please! Double! Double!'
When the dice hit the ground showing all different numbers, despair rose—but his heart then pounded.
'It worked!' They were 7, 4, 6—total 17.
If they used Wind God on the next turn, at least 4,590,000 points would be guaranteed.
The captain drew another card.
"You like to gamble. Then let me judge your fate. Activate: Emergency Situation."
- All dice results gain +2.
Another double chained in, and the total reached 4,800,000. Shirone's group was left with about a million points.
"This will definitely end on the next turn. Prepare to leave."
"Don't be so confident. Your Captain's Authority just expired, remember."
"So? Nothing will change. Can you deduct fifty million in one go? The probability is—"
"Give it to me." Shirone took the dice.
"Wind God."
- All operations on dice results are converted to multiplication.
Shirone asked, "Why can't you release Curtis?"
"Is that even a question? He committed countless crimes."
"You made that happen."
The captain went silent.
"It's natural that those who commit crimes must be punished. But what about those who made this system? If you have points, you're innocent no matter what you do; if you don't, you're guilty. The more crimes you commit, the more points you accumulate. Those who can't adapt are forced to restart from the bottom. Is that system just?"
Shirone's words were directed beyond the captain.
"I don't know what you mean. Nobody forced anyone. If you don't want to go to prison, don't commit crimes. Are you saying we should hate the sin but not the sinner?"
"No." Shirone ground his teeth. "If you hate the sinner that much…"
He swung his arm and cast the dice.
"Try hating the sin a little along with the person."
The dice landed 7, 7, 7. The captain stared blankly.
"W-what is this…?"
- Double. You are granted one more chance.
"If you truly want to punish sinners," Shirone said, snatching the dice that had fallen and throwing them again to the same spot.
Again it was 7, 7, 7.
- Accountant's Delusion activates. Wind God converts all operations to multiplication.
27 × 17 × 7 × 7 × 7 × 7 × 7 × 7 = 54,000,891
Iruki smiled.
"We've won."
The shifting space vanished, and time began flowing normally again.