The loser of the second round was Saito, while the winner was Mitsuko.
Mitsuko asked seemingly random questions, and Saito answered them casually as if they were talking to ordinary friends.
The third round was Yoshihara's loss, while Rota won.
"First question. Does Yoshihara-san have a mission right now?" Rota asked directly.
"Yes." Yoshihara grinned as he answered.
"Second question. Is Yoshihara-san's mission target here?"
"Yes."
"Third question. Am I your mission target?"
"No."
These three questions were asked rather quickly and answered even faster. However, everyone heard them clearly.
The assassin "Judge" had a mission, and the target was here! It was someone else apart from Rota.
This situation caused the atmosphere to become a little heavy.
In the fourth round, Saito lost for the second time, while Seiji won for the first time.
Seiji didn't have anything else he wanted to know, so he casually asked a few questions about his favorite manga to ease the atmosphere.
In the fifth round, Saito lost once again.
In the sixth round, Saito lost once again.
In the seventh round, Saito lost once again.
Was this person doing this on purpose?
"Saito -san, did you lose on purpose?" As the winner, Mitsuko asked the question that everyone wanted to ask.
"No, I just had terrible luck." Saito scratched his head and smiled wryly.
"It's boring to keep playing like this. Please be more serious."
"I'm being very serious, Kitajima-san … but my luck at cards is truly terrible. Perhaps I should take a break and go out for a smoke."
"Let's take a break, then." Rota stood up. "I'd like to have a smoke as well."
He apologized to everyone and was about to leave.
At this moment, Seiji suddenly heard a faint voice …
"Stop …"
This voice was quite soft yet clear, as if someone was whispering into his ear. However, it was impossible to tell whether it was a man or a woman.
Seiji reflexively looked to the side, but didn't see anything.
Rota walked away. Mitsuko couldn't be bothered to ask Saito any more questions. She stood up and left as well. The game ended there.
'What did I just hear? Did someone use a spell on me?
With doubts, Seiji returned to Little Shi's table.
"Big brother … what's wrong?"
"I heard a strange sound just now."
Seiji explained the situation.
Shika Kagura's eyes flashed. She had been observing the situation here, but she didn't see anyone use any spells on her sworn brother.
"Stop" … Who and why did they make me hear this? Seiji pondered.
Judging from the timing, could it be that he wanted me to "stop" Rota? Stop him from leaving?
By now, Daikawa Rota had already left the restaurant and was smoking outside.
Do you want to check out the situation?
Let's go and take a look. It's good to see the scenery.
"Little Shi, do you want to go out for a while?"
Shika Kagura nodded.
Then, the two of them stood up and walked out of the restaurant.
The view outside was wide, but the weather was gloomy and the fog was thick in the distance. The scenery was not good. The passenger ship sailed at a high speed, and the sea breeze blew past, bringing with it waves of coldness.
Rota and Saito were standing nearby and smoking. They didn't seem out of the ordinary at all.
Seiji and Little Shi walked over.
"Haruta -san, would you like a cigarette?" Saito asked in a friendly manner.
"No need, I don't smoke."
"That's a good habit. You should maintain it."
"I never expected to hear such a thing from someone who's currently smoking."
"Haha, it's publicly acknowledged that smoking is harmful to your health."
After chatting for a while, Seiji and Little Shi left.
"I don't think that he's like 'Haruta' at all … what do you think, Rota-san?" Saito casually asked after Rota and Seiji left.
"Saito -san, have you ever personally met the real 'Haruta'?" Rota countered with a question.
"I haven't."
"I haven't either … Everything we know about the Haruta Family comes from indirect sources. That's why I shouldn't say whether or not he's like Haruta or not. I can only say that this person doesn't fit our understanding of 'Haruta'."
"Is there a difference?"
"It's fine if you want to pretend that there's no difference. That's just my opinion."
"Rota-san's words are rather difficult to understand."
"I'm truly sorry about that."
Rota and Rota both took a puff of their cigarettes and slowly exhaled.
"Although that person doesn't seem like 'Haruta,' I think it's good if he really is." Saito glanced in the direction of the couple. "Although we only played a few rounds of cards, I feel like this bro isn't a bad person … If the youngsters of the Haruta Family, or even the other six Yin Yang Master families, are all like him, Sakura Island will probably become much better off."
Rota fell silent for a moment.
"Perhaps … but that's impossible."
The second half of Rota's sentence was filled with decisiveness.
…
Seiji heard that voice again.
"Stop …"
"Who is it!?" Seiji immediately spoke up.
There was no response. There was only the sound of the wind.
"Brother, did you hear that again?" Little Shi looked at him.
"Yeah." Seiji nodded and furrowed his eyebrows slightly.
There was no one nearby at all … or perhaps it was more accurate to say that he didn't see anyone.
Was it an illusion?
Definitely not!
Something was clearly happening, but he couldn't see any signs of it. This type of abnormal phenomenon had occurred not long ago, at the tennis tournament.
Could it be that there was an Inner World hidden on this ship?
Seiji thought about it for a moment and decided to take a walk around.
He looked around as he walked, treating it like he was taking a walk.
"Are you really someone from the Haruta Family?"
A short young man wearing a wireless earpiece asked this question not long after Seiji left.
This young man was leaning against the railing and looking at the sea. When Seiji and Little Shi walked past him, he suddenly asked this question.
This was Ikuko Takeuchi, a ninja, and Mitsuko Kitajima's partner. The young man's appearance was a disguise. His true appearance was that of an ordinary-looking girl. She mostly worked as a spy and was quite low-key. She always acted as a support when working together with Kitajima. It was likely that she had never directly killed anyone before.
This information appeared in Seiji's mind as he looked at the short young man.
The young man … the female ninja named Ikuko Takeuchi took off her earpiece and looked at him as well. Her fake dead fish eyes now shone with a sharp light.
"It's real, and also fake," Seiji answered vaguely.
"… Why did you use such a method to attract everyone's attention?"
"No reason." If he really had to explain it, he was just pretending to be cool.
Ikuko took a deep look at Seiji's face.
"You know … right?"
"Know what?" Seiji blinked in surprise.
However, the female ninja only glanced at him one more time before retracting her gaze, putting on her earpiece and speedily walking away.
"Wait!" Seiji reflexively tried to stop her. "What do you think I know?"
There was no answer.
Ikuko, who was wearing the earpiece, did not even look at him. It was as if she did not hear him at all. She quickly walked away.
Seiji frowned. He vaguely felt that he had missed something important.
The problem was that he really did not know … what did she think he knew? Was it related to that mysterious voice?
Was something happening on this ship?
The questions in his mind were like a distant fog that emerged and spread.
At this moment, he suddenly heard a melodious sound —
"Ding-dong ~"
It was clear and melodious, like the sound of a bell being shaken.
Seiji subconsciously looked around.
"Ding-dong ~"
Once again, the sound was clearer than the first time. It seemed that the source of the sound was closer.
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