That 404, Alphabetical Order

"By the way, Ryuka Shizukawa..."

"Hmm?"

"Before we get serious about revival—first, could you please remove the bomb for me?"

"Hmm. Sure thing. If you need it, I'll hand over the remote."

"No need. What worries me more is that it might break accidentally."

"Ah, yeah, yeah."

She nodded with an obvious, forced smile, slipping behind the pot emitting a faint wisp of steam, and began fiddling with something, clicking and clattering away.

Curious, I leaned in for a closer look—there, a device so crude it hardly deserved the name "remote control."

"Hold on... w-wait... what the—"

I was utterly speechless.

After all, it was nothing more than a radio-controlled car attached to the pin of a hand grenade.

"Rika-san, this... this is going too far..."

"You're not exactly a professional on this path, so this is about as far as you can go, right?"

You're the one who used to be a terrorist, aren't you? No wonder the attempt to overthrow the nation failed.

As I stood there, stunned, Reika added with a slightly apologetic tone.

"Well, if my life were guaranteed, I'd have taken this a bit more seriously, you know~"

I almost want to praise my own self-control for not immediately delivering a one-punch knockout.

This queen seems absolutely delighted by the sight of people getting flustered.

After pulling off the hand grenade stuck together with duct tape, the bomb was disarmed—just like that.

That should be enough to put our minds at ease for now.

▼

Letting out a sigh of relief.

The list of potential candidates for revival totaled four people.

1. Kamine Yuki

2. Takeyama Isao

3. Shichiretsu Ran

4. Hibiya Yasusuke

Respectful titles omitted, listed in alphabetical order.

Of course, there are countless others I'd like to revive.

For example, members of the "Guild."

Perhaps someone like Kôbashi Ikki (Ichi) or Kohno Kizuna (I only know her name) could unexpectedly become the final piece that helps us recall our last memories.

"By the way, what happens if we put the name of someone who's already alive into the cauldron?"

"There's nothing we can do about it. The paper just dissolves and vanishes. I don't know the logic behind it, but it seems all names of people who died after the end have been recorded. Also, even if you write a name with the same surname and given name, somehow it doesn't bring back a different person."

"……"

Of course, I'd love to revive my late former classmates... but that's probably something we'll have to leave for later.

After all, human lives are equal, and many people wish to be revived.

"Um, I need to write the characters using blood, right?"

"Yeah."

I pull out the clean tenkaku knife I brought... and then she stops me.

"Ah, you don't need to do that. This is a blood pack, made just for this."

"Oh, right."

I don't actually have to use my own blood.

"Hey, though... are you sure your fingers are okay? That's what you used, right?"

"Huh? Oh..."

I look down at my hands, which were exposed to poison.

I’ve gotten so used to it that I completely forgot.

"Well, worst case, I could just cut off both arms and be done with it."

"……'Just cut them off and be done with it'...?"

Rika looks a bit unnerved.

But these hands don't hurt as much as I expected. Maybe it's because I killed the caster?

With bandages, I could still write characters.

"Anyway, right now we should prioritize securing the 'Soul Restoration Machine'."

"…I understand. Then, for now, at least, this..."

Then, I'm handed a puddle of blood sealed in an inkwell, a pen, and a sheet of parchment cut to the size of a sticky note.

"Writing on such a small piece might be difficult, but bear with it. Parchment isn't easy to come by these days."

"Resources are limited, so that's wise."

"We used to be even more frugal with it before securing supplies from the Amazon warehouse—this is no exception."

At that moment, I vaguely understood why Reisen seemed hesitant about using the "Soul Restoration Machine."

You can't just keep preparing materials for revival indefinitely, you know.

▼

So I paused for a moment, lost in thought.

Words from several people echoed in his mind.

Please... I'm begging you... Kamin园, Yuki Kamin园...

such as,

You're kidding... No way... Kousuke... please...

or things like that,

—Anyway, I… I was thinking about you… senior…

or something like,

—It’s such a shame, we were almost at RAN’s turn, and now we have to line up again.

or that.

………….

…………uh…

After hesitating for about ten seconds, I wrote down "Kamino Yuki."

There was no particular reason.

I just happened to see her name at the top of the note.

"Kamino Yuki… huh. Is she someone important to you?"

"No, not at all. I've never even spoken to her."

"Really? Then why this person?"

"...Well, if I have to say, it's just alphabetical order?"

"Huh?"

"Hey, come on, the order doesn't really matter, does it?"

After all, everyone's being revived equally anyway.

"《《Doesn't matter at all》》?"

"Huh?"

"Uh-huh."

Then she suddenly flashed me that eerie smile—“Nikko Ooooh...”—she'd shown me earlier.

"Fu fu fu fu. Just as I expected—there's no doubt you're exactly as insane as I thought you'd be."

"?"

I gave her a puzzled look in return, trying to figure out what this was about.

This feeling...

It brings back unpleasant memories unique to introverted types.

Even though I'd delivered a perfectly logical statement in my own mind, it had somehow made everyone around me recoil in shock...

"In case you're wondering, it takes about thirty minutes to revive one person....Well, just stay calm and read a manga while you wait."

And so she hands me some random manga book.

I gently declined, saying, "No, thank you."

To be honest, I haven't ruled out the possibility that everything you've said is a complete lie.

"Oh, so that's how it is. No trust at all, huh?"

We can't possibly relax our combat readiness yet.

There's a possibility that other enemies are hiding around here as well.

And to be honest, I've been unable to stop feeling anxious.

But, Warrior-san, I doubt you'll believe me, but if you keep going like this, you'll only meet a tragic end.

The words I heard from Riru-kun lingered in my ears like a curse.