I
heard the sound of a hot tub hitting the tiles.
The
yellow buckets were piled up in the shape of a mountain.
The
noisy voices of the girls echoed off the walls painted with Mt. Fuji.
「Ugh......
that's unfair!」
Next
to me, Shima-senpai sank into the hot water up to her mouth, and stretched
comfortably.
「Uuun,
Nnn! Well, Moribe-chan had a lot of work to do with that girl. It can't be
helped. I think you did a good job, my friend」
「What
do you mean?...... I fall into a pig at the last minute」
「It's a
good thing it was at the end. I've been through so much, thinking I'd been
beaten to a pulp, and now today I've been subjected to such...... embarrassment」
Shima-senpai
shakes her head, as if remembering something. It's not just the heat of the
water that's making her face red.
「How
many times did you cum..?」
「Why
are you so curious? W-well...... after the third time, I didn't know what
happened. They were relentless. And after we were released from here, I
couldn't help but feel embarrassed」
「Are we
going to be released......?」
I
turned my attention to the four people who had been interrogated as major
sinners.
I
don't know what they did to them, but they are still in tears.
Even
now, the four of them were huddled together at the edge of the bathtub, crying.
「Now,
what do you think? But even if we could go back, the track and field club would
be over. We've already seen each other's dirty parts. I don't think I can
forgive Konparu either」
「That's
true......」
I can
only see a future where I will be bullied by everyone I whip.
「The
truth is...... if Hatsu-chan hadn't been in such a state yesterday, I would
have switched places with Shiratori」
「Eh? Is
that so?」
「The
first day I whipped her, it was just to encourage me. She's a smart girl. But
she's bluffing, so it's hard for me to make a decision...... But still, she's
someone I can trust」
「Someone
you can trust? Shima-senpai, were you close with Shiratori-senpai?」
「Actually,
she's my niece」
「Eh............?
Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?」
「Don't
shout so loud. Everyone's looking at you」
「No,
but...」
「I'm
the youngest of seven siblings, and she was the child of my oldest sister who
married in Tokyo. She came here to go to college and now she's staying with me」
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「I've
never heard of it」
「That's
because I never told it. But she's one of my relatives, so I can believe her.
Well, I'm sorry about it, Moribe. I hope you don't feel bad about it. She's
just a competitive person」
「Ahaha.......」
While replying
to the question, I remembered the exchange with Shiratori-senpai.
◇ ◇ ◇
If I
get carried away, I lose. So, I stood in front of Shiratori-senpai and swung
the whip down as hard as I could.
「Ugh!
It's hurt...」
Shiratori-senpai's
face distorts in pain, but she looks up at me with a somewhat relaxed look, and
that appearance sparks my anxiety.
I
think she's planning something.
But I
want to get some information out of her.
She
said she knew who the four sinner and that she knew everything about them. If I
can get her to tell me that, I might be able to end this whipping today.
「About
the four deadly sinners, is it Konparu-senpai?」
「Do you
think so?」
I
don't reply, I just whip her. I'm not going to play into that trick.
「What makes
you think it's Konparu?」
Shiratori-senpai
is still asking questions. But I still whip her with my mouth closed.
I
don't think Shiratori-senpai expects me to give an easy answer, but is she
planning to repeat the question and make me impatient?
「Shiratori-senpai,
don't you want it to end!?」
「Losing
in a game is not good for me」
What
in the world is this person talking about?
It's
not a game or anything like this.
She
shrugged her shoulders as she looked at me, showing my annoyance.
「Well, okay.
If you want to know, I'll tell you from the beginning. What was the common
factor between the four of you who were chosen to be the inquisitors in the
first place?」
Common
factor? The first four people chosen were Yui-chan, Takasago-senpai, Captain,
and me. What do the four of us have in common? We're all in different
categories, and we're in different grades.
「Don't
you get it? It's our hair. Out of the eighteen, twelve of us have short cuts.
And yet, not all four of those chosen have short cuts, so of course there's a
point to it」
(It is true that...... the captain
of the club was left out, and the next one chosen was Shima-senpai, who has a
short cut)
「I can
see what you're thinking on your face, you must thought that Shima-senpai is a
short cut, right?」
I
stopped whipping my hand and closed my eyes.
It's
dangerous, she even read my expression.
As I
inhaled to take a deep breath, Shiratori-senpai opened her mouth.
「It was
probably unexpected for them that our captain didn't make it. So, they had to
add one of their own in a hurry. You saw Shima-senpai's attitude? I think that
princess knew that Shima-senpai was not one of the four. So it doesn't matter
that she has a short cut」
(I see. If I may say so......)
The
next moment, I opened my eyes and before I knew it, she had walked right up to
me and had her face right up to my nose.
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「Hii!?」
I let
out a yelp and backed away. She opened her eyes wide and still thrust her face
at me.
「Now
that it's gotten this far, the next question arises, right? There are two
people left who don't have shortcuts. How come me and Konparu were not chosen?」
I
almost let out an audible “Eh” but I spun my mouth.
I
don't think that's enough to answer the question, but I feel like once I break
down, I'll just answer it randomly.
「It's
just that, you know? If the short cut is a characteristic of the four of them,
then isn't it okay if it's not Shima-senpai but me or Konparu?」
(Indeed, yes)
As
soon as I thought about it, Shiratori-senpai suddenly twisted her cheeks into a
scathing expression.
「The
answer is simple, because “we-are-ugly”」
For a
moment, I had no idea what she was talking about.
「On the
contrary, once this search for the guilty is over, you will be able to see the
Confinement King...」
When
Shiratori-senpai had said that much, the silver-haired maid interrupted.
「It's “Confinement
King-sama”」
「That
means you'll become the comfort of the “Confinement King-sama”.... And he has
no use for ugly people」
I was
confused. It's not that she's ugly, she's just unsociable.
It's
just that if you keep your mouth shut, you look like you're up to something,
and that scares me. The face itself is rather cute.
「What's
with that face!」
「Huh!?」
Suddenly,
Shiratori shouted loudly, and I shrunk back. No matter what, I don't know what
kind of face I was making.
「You!
You think you're prettier than me, and you're looking down on me, right! Oh no.
You cute little pretender. You act like you're having a hard time with the
whip, but when you step out the door, you're laughing your head off. I'm sure
of it. You're a black-hearted bitch, a terrible bitch」
Shiratori-senpai
stared my face as she rattled off a bunch of cynical words. I didn't have time
to say anything back, I just backed away.
「You
think you're the cutest, don't you? Oh, I get it. I've figured it out this
time. The truth is that the four deadly sinners were the first four chosen,
right? That's the kind of twist you see in movies. Tell me. It's you, isn’t it?
It's you, right?」
As I
backed away, Shiratori-senpai continued to press me. This girl is crazy. I
mean, does this mean that she didn't know what she was doing? I almost shouted,
“No!” But I swallowed my words and raised my whip.
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Then,
Shiratori-senpai said in a sarcastic tone.
「Oh my,
you whip me when it's inconvenient. Heh.... I mean, you're the sinner, aren't
you? If you're whipping me now, that proves that you're the sinner. Everyone,
watch me, because if she whips me, she's the sinner!」
The
reason and logic were absurd. But the momentum was pushing me around, and I was
confused. Still, as long as I don't open my mouth, I'll be fine. I repeated in
my mind.
「What's
wrong with you? Are you scared? Small fry! Fucking small fry! It's like you're
confessing you're the sinner! Apologize to everyone. Apologize to everyone!」
No. I
can't talk back. But when someone abuses me this much, I feel so frustrated and
annoyed that my eyes start to burn. Why do I have to be told this much? I'm
supposed to be the one with the whip! It should be Shiratori-senpai who hurts
when she is beaten!
「See,
apologize to everyone!」
(No! It's not me!)
The
moment I shouted that in my mind.
Shiratori-senpai
returned to her usual sullen and unsociable face, as if her spirit had fallen,
and said to the silver-haired maid.
「Maid-san.
What about this?」
「It's
out...」
「Eh?
Eh? Eh? I-I didn't reply!」
Shiratori-senpai
replied with a pouting face to my unconscious distraction.
「You
guys were probably told not to answer the question. However, I thought there
was no such restriction as 'not using words'...... It's called non-verbal
communication. If you say yes or no to a question without saying it out loud,
you've answered the question, of course. So I tried to push you until you unconsciously
did so」
「......
What do you mean?」
「You
just shook your head as hard as you can」
I felt
the blood drain from my face.
I was
too preoccupied with my words. I should have known that. But I was being pushed
around so much at once that I had no time to think about it.
Then,
when I turned around and before I knew it, the sackhead woman was standing
behind me.
「N-noo....
Stop...」
I was
stripped of my clothes in an instant, and before I could even let out a breath,
my body was entangled with the rope.
After
I rolled on the floor in a tortoise shell bondage, the sackhead woman walked
over to Shiratori-senpai and untied her rope.
「Phew....
I'm so stiff」
Looking
up at Shiratori-senpai, who is snapping her neck as she says this, I am overcome
with a sense of despair.
I've
fallen. I've fallen.
I'm
being whipped.
I'm
going to be beaten up like Captain.
I was
so scared that I burst into tears at the thought.
「Uuuu......
Uuuu...... Sob, uuuu」
Shiratori-senpai
looked down at me and, as usual, with an unsociable face, spoke.
「Don't
worry about it. I'll finish it all before you get whipped」
Then
she turned to the silver-haired maid and spoke.
「The
sinner are the four first-year students, Kishijo, Saito, Inui and Hotta」
Immediately,
everyone who was crowded around Shima-senpai stopped moving and Yui-chan turned
to the silver-haired maid with a look of surprise on her face.
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Only
Shima-senpai's lustrous breaths echoed in the silence.
「I
understood. Now, the four of you will be interrogated in a separate room.
Torture, take them with you」
The
sackhead woman then took out what looked like a knife and urged the four girls
to step out into the hallway, squaring their chins. As the four girls walked
out, terrified at the sight of the knife, the silver-haired maid opened her
mouth.
「I'm
going to interrogate them now. I'm sure this will be over soon, so everyone
please stay put」
When
the silver-haired maid left, a sigh of relief escaped from the menagerie. There
was no one to open their mouths. The only one with a pouting face was
Shima-senpai, who was shaking her body.
I
boldly asked Shiratori-senpai.
「Why
did you know it was the four of them?」
「I
think it's rather strange that you don't know...... Oh well. It's a simple process
of elimination. As I said before, the characteristics of a great sinner are
shortcuts. In other words, the first four, plus the six of me and Konparu are
unlikely. And Shima-senpai is also unlikely, as I said before. Ota sisters are
not capable of doing such shady things, and Amemiya does not have the guts to
keep her mouth shut after being beaten so badly. That leaves us with eight」
Until
that point, I can kind of imagine it.
「And if
it was four of them who humiliated her, then it's kind of unnatural for people
who don't usually work together to do that, isn't it? That's why Adachi, Koike,
and Omuta who hang out with Konparu are unlikely. I don't think Sato, who hangs
out with me and Takasago-senpai, would be able to do that...... So that leaves
four people: Kishiro, Saito, Inui, and Hotta. It's not that these guys are
always together, but...... you can think of one girl who treats all of these
guys like dirt, right? The top student in the same short distance as these
guys.......」
「Teruya-senpai」
「That's
right. That's what I meant. I checks with Shima-senpai, just to be sure, that
the person who was humiliated, Fujiwara, and Teruya, are in the same class, so
I can guess the rest」
About
thirty minutes later, the four of them returned, accompanied by a silver-haired
maid.
Although
they didn't appear to be injured, the four of them were in tears. When I called
out to them, they just sobbed and couldn't even speak properly.
The
silver-haired maid looked around at us and opened her mouth.
「Now
that we have confirmed that the four of them are the sinners, we would like to
inform you of your future plans」
I
heard a gurgling sound coming from the room. Maybe everyone was thinking the
same thing. Will we be able to go home?
We
waited patiently for the silver-haired maid to continue.
「Tonight,
we have a dinner party hosted by the Second Favored Princess, so I hope you
will all enjoy yourselves there. Especially for those of you who are the
sinners, this may be your last supper, so I recommend that you eat to your
heart's content so that you will have no regrets」
「What
is the de-dessert?」
「Please
look forward to it」
When
asked by Takasago-senpai, the silver-haired maid smiled.
「First,
the inquisitors, Kayama-sama, Takasago-sama and Shiratori-sama, please go back
to your rooms, and Shiratori-sama, please use the room that Moribe-sama is
using. Please finish bathing before I come back later to dress you individually」
The
word “dress” caused a slight buzz. But the silver-haired maid didn't seem to
care, and looked around then spoke.
「As for
the former pigs, I will now take you to the large bathhouse created by the
Second Princess. Your clothes will be prepared there, so please take your time
and enjoy your bath」
Then
we were untied from the ropes and brought to this large bathhouse that looked
like a public bath in the city no matter how I looked at it.
Apparently,
this second favorite princess had a bit of a strange sense of taste.
