The atmosphere inside our hideout is heavy.
Sumeragi Reito shot his younger brother, Byakuya. That news made them tremble.
We’re having an emergency meeting before dinner.
「When I arrived, Sumeragi Reito and a group of people are burying Sumeragi Byakuya. The burial was on a hill, Sumeragi Reito was crying and said, “This is the only way to prevent the collapse.” I think that he’s telling that to himself. The others seem to be following Sumeragi Reito’s lead. There were a total of thirty-seven healthy men and women near him but none of them were showing any hostility nor killing intent」
Amane’s information is quite simple.
It’s not too clear but we can get a rough idea of what went on.
It must’ve been a very bad environment for Reito to shoot him dead.
It’s easy to imagine that Byakuya’s become a dictator and gone out of control.
「After the burial, Sumeragi Reito led his team downhill and headed north. He said that it’s up to the individual if they want to accompany him or not. Out of the 160 people, 110 followed him. The remaining 50 had split to groups of 40 and 10 and separated」
「Huh, I thought team Sumeragi had 200 people?」
「I seem to recall that there were 211 of us when we left」
「The numbers don’t add up, do they? There were supposed to be 210, but then there’s 160. Where did the other 50 go? Did they escape like Muscle and Yoshi Okada?」
「Some of them may have escaped, but most are presumed dead」
It’s shocking.
「They died…」
Mana holds her mouth.
「That’s too horrible」
Arisa’s face is drawn back.
「It hasn’t been ten days since Sofia and the group came to our place. During that time, 50 people died. Isn’t that too much? If you catch a cold from the heavy rain, and it gets worse, it won’t kill you in that short amount of time」
「That’s a pretty naive view from you Shinomiya Hokage」
Amane laughed.
「The cause of death may not even be a common cold or its complications. Dehydration, heatstroke, starvation, and a lot more reasons」
「I see, you’re right」
The heavy rain caused most of the team Sumeragi to fall sick.
And those who didn’t get the common cold will eventually get infected.
Furthermore, there are too many sick people that they don’t have enough energy left to feed.
Together, they could die from a variety of reasons starting from the colds.
It would make sense that about 50 people have died in less than ten days.
「With Sumeragi Reito heading north, I judged that he will no longer be a threat and so I went for the other team. The 40 people who split from Sumeragi Reito. That’s currently the second-largest force after team Sumeragi, which’s lead by the third-year student Daiki Sasazaki」
「Sasazaki. That’s Byakuya’s follower」
I know that guy.
He’s a brown-haired follower of Byakuya.
「Ugh, Sasazaki. I hate that guy」
Arisa’s the first to react.
「That guy smells like tabaco and it’s horrible,」 said Eri.
「That guy kept going after me persistently. It’s irritating」
Karin’s expression distorted.
「Speaking of which, Sasazaki is into Karin. That’s bad luck」
Mana doesn’t have a good opinion of him either.
Guys who smell like cigarettes and have a bad reputation with Mana’s group…
At that point, I can’t get a good image from Daiki Sasazaki.
By the way, I hate that guy too.
「The split was 32 men and 8 women. The team consists of Sumeragi Byakuya’s favorites so both men and women are in good health. Especially the weight women」
「Meaning, they’re on the same team as Byakuya. Where are they heading?」
「Northeast of the hill, around the area where the Asakura cave and nearby caves are clustered」
「Theyr’e choosing a place with lots of caves to get out of the wind and rain」
Amane nods.
「I’ve been monitoring Sasazaki team since then but they show no signs of coming this way」
「If he’s into Karin, then he will be looking for us, but they have no time for that」
「That may be true, but Sasazaki’s goal is team Sumeragi」
「What? Explain」
「Based on the conversation between Daiki Sasazaki and his group, there’s no doubt that they’re planning on eliminating Sumeragi Reito」
「Isn’t that weird? I thought you said that nobody was showing hostility during the burial?」
「There was no hostility that time. Their thoughts have changed after separating from Sumeragi Reito. They’re not happy with the gender ratio」
「I see. If they think the same as Byakuya, the ratio of men and women should be equal. Otherwise, they’ll be fighting over one woman」
「That’s right. Therefore, they plan to bury Sumeragi Reito, recover the guns of the Sumeragi siblings, and take control of the women in the Sumeragi team. Sumeragi Byakuya was increasing the number of boys, but Daiki Sasazaki seems to want to increase the number of girls only」
「What a vulgar man」
Meiko knits her brows in displeasure.
「I reached my time limit around there so I headed back. That’s my report」
Amane ended her story.
Everyone was quiet for a while.
They’re all silently sorting their thoughts.
「I’m concerned about Sasazaki’s movements but I think that the base problem is the status quo」
I broke the ice.
Mana said “Yeah,” and the others nodded.
「By the way, Amane, if ever the Sasazaki team goes after Sumeragi, who will win?」
I want to ask her just to make sure
Amane replied “team Sasazaki” without hesitation.
I thought so, but others were surprised.
「Sasazaki team has more healthy men. If you look at the numbers of males, then team Sumeragi doesn’t have that much difference. In simple strength comparison, team Sasazaki’s far superior. His team is made up of second and third ranks, while team Sumeragi has fourth and below」
Amane’s guess is the same as mine
「However」
Amane continued.
「Sumeragi Reito’s skills are unknown. He’s sharp. He lacks the knowledge to survive in this place but he is outstanding in other aspects. There’s a good chance that team Sumeragi wins depending on Sumeragi Reito’s movements」
「I see」
Reito’s clever, but he’s not a professional in fights.
The conservative estimate would be 40-60 at best, not 50-50.
But the truth is it would be at 30-70, or 20-80 with team Sumeragi at a disadvantage.
「We’ll monitor Sasazaki’s team from now on and proceed as before. I don’t think will be problems. It’s quite the distance even from the hill, and I don’t think they’ll come to the hideout, which is further than that」
Everyone nodded.
「What will we do if their team comes? Run?」
Amane asks.
「We won’t」
I replied right away.
「If this was back then then I may have considered running away, but we’re already making splendid local infrastructure including rice crops. I have no intention of giving this place up to them. That’s why if Sasazaki, no, even if other teams come to us, then we’ll fight to protect. Abandoning the hideout is the same as death now」
Everyone felt tension.
Amane nodded in satisfaction saying “Good decision”
「It’s a little late but let’s have dinner. We still have work tomorrow」
Our emergency meeting has ended.