A Village Resident

POV: Ikeda Akihiko

Things went easy for Mayumi as her rules went in favor of her. My body is capable of fighting back, but my mind isn't. I wonder why Saori surrendered to her quickly. Is she still scared of her?

I have a secret no one should know… or should I say fate made it secret for me. I have no memories of my childhood, and my life started in a white room as I see my dad looking at me. What happened before is what I wanted to know, but my dad said that I should be lucky I didn't remember those things that happened. It seems fate sealed my biggest secret, and my mind is set on avoiding it.

Furthermore, I have no other secrets to tell. With that excuse, I also surrendered myself to Mayumi. There's no way I can't go over her dominance. Her family and my dad are related, and the dominance I think is passed down through genes.

I can't fight back against her without laws. It seems like our positions changed since we got here. Our secret becomes the basis of power. She can easily kill us without hesitation. Unlike her, I can't do it back. I can see Saori trembling because an innocent girl like her can't possibly kill a person.

But Saori… is she really scared of Mayumi or is she hiding a very precious secret? If she has, I respect her decision of hiding it. Oh, bad me! I shouldn't have doubted it.

After those things happened, Mayumi said that there were no other essential things in that cabin, except the burger she ate. That talk might be short, but it is really long, about a quarter of information and the rest, insults.

At that moment she also gave us her first command. We acted like a role of a slave of hers. The punishment that she gave us wouldn't affect me very much, but for Saori… I don't want to think about it.

We walk out and set our journey towards the first tower in the North East. The sun, even artificial, strikes us with extreme heat multiplying together with the punishment she gave us.

I'm topless walking on the plains with my upper cloth wrapping my hand. I can feel the heat boiling my skin like needless being stabbed behind me. But that's not what I'm concerned about.

Saori… She's having the same punishment as mine. She's topless, wearing only her bra on top while her cloth wraps one of her wrists. That's the first order Mayumi gave us. We need to set our journey topless.

My lord, forgive me for what I have sinned, but I can't look at Saori no matter what. The heat is already making my head spin. Don't make my nose bleed too.

If there would be a time I looked at her, the image that I wanted to forget will completely retained in my imagination. When that happens, I'm good as dead. That means I can't look at her anymore.

I'm not directly looking at her, but she's looking down while covering her chest with her arms. There's nothing wrong with noticing perception. It just feels like she surrendered against her will. What she's feeling, including her visible sweating, is contagious.

We're set on a journey for about twenty minutes, and even if I don't want to, I'm still concerned about Saori. I think she can't handle any more walking. I can see her legs quivering with her heavy eyes being pulled down. At any time, she will collapse again.

"Saori," I called her and sat down in front of her, showing my back. "Would you mind if I carry you?"

"But…" Saori replied with her shuddering breaths that is limited to breathing.

"What are you doing, Ikeda!? Are you disobeying my orders?" Mayumi shouted in rage after noticing what we were doing.

"But look at her! Any time, she might fall to the ground. It won't be in favor of us if we lose people," I argued because it is really reasonable that we need more manpower to win this game.

"Ikeda… Don't worry… I'm still holding on," Saori murmured.

"Hmph! Fine!" Mayumi exclaimed with a slight growl and a puffed face as she turns her face away from us. "Do what you want! Make sure you won't go slow."

With her confirmation, I carried Saori on my back as we walk. Suddenly, Mayumi's shoulders went above normal… or should I say she's pinching herself? Her walking suddenly hastens.

"Why are we rushing? I thought there's still tomorrow for preparation?" I asked.

"Ikeda, you are a dumb person to ask. Do you think a war can be fought within a day of preparation? We are fighting here against guns. GUNS!" She roared as a reply together with her noisy breathing.

"I'm just asking. Why are you so upset about it?"

She suddenly stops and looks at us with furrowed eyebrows but an unexplained red face. "Because you're too slow!"

I apologized after that. We continued our journey until Saori saw buildings from afar and told us about them. Just after that, Saori went asleep.

"Let's hurry! There might be people waiting there," Mayumi shouted as she starts running.

We got near the said place and saw houses, like a residential village. Also, the plains and the village is divided by a road. That means the buildings here are still following the current civilization, and not from the ancient ones.

"Should we rest first? These houses can be easily set as our temporary safe house," I suggested.

"Not you, just Saori. We're going to search for essential goods," she replied.

I went to the nearest house whose door is open. I put Saori lying on the couch on the first floor. I closed the door and go to Mayumi after. We decided to check that said house last.

The first house that we are going to search for seems strange. It is locked, but not through the knob. It feels like something was blocking it, a chair maybe.

"Hello!? Anyone here!?" Mayumi tried knocking with her loudest voice but no one answered. "Ikeda, you should brute force open that door so…"

Suddenly, a woman's voice dominated our conversation, which stopped Mayumi from talking. "Mayumi!? Is that you!?"

"Heh!? EEEHH!?" Mayumi exclaimed as both our eyes dilate. We can hear footsteps from the inside as it approaches the door. And when it opens, we saw our co-schoolmate from our batch, and also the one who was with us in the first game. The shock and joy made us scream at the same time.

"AIMI!?"