Although it was troublesome, Ryuto continued on, using the functions of his phone to find the destination.

But...

"What's going on?"

After reaching the destination, Ryuto couldn't help but exclaim.

His reaction was only natural, considering...

"Why is it the city police station?"

Ryuto looked at the building not far away, with a surprised expression on his face.

And the current situation was also quite unusual. The entrance of the police station was crowded with a large number of police officers, and even helicopters were deployed. It was clear that they were on high alert for something.

"Why is it like this? If the bomb was placed in the police station, then this phenomenon is too strange."

Ryuto hid in an alley across the street from the police station, observing the situation on the other side.

"Lord Ryuto, what should we do now?"

Hiyori, who was standing next to him, asked.

Both of them were wearing the clothes given by each other, two black windbreakers. Thanks to this, it was quite convenient to move at night, and they even came with masks, the kind you could buy anywhere. Although they had some expectations, they never thought it would turn out like this.

Just then, a voice came from behind.

"Ah, I found them. They're here."

Naturally turning around, Ryuto found two fully armed police officers running towards them.

Wait, what's going on? It seems like the police are coming after us. How is this possible? Although wearing a mask now means there's no need to worry about being recognized, Ryuto still found this situation difficult to understand.

While Ryuto was still surprised, Hiyori had already taken action. Using the technique "Instant Flash," she instantly moved in front of the opponents and struck each of them with a punch to the abdomen. Both of them fell to the ground instantly, and the entire process took less than 2 seconds.

By the time Ryuto reacted, the fight had already ended, although it couldn't really be called a fight.

But Ryuto didn't act hastily. He decided to wait and figure out the situation first, because that guy didn't explain the rules of this stage clearly. Although there were some speculations to some extent.

"Hiyori, let's hide for now."

"Hide?"

"Yes, although we don't know what's going on, it seems like we are being pursued by the police. Before we figure out the situation, let's hide first, on the top floor of this building."

Ryuto pointed to the building next to them.

"Alright."

Of course, they wouldn't just go straight up, as they could easily be spotted by the police.

Hiyori seemed to understand Ryuto's intention, and she took out a talisman and summoned Fuyuki. The two of them flew up to the top floor using the shikigami's power from the back of the building.

As soon as they stood firmly on the top floor, the phone rang. There was no need to guess who it was, so Ryuto answered the call directly.

It was still that pleasant voice.

"Good evening. It seems like you have arrived at the game venue."

"Don't waste time. What's going on?"

Ryuto urged directly to the point.

"It seems like you're already being pursued. Their actions are quite fast."

"Is this your doing?"

"Not entirely. I just set the stage for the game. They're acting on their own will."

Feeling like it was pointless to say anything more, Ryuto decided to ask directly.

"I see. So what are we supposed to do exactly?"

"As instructed, you have to disarm the two bombs within the specified time. It's currently 8:50 PM at night, which means you have until 10:00 PM. One of the bombs is in the police station's vault."

"In the vault? How did you manage to get it in there?"

"Well, that's a secret."

Although Ryuto asked, the other party didn't seem inclined to give an honest answer. Well, it was just a casual question, and he didn't expect to get any answer anyway.

"So, I have to infiltrate the police station's vault if I want to access the bomb?"

"That's right. Of course, if there were no obstacles, the game would be too boring.""Are those police officers the obstacles you mentioned?"

"That's right."

The other person admitted without hesitation, without any hint of concealment.

"While I can't be sure of the methods you used, those police officers wouldn't act like that unless they were following your orders."

"Of course, well, I could make them do that, but it would be too boring. After all, I hate boring things."

"Is that so? But in my opinion, it's still a boring matter."

"Well, leaving aside the amusement of the game, you must be curious about your current situation."

"......"

"Actually, in the end, I just used a bait, but I didn't expect that you would take the bait."

"You used the bomb as bait?"

The other person sounded slightly surprised after hearing that.

"Did you already figure it out? Since that's the case, I don't need to say much. In short, the current situation is that you have to solve the bomb within the specified time, and during that time, the entire police force in the city will do everything they can to stop you, because in their eyes, you are a terrorist who will detonate the bomb."

"That's why we have these strange clothes."

"Well, isn't it to conceal our identities?"

"The most important reason is probably to make us the targets. I suppose the police don't know the true identity of the terrorist, the only identification is this trench coat and this mask."

Facing Ryuto's speculation, the other person did not directly deny it.

"Or you could say, you have to break through the police cordon and infiltrate the police station's vault to defuse the bomb. Otherwise, according to the power of that bomb, many people will die. The entire city's police force is trying to catch the terrorist to protect world peace. If you are caught, the game will be over, and the bomb will still explode. So, the rough stage of the game is like this. How far can you go against the city's police force? It's quite exciting."

"You're just watching from the sidelines?"

"Both sides are fighting for their own goals. There is no better game than this."

"......"

At this point, it seemed like something suddenly occurred to him, and the other person changed the topic.

"By the way, speaking of that, what about the previous proposal? Although things have come to this point, if you agree, the game can be terminated, and there won't be any casualties. Isn't that good?"

"Well, in that case, it seems that this game can't be terminated."

"Which means..."

"Just not interested. I'm not interested in your proposal."

Ryuto gave a direct answer, but this answer seemed to be unacceptable to the other person.

"If you're not interested, then why do you continue? Now your attempt to dismantle the bomb is seen as an intention to disrupt world peace by the police. You have no need to do this thankless task, and do you have a reason to do it?"

"......"

"That's right, you don't have a reason now."

After a brief silence, Ryuto answered firmly.

"No, I have a reason now, so I can't use you as an excuse."

"What?"

For the first time, the other person showed a surprised tone.

"Although this may just be self-satisfaction, but now I have a reason. I can't use you as an excuse, nor can I ignore it. Otherwise, everything will become a lie. Until now, everything I have done is real, so I can't make excuses and blame others."

That's right, everything he has done so far is not for anyone, but it is not false. Of course, it does not belong to the category of reckless action due to "not knowing the interests." He chooses to do so even knowing everything, so everything is real and not false, and it cannot become a lie.

In response, the young man spoke with a tone of hatred. Although Ryuto did not understand the other person, he could hear the emotions in the other person's words. Perhaps because they are "similar" in some way.

"Even if you think so, the world doesn't think so. If you do this, the world will never accept you. No matter how right you are, no matter how kind you are to others, as long as you touch other people's interests, you will be betrayed. It will only make yourself more tired. At the same time, the world will one day deny you because the container called 'world' is made up of people. The nature of human beings determines the nature of this world, and that is something that no one can change, even if it is like this...""I have known this for a long time."

"What...?"

In response, Ryuto gazed into the void with a bewildered expression and then smiled as he provided an answer.

"Because this world is neither gentle nor correct."