I Reject Quests

Darkness dawned upon the island.

By now, everyone was relaxed in their respective rooms in the emergency ship.

Imada brushed his hair and got out of the room. 

He slowly made his way towards the deck where he saw Koshikawa lazily lying down in a rest chair.

Sensing the footsteps, Koshikawa turned around with a smile. "You are early." 

"So are you." Imada laid on a rest chair and thought about today's events. This was the day he would never forget in his entire life.

"Look at the sky." Koshikawa pointed his fingers towards the shining stars.

"Uh yeah, the stars look beautiful."

"No, I meant the sky is clear."

"Your point?"

"It won't rain tomorrow."

"Well duh, this ain't the monsoon season." Imada replied, then his glance became fixed on a bottle in Koshikawa's hands. "What's that?"

"Wine." Koshikawa smiled.

"From the ship?"

"From the academy."

"Wow, while we were working hard, you were searching for wine?"

"Don't be a wuss. I'll let you have a taste."

"Taste of what?" Asuka's voice came from behind.

Koshikawa turned his head and looked at the newcomer smilingly. "Do you drink?"

"O-of course, what do you take me for?"

Imada wasn't convinced by her flinching of eyes and therefore suggested. "How about no?"

"What complaints do you have? The Princess herself gave me permission."

Imada was too tired to continue dealing with this troublemaker and closed his eyes.

"Wake up. Don't sleep yet. Everyone arrived." Just as he was about to fall asleep, an annoying voice disturbed his peace. Needless to say, it was Koshikawa.

Koyami was in the front, followed by Aya, Sakai, Oshima and lastly Maki who didn't have a good expression.

"Everyone arrived?" Koshikawa confirmed.

"What do you think?" Aya rolled her eyes.

"Before I start, everyone please take a seat. The rest chairs are quite comfortable. I also have a bottle of wine with me so please relax." 

Everyone obediently took a seat after which Koshikawa turned to Imada. 

Imada sighed, then opened his mouth. "I'll mention the existing problems. First and foremost, the engine doesn't have much battery left. We can definitely not reach the mainland with this."

Everyone's expression fell but just as they were about to speak up, Imada continued. "However, we can definitely reach the nearest island, charge the battery and go back to the Central."

"You are a damn tease." Asuka couldn't help but curse. Rest of them also had relieved expressions.

Imada laughed lightly, then coughed. "Moving on to the next point, does anyone here know how to board the ship?"

"Isn't it a remote control?"

"Is it really? Has technology advanced to this level?"

"Maybe… it is because it is convenient."

"What do you mean?"

***

The group chatted with each other until late night. 

Some laid on the rest chair drunk.

Except for Imada and Koshikawa, everyone heavily drank. 

Looking at the sleeping faces, Imada had a wry smile. "I wish I could be like them… no that's not going to do. I'm not at an appropriate age."

"Who cares about age? Age is nothing but a number." Aya grinned standing behind him.

"Even if no one does, I do. Now, go back to your room. I'll talk to you in the morning."

"Leave him be, Aya. He's boring." Koshikawa handed over a bottle of alcohol to her.

***

The next day. 

A soul-piercing scream came from one of the rooms. 

Imada instantly got up from the bed and went to the source of the sound.

Along the way, he met up with Koshikawa and the others.

"Where did it come from?" Imada asked in a grave tone.

"Aya." Koshikawa answered briefly.

Imada's speed accelerated. Coming in front of the door, he kicked the door open and saw a horrifying scene.

"T-this… how?" Imada had never been so stunned in his life after the incident that happened yesterday.

Aya was standing there beside the bed looking at a bloodied headless figure. 

It didn't take more than a few seconds to find out who that was for everyone - Oshima!

His head was in the bed tilted with his eyes closed. 

The body was standing still leaning on the wall. After a few seconds, it fell down in front of Aya and a gush of internal organs came out.

Aya stood there standing as if she was still in a nightmare.

Not a single of the students could hold it in and threw up. 

***

An hour later.

Everyone stood in a circle with grave faces.

"I'm just going to ask, who did that?" Imada was strangely angry.

"That's not how things work. No one's going to tell you anything. You have to find it out." Koshikawa shook his head with a bitter look.

"It's you, isn't it?" Imada looked straight at Koshikawa.

"I… can't move." Koyami let out a confused voice.

"I can't either. What's going on?"

Imada looked at the two who said strange things and opened his mouth but just as he was about to say something, Maki spoke up.

"Someone paralyzed us!"

"Huh? Paralyzed? How?" Imada's gaze was that of shock when he noticed that his friends couldn't take a step. A thought entered his mind and then he immediately turned to look at Koshikawa who was still carefree.

"Don't! Wait! Don't hit me! I'm not the villain! Trust me." Koshikawa staggered backward and pleaded.

Imada stopped. "Give me an explanation."

Koshikawa wiped off the sweat from his forehead and sat down on the chair in front of everyone's burning eyes. "Look, the alcohol contained a paralyzing drug."

"How dare you, f*cker!" Asuka cursed out. Others also had similar thoughts but didn't say anything because they wanted him to continue.

"The reason I did this is extremely obvious." Koshikawa said with a carefree smile. "Before the carriage started moving, I had a chat with Mitsuhara-sensei… Maki-sensei can testify to that."

Imada turned to look at Maki, who nodded. "Continue."

"Mitsuhara-sensei told us that sub-humans could attract beasts."

Imada scoffed. "Did Zonal Lions come to the island by swimming?"

"They were underground, according to Mitsuhara-sensei. He also said that when a sub-human is nearby, the beasts come out of their hibernation."

"I understand. Then?"

"Then what? Could it be that you don't understand a simple thing? Besides, did you really think that those three sub-humans were betting on the Zonal Lions to kill us? Didn't you think that the woman's tone was too confident when she said that we'll die?"

Imada was about to get angry but then decided to properly give a thought. A few seconds later, his expression along with the others' changed. "Why did you first suspect us? There could have been a sub-human on the island."

"Is it alright to leave it be?"

Imada couldn't deny this. Even if the chance of a sub-human appearing among themselves is slim, it's not zero and that's enough of a reason to do this. Even drugging five people doesn't seem much. "Do you know who it is?" He had to be reasonable now.

Koshikawa shook his head. "I don't but I have a suspect." His eyes turned to the one at the extreme corner - Maki.

Maki gave a light depressing laugh. "It's fine. I don't blame you for suspecting me."

'There is certainly a good reason to suspect Maki…' Imada carefully thought, then looked at Koshikawa. "Now that you have a suspect, how are you going to prove that she is a sub-human?"

"Well!" Koshikawa smiled and took out a small bottle of colorless liquid. "You know what this is?"

Imada and the others shook their heads. 

"It is a weak acid. Now, Maki. Could you tell me what Mitsuhara-sensei said?"