The treehouse we were currently in had four floors.
Whether the term "four floors" really applied to a house hollowed out inside a tree was beside the point right now.
The first floor served as a dining hall.
Several tables were arranged around the room, with chairs set to match.
However, the tables had currently been pushed to the sides, and only the chairs remained, with everyone seated wherever they pleased.
Kudou-san had ordered the tables moved because they made it hard for the rest of us to hear.
The reincarnators sat in a semicircle centered on me, waiting for the discussion to begin.
Yes. Centered on me!
Why me?!
Hey,鬼-kun should be the center! He was the one leading the conversation just a moment ago — just keep things going from there!
But despite all that,鬼-kun calmly ceded the center to me and sat down one step to the side.
Those eyes of his were pleading.
That I should be the one to speak.
Give me a break.
You don't have to go out of your way like this!
Ugh.
This is exactly why serious people are the worst!
Discipline-bound types like him couldn't flex when it mattered, and it was a pain.
Without turning my head, I used my Appraisal to glance at鬼-kun beside me.
Not a muscle moving.
He had absolutely no intention of budging until I spoke.
Great. Just great.
I looked to the other side, hoping for help.
There sat the little vampire girl, looking vaguely irritated.
No movement from her either.
I was doomed.
If anything, having her speak would only make the whole situation more complicated.
I looked straight ahead.
There sat Kudou-san, arms crossed, legs crossed for good measure, staring right at me.
Her eyes had been sharp in her previous life too, but in this one she was still a sharp-eyed beauty.
When Kudou-san stared you down like that, the intimidation was no joke.
Do you have an Intimidation Skill or something?
And next to Kudou-san, the teacher was sitting restlessly, fidgeting.
Her gaze darted all over the place, her body squirming in sync.
The reincarnators who knew almost nothing had no reason to be nervous, since they didn't understand what was going on.
But the teacher — she knew too much. She couldn't settle down because she had no idea what was going to happen next.
From the reincarnators' perspective, they really shouldn't have understood anything at all.
If someone told them to have a discussion, it made sense they'd eagerly bite, wanting explanations.
But from the teacher's perspective, things were different.
She apparently knew that the vampire girl and鬼-kun belonged to the Demon race's faction.
The Imperial Army had attacked, she thought — and then two reincarnators who should have been on the Demon side showed up.
No wonder she was confused.
The teacher had passed out mid-battle with Natsume-kun, so she didn't know how the fight ended, why two members of the Demon faction were here, and a dozen other things — too many threads to sort out in her head.
On top of that, Poteemas had fed her all sorts of twisted information, leaving her unable to tell what was right from what was wrong.
She had more information than the other reincarnators, and that was precisely why her confusion was that much greater.
Yamada-kun and Oshima-kun being absent was, in a sense, the right call.
Those two weren't here.
Yamada-kun apparently still hadn't woken up, and Oshima-kun was staying by his side.
Hasebe-san had apparently been in such a state of panic that she'd been put into forced sleep.
All three of them had continued fighting after the teacher collapsed and knew a fair amount about what happened afterward.
Especially Oshima-kun, who hadn't lost consciousness until the very end.
They were the ones directly involved.
Their situation was quite different from the other reincarnators who had been dragged into it almost by accident.
Even if I tried to explain things, having them here would guarantee a riot.
The reincarnators other than Kusama-kun and Ogihara-kun — the two who were restrained — each had different attitudes, but they were all positioned to listen to what I had to say.
Everyone except the teacher seemed like they'd hear me out.
With Yamada-kun's group absent, this was a golden opportunity to bring the other reincarnators on board!
And yet my mood was one of utter siege.
Beside me sat the statue-like, immovable鬼-kun.
Across from me sat the equally frozen, irritated vampire girl.
In front of me sat Kudou-san, staring me down with an unspoken demand to explain already.
The teacher kept glancing at me nervously.
And every other reincarnator was staring right at me.
Could I run?
No?
I had to explain while being the center of all this attention?
I had to? Really?
Ugh, ugh.
Now then — in situations like these, you start with a seasonal greeting, right?
"A fine day it is today —"
No, that's definitely wrong.
Where do I even start with this?
The reincarnators knew nothing. I'd have to explain everything from A to Z.
But what counted as "A"?
Start with how this world — or rather, the system — came to be?
Hmm, but dropping that on them out of the blue would come out of left field and probably wasn't what they wanted to know right now.
What did the reincarnators most want to know right now?
Thinking about it — yeah, this was probably it.
"To begin with, you are all currently prisoners of the Demon race."
"Huh?"
Kudou-san's expression went blank for an instant before hardening into a glare.
The other reincarnators stirred, growing agitated.
Ah — wrong approach.
"Quiet, please!"
鬼-kun rose to his feet, clapping his hands to calm the reincarnators.
"It's all right. I know 'prisoners' sounds harsh, but nothing terrible will be done to you. It's less a prisoner situation and more of a protective custody arrangement. Please rest assured about that. As I said before, none of us have any intention of harming you. So even if what I'm about to say sounds strange, I'm asking you to please hear me out to the end. Is that all right?"
鬼-kun's earnest words gradually settled the agitated reincarnators.
Tagawa-kun and Kushiya-san remained alert despite their outward calm, but the others at least appeared willing to listen.
Phew. Good job,鬼-kun!
Even living in the elf village, the Demon race were still feared as enemies of the human race.
Being told you'd become their prisoner right off the bat would rattle anyone.
Yeah — my bad. That was a mistake.
Thank goodness鬼-kun smoothed things over.
"So, what exactly does this mean? You're siding with the Demon race?"
Kudou-san pressed a hand to her forehead as she asked.
Normally I'd just nod to confirm, but this time I knew that alone wouldn't be enough.
I had to say something!
Argh! Ugh! Oh!
…Mmph — this was the one thing I really didn't want to do, but beggars can't be choosers.
I'd have to swallow my pride and just do it.
I flipped the switch.
"That's correct. Also, the three of us here are not human."
As the words left my mouth, I opened my eyes.
I'd completely suppressed the Evil Eye so that looking at my eyes wouldn't cause any abnormalities — and yet the reincarnators still drew sharp breaths at the sight of those uncanny eyes.
The vampire girl and鬼-kun also caught their breath upon noticing the shift in my aura, but I ignored them.
"The three of us are cooperating with the Demon King for a certain purpose. I'll explain that later. Right now, confirming the current situation takes priority."
The words flowed smoothly, without hesitation.
Even I was surprised at myself, hearing them come from my own mouth.
I had memories that weren't my own.
Memories of
Using those memories as a base, I recreated Wakaba Himeiro's personality.
This was Wakaba Himeiro Mode.
Once in this mode, I could say exactly what I was thinking.
After all, Wakaba Himeiro had never been one for fumbling words — it would be strange if she couldn't speak.
But this mode was, in essence, me pretending to be D.
Me — pretending to be that D!
The humiliation was unspeakable!
That was exactly why I didn't want to do it!
But without it, I couldn't string words together properly.
So I endured.
"First, I believe you've all heard that the Imperial Army attacked this elf village. Our Demon King's Army attacked the elf village from behind the Imperial Army. The forces led by Natsume-kun were a diversion."
My words set the reincarnators buzzing again.
Among them, the teacher's face had gone particularly pale.
"Could I get the details on that as well?"
Just then, a figure descended the staircase leading to the second floor.
Oh great.
Here she comes.
The person who had appeared at the worst possible timing was Yamada-kun — who was supposed to have been unconscious and bedridden.