Tantalus had split in two.

The larger something grows, the more likely it is to collapse under its own weight and break apart. That was why icicles could grow only so large, and even the mightiest empire in history had fragmented that way.

Tantalus, which had weathered all manner of falling objects without a scratch, had, like everything else, split exactly in half over an internal problem.

Namely:

"A beast that attacks people should be put down on the spot! What's there to debate?"

"She's already incapacitated! We don't have to go so far as killing her!"

A difference of opinion between the Regressor and me.

Outraged by her utterly illogical argument, I glared and shouted.

"You have no trouble cutting off people's arms, but you can't slit a cat's throat? It's because of people like you that cats strut around with their heads held high, forgetting their place!"

The Regressor shouted back.

"Killing her won't help anything! Nabi is the King of Cats, and Beast Kings are valuable fighting assets! At the very least, keeping her out of the enemy's hands is enough!"

Beside the shouting Regressor lay Nabi, sprawled across the classroom floor and wheezing feebly.

Tyr's punch had left Nabi on the verge of death. She had instinctively let out a chest-voice roar, but it had been little more than a dying struggle.

Azi had lunged in at the last moment and sunk her teeth into Nabi's ankle, and Nabi had been unable to shake her off. With that ankle still in her jaws, Azi had shaken her head from side to side. Nabi's leg had snapped with a crunch, and her body had left bloody marks against the wall and floor in turn. Caught in a dog's jaws, the cat had been reduced to a battered wreck.

Nabi had lost consciousness, but Azi had shown no intention of stopping. If the Regressor hadn't intervened, that would have been the end of her.

Seeing Nabi lying there like an animal at death's door, her life and safety entirely at another's mercy...

I got nothing. I couldn't read animals' thoughts.

Not that I needed to.

"Even if a Beast King dies, another one appears somewhere in the world! Just kill her! Then raise a nice, clean cat that isn't a drug addict and hasn't tasted so much blood!"

"We can't even leave the bottomless pit right now, and how would we know where the King of Cats would appear? This is our chance, now that we have her. If we tame her properly—"

"You're all talk! You never take care of any of them! I can already see you leaving her half-neglected until I end up raising her! I don't want a junkie cat!"

"Th-this time will be different! Besides, if the King of Cats does fine on her own, there won't be much to do!"

"The moment you say that, you've already disqualified yourself!"

Our positions remained parallel lines, never meeting.

I wanted Nabi dead for the sake of peace right now.

The Regressor wanted her alive to prevent a future calamity.

As our fierce argument continued, Tyr, who had been watching quietly, approached.

The scales were perfectly balanced. Coming over to my side to add her vote, Tyr looked coldly at Nabi.

"I shall support Hugh's position. This Beast King is unstable in several respects. It would be better to dispose of her, especially given that she has actually attacked us."

"Ugh..."

I'd certainly picked the right side to cozy up to. With Tyr supporting me unconditionally, my words carried weight and authority. Just look. The Regressor, who'd been snapping at everything I said, had clamped her mouth shut.

So this was what it tasted like to borrow a tiger's might. Sweet.

While I was at it, I called over my underling. Or rather, my underdog.

"Azi!"

"Woof!"

"Should we spare the bad cat that tried to attack a human, or kill her? What do you think?"

"Woof, woof. Grrr."

"Death, death. Immediate execution, she says."

Azi tended to be friendly toward other animals, but she was utterly merciless toward beasts that attacked humans.

And Nabi had even broken her arm. Of course she wouldn't forgive her. Azi immediately bared her teeth at the cat.

Now two of Tantalus's strongest fighters supported me. What would you do now, Regressor?

'Damn it. If a Beast King falls into the Lords of Creation's hands, they're more likely to go berserk! Not just the beasts, but the beastkin too! But how am I supposed to explain that?'

While the Regressor was struggling to offer an explanation, someone spoke.

"One moment... Allow me to say something."

Across the room, a pallid Callis struggled upright. When she lost her balance and staggered, the undying one, who happened to be nearby, caught her.

"Thank you, Rash..."

"Not at all. It's so little that receiving thanks for it is embarrassing!"

Callis gave a slight nod and staggered toward us.

Impaled from behind by a claw weapon, Callis had survived thanks to Tyr's blood manipulation and Azi's grooming. But survived was all she had done.

After me, she was the closest thing to an ordinary person in Tantalus, and having three claw blades pierce her body was a grave injury for an ordinary person. It wouldn't have been surprising if she collapsed on the spot.

"... This officer—no, I... oppose killing her."

She was holding herself upright through sheer willpower, and she'd done it just to oppose me? My face twisted into a scowl as I replied.

"Huh? Sorry? Would you repeat that, Lieutenant Colonel Callis of the Lords of Creation?"

"... That is precisely why I am speaking. This is my opinion as someone who belonged to that organization. Please simply take it into consideration."

Callis was being exceedingly respectful to me. I'd meant to browbeat her, but the thought of a Level 3 lieutenant colonel treating me, a Level 0 citizen, with such deference suddenly put me in a good mood.

So this was the sweetness of revolution. Well, let's hear her out.

"The Lords of Creation intend to use the Beast Kings as weapons... They have prepared ways to find Beast Kings and means of controlling them. Even if a new King of Cats appears, it will soon fall into their hands."

"Do we need to care about that? Whatever the Lords of Creation might do with a cat, wouldn't it be safer to get rid of the crazy one right in front of us? You're an ordinary person like me. That junkie cat could attack and kill you at any moment."

'An ordinary person? Someone who calmly strangles a Military State colonel to death is an ordinary person...?'

That rude thought never made it past her lips.

She seemed to have a fair amount of tact, too. Keeping her unkind thoughts to herself, Callis answered calmly.

"... Perhaps. However, the King of Dogs seemed to be some sort of... special presence to them. Once they replenish their forces, perhaps..."

"They might come looking again? And that could make things even more dangerous?"

"That's... correct. Ugh."

Having struggled through those final words, Callis all but collapsed into the undying one's arms. He promptly supported her.

"Well done! I'm sure you've made your point, Lieutenant Colonel!"

Then he immediately added a comment for me.

"Oh, for the record, I'm also in favor of sparing the cat lady!"

"Why?"

"With me on this side, it's a fair three against three!"

Despite making the grave error of counting Azi as a person, the undying one proudly gave me a thumbs-up. Instead of pointing out his mistake, I said,

"Don't pretend you're some guardian of balance with that nonsense! People like you only make the world more chaotic!"

"Haha! Even without that, surely being alive is better than being dead!"

For someone who couldn't die, he certainly cared a lot about life.

Laughing heartily, the undying one shrugged.

"But that's only the perspective of someone who can't die, and I haven't actually done anything for the cat lady, so I can't force the matter! Take my opinion as nothing more than an opinion! I'll leave the decision to you all! Now, I'll just see the lieutenant colonel back!"

The undying one immediately slipped a hand beneath Callis's legs and lifted her into his arms. Breathing in ragged gasps, Callis leaned against his chest.

"I'm... sorry... I haven't... fully recovered yet."

"Now, now! You must take care of yourself. I can be torn apart and be perfectly fine, but those who die easily, like you, Lieutenant Colonel, must rest even after a minor injury!"

"Thank... you... for everything..."

"Haha. Save even your thanks for now and concentrate on recovering."

"I'll be sure... to repay this kindness..."

"Now, I told you it's fine! I'll accept your repayment all at once when you're fully recovered, so don't worry. Collecting it in installments would be a nuisance!"

The undying one lifted her effortlessly, but Callis couldn't quite find her balance. She shifted in his arms until she ended up pressed tightly against him.

Immediately, he raised his head and made something like a throat-clearing noise.

"Ahem. Ahem-hem."

"Rash...? Is... something wrong?"

"Aha! Nothing at all!"

'Hmm. There's a bit of contact here, but I'm afraid pointing it out would only embarrass us both! What should I do?'

Holding Callis in his arms, the undying one tilted his head in momentary contemplation.

... Unaware that the eyes of the woman in his arms had sharpened.

'Well, bodily contact is unavoidable when helping someone along! The lieutenant colonel doesn't seem bothered, so I just need to keep it from showing! I'll consider it a windfall and gratefully enjoy the feast!'

Idiot. You're the one on the menu.

From what I'd read in her thoughts, once they reached her room, Callis would start chattering her teeth and saying she was cold. Then the undying one would embrace her, again thinking he'd gotten lucky. Her body temperature really was low from blood loss, so he would earnestly do his best to warm her up.

I wasn't sure what would happen after that. What fate awaited the barbarian swept up in a meticulous yet lightning-fast assault operation devised by a Military State lieutenant colonel?

Peeping would be rude, so I should clear out of the fourth floor for a while later.

After the undying one and Callis left, I scratched my chin and spoke.

"Anyway, the head count is three to three. That makes the vote a tie."

Quietly counting Azi as a person to fudge the numbers into a tie, I presented it as an established fact and moved right along. Fortunately, the Regressor failed to notice that grave error and said,

"Then she gets a temporary reprieve, right?"

"No. Not a chance."

A temporary reprieve would mean keeping her alive for now. I couldn't allow that.

Better to remove a definite danger right before your eyes than worry about a danger that might or might not come in the future. After all, unless you were a prophet, you couldn't see the future. That had long been my philosophy.

Still, I had to overcome the Regressor's opposition... which left me no choice but to use that.

I swung my right arm in circles and murmured,

"The great sages of old prepared various methods for resolving conflicts at times like this."

"You mean... a duel?"

'Three against three...? Tch. With Tyrkanzyaka and Azi on his side, we have no chance. Should I suggest a duel between our leaders? I've wanted to spar with him at least once...'

"What the hell do you mean, a duel? Are you insane?"

And a duel between leaders, at that? She had no shame. If she lacked common sense, she ought to at least have a conscience.

"Then what do you suggest?"

"Rock-paper-scissors. Historically proven to be the fairest contest of all."

"You want to decide whether Nabi lives or dies with rock-paper-scissors?"

"Well, do you have another idea? Shall we actually duel? Just so you know, I'm a Tyrkanzyaka-armed nation. Come at me if you're feeling confident."

I pointed confidently at Tyr.

She started, then brought her hands together and fidgeted.

'H-he says I belong to him... I-I never gave him permission to make such an arrogant declaration. How presumptuous... And yet, why does it displease me less than I would have expected...?'

No, that wasn't what I meant. I meant I possessed an asymmetric military asset.

At any rate, the Regressor understood me exactly as intended. She reluctantly accepted my proposal.

"Tch, fine. I'll play, all right?"

"Let's not drag this out. One round decides it. Nabi's life rests in your fist."

"I said, all right."

Good. She'd taken the bait.

Rock-paper-scissors. A simple contest in which scissors beat paper, paper beats rock, and rock beats scissors.

People rarely thought much while playing rock-paper-scissors. Most kept their minds blank until they threw their hands out, making the choice reflexively at that instant.

Under certain conditions, however, rock-paper-scissors became a fierce psychological battle, with both sides frantically trying to predict the other's move.

And once it became a psychological battle, I, a mind reader, would always win.

"I'll throw rock. A man's gotta use his fists, after all."

Concealing my true intentions, I raised my fist.