The Resistance members left for their respective assignments. While Azi and I stood idly by, Delta, the only one left, kept his distance with his gun clutched tightly in his hands. His grip tense, he addressed us.

"... Please wait here. The Boss will return once everything is finished."

"Oh. Right."

There. They had all split up. An excellent situation. Kanisen and Gamma had headed for the administration building, while Alpha and Beta were on their way to the hells I had prepared for them.

Now, once I got Delta out of the way, there would be no one left to interfere with me.

Time to get to work.

I changed my expression, putting on an awkward smile. Trying to look as harmless as possible, I casually struck up a conversation with Delta.

"Whew. My legs are shaking. All we did was talk, but I'm as exhausted as if I'd been exercising."

"... The Boss has a powerful presence. It's hardly surprising that you're exhausted."

"You're all quite impressive. Following someone like him can't be easy."

"... We do what we must. Still, the Boss leads us well. Even this operation would have been impossible without his quick thinking."

Now, let's see.

He was answering my questions conscientiously, but all his wariness was focused on Azi. Naturally. Azi, who could catch bullets with her teeth, was far scarier than someone like me, who looked weak and had no particular equipment.

That mindset would be his greatest weakness, though.

"Excuse me, couldn't you put the gun down now? It's not as if Azi hurts people."

"... But..."

"No buts. You just saw it yourself. She has this insane ability to catch bullets with her teeth. Pointing a gun at her is meaningless."

I gestured toward Azi. She had seemed excited about all the visitors just a moment ago, but now, for some reason, she sat quietly with a dejected look on her face.

I had no idea why. Some doggy reason, probably.

Even so, she showed absolutely no fear of the gun. Well, why would she, when she could catch whatever it fired in her mouth? I'd count myself lucky if she didn't mistake the bullets for slightly faster balls and start playing fetch with a gun.

"I've spent a few days with Azi, so I know. She's strong, but not particularly dangerous. At first I was scared and kept running away too, but at some point I got used to her. Here, watch."

I picked up the leather ball I had set down earlier. When I held it high and waved it from side to side, Azi's tail began wagging before anything else moved. Then she turned her head. She stared blankly at me before suddenly lifting her head and getting to her feet.

I hurled the leather ball and shouted.

"Here! Fetch!"

"Woof!"

Azi shot off after the ball. Unable to keep up with what was happening, Delta raised his gun in alarm, half a beat too late.

"What are you doing?!"

"Woof!"

But Delta's worries proved unfounded. Azi picked up the ball in her mouth and came straight back to me. Dropping it at my feet, she looked up proudly. I reached down to pet her, and she half closed her eyes, basking in my touch.

It was impossible to feel threatened by a sight like that. Even the meticulous, by-the-book Delta muttered in bewilderment.

"... Is this really all right?"

His gun lowered as some of his tension eased.

I petted Azi vigorously, doing my best to look harmless.

"Honestly, I'm not sure myself. It just... ended up like this at some point."

"She may be dog beastkin, but she's still human... Even if it's instinct, this is..."

"It's not as if I forced her into submission, is it? If anything, I'm the one serving her. I throw the ball, she brings it back, and I throw it again. She's the one having fun."

"That's true, but..."

"Well, I imagine it's a little like your relationship with the Boss, Delta. In terms of strength, you might be worlds apart, but that has nothing to do with it. You've simply grown used to each other."

"Hmm."

Delta seemed to have realized how foolish it was to remain wary of Azi. There wasn't the slightest hint of danger in the way she rumbled contentedly, delighted by every stroke of my hand.

I kept petting her, creating a scene of pastoral tranquility.

"When the Military State arrested me and first dropped me down here, I was absolutely terrified. But looking back now, I'm glad they sent me here. Apart from the possibility of getting killed by the trainees if I'm not careful, it's peaceful."

"Peaceful. Not a word that suits Tantalus."

"Well, that's honestly how I feel. Though maybe it's because everyone who was going to escape already has."

I paused briefly, then murmured with a touch of melancholy in my eyes.

"If this place really were the hell people say it is, even the Military State wouldn't have sent an ordinary petty criminal like me here."

I emphasized the petty criminal part. An appeal to my own ineptitude, paired with a subtle suggestion that I was a perfectly reasonable person.

Take the bait. Go on, take it.

As expected, Delta showed interest.

"What charges brought you here?"

Hooked.

Having drawn out the question I wanted, I deliberately stared into space and murmured.

"I used to be a magician. My job was entertaining people with tricks in the back alleys. The money wasn't much, but seeing the wonder on people's faces gave me a certain satisfaction. But then..."

I paused for a breath, pretending to think hard, before continuing.

"Uh, about a week ago, I think? Soldiers suddenly swarmed in and started arresting people indiscriminately. I happened to be playing cards with some friends when they stopped to question me..."

"So it was then. You were unjustly arrested too."

I let my words trail off, and Delta obligingly jumped to the wrong conclusion. Like me, he sank into thought.

'Using innocent people as forced labor. The Military State really is wrong. It deserves to fall. But are we in the right either, when we'll end up driving an innocent person to his death to achieve that?'

This was going well. I scratched my head awkwardly and added,

"Ahaha. Well, it wasn't entirely unjust. I used a few tricks in the card game too. Haha."

"... Oh dear."

'A gambler, then.'

His expression soured a little. Conscientious by nature, he had an exceedingly low opinion of gambling.

Now for a spoonful of remorse. The right touch of emotion added to a solid backstory would make me a fully rounded person.

"I got too cocky over my paltry little talent. Magic is at its most valuable when it stays magic, after all."

As I spoke, I casually raised a card. Delta noticed the stark white card, and his eyes lit with interest.

"Where did you get that?"

"Perhaps I'm a born magician. I get anxious if I don't have a card hidden in my hand. So I managed to get hold of one somehow."

The card fluttered and danced beneath my fingers. Left hand, right hand, palm, back of the hand. It scurried about like an insect crawling over my hands.

Then, when I spread both hands, it vanished in an instant, as though it had never existed.

Of course, I could plainly see it stuck to the back of my hand. But if it had vanished from Delta's sight, then vanished it was.

Delta was genuinely amazed.

"But you don't even have sleeves to hide it in. How did the card...?"

"Haha. You have to manage at least this much to call yourself a magician."

As I turned my palm over, I discreetly used my thumb to slide the card from the back of my hand into my palm. While showing Delta the back of my hand, I hid the card in my palm. Then, when I showed him my palm again, I moved the card back. To Delta, it looked as if the card had disappeared completely.

"Oooh."

I had piqued his curiosity enough. Raising my left index finger, I slowly brought out the card from the back of my right hand and smiled. Delta was applauding before he even realized it.

A nice reaction. I scratched my head and smiled as though embarrassed by the attention.

"But it turned out to be less useful in card games than you'd think. No matter how incredible my sleight of hand is, it can't stop people from getting suspicious."

"It was seamless. I wouldn't have suspected a thing."

"Lose a few coins, and people find suspicions they never had before. Lose a few dozen, and they grab my wrist. Their eyes were clouded with anger and suspicion. For a moment, I lost sight of what mattered and forgot the essence of magic: making people happy."

I put away the card and shrugged.

"So that's how I lost sight of why I started and ended up under arrest. What led you to join the Resistance, Delta?"

"I..."

My question struck precisely at a gap in his psychological defenses. Without any particular suspicion, Delta drifted into recollection.

"My real name is Elsie. I was always good at my studies as a child. I entered a secondary military school at my parents' wishes, but even there, I kept asking myself whether what I was doing was right, whether the Military State's policies were right. But the Military State doesn't permit that sort of discussion. I didn't think it was right to forbid debate over right and wrong for the sake of order, so..."

"You joined the Resistance?"

"Yes. At least in the Resistance, I could express my views on the direction the country should take. I also found many like-minded comrades. Though..."

'I still don't know whether resistance that comes at the cost of civilian lives is right.'

Delta, whose real name was Elsie, tended to think a great deal. I waited until he had had enough time to settle his emotions before speaking.

"You could lose your life doing this."

"I'm not afraid of dying. I only worry about whether the path I'm taking is right."

"I'm sure you're heading in the right direction. You've given it plenty of thought, haven't you?"

"Thinking something through doesn't always make it right."

"But it gives you a better chance of being right than not thinking at all. Humans can't be perfect, so isn't it better to pursue even that chance?"

"... Thank you, even if it's only words."

"Words are all I can offer, really. Apart from nimble fingers, a street magician has nothing to boast of but his patter."

Having reassured Delta, I smiled gently and brought out my card again.

"Now, now. Enough of the heavy talk. Let me show you something fun. I don't usually reveal this, but since fate brought us together, I'll make a special exception."

Drawn out of his recollections, Delta watched my card with anticipation. With his attention captured, I wore a magician's smile and flipped the single card back and forth.

"This is a trick involving a magician's prop, so normally I must never reveal it."

"Because it's your livelihood?"

"Haha. That's part of it. But the moment I reveal it, suspicion takes root in people's minds before wonder can. They start seeing magic not as something to enjoy, but as something to pick apart and dissect. From then on, magic stops being magic and becomes a con. There's no admiration or enjoyment in their eyes. All that's left is a fierce contest between the audience and the magician."

I gathered mana at my fingertips. It seeped through them into the card. A faint light flickered along the strange pattern inscribed on its back.

"But anyone who knows a secret inevitably looks for a bamboo grove to whisper it into. And here we are in the bottomless pit. Since fate brought us together, I'll tell you alone."

I slid the card held between my index and middle fingers against my left wrist, spreading my palm to block his view for a moment.

Immediately afterward, I turned my left wrist and right hand over together, revealing the 'thing' that had been a card.

What had unmistakably been the ace of diamonds was gone. In its place was a pointed spike with a dark red sheen.

"Ta-da!"

"Oooh!"

I swished the newly formed spike through the air. Each swing made a sound as it cut through the air, demonstrating that it was neither sleight of hand nor an illusion, but a spike with a definite physical form.

I mimed removing a nonexistent hat and took a bow. Delta clapped enthusiastically in admiration.

"Is that alchemy, by any chance?"

"You have a good eye. I was going to reveal that gradually."

"But that's remarkably swift and subtle alchemy. I wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't been watching from so close."

"It's not ordinary alchemy, admittedly. This card is an alchemical creation modeled on a clothing packet. So, like this, if I feed mana into it through my biometric terminal..."

I rubbed the rod against my left wrist, where my biometric terminal was, once more. The spike vanished as if it had never existed. When I raised my palm again, the ace of diamonds lay there, restored to a card.

As Delta exclaimed in wonder, I spoke proudly.

"It can be a card or a rod. Normally, I attach a seasonal flower to the tip of the rod before presenting it, but magician or not, even I can't find a letter from Mother Earth down in the bottomless pit."

Delta gazed down at my card in wonder. Dazzled by the card trick, his eyes held not a trace of wariness.

He murmured,

"What a shame. It would have been so much better to see this outside."

"Haha. If we'd met outside, I wouldn't have told you the secret. Ah! Oh dear. The card's vanished! Where could it have gone? Oh, wait. What's that on your head, Delta?"

Naturally, this too would be part of the magic act.

After everything that had happened, he could hardly think otherwise. Thus, Delta didn't even feel the need to be wary. I reached out casually. Even as I approached, he remained still.

'What trick will it be this time?'

Looking at his expectant face, I smiled,

turned the card into a spike,

and drove it into his temple.

His head jerked to the side. Puzzlement appeared on his face, which had been so full of interest. Then, a beat too late, his struggling brain realized what had happened.

A sharp rod had pierced his temple and was lodged there. His damaged brain desperately sounded the alarm.

I spread both arms toward him and cried,

"Ta-da! A disappearing act!"