Chapter 326: The Black-Veiled Woman
Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24
Reo blinked innocently. "Harano onii-chan, you need to take a bath together with Juumonji-neechan."
'There was no need to say that,' Seiji thought helplessly.
Kaede shot a flirtatious look at him; Seiji broke eye contact and looked away. He saw that Mika and Shika were staring at him fiercely.
"This was just an accident. I won't look at anything," he promised as he moved his player piece.
They entered the fantasy-illusion.
Although Seiji intended to immediately shut his eyes, upon entering the onsen bath, he reflexively looked around him.
He saw the blonde beauty Kaede standing right next to him, holding only a towel which covered her private locations. Large patches of snow-white skin, her beautiful face, and her excellent figure were all visible…
When their eyes met, Kaede flushed and smiled at him seductively with watery eyes that were incredibly moving.
Seiji was dazed by the sight.
Then, he suddenly regained his senses, hurriedly averted his gaze, and closed his eyes. He abandoned attempting this scene's event and waited for the fantasy-illusion to end.
They returned to reality.
"You looked…" an icy voice spat out.
"Even though you just said that you wouldn't."
"Wah…" Seiji could only do his best to withstand Mika and Shika's cold glares.
Reo laughed. "Harano onii-chan is a pervert~"
'Please, there's no need to add anything more!' Seiji almost wanted to cry.
"It's actually not a big deal if he saw," Kaede said softly.
"Juumonji-sensei, please be more mindful of yourself!" Mika was now glaring in Kaede's direction.
It was now Mika's turn to roll the die.
She tossed a six.
Once again, it was the bathing scene! Mika was rendered speechless.
"This time, I definitely won't look," Seiji promised again.
The pigtailed girl felt rather conflicted about this. She moved her player piece and they all entered the illusion again.
This time, Seiji really did close his eyes immediately; he didn't look at anything from start to finish.
Mika inwardly grew angry when she realized this.
'He couldn't help looking when he was together with Juumonji-sensei… what's this!' Her internals were in turmoil.
Next up was Shika.
She rolled a three. Luckily, it wasn't yet another repeat of the bathing scene.
On the eighth space was a drawing of a child flying a kite. Shika passed through this event quite easily.
Reo tossed out a five and landed on a forest in full bloom. Her task to catch the flower petals as they fell down from the sky. She succeeded in passing after making an effort.
Seiji and Mika were both punished by having their next turns skipped, so it was Kaede's turn again. She rolled a three and caught some flower petals together with Reo…
The game continued smoothly just like this.
"Brother, this board game is using up part of our Mana," Shika said after the game carried on for a while.
Seiji nodded. "Yep, I noticed this as well."
"This game uses the participants' Mana as well as the Mana from the surrounding environment in order to power itself."
"If it uses up all our Mana, it might stop operating—or it may continue working by using the Mana that it's already gathered… what do you think?"
"I think that Brother is probably right." Shika paused for a moment. "Based on the current speed that it's draining our Mana, I estimate that my Mana will be used up after roughly one hour."
Seiji blinked at this. "One hour… if we're lucky, that should be just enough time to finish this game. In that case, we have two choices: we can either intentionally stall for time and refuse to play the game; or do our best to finish this game in one hour. However… we don't know what would happen in either scenario."
He swept over everyone gathered with his eyes. "Let's decide together. Should we work hard to finish this mysterious board game or intentionally stall for time?"
A moment of silence fell between everyone.
"I want to finish this board game!" Reo was the first to speak up. "I think it's really fun, and I want to finish."
She had a very simplistic mindset.
Seiji smiled. "I agree with Reo-chan. This is an interesting game, so why don't we finish it properly?"
Since they didn't know what would happen either way, Seiji figured that they might as well go along with her.
Mika, Kaede, and Shika all agreed. Everyone decided to work hard and finish this board game.
The farther they progressed, the more difficult the scenes in the spaces became. Everyone tried their best to complete the tasks set and also had lots of fun while doing so.
Of course, there were a few rather embarrassing or awkward events similar to the bathing scene. Seiji silently accepted these benefits as well as the glares directed at him, helping him to cultivate his gentlemanly heart.
Due to her excellent performance and good luck, Kaede was now the closest to the finish point.
If she rolled a six, then she would reach the finish point and the game would end. With everyone watching, she tossed her die… and rolled a three!
A woman playing badminton was depicted on the square.
Badminton was a racket sport similar to tennis. It was played with a shuttlecock and rackets. Both players would hit the shuttlecock to the other side—but, unlike tennis, the shuttlecock wasn't allowed to touch the ground. The first player who missed the shuttlecock and allowed it to hit the ground would lose a point.
They entered the illusion.
Kaede, garbed in traditional Sakura Island clothing, had a racket in her hand.
Her gold-red Sakura Island clothing was quite beautiful… during the course of the game, Seiji had witnessed all the beauties playing with him in various types of attire and giving him plenty of eye candy.
Kaede's opponent was a black-veiled, white-haired woman. She was also wearing black-and-white Sakura Island clothing.
This woman was covering her face… which was a little unusual.
During all the events of this game so far, not a single opponent—or perhaps puppet—had covered their face like this.
The black-veiled woman tossed out the shuttlecock and served first with a clear, resounding sound.
The shuttlecock came flying at a high speed. Kaede barely managed to return it.
*Peng peng peng peng…*
After a flurry of blows, the shuttlecock landed on Kaede's side, and she lost the first point.
It was now Kaede's turn to serve.
After a few more exchanges, the shuttlecock landed on her side yet again. After the third, fourth, and fifth repeat…
The illusion ended.
"I failed. I have to go back twelve spaces." The blonde teacher helplessly moved her player piece back.
Shika was up next.
She rolled a five and moved to a space with a drawing of a boy and girl playing karuta .
Karuta was a classic game where a judge sang an ancient poem, and the two players competing would attempt to be the first to steal the card representing that poem.
Seiji recalled that there was a popular anime regarding this card game back in his previous life. It was called something like Chihayafuru ?
They entered the illusion.
The male-Shika was seated in the middle of a tatami mat room. She was wearing Sakura Island clothing, and her opponent… was once again the black-veiled, white-haired woman!
'Is she… some type of boss in this game?' Seiji was somewhat suspicious about her identity.
Paper karuta cards were already arranged in between them, but there was no judge. Suddenly, a melodious female voice began to sing a poem.
The black-veiled woman's right hand instantly moved, causing a paper card to vanish on the tatami and appear in her hand.
'So quick! That was just a few words! And her speed… she must be cheating!!' Seiji remarked in his mind.
Shika had a nervous expression.
The next time that a new poem began, she attempted to steal the card at the fastest speed possible. However, the black-veiled woman was faster than her, and instantly stole away the second card again.
The black-veiled woman also obtained the third and fourth cards…
After successfully stealing five cards in a row and leaving Shika with nothing, Shika ended up failing the event.
They all returned to reality, and Shika was forced to go back twelve spaces.
"That black-veiled woman appeared in multiple events near the finishing point and is an exceedingly strong opponent. She must be the final boss," Seiji said. "If my guess is correct, Reo-chan will meet her as well."
Everyone looked towards the little girl.
Reo rolled a six. She moved to a scene of children having a snowball fight.
When they entered the illusion, Reo's opponent was indeed the black-veiled woman as Seiji had surmised!