Alice in Borderland

Chapter 93

Chishiya's view

It is always amazing how easily people ignore their fears by pursuing the sinful patterns of their behavior. They try to shut off the last of their thoughts by drowning themselves in alcohol, fogging themselves with drugs, or numbing their bodies by seeking physical affection from theirs.

Sometimes the members of the Beach Society seem to me like an experiment designed to demonstrate this very behavior. A thrown-together society of randomly selected people from different target groups who, under the influence of stress, display a certain pattern of behavior.

With a neutral expression on my face, I lean against a pillar on the second floor and observe the entrance area. Crowds of people are leaving the hotel building and heading towards the sports fields to the party that has been set up. My opinion regarding the wedding and all this fuss is clear, it's just ridiculous. The Hatter wants to maintain some semblance of control and security and calm some minds. Yuudai is in the military squad and the way the Hatter thus shows his recognition to the whole armed baggage has led to fewer incidents in recent days. The situation of a similar truce will not last long and the ebbing mood could turn into a flood that destroys the whole hotel.

It's fine with me, the chaos will be well exploited just like this wedding. Only a handful of people will stay in the hotel, Aguni will have the presidential suite guarded, and something tells me he doesn't plan to attend the wedding.

I take a step back to remain unnoticed in the shadow of the column and watch as even Keiichi Kuzuryū, the number two executive, disappears out the main entrance. If I stay unnoticed, I won't have any complications getting to the surveillance room later. I guess it would be quite annoying if another member of the leadership team benefited from the room.

As soon as only a few people pass through the entrance area, I push myself slightly away from the wall and stroll down the stairs. Clasping the key tightly in my vest pocket, I walk along the empty basement corridors and look inconspicuously behind me, just to be sure not to be followed. But I could neither hear someone running down the loosened, penultimate stair step, nor do I perceive a strange smell.

Relaxed, I sit down on the squeaky office chair and lean back while folding my hands comfortably in front of my stomach. The chair back yields at an optimal tilt angle and my eyes fixate on another monitor at equal intervals.

This room offers an ultimate advantage over the others, but the fact that the hatter has dismantled the video cameras in his hotel room was to be expected. So I'm not going to find out the location of the playing cards, but I've memorized every single square inch of the hallways since I got the keys with Tayuya:

From the stairway to the roof to the machine room in the basement. I know every conceivable entrance and exit for needing a quick escape route. No matter where I am in the hotel, I know the sight distance from every whereabouts and points from which one has the possibility to see me. Blind spots, hidden alcoves and dead ends. Only the presidential suite, and with it the hiding place of the playing cards, eludes my knowledge, and without that, the value of my information diminishes. But in life, there are always chances to reach one's goal, and as soon as one presents itself, I quietly and secretly grab the deck of cards.

At the fleeting thought of Tayuya, I lower my gaze slightly and nod silently. Since her death, the name has come up more often in my thought processes.

 The woman became a nuisance. Her death was not necessary, but relieving for my situation. My strategy was not mature to get closer to her and thus to get the access card to this surveillance room. In my mind, I often go through other scenarios, with which another tactic might have worked. But after casually hearing about her from the leadership team, I realized after the first conversation that she won't last long. If she had only known the whereabouts of the key but not carried it with her, considering the possibility of theft would be too risky. I finally had the key just in time before her last game, so I was honestly pleased with her death thanks to my planning. She would have been an obstacle and perhaps I would have had to eliminate her, indirectly through a weak or risky allocation group. So I could sit back without getting blood on my hands.