第31章 诛伏赐死!

Deadly Sentencing!

Hiromi Higuruma stared blankly at Kinji Hakari's outstretched hand.

What was with this guy?! How could he ask so bluntly and without an ounce of courtesy?!

As a model student since childhood, Hiromi Higuruma had always been a good child in his parents' eyes and a good student in his teachers' eyes.

From birth, to entering the University of Tokyo, to becoming a lawyer, everyone he had encountered along the way had been part of a highly educated crowd.

The only people with poorer manners had been the clients he defended as a lawyer.

But those people had needed Hiromi Higuruma and hoped he would defend them.

So they had all been rather restrained and humble in their attitudes.

A thug and hooligan like Kinji Hakari was something Hiromi Higuruma had barely encountered in his thirty years of life!

Hiromi Higuruma's words caught in his throat, and for a moment, he genuinely did not know what to say.

He was not truly an asshole. He was merely playing one.

Before an experienced old asshole like Kinji Hakari, he could not bring himself to say any of the asshole lines he had prepared!

Hiromi Higuruma took a deep breath.

"What do you want my points for?"

"To save people."

Hiromi Higuruma turned to look at Kinji Hakari in surprise, his gaze sweeping him up and down strangely.

Though he said nothing, the meaning was obvious.

You said you wanted to save people?

You sure don't look like it.

Are you sure you aren't trying to kill people?

Kinji Hakari did not mind. He explained the matter of adding rules to Hiromi Higuruma.

He also explained that they intended to avoid the Culling Game's rule-based killings by transferring points among themselves.

After saying that, he looked at Hiromi Higuruma with a face full of menace.

"Mr. Lawyer, you wouldn't want the people in the colony to keep slaughtering each other because of you, would you?"

Hiromi Higuruma subconsciously felt as if he had wandered onto the wrong set.

This was not the Culling Game, but the world of some unspeakably depraved movie.

He stared at Kinji Hakari. "What you said makes a lot of sense, but... I refuse!"

Hiromi Higuruma casually lay back in the bathtub.

"Whether people in the colony live or die has nothing to do with me. Why should I give up my own points for their lives?"

"You have a point." Kinji Hakari nodded in agreement. "But I made an agreement with someone. I have to help him get the points, so if you're unwilling to hand them over willingly, I'll have to use force."

Hiromi Higuruma looked at Kinji Hakari with some surprise.

"I couldn't tell. Someone like you helps other people too?"

Kinji Hakari laughed awkwardly twice.

"Hahaha, not exactly. He promised that if I helped him get the points, he'd help legalize my underground casino."

Of course, that was not actually the case.

It was all Kinji Hakari's own idea. Megumi Fushiguro had never promised to help legalize Kinji Hakari's underground casino.

But Hiromi Higuruma did not know that.

When he heard the word "casino," his gaze turned cold, and the last trace of hesitation in his heart vanished.

He slowly climbed out of the bathtub and walked down from the theater stage.

"So you're a casino owner."

"Calling me an owner would be exaggerating." Kinji Hakari also readied himself for battle. "I just lead a few sorcerers in underground boxing matches."

"It's all the same. Either way, you're not a good person."

"I won't deny that."

Kinji Hakari watched Hiromi Higuruma with interest.

From their conversation just now, he could tell that Hiromi Higuruma was not an ancient sorcerer revived through Kenjaku's incarnation.

And he had never heard the name Hiromi Higuruma before, so that meant he was a sorcerer who had awakened after the Culling Game began.

But someone who had awakened his cursed technique less than twelve days ago had managed to accumulate 102 points in the Culling Game?

How had he done it?

Just as Kinji Hakari wondered what Hiromi Higuruma's cursed technique was, a small judge's gavel suddenly appeared in Hiromi Higuruma's hand, and a shikigami emerged behind him.

The shikigami's face was deathly pale, its eyes tightly shut, making it look as though it wore a mask.

It held a tray in each hand. From afar, it resembled a set of scales and did not seem to possess much combat ability.

Just as Kinji Hakari was guessing what sort of attack the shikigami behind Hiromi Higuruma possessed, Hiromi Higuruma suddenly spoke words he had not expected.

"Domain Expansion: Deadly Sentencing!"

"W-What did you say?!"

In Tokyo No. 2 Colony, Yuji Itadori stammered as he questioned Jie Jian.

He wondered if he had misheard. Jie Jian had actually asked him whether he had anyone ready to be killed?!

Jie Jian spoke in surprise.

"Is that so hard to understand? I don't have enough points yet. I need a few more people to make it to one hundred."

"I-I'm not talking about the people! I mean, why are you asking me to prepare them?!"

"Isn't that obvious?" Jie Jian looked at Yuji Itadori as if it were only natural. "You're the one who needs me to kill people, so naturally you're the one who prepares them."

"When did I need you to kill—"

Yuji Itadori froze before he could finish.

That was right. He was the one who needed one hundred points to add a rule.

And Jie Jian did not have enough points right now. Deep down, did that not mean he needed to kill a few more people?

Seeing Yuji Itadori's troubled expression, Jie Jian said considerately,

"Yuji Itadori, you don't need to rush. It's only the twelfth day, after all. There are still seven days before the rule requiring a point change within nineteen days takes effect."

"But you'd better hurry. Otherwise, I'm afraid some people might get impatient and head out early to earn points."

Seeing Yuji Itadori's ugly expression, Jie Jian suddenly seemed to remember something. He raised a hand and pointed at the crowd present, speaking with a hint of malice.

"How about this? There are quite a few people here. Pick four of them and sentence them to death. Then I'll have enough to reach one hundred points."

"What did you say?!"

Yuji Itadori looked at Jie Jian in shock.

Were these people not his companions? How could he say something like that?!

The crowd also broke into unrest because of Jie Jian's words.

Quite a few people fearfully took a step back, staring at Jie Jian with frightened eyes.

"What's wrong?"

Jie Jian smiled at Yuji Itadori.

"Don't you want to save people? The sooner, the better, right? A few sacrifices now are for the sake of saving even more people later."

"Th-This..."

Yuji Itadori instinctively wanted to refute him.

But Jie Jian interrupted him halfway through.

"Yuji Itadori, have you ever heard of the Trolley Problem?"

Seeing Yuji Itadori's confusion, Jie Jian helplessly shook his head.

As expected of a Japanese high school student. This happy education system is way too severe. How could he not even know something like this?

Panda, standing nearby, instead spoke up and explained what the Trolley Problem was to Yuji Itadori.

Listening to the hypothetical choice between saving five people or saving one person, Yuji Itadori immediately fell into hesitation.

Before Yuji Itadori could think it through, Jie Jian once again posed a question that struck at his soul.

"Yuji Itadori, let's change the question."

"If, one day in the future, your friend endangered many people's lives for some reason, what would you do?"

"Would you risk people's lives trying to stop him, or would you leave him alone, call everyone over, and take him down together?"