"I object."
"I agree." ×2
Pariston, Mizaistom, and Cheadle spoke in succession.
As expected, Pariston cast a vote against it.
He's still targeting collaborators-
Mizaistom's expression remained unchanged, but he keenly picked up on something unusual.
Both proposals concerned cooperation, but the difference between Dio's question and Cheadle's-or rather, the point worth noting-was their scope.
The scope narrowed from [everyone] to [the Zodiacs]. That's a huge leap, and Pariston's answer changed from [agree] to [object].
In other words, does he have an accomplice among [the Zodiacs]?
Mizaistom carefully recalled all his colleagues, but he could not think of anyone who would cooperate with Pariston.
And there was something else.
He might also be trying to prevent Dio's proposed rule from passing. After all, Cheadle and I have remained neutral. If Dio's proposal is reasonable, we could very well agree to it.
At that point, Dio would go straight from being the most endangered [opponent] to the safest [successful proposer]. Next in line, Pariston, who had raised the second-highest number of objections, would become the person in the most danger.
So which possibility was it?
Without a change in his expression, Mizaistom began weighing the likelihood of each possibility.
"One objection recorded for Pariston. Mr. Dio's proposal is invalid. The first round is over!"
"The current totals are three votes for Mr. Dio, two for Mr. Pariston, and zero each for Miss Cheadle and Mr. Mizaistom. The next proposer is Mr. Pariston."
Beans methodically finished recording the votes and announced the end of the first round.
That brought the first round of probing to a close.
With all four having proposed their respective rules, [doubt] had unquestionably emerged.
"Don't bother proposing meaningless rules. → [Zodiac Rat]"
Dio suddenly addressed Pariston in an offhand tone. He was thinking about the rule Cheadle