Chapter 71

**Chapter 71** is the seventy-first chapter of the *Dead Mount Death Play* manga.

## Official Blurb

Two days before the ultimate showdown, all the players of Shinjuku start to converge...

## Synopsis

Takumi Kuruya pilots a drone over Shinjuku and its streets, wherein 'pivotal battles' are poised: on one street, Xiaoyu Lei faces off against Soara Habaki; on another, Misaki Sakimiya faces off against Lulu. Despite the blood trickling down her face, Misaki laughs. Takumi, however, is tense as he pilots his drone; bemoaning his lack of sufficient information, he wonders, "...how did it come to this?"

***Two days earlier*** finds Takumi saying "...and, well, that's the gist" to Corpse God, who is looking at Takumi's tablet over his shoulder. Corpse God apologizes for the trouble, and, when Takumi points out his and Misaki's job is to assist Corpse God with his peaceful life, replies that their "discussion yesterday was far from peaceful, not to mention Polka's kidnapping."

Corpse God takes the tablet to look at the latest Solitaire headline from NDK news. Takumi remarks that this has all been in service of a future peace—although, in the meantime, Solitaire seems to be hopping from one stunt to the next. Whatever for?

The incident making the headlines is depicted as follows: as pedestrians walk past a row of bikes, one of the bikes—and a sign—rise(s) into the air. As people look up, leaflets advertising Solitaire's arrival cascade from the sky.

At the police station, Comps-3 members huddle around a laptop with a photograph or footage of the flying bicycle displayed on its screen. The board behind the members is dedicated to the Underground Parking Lot incident—which, as one of the members remarks, still has yet to be cleaned up.

At Kayakusa's question regarding Solitaire's motive, Ranmaru Yatsu—clearly upset with this stunt's diverting of police attention—gripes that Solitaire himself would not know the answer, then lets out a frustrated groan. Over his shoulder, Danjō Tozawa gently affirms that Comps-3 *does* have to prioritize the Solitaire investigation, even as a formality, per Tsubaki Iwanome's involvement with the central office.

Iwanome, on Yatsu's right, slowly ventures that this stunt is not one of Solitaire's. "A copycat?" asks Kōzaburō Arase, to which Iwanome explains his hunch: floating objects are an old mainstay of magic tricks—simple and straightforward. Solitaire's antics, by comparison, are "very deliberate," with every aspect carrying significance. His hunch also applies to the hands Yatsu and Tozawa saw at the 'haunted building'. As for who actually perpetrated the bike stunt, Iwanome cannot be sure—perhaps another district's troublemaker, like Ikebukuro's Deus Ex Kinema?—but he *is* sure they have abundant matters to investigate.

Elsewhere, Solitaire strides with purpose onto a rooftop. Although he was not expecting to be impersonated, he is not surprised that the impersonator is doing *this*; here, he gestures broadly to the construction material and detritus floating in the air, then turns toward a figure cloaked in shadow. All this, he says, is simply documentary material for Ikebukuro's "emperor troublemaker" Deus Ex Kinema-*kun*!

Lulu meekly merges from the shadows to offer an apology from behind Polka-the-plush: she is not whoever Solitaire thinks she is. Solitaire pauses, arms still flung wide. *Who!?*

Soara and Civil A. Sabaramond follow Lulu into the light. Civil explains that they are fans who commented on Solitaire's video; Solitaire recalls the comments in question, then asks if he should be relieved this is not a trap set by the police. Civil replies "that depends" before tossing Solitaire a scroll in lieu of a business card. The emblem on the scroll, Civil says, is the national emblem of the Byandy Empire—the symbol Solitaire has made global.

In the Abandoned Building, Corpse God sits writing something with pen and paper; judging from the nearby papers with crossed out words, he is struggling with the draft. He is aware of this, muttering to himself that this is taking too long, "but...when I think of what could happen, this might be..."

Misaki, who has been watching Corpse God, abruptly asks him whether what she heard from Koruto Ichinose is true—that Corpse God summoned his friend's soul. Corpse God wryly says it was more that his friend appeared on his own. The news that Corpse God *did* have friends in his homeworld seems to please Misaki, who remarks that, while Corpse God seems to value her and Takumi, he did not meet them all that long ago.

Corpse God recalls his master's words on the subject: necromancers lead such long lives that the amount of time one spends with people is irrelevant to bonding with them. He supposes that he and his friend were best friends—"accomplices," even, by which he means the two of them frequently "got into mischief."

As Corpse God considers his papers and his homeworld, he says that Polka's kidnappers almost certainly have a strong connection to the Other World, and "we've been dragged" into its midst—or perhaps, Corpse God himself has done the dragging. Misaki grabs his cheeks and pulls them upward to invoke a smile, chiding Corpse God for his mindset. *She* is the one, she says, who dragged both Polkas into this trouble from the beginning: she slit the throat of a random Polka, then attempted to kill the reborn Polka. Good and bad people alike will come to be involved in Corpse God's life, and Misaki wants to be involved. The two of them shall *both* save Polka.

Corpse God, rosy-cheeked, gives Misaki his thanks.

Back on the rooftop, Solitaire has been led to understood that Civil wants to spread the word that he and his companions are related to 'the Sabaramond'—and they would like Solitaire's aid. Civil says the 'how' does not matter; why, they could even be guests in one of his videos. With a bright laugh, he asks if the three of them shall dance like "that one guy," which elicits a mutually unreceptive "huh!?" from Lulu and Soara.

Solitaire allows that he finds the idea of suspected aliens putting on a performance intriguing. On that note, Civil wonders why Solitaire is not more intrigued by the objects floating overhead, since Solitaire is apparently always hunting for paranormal phenomena. Solitaire replies that he is "bursting with excitement" inside, yet he cannot be sure the spectacle is not a sleight of hand—and, with a flick of his fingers, two traffic cones and a third object begin spinning mid-air.

All members of the Bastard trio are impressed. Pressing his right hand against his face, Solitaire sits down and says he welcomes their proposal on "one crucial condition." Civil asks what that condition is.

Meanwhile, on an unkempt lawn, Iwanome and Arase shine flashlights on a wooden house—the one wherein the hundred-year-old arson case took place. Their intention is to see if they cannot find something connected to Fire-breathing Bug within the house. That said, it seems apparent that the house's outer façade has been fixed—but an 'off' feeling permeates everything. Iwanome explains that a wealthy Shinjuku family bought the place after the arson at an exorbitant price and have never shown signs of wanting to sell it, even though no one in their family uses it.

Arase questions the relevancy of the house and Bug to the Solitaire situation. Solitaire and Bug, Iwanome responds, have overlapping interests in the 'mark of that Sabaramond organization'—too overlapping to be entirely unrelated. He affirms the possibility Bug and Solitaire may already be working together—and if they are, he says, they are "in it deep."

Solitaire states his condition through his fingers and a sinister grin: the trio *have to survive this somehow*. The materials floating over the Bastard trio's heads burst into flame—and umbrella-carrying Bugs begin figuratively crawling out of the metalwork, singing as one entity. An object is sent hurtling down toward Civil, who—having been hoping for this—whips around, Bug's name a snarl at his mouth, animosity alight in his eyes. The object erupts into flame.

A suited Bug finishes the song's last verse: "Now we must part. And so, farewell."

## Trivia

* The song Fire-breathing Bug is singing is "Aogeba Toutoshi," which the English translation explains "is commonly sung at graduations."