The sixth chapter of the Darwin's Game ~Flag Game~ novel.
Summary[]
The young man was brought to the reception room, where he sat on the sofa, and Kaname sat down across from him. When asked, the man confirmed that he was indeed Kaji, the leader of Black Lotus. Kaname agreed to forming the non-aggression pact, and the two of them decided that the clan that broke the pact would have to pay 200 points to the other clan. Kaji was surprised that Kaname was willing to seal the deal so quickly, causing Kaname to ask if there was a reason Kaji couldn't sign the agreement, though Kaji stated there wasn't. However, Ryuuji noticed that he was lying, signaling it to Kaname by rearranging his arms. When Kaname attempted to postpone talks to another day, Kaji admitted that there was a problem, telling the Sunset Ravens that they didn't have that many points since there was an idiot in their clan who wasted them on buying more weapons than needed, and then asked the Ravens if they would buy the weapons before signing the agreement.
The next morning, the members of the Sunset Ravens discussed Kaji's request while they ate breakfast, with Shuka, Rein, and Ryuuji agreeing that it was a trap. Kaname pointed out that Kaji hadn't lied at all other than that one time, which Ryuuji confirmed, though the latter added that his sigil wouldn't be effective if the target was tricked or misunderstanding something. There were two problems with Kaji's request, the first being that the deal would take place in a warehouse that night in the middle of the mountains. Kaji claimed that it was to prevent the Black Lotus' anti-alliance faction from having time to act, but the second problem was that the one who came up with the weapons deal was Fuli.
Based on what Rein could gather, there were two factions within the Black Lotus clan; one was the pro-alliance faction led by Kaji that wanted to ally with the Ravens and prioritize securing their current position, while the other was the anti-alliance faction that wanted to take over the Shibuya area and increase their territory. During a discussion within the pro-alliance faction, Fuli had suggested sealing the deal with the Ravens and getting rid of the weapons before the anti-alliance faction could do anything, though Fuli's idea could also be taken as a means to create a reason to start a war with the Ravens.
Kaname pointed out that there wasn't any proof that Fuli was part of the anti-alliance faction, nevertheless Rein pointed out that the problem was that they couldn't tell which faction Fuli was actually a part of since Ryuuji's sigil wouldn't have any effect if Kaji was being tricked. Despite this, Sui suggested taking them on even if it was a trap, and to Rein's horror both Shuka and Ryuuji agreed to her idea. Rein glared at Sui but she knew it was too late; instead, she repeated that she was against the idea, stating that they didn't have enough information on Black Lotus, and added that she believed Fuli would be dangerous.
Upon hearing her opinion, Kaname asked her if she knew anything special about Fuli, to which she answered that she only had bits and pieces of information, though those pieces still showed Fuli as dangerous. It was rare for elderly people to survive in the Darwin's Game unless they had lots of experience or a powerful sigil, and there was the fact that despite being a new member of Black Lotus, Fuli had a prominent position and was able to influence the clan leader Kaji. At that point, Shuka recalled that Rein had asked her about Fuli, causing Rein to realize that she'd probably lost her chance to convince them to not go. Nevertheless, she still told Shuka that Fuli was from Shuka's request to find the elderly man. Hearing this, Shuka immediately stated that she'd go, despite Rein pointing out that they knew next to nothing about Fuli, adding that she'd go check to see if it was him even if she had to go alone.
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