Burning Bright

Dangerous Strategy

"Everyone... needs to risk their lives...?" Akira asked "Wh-What are you planning to do? And... what do you mean that Miina gave us a hint on how to defeat it?"

"It's the eyes, right?" Torako asked.

"Yeah," Yarai confirmed.

"Eyes!?" Akira said.

"Yeah, think back to before," Yarai said. "That kid was hiding with only a school uniform. It was totally obvious to anyone watching. It was a childish thing to do. Despite that, she was able to approach the monster despite it supposedly having good eyes... Why is that?"

"Why...?" Akira asked.

"It's simple," Yarai said. "It couldn't... It couldn't see that kid!!"

"It... couldn't see? What do you mean by that!?" Akira asked.

"In nature, there are animals with a wide field of vision," Torako said. "For example, it's said that horses can see 350 degrees around them. Animals that are a bit closer to people, like dogs and cats, are said to have a field of vision up to 290 degrees."

"..." Akira stared at her.

"So much..." Rion said. "Animals really do have amazing eyes..."

"But it's not as simple as just that," Yarai said.

"Eh?" Rion said.

"In reality, their 'visual acuity' is much weaker when compared to a human!" Yarai said.

"!?" Rion and Akira gasped.

"Dogs and cats have maybe around 0.3 the visual acuity of humans... and when it comes to horses, it seems they can only see up to about 100 meters ahead," Yarai said.

"Moreover, it seems that most animals that breastfeed have poor color comprehension," Torako said. "It's said that cats and dogs can't recognize the color red... That's why we they used red lights when searching for nocturnal animals on the show, though you still can't blast them with it."

"B-But guide dogs can move according to traffic lights, can't they?" Rion asked.

"That's not right," Yarai said. "The person with the dog listens to the surrounding noise and gives a sign whether it's all right to start moving. In all likelihood, that monster has a wide visual field... but its visual acuity and color discrimination ability are extremely poor. If we can take advantage of that weakness... we might be able to defeat it and save that kid!"

"...!!" Akira said.

"However, be prepared," Yarai said. "If things go wrong, we might all be done for... it's a very dangerous strategy." Akira and the others were determined to save Miina.

A cloud passed briefly in front of the moon. The beast growled, sitting in the same spot it had been in ever since it swallowed Miina. Something appeared in its field of vision. A light.

The fire crackled as Kirino added more wood to it.

"..." Suzuki was kneeling between her and Oomori with a tense expression on his face. "Hey... It's looking over here... We better make a run for it now, after all!"

"What are you trying to say now? This is our mission!" Kirino told him.

"That's right. We'll build a fire like this... and lure that animal over here... It's a necessary part of the strategy," Oomori said, even though she was scared, too.

"..." Suzuki stared at the beast. 'Damn... Yarai, that bastard... is this really going to be all right?'

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