“Sorry, but I’ll pass. I don’t have time for games like that.”
“……”
“Well, if you’re that scared, no worries. We’ll just ask someone else. You seem pretty shaky anyway, huh?”
“Yeah, yeah. Too chicken—what can ya do?”
Provocatively spitting out their taunts, the two thugs gave up on persuading them. Annoyed at their failed recruitment, they threw in a petty insult at the end.
“Excuse me?! Who the hell is ‘chicken’?! Hey, Fei?!”
“……”
“Huh?! Ignoring me—ahem. Fine then! I’ll take you up on that stupid bet! I’m not scared, and I will fall for your cheap taunts!”
“Oh? That was fast… Well, whatever. C’mon, this way.”
Alicia was hot-tempered. Her resistance to provocation was low. Thanks to Fei, she was feeling energetic enough to fall for such a cheap trick. Despite originally being mentally and physically exhausted, she ended up following the same fate—walking right into their trap.
Following the thugs, Fei and Alicia entered a nearby bar. Inside, it was rowdy and lively. A burly man in a helmet, a bald guy with sharp eyes, a sleazy-looking man, and a middle-aged man with white hair—all of them adventurers.
At the entrance, a monkey-like creature greeted them. Though cute, its eyes locked onto Fei and Alicia like prey before climbing up to a ceiling lamp.
“Huh? What’s this? Brought some fresh meat?”
“Nice! Go get ’em!”
“Damn, that girl’s a real looker…”
Told to sit, the two took their seats. Under the lecherous gazes of the patrons, Alicia shuddered. A middle-aged man with a thin mustache sat across from them.
“If those two brought you here, I assume you’re here to gamble?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Got it. Then let me explain the rules.”
The mustached man laid them out: The rules were simple. You could bet anything. If you won, you’d get double your stake plus whatever the opponent wagered. But if you lost and couldn’t pay the debt, you’d have to compensate somehow. As for the game itself—five cards were suddenly dealt.
“It’s really simple. First, check the cards in your hand.”
“…Numbers one through five on five cards?”
“Exactly. The rules are simple—each of us picks one card and places it face down. Then, we flip them. The higher number wins a point. We repeat until all cards are used. Whoever has the most points, or whoever gets three wins first, takes the game.”
“Hmph… Easy enough.”
“Glad to hear it, miss. So… which of you is playing?”
“…I’ll do it! I’ll win quick and treat you to lunch! …I-I mean, after everything, I kinda owe you… Not like I want to owe you or anything…”
Flustered, she grabbed her cards. The adventurers clicked their tongues at what looked like some kind of lovers’ spat.
“Well then, let’s keep it light, miss.”
“Heh, I’ll wipe that grin off your face.”
(I feel like Fei isn’t even acknowledging me… If I don’t show him something impressive here, I’ll just fade into the background. No way someone who loses in a place like this can ever be great!)
(Waaaaaah! I lost all my mooooney!!)
Alicia suffered a crushing defeat. Next time I’ll win! Yes, I won! She kept repeating it, diving deeper into the gambling pit until she was completely destroyed.
“Too bad, miss. Wanna go again? You could bet that sword on your hip.”
“…I-I’m just getting started!”
“That’s the spirit!”
(Losing this badly… N-no, it’s fine! Next time, I’ll definitely win!!)
“Switch. I’ll take over.”
Fei, who had been silently watching, grabbed Alicia’s shoulder and pulled her back, taking her place across from the mustached man.
“Oh my? Dear Fei, you gamble?”
“Wha— When did you—”
“My, my, Miss Ali-whatever, thank you for earlier.”
“Thank me? Weren’t you just depressed—it’s Alicia, by the way!”
“Moping forever won’t change anything, so I skipped around the city and happened to run into you again♪”
(That was the fastest recovery ever!! And an instant reunion?!)
Mordred waved enthusiastically at Fei. Their reunion had happened in the blink of an eye. Fei ignored her, studying his cards.
“By the way, you were quite the duck earlier.”
“Huh? Me?”
“Who else? You were being blatantly cheated, occasionally let win to drag you deeper, yet still recklessly kept betting. Only an idiot would do that.”
“Hey, you little— Don’t mock me.”
Mordred whispered to Alicia, who gritted her teeth in frustration as Mordred smirked.
“More importantly, shall we watch Dear Fei’s gamble?”
“I’m not happy about this… but fine.”
Their eyes turned to Fei, who had just been dealt five cards. His wager? All his money… and his swords. Everything he had.
“Do you think Fei can win?”
“Unlike you, he’s not an idiot. So yes.”
“Excuse me?!”
Fei placed a card face-down without even looking at it.
“……Hey, hey, bro. You’re not gonna look at your card?”
“No need. I’m a man who attracts luck.”
“……”
Fei remained perfectly still. His opponent, the guy with the little mustache, froze up at the sight of Fei not checking his card.
Fei glanced briefly at the monkey on the ceiling.
(…Did he figure it out?)
That monkey was his accomplice. It moved around freely, peeking at opponents’ hands and signaling which card to play with its cries. By adjusting his own plays accordingly, he always won.
Occasionally, he’d let the opponent win—but when it really mattered, he never lost. That’s how he kept making money.
Using a trained monkey made it easy.
But Fei didn’t even glance at his own hand, just randomly picked a card face-down. There was no way to tell what he’d chosen.
“……”
Fei silently waited for his opponent’s move. And then…
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT gadgetizedpanda.net
I got dragged into gambling by these two thug-looking guys. This… is my event. No doubt. I’m the protagonist. Of course things like this come my way. Alicia, whose role is still unclear—whether she’s a mob character, a heroine, or what—seems oddly fired up.
What even is her role? I still can’t tell. Compared to me, the protagonist, she feels kinda… thin.
We were led to the gambling spot. Whoa, nice. This den of lowlifes—I don’t hate it.
Oh, there’s something like a monkey here.
Monkeys can’t gamble, so it should scram.
…Well, Alicia lost her money. This idiot got cocky after a small win?
She’s giving off major “fodder” vibes. Maybe she’s just here to stall until the protagonist arrives?
Now, my turn. I’m going all in—money, swords, everything. No way I’m losing to some thug.
Call it bias, but a guy with a little mustache like that can’t beat me.
But… he’s probably cheating, right? Little mustaches always cheat—okay, maybe that’s just bias.
But Alicia only loses when she bets big? And the mustache guy only loses when he bets small? There’s gotta be a trick.
Hmm… the card backs? Nah, he wasn’t even looking at the patterns.
When Alicia picked cards near her thighs (so the patterns were hidden), he’d play immediately—no time to observe.
Telekinesis? Mind-reading? Nah, if he had powers like that, he’d be somewhere way bigger than this back-alley den.
—No way a small-time mustache guy’s got that.
But something’s up. He’s definitely cheating. Then—zap—it hit me.
[Fei… can you tell what’s different about me today…?]
[……Your hairstyle?]
Back when I was training with Master Yururu in the mornings, she suddenly showed up with twin tails and asked for my opinion. Was she into me or something…?
…So that’s the foreshadowing.
Twin tails → “twin” → split hair → even if split, Yururu is one → the enemy might seem like one, but look closer—maybe there are two.
…So there’s a mole here feeding Alicia’s hand to the opponent?
Heh. Master’s the best. Even when she’s not here, she’s got my back.
A normal person would never interpret Yururu’s hairstyle like that.
But I’m the protagonist. Her beloved disciple. I get it—that was foreshadowing. Thanks.
So the mole is… No one’s behind us… that monkey? Was it peeking at hands? Or maybe an invisible guy in the room, whispering the info…
Whatever. If no one knows the hand, it’s fine, right? Even I won’t look. Even if they can read minds, I don’t know what I’m playing.
Pure gambling. This is gambling. But I won’t lose. Under these conditions, I can’t lose to some mustache guy.
Fate, the world—they’re on my side. A 1-in-5 luck game? I’ll win. I will win, winwinwinwinwin—winning’s natural. Undefeated is my default.
Bam. I won.
Three straight wins. Took all three. I’ll be taking the money now. Spend tomorrow figuring out why you lost.
Later.
Oh, Mordred, you’re here? Since when…? Whatever. More importantly, it’s almost lunch. After we eat, let’s hit the dungeon.
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Heh. I remember reading this on the previous one, and it’s still fun to read here.