22 The Deck Stopped Working for No Reason at All
On a weekday afternoon, before customers started arriving, the store was quiet and still.
Usually the free tables would be filled with people enjoying fights, and the field would be alive with heated battles. But there was no one at my prized showcase or storage areas either.
It was in this tranquil setting that the day’s first customer entered the store.
“…Manager, may I have a moment?”
The cool young boy Crow said this the moment he arrived, his face serious.
The blue-tinged black-haired boy approached me with a slightly sullen look, seeking consultation.
A consultation with me.
I had decided to take on almost any concern,
from deck building to life troubles. But what was the issue this time?
It probably wasn’t a heated argument with the hot blooded boy Necca.
In cases like that, Necca would come to me for a consultation first,
like that time we had an episodic talk.
If not that, then it must be some personal trouble of Crow’s.
“What’s wrong, Crow?”
“Actually…”
Crow’s expression grew solemn.
It didn’t seem to be something difficult to say, but he was simply feeling down.
Rather, the fact that it wasn’t difficult to articulate meant it was likely a very serious concern.
“—My deck isn’t working like it usually does.”
And indeed, his concern was one of life-or-death importance for a fighter.
His deck wasn’t working properly.
In other words, he couldn’t draw the cards he wanted.
Thanks to the power of fate in this world, humans have overwhelmingly better drawing abilities than the card game players of their previous lives.
Drawing any card they wished was of course impossible.
But drawing bad hands almost never happened,
especially for skilled players.
There was just one exception.
“So in other words, the compatibility between you and the ‘Azure Celestial’ deck has gone awry.”
“…It seems so.”
I had him draw five cards from the deck as a test.
The result was miserable.
There wasn’t a single card usable for an opening play –
only revival cards, obstruction cards, setup support cards.
Crow had drawn nothing but those kinds of cards.
It was a nostalgic sight in a way,
reminding me of agonizing over hands like this while playing in the old days.
Well, even now something like this could easily happen with a rental deck.
But for it to occur with one’s main deck was extremely rare.
“…I wonder if everyone…dislikes me now.”
“They couldn’t dislike you, Crow. If that were the case, this situation wouldn’t arise in the first place.”
Crow uncharacteristically let out a small lament. I reassured him while thinking it over.
Normally, compatibility between a fighter and their cards wouldn’t break down so severely out of the blue.
Because if a fatal rift occurred between them, much worse would happen than just low drawing ability.
The cards could fall into darkness and become demonic cards in the worst case.
Even if not that extreme, simply having low draw power wouldn’t be the only consequence –
a far greater incident would transpire.
In other words—
the compatibility broke down through no fault of Crow’s.
“For now…can you think of anything that may have caused this?”
“No…At least up until yesterday, I could fight normally.”
He woke up, went to school, and then tried to fight but ended up like this…
I really didn’t want to think there was any issue on Crow’s side.
If the cause lay with the cards…
“Hmm…”
“Ah, Manager. Were you perhaps planning to check with the monsters?”
“Confirming that seemed the fastest way to get to the bottom of this.”
I focused my consciousness, trying to perceive spirit-type monsters.
Like me, Crow couldn’t see spirit-types either.
Actually, the only ones around me who can see spirit-types are Necca, Erea, and…Ren, I suppose.
I’m not sure about Yato chan and Haku san –
they’ve never brought it up,
and it’s not something I need to ask about.
“Got it, I can see a few monsters that came to the store tagging along with rental decks…”
“What about the Azure Celestial ones!?”
“…They don’t seem to be here.”
Basically, monsters don’t necessarily stay with their respective decks at all times.
Or rather, that’s the norm even for fighters who can see them –
at most one monster tends to always be by their side.
There are types like Necca who can see them but doesn’t keep any with him.
And in Crow’s case, while his cards don’t house spirit-type monsters, there is a “link” between the cards and monsters.
This is the most common type for fighters who can’t see them.
The monsters of cards owned by such fighters exist somewhere in this world, but not necessarily always by their side.
However, there is an invisible bond tying the fighter to their cards.
There’s also the type like Erea who is herself a monster.
And some extremely powerful fighters like Daia have no such link at all –
apparently the “Ignition Alien” we discussed at the drinking party is one example.
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“And…it seems that link has been severed.”
“The link…? Then could something have happened to everyone!?”
“I can’t say for sure yet. We’ll need to investigate a bit more.”
If something did happen, I had to resolve it no matter what, even if I couldn’t directly intervene –
at the very least, I could point them in the right direction.
Or rather, that was my way as the Manager.
“In that case…we should check the situation with the fighters who can see first. But Erea…is out shopping.”
“Then…Necca or Ren?”
“Now that you mention it…didn’t you see either of them at school today?”
I suddenly wondered and asked.
If Crow’s link to his cards was truly severed, those two should have noticed.
“Ren was absent as always, saying she had work.”
“Well, it’s rarer for Ren to actually be at school.”
Aside from running the Dark Card Agency, Ren apparently had all sorts of other jobs.
Her family was incredibly wealthy, so they ran various businesses beyond just the Agency.
“And Necca?”
“That idiot’s off with a cold. He walked home in the rain yesterday without an umbrella.”
“Ah, I see.”
That was just so typically Necca.
He probably forgot his umbrella completely –
I could vividly picture the scene.
So it seemed Crow hadn’t had a chance to hear from any other fighters about his link being severed before coming here.
…Hold on, if that’s the case, then even if the monsters tried relaying a message through the fighters who could see them, it might not reach Crow?
“…That’s it!”
“Eh? What is it, Manager!?”
“Let me give Erea a call.”
Leaving the wide-eyed Crow behind,
I went to the back to retrieve my smartphone and called Erea.
[Hello hello, Erea’s Shop. If you’re calling about our latest…promotion…]
“Erea, there’s something I need to ask you, is that okay?”
[Hm? What is it, Manager? With that serious tone… Ah, I was thinking curry for dinner, so look forward to…]
As cheerful as ever, but I cut Erea off to get straight to the point.
“Have you happened to receive any messages from Crow’s ‘Azure Celestial’ monsters?”
[Eh, a message?]
“Anything at all.”
[—Well yes, actually.]
Those words made my eyes widen.
Seeming to sense I was onto something, Crow looked up at me desperately.
And I waited for Erea to continue.
If something serious had happened,
for Crow’s sake I would have to take action.
Thinking that—
[They said they’re going on vacation to a southern island. Oh, that’s right, I was told to pass that along to Crow if I saw him.]
—A southern island.
“…Vacation?”
[Yes. But I’ll be sure to let him know, my apologies.]
So in other words…
The only reason was that with Ren and Necca absent from school, there was no one around to relay the message.
Ah, I see.
“Geez, I got all worked up over nothing!”
The usually cool Crow’s age-appropriate reaction summed it all up.
I’ll talk to him later.
While relieved that nothing serious had occurred, the “Azure Celestial” monsters including the [Reaper Death God] were thoroughly scolded for causing such a fuss.
The link between them and Crow was also restored to normal.
As a countermeasure, they decided to communicate more promptly going forward, and the issue was completely resolved.
…That said,
now that it was settled, I had to voice one thought.
The “Azure Celestial” monsters included many undead-types like the [Reaper Death God].
Undead monsters going on a tropical vacation—
I couldn’t help but silently wonder what that was all about.
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