The restaurant that I went to with Dr. Vier was quite nice, it had a casual and relaxed atmosphere. The food was delicious, and we had a good time chatting over our meal.
However, towards the end of our meal, I felt some tension in the air. The air that made my skin tingle seemed to be coming from the smiling Dr. Vier in front of me, and at the same time, the same kind of air was probably coming from me.
Yes, both Dr. Vier and I understood. The time of the battle was near... And as one would expect from someone with a presence like her, or rather, without even having to think about it, Dr. Vier was a formidable enemy.
We fought each other once back in the Six Kings Festival. At that time, the battle itself was unsettled due to Neun-san's intervention, but that battle was practically a defeat for me... but in a sense, this could be described as a revenge battle.
However, my mind was very calm as I took on such a battle. I was quite composed, if I do say so myself. On the contrary, I could feel a sense of uneasiness from Dr. Vier.
[It was delicious.]
[Yes, I guess we really can't be mistaken with a restaurant highly rated by Kuro.]
[Kuromu-sama is a gourmet after all. Well then, it looks like both of us were done eating, so I suppose we should settle the bill... I'll pay this time though. Neun was the one who treated us back in the Six Kings Festival, but I hadn't thanked Miyama-kun yet.]
At that moment, I heard the sound of the bell of battle ringing in my heart. The one who made the first move was Dr. Vier, who tried to decide the game by slamming her strongest card on the board, the same one she brought out as her first move at the Six Kings Festival.
I see, this card of hers certainly is indeed powerful. If it weren't for Neun-san's intervention back in the Six Kings Festival, I would have been defeated just like that.
However, that was only because "it was back then". At that time, it was still just after the incident with Dr. Vier, and her "expression of gratitude" was literally a powerful and incomparable tactic.
But now... it's different. Dr. Vier was feeling impatient. The fact that she brought out her strongest card so early in our match is proof of that... Yes, Dr. Vier herself understood this.
The strength of the cards we held against each other was completely different from that time...
[No, it should be me who should treat you here today. I still haven't "thanked you enough for that time in the God Realm".]
[Ughhh...]
Yes, I didn't have a counterattack for her gratitude card back in the Six Kings Festival, but I now had a gratitude card of my own. Moreover, that wasn't my only card in hand.
[Moreover, I've been under Dr. Vier's care quite a bit... You celebrated my birthday before, and you participated in my housewarming party, so let me take this opportunity to repay you.]
[Fuguhhh.... N- No, I myself enjoyed my time at the housewarming party so...]
[Even so, I'm still glad you came. And even though you suddenly heard about my birthday on the day itself, you still rushed over and helped get the ingredients for the food, and I can't thank you enough for that.]
[Gunuuuu...]
Yes, the power of the cards that both of us held right now overwhelmingly leaned in my favor, and even if we showed all the cards we have in hand, I would still win hands down.
In order to settle this match, I brought out my most powerful gratitude cards... three of them in a row. Seeing the cards I placed on the field, I could feel the desperation in Dr. Vier's eyes. Three powerful cards in a row... Even if she could offset it with her own gratitude card, there's no way she could pull through the remaining two.
As a matter of fact, Dr. Vier's expression had distorted, unable to bring out a rebuttal. I'm sure she's desperately trying to find a way to respond... but I don't have to wait for her to draw such a card.
With a smile on my face, confident of my victory, I reached for the bill...
[...Wait.]
[!?]
What!? Don't tell me... She had found a response in this situation!?
[F- Fufu... You blundered, Miyama-kun.]
[What are you...]
[Taking out three cards in a row is overdoing it... That's strange, don't you think? The cards Miyama-kun has in hand are overwhelming, so even if you fought slowly, you could have eventually pushed through. And yet, why did you do something like taking out all your trump cards here? Miyama-kun... "You're in a hurry to settle this, aren't you?"]
[...…]
No way, she noticed!? In this situation where she's cornered, she found the only way to counterattack...
[Hey, Miyama-kun. Sister Tre's envelope was supposed to be opened after the meal, right? Well then, how about we check it out before we settle the bill? See, there might be instructions on which one of us should pay, don't you think?]
[Kuhh...]
I don't know if I should say that it was to be expected from Dr. Vier or not... but she brought out the situation that I was hoping to avoid. Yes, Tre-san's envelope certainly specified that we should open the next envelope after our meal.
The decisive barrier here is the part where it said "after we finished our meal" instead of "after we leave the restaurant". If this timing is specified, there's a good chance that the way we would pay would be written.
That's why, I wanted to avoid it. At any rate, since I had more cards in my hand than hers, I thought I could win if we just fought normally.
Having been finished paying already, we would then check the envelope, and even though it was written that Dr. Vier would pay, I would just say "well, we've already paid, so it doesn't really matter anymore". That's why I brought out my powerful cards right from the start.
However, it didn't work out so well as Dr. Vier seemed to have remembered Tre-san's order.
The development of the situation didn't seem good, as I can't predict what Tre-san had written in her instructions.
However, if I were to be asked if this would work in Dr. Vier's advantage, I'm not so sure about that either. There's a good chance that she may have also written nothing about the means of payment either.
Even if that's so though, Dr. Vier still managed to bring up a situation where she had a 50% chance of winning.
[...As expected of Dr. Vier, you really are a difficult opponent.]
[You're strong too, Miyama-kun. Definitely the strongest opponent I've ever fought... However, there's no way I would just let you defeat me so easily.]