We began discussing what to do in the free time we have until dinner.
Alice says she knows just the right place we could go, so I followed her
guidance and arrived at a large building.
[…This is the place Alice recommends? What do you do in a place like
this?]
[Lots of things. Well, for the time being, how about we go in?]
Is this place a theatre or a concert stage? No, the atmosphere around it
doesn't seem like so.
When I followed Alice into the building, wondering what in the world
this place could be, I heard very lively sounds coming from all over the
place.
[Errr, first of all, that's the clock card, there's the target… There are
many different games around here.]
[Heehhh~~ This certainly looks like a very busy place.]
I see, games huh… Is this something like this world's version of a game
center? This place would certainly be a great way to pass the time and
with all the various games we could play, we could have lots of fun.
[…Ahh, by the way, the "chips for games" can be exchanged over th——-
Fugyaaahhh!?]
[Isn't this a freaking casino!!!?]
I tried pretty hard to look at it in a favorable way, but this was
undeniably a casino.
Seriously, if I just let down my guard for a bit, this woman would start
going off to gamble…
[P- Please wait for a moment, Kaito-san! There's a deeper reason for
this.]
[…Hoohh… Let me hear it then. My sermon will come after that.]
[…I- It's already decided that I will get a sermon huh… I- It's that, you
know? There's one misunderstanding that my beloved Kaito-san may
still have right now… I thought I'd tell you one more thing that I've been
hiding.]
[Unnn? Something you've been hiding?]
I thought she would probably just make another excuse today, but from
what Alice said, it sounds like she really has a reason.
Seeing this, I asked Alice back, pushing down the anger in my mind
earlier.
[Well, please just watch… It will be alright. I'll only be using one
copper.]
[O- Oi… Alice?]
Emitting a somewhat solemn, yet intimidating feeling, as if she was a
battle-hardened gambler, Alice went to the counter with a single coin.
Then, an hour later… Alice had a mountain of chips piled up in front of
her.
[A- Amazing…]
[Fufufu, this is my true ability!]
As if to overturn my previous impression of her, Alice has shown her
monstrous ability in the casino.
Although she wasn't winning all her games, she was calmly discerning
when to call and when to fold, and interestingly, her chips were
increasing.
She had really overwhelmed her contenders, that if she continued
playing, there's a chance that she might be banned.
Well, seeing the smug look on her face was inexplicably annoying
though.
[Isn't that a bit too mean!?]
[Then… The smug Alice is cute too.]
[Wha!? Ah, s- suddenly saying that… Auuuu…]
While slightly teasing Alice, whose expression frequently changes, I
returned to the subject at hand.
[…Even so, for you to amass this much…]
[Fufufu, have you seen it now? The Perfect Beauty Alice-chan's serious
mode!]
[…Then, why have you always been…]
At least, from what I saw in the past hour or so, Alice was always calm
and collected, not getting hot-headed and assessing the flow of the
game.
In layman's terms, she would be able to win most of the games with her
skill.
That's why, I was reflexively stunned, seeing how far apart Alice was
now from the Alice who was weak in gambling back then.
[…Ahaha, that was what I've been hiding… I have actually been "losing
on purpose".]
[…Why?]
If she can show this level of ability, I can honestly believe her when she
said that she's been losing on purpose, but I don't see why she should
do that.
Well, if she can win this much, it definitely would be easier for her to
lose on purpose…
[Ahh~~ Errr, actually, you see. I've always been super good at gambling,
and I almost never lost. So, since the old me has disappeared already, I
thought I should lose on purpose.]
[…Then, you should have just not gambled.]
[W- Well~~ But, you see~~ I really like gambling… so I couldn't resist
playing…]
It seems that the secret Alice wanted to tell me is that she was actually a
strong gambler.
It's nice to know another thing about Alice but… why is she telling me
that at this time?
As I was thinking this, a grin appeared on Alice's lips, and holding out
half of the pile of chips towards me, she spoke.
[…Let's have a revenge match. Kaito-san, let's have a match to see who
can make more money!]
[A- A match?]
[Yes! If I win, I'll have a special dessert along with the fancy dinner!]
[…And what if I win?]
Revenge match… She must be referring to that match we had previously
at the monster race track.
In summary, what she's saying is that "I didn't really give it my all that
time, so let's have another match".
Well, we have plenty of time to spare, so we can do that… For some
reason though, Alice even added a condition as to when she wins.
That's why, I was wondering about what would happen if I won. I know
that Alice was confident about her skills, but my chance of victory isn't
zero.
So, I thought I'd ask her about that before accepting her challenge.
[…E- Errr… If Kaito-san wins… Ummm, when we get home… I- I'll give
you a reward…]
[A reward?]
[Y- You can only look forward to it after you actually win!]
[…Fumu, well, fine. Let's do it.]
[Fufufu, the me of today is different from the me back then! Come on, let
me show you the bitter taste of defeat!]
Carried away by a strangely enthusiastic Alice, the second match
between Alice and I began.
To skip to the conclusion of our match… Well…"We were banned".
After a certain amount of time had passed since my match against Alice
began, a person claiming to be the owner of the casino appeared, got
down on his knees and said "Please let us off already". After exchanging
looks with Alice, we decided to end our match.
Well, I didn't think that I'd be this lucky, and I also feel like I got carried
away too much, so I've decided to accept this ban as a means to reflect.
[…Guhhh… Uuuuu…]
[W- Well, you see, we were interrupted in the middle of our match so…]
[…Kaito-san is an absolute cheat… How come you were able to
"consecutively win in betting with single bets" in the roulette… There's
no way you can win if that wasn't the case…]
[Ahh~~ No, I was just lucky…]
As for the match with Alice… I had won about three times as much as
her before our match was interrupted.
I didn't know if it was because of beginner's luck or something like that,
but in the end, I never lost a single bet.
Incidentally, Alice had also increased her hand several times from the
start, so she wasn't weak at all. It was just that I was strangely lucky.
[…Uuuuuuu.]
[No, like I said, our match was interrupted, so we can just make that
match invalid…]
[T- That won't do! My pride as a gambler will not allow me that. So, I'll
properly give you a reward after we get home… T- T- T- That's why,l- l- llook forward to it…]
[Y- Yeah…]
Why is she that red? Moreover, she's even stuttering with her words?
What exactly is this reward that she's talking about?
I tried asking her, but she only told me "You'll know about it after we
got home", so let's just put it aside for now. Anyway, now that we've
killed enough time, it's time to start thinking about dinner.
Dear Mom, Dad—- I had another gambling match with Alice. And with
my beginner's luck, I won once again, but there seems to be something
wrong with Alice—– What in the world could this reward be?