[---]
She had silky ashen hair that was tied into a single braid. Her golden gaze lazily landed on the three cups that were facing down at her table. With a smile, she began to arrange her table for what looked to be some sort of event.
She was wearing the black uniform that Thorfen Academy students wore, so she stood out in contrast to the whitish exterior of the tea room. The folks who came to establishments like these were often rich ladies who had way too much free time, and all of them were staring daggers at her.
Damian carefully observed the situation as he walked by the keeper's counter.
"Welcome! What could I get for you?"
"Yeah, I'll just have an Earl Grey for me and one of your specialty cakes for today, please..." Damian said, as his gaze continued to lock onto the woman.
After a while, the girl took a deep breath and...
"Come one, come all, folks! Do you think you can best the great Luna this time around? Or will you folks remain sore losers who couldn't even beat a young brat like me? Come now, let's have some fun!"
The girl shouted, and Damian noticed the fire light up in the eyes of the ladies.
"Oh, you've said it now, Luna!"
"Your luck ends today, you little brat! We made sure to follow today's lucky color and pray to the goddess just to see your smug face today!"
"Yeah, she's right!"
The ladies stood up and began to surround her table. An uncharacteristically fierce spirit enveloped them as they began spitting fighting words.
Damian had been in a couple of places like this and never had he imagined they could be riled up like this.
And on another note...
"Do they even know who they're talking to?" Damian thought in his head as he continued watching.
"Alrighty, ladies, settle down. I'd know if you weren't all talk after this game."
"Bring it on!"
"Okay then. Our game today will be incredibly simple! I have three cups and a marble right in front of me, and once the bet against me has been placed, I'd place the marble in a cup and move the cups around. Guess the cup right, and you'd get a reward from the pot, which starts at fifty gold coins. If you lose, you get nothing!"
"You better not cheat this time, Luna!"
"That's right! We've got someone who's an expert in magic with us today. We'd know if you pulled off another trick."
"Fufu, I have no need for such things, for lady luck smiles upon me! Now then, those who want to lose, step right up! Betting starts at fifteen gold coins!"
"...Sheesh, that's a lot," Damian muttered as he received his order and walked toward a nearby table to watch.
He didn't know which was worse... the fact that she thought people would pay such a ludicrous amount for a mere game, or the fact that these ladies were actually crazy enough to do it.
"Alright, let the games begin!"
The girl placed the marble in the cup at the center and began to move it at an incredibly fast pace. They were struggling to keep up, but Damian was able to clearly follow the cup that had the marble.
After a while, she stopped, and the ladies were left to debate which one had it.
"Is it the right? I could've sworn it's the right..."
"No, it's the left. I saw the cheeky little bugger did a backtrack at the end. Trust me!"
"It's the middle..." Damian thought as he took a sip from his tea.
He was under the impression that they'd get the wrong one the first time around, but surprisingly enough...
"The middle!" The player picked the right one.
Damian could only smile.
"So much for being beloved by lady luck..." he muttered as he ate a piece of the cake.
"Hmm, delicious..."
"Alright, let's see here. And... oh, too bad, you got it wrong!"
The crowd went ballistic, and groans of disappointment echoed around.
He couldn't believe his ears.
Standing up, he moved closer to inspect if it really wasn't there, and much to his surprise, it indeed wasn't. She moved the rest of the cups and showed that it was on the left side.
"No way..."
He was positive that it was in the cup at the center.
His vision had never failed him in the past.
He was sharp-eyed enough to see arrows and fast magical projectiles as if they were moving in slow motion. He was also keen enough to see through the illusions of one of the demon army's grand generals.
There was no way he got it wrong...
"Let's try again, shall we?"
"Me next! I'll make sure to get back what I lost from you yesterday!"
Damian silently watched as the games unfolded. His eyes carefully followed the moving cups, determined not to repeat his earlier mistake. The ladies, of course, didn't always get their choices right, but...
"The right one..."
"Wrong!"
"The left one..."
"Too bad!"
"The center one..."
"Ooo, sorry. Better try again next time, yeah?"
Even if the choices of some of the ladies should've landed them a victory, they still somehow found the ball in another cup. Frustrated, they talked to the so-called magic expert who was with them, and just like Damian's suspicions...
"She isn't using magic... I haven't sensed traces of mana throughout the whole game."
"Seriously?! She's won ten times in a row?!"
Damian agreed. She was cheating one way or another, and he was determined to find out about it. Partly because of his pride, but mostly because the girl was looking really smug as hell right now, and he wanted to put her in her place.
"Come on, ladies. I thought you'd put me in my place today?"
"Kgh, you little brat! Bring it on! Don't underestimate the maternity pay I have in my pocket!"
"Alright, let's see here..."
Damian focused as he carefully observed her.
"Is it the table?"
He thought that somehow the ball was being transported under the table and into another cup, but looking at it now, there were no signs of such a thing.
"Hmmm."
Damian then shifted his perspective and looked at this in another way. For one thing, the cups that she was using didn't feel right to him. They were a bit bigger than normal, and they definitely didn't belong in the shop, which meant that she brought them here for the sole purpose of playing the game.
"Okay, which one do you think has the cup?"
"Grr... the right one!"
"You sure?~"
"Yes, I'm sure! Now open it, you darn brat!"
"If you say so~"
Tap Tap
The girl patted the cup twice before lifting it.
"?!"
"Too bad! Ehehe..."
Just as he expected, nothing was there even though the marble should've been. But more importantly, something felt strange to him... Why on earth would she tap the cup twice? And why only do it on the cup that had the marble?
"Unless..."
He continued to observe her further, and after a while, he finally solved the puzzle.
"Hehe, I see... She's more clever than her old man paints her to be."
Standing up from his chair, he began to make his move.
"Excuse me, ladies, is it okay if I join you all?"
"Oh, for sure, mister! Come on in, we love a new player..." She smiled, seemingly giddy at the thought of having another sucker to squeeze dry.
"Be careful, mister, this girl is a real trickster! I dunno what she's doing now, but she's definitely pulling the strings on this game somehow."
"Oh, come on, am I really that untrustworthy?~"
"Zip it! You know full well that you are."
"Ahaha, please don't worry about me, ladies. I'm sure her luck is out at this point."
Damian smiled as he sat back on his chair.
"Ahaha! We'll see about that!"
The girl then began quickly moving the cups. After a while...
"Now then, which one of the three has the-"
"It's this one."
Damian quickly placed his hand on the right cup.
"Oooh, quite the feisty one, are you? Okay, can you remove your hand so that we can see if you won?"
"No, I don't think I will. How about you let me raise the cup?"
Hearing this, her face suddenly became pale, and sweat began to gather on her forehead.
"Ahaha... I, erm, uh... I-I can do it. There's no need to bother yourself with-"
Damian raised the cup, and lo and behold... the marble was there.
It seemed that the situation hadn't completely dawned on the ladies, so before they were able to process what was going on, Damian took the pouch containing the entire pot of about a hundred gold from the girl, who seemed to be on the verge of tears.
Her grip tightened, and it seemed like she couldn't accept the situation. But Damian was far stronger than her, so it only took a little effort for him to grab the pouch from her.
"Ah... my monthly rent..." the girl muttered as she tried to reach for it like a mother watching her child being taken away.
"Hehe, it was fun playing with you, ladies."
He gave them a bow as he walked out of the shop.
And as soon as the doors closed, he could hear the other ladies tearing into Luna like a pack of wolves devouring a carcass.