As I saw Isaac pull out the black and gold deck of poker cards, I saw his calm exterior vanish as his calm smile turned into a maddening grin.
"Prepare yourself, Milicia the magnificent!" Isaac boomed, sweeping an arm dramatically in the air as if he were touching the heavens. "Today, I shall lead you into the most epic card war in human history!"
What an interesting 360-degree switch, I kinda expected him to put on a certain act that would charm an audience, specifically me in this scenario.
But who would guess he would put full effort into this magician's charisma act?
As expected from our wonderful cute Illusionist!
However, his calm trait seems to be consistent, which means that he could put on a great act without breaking character.
I guess I should note down this persona as his second one, since I already noted his more observant empathetic persona observed during the class introduction and orientation, given how he studied Marie for a moment and looked at her with a more understanding gaze rather than an awkward gaze like everyone else did, of course, I looked at her weird since she was getting a kink out of her reasoning.
Now then heading back to the now, I couldn't help but chuckle at his new demeanor. "It seems like you hit your head this morning."
It would be hilarious if he put on this act during the class introduction, considering he wants to become an aspiring magician, although I can see why he didn't since he would be demoted from a magician to a circus clown.
"Ah doubt," He said as he tapped on his temple. "The first weapon of a fool in battle." He clapped the deck of cards together. "But fear not, General Milosevic! I shall personally guide you to the gates of destiny."
Despite knowing this is just an act, it still feels like I am speaking to a different person.
Getting back to the trick he wants to pull, I can't help but feel surprised at what he is trying to pull.
"Let me stop you right there," I said, holding up a hand. "Don't tell me you are turning this card trick into some kind of Napoleon complex war fantasy?"
I guess he got the idea of it when I was explaining my Machina Genesis plan, by the way, the best plan to have ever existed.
He gasped as if I'd insulted his ancestors. "This isn't just any card trick, Milicia! This is The War of Kings! Battle of wits, strategy, and two adversaries like you! Milicia the weapon prodigy and I, the magician!"
I crossed my arms across my chest. "And here I was thinking things would get interesting."
In truth I was more contemplating how eerie his act was that I almost believed my persona profiling was wrong, keyword: almost.
Instead of getting angry at my comment, he winked. "Stick around. I'll surprise you."
I wonder if his goal was to be the unpredictability that old fart Huntsman tried to be?
Nevertheless, I welcome the idea, perhaps he would pull it off. Or end up getting embarrassed by me.
Once he finished shuffling the deck of cards, he tapped the top of the deck and revealed two cards. "The generals, you get the King of Diamonds and I get the King of Spades." He put the cards back into the deck and began shuffling the cards at an alarming speed with his eyes closed and after he shuffled them, he spread the cards across the table in a perfect arc as the cards gleamed like polished obsidian.
"Now for a small brief session, the kings are your general, and if you lose your general then it is an automatic loss. The queens are your commanders so they can override a soldier's loss in a clash once. And finally, your jacks are assassins and they automatically win in a clash against the numbered cards even if your general has infiltrated the other's rank you would be declared the winner."
I was intrigued by the last part of his brief rules.
"Now, pick your soldiers," He commanded, his voice dropping into a smooth, almost alluring tone.
I didn't hesitate as I selected most of my cards and they were based on my instincts.
If I did take time to consider which cards to pick, Isaac would have predicted which cards I'd go for, making him able to read me.
Overthinking is a detrimental trait for anyone, even if they are exceptional.
Of course, I was a bit careful with my second-to-last choice, since the 48th card was the King of Spades when he shuffled the deck of cards at a speed where it was a blur and incredibly impossible for a human eye to see, but I still able to memorize the entire deck of cards, anyways if I had picked the 48th card that would mean he had infiltrated my ranks and won, so I picked the 47th one.
However, I still couldn't help but wonder if he could pull off an impossible infiltration, I wonder how he would do it.
Well, I pushed that possibility into my head and let it grow into a tree that bears hundreds of apples to help me get an idea of how he could do it.
It's a possibility that is unlikely to happen, but one I should consider just in case.
He mimicked my actions, plucking his ten cards with an absurd amount of confidence around him that almost made me want to slap the cards out of his hands.
He seemed satisfied with our picks.
"The rest are your infantry." He said gravely.
"Infantry?"
"Indeed," He said, his eyes gleaming. "This isn't just a card trick, Milicia. It's a war."
"Right. Because nothing says 'war' like a deck of cards and questionable fashion choices." I muttered, eyeing his hair color which was mostly black with white hair dye.
I wonder if there is any meaning to that pattern.
He ignored my jab and continued."Now then we can take a momentary glance at our infantry to see what we can do." He said as he glanced at the values of his cards.
I looked at three of the cards and grinned.
He then grinned."Let the battle begin."
We began to lay out our cards face down in two rows, symbolizing a battle formation.
Isaac tapped the edge of his first card. "Are you ready, General Milosevic?"
My constant grin is as bright as always. "Always."
He revealed his first card, which was a 9 of clubs. "Ah," He declared dramatically, "my fearless front-line soldier, charging headfirst into enemy territory."
He is committed to the act, you have my respect, my little Houdini.
"Bold move," I said dryly, flipping my card over, revealing a 10 of hearts. "Too bad your soldier didn't bring a helmet."
Isaac clutched his chest feigning agony. "Ah! The tragedy of bravery without brains."
"Sounds familiar," I remembered the face of an old fart.
That's one point for me.
The second clash was quicker.
Isaac revealed an 8 of Diamonds. "My strategist," He announced proudly. "Sharp, cunning, and unstoppable."
I flipped over a 6 of spades.
He grinned triumphantly. "Looks like your ambush failed. My strategist lives to see another day."
I chuckled as I lazily pointed my finger at him. "Don't get too comfortable. Victory's temporary~"
He shrugged. "So Is defeat."
The third clash began and it was in favor of me.
Isaac revealed a 4 of Hearts. "Pure courage," He said solemnly.
I snorted. "More like cannon fodder." I flipped over a Queen of Diamonds. "Meet my military commander. She doesn't mess around."
He grimaced. "Courage is overrated anyway."
The fourth clash began as it tilted in his favor.
Isaac played a Jack of Spades. "Ah, my assassin," he said with relish. "Silent, deadly, efficient."
I flipped over 7 of the clubs, how expectedly unfortunate.
Isaac grinned wickedly. "Looks like your brute force just got outmaneuvered."
"Now now, don't get too cocky~"
"Too late," He chirped.
Isaac twirled his next card between his fingers like it was a secret talisman imbued with arcane power. He flipped it over with unnecessary flair, revealing a 10 of Diamonds.
"My tactical genius," He declared with smug satisfaction. "He surveys the battlefield, predicting every move you'll make before you even think of it."
I rolled my eyes. "Cute."
"Thank you. I do try."
Without hesitation, I revealed my card which was a 5 of Hearts.
Isaac blinked, visibly delighted. "Oh dear, your morale just hit rock bottom."
Despite having my grin still planted on my face, I still gave him a deadpan look. "Morale? This isn't a medieval siege. They're pieces of cardboard, Isaac."
"Pieces of destiny," He corrected dramatically, waving his hands in the air like a self-proclaimed oracle.
"You need a hobby," I muttered under my breath.
He does make a good magician, especially with that astounding charisma and creativity he has, although I think he needs more…. Stable hobby.
Well, now we are in the sixth clash.
By this point, Isaac's magician persona had fully reanimated, and I was beginning to slightly question whether I was in a card trick or a really strange fever dream. He placed his next card face down and tapped it three times with an ominous flair.
I decided to subtly look at the tree I let grow inside my head and saw it was 98% completed.
"Now," He said gravely. "Prepare yourself, Milicia. This move will change the course of history."
"Are you narrating your downfall?" I asked.
"Perhaps," He mused, "or maybe I'm narrating yours." He flipped over his next card, which was a humble 3 of clubs.
Narrating my downfall? Interesting…
Anyway, I blinked at the underwhelming reveal.
"That's it?" I asked, laughing internally while chuckling on the outside. "Your game-changing historical move is a guy holding a stick?"
Isaac didn't miss a beat. "The humble soldier often carries the fate of empires on his back."
I snorted once more. "Looks like he's carrying groceries."
Ignoring my jab, he leaned forward with exaggerated solemnity. "Your move, General."
With relish, I flipped my King of Clubs.
The moment hung heavy in the air, Isaac visibly wincing as he processed the defeat. "Ah. That's… unfortunate."
"Unfortunate for you," I said sweetly. "Looks like my general just crushed your stick-carrying grocery boy."
Isaac waved a dismissive hand. "He died heroically."
"Sure," I said with mock sympathy. "I'm sure history will remember him fondly."
Isaac sat up straighter, regaining his composure. "Ah, but in tragedy, there is redemption." He revealed a 9 of Hearts.
I titled my head, flipping over my own 9 of Diamonds.
"Ah-ha!" He cried triumphantly. "A draw!"
I stared at the cards. "So what, we both lose?"
He gasped feigning in horror. "Both lose? No, no. This is mutual respect between two honorable warriors!"
"It's boring, is what it is," I muttered.
"Boring?" He leaned forward with a gleam in his eyes. "Milicia, there is nothing more beautiful than two evenly matched foes locked in eternal battle!"
I gave him a blank stare as I figured out a hobby he could do. "You should write greeting cards."
Isaac placed his next card without ceremony, revealing a 6 of Hearts.
"A loyal defender," He announced. "Standing bravely in the face of overwhelming odds."
"Overwhelming odds?" I echoed, my grin widening as I flipped the expected Ace of Diamonds I had in my ranks.
Isaac let out a strangled groan. "That… might be a bit too overwhelming."
"You think?" I tapped the Ace triumphantly. "Looks like your brave little defender just got vaporized."
He sighed deeply, pressing a hand to his forehead. "He fought well."
"He didn't fight at all," I corrected him. "He got annihilated."
"You're ruining my narrative."
"You never had a good one to begin with."
We were now in the endgame and I felt the urge of the tree reaches 99% right now.
Isaac leaned forward, eyes glinting with dangerous intensity. The outgoing magician persona was no longer there, it was replaced by a more ominous cold one.
Oh~
I guess I need to extend my mental note on this one, this could be his third persona, the cold one.
This one was different, it matched marvelously with his wonderful alluring dark grey eyes.
I wonder how many fragments of the existence of Isaac Mahoka are there, and which one is the real one?
"You've fought well, General Milicia," He said quietly. "But there's one thing you forgot."
"Oh?" I tilted my head playfully. "And what's that?"
He flipped his final card, which was a 2 of clubs.
"That's it?" I laughed. "Your mighty army falls with a whimper?"
He smiled faintly, unsettlingly calm. "Or does it?"
Before I could respond, he reached across the table, tapping one of my face-down cards with quiet certainty. Slowly, deliberately, he flipped it over.
My smirk was not there for a moment as I saw the….
The King of Spades…
I then went into my mind like it was the Garden of Eden as I saw the tree that I grew at its peak, I saw the subconscious mind taking the form of a serpent, and like Eve, I took the apple of possibility the serpent gave me, and ate it as I felt a whole process of information source through my mental body giving me the perfect accuracy that could help explain what occurred.
And with the best apple of possibility finally integrated with me, my grin came back but with a more predatory aura around it.
————
As I flipped the card that was in Milicia's ranks, it was indeed the King of Spades.
And then I saw her immediately drop her grin for less than a second as it came back but with a more predatory glint.
It seems it did the trick very well, and just as I expected.
And from the looks of it, she didn't seem completely shocked, just slightly off guard, which means she must've taken into account that I could have infiltrated her ranks so she prepared a map to figure out how I did it before I revealed the card just a second ago, but she viewed it as an unlikely one.
Of course, showing that side was a little risky, although it should be enough to keep her busy for some time.
Nevertheless, I was able to meet up with Milicia's task she wanted me to do.
"Nice trick." She said coolly as she flipped her card revealing her King of Diamonds. "Looks like my general stayed loyal." She said, snapping the card onto the table with a decisive flick.
I looked at her as I acted stunned.
She then leaned forward, her voice was soft but dangerous. "You almost had me."
"Almost, but not quite it seems," I said as I chuckled.
Milicia stretched her arms.
The air between us was heavier, like the aftermath of a hard-fought chess match where both players knew just how close it had been.
"You're good," She admitted, tapping on the King of Diamonds still lying defiantly on the table. "Almost too good."
I calmly smiled as my usual self. "Why thank you, General. I do try."
"Oh, I know," She said with her usual grin. "But do you want to know how I think you did it?"
"I would be lying if I said I wasn't interested in knowing your insight."
"You started at the beginning, or more specifically, when you showed our generals. I didn't see it at first, but when going back into my memories, you held the King of Spades and King of Diamonds with both of the cards being 0.3 millimeters, however, the King of Spades specifically had an extra 0.3 millimeters, which means you had another card behind the King of Spades. Now how you were able to switch up the positions is quite interesting, before you put the cards back into the deck and shuffled them, you discreetly switched the positions of the King of Spades and the extra card, so that you had me still thinking the King of Spades was still in the same position. Of course that made my brain register the position where it thought it was, however, I never discarded the possibility of the card being infiltrated."
Ah, she noticed the extra card huh…
"Must've been a coincidence." I shrugged although she was right, hence why my charismatic magician act was on to keep her slightly distracted.
She ignored my comment and continued. "But you didn't stop there, you had moved slightly forward during our clashes and made me pick a certain card that you wanted me to go towards. It was subtle since you were still doing your dramatic narration, but it worked. You leaned in just enough to make me think, 'This card must be interesting'. And when I moved away, you leaned back like I'd missed something valuable."
"Okay you caught me, I might have leaned forward a bit," I said as I went back into my magician's act and acted sheepishly.
She snorted. "A bit? You were practically falling out of your chair."
"You're exaggerating."
"Am I?"
"Oh, and let's not forget your voice," She added, narrowing her eyes.
"My voice? What's wrong with my voice?" I tilted my head and feigned confusion.
"It wasn't the voice itself— it was how you used it," She clarified. "Whenever I was near a target card, your tone got warmer and smoother, like you were trying to lull me into comfort. But when I moved away from your intended spot? Your tone got sharper, more clipped."
"It seems you love my voice." I jokingly said.
Unfortunately, that led her to throw the King of Diamonds at my forehead which cut my forehead.
Of course, I was unfazed by it, but it was surprising to see her hurt me with my card.
"All of this was to lead me to not reveal my King of Spades card so that you can pull off the impossible infiltration trick. Using your speed shuffling, my intelligence, your dramatic narrative, and trickery to make me be fooled, which you did I must admit, even though it was for a quarter of a second. And you knew I would see through it."
"Could this be an admittance that I have completed the task you gave me?"
"Yeah sure, Houdini."
"And here I thought you were going to use my actual name when you dropped the nickname."
"I would never do such a thing."
Milicia then got up and stretched. "Well~ I suppose this is where we part our ways, Houdini."
Well I guess she still wants to explore the place—
I felt a warm sensation on my cheek which was a kiss from Milicia.
"Consider this a reward Houdini~" She teased as she walked away.
Once I saw her no longer on my radar, I felt my heart and felt no skipped beats or even felt flustered.
"What a shame." I sighed as I went back to my usual calm self.
However, I guess I should be on the lookout for her if she tries anything suspicious since I did show her a cold side of me. Which probably makes her interested in trying to figure me out.
And that kiss was probably a way to see if she could get a reaction out of me.
Anyway, I reorganized the deck of cards, put it back into the bag, and went off to where the dormitories were.
As I made it in, I went to the receptionist who was quite beautiful and her hair had the pattern stripes of a peppermint. "Excuse me miss, I am Isaac Mahoka, and I was wondering if you know where my dorm room is?"
She then nodded childishly. "Of course! Mr. Mahoka, your room is 512! And your key is your phone! So you have to put your phone on the sensor and it'll only give you specific access to your room!"
"Thank you uhm…."
"Ivana Pfeffermintz! Always happy to assist 24/7!"
I guess the jokes write themselves.
"Well then take care." I waved at her calmly with a smile as she returned the favor.
As I was about to head towards the elevator.
I saw Aurélie with a smile with two people, one was a guy with bright purple long hair in a ponytail and he had heterochromatic eyes of purple and yellow. And the other person was a girl with black hair in a ponytail, however, she had a nun's veil on her head….
…could it be?
I decided to approach them. "Hey, Aurélie," I said to her as I walked to them.
I then saw her looking at me with stars in her eyes. "Isaac!"
I then saw the other two looked at me. The boy had a smirk and the girl sighed at my appearance.
"Oh, my~, fate played its hand like a trickster flipping cards—random yet perfectly timed to reunite with kindred souls."
"It's good seeing you, Lucico."
The boy in front of me is one of my recent friends I made when living in Europe, his name is Lucico Dimensi.
He's quite similar to me, except he is more like a joker than a magician.
"And yet even with the lord's help you still fail to make anyone laugh Lucico. It's a pleasure to see you again Isaac, but it seems like God has other plans for you since you are at the bottom class."
"Of course, Sister Claire, and I am alright with the class I am in. I just have to figure out the journey to climb up." I said to Sister Claire, although she prefers me to call her Isidora, her first name.
But since she is a nun, I need to show my formal appeal.
"Wait, do you three know each other?"Aurélie, who felt like a confused butterfly asked.
"Well, Lucico, Sister Claire, and I have known each other since I moved to Europe when I was six."
And in a way you can consider them my recent friends, since they are my only friends since moving to Europe, in Japan, I only had one sort of friend.
"Truly a blessing to have a trio of Isaac the magician, Sister Claire the nun, and I, the great trickster known as Lucico!" Lucico dramatically put his hand up.
"A magician, nun, and trickster? What an interesting mixture of a group." Aurélie said out of interest and amusement and not weirded out.
However, I noticed that her left sleeve was a bit wrinkled, or rather a fabric creasing…
I then spoke to Aurélie. "Aurélie, if you don't mind…"
"Don't mind what—!!" I slowly went to her left arm and lifted her sleeve to see a bright red handmark on her left arm.
By the size of the handmark, it was done by a guy, and it looks incredibly recent from it being bright red and I can feel the warmth of it.
Although the handmark seems rather methodical, and from how Aurélie uses her arms, she's dominant to her right arm since she shook my hand with her right hand when I met her at the school's entrance.
The person who has done this is most likely a classmate, a rather careful aggressive one must have done this to have gauged a reaction out of Aurélie since she is a rank away from Class A.
If the person did it out of jealousy or some form of insecurity, then a grip on someone's arm will not be enough to instill some type of fear and doubt into her, they would have willingly injured her in some places like the face or stomach.
But this was done with careful precision.
It appears that the innocent Aurélie in front of me will become a rather dangerous target soon, it's unfortunate but expected by the cruel nature of reality.
"Aurélie, could we perhaps reenact how this transpired?" I asked her calmly but made sure to be gentle about it since she could be uncomfortable.
"Oh~ I can see where this is going~" Lucico commented but I ignored him.
"S-sure.." Aurélie stuttered, probably feeling a mixture of nervousness and fear.
I then took a deep breath, as my calm smile transitioned into a menacing grin. "Aurélie Louise right?" I asked her with a hostile tone but not too hostile.
She flinched and at the same time widened her eyes slightly looking shocked, most likely finding how accurately I must be impersonating the person who put that handmark on her arm.
"Y-yes that is me!" She reinforced her expression in her usual smile that only someone like my mother could have, but like I said, it is forced.
"Your rank is impressive, a 26 almost one away from Class A right?"
"I know right? I was surprised to see that as well—!!!"
I then went to her left arm and went to the same place where that handmark was and pulled her arm up slightly fast but not enough that would hurt her.
"From my perspective, a little girl like you has no reason to be ranked that high, and from the way you haven't put an effort into resisting my grip, you have no strength to fight someone on sight. Which indicates you are weak." I said to her as my face was close to hers as I spoke with venom in my tone. "Someone like you doesn't deserve a high ranking, let alone stay in this school. Unless you think you can take me on."
"Isaac…" I heard Sister Claire mutter, probably finding my method going a bit too far, but I ignored her and kept pushing further as Aurélie's expression was developing a lot of cold sweats, which indicates all of this is accurate on how it went.
"So what do you say Aurélie? Do you think you can take me on? You are weak, admit it."
"P-please….stop….." Once she made the expression I wanted, which made an absolute resolve not to continue this reenactment.
This gave me all the answers I needed.
I then backed away dropped the former persona I had on and returned to my usual calm self as if nothing had happened. "I do apologize to you, Aurélie, but it was necessary to do what I had to do, I care for the well-being of a friend. I hope you can forgive me."
She then decomposed herself and waved her arms around like a cartoon character would. "No no, Isaac! I completely understand! I just…..you were ... scarily spot on with every word….it felt like I was back in that moment…and not only that, you had the same personality of his perfectly….it's almost eerie."
I don't blame her for thinking that, it's always a strange phenomenon whenever I help someone I get a glimpse or reconstruct their memories.
One can say it is a blessing and a curse.
"Yep! That is our Isaac! Always pulling off something better than any other mentalist or any fraud mind reader could do. Also good performance~ fast, short, and impactful!" Lucico commented.
He was then met with a swift punch to the head. "Ow!—the hell Sister!?"
"Hm? I didn't do anything? Although I can say with certainty that punch to your head was indeed fast, short, and impactful." She said with an unreliable neutral expression despite having a chuckle to herself.
Aurélie couldn't help but chuckle. "You guys are quite interesting… Anyways, I gotta get going now, see you all next time." Aurélie said, waving at us as she left.
I guess she was in a hurry to rebalance her emotional state and didn't want to make anyone weirded out.
"So where are your dorm rooms at?" I asked.
"On the fifth floor." both said at the same time.
"Oh really? Seems like fate has us destined to be closer. Also Lucico, I have a question I want to ask, it's about someone."
"Shoot ahead, after all, I am an encyclopedia of all humans~"
"Do you know a girl named Alexandra Dolfuss?"
"….."
"…."
"I uh….seem to need to update my encyclopedia haha~"
"You are useless." Sister Claire said as she shook her head from his lie.
"How I am hurt by your words, after all we have been through." Lucico wiped a fake tear.
I remembered from the rank list that Sister Claire is in the same class as Aurélie, given her rank is 30. And Lucico's rank is 100…
"Sister Claire, I want to know the name of the one who gripped their hand onto Aurélie's arm."
"If I recall correctly, his name is Jinhyuk Kwon, and you mimicked him perfectly since he said those exact words."
Jinhyuk Kwon huh…..
"To think Isaac will be the heroic type." Lucico chuckled in amusement.
"Don't say such nonsensical things, I'm sure that Aurélie will learn from this experience to avoid those types of people. So me stepping in as a hero saving the damsel in distress wouldn't help, and it isn't needed." I told him.
In all honesty, I think it would be a bad idea to pull such a stunt like that, having Aurélie just avoid interacting with the meticulous aggressors is more rational than coming in and saving the day like a hero would.
Since they'll become more discreet with their movements and make themselves unpredictable, worsening Aurélie's experience.
"And what if they don't stop messing with her even if you don't try something?"
"Well, this can help her develop a fortitude to allow her to grow and find ways to defend herself. Nevertheless, she'll benefit either way."
"What an interesting answer," Lucico said, although he continued speaking. "How come you asked me about this Alexandra Dollfuss person?"
"Just out of curiosity, I saw her observing me during orientation and she said she is in the cleaning business."
"Hmmm, well this person is a natural-born Austrian from the looks of it, and since you mentioned that she is in the cleaning business, we can already assume that the business is cleaning up political assassinations and all that icky stuff. And since you said she was observing you. It could mean she knows who you are, and it seems that she only knows of you since you never met her before. She possibly knows your magician skills, and could know your mothers as well, may she rest in peace by the way."
"You just had to throw Isaac's mother into this?" Sister Claire questioned him with a bit of annoyance.
"It could be the case that this Alexandra possibly admires his mother's legacy, I mean we all do," Lucico argued. "And I didn't mean anything I said in a bad way."
I mean he wasn't wrong, I didn't feel offended by what he said, and even if he said something offensive, I believe it wouldn't raise any negative feelings within me.
Considering how my mother treated Lucico, the thought of him treating her negatively disgusts his mind, and the same could be said for Sister Claire as well.
"I guess you do make a good point.." Sister Claire sighed as we three entered the elevator.
As we made it to our floor, we all waved goodbye as we went to our dorm rooms.
I then put my phone at the sensor as I heard a click, indicating that the door was unlocked, so I went in and just stood there mesmerized by how the dorm room looked.
It looked like a fancy resort room, with a big living room, a kitchen, two bathrooms, and one bedroom. Truly something that even Ivy League students would envy.
I sat my stuff down as I went to jump on my bed. "So soft…"
Despite how the school is really like, I can't help but feel the excitement of my school life, and how things will turn out.
I think I'll stay in this bed a little bit longer.
End of Vol 1 Chapter 1.4