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- l- look 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?
<Afterword>
I’ll give you a~~ re~~ ward~~♪…… That somehow looks indecent……
T/N: 35/202