Bullet 6: Aria used to lose to her sister in Poker, and since then only wears Playing Card patterned underwear.

MAY 1, 2022 ~ FROZZENDETH

　The cast-off table will now enter its sixth round.

　There are only three survivors now: Hiraga-san, Fuuma, and myself.

　And in this sixth round, one must lose so two can survive.

　In the last round, the seventh, those final two would have one last go at it, and then that would be the end of this cast-off table.

(Two more rounds to go… and this long, bitter war will be over…!)

　Moreover, in this final stage of the war, the battle has turned to my advantage.

　Because out of the three survivors, Fuuma and I are allies – we may be able to cooperate in a two-on-one fight against Hiraga-san.

　In addition, a comparison of us three carrying clothes shows…

　　Hiraga-san 2 pieces (blouse, skirt).

　　Fuuma has 1 piece (blouse).

　　Me with 2 pieces left (shirt and pants).

　This, too, is in favor for me and Fuuma, as it is our side with 3 tokens against Hiraga with 2 tokens.

　And although the Toyama Empire is in a good state externally… it is currently facing uncertainties about its internal politics.

　My Hysteria Weissman, who was so reliable at the beginning of this war, is losing its power.

(I’ve got eight minutes left… and it’s getting weaker!)

　On the one hand, my foolish other me, long oppressed by the Wiseman, is preparing for a revolution in my body, specifically my core.

　If I weere to be betrayed by Wiseman, I would reawaken in my normal hysteria mode…

　The United States of Aria, the Shirayuki Kingdom, People’s Republic of Riko, Rekki Federation, Jeanne Republic, and other countries would launch an indiscriminate attack against me and my people.

　Later, that multinational force would counterattack upon each other and beat each other to a pulp until everyone was scorched to the ground.

　Hang on in there Prime Minister Wiseman…!

　But Jeanne, who has the right to decide the game in Round 6…

“I remembered this after seeing Aria’s underwear… we have played Roulette already, a casino game, so how about a game of cards such as poker?”

　She selected a game of cards, poker.

“Nice, poker! A gambling classic! One of the three great card games!”

　Riko, the hostess, who is currently jumping around in her honey gold underwear, it seems like she likes to play cards.

　She then brought out several cases of unopened playing cards from a cupboard decorated in an irritaitng Riko style. All of these packs look like the same pack of playing cards.

“Then, let’s start with the cards! There are 36 kinds! Line them up, everyone, six by six.”

　We cooperate and arrange the cases of playing cards in a square formation just like Riko tells us to do.

“The dice are used to determine which of these cards will be used. You will be using different playing cards for each round…”

　Riko holds up the “ordinary dice” that I used in the dice game earlier.

(Well, in short, this is…)

　I’m sure that everyone has already noticed this, so I guess I will just ask?

“So, which deck is a cheat deck?”

“Kufu~”

　Riko laughts at me for asking my question with the eyes of a mischievous child.

“Only Riko knows that. It’s just like with dice; one out of the two is a regular deck of cards, and when you use a normal one you must declare it in advance.”

　”fufufu” goes Riko as she breathes out her nose and puffs out her chest.

“No, this is no good. It’s a good thing you didn’t participate in the dice game. This time, with the ‘losers’ entry rule you mentioned earlier, you will be participating in this game in one way or another. You will have an overwhelming advantage for whatever side you are on.”

“But there is a chance I will side with you, Ki-kun, right?”

　And Riko gives me a lovely wink that seems to pop out a star and heart symbol.

“… that is true, but…”

“Rikorins presence, too, makes the game more exciting! Yes, everyone!”

　Riko opened her arms and everyone turned to look at her.

“First of all, this poker game is a one-on-one game between ‘hosts’! Two out of the three, Aya, Ninnin-chan, and Ki-kun, fight over clothes! Who will fight who will be decided by dice before the game!”

　This is…! With any luck, this is going to be swell.

　If two players are not selected, there is no risk of losing their clothes in the first place.

　For example, there is the possibility that only Hiraga-san and Fuuma will have to fight and I can win without fighting at all.

　When I leaned in, Riko told me something delicious…

“However, the ‘hosts’ cannot touch the cards. It is the ‘knights’ who are chosen one by one from among the losers to draw and discard cards. In other words, it is a substitution system. Of course, the ‘host’ may give instructions to the ‘knights’ but the ‘knights’ have the final say. You may act against the host.”

　I see… winning and losing also depends on the power of the ‘knights’.

　In fact, it is mainly knights who can cheat as only they can touch the cards.

“In addition, both hosts have one ally on each side, a shuffler and a spy.”

Here is a guide. A ‘shuffler’ is the person who shuffles the cards in half…

　Maybe the shuffler can cheat too… I guess it depends on the person.

　Even though they are not as important as a knight, an ally is still an ally.

“The spy stands behind the enemy knight and watches their cards! You are not allowed to say the cards or the hand directly, but you have 15 seconds to advise your knight before the game. To avoid the eyes of the spy, you may choose to not look at the cards you have drawn but instead keep them face down on the table and play by luck.”

The spy is a game changer.

　In other words, if the enemy’s hand is bad, they can say “you may play”, and if the hand is good, they say to fold.

“By the way, how do you win? Are we going to go on and on betting chips?”

　I casually asked Riko, being time-conscious now.

“No, I don’t think so. This is not a suitable game for undressing to play by betting chips, so this is a one-shot game with only one show down!”

“In other words, if you lose once, you take off a piece… or in the case of one of you, you lose if you lose once.”

　Fuuma, who has only one blouse, still listens with dignity.

“That is right. However, the right to ‘get off’ is given to each of the three hosts once. If you decide to get off, you don’t have to take off a piece of clothing. Thus, no matter how bad your hand is or how good the other player’s hand is, you can avoid losing a piece of clothing! But if you use it once, it does not matter how bad your next hand is, you are stuck with it!”

　You are talking about those kinds of rules that play on the human mind again, happily at that…

“So, what else? I understand that you can only open a pack of cards once, but how many times are you allowed to exchange cards?”

“You can only exchange one time. It is a typical closed poker. Jokers are allowed. Also, the order that cards are drawn are decided by dice to decide if you draw from the top or the bottom of the pile or if cards are placed on the table as appropriate. This is to prevent cheating when shuffling or when dealing.”

　Okay, okay.

　All in all, the dealing rule seems like a rule that could be settled reasonably quickly.

　Nevertheless, there are many anomalies, such as the ‘host, knight, shuffler, spy’ system and the ‘get off only once’ system. I’m not Fuuma, but let’s tighten our loincloths.

　The dice of fate were rolled to determine the two hosts for the first round from among the survivors.

“Ki-kun!”

　Yes. I was chosen first due to my reputation for bad luck.

　And the opponent it…

“Ayayaya! I don’t have any luck!”

　My chosen opponent was Hiraga-san, a small butei in Amdo.

　Riko rolls the dice again, and it is decided that the cards to be used are ordinary cards.

　First of all, that means that there will be no cheating using the cards…

“Let the participants check the table before the match.”

　I check the table to see if there are any suspicious contraptions, such as holes for micro cameras.

　But… It’s just a wooden table for games. It looks ok to me.

“Ki-kun, you’re a skeptic, aren’t you? You can’t see me with your goggles on, but are you looking for Riko cheating so you can strip me naked?”

“That’s not true. I am doing this because I do not want to lose.”

　After searching the table I moved away from it, and also moved away from the clock, card case, spoon, and anything else that could be used as a mirror. I lost a little bit of time, but I was sure that no one could cheat me by stealing my hand.

　So, the first round team divisions of “host, knight, shuffler, and spy” were…

　My team is… Fuuma as my knight, Riko as my shuffler, and Shirayuki as my spy.

　Hiraga’s team was Jeanne for knight, Aria for shuffler, and Reki for spy.

(This is an even lineup.)

　I think that as each of us takes a seat at the table and the spy stands behind their enemy’s knight.

　Riko, who knows the tricks for cheating with cards, was on my side, but this time I was out of luck as these were normal cards.

　I initially thought it was unfortunate that Reki was on the enemy side, but as she is the spy she can see my cards with impunity, Her strong eyesight is irrelevant to her role.

“Po~ka, po~ka~! poker is fun, kufufu~”

“I don’t have many good memories of poker”

　Riko and Aria shuffled the cards, the dice were rolled, and the cards were drawn “straight from the top”. This is all normal and not special.

　It is special, though, that we have a stand in, our knight.

“Then, let me draw 5 cards”

“You are the first one to go. Draw. Draw a doom card.”

　My knight, Fuuma, who refers to herself as a knight, and Hiraga-sans knight, Jeanne, who also says things like she is a knight…

　Even though both have special abilities, those are not techniques that can be used for poker.

　In other words, we should end up playing a surprisingly almost normal game of poker.

“…”

　The five cards that Fuuma drew were…

　Joker of spades, joker of hearts, joker of clubs, and 10 and 2 of diamonds.

　Not bad, three of a kind. It is also a picture card. (TL Note: I am not going to bother going through the rules for poker, just note this: in poker sets of cards are given a rank, 3 of a kind in ranking is 7 with 1 being the most desirable. If you want to learn more go to here http://www.cardschat.com/poker-hands/)

　Jeanne, sitting on the other side of the table, smiled first, and then drew a card.

　Looking at the card, Jeanne’s smiling face remains the same.

“We can hear this from our spy, Reki, later, but… Toyama. Earlier you smiled a little.”

　Sheesh. I had a good hand so I guess I was a little loose-lipped.

“In poker, it is a basic rule of thumb to try to keep your expression fixed – to keep people from guessing your hand. You cannot even do that.”

“Co- Come on. Think about the possibility that my face right now was a bluff.”

“The fact you made that statement right away confirms that you are not bluffing.”

　Jeanne, with her beautiful pale and smiling face, shook me.

　I got another giggle out of her and then tried to read Jeanne’s face…

　But…

　It hasn’t changed. That expression. The same as before she drew her cards. I cannot read it.

“This is the secret technique of the Jeanne d’Arc’s family, our ‘Ice Smile’. A secret technique to keep one’s face the same color no matter what is being done to us by using our heart of ice. Since ancient times, we have proudly used this technique to overcome military councils, trials, and torture, or to gain an advantage in general.”

　You had such a hidden technique…? I did not do enough research.

　But to think that they would use a technique that has been handed down from generation to generation in a game of undressing.

　I’m sure our proud ancestors are now crying.

(How about… Hiraga-san?)

　When I look over at Hiraga-san, our host… she is covering her face with her tiny hands and looking at Jeanne’s cards between her fingers. Her poker face is impossibly bad…!

　Well. when Hiraga-san does it, it’s cute, like a toddler going “I’m not here!”.

“Now, I’m sorry to say I will put it back. Hmm… Is it okay to take two cards here?”

　Fuuma, our ninja, has a proper poker face as far as I can see from the side.

　Maybe it’s because students in the Intelligence Department are trained in class to maintain a sense of normalcy when they are interrogated or put through a lie detector. Incidentally, it is said that the Intelligence Department sometimes conducts interrogation training together with the Interrogation Department students, and that the two departments often become good friends after the class.

　How do they get along so well with each other after being abused and bullying eachother? For me, it is one of the 7 Wonders of Butei High School.

“-Master?”

“Oh, pull. Well, you know, two cards.”

　I had been thinking about something else for a moment, and when Fuuma asked me again, I was a little flustered in my reply.

　But… Now my reaction was the opposite of before.

　If you say “draw two cards again” too quickly, it’s like declaring that you have a three-card hand.

　This should have confused the other side somewhat.

　And the card that Fuuma redrew was… the 9 of diamonds and the 3 of diamonds.

　No good. It will not be a 4 of a kind of a full house.

　Three of a kind Joker. That is our hand for this round.

(Fuuma, you are poor and yet all you pull is diamonds.)

　I am the one at risk and yet think of ideas like that…

　Well, okay. Three of a kind is not bad. Not as good as it sounds though.

　The next time Jeanne drew three cards…

“woo-hoo”

　Hiraga-san was so happy she was happy out loud.

　You could do a somewhat pokerface with your hands but you couldn’t do the poker voice.

　Jeanne remained with her “icy smile”, but her paleness was a problem…

　I wonder if Hiraga-sans voice just made you angry, and for a moment a blue-streak stood out on your forehead, cross shaped.

(Was that hand even better than before…?)

　I scratch the back of my head a little without changing my expression.

　Jeanne is… the opposite of Hiraga.

“Yes, sir! Now then, you two spies, you may speak for 15 seconds now!”

　In front of me, Riko cheerfully declares vigorously…

　Shirayuki, my spy, and Reki, Hiraga-sans spy, are given the opportunity to advise their respective hosts.

　The spies on both sides can only give abstract advice, since they cannot say clearly what the cards are in their enemies hands.

　But…

　Shirayuki has a look of not knowing what to say, and begins to mumble “Poker, poker, I don’t know how to play poker, I cannot see the flow of luck…”

(Ahhh, she isn’t helping…!)

　Come to think of it, Shirayuki has a habit of getting temperamental sometimes when it comes to helping me.

　She seems to be extremely afraid of making a mistake and making me angry or making me hate her.

(Why are you invoking your feeble-mindedness at such an important time…!)

　-Meanwhile, Reki stands behind me in her white cotton underwear.

“-I believe that Shirayuki-san is confused and is likely to give incorrect advice. Therefore, I have no comment.”

　She said calmly and strategically.

　Jeanne’s expression remains unreadable, Hiraga-san is in ‘see no evil, speak no evil’ mode, covering her eyes with her right hand and holding her lips between the fingers of her left hand, probably to avoid repeating the mistake she made earlier.

　In other words, from Reki’s point of view, even if she knows our hand, if she doesn’t know their hand, she can’t tell them to fight or get off the board. Then, it would be better to make Shirayuki nervous, right?

　Shirayuki is still fidgeting and not sure what to say.

“3 seconds to go-“

　Riko said that…

“Ki-kun, get off!”

　At the last second, Shirayuki hastened to tell me so.

(“get off” you say…?)

　Everyone exchanged glances at eachother while trying not to change their expressions.

　”gulp”, the easy to recognize spit-swallowing sound came from Aria’s throat.

　This match is unexpectedly getting tense.

(…Jeanne drew three cards earlier…)

　In other words, we can assume that two cards have some kind of role – at least one pair.

　However, when Jeanne took a card, Hiraga-san let out that voice, “Whoo-hoo!”.

　That was real joy. You do not make that kind of voice with just a two-pair.

　Even Jeanne had a blue streak on her forehead and was angry at Hiraga-san.

　We can’t rule out the possibility that she has a hand as strong as a flush.

(No, that doesn’t seem likely. Then, three cards, or…?)

　If that is so, our J trio is likely to be stronger.

　No, no. There is also the instructions of our spy, Shirayuki, to ‘get off’.

　The fact that you thought about it just before the time limit means that the other side’s move was ‘no better or worse’… hmmm… what to do?

“Well then, Ki-kun, you have one more decision to make! Do you want to get off? Or face your match?”

　-I am still struggling with this decision!

“To-ya-ma-kun. Do. You. Want. To. Get. Off. Or. Match?” (TL Note: This translates weirdly because of how she is talking, this is the best I can make with context.)

　Hi-Hiraga-san… Are you trying to rush me and mislead my judgment?

　She spoke in a vocaloid-like voice so that people wouldn’t read her moves by her voice tone. Or rather, it sounded a bit like her. I can’t judge which vocaloid it sounded like since I don’t know much about them to begin with.

“…”

　Sweat beads form on my forehead.

　My conclusion is… ‘I don’t know’, I simply don’t know what to do.

(But I don’t know if you see it as poker, but from Riko’s special rules…)

　As long as you don’t know who wins and who loses, it is probably a good idea to use ‘get off’ here.

　From this point on, no matter how bad my hand is, I will not be able to get off the table, but there is also a possibility that there will be no more games. In other words, there is a possibility that Fuuma and Hiraga will continue to fight only.

　You can only get off once and you do not have to take off your clothes.

　I’m going to put it to good use here.

　It is a shame to waste three of a kind here but…

(It would be troublesome if I did not believe in Shirayuki’s advice and lost and so Shirayuki cried later.)

　I let out a sigh…

“… I am getting off.”

　Fuuma replied with “Then master I am dropping my weapons” and she put the cards face down on the table.

　Riko flipped through them on her own.

　The hand, three of a kind, is revealed.

“Oh no! I could have won if you didn’t get off!”

　Next to Hiraga-san, who was saying this in a compound sentence, Jeanne opened her hand without hesitation…

　8 and 9 of hearts, 10 of clubs, J of diamonds, and Q of spades.

　Straight.

　That was stronger than my 3 of a kind hand, though only by one rank.

“What do you think, Toyama? A beautiful hand, isn’t it? Especially the Q of spades – the spade is a symbolic suit representing a sword. The ‘Queen of Swords’ that closes this straight is aptly named Jeanne d’Arc.”

　Jeanne pips. She shows me the Q of spades between her fingers.

　…your ancestor was not a queen but a knight.

“Thank goodness… Kin-chan didn’t lose.”

　Behind Jeanne, Shirayuki laid her hand on her huge chest wrapped in black lingerie.

“How did you know, just by looking at Jeanne’s hand that was only a straight, to tell Kinji to get off? Nice assist, Shirayuki, even though you are my enemy.”

　Aria, who was just watching as she half heartedly shuffled her cards, says in a goady tone.

“Yes. I was having a hard time judging Kin-chans hand… Kin-chan has a habit of making gestures when the result of something is not so good, so I thought that it would be a bad idea to stay.”

“… ‘making gestures’? I cannot remember when I did that myself. I mean, do I do such a thing?”

　I ask…

　Shirayuki smiled a fluffy smile and shook her body with both hands on her cheeks.

“There is. I have been… watching Kin-chan… a lot… I’ve been watching… a lot…”

　Ah. That explains it.

　Shirayuki just reminded me of this, but Kana once told me something similar as well and said that I have a habit of scratching the back of my head.

　Sure, I scratch the back of my head when things are getting bad, and things were getting kind of bad.

　I guess I could have subtly scratched the back of my head during the match.

“Oh.. somehow I have an idea what you saw. I cannot tell you because we are in the middle of a game right now, but I won’t do it anymore. Shirayuki, you noticed well.”

“I’m watching Kin-chan very closely. I’m watching you closely right now. I’ve been watching you closely. I’ve been watching you since you were little, from good morning to good night…”

　She wiggled and subtly said very scary things to me…

　I was about to scratch the back of my head and stopped.

　And the host for the second round of poker…

“Nu…~”

“Ayayaya! Ayaya is host two consecutives rounds?!”

　It was decided to be Fuuma and Hiraga-san.

(Okay, I am in luck…!)

　I chuckled to myself.

(“How can I help you?”)

　Fuuma sent me a code.

　I see. With only three survivors left, that’s one way to go.

　The point is, if Fuuma were to lose here, I can survive for now.

　This time, however, the rule is that the host cannot play by their own judgment alone. If the host were to give someone on their team strange instructions and make the host lose on purpose, they would be suspected of collaborating with someone.

(“Play like a normal person would.”)

　I respond back and Fuuma replies with (“I will”).

　In the meantime, the deck that Riko decided on with the dice… turned out to be something out of the ordinary.

　In other words, a cheat deck.

　But it looks like the cards are no different than the regular cards you just played.

　Nevertheless, there is some trick to this, definitely.

　This game is, well, a personal one… Riko knows the tricks of the trade that will decide this game.

“So, let’s split up into teams! Which host will win the goddess of victory, Rikorin?”

　Riko, at the front and center now, threw the team division dice again, while still wearing her sparkling gold underwear, and then something terrible happened.

　Hiraga-sans team is made up of the knight ‘superhuman’ Reki, the shuffler is me, and the spy is Aria.

　Fuuma’s team is the self proclamined Goddess of victory, Riko, as the knight, the shuffler Shirayuki and the spy is Jeanne.

　This match has become a knight vs a superhuman.

　I am but just an ordinary person though and I don’t know what this game is anymore.

“…”

“Kufufufu~. No shortage of opponents, huh?”

　Reki and Riko look at eachother at the table in their underwear.

　It’s a match between a superhero and a goddess, but it’s a mundane picture, like a sexy comic book.

“Then… it’s time to shuffle the decks.”

“Kin-chan, we are working together.”

　For some reason, Shirayuki seemed happy to be a shuffler just like me, shaka, shaka.

　I put the card pulled out from the inside on top, keeping the cards stacked on top of each other, and repeat the process.

　In other words, a normal shuffle. I believe it’s called a Hindu shuffle.

“It’s going to take a long time to cut the deck that way.”

　After saying that, I split the cards into two bunches, and put one half the deck in my left and the other in my right hand, put them together, and quickly do a riffle shuffle.

“You are so cool Kin-chan. It sounds like a machine gun, too.”

“No, it is not cool. Anyone can do this with a little practice.”

“I can’t do that. Let’s see… Do you do it like this?”

“Oh, you don’t have to try to do it, don’t waste your time.”

　We talked witht he ease of childhood friends.

“Don’t be flirting with the enemy. What are you doing with your cat’s paw Shirayuki? You’re dampening the heat of the match!”

　For some reason, Aria glares at me with annoyed eyes.

　Aria, you are scaring me. You and I are on Hiraga’s team, we are on the same team. If you are going to glare at someone, do it at Shirayuki only.

　I finished cutting the cards while thinking that to myself.

　The dice were roled again and the cards were placed spread apart on the table.

　On the small table, Shirayuki and I spread out the cards, delicately stacking them on top of each other.

　-now we are ready to go.

“Kufufufu~. I’m lucky, I’m lucky, I’m a lucky Rikorin~!”

　At that time, Riko, the knight of Fuuma…

　She is not nearsighted, but she put on a pair of glasses that she seemingly pulled out of nowhere.

　She has a massive grin on her face. Are those glasses supposed to help her in these conditions? I have yet to look at the cards at all, nevermind take one.

　But… this isn’t settled yet. The knight for my team is Reki-sama.

“Then I will take my cards.”

　After Reki said that inorganically,

　Reki’s host, Hiraga-san was,

“Wait! Riko! Let me check those glasses!”

　Haihaihai! I raised my hand.

　I did this earlier too, but at the Cast-Off table, it is ‘at your disposal’ in the rulebook to suspect people and confirm if they are cheating or not.

“Oh… are these glasses?”

　Glancing up, Riko smiles bitterly with her glasses on.

“The deck is supposed to be a cheaters deck to begin with. And when I turned the cards over and laid them out, Riko looked happy. What’s more! She then put on those suspicious-looking glasses! I’m sure that the glasses are a trick to reveal the surface from the reverse side!”

　If the cheating mechanism is confirmed…

　By force, the person who cheated is undressed until they are nude.

　Even if you are an already defeated player, you will be mercilessly stripped of everything, even your panties and bra…!

“If that were true, Riko would have to… I~ya~!! If that were true, Riko would have to be naked and by everyone’s side for the rest of the games! What should I do~?”

　Riko is making a gesture with her arms as if she is pulling her breasts up together with her arms, ughhhh.

　I have no leeway here, even if it means Riko ends up naked.

　There is a new sense of urgency among everyone at the table.

“As a member of Amdo, I will not allow any cheating with equipment!”

　Hiraga leaned over and took Riko’s glasses from her and put them on herself.

　I began sweating at the possibility of Riko ending up naked…

“…H-… How is… it…?”

　I waited in horror…

“Nu… it doesn’t change anything. It was Ayaya’s mistake.”

“Right? Kufufufu.”

“I’m disappointed in myself. I’m sorry for doubting you, Riko-chan… And, just like that!”

　Gaba!

　Hiraga-san took off her glasses and leaned forward!

　And she is looking closely at Riko across the table.

“Riko! Bring your face closer to me!”

“Face..? Okay, if Ayaya asks, just one time…?”

　Riko said something unintelligible, and leaned towards Hiraga-san over the table.

　Riko, and her golden underwear clad breasts droop and sway as gravity pulls them down…

　Riko’s hair, smelling like vanilla, is soft and fluffy.

　It flows along her back, just not touching the table.

　And Hiraga and Riko bring their faces closer… closer…

　…wait. Oh, hey. You’re getting too close.

　They are now nose to nose.

　What are you guys doing, just out of the blue?

　No way… they’re going to kiss? A kiss between women?

　I knew you two were close, but I didn’t know you two were that close.

“-I knew it!”

　With a “gaba”, Hiraga-san returned her upper body to her seat while doing a double peace.

　At that moment, Riko raised her eyebrows for a moment, and “tsk”, she clicked her tongue. She looks regretful.

“Riko, you don’t have bad eyesight, but you wear contact lenses! The trick is obvious, the glasses are a bluff to camouflage the real cheat! Those contact lenses are the glasses that Ayaya mentioned earlier, and they are the cheating lenses that allow you to see the front of the card from the back, and the symbols and number on the back! You must take them off! I will take them off-!”

　Yay, yay!

　While Hiraga repeatedly banzai’d, Riko looked frustrated and… right eye, left eye…

“Yes, I did have contacts too, didn’t I…?”

　I took off my clear contacts, which I had been wearing since the beginning.

“Yes, but those are disposable soft contacts. I don’t recommend that you take them off and let someone else wear them.”

　Riko says, with a contact on her finger…

　She is grinning, as if in a last stand.

　A drop of sweat dripped from her forehead.

　This is not good. Apparently, Riko really was planning to cheat with that thing.

　Then, once they confirm her cheating, Riko will be stripped till she is nude..!

“I am sure it is suspicious, or maybe she really is cheating with the contacts, but… Don’t confirm it Hiraga-san, it is unhygienic.”

　If I see Riko naked, Wiseman might resign from the Kingdom of Kin’s cabinet…

　I suggest avoiding checking the contacts, even though it might anger the enemy.

“Riko will have to remove the contacts, and I’ll let her continue the match by resetting the cards on the table. Riko won’t be able to beat Reki if she takes off the cheating lenses anyway.”

　According to the rulebook, if the cheating mechanism cannot be ‘confirmed’, the cheating has not been proven.

　So, my point is to convince Hiraga-san to remove the cheating device and to avoid Riko’s nudity. That is the purpose of my proposal…

“Fumuu… What do you think, Reki-chan? Is it likely you will win?”

　And when Hiraga-san asked, (I am assuming based on Reki’s cheat ability),

“I am not sure if I can win, but 4 of a kind is possible.”

　Hey…!

　You are too good, superhuman…!

　For the first time in my life, I’ve just seen a poker player give a warning before drawing their cards.

　And what’s a four-card?

　Do you mean you can draw the same number on 4 out of the 5 cards?

“Why did you… You said that, is it possible…?”

　Fuuma, the enemy host, pulls a face as if Reki had sentenced her to death.

“I am not cheating, so I will say this. When Kinji-san did the shuffle earlier, I could see the face of the cards. Among them were four cards with the same number – I couldn’t see the backs of the cards because of the angle, so I memorized each one, along with the scratches on the sides of the cards.”

“–?!–“

　We were all stunned by this, completely forgetting the poker face principle.

　Your… your eyes are too good…!

　The surface of the cards that I had arched in my hand and dropped in an instant would have certainly given you a glimpse… but you saw it all…!

　And what is with that microscopic performance Reki? Scratches on the side of the card?

　Did you see the scratches on the side of such a thing, not even a millimeter thick? You…

“Also, as I am the first knight, I get the first move. Therefore, none of the four will be taken by Riko.”

　And to Reki, who concluded her explanation…

　Hiraga-san, who seems to be happy to win with such a strong hand, said

“That is okay then, Riko! Riko, with those contacts off, come at me!”

　She looked so excited and she raised her tiny hands together in a Banzai.

　Now I won’t have to see Riko naked.

“N-, no… Rekyu. You are bluffing, right?”

　Riko, having lost her cheating contacts, looks down at me as I mix my cards as if they were tiles. But her cheeks are drawn.

　All right. I need to mix them up carefully, if Riko had established any prior cheats when she touched the cards I need to make sure she cannot recognize them anymore.

　On the other hand, Reki is…

“Then I will take my cards.”

　and then she pulled, 5 of spades, 5 of hearts, 5 of diamonds, 5 of clubs, six of…

　Ser-… seriously…

　She drew her four-card as announced.

　Moreover, the blank expression is a natural poker face.

　Riko will never know if Reki’s hand was what she declared.

　On the other hand, Aria, the enemy spy standing behind Reki, had a face that lacked even the concept of a poker face. Her red carmelia eyes were wide open and her mouth trembled with a gasp. (TL Note: for some reason the book calls Aria’s eyes “red-purple” which doesn’t make sense to me as it is always referrd to as “red camellia”, so I changed it.)

　After the cards are seen, the rule is that spies are not allowed to speak until advisory time…

　Aria does not need words though. I can see what you are thinking, ‘it’s a four of a kind, just as Reki said’.

“Well, Riko is next. Well I don’t even want to look at the card…”

　Riko with no sense of tension took her cards, pa, pa, pa, as if it were appropriate.

　Then she sat down and put her cards on the table.

“Yes, well, advice time…”

“-Get off Riko! You have to get off!”

　Immediately, Aria spoke up.

　Jeanne, the spy over here…

“Riko hasn’t looked at her cards, so I have no way to advise her, but… Aria’s face tells me that Reki got her hand as foretold. So fight.”

　She said the right thing.

“Ye~es, then advice time is over…”

　As soon as Riko declares it in a voice that no longer has any motivation to keep talking,

“We are going to play! But, well, you’re going to get off anyway.”

　Hiraga-san declared, and,

“That is right. Mine-dono, declare that you will get off.”

　Riko’s words were supposed to be the end of this match, with her saying ‘I am getting off’.

“And… and she is back! The Goddess of Victory is Back! The Goddess has Reincarnated!”

　Riko opened her hands and pronounced that to the table.

　And smiles beatifully like a real goddess, and ‘paaaaaaaah’.

“To deceive your enemy, you must first deceive your allies! The Knight has betrayed his host and the game is on! Let’s show up the cards!”

“Mi-Mi-Mi-Mi-Mine-dono?!”

　Riko suddenly ignores all instructions and Fuuma is freaking out with her ponytail standing on end.

“My hand is 4 of a kind.”

　Reki, the superhuman, displayed her cards as announced…

　Riko’s hand, which she also just opened and showed, is…

(…!)

　4 aces and…

　Joker…! (TL Note: Joker in poker becomes whatever card is most beneficial, in other words, Riko just got 5 of a kind, not 4)

“Five of a kind~☆　Kya~~ha!　Rikorin is the winner~!”

　Reki, the superhuman, was defeated. Even though she had her cheat circuits fully open. (TL Note: this might be a fate reference? Magic circuits?)

　Hiraga was actually forced to remove her blouse and reveal her bra with ‘2-c Aya Hiraga’ written in magic marker on the edge…

　I am more surprised by Reki’s complete defeat than by the fact that Hiraga-sans underwear was a junior bra.

　I still did not know what Riko’s trick was that allowed her to win.

“The glasses were a bluff and the contacts were the real deal. In fact, they were both bluffs. I had one more trick up my sleeve.”

　Riko, who smiles at me with her eyes narrowed, is… in revenge form for my double-bluff on her when she fought us on ANA flight 600…

　But I am wondering how Riko was able to make such a convincing regretful or shocked face at will. I guess it was Riko with her 100 faces. We were all completely fooled.

　The mystery of Riko’s cheating card trick was left unresolved in the third round…

The host became Hiraga-san and me.

　Hiraga-san already only has one piece of clothing.

　The deck became an ordinary deck, and Aria, who was now used to working menial jobs, brought the deck and opened it.

　Well, the appearance is the same as the cheating deck from earlier, but this reduces uncertainty.

(Okay, we are going to win…!)

　My eyes were sharp under the goggles, and I was very motivated, but… the teams announced were…

　Hiraga’s team… Reki was the knight, again! The shuffler was Jeanne, and the Spy is Riko.

　My team was Aria as the knight! The shuffler was Fuuma, and the spy was Shirayuki.

　That is one of the worst combinations imaginable.

“I did it-!”

　Hiraga’s team, which is bouncing around at this point… first of all, has Reki and Riko. Even though Reki might have just lost, she is still a yokozuna. (TL Note: Weird word pick here Kinji, Yokozuna is essentially a top tier sumo wrestler master. Sounds more like backhanded compliment.)

　This knight on the other hand…

“I used to lose so badly that I retired from poker. It has been a long time since I last played.”

　Aria seems unmotivated, even though she is wearing underwear with a playing card pattern.

　I know Aria since I live with her… and she cannot put on a poker face at all.

　Moreover, her emotional expression is very exaggerated. She is a girl who is easy to understand, no, too easy to understand.

“Aria, watch out for your facial expressions. I will take care of the cards.”

“Then where do I look?”

“Keep your gaze fixed off into the distance.”

“uuun… okay.”

“I will give you instructions too.”

“I know how to play. Dont look so anxious. Poker is a game of chance, if you win or lose it depends on luck. 50%, 1/2, half and half, either we win or they win.”

　What…!

　A complete amateur poker interpretation!

　I was astonished in a bad way as Fuuma and Jeanne suffled the cards in front of me.

　Jeanne, who is on the same Hiraga team as Reki, is doing a shuffle like I did earlier, bara bara bara bara. It involves a lot of cards being done at once, and Reki, the human scanner, is watching closely.

　The shuffler over here is hiding them to prevent Reki from watching, but, well, we can only assume that half of the cards are already known to Reki.

(At least the cards should be stacked the normal way…)

　My prayers were in vain, and the cards were placed at…

　Again, put in pieces on the table. I’m finished.

　Then Jeanne and Fuuma spread the cards out on the table…

　Reki peeks in on it, and…

“Then I’ll draw. Of all the cards I could figure out, I think this combination is the strongest hand.”

　And Reki took 5 cards.

“I will go next.”

“Oh, Aria, don’t look at the cards. Fix your gaze in the distance.”

“Since you said that already, I have been doing it since you told me. Don’t you see that?”

　I looked into Aria’s red-camillia eyes from the side and saw…

　… the way her eyes are focused, something about the way they are pointed forward and nowhere, it is like she is looking at the end of the table or the floor.

“Well, this one, this one, this one, this one… and this one. Riko is right behind me, so I won’t look at my cards.”

　Don~. Aria is so proudly and majestically flouncing around that you can almost hear a sound effect.

　I mean, at least look at your cards. You are throwing away the chance to exchange cards.

(Well, with Reki on the other side and… my side being Aria… it would be a waste of time to do that. Then, it is better to not let Riko, the spy, behind us say anything.)

　I was thinking passive-aggressive things like that when Riko…

“… how about exchanging cards?”

　I heard something from behind me, it sounded like Riko.

“No need.”

　Reki said it loudly and proudly… and Aria.

“No need. You know what I’m talking about don’t you, Riko.”

　Fufun, Aria is snickering.

“… Chi. Yes, it is Riko and Shirayuki, the spys, advice time. My instruction is to get off.”

　Riko, the enemy spy, says in a voice that this time is unmotivated.

“Eh? Get off? I should be surprised that I am the one saying that… You know, Kin-chan, Reki is strong after all. There’s no shame in losing.”

　Shirayuki, our spy over there, already assumes I’m going to lose and starts taking care of my mental state…

　And after the advisory period…

“Reki, you must fight on! You and this ‘get off’ thing, Riko, you traitor!”

“Aria, I already used my one-time get off right, so I can’t get off. I have to fight.”

　Both of the hosts gave their commands to their subordinates.

“Then I will not follow Riko’s advice. I will fight.”

“I will fight too. The word ‘retreat’ is not in my dictionary.”

　Reki and Aria, Boom!

　The duel is between two women, both clothed currently in only 100% cotton underwear, and both are S ranked Butei officers.

　Well, Aria is going to lose anyway. That is for sure. I might as well get ready to take off my shirt.

“Straight flush.”

　Pachi, and Reki laid down her hand…

　Diamonds, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.

　Yes yes. That is great. You have a stronger hand than the four of a kind you played earlier.

　And what about Aria? What trash is she holding? (TL Note: I’m not sure what the original was, something involving a pig… basically, Kinji is insulting Aria’s card skill and the cards she has.)

“Yes, Royal Straight Flush.”

　Saying that in an anime-esque voice, Aria laid down her cards.

　H-, hey…?

　10 of Hearts… Jack of hearts… Queen of hearts… King of hearts… Ace of hearts…! (TL Note: this is the strongest hand, 10-A of a single suite.)

　…gachi…!

　An unbeatable hand, a Royal Straight Flush… was… made…!

　The probability of getting one of those in one shot is something like 1/650,000 you know.

“Ukyuu!”

　Hiraga-sans head, which had been blown back as far as it would go, was caught between Shirayuki’s breasts. It was not stuck between the two.

“Okay, that’s it. Shirayuki, please take the shirt from Hiraga-san.”

　Aria says coolly, and Shirayuki, with a hand like a bigger sister helping her little sister change clothes, turns her eyes and grabs Hiraga’s skirt, removing it.

　The appearance. The panties with the bear print on the back. These days, even elementary school students don’t wear underwear like that because it is too childish. Hiraga-san, do you always wear underwear like that?

　Well, it is hysteria mode safe underwear, so in my opinion, it is okay.

　In this Cast-Off table round, the poker game was lost by Hiraga-san, but…

“Hey, Aria, you’re cheating.”

“That is right.”

　There was a rule that after someone was eliminated, anyone could divulge their cheats up to that point, and Aria was okay with it.

“How did you do it?”

“I mixed in Riko’s cheating cards from the second round. That’s what those five cards are.”

“You mixed it in…?”

“Everyone was relying too much on advanced tricks. In times like this, a simple cheat can go a long way.”

　You’re right, that may be true, but… you are brave. If they found out, you would be naked right now.

“But Riko must have known about the cheating. She must have found out.”

“Riko Knew. But Riko would have been in trouble if she found out the trick, wouldn’t she? I used it myself just now. That’s why she wouldn’t tell on me. At least I thought she wouldn’t to protect herself.”

　This is simple logic, too, but it must be true. That is why Riko was so frustrated when she was a spy.

“What kind of card cheat was it…?”

“You said the answer yourself, didn’t you?”

　…what?

“I thought you knew what you were doing, but you’re still a stupid Kinji, aren’t you? Look at this card. You keep your gaze fixed on the distance.”

　While saying the line that I had said earlier, Aria, Pi.

　She took the A of hearts from the table, which was in her own hand, and showed me the reverse side.

“Gaze, far away at…?”

　As I was told, I look at the pattern on the back of the card as if I were looking beyond the card, around the wall, albeit through goggles…

　Then I can see… ‘H A’ (TL Note: H= hearts A= ace)

　On the back of the card, the letters emerged and I could see them…!

　I get it. This is a trick called ‘stereogram’ or something like that.

　The pattern on the back of this playing card looks like just a strange pattern, but it was a device that made use of binocular parallax and shifted the focus of the eyes to make the letters come to the surface. This kind of mysterious picture was popular for a while in the past, wasn’t it? These mysterious pictures. (TL Note: Think of those images where depending on how you look at it, the image changes. Basically, if you look at the card head on, it looks normal, but force your eyes to change their focus and the card in the corner of your eye will be distorted with the letters now visible.)

　This was the real trick hidden behind Riko’s double bluff, wasn’t it?

　It was actuall a simple trick. So the simple minded Aria noticed. That’s that.

　Now, the time remaining is – 3 minutes.

　But whatever the final competition is, it will be an easy win.

　After all, my opponent is Fuuma. In the first place, she has been fighting with me this whole time.

　As soon as Round 7 starts, Fuuma Self Destructs → Cast-Off Table ends → I run away as fast as I can.

　My victory now is as good as promised.

(You can make it out, I can come out alive…!)

　Fuuma. You are a fool, but while it is usually useless, this time it was a great thing. I will reward you later with Yakisoba bread.

　…Hiraga-san, the loser, started to choose the next competition, while everyone else left the area.

“Master. Before the final person loses in the next competition, I have to tell you something.”

　Fuuma, sneakily spoke to me.

“What is it?”

“I’m not sure if you know what I am talking about, but I will tell you anyway… today… I did not know that it would be a competition like this… I thought I was going to be taught boson jutsu by master…” (TL Note: Boson jutsu is Brazilian kickboxing.)

“What are you trying to say?”

“The thing is… I… don’t have a breast band… or a bra… that the other girls are wearing… I don’t wear one in the first place…”

“…huh…?”

“In other words, what is under this blouse is what is called a nobura. I am braless.”

　Th, th, th, this…! This stupid girl…!

　No wonder you took off your skirt first…!

“… master, what do you think?”

　What do I think?! I think you are late with that report!

　What a development…!

　I thought you were on my side…! You rascal!

Gunshot For The Next!!!