by Yuu Kamiya
“—Very well. If you object, then I shall certainly give you your game!”
“Thaaanks! I’d sure appreciate it! But—”
As Chlammy tried to take out her cards, Sora cut her off.
“If you want to play poker—it would be better if you got rid of your partner over there.”
As Sora said this with a smile, Shiro took his cue and pointed. The din quieted like a wave that had broken, and all eyes turned in that direction. Chlammy and the man pointed to slightly tensed their faces at the same time. That little change was more than enough to show Sora that he was dead-on.
“Whatever are you talking about?”
“Oh, really? Then will someone take off that guy’s hat?”
The man pointed to took a step back, but the crowd around him slowly drew off his hat. Two ears popped out.
—The kind you always see in fantasy—that’s right, the long ears of an Elf.
It-it’s an Elf!
Crowd noise.
Hey, wait…what if that guy’s actually right—
Further crowd noise.
That bitch, she was cheating with magic?!
“Oh, my dear cool-beauty-wannabe charlatan, aren’t you going to save your friend?”
Though Sora teased her, Chlammy did not change her expression.
“—How many times must I tell you? I have no idea what you speak of.”
“Oh, okay. So we can kick him out, no problem, right?”
Sora beamed and flicked his hand a couple of times so as to dismiss the man to the outside. And, once again, he faced Chlammy and pulled out another phone—Shiro’s phone.
“All right, you ready for some poker?”
Launching an app or two on the phone, Sora played around with a smile.
—A few seconds of silence. Then Chlammy, still expressionless, closed her eyes and spoke.
“—I see you found an Elf to collude with to put me up as a magic-using enemy of the human race…is that it?”
“Huh, you think up some pretty good excuses. Or did you have it reserved?”
Though Sora continued with his provocations, Chlammy kept speaking.
“—But if that’s how you want to play, I have my pride.”
Still letting no expression through, while staring daggers through her veil, through Sora.
“Please go ahead and send that Elf wherever you like. And then—let us play a game ideal for demonstrating true skill, with no part for cheating to play.”
But Sora grinned back as if her stare, her proposal were just what he was expecting.
“That’s fine. Fifth of the Ten Covenants: ‘The party challenged shall have the right to determine the game’—eh, I won’t ask why you declined to play poker here; I’m such a nice guy. ♥”
Sora turned his phone camera to Chlammy and snapped a picture.
“Hmm, you’re not very photogenic, you know? You’d really look cuter if you smiled a little more.”
And he showed her the picture on his screen. Chlammy’s piercing stare was met by Sora’s eyes as if peering in.
—Those eyes, peering in as if seeing through everything. Chlammy felt a slight chill—.
Chlammy, having said she’d go home and get a game ideal for demonstrating true skill or something. Said to wait a bit and left the castle. Sora and company, for their part, decided to wait in the sunset of the castle courtyard. As Sora and Shiro sat on a bench and waited, playing with their phones, Steph looked about. Checking that no one was around, and then posing a question to Sora as if she’d been waiting forever.
“—D-does that mean she used magic on me?!”
“…Hey—you’re too loud!”
Steph didn’t seem to get why they had moved.
—But it did seem she had finally grasped the truth of the cheating that had defeated her. Especially knowing that the cheating was based on magic, her feelings were understandable. But Sora thought of something else and answered absently.
“Yeah, that’s right… To be precise, that Elf of hers did, I guess.”
“Wh-what kind of magic?”
What kind of magic had they used? And how could Sora, a mere human, have seen through it? Another question was that thing they were using. Some tool from their world—could it detect magic? Steph waited for the answer with expectant eyes, but what came back—
“Who knows? I sure don’t.”
—betrayed her expectations entirely. Ignoring Steph as she gaped speechless, Sora answered calmly.
“There’s no question she’s cheating. In the tavern, we saw her playing you, but the composition of her hands was obviously nonrandom. Shiro and I both noticed right away.”
“…Shiro noticed.”
“You’re such a stickler, my sister…well, whatever.”
—The day before, at the tavern on the first floor of the inn. Inside Steph and Chlammy had played poker, and outside Sora had cheated while playing the very same game of poker; the pronouncement he’d made on the matter had been absolute. But—
“But there’s no way I could figure out how she’s doing it. I don’t know anything about magic.”
“………”
Sora answered indifferently as Steph froze with her mouth half open.
“Man, that magic is something. If they’re altering your memory or reprinting the face-down cards or something, there’s no way you can prove that; hell, there’s no way you can win. If humans can’t detect it, then you ain’t gonna discover it.”
“Wai—”
Steph, apparently finally recovered from paralysis, shook her head, and interrogated him.
“Wait a minute, then how are you supposed to win!”
“Huh? You can’t win.”
Sora responded casually and decisively as Steph stood speechless once again.
“Who’s gonna face that? That’s certain failure—you don’t even have a one-in-a-million chance to win.”
But, before Steph recovered again and started shouting, he added further.
“Duh, that’s why we avoided that.”
“—Huh?”
Sora shifted his posture to face Steph directly and spoke.
“Okay, I’m gonna make this as simple as possible, all right?
“V-very well…”
“First of all, this is a free-for-all tournament to decide the monarch. Whoever wins will be the representative of Immanity.”
“Yes…”
“But the plan is flawed. Because it leaves room for other countries to intervene.”
“—Yes. I suppose, so…”
Steph averted her eyes, chagrined she’d not realized this on her own until it was pointed out.
—Indeed, with the system of an unconditional free-for-all tournament, human-undetectable cheating could be used, by another country, to let someone win and form a puppet government. Humans were then doomed to fail in the running and to die as a race. The plan was full of holes, an epitome of foolishness worse than fancy.
“—So, this isn’t a battle of individuals. It’s a battle of countries, of diplomacy. Got it?”
“Uh, yes…I take your meaning.”
“Now, these…Elves, right? They’re trying to take advantage of this to install a puppet monarch—but surely you don’t think that the Elves are the only ones who would think of this?”
“—W-well…”
“Surely other countries have thought of it. Whether they’ve carried it out or not, it’s very likely.”
Which meant—.
“We just have to take advantage of that and make them think we’re one of them.”
Playing with his phone in his hand, Sora smiled mischievously.
“Now that we’ve shown her a device she didn’t figure the humans had and made her think that we saw through Elf’s magic with it, she’ll be shouldered with the risk that if she uses obvious magic, we’ll expose and disqualify her right away. Plus, we cast doubt on the actual user and drove him out—”
“In—in that case—we
can expect a match with no cheating!”
Steph’s face lit up, but Sora dropped his shoulders with a look of disgust.
“—For God’s sake, how mushy is your brain?”
“Wh-why am I being censured?!”
“Weren’t you listening? I said the idea that another country might intervene is conceivable. Which means we can assume that they’ve already taken the possibility of people like us into account.”
“Oh……”
Then Sora brought his thoughts back to their original line and considered.
“—The enemy must have it ready. You know, a cheat that will put them ahead even in this situation.”
…And then Steph’s words rang in Sora’s mind.
“Steph, you said Immanity can’t use magic, but it can use games that use magic, right?”
“Uh, yes…”
Hmm…Sora’s face cleared as if the answer to his ruminations had appeared.
“You said Elf is best at magic, right? Then they must have anticipated a challenge from a country with the technology to detect magic and prepared a game with more complicated, hard-to-reveal cheat magic—that’s probably what they went to get.”
But Steph’s face clouded at these words.
“Th-that’s… Doesn’t that make things even worse?”
“—What? What do you mean?”
“Huh? I mean, if they’re using more complicated, hard-to-reveal cheating magic—”
Sora sighed for the umpteenth time today.
“Look here—for pure, mere humans like us, the greatest threat is simple magic, like if they were to mess with us directly by altering our memories or viewing our vision. ’Cos we wouldn’t know. But, if their game is assuming they’re playing a country to whom that doesn’t apply, they can’t do that.”
In other words, the game would look fair on the surface. But hide a mechanism that would give them an overwhelming advantage. And it would be unperceivable—which meant that they wouldn’t mess with them directly. Certainly, they’d hide an overwhelmingly advantageous cheat. But it wouldn’t be an unbeatable cheat like what they used for the poker game with Steph. A bluff to make them bring out that game: That was what the phone was for. So far, everything was going well.
“B-but…”
Steph, seeming to have finally gotten it, gave an on-the-mark opinion for the first time.
“Even so—doesn’t that mean we’ll still be at an overwhelming disadvantage?”
“Sure it does. Is there a problem with that?”
But Sora responded calmly, drawing close to Shiro, who was sitting on the bench.
“As long as the game is possible to win in principle, ‘lose’ isn’t in Blank’s dictionary.”
“…Mm.”
Shiro nodded in agreement, having just shut out a shogi app on the highest difficulty.
—Then…Shiro turned, responding to something. The shadow that approached—it took a while to realize that it was Chlammy.
“…Oh, crap, you don’t think she heard us?”
Sora muttered in a voice only Shiro could hear, and Shiro nodded.—As if to say, It’s okay. Then, Chlammy’s first words backed it up.
“—Let me ask you straight-out. Whose spies are you?”
Sora sighed in relief inside. But, instead of showing it, he grinned.
“Oh, you see, we’re actually from that country—ha, you think we’d answer? Are you stupid?”
“—I won’t give you this country.”
“I’m quite aware of that, ma’am. After all, yooouuu wanna give it to the Elllves, right?”
“…No.”
Though Sora continued his grinning provocation, Chlammy put it down with stern eyes.
“I won’t give it to anyone. Our country belongs to us.”
“Hmmm?”
To Sora’s My, I didn’t expect that prompt, Chlammy declared firmly:
“I took Elf’s help in order to guarantee humans a place to live—I’m sure you can’t imagine the complexity of the contracts I exchanged for this… As soon as we’ve secured the minimum territory we need—I will break with Elf.”
—Holy crap… The urge to clutch his head in frustration was too great even for Sora to resist. Letting out a sincerely pained chuckle, he said:
“You’re telling this plan to someone who might be a spy for another country? Are you stupid? Do you want to die?”
But Chlammy glared at Sora with eyes full of confidence that could be seen even through the veil.
“… Regardless of what country you’re spying for, there’s no chance you can beat me.”
“—Hmmm, that’s some confidence you’ve got there.”
“It’s just a fact. The magic of the world’s largest country, Elven Gard—the magic of the Elves—cannot be overcome by any race. That’s why, if you face this one greatest country head-on, you lose. There are no exceptions.”
…Hm.
“…If you still consider yourself Immanity—”
Chlammy, softening her stern gaze, looking into Sora’s eyes.
“If you still feel anything for this country, for Immanity, I want you to give up your spying and forfeit this match. I swear I will not allow the Elves to make me their puppet.”
“…”
While Sora still took her words wordlessly, she came to the brink of pleading.
“—We can’t use magic, or even detect it—that’s us, Immanity.”
From the expression hidden under the black veil, Chlammy let through a shade of anguish.
“For us to survive in this world, we must obtain the right to live under the protection of a great country, and then abandon all contests and close ourselves off entirely—this is the only way. Surely you see?”
…Hm. According to the Ten Covenants, the party challenged had the right to determine the game. Indeed, if they were to accept the help of the most powerful race and obtain a certain domain, refusing all contests and isolating themselves would be an efficient and effective strategy. In exchange for gaining nothing, they would lose nothing. It was like how, in shogi, the most powerful formation is one that doesn’t move. But, on the other hand—
“…Hmm, I see… Not a bad plan. I see what you’re saying…”
“Then you will forfeit this match for me…”
As Chlammy closed her eyes gratefully—
“But I
refuse.”
Sora responded with words that opened her eyes up.
“—May I…hear your reasoning?”
“Heh-heh, it’s like this…”
Sora, drawing in his sister, who until now had been watching the proceedings from the side with a face betraying no emotion.
“One of Blank’s favorite things—
“ “—is saying No to someone who thinks
she has an overwhelming advantage…!” ”
Shiro joined with Sora’s line in harmony. At this statement, totally bizarre to Chlammy and Steph, who didn’t know the reference, the two could only stare speechless at the jubilant siblings.
“Bwa-ha-ha! Number Four on my list of lines I wanted to try saying sometime—I got to say it in real life!”
“…Brother, mad props.”
As the siblings gave each other thumbs-up, Chlammy’s shoulders shook. Perhaps she took it as a provocation, or a sign that there was no room for negotiation.
“—I wasted my time talking to you. As you wish, I shall twist you down by force… I’ll be waiting in the hall.”
“Sure, sure. Make sure you bring that power you got by selling someone else your ass.”
Sora watched Chlammy off, making a point of choosing the words to irritate her.
“I-is that okay? I thought she did have a point…”
Steph asked the question hesitantly, and Sora looked at her dumbfounded.
“—Please, don’t you think it’s about time you learned to doubt people?”
Sora counted up fingers.
“One, just where’s the evidence that
anything she said was true?”
“Oh…”
While Steph looked down as if she couldn’t deny the shame, Sora, heedless, carried on counting.
“Two, if she has a certain route to victory, then why did she come to try to talk us into forfeiting?”
“…Oh!”
Steph raised her face as if she couldn’t miss this truth.
“There is a one-in-a-million chance she’ll lose…so she has no certain route to victory—?!”
So—it was just as Sora foresaw. Smiling at Steph’s rare correct answer, Sora raised his third and fourth fingers.
“Three, if it is all true, we can’t trust the human race to an idiot who would reveal all that to someone she suspects is a foreign spy. And, four, if we let her see our hand, we’re finished. Got it?”
Steph opened her mouth dumbly and nodded repeatedly.
“Y-you put all that thought into that line…”
…Never suspecting that it was a reference. Steph, sincerely reevaluating Sora, realizing heat was gathering in her face, and shaking it off. While Sora cast his eyes to the direction Chlammy went—the path that led to the castle hall.
“…Well, that’s not all it’s about. She’s—well, you are, too, but—”
He turned his gaze to Shiro. Shiro nodded and they walked together.
“—kind of underestimating us people.”
The group returned to the hall. What they saw was a huge crowd filling it, as if they had been waiting forever. And, indeed, set up in front of the throne, a small table and a pair of chairs. And, on the table—
“A chessboard…?”
This time it was Sora’s turn to be confused. A game hiding Elf magic… He had considered many possible games—but he hadn’t expected chess. Because—just how were you supposed to cheat at chess? Sora found himself unable to wipe away misgivings, this having had gone over and to the side of his expectations. Still, Chlammy set in the opposing chair, explaining in a voice without emotion.
“That’s right, it’s chess. However—it’s not just chess.”
With that, she took out a small box and dumped the pieces on the board.
—And then the thirty-two pieces, sixteen each for white and black, slid across the board on their own, taking their positions. As if—yes—