Flowers and Steel #3

"Machinery Gaze - OH-58 Hawkeye can activate its special ability once per turn!"

"Special ability...!"

The bickering foes gulped hard.

I exchanged a brief glance with Adella. She nodded with a beaming smile, as if to say do whatever you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠want.

"By paying 1,000 Soul Points, I can check the opponent's hand and steal one card from it!"

"What!?"

"N-No way a ridiculous ability like that exists!"

"Stop using those cheat cards!"

"Then I'll activate the effect of World Tree - Yggdrasil right now~ Once per turn, it can make the SP cost zero for special abilities from plant, beast, or bird creatures in our field~."

"Wh-What!?"

Ah, so that's the effect. Perfect. I'll gladly take it.

"I'll check your hand!"

I targeted the third opponent player, who hadn't had their turn yet. I'd already seen the creatures from the first two, so ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it was time for the rest.

"Ugh..."

The bushy-haired guy with bangs covering his eyes let out a groan, revealing his trembling hand.

Oh?

Forgetting everything else, there was a pretty solid support card.

"I'll take the Bottle of Greedy!"

"Ah, damn it..."

He grumbled under his breath and placed the [Bottle of Greedy] card into the battle table's trade slot. The embedded magic whisked it straight to my side.

"Next, I'll activate the special ability of the second Hawkeye!"

OH-58 Hawkeye's ability had a per-turn limit, but no restriction on card name. Meaning I could fire it off as many times as ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I had Hawkeyes.

"Now, show me your hand!"

My index finger next ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠pointed at the fourth opponent, the pudgy one. His face was already slick with sweat, brows furrowed as he revealed his cards.

"D-Damn it...!"

Hmm...?

I narrowed my eyes. The card quality was mediocre compared to the others, but there was something notable.

Another [Bottle of Greedy] in his hand.

Coincidence? It was a fantastic card, but not ultra-rare. Anyway, let's keep going.

"I'll declare Bottle of Greedy again!"

"Damn it!"

The pudgy guy placed it in the trade slot just like the last one, and I snatched it up.

"I'll set one magic circle—"

I placed one of the two [Bottle of Greedies] face-down. This one's for Adella.

"Deploy Bottle of Greedy from my hand! Draw 2 cards from the deck!"

The effect was straightforward. My hand swelled by two cards in an instant. A hefty hand always steadies the nerves.

"I'll set another magic circle and end my turn!"

"N-Next is my turn!"

The bushy-haired guy—kinda like a visual novel protagonist—spoke up in a timid voice.

"Hmm..."

I'd already seen his hand. The only unknown was his draw, but his expression said no reversal card.

"I-I'll summon Drunken Hare!"

He slapped the card on the battle table, and a staggering rabbit wobbled out. Yeah, walked out on two legs.

Far from the cute bunny image. Longish limbs, shaggy hair like its owner, bloodshot eyes. And its flushed face kept belching.

"I-I'll activate Drunken Hare's special ability here! If there's another beast creature in my field besides this card, I can summon up to 3 Misfit Breeds!"

The [Drunken Hare] scratching its belly suddenly fixed its eyes on Raging Boar.

Then it sauntered behind it—mosaic.

Yeah, really. The two beasts suddenly looked pixelated, censored!

"Uh..."

"Eek~."

I was speechless, making a dumb noise, while Adella buried her face in my shoulder with a disgusted look.

"H-Hey, you bastard! What the hell are you doing to my, my, my Raging Boar!?"

"Eh, uh?"

"Fine, both of you stay the hell away from me, you crazy fucks!"

"Guuek..."

Chaos erupted over there too. Honestly, surprising it hadn't sooner.

About 6 seconds later, an exhausted [Raging Boar] sprawled out and a refreshed [Drunken Hare] came into view.

...Six whole seconds? Should I be shocked by that? I gazed at distant mountains, pondering.

"No, this is insane, why..."

"Don't play innocent, you psycho!"

"N-No! First time using this card!"

Fine, if it's his first time, whatever. The issue? Drunken Hare was an Origin Card, born from his psyche. At least Raging Boar was a support card... small mercies?

"Okay, got it. Get away from me now, you embodiment of depravity!"

"Agh, seriously! Beasts targeted by Drunken Hare's effect lose 300 stats until end of turn!"

The visual novel protag scratched his head furiously and yelled to continue the game.

Stats down... How potent was it to begin with...?

I shot a pitying glance at the floored [Raging Boar].

Then I glanced back at Isabella behind us.

"..."

Wise girl—she had her eyes shut tight. Would've been nice if she'd covered mine too!

Even as I thought that, the game pressed on. With Drunken Hare's ability resolved, three pint-sized bunnies popped up in his field. But each had a wild boar's tusk peeking from their mouths.

Thank goodness. I'd feared they crawled out from under Raging Boar. I didn't want to see that damn documentary! For real!

"I'll set one magic circle and end my turn!"

"Ricardo... I feel nauseous again~..."

"What a coincidence. Me too."

I lightly patted Adella's back. The enemies flipped out again at the sight.

"Damn, this is driving me nuts. They're cozying up with that elf girl, and what are we?"

"Hah, screw this. Surrender?"

"Hell no! We gotta win for my Raging Boar!"

"Y-Yeah! Tougher than rabbits!"

"You saying that with your mouth, you lunatic? And just bury the Raging Boar already..."

"Sniff!"

I quietly covered Adella's ears. She grinned broadly.

"Okay~. Let's do our best~. My turn! First, I'll deploy magic circle, Bottle of Greedy~. Draw 2 more cards from the deck~!"

"Ricardo~?"

"Go for it."

I nodded simply to her quizzical tilt. She giggled and chirped brightly, as if forgetting her shock.

"First~ I'll activate Hawkeye's special ability~."

Thanks to [World Tree - Yggdrasil], one free SP cost. Adella pondered, then targeted the pudgy fourth again—stealing a random creature. No meaning, really.

Her leaf-green eyes never once glanced at the visual novel protag!

"And~ activate again~! Your turn now!"

"Yeah, take it all..."

This time, the lead first player. Snagged an insect creature. His pre-duel fire? Utterly drained now.

"And~ I'll return the two Hawkeyes to earth~ and summon Queen of the Southern Forest - Titania~."

The two mission-complete [Hawkeyes] settled to the ground, stroked gently by a massive yet delicate hand.

Following that hand—faintly golden like [World Tree - Yggdrasil]—up wrist, arm, shoulder: hair of red rose petals, pointed elf ears, and soft leaf-green eyes smiling on a woman.

Her size rivaled the sky-floating [C-17 Quetzalcoatlus].

The chattering foes gaped up at her sacred, awe-inspiring form.

"Here goes~ I'll activate Titania's special ability~."

Adella stuck out her tongue playfully, grinning.

"Get ready~?"