2. House Rule (Isekai ver.)
The bell goes on the floor, not the table. And the players don't stand right beside it — they stand a good distance away.
Ten meters or so, give or take? Anything far enough that even a knight needs a moment to sprint in would do.
Three knights are positioned around the bell in a rough triangle, with the cards placed beside them — and this part calls for a small table. It doesn't have to be an actual table; anything sturdy enough to hold a deck will suffice.
Each player draws with their left hand and holds the card up where everyone can see it. The right hand is free.
Then, just like before, when five matching shapes hit the table—
"Move! I've got seniority over you!!"
"Seniority doesn't exist in games, sir!"
"Ha! You two go ahead and fight it out — this one's mine...!"
Ding!
"Ah!"
"No way..."
—Start from your mark, win the scuffle, and press the bell. That, in essence, was the Knight-Exclusive House Rule.
It uses the body, and it's fitting for knights... well, mostly. Since they have to run and wrestle, there's no risk of it ending in a heartbeat, either.
All he'd done was put distance between the bell and the players — who would have thought that one change would produce all of this?
It had been a flash of inspiration, but it seemed to be working out even better than he'd expected. The knights were quite obviously enjoying themselves, too.
Of course, this was nowhere near finished. Fine-tuning was essential.
"If you can just stomp it, the wrestling doesn't matter — it turns into a pure footrace."
"Th-that's true, my lord."
"So here's what we'll do. You can't use your feet — the bell must be pressed with a hand, no exceptions. And since your left hand is holding cards, only the right hand counts."
"Then we'd have to lower our posture to press it... which means it would be easy to interfere with someone, or be interfered with. This could drag on for a while."
First, clarify how the bell is pressed.
"The cards... are completely crumpled."
"My apologies, my lord! This fool got far too invested!"
"Wh-what are you talking about!? You suplexed him first and crushed them!"
"Sh-shh!"
"Either way, a wrinkled card interferes with the game. Someone could memorize the creases and predict the shapes... So here's the rule: you carry your cards in your left hand as normal, but the moment they get crumpled, you're barred from ringing the bell. And of course, deliberately crumpling an opponent's cards is a foul."
"My lord, then... is a suplex still allowed? It happens to be my specialty."
"What do you think?"
Next, settle how the cards are handled.
"Er, do we only draw with the left hand? Trying to draw a fresh card while holding one means mine either shows late or shows early..."
"...We're standing more than ten meters away, and you can still read the cards?"
"Pardon? At this distance, they're perfectly legible."
"Olo... you really are remarkable in every sense. Then let's tweak the rule slightly. Everything stays the same, except you raise your left hand fully above your head."
"Wh-what? But then *I* won't be able to see my card."
"That's the beauty of it. Some card games work that way, you know."
Special rules get added for extra fun and to nail down the ambiguous corners.
And so the first draft of the House Rule was complete. How should he put it...
It still looked rather rough around the edges. Well, it had been thrown together on the spot.
Which was exactly why they needed to see whether it actually worked.
"In the end, the only answer is to play a round."
"Then shall we give it a go ourselves?"
"Yeah. Let's play a proper game. Everyone to your marks—"
"My lord."
"...Knight Commander?"
"I would like to be dealt in as well."
Look, I'm all for more players, but...
...Why does he look a little irritated?
The Knight Commander could not, for the life of him, understand.
From a pure physical standpoint, this looks more punishing than training.
Aura conditioning was never a matter of simply flogging the body without rhyme or reason. There were many disciplines: holding specific postures, meditation, swinging a sword ten thousand times in the same form.
And in his eyes, what those three knights were doing ranked above training in sheer brutality. At least training was regimented and allowed for rest — those men were sprinting, colliding, and scrambling in short, relentless bursts.
And yet the knights were laughing.
Even if this was a variant of Kylegalli, it had to be harder than their usual routine. So why did they look like they were having the time of their lives?
The Kylegalli that Head Butler Charles had handed over the day before had been the Knight Commander's first board game in his entire life. He could not comprehend it at all.
But above all, what infuriated him was this:
It's been a good thirty minutes already.
Kyle, at least, was absorbed in adjusting the rules, so he could be excused. But the knights knew perfectly well that training time had come and gone. Why they weren't saying so was obvious.
Knights, of all people, shirking drills to focus on a game? A game more punishing than training, no less!
And so he had halted training and come over in person.
To knock some sense back into those three fools.
Runt Rick. Old-Fogey Hanson. Ring-Patch Victor.
The three knights slated to play with him — and the very knights now finally realizing they were in trouble.
Yet instead of berating them on the spot, the Knight Commander stripped off his armor and, wearing only his light training clothes, took his place beside the small table.
Partly to preserve the young master's dignity while he tested his new creation — and partly out of personal curiosity.
Most of all: if the Knight Commander himself joined a game of Kylegalli and *then* took the knights back, even the young master would have no grounds to object. If he kept humoring the young master's little pastimes any longer, the training schedule would surely suffer — so he intended to end this cleanly.
One game wouldn't take long anyway. And that was precisely why the Knight Commander decided to play it himself.
"Knight Commander — the rules?"
"I watched the knights play earlier, and I heard your explanation, my lord. Anything further I should know?"
"Nothing in particular. Shall we begin?"
Oh, we shall indeed. And it will end quickly.
He acknowledged Kyle's effort. But frankly, even after all the tinkering, Kylegalli still didn't impress the Knight Commander. Even now, his head was full of nothing but finishing this quickly and dealing with those three.
Once the start was called, the knights — who had been glancing about nervously — drew. Runt Rick seemed to steel himself and drew first.
He drew with his left hand and raised it straight above his head. Whether the card showed five diamonds or none, Runt Rick had no way of knowing.
Two diamonds so far.
Next in order was Old-Fogey Hanson, who drew with a devil-may-care expression and lifted his card high.
Then Ring-Patch Victor.
Four pentagons.
And now the Knight Commander's turn.
He drew. No way to know what his own card was — but the way to find out was obvious.
Anyone who moves to ring the bell, chase them down.
The others could see his card. If it completed a set of five, someone would bolt.
But no one moved. The round came back around, and Runt Rick drew again.
...Three diamonds.
The instant the Knight Commander confirmed it, he exploded from his mark.
Dadat!
"He's fast...!!"
"Stop the Commander!"
"We can't even suplex him...!"
Old-Fogey Hanson and Ring-Patch Victor, having likewise confirmed Rick's card, scrambled after him — but the Knight Commander's position had not been earned at a card table.
All three had launched at nearly the same moment, and yet the first to reach the bell was the Knight Commander.
Ding!!
"Ah........."
Without pausing, he swung his right hand down and struck the bell.
For a split second he wondered whether he should soften the blow — but the bell was still wreathed in hardening magic.
He stole a glance toward the apprentice mages, but they showed no particular signs of strain.
During the earlier games they'd looked as though they were barely holding on.
...I see. Standing upright and bending down to press the bell means you can't strike it with full force. Was that why he put it on the floor?
Pressing the bell from a seated chair, versus pressing it with your waist half-folded — which position lets more power flow into the right hand was no mystery. With this arrangement, the hardening magic would last considerably longer.
The Knight Commander let out a small, genuine murmur of admiration — then immediately scowled.
Because Runt Rick, Old-Fogey Hanson, and Ring-Patch Victor were standing there in disheveled heaps, simply staring at him.
He held out his hand, and they gathered up the cards they'd held in their left hands and surrendered the lot.
This keeps up and it'll be over in no time.
When the Kylegalli ended, you three are dead — that look swept over them once, and they shuddered even as they exchanged some kind of glance among themselves.
It was a fairly desperate exchange of looks, but to the Knight Commander it was merely comic.
Even three against one, I'd win. It'll be over soon.
Each returned to their mark, and the Knight Commander — having rung the bell — drew first.
The same rotation as before, round after round.
For a while no five matched, the cards piling up endlessly — until the Knight Commander drew and raised his card once more.
".........!!"
A set is complete.
Old-Fogey Hanson sprang the instant he saw the card. Runt Rick and Ring-Patch Victor hesitated a heartbeat, then gave chase.
It being the Knight Commander's turn meant he started late.
But he had no intention of losing.
"Hup!!"
"N-no way.........!?"
Despite the late start, he reached the bell ahead of Old-Fogey Hanson.
Sensing the gulf in raw physical ability, Hanson thrust out his right hand to interfere—
"Not a chance, Hanson...!!"
"Urk!?"
Whish!
Something that trivial was easily dealt with: seize the opponent's wrist first and twist. The man's hand was brushed aside without effort.
Without hesitation, the Knight Commander pressed the bell again.
Ding!
"Whew......... Hanson. Hand over your cards."
"............"
"Have Rick and Victor still not arrived? The outcome looks all too obvious at this rate. Perhaps rather than that........."
What is this?
Why isn't Hanson handing over his cards?
No — more than that.
Why is he trying so hard not to laugh...?
"...Don't tell me."
Only then did he lower his left hand, still raised above his head, and check his own card.
His card was — a single star.
Hanson held two diamonds. Rick held three stars. Victor held... one circle.
The shapes did not.
Not come to five at all.
"Knight Commander, you rang it wrongly. So as a penalty, hand over every card you've drawn."
"Wh-what is the meaning of this...!!"
".........Commander."
"Hanson! You saw my card and rushed out the moment—?"
"This isn't training, Commander. It's quite vigorous, yes, but at its heart it is a board game."
A board game.
Of course the Knight Commander knew that perfectly well.
And yet, the moment he heard those words, it felt as though he'd been struck squarely across the head.
"A... deception tactic, you mean?"
"A rule the young master added."
At those words, the Knight Commander turned his head toward Kyle. It was an entirely unconscious movement.
And Kyle, meeting his eyes, simply grinned.
...I let my guard down.
The rule that you cannot see your own card — he should have considered that an opponent might turn it against him.
The Knight Commander's fists trembled briefly, and then he returned to his mark.
His eyes were — slowly, steadily — beginning to burn.
"I'll draw first."
Having paid his penalty, the first to act was the player after the Knight Commander in turn order. Runt Rick drew.
Then Old-Fogey Hanson, Ring-Patch Victor, and the Knight Commander, in order.
Just as in the previous game, no set of five came together, and the cards piled up in grim silence.
In the middle of it, Old-Fogey Hanson and Runt Rick each tried baiting the Knight Commander again with a mad dash toward the bell — but seeing him not move an inch from his mark, they sheepishly trudged back.
How many more cards went around like that?
Then, in an atmosphere of almost suffocating tension, Ring-Patch Victor drew his card.
"Wha!?"
Dadat!!
The Knight Commander, who had been biding his time for an opening, bolted the instant he laid eyes on Victor's card.
Was this more of Hanson's mind game, or the real thing? Honestly, Victor believed it was the latter.
The Knight Commander he knew was upright and unshakably honest. Board game or not, the man would never stoop to that kind of trickery.
And so Victor — running dead last alongside Rick — jumped on reflex.
There was no time to check Rick or Hanson. In that window, the Knight Commander really might ring the bell.
Even so, on the off chance, Victor slightly throttled his speed—
He's really going to press it...!!
The moment he saw the Knight Commander reach the bell and crouch to press it, Victor ran with every ounce of strength he'd possessed as a suckling babe.
Rick and Hanson were surely sprinting in as well. Honestly, it wouldn't matter which of them rang it — but all else being equal, more cards in his own hand could only be a good thing.
Perhaps his all-out desperate sprint was faster than expected — even with the bell inches away, the Knight Commander still hadn't pressed it.
Staring at the Knight Commander's right hand hovering so close it could ring the bell at any instant, a thought flickered through Victor's mind — wouldn't it just be easier to suplex him? — but that had been forbidden.
So instead, diving forward in something like a slide, Victor flung his body and stretched his right hand toward the bell—
"──Huh?"
—and found himself locking eyes with the Knight Commander, who was suddenly, broadly, smiling.
Pakan!
The Knight Commander's right hand — a hair's breadth from the bell — wrenched aside at the last moment and raked across the training ground's dirt floor. Only then did Victor realize he'd been baited, and he frantically tried to twist his own hand away, but his whole body was already airborne.
Victor's hand skimmed past the bell.
Ding!
".........Ah."
A clear, crystalline ring echoed right before his eyes.
And as Victor lay there, utterly dumbfounded, the Knight Commander looked down at him.
"That was... a mind game, sir?"
"If I'd merely sprinted at it like Hanson did, you wouldn't have fallen for it. So I committed to it fully — ready to press the bell for real if it came to that."
"Th-then I wasn't actually faster than...?"
"I waited just a touch."
The Knight Commander's scheme, delivered with a snort—
It was a move only possible because the Knight Commander was the fastest player at the table, and because he knew exactly how the knights saw him.
A psychological duel only the Knight Commander could pull off.
And then, to Victor — staring up at him with wild, panicked eyes — the Knight Commander smiled again and extended his hand.
"Now then. You rang it wrongly, so the penalty is handing over your cards, yes?"
"Aaah........."
"And hurry back......... to your mark."
—Because the next round starts immediately, doesn't it?
And so, having claimed what few cards remained to Victor,
the Knight Commander was wearing...
...an exceptionally refreshing smile.