Royal Straight Flush
Something was definitely off.
I’d accepted the bunny girl’s snarling suggestion for another round and kept playing, but a royal straight flush kept appearing every single time.
Winner: Helper!
Winner: Helper!
Winner: Helper!
This was clearly abnormal. Yet I hadn’t done anything at all. How the hell was this happening?
“Um… should we stop here?”
The atmosphere had grown so bizarre after three straight wins that I couldn’t take it anymore.
Just look at her right now. That bunny girl had her face planted on the table like she wanted to devour someone, muttering a nonstop stream of nonsense to herself.
“DidImiss something in the middle or no matter how you look at it this result is the complete opposite it’s too strange isn’t it but if it’s like this then it means I miscalculated from the beginning so…”
“Excuse me?”
“One more round.”
When the bunny girl finally lifted her head, her eyes were already dead. The sheer pressure radiating from her left no room for argument, so I nodded before I even realized it.
“……”
The game started again. I replayed the previous rounds in my head.
Up until now I had deliberately tried to make my hand terrible so I would lose. Yet the result had been continuous victory for me.
She must have tampered with the cards somehow. My attempts to lose had backfired and worked in my favor instead. So if I played normally this time, maybe the outcome would finally flip?
I focused on building a strong hand, but—
Winner: Helper!
“……”
The result was exactly the same. What the hell? Was I burning through an entire lifetime’s worth of luck today? No, this was beyond ridiculous.
While I stood there stunned by the impossible outcome, the bunny girl suddenly jerked her head up and started laughing.
“Ahaha, hahaha, ahahaha…!”
Had she finally lost her mind after losing so many times?
She slammed the table with a loud bang and shouted.
“This is rigged gambling, so why the hell do you keep winning?!”
“Huh?”
She had just openly admitted to cheating. Was that really okay? Wouldn’t this get her blacklisted from the casino?
While I was still reeling, the bunny girl muttered as if she had realized something.
“Aha. So that’s what it was.”
She stared straight at my face and smiled with clear amusement.
“You. You can see me, can’t you?”
“…Pardon?”
See her? Of course I could see her. What kind of question was that?
When I looked at her with that doubt in my eyes, the bunny girl grinned.
“This is fun. Hmm. Want to chat for a bit? Come outside. I’ll be waiting.”
She stood up, snapped her fingers, and the entire casino vanished in an instant. All that remained was a dark room resembling a confessional and a single message declaring my victory.
WINNER
I still had no idea what was going on, but I cautiously stepped out of the room.
“Huh?”
A completely different scene greeted me. In a luxurious reception room furnished with high-end red sofas, a pure-white bunny girl waved at me with a bright smile.
Was this another illusion?
“Hehe. You really can see me properly. As expected.”
“…What do you mean by ‘properly’?”
“Well, normal people can’t see me. If anyone spotted me walking around the Blue Magic Tower’s casino, I’d never hear the end of it.”
“Are you affiliated with the Blue Magic Tower?”
“Mm. Something like that.”
Affiliated with the Blue Magic Tower, huh. Given her outfit, that made sense.
“If normal people can’t see you… are you some kind of illusion?”
“Mm~ close. Okay, here’s a quiz. How do I usually appear to other people?”
“Huh? Um, that’s…”
How was I supposed to know that?
The moment I thought that, a future sight floated before my eyes.
“…?”
Wait a second. If this future sight was accurate, then the bunny girl in front of me was the Lord of the Blue Magic Tower?
That couldn’t be right. There had to be some mistake.
The thought flashed through my mind, but I cleared my throat and recited what the future sight had shown me.
“…Twin-tailed girl?”
“Correct. Not bad at all. You have very interesting eyes, don’t you?”
The bunny girl—no, the Lord of the Blue Magic Tower—curled the corners of her lips in satisfaction and moved to sit beside me.
Up close, it was obvious. The overwhelming volume. She really hid all of that behind the disguise of a twin-tailed little girl?
I finally understood what the comment about “food camouflage” meant. This was definitely a scam.
“It’s a double trap. At a crude level, people assume the little girl is my real appearance. But this nice body is actually my true form. You saw right through it.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. That’s why you got those results.”
“Those results? You mean the rigged gambling?”
“Yep. Exactly.”
The Blue Tower Lord casually pulled a card from her cleavage and showed it to me as an example.
“What does this card look like to you?”
“Um… Ace of Hearts?”
“Correct. But if I infuse it with a little Mental Image like this…”
“Oh?”
The shape of the card in her hand changed instantly. How was she doing that?
“How did you do it?”
“It’s an application of illusion magic. I came up with it yesterday. Simply swapping cards isn’t enough to win, you know?”
“Really?”
“This is a wild world where any foul play is allowed as long as you don’t get caught. Just swapping cards makes it hard to guarantee victory.”
Since it was one-on-one, rules like this were apparently possible. The sheer absurdity made me let out a dry laugh. The Blue Tower Lord continued her explanation.
“So while I was rolling around at home yesterday, I had a brilliant idea. A surefire way to win any game!”
“Oh? What is it?”
“What if I created cards that change according to the probability of winning? No matter what tricks the opponent uses, I’d still win. They think they’re running toward victory, but in reality they’re running in the complete opposite direction.”
“Oh…”
Wait. If that was the case, then the reason I kept winning at the beginning was because I had been running toward defeat?
“But… when I actually tried it, there were still a lot of variables to consider. It’s useless against someone like you who can see through illusions.”
“Ahaha, is that so?”
It didn’t feel like an illusion issue, but whatever.
“Anyway. I hadn’t heard that you were that kind of person. Is this all because of the Mother Box?”
“That’s… huh?”
I was taken aback when the Mother Box was suddenly brought up in the middle of our conversation.
“I heard a lot from the Reaper. I thought you’d be really interesting, and you really are. You’re fun.”
“Uh, um…”
“Oh, don’t be scared. I don’t have any particular interest in the Mother Box. It’s useless to me. A machine that makes choices in your place? I don’t need that.”
“A machine that makes choices in your place?”
“That’s its true nature, isn’t it? Finding and telling you the optimal choice.”
“Now that you mention it, I guess that’s true.”
It went beyond simply suggesting the best choice to achieve a goal; it could even seize the owner’s body and make the choice instead.
“I believe you should always flip the coin yourself. Whether it’s a good choice or a bad one, if you didn’t choose it yourself, it has no meaning.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. That’s why I can’t quit gambling.”
“Maybe you should quit that.”
“Anyway! So which one are you? The type who waits for someone else to make your choices? Or the type who makes them yourself? I was curious about that.”
“I…”
At the Blue Tower Lord’s question, I quietly reflected on my own behavior. The type who makes choices, or the type who follows them?
No matter how I thought about it, I hadn’t been either until now.
“Hmm. So far I’ve been neither.”
“Really?”
“I was never in a position where I had any choices to make. If I had to say, I was the type who waited to be chosen.”
I had lost my parents in a traffic accident as a child, then lost my only remaining sister to a gate. There had been no choices left for me. All I could do was follow messages that might have been hallucinations.
The fact that I came to this city even though I hated Shion so much was probably because it was the only choice I could make.
And that was still true now. I was essentially waiting to be chosen by the users.
“Hmm, I see.”
The Blue Tower Lord listened to my story with a somewhat bored expression.
“But…”
“Yes?”
“If I can choose even something like this… from now on, I want to be the one who creates the choices.”
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That was why I was so obsessed with this quest. I didn’t just want to make choices; I wanted to create new ones. That was my honest desire.
After hearing my answer, the Blue Tower Lord’s earlier bored expression vanished completely. She nodded with satisfaction.
“Hmm. You say interesting things.”
“Do I?”
“Good. I’m in a great mood now. You came here to get a recommendation letter, right?”
“Yes? Ah… well, yes.”
“Want me to write you one?”
She made a very welcome offer.
“Really? I’d be grateful if you did.”
“But! There’s one condition.”
“Yes. What is it?”
Of course there would be a condition. I watched her nervously, wondering what favor she would ask. The request that came out of the Blue Tower Lord’s mouth was once again completely unexpected.
“First, call me Ciel.”
“…Ciel?”
“That’s my name. It’s pretty, right?”
“It does sound nice. Ciel.”
When I said her name, Ciel nodded in satisfaction and moved on to the main point.
“Good, good. The other condition is simple. Later, you’ll have to accept one request from me.”
“A request?”
“Yes. There’s a troublesome matter that requires those eyes of yours. I won’t call you right away though. It’s a bit of a headache to solve right now. I’ll call you at the right time.”
“If that’s all, I’d be happy to.”
One future request in exchange for a recommendation letter from the Blue Tower Lord was a cheap price. When I nodded, Ciel scribbled something in the air with her finger. A recommendation letter appeared, fluttering down. She casually slipped it between her thighs.
“Here. Feel free to take it.”
“……”
She was clearly teasing me. The sight irritated me, so without hesitation I reached straight between her thighs.
“Hyat? How bold.”
“Wasn’t this what you wanted?”
“Very manly. Hehe. Then! I’ll head out first before anyone notices I was here! And remember, you can’t tell anyone about me, okay?”
While she hid her flushed face, Ciel hopped into the air like a rabbit diving into its burrow and vanished. The reception room disappeared in an instant, leaving me alone in the lobby. The only proof that Ciel had been there was the recommendation letter still carrying a strangely warm touch.
“With this, I should be able to receive the procedure at the Blue Magic Tower.”
I muttered to myself and tried to leave the casino as quickly as possible, but the receptionist called out to me.
“Excuse me. You haven’t completed the settlement yet…”
“Huh? Oh, right. I need to settle up.”
I headed to the counter without thinking much of it, but another unexpected story was waiting for me.
“Yes. One hundred million credits. You may take it.”
“…Pardon?”
“The person you played against went all-in.”
Come to think of it, she had said something like that during the game.
“Are you sure I can take this?”
“Yes, of course.”
This was an unexpected windfall. I left the casino in high spirits after collecting the credits and headed back to Tower Street. This time I walked toward the Blue Magic Tower instead of the yellow one where people were lined up.
“Halt. What is your business here?”
“I’m here to receive a magic implantation procedure.”
“Do you have a recommendation letter from the Blue Magic Tower?”
“Yes. Here it is.”
“Let me see… Huh? Is this… real?”
“Of course it’s real. Have you only ever been scammed before?”
“…Welcome to the Blue Magic Tower. The magic implantation procedure will be explained at the reception desk.”
The guard turned pale after checking the recommendation letter and hurriedly made way for me. It was a natural reaction since it bore the Blue Tower Lord’s personal signature.
The place I was guided to was a treatment room filled with all kinds of magical tools. The magician in charge, wearing a flowing blue robe, gave me a cursory once-over and held out a transparent crystal orb.
“As per procedure, we will first conduct a magic aptitude test before the implantation. Please place your hand on this orb.”
I placed my palm on the orb as instructed. Normally it should have glowed faintly or changed color.
“……”
The orb remained completely silent. There was no light, no reaction at all. The silence was so absolute I wondered if it was broken.
“…Magic aptitude zero. This is the first time I’ve seen such a clean null aptitude.”
The magician in charge muttered in amazement, as if he had never seen anything like it. I had already expected this result. Still, once I received the implantation, I should finally be able to use magic.
“Please sit here for the implantation.”
“This is…”
“It is a device to connect to the Tower’s origin. Side effects are minimal, so please be at ease.”
What the magician guided me to looked less like a device and more like a piece of furniture. A comfortable armchair placed alone beneath a huge window that opened toward the sky like an observatory. This was the device for the implantation?
Half-convinced, I sat down in the armchair as instructed.
Do you agree that even if you experience permanent side effects such as memory impairment, auditory hallucinations, visual hallucinations, or physical mutation as a result of the upcoming procedure, you will raise no objections?
“Then, before we begin the procedure, I will obtain simple consent. Even if the procedure results in permanent memory impairment, auditory hallucinations, visual hallucinations, or physical mutation, do you agree not to raise any objections?”
“…I agree.”
“Very well. We will now begin the procedure.”
As the magician spoke and operated the device, the window that had been showing the sky closed. It now reflected a different sky—a dark night sky. A white light poured down from it, bathing me.
“…Ah?”
My eyes met someone who had been looking in at me from outside the window.