Chapter 13
Chapter 13
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: Proxy Prayer Ticket
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“…Oh.”
As the top-tier cake was placed on the table as the representative, gasps of admiration erupted from all around. Doria made a point of adding,
“Lady Aiel decorated it herself.”
“Wow, intense.”
Daluh muttered without a change in expression. Mayches looked at me with a face full of emotion, asking if my arm hurt.
“Mm, it’s fine. Cut it quick…….”
This time, Mayches picked up the cake knife with a look like it pained him to do it.
The spectacular sight unfolded of the bright red lettering reading ‘Happy Birthday, Brother Mayches.’ being sliced into pieces.
And then, the villains of Illenaias gathered around the creepy blood-red cake……
I squeezed my eyes shut tight. I felt so wronged that tears welled up.
I’d tried so hard. How could they all clique up like this!
I didn’t know how it looked to others, but to me, it felt like a gathering of horror movie protagonists who could plunge the world into terror with just one of them.
Hello, Jason…… Hello, Freddy……
I almost thought I’d stumbled into a horror collab as the ditzy heroine……
In the original story, they all operated separately and got taken down one by one by the protagonists, so I couldn’t figure out why they’d become besties after just one semester.
At that moment, Calipan shouted in a bright voice.
“Then let’s play Harrigal! I’m confident I won’t lose.”
So that’s where it was…… The place I’d racked my brains to run to for survival turned out to be a minefield……
Pretending to rub my eyes, I wiped the damp corners.
No time to waste like this. I needed a plan.
My mind was racing amid the chattering wannabe villains, but after agonizing, I made a decision.
“Doria.”
“Yes?”
I nodded toward Doria. Her eyes lit up as she quietly slipped out of the drawing room.
I still had one more gift left.
---
I felt bad for my ever-reliable game idiot brother Mayches, who predictably drew the Joker card from my hand again today.
You fool… You’ve never beaten these guys, have you? Might as well call them out one by one and play Omok, even if it’s cheating.
I felt glum but managed my expression so as not to give away that the card Mayches had just drawn was the Joker.
Even as we played, doubt crept in. He’d blurt out “Ugh” like a kid and give it all away anyway……
But then, something unexpected happened.
Mayches casually shuffled his cards with the cool, expressionless face he only showed when approving documents.
At a glance, it looked like he was just readjusting cards that weren’t sitting well in his hand, shuffling them as an afterthought.
I was amazed by his dazzling growth. Guess people improve if they just keep at it without giving up.
Next up was Calipan, who eyed the cards Mayches offered closely before drawing one from his hand.
The moment Calipan checked it, his eyes turned accusatory.
“Ah, Brother Mayches…… Bro, what is this?”
“What.”
“How do you draw the Joker?”
What’s the big deal? Mayches always drew the Joker……
That’s what I thought, but jeers erupted from the other three at the same time.
“Oh… Going easy on him just ‘cause he’s your little brother?”
Bamper showed his disappointment as much as he could on that kind, upright face of his.
“Gonna ruin the fun?”
Daluh said it in his usual soft tone, sounding utterly baffled.
“No, maybe he actually used his brain for once.”
Yan narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing Mayches’s face.
Their reactions were so unfamiliar that I wondered if Mayches had secretly studied cheating without me knowing. Magic to peek at cards or something……?
Mayches smirked and said to Calipan,
“You’re the one who saw everything with that fancy dynamic vision of yours and picked anyway.”
“Ah, what can I do if I see it?”
“See? Told you he used his brain.”
Listening to their exchange, a reasonable suspicion suddenly hit me.
Were they all playing fair……?
In the end, the Thieves’ Catch game ended with Calipan’s defeat—he’d drawn the Joker thanks to his superior dynamic vision.
We barely caught our breath before pulling out Buruma.
Call it rude, but they all seemed like board game maniacs.
But there was something weird inside the Buruma box. A square box with a button on the outside.
Yan pulled it out with familiar ease and loaded the dice inside.
When he experimentally pressed the outer button, the dice spun wildly within. The box’s purpose? Rolling dice cheat-free.
“Why go this far……?”
I muttered without thinking.
Assuming I was asking him, Yan flinched a bit before explaining in slightly awkward tones. He seemed to be trying not to sound gruff.
“Otherwise, these guys cheat. Magic from that one, gut manipulation from this one, spirit arts from him, and that one even prays.”
Daluh bristled at that.
“I only do it when it’s urgent.”
Mayches, who’d been listening, tossed at Yan,
“You’re the one who carried custom dice made like eyeballs. You were the most dangerous.”
Somehow, I started feeling like a naive civilian stuck among professional hustlers.
Could I survive in this crew?
Watching Mayches and his friends prep the game like a well-oiled division of labor, I quietly placed my hand on the tiny pouch pinned to my dress bodice.
I felt the crinkle of paper inside.
---
Just before the main event kicked off, Mayches had pulled me aside carefully.
He handed me a single sheet of paper, stroking my head gently as he said,
“Use it if things get dire, Aiel. They play hard.”
I didn’t get it but unfolded the paper anyway.
I'll Pray For You Instead
1-Use Voucher
It was scrawled in messy handwriting like that. Felt familiar……
“Birthday gift from Daluh.”
“Gasp!”
Now that I thought about it, it was that same ripped notebook paper with the perfunctory blessing!
I stared down at the paper trembling. What kind of dangerous gift was this from Daluh?
Daluh—the Saint—his prayers were something special.
The god of this world watches over people but doesn’t always grant wishes. In the novel, it was phrased as “didn’t reach the god.”
To reach the god usually required a huge number of people praying fervently for a long time. The bigger the wish, the more time and energy needed.
But how could people pray that earnestly for ages? Most prayers lacked just a bit of sincerity.
That’s where the Saint came in.
The Saint gathers people’s prayers and delivers them straight to the god. That’s the “Saint’s Prayer.” A sort of cheat key.
I read the tiny fine print squeezed into the corner by the oversized lettering.
[No shameless requests accepted.
[No complaints if ineffective.]
With shaking hands, I folded it and tucked it close to my heart—presumably where my conscience resided.
If word got out about something like this, someone might die. It could spark a war. Mayches’s corruption arc might advance years ahead!
I resolved cautiously. Better use it quick on something trivial.
---
…That was just 15 minutes ago.
“Got all the money?”
“W-Wait a sec!”
Right before Calipan signaled the game start, I whipped out the proxy prayer voucher.
Everyone’s eyes locked onto the paper.
“What.”
Daluh’s face turned the picture of disbelief.
Stung by the reaction—different from what Mayches had prepped me for—I flinched.
Why… does he look offended?
Mayches said it was fine, but maybe it was only fine for him, and the giver felt hurt seeing his gift passed to me……?
But Daluh raised both palms near his shoulders, slowly scanning the room with an imploring look.
“If Aiel uses that, how am I supposed to play the game?”
Huh? Still holding out the voucher to Daluh, I blinked.