Dice Game
Dice Game
"Ever played a game of dice?"
When Berati first sat across from the emperor, ready to face death, the emperor's opening words to her had been such an offhand, seemingly pointless remark.
"......A game of dice?"
"Any game that uses dice. Board games would do, or the dice from a street hustler. Or perhaps you've seen one at a casino? There must be gambling games of that sort."
"......."
Berati shut her mouth and glared silently at the emperor. Even after that woman in the bizarre, fox-masked outfit had left, the emperor's expression hadn't flickered in the slightest.
Even with a Cathedral Knight before him, whose individual martial prowess could not be ignored, the emperor simply sat there with a leisurely smile, as if dealing with a child.
The gas lamp on the table wavered, and the shadows cast across the emperor's face rippled faintly.
If anyone intended to assassinate the emperor, this would be the perfect opportunity.
Berati was not even bound by any restraints.
But the very fact that the emperor was holding a one-on-one conversation with her like this also served as a declaration of confidence that he could subdue someone of Berati's caliber by himself.
Fangriffon.
There was no evidence that the old myth had truly happened. Yet, as if trying to prove that very basis to be fact, every emperor in history had possessed tremendous martial strength. No one believed that bloodline alone could make that possible. That was why some emperors were suspected of having swapped children or secretly appointed some other member of the imperial family as crown prince.
That was precisely why the Holy State had concluded that Sylvia Fangriffon might be capable of becoming emperor—
"You don't know? It's a game where you throw dice and compete with the numbers. You can vie for the higher number, or throw several dice to match the same number, or line them up in sequence—"
"I know that much."
Glaring at the emperor, who went on talking however he pleased regardless of her wariness, Berati replied curtly.
It was hardly a reaction befitting the sovereign of a nation. But the emperor didn't seem to care in the slightest. That attitude irritated Berati all the more.
"Right, you would. Not everyone stakes money on a game, but where in the world is the person who has never touched a die?"
The emperor nodded as he spoke, then recrossed his legs and shifted to a more comfortable position. He settled in as if greeting a dear, long-acquainted guest. Not that this underground chamber was the sort of space that gave off a comfortable impression.
"Suppose your opponent is in a situation where they could absolutely never detect your cheating—no."
Perhaps thinking the analogy was slightly off, the emperor paused midsentence before starting again.
"Suppose that, even if your opponent knows you're cheating, they have no choice but to fall victim to it. What do you think you should do to win?"
"...... In that case, I'd obviously keep using the same trick."
"Even if the opponent knows you're cheating?"
"You said they have no choice but to fall for it even if they know."
"Well, that's true."
The emperor smiled at Berati's answer as if it were a satisfactory one.
"What if you were the one on the receiving end?"
"......I'd do whatever it took to beat the opponent to a pulp. You said I know they're cheating, didn't you?"
"I already said it's a situation where you must fall victim, helplessly."
"That means I don't know the trick. It doesn't mean I don't know the opponent."
At Berati's reply, the emperor laughed briefly, his shoulders shaking as if amused. His quiet 'huh huh huh' sounded at once like the cackle of a wicked villain and the chuckle of a middle-aged man hearing a funny joke from a friend.
"What if the opponent were a goddess?"
"What?"
"You're playing dice with a goddess. Both you and the goddess use the same dice. Your die is made of glass. So thinly and weakly made that a single throw will crack it and render it useless. You can barely confirm the result. But the goddess's die is a fine die carved from ivory. It won't wear or break no matter how many times it's thrown."
The emperor continued, tapping the fingers of the hand he had rested on his knee.
"The rules of the game are simple. You throw the dice, and the side that produces the more valuable face wins. You can throw the dice as many times as you like, whenever you feel like it."
"Those rules are absurd."
Berati spoke as if she found the whole thing preposterous.
"You just said my die breaks after a single throw. Then being allowed to throw any number of times is meaningless."
"But couldn't a single throw still produce a twelve?"
"Even so, I'm at an overwhelming disadvantage. And if those are the rules, then it's a situation where I simply have no choice but to accept them from the start. If the opponent suddenly decides to add one or two more dice, do I get a right of refusal?"
"No. Because she's a goddess."
"...... Right."
Berati let out a deep sigh at the emperor's answer.
"If my opponent really is a goddess, then I must bow my head and comply. Does it even make sense to talk about playing a game against the master of this world?"
"Is that so?"
"......I don't know about you, but I am a person of the Holy State. A knight, and a nun. Even if my personality is a bit ruffian-like, that fact doesn't change."
"Hmm."
The emperor smiled as though he'd heard exactly the answer he wanted.
"So, why are you asking me all this?"
"Well."
The emperor spoke slowly, drawing it out a little.
"It seems I have found the one I suspect to be that goddess."
"......."
Berati said nothing for a long while.
".................. What?"
At the end of that long silence, that was all she asked.
"Your people probably won't believe it. That doesn't matter."
"Hah."
Berati sighed in disbelief.
"So, is that what you're trying to say? That you've found the goddess?"
"It hasn't been proven yet."
"So, you intend to prove it?"
"Yes. And for that, the Holy State's cooperation is necessary."
"What. Are you asking us to send a saint? So she can sit across from the goddess and declare, 'Ah, this is truly our goddess'? Would the Holy State even allow that?"
"Well, there's no need for that. Simply lending me the Divine Treasure you possess will suffice."
"......."
Berati shut her mouth, but the emperor pressed on.
"What must one do to understand the power of one who turns back time?"
"How did we suddenly jump from dice to that?"
"I'm talking about how to find a way to prove that cheating."
"......."
"I have considered the possibility of prophecy. I have considered calculation. I have even considered the idea that the future has simply been experienced in advance. And I have also understood that all three lead to a similar conclusion. What remains, then, is to demonstrate the proof."
"What exactly is this proof?"
"I plan to do something the opponent would not like."
The emperor explained as if he genuinely enjoyed the prospect.
"If someone keeps rolling the dice until their desired face comes up, then the way to prove it is to engineer a situation where the dice result ought to be fixed."
"But the opponent could just roll the dice again, couldn't she?"
"Then the moment of the roll would change."
The emperor dismissed Berati's words without a second thought.
"If I set things up so that the result is guaranteed to be a two on the tenth roll, then the opponent will suddenly produce three dice at that moment, or she'll try to manipulate the result on the ninth or the eighth roll. If we can confirm any of that, then we can at least verify whether the opponent knows our future, can we not?"
The emperor shrugged as he spoke.
"Mere planning won't suffice. To obtain what I want, I must move greedily. If there is an object the opponent might desire, I shall step forward and snatch it away first."
"But if the opponent turns back time again."
"If, without my knowledge, the opponent is holding that object, that very fact would serve as proof that she is cheating. And if I confirm that fact, I shall be greatly pleased."
The emperor was smiling as he said it.
"At the very least, it will stand as evidence that my plan can move the opponent."
"......."
For a long moment, Berati simply stared at the emperor with an expression of pure disbelief.
...... At the very least,
If I make it back alive, I'll at least have something to report to the Holy State.
The thought that flitted through Berati's mind in that instant was such a trivial one.
*
"...... You seem to be enjoying yourself?"
Bella, who had followed closely behind the emperor, asked.
"Of course I am."
"But that fellow ran off with the Divine Treasure you were trying to obtain."
"A Divine Treasure is meaningless unless they are all gathered anyway. More than that, I gained a harvest beyond what I had sought to prove."
The emperor spoke as he strode unhesitatingly through the dense forest.
"It turns out even an ivory die can shatter."
"...... We still don't even know who the opponent is."
"Really? I, however, have my suspicions."
At the emperor's words, Bella could only tilt her head quizzically.