CH 5

Bullet 5: The Queen Of Casinos

An undressing game competition – cast-off table.

Before I could even ask myself why I am even doing this, over half of

the matches have been completed…

Aria is now in her kid-like playing card symbol patterned underwear

that matches her toddler body shape.

Shirayuki and her gravure idol-like body is sexily covered with black

silk underwear.

Riko is in her gold satin with lace underwear, an interesting choice.

And sitting in her white cotton underwear without any emotion

whatsoever is Reki.

These 4 losers have already stripped and are wearing nothing but

their underwear.

Meanwhile, there are four survivors…

Leaving only her blouse, Fuuma for some reason took off her skirt

and revealed her loincloth. Clothes in her possession: 1 piece.

Jeanne took off her blouse and wore only her skirt and ribbon giving

her 3 pieces of clothing left.

Losing only her socks and so was now barefoot and in her uniform

was Hiraga-san with 3 pieces of clothing.

And I have survived this long with just my shirt off. Me, with 4 pieces

of clothing.

(… if you keep your mind clear, even fire can feel cool…)

Unable to take a deep breath in this room that is filled with the smell

of these girls, I just told my mind to “calm down, calm down.”

And then- again, I warn myself.

Right now I am in “Hysteria Wiseman mode”, and in this mode I

cannot be sexually aroused by girls.

But that would only last for another 12 minutes.

And, apparently, it is not something that lasts until the very last

minute.

The wiseman in me is gradually becoming a fool.

My physical situation within me should already be seen as a yellow

light.

In this “please get sexually aroused” environment… I can feel the

hysterical blood flow in the center of my body.

If this signal turns red and the fool gets up with a whimper, it will be a

big deal.

-I must endure, no matter what it takes.

(Calm down… I learned this from my brother a long time ago. When

you want to keep your mind calm, count the prime numbers. A prime

number is a solitary number that can only be divided by 1 and itself.

It gives me, in hysteria mode, the courage to face reality… 1, 2, 5,

7…)

I started counting and suddenly remembered that 1 is not a prime

number.

“-What’s the next game? Let’s get on with it. Hurry up!”

With my face still wearing the goggles, I turn to riko.

But Riko flicks her head from side to side.

“Before you decide on the next game, in the rule book, here! Let me

explain to you all about the additional rule from Round 5: “Losers

Entry”!”

I go to open up my own copy of Cast Off Table Ru~Ru~Ru~ Bukku.

Losers… battle…? What the hell are you talking about? we don’t

have time for this!

“Loser participation? I wont accept that. In the first place, the Cast-

Off table is a competition to determine the most outstanding Butei.

Each person only has one life. A person who disrespects that and

approaches things with the mindset that even if they die they will

come back to life is not a good Butei! Isn’t that right!?”

I quickly spit out my disagreement with this new rule, but…

“What are you getting so desperate for, Kinji?”

Aria is moving away from me.

Oh, oh no. I got too hot.

Aria is already faintly suspicous about whether my goggles are

working. I must not act even more suspicious. I do not know what

might cause her to finally find out that my goggles are

malfunctioning.

“Uh, well… Riko, what is with the “losers battle” thing?”

I asked Riko again calmy, coughing to cover up my unease.

“I felt sorry for the losers because they have nothing to do. It would

be boring if only the survivors were fighting passionately while those

who were just watching got bored. That is why we have the losers

participate in each game to make the game more exciting.”

Whatever it is though, it is going to take up more time…

Certainly, Aria and Shirayuki both seemed to be bored and were

excited towards this idea.

If I immediately deny this idea again, it will be complicated to explain

and worse, this time it might become questionable.

Fine, I will hear what they have to say.

“How would the losers participate…?”

“It depends on the game. For example, if it’s pinball, you could

substitute, if it’s roulette, you could be the dealer, if it’s darts, you

could collect the dars, if it’s backgammon, we could make it a team

game, etc.”

While I was annoyed at Riko for giving examples with dramatics, I

was…

“Well, that’s… fine then…”

I nodded.

As Riko said, it depends on the game, but if the losers can have a

role to support and excite the game…

Unlike the loser’s bracket I feared earlier, the game will not drag on

with rules like this.

“Now that Ki-Kun is satisfied, let’s decide the game for Round 5!

Starting with the fifth game, whoever loses the previous game gets

to decide the event! Yay Rekyu!”

Riko points to Reki with her rolled-up rulebook…

Reki is in underwear… toko, toko…

She walks to the back of the game room…

She walked without saying a word, and we followed her… zoro,

zoro… (TL Note: toko and zoro are sound effects, I assume walking

ones.)

The area that Reki walks to is lined with larger game equipment such

as darts, pinball, and roulette…

She stopped.

(Darts…?)

I thought,

“Then, this.”

Reki has chosen to play roulette in Round 5.

“I’m surprised. I thought you were going to pick darts. Hey, wouldn’t

darts be more fun for you?”

“What are you saying Aria? Roulette is the queen of casinos. It is a

magnificent and profound game.”

Aria, from England, the birthplace of darts, and Jeanne, from France,

the birthplace of roulette, are having this conversation.

Roulette is a game in which a ball is thrown into a spinning disk with

numbers on them and players try to guess which number the ball will

fall on.

It is mainly for gambling purposes and is offered as one of the

flowery games in casinos around the world.

“…”

In front of the full-fledged roulette board 80cm in diameter, Reki

turned around with a blank expression on her face.

She looked at me.

As if she was challenging me to a match.

(What the hell? You already lost, why…)

After a few seconds of raised eyebrows I realized… no, I was made

aware.

This “loser’s entry” rule is not just a mechanism to keep the losers

occupied.

(Retaliatory strike…)

It is also a system of “payback” for the humiliation the girls went

through for having been stripped.

Even though it is only a game, after four rounds… many things can

have occurred during that time.

The players so far could have deceived and entrapped enemy

players, or betray them by pretending to be on their side. In the

process, complex relationships arise among the eight players.

Especially relationships with resentment and bitterness.

Riko is allowing the losers to use this as a chance to retaliate with

their relationships…

So she is trying to make the game more exciting.

We survivors will now have to fight not only other players but also

the retaliatory attacks of the losers, and from the fifth game on, the

losers, not the winners, will choose the next game, probably to make

that retaliation easier.

This one is… Sure, it’s going to be a blast. The cast off tables from

here on will be interesting.

Reki just lost the dice game a few minutes ago…

She fell for the “Ant Hell” rule, where the one who loses once runs

the risk of losing all the time.

And in the end, she was unable to crawl up out of it and was stripped

down to her underwear in a concentrated attack.

The one who pushed Reki down into that “hellhole” was me, who

had been a smiling face and ally in mahjong and billiards.

-Well, of course there is a reason to retaliate. And a fresh one at

that.

She is an emotionless girl, so she probably doesn’t have any

feelings of resentment, but Reki looks like she’s a bit of a bad

influence, and she is very loyal in a bad way. She follows the

unspoken rule of military reconnaissance: “If you get shot once, shot

back one.”

(So that is why you chose… roulette.)

I look at the unused dart board with a sideways glance, and I am

convinced.

In darts, Reki could fight with a world champion, but that’s just as a

player. Riko mentioned that in darts, the loser is supposed to be the

dart collector. She could probably tamper with the darts, but that

doesn’t seem to be Reki’s forte.

On the other hand, in roulette – which Riko just mentioned – the loser

is the dealer.

The dealer is the person who spins the roulette wheel and inserts the

balls.

And I know…

I witnessed this back when I worked casino security with Reki

recently. Reki is able to put the roulette ball into the number she is

aiming for.

The roulette wheel itself spins around and around, and the balls glide

along the edge of the roulette wheel for several laps before falling

into one of the numbered holes, which are separated by a metal

plate.

In other words, it is normally impossible to aim a ball at a specific

number.

The premise of the game makes it impossible for the dealer to cheat,

but it is possible for Reki, an S rank Butei sniper and walking

cheater, to cheat in this game.

In other words, Reki realized that choosing darts as a player makes

no sense so she chose roulette as a dealer.

Based on the “Loser’s Entry” rule, both other players and the loser

are trying to beat me.

“Now, the losers will be paired up! Each pair takes a turn as the

dealer! So, whichever pair puts the ball in the basket is OK!”

-Riko called for the losers to come together…

Two dealer teams were formed by the Katakana pair of Aria and

Reki and the Kanji pair of Shirayuki and Riko.

Normally there is only one roulette dealer, but Riko’s original element

seems to be that there are two.

I’m sure this is done so that there will be a lot of matchups between

“certain dealers” versus “certain players” who are already at odds

with each other, and retaliatory battles will be more exciting.

Hopefully not to the point of overkill.

… Riko, that damn girl…

She is usually camouflaged with her idiotic parentheses and

gestures, but she’s a smart woman.

You are even good at this kind of balancing act, especially when it

comes to game related matters. It’s genius.

Riko’s roulette was European-style, with a turntable, table, and

magnification no different from the usual. The thin metal plate

dividing the numbers in the turntable was made of lead to improve

the sound made when the balls collide with each other, and it glowed

dully.

All common betting methods are allowed, including the “red-black

bet” in which the player chooses the color of the number the ball will

enter (2x reward), the “dozen bet” in which the player bets on 12 of

the the 36 numbers (3x reward), the “six-eye bet”, in which the

player bets on six numbers (6x the reward), and the “one-eye bet”, in

which the player boldly bets on only one number (36x the reward).

However, to prevent fraud, the turntable was to be turned by a

machine, not by human hands.

Hiraga-san checks carefully for any suspicious devices in its power

section and…

“It’s alright. This is the same ready-made product that is often sold in

Asian countries.

Hiraga gave it an endorsement with her pride of AMDO hanging on

the line.

So far, this is a typical roulette system, but according to RIko’s

rulebook, there were several other original elements in addition to

the pair-dealer system mentioned earlier.

First, the “pre-bet” and “post-bet” rules.

Players place colored coins – chips – on the table to bet, and a coin

toss is held before each game to determine whether this act is done

before or after the dealer puts tbe balls into the spinning disk.

Next, the “win-win” rule.

The rule is that whoever has the most chips at the end of a game is

the winner and is not required to participate in any subsequent

game. Conversely, the person with the fewest chips – takes off a

piece of clothing.

This win-lose rule continues until there are two players… and the last

two are Sudden Death. The players will continue to play one-on-one

until one of them is in their underwear.

And finally, the “number of clothes taken off = number of chips” rule,

which is not good for me.

Players are replenished with chips before each game, and the

number of chips is “the number of clothes you have taken off up to

that point (at the entire cast off table).

In other words, the closer you are to wearing only your underwear,

the more tips you get.

According to this rule, in the first round of roulette…

Fuuma, who is only wearing her blouse, gets 4 tokens.

Jeanne, wearing only a ribbon and skirt, has 3 tokens.

Hiraga, who took off both socks, gets 2 tokens.

And me – I only took off my shirt, so I only get one token.

I guess this is the strategy for trying to balance the clothes that

survivors have right now.

Moreover, every time a loser takes off a piece of clothing they gain

one more chip.

In short, the system also makes you stronger when you lose. Here,

too, Riko has done a splendid job.

“What do you do when you bet on number zero? In that case, you

don’t want the dealer’s share, do you?”

At that, Aria pointed to…

The only hole on the turntable colored green, number zero.

Normally, the dealer gets all the chips on the table when the ball

enters 0.

But Aria is right, this time the players are competing against each

other for the number of chips, so it would be a hole that is not used…

“The rule for this game is that the door has to be blocked. It has

nothing to do with this game, so if the ball entered it it would just ruin

it.”

Riko was about to put the spare ball in the zero hole when…

“Non, Riko. This is how we do it in France.”

Jeanne, who was standing by a bouquet of fresh flowers displayed in

a vase in the room…

Gently folded a single rose in her hand and filled the 0 hole with it.

“Aaaa Kiiiii!”

Riko’s reaction is right, it is a very cute and chic way to block the

hole.

The originally magnificent roulette table was even more spectacular

now.

Well, no matter how we embellish it… what we are doing is a tactless

undressing game.

Now it was time for the roulette game… the dealer for the first round

was the pair of Aria and Reki.

Reki was the one who it was decided would put the balls into the

turntable, and Aria was supposed to do the backstage work.

Aria know’s about Reki’s dealer abilities too, I’m sure of it.

Damn. You never know what life has in store for you. Just yesterday

when I was having dinner with Aria. If I knew this would happen, I

wouldn’t have annoyed her and told her “I’m bored, so let’s talk about

something that isn’t boring instead.”

… Roulette is commonly known as the “Queen of Casinos.”

Standing across the roulette table from us, Reki, silent with her usual

expressionless face, looks like a queen with… immense power.

Can I, who has long been called “slave” by Aria, possibly beat a

queen?

My henchman, Fuuma, is useless in roulette. Roulette balls are light,

so if you manipulate the results with a short-breath tube, like she did

in billiards, you would be exposed in an instant.

But I still must fight. And I have to survive. Defeat is not an option

here.

–I refuse to lose to such a naked (or more accurately, a underwear

clad) queen.

“…”

“…”

In front of me glaring is Reki… ping, kur kuru kuru.

Aria, in playing card-patterned underwear, tossed a coin.

“Because the coin landed on reverse, it is ‘post betting’. Everyone

bets after Reki throws the ball.” (TL Note: Reverse side of a yen coin

= side without the number on it)

Aria declares this to the players while referring to the rule book.

(Okay… I was really lucky there.)

I chuckle a little under my broken transilluminated goggles.

Reki should not be able to decide which hole the ball will fall through

after I bet to ensure I lose.

This time, this will be a game of luck.

(But still, it is not good just leaving it up to chance.)

I myself am a countermeasure against Reki.

Because without me there isn’t a countermeasure.

“Roulette start~o! Aria, push that button there~!”

Riko, in a flirtatious mood, handed out chips to us, and Aria hit the

switch on the table…

…Kuro… Kuro…Kurokuro…

The wheel that dictates our destiny, the roulette, begins to spin.

“I am a single bullet…”

Reki holds up a white ball with a finger as if it were hanging on the

trigger of a gun.

Your eyes…

(…!)

I just saw it. I am sure of it.

Black, number 10.

People probably did not notice because they were looking at the ball,

but I was following Reki’s gaze… so I knew. I am fortunately about to

get a sweet victory, I know it!

The numbers 0-36 on the roulette holes are arranged in a different

order than numerical.

And next to number 10 is number 23.

Number 23 is the one I had bet on and won when I was at the

Casino previously with Reki on a mission.

I guess Reki figured I would bet there again.

Snipers work on the assumption that the behavior patterns of people,

or targets, are rather uniform, that they come out of the same doors,

or frequent the same stores, etc.

And… Reki put the ball in 10, next to 23…

If I bet on 23 and lost, in my head I would go “that was so close!” and

she would then also inflict psychological trauma as well.

And like other forms of gambling, roulette is a funny bet that can ruin

you if your mental faculties waver.

“A bullet has no heart, therefore it does not think…”

Reki glances at number 10 a few times, and then begins to

concentrate by chanting her mantra like a spell…

I knew it, she is displaying a snipers habits all over the place. I did

not overlook her eye movements.

Last year, when I was still in the assault department, we were mainly

taught close combat, and so we were strictly instructed on hiding our

eye movements during combat. This is because the enemy could tell

where we were going to aim based on where we were looking and

thus they could avoid us.

On the other hand though, there is no such instruction in the snipe

department. They tend to stare at their target because they are

remote and thus enemies cannot see their eye movement, and they

also stare to increase their accuracy at long ranges.

“… I merely fly to where I am supposed to be.”

Reki slides the ball into the edge of the turntable…

“Yes, bet!”

Aria announces the start of betting.

The turntable and balls will continue to spin around for some time to

come.

In the meantime, players bet chips.

The rule is that the players with the most chips bet first, so up first is

Fuuma.

I send a code to Fuuma with my body movements and coughing,

“10, but do not make it obvious”.

Fuuma, by touching her ponytail, or rather her chonmage, replied

with “I shall”.

“Then, here and here.”

Two of her four chips on hand were bet vertically (three times the

payout) in two rows with the remainder placed on 1 and 2. With a

probability of 2/3, it looks like a solid strategy to at least raise your

token count by 1.

But that wager also casually includes the number 10 I told you about.

Good one, Fuuma.

“Fufufu. Let’s match my bet with the color of our dealer’s, Aria’s,

eyes.”

Jeanne bet all three of her chips on red (doubling the payout), so

that she can win even if Fuuma wins and she has five chips.

“Uwaa! Then this is how Ayaya is!”

Hiraga-san, with only two chips…

One token is wagered odd (double the payout) and the other card is

wagered as a sixth bet from 22 to 27.

I guess her thinking was that if it lands on 23, 25, or 27, you get 7

tokens and win at the top, and if it lands on 22, 24, or 26, you get 6

tokens and don’t end up in last place.

But – I am sorry Hiraga-san.

It is the black 10 that the ball will land in. You will lose all your chips

and a piece of clothing, by the way.

By the way, Jeanne’s red bet is also off, but only because the

rulebook said that if they end up with the same number of pieces, the

later bet loses.

I was not paying attention to the roulette and the balls, which were

slowing down.

“Reki. You lost because… you are a sniper!”

With a grin, I bet on number 10 with my sole token.

But Reki had no reaction. Well, Reki is always like this, so this is

natural.

“You are such an idiot, Kinji. You could have won 9 tokens with a 4

eyes bet and still come out on top. There is a good chance that

Hiraga-san will win an odds only bet, you could have protected

yourself with a dozen different bets.”

Since conversation is not prohibited during play, Aria says so with

some mixed english.

“It’s okay. I will make a prediction. This ball will land in black 10.”

“You are betting on a 1/36 chance of victory? You really are an idiot.

Then, yes, the betting is now over.”

Beside Reki, who is standing there in silence, Aria rings a small bell

twice.

KoroKoroKoro…

And the ball that was rolling, katsun, katsun, katsun…

Started bouncing on the metal dividers of the turntable…

I was smiling and wondering what Aria would say if it landed in black

10…

Koronn.

And landed in a hole…

How is it, Reki-kun and Aria-kun? Are you surprised?

“You see. Red 23. Baka Kinji.”

The payout will be 3 for Fuuma-san who now has a total of 5, 6 for

Jeanne-san, and 7 for Hiraga-san. Therefore, the winner of this

game is Hiraga. Kinji-san will be the loser with zero chips.

The Aria-Reki pai says that.

(hu-….Huh…?)

The ball… landed… in red 23, next to black 10…? I’m sorry, what?

Instead of rubbing my eyes, I scrubbed my goggles and looked

again, but…

I’m sure it’s in there. Not in black 10, but in red 23…!

“Kinji-san. You lost because you did not know that snipers fight by

reading their target’s personality.”

In a hushed voice, Reki responded to my earlier quip…

(You-, you read that…!) (TL Note: note, this is not literal, it more so

means she read his personality and guessed his next moves)

The fact that Reki was looking at black 10 earlier was… an act she

was doing on purpose to trick me, as she was thinking “Kinji-san

thinks that the bet is on red 23″. It was an act to trick me.

She led me to bet on black 10 as she put the ball into red 23.

I mean… to Reki, who knows exactly who I am, how I think, and how

I work…

I was just lured out and shot.

So I was just set up in the typical pattern of snipers taking out

assault reconnaissance units.

“I did it! Ayaya is the winner!”

I nodded my head in disappointment next to Hiraga-san, who was

bouncing around in her short skirt.

I thought I would win this round and Hiraga would be the one to take

off a piece of clothing. It turned out to be the exact opposite.

“Tsk… but next time it won’t end like this.”

I take off one of my socks with a cheap villain like like and get a chip

from Riko for the second game.

This roulette game… even if you lost in it, it is not all that bad.

The more pieces you take off, the more chips you get.

I got two tokens this time. Now, my bets can be more strategic than

before.

(But…)

Fuuma, awkwardly looking away from me, has five tokens in her

hand plus four more from missing clothes, for a total of 9 tokens.

Jeanne, who had bet red for the right reason (Aria’s eye color) also

increased her chips by 3 with payout for a total of 9 tokens.

The number of chips I have is extremely low, I am at too much of a

disadvantage. (TL Note: In case you forgot the rules, the winner

does not have to participate in any subsequent game, hence why

Ayaya is not here.)

The next dealer pair, with gritted teeth was…

The pair is Shirayuki in her black lace underwear and Riko in gold

underwear.

Since my goggles are still broken I can see it, this ironic casino color

pair of gold and black.

“In the second round… at her own insistence, Yuki chan will be

throwing in the ball!”

While Riko was saying that, Pashi~

After a coin toss, the second round was a “front bet”, in which the

player places his chips and then the dealer throws in the balls.

“Well, here is a certain win then. Safety first.”

First, Fuuma bet one chip on the first half of 1-18 (double payout),

and then she sent me a coded message saying “Please bet on the

sixth”. Fuuma was going to pretend to play a safe tile to lower her

own payout and give me a chance to win.

But… that was a bit too unnatural. I’m not sure about this..

The dealer, Riko, raised her eyebrows, as if she found that bet

boring.

Riko then glanced at me… does she suspect something is up?

(…tsu…)

If they find out about the teamwork between me and Fuuma, they will

make us both strip side by side. And they won’t stop at just our

underwear.

A little impatient, I hastily sent a code to Fuuma, “Bet one more

quickly”.

“…and this is in preparation for the battle to come.”

Seeing my cipher, Fuuma quickly gave a good reason and puts a

chip on the table in a place that makes sense, 34-36.

She put the chip on a 3-eyed-bet. The payout is large, 9x, but it is a

bet that is unlikely to win.

For a strange act like throwing away that bet…

“oo~! Ninnin-chan, why did you bet there?”

Riko’s flirty eyes became joyful all at once.

It seems that the mood has been lifted by Fuuma’s outrageous

gambling act, and the faint suspicion has disappeared.

“Those are the last 3 numbers. There is good fortune in the

leftovers.”

I just noticed, Fuuma is pretty good at lying.

She answered right away and I did not see a single color change in

her face.

“Well… even if Toyama is far behind, to beat Fuuma…”

While casually disregarding me as any kind of threat and declaring

war on Fuuma, Jeanne bet 2 tokens.

With her beautiful white fingertips, she placed one token in the 1-12

dozen betting position and the other in the 13-24 dozen betting

position. Not interesting, but a solid bet.

Jeanne, who is apparently used to playing roulette, played one more

card…

She bet on numbers 1-3, 3 eyes.

“There is a saying in France, ‘When money leads, all the gates

open’. In honor of this, I bet on the first line. Now that Fuuma has

gotten things going, I must get in on the act.” (TL Note: I cannot find

what the actual saying is. If anyone knows a French saying involving

money/gold and gates feel free to message me.)

As expected, players with a large number of tokens can afford to

potentially waste some.

Afterall, even if Fuuma beats you, you won’t be last since you will

win something yourself…

That strategy can also make Jeanne come out on top if the balls are

in the 19-24 range, i.e. a 1/6 chance. That is, of course, if the jackpot

comes in 1-3. Well, that is a negligible probability, just like the 34-36

that Fuuma bet on.

I have two chips, and so cannot afford it…

As Fuuma said, I have no choice but to bet all on the sixth.

That would be 6x the payout, so 12 tokens if it lands. I could beat

both Fuuma and Jeanne.

(The odds are the same everywhere, but where should I bet?)

There is good fortune in leftovers… are you telling me to rely on that

good fortune and bet on 31-36 at the end of the roulette?

(-or was that you just asking God for help… I guess it is really time to

just start taking bets…)

I let out a small sigh as I put my chips there.

“And that’s the end of the bet!”

Riko declared the end of the bet and rang the small bell cheerfully

twice.

“Then, here we go.”

With a snap, Shirayuki took the ball in her hand and…

“fufu… ufufufu… This is called ‘Avenging Edo’s Enemies in

Nagasaki’. Jeanne.”

Shirayuki is flashing the same kind of hostility at Jeanne that Reki

was flashing at me earlier.

I mean, you are actually naming people Shirayuki.

“Eedough? Nag-a-saki?” (TL Note: Jeanne says this in Katakana,

aka Japanese alphabet for foreign languages. Thus, imagine

someone with zero knowledge of Japanese or Japanese words

saying Edo and Nagasaki.)

Jeanne raised a shapely eyebrow, apparently unaware of the saying,

“Avenge Edo’s enemies in Nagasaki,” which means “to make up for

a humiliation once suffered in an unexpected way.

“You insulted the hot, passionate feelings Kin-Chan gave me during

our billiard game. Should I let this grudge go – Ekoeko Azarak, Onkiri

Kiribasaraun grasshopper, La Yodasou Stiana ……!” (TL Note: this

won’t translate, cannot figure out what it means, probably a miko

chant)

Kaaah! Shirayuki’s eyes and mouth were wide open and she was

chanting some kind of curse words…

Damn, now she is in Kuroyuki mode…!

I was not quite sure what Jeanne had said to me during the billiards

game, and I had no memory of having given Shirayuki any

passionate feelings in the first place, but…

(But this could be our new ally…!)

I feel a certain dependability in Shirayuki’s appearance, which

exudes a dusky black aura.

After the fifth round of the cast-off table, the losers of the first four

rounds are given a chance for this kind of retaliatory attack.

One of those sore losers, Shirayuki, is apparently targeting Jeanne.

Jeanne doesn’t seem to know what it is that Shirayuki is resenting

her for, and she has a few hatena marks on her head, but it is a fact

that… Shirayuki has identified you as an enemy.

“This white ball is my pure feelings for Kin-Chan-Sama. It is the

virtue of a Yamato Nadeshiko to respond to feelings with feelings.

Here or… here or… here or…”

tsu… tsu… tsu…

And Shirayuki, calling herself a Yamato Nadeshiko, strokes each of

the metal dividers attached to numbers 31-36 of the roulette.

“I’ll put it… here or… here or… here! With the power of passion!”

It seems that no one can tell what is happening in Shirayuki’s world

anymore.

“Then, let’s turn it then-…”

The ever-aggressive Riko-san subtly pulls back and presses the

button to turn the turntable.

Kuro, Kuro, Kuroro.

“Taaaa-!”

Shirayuki, eager to get started, threw the ball in right away.

And… Katsun, katsunkatsun.

The balls, which were not very fast despite Shirayuki’s burning spirit,

soon started to hit the partition plate.

Katsun, katsun…

Koron.

“…!”

Oh, come on, come on, come on…!

“Black 35…!”

Oh, it landed where I bet…!

I was about to strike a pose when…

Fuuma turned around with her acorn eyes wide open.

(Ahh…!)

That’s it.

I forgot because it was like throwing away my bet, but Fuuma also…

I was betting on… 34-36…!

“Oh, stupid…! What the hell…!”

“Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooaa

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!! Nin-nin first winning 12 tokens for a total

of 19 tokens! 2nd place Ki-Kun also paid 12 tokens, and last place is

Jeanne!”

Jeanne and Riko look into the turntable with an expression of shock.

“Did you see that, Jeanne? This is the power of our passion!”

Shirayuki is looking up over the turntable with a Hinomaru fan she

retrieved from who knows where, and sprinkling white snow-like

confetti, also retrieved from who knows where, to create a

celebratory atmosphere.

Fuuma looks at me with a “You were born to be smitten” expression –

even though I won.

“… ha~a… they say roulette is inhabited by demons, and it would

appear that is true.”

Jeanne, with a listless sigh, chii~. She unzipped her zipper on the

spot.

-The skirt!

“o, oh come on! Why are you taking off your skirt? If you have to take

off a piece of clothing, take off your ribbon!”

“It’s a reminder to myself. Besides, it’s hot here, we are far from the

air conditioner.”

And while saying that.

Jeanne, the Silver Ice Witch, who currently seems to be sweating a

little, is… No, she has taken it off her skirt!

But…!

The underwear covering her waist is made of the same large fabric

as the one above, and looks like a pair of white bloomers.

It looks like gym clothes, so even though her clothes are a little bit

loose, Hysteria Weissman… can go on. I think I can still hold on.

Nevertheless, her toned hip lines were in full view. Her thighs are as

white as freshly produced white cakes, and they are slightly

glistening with sweat like morning dew…

(…ugh…)

Its healthy texture could, in turn, spark an unhealthy imagination.

Dangerous. Those thighs are dangerous.

Jeanne is… now in just underwear and ribbon, truly looks like a

pervert.

So, from here on out, I am in a one horse race.

After that, I found out that Kuroyuki, who managed to get the ball to

land in black 35, which was the number I indeed bet on, is…

-She… she was cheating.

I noticed this when I helped Shirayuki remove the confetti paper from

the turntable.

-It was warm. A part of the turntable was strangely warm.

I cannot tell anyone because if I reveal it, Shirayuki will be forced to

go fully nude, but in short; earlier, Shirayuki touched the metal plate

while saying “here and here and here” and heated up the metal

plate. I’m sure of it.

Although her name is Snow, Shirayyuki’s true identity is that of a fire-

wielding priestess. (TL Note: Just in case you forgot or did not know,

Shira Yuki translates to Snow white with Shira (shiro) being white

and Yuki meaning snow.)

I don’t know the details, but I guess it would be easy enough for her

to heat up.

Lead is used in the divider plate. Lead expands easily when heated

out of most metals. I remember learning in chemistry class that its

coefficient of linear expansion is about three times that of iron.

Then Shirayuki stretched the dividers, which were supposed to be

uniform, to make them uneven only for certain numbers, increasing

the probability that the balls would be placed in the numbers 31-36,

which I had bet on…

Then Shirayuki pretended to pour confetti on it and fanned the

turntable with a fan to cool it down and destroy the evidence. It

worked, and by the time I touched it, the divider board had cooled

and was almost back to normal.

(Shirayuki said this was the power of passion or something like

that…)

Well she was half right. But it was not the Power of Passion but the

Power of Heat instead that got me this victory.

Now I’m thinking… Jeanne has 11 tokens and I have 15 tokens after

being replenished for the 3rd round. While I do have an advantage, it

is not a big advantage.

The dealer pair that replaced Shirayuki and Riko was Aria and…

“Third round is post betting.”

“I will throw the ball in again.”

.. Reki, again.

Reki will keep coming after me like a hunter tracks their prey. This

time, too.

And while the other side has versatile skills that can be used for

roulette, we are weaponless.

I’m in the mood to abandon this game now that Fuuma does not

have to participate anymore. I seriously just want to give up.

I thought about betting on Reki’s greenish hair color (0), but that

green hole, number 0, is blocked by a rose. I can’t even get a little bit

of good luck here.

And here-

“Riko. I didn’t see this in the rulebook, but what happens if the ball

doesn’t land into any of the holes?”

Reki asked that to Riko.

“Huh? If the ball does not fall into any hole? It is forbidden for the

dealer to intentionally drop the ball outside, right? Isn’t that in the rule

book?”

“Yes. The book did say that, but that is when things like that

happen.”

“The turntable is mechanical, so it’s not like the ball is going to be

bounced around.”

Riko thought as she put her finger to her pink lips.

“Then let’s have a celebration and congratulations if the impossible

happens. Both players lose and take off one piece of clothing!”

“Sorry~!” and Riko saluted both me and Jeanne with both her hands.

If you feel sorry then add an appropriate rule!

“Wait a minute! That would be an added disadvantage to the player!”

I immediately protested…

“With Reki’s skill, she might be able to get the ball to bounce off the

mechanical turntable. So… yeah… wait a minute.”

I ran to the umbrella stand at the entrance.

And I brought my own plastic umbrella, which I had brought because

an evening shower was predicted.

I unfolded it and broke the handle.

“When Reki puts the ball in, put this umbrella over the turntable to

cover it. It’s transparent, so we can see inside. That way, it won’t

affect her and the ball cannot bounce out.”

I propose this rule to nullify Riko’s additional new rule.

“Ummm, okay. What about you, Rekyu? Is this okay?”

“… that’s fine.”

Kokuri. (TL Note: Kokuri is an onomatopoeia to “nod up and

down”.)

Reki nodded.

But… Reki still looks suspicious to me. Reki usually only ‘kokkuris’,

but this time she said that it is fine. That is not like her.

So… Reki has something else in mind.

I looked at the turntable again and… I noticed something.

“One more thing… There is a chance that Reki is going to put the

ball on the rose that plugged up the zero hold. That, too, would mean

that “the ball didn’t land in a hole.”

“You are desperate Kinji.”

“Aria, shut up. When the ball stops on the rose, replace the dealer.

No, ban Reki from participating in the future. I won’t allow her to

waste my time.”

It seems that Riko interpreted my sense of desperation as instead an

expression of enjoyment of the game, going “Uhh, Okka~y!” and

allowed my rule to be added to the game.

“…”

Still, the roulette wheel that Reki looks down on in silence,

expressionless, and emotionless, began to turn…

“… I am a single bullet.”

Tsuu! Reki threw a ball into the air.

Huh.

You put it in pretty fast, but you didn’t throw it to make it bounce,

you just rolled it in normally.

I see. So you were left with nothing to do because I blocked

everything you were trying to do.

I laugh and put my plastic umbrella over the roulette.

“Yes, bet.” (TL Note: this might sound weird but it is what Reki says.

She usually just starts sentences with an affirmation of something or

a denial, thus either “yes” or “no”. In this scenario, she is affirming

that now you can bet. Sounds weird in English though.)

The ball continues to slide around the edge of the turntable and Aria

rings a small bell…

(So, this is just a normal game?)

I bet two chips and, just like Fuuma in the first round, I bet vertically

in each of the two columns with a payout of 3 times my bet.

In other words, I have a 2/3 chance of getting one more chip – a

strategy that will result in 16 chips total.

I am playing defensively, but if I lose, I’ve got another game to play.

Let’s be defensive.

“Now, what are you going to do, Jeanne? You have already lost most

of your clothes, but if you lose here… they will strip you of even that

ribbon.”

I say something provocative to try to get Jeanne to lose some of her

cool.

“Toyama. It is no use trying to make me lose any of my composure.”

Huh. It was a little obvious what my goal was, wasn’t it?

Beside my slightly flushed face, Jeanne, who was concentrating on

the table…

“But the fact is, the only clothes I have left is my ribbon. Let’s go on

the offensive with everything I got.”

1 piece at a time, sa~, sa~, sa~.

All her bets were vertical 2-eye bets anre are multiples of 3, such as

3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18…

Furthermore, she bet 2-eyes 1-2, 4-5… as well as 13-14.

It is a complicated bet but I can read her aim.

No matter where she wins, the payout is 18. She is going to beat me.

Thus, the table was set with me on the defensive and Jeanne on the

offensive.

Metaphorically speaking, I am a warlord holed up in a distant

mountain castle, and the Knight Jeanne d’Arc is currently attacking

the castle.

(who will win…?)

-Katsun, katsunkatsun.

Here we go, the balls started bouncing over the dividers.

“…”

All of us peered with bated breath at the ball under the plastic

umbrella.

Katsun, pofu, katsun.

Ah. Now the ball bounced on the rose for a moment as well.

Katsun, pofu, katsun.

… again.

Stop on the roses anyway please. Then Rekki will be banned and I

will have one less enemy.

Katsun, pofo, katsun.

Katsun, pofu, katsun.

It is bouncing on roses over and over again…

Because Reki threw the ball in so hard, the turntable stopped turning

first…

The ball, right after that…

Katsut.

Suddenly it stopped.

“””””””—-!”””””””

“…”

Everyone is so surprised that they can’t speak, and only Reki is

staring at the void in a daze.

Ta, ta, ta, the balls are…

It didn’t fall into any of the holes

• • • • • • •• • • •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

.

Red 1 and Black 20…

It is stuck on the divider!

This roulette ball is about the size of a ping pong ball.

And Reki managed to put it on top of the divider that is only a few

millimeters thick and stop it…

“…”

Reki is standing there like a life-size figure, but this girl is really…

It is “super human” with super on top of super.

I’m impressed. Even though you are the enemy I am impressed, you

defeated me completely. I admit defeat, Reki.

This is amazing… Isn’t this a once-in-a-lifetime miracle?”

“Oh… this, this, this, then, both Ki-kun and Jeanne will take one off,

and… Jeanne will be eliminated from the Cast-Off table…”

It was so unexpected that both Riko and Aria are in a cold sweat.

“Aa… Aaa… How am I going to lose at… Roulette! Mon Dieu!!”

With a grand gesture, Jeanne looked up to the heavens and raised

the torn ribbon to the sky…

… Jeanne is an over the top girl. It is not like she actually went

bankrupt at the casino.

Beside Jeanne, I took off my other sock and went barefoot.

“Oh… ohhh…”

Jeanne, who had been mourning like in the comic strip “The Rose of

Versailles”…

(… rose…)

-!

Ha, I just realized.

And when the miraculous ball on top of the turntable was removed

with a snap…

I could tell by the slight resistance I felt at my fingertips.

When I figured it out, Reki took the ball out of my hand.

“…”

I casually sneak a peek at Reki. Making eye contact I wipe the ball

with my finger and stick my tongue out at her.

…Well, I guess I will just have to keep my mouth shut.

The game has already been decided, and I’ve already admitted

defeat and taken off my clothes.

“I will keep my mouth shut to keep the peace and quiet”

I pretend to touch the table and tell Reki with a finger signal

commonly used by Butei.

Snap. Pachi-pachi. Reki responded with the message “I

understand”.

(-Roses and…)

I take the rose that was blocking the 0 hole and slip my finger inside

the petal.

Naturally, there is nectar in the flower. It is a somewhat sticky nectar.

Reki threw the ball to hit this rose multiple times, and put its nectar

on the surface.

She then used the nectar as a glue to ensure that the ball would get

stuck on the divider.

However, whatever the trick was, it was a superhuman feat that you

can place the ball on the divider in the first place.

Well, I am going to remove one of the “super”s I gave you earlier…

Round 5 of the Cast-Off Table – the roulette game – is now over.

The time left on Hysteria Weissman is… about 8 minutes left.

(Depending on the competition…)

If I continue at this pace… I should be able to make it out alive.

“Paris was one thing but… Japanese summers can be hot, too.”

Jeanne, the loser, wearing her molded bra…

Eh. Wait a minute. Why are you putting your hand on your breasts?

“Hey, hey Jeanne! You don’t have to take off your bra too!”

“You shouldn’t become desperate just because you lost!”

Jeanne’s unusual behaviour has even the girls panicked. Aria and

Hiraga are panicking too.

“What do you mean…? Oh, no, rest assured. I am not a pervert. I

had heard that Toyama was coming too, so I was wearing, on top of

my regular underwear, a sports underwear. While everyone else was

proudly exposing their underwear, I felt a little guilty, so I was going

to take it off.”

Jeanne stopped Aria and the others.

“-Toyama, you can’t see the girls bodies through those goggles,

right?”

She suddenly asked me this, and my heart nearly jumped out of my

mouth.

“Th-that’s right, you are as white as a Maeda Cracker.” (TL Note: I

have 0 clue what a Maeda Cracker is, other than well, it is probably a

cracker snack, but kept it in for accuracy. This is just a simile since

im guessing the cracker is white like the girls through the goggles.)

“”””””as white as… Maeda’s Crackers…?””””””

Almost all the girls were “hmm?”-ing and tilting their heads in

confusion, with only Shirayuki sighing a little, and I…

Oh, no. I was in such a hurry and panic that I answered in my

grandfather’s favorite phrase – the deadliest of dead languages – with

a line that was too suspicious. I’m at…!

“…Toyama, you speak strange Japanese sometimes.”

Jeanne, saying something that, “Puchi…” unhooks herself from her

molded bra.

“!”

I have never seen a woman remove her bra before, even though she

is wearing a double layered bra.

Oh, so that is how you remove it, with your hands behind your back.

It looks like a lot of work, even though I can’t see your back.

And naturally, this is also a first for Jeanne, who also takes off her

bottom underwear without a second thought…

“…tsu…?!”

uaaa…! I managed to control my voice, which had gone all the way

up my throat with a final “tsu”.

Jeanne…

She was reborn with dazzling white skin characteristic of Caucasians

and too much dazzling white lingerie…

Combined with her sparkling silver hair, she is already a diving

beauty.

And the lingerie, which seems to have been imported, is… well, it’s a

bold design…!

The thin fabric, glamorously decorated with fine lace and embroidery

that looked as if it had been handmade by craftsmen over many

months, covered only a fraction of Jeanne’s slender body.

The top only covers about 60% of the breast surface area from

below, and the soft white twin daisies are almost fully visible in the

upper half.

Since they have no shoulder straps, it would be a big problem if

someone wearing them were to bend forwards since someone could

see a gap between the underwear and the skin.

The front edge of her underwear was sharply narrowed, and her

buttocks, which were visible when she turned her head toward the

refrigerator, were also narrowed down to a thong… It is thin… too

thin…

… Jeanne! What are you wearing! You are a high schooler!

(Oh, you lost to me, but you are now fighting back in a way that was

too unexpected!)

How’s my… blood flow…!

It is slowly coming back in subtle ways. I was a fool. I thought it

would still take around 8 minutes and I could stay strong.

But it seems that the wise man hasn’t completely lost his power yet.

He is still alive.

This Cast-Off table…

Now I have to fight the surviving players and the losers…

In my mind, like a devil and an angel… the battle of the Fool and the

Wise begins…!

Gunshot For The Next!!!