Chapter 31

The day after the club fee war.

After finishing my morning classes, I was eating lunch with Reia and Rose as usual when the intercom announcement came on.

"First-year Allen Roadel, please come to the student council room immediately. I repeat, first-year Allen Roadel—"

That voice was undoubtedly the president's, the one I had just fought with yesterday.

Even if she says "immediately"...

It was clear that it wasn't going to be something trivial.

However, I couldn't ignore someone who had been called out over the intercom.

I dragged my heavy feet and headed to the student council room.

■

And now,

"Hey, Allen-kun."

"…What is it, President?"

I was being bombarded with questions by the president, who was smiling creepily in the student council room.

There were four of us in the room: me, the president, the secretary Lirim-senpai, and the treasurer Ferris-senpai.

Lirim-senpai was polishing her sword, and Ferris-senpai was reading a fashion magazine while eating snacks.

Neither of them seemed to have any intention of stopping the president's rampage.

"What was that thing yesterday, anyway?"

The president, sitting in a grand chair, asked me, who was standing across the desk from her.

"…What thing are you talking about exactly?"

"Hmm, you're playing dumb…? Then let me change the question. —You were clearly holding back at first, right?"

"No, I wasn't."

Yesterday's battle, I fought with all my strength from start to finish.

Then,

"Lie! If that's the case, what was that one strike?! What was the one that broke my sword?!"

She slammed her hand on the desk and stood up, firing questions at me rapidly.

"Well, that was..."

To be honest, I still don't know what it was.

(I guess it's not related... )

The sensation was different from when my body was taken over.

Most importantly, there was no surge of soul energy at all.

"The dramatic comeback when you were cornered—must have felt great, right? I was made to look like a fool!"

"Well, that's... "

...She seems to have a slightly childish side despite her mature appearance and aura.

The president pouted and sat back down in her chair.

"...Hey, do you enjoy bullying girls?"

"N-no, that's not my intention at all..."

"..."

"..."

She suddenly fell silent.

It's a bit of a problem to be glared at like that...

"...So, you're not going to apologize, huh?"

It seems she was waiting for my apology.

If she doesn't say it clearly, I wouldn't know.

"For a stubborn guy like Allen-kun—let's have a match."

"A match?"

When I asked, she responded,

"Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da—Da-dan!"

Suddenly, she did a poor drum roll and took out a deck of cards.

"...A card game, then?"

"That's right! Do you know 'Poker,' Allen-kun?"

"I know the rules at least..."

"That's good."

She took out twenty coins from the desk drawer and handed me half of them.

"What are these...?"

"Hehe, they're 'lives.'"

She smiled mysteriously and began to explain.

"From now on, Allen-kun and I will play poker with these lives. The rules are very simple, so you can just listen casually."

She continued,

"First, we each bet one life. Then we draw five cards and enter the first betting round. You can bet more lives or keep the same number. —But if your opponent bets more lives, you have to match the number."

Nothing particularly unusual.

It's a typical poker flow.

"Then, we can exchange cards once and enter the final betting round. If you have a good hand, you can bet more lives. If you have a bad hand, you can fold."

"What happens if I fold?"

"You lose half of the lives you've bet so far. Fractions are rounded up."

I see...

"If neither of us folds, we reveal our hands—'the stronger hand' wins. The winner takes all the lives bet in that round."

She summarized the basic rules,

"To put it simply—play poker normally, and the one who runs out of lives first loses."

"I understand."

The rules were nothing special.

Just a regular poker game.

(Well, maybe I should lose at some point...)

If I win here, I'll get involved in more troublesome things.

(In order to avoid leaving any grudges, I'll win moderately and—ultimately lose)

While I was thinking this, the president said something very, very troublesome.

"And the loser has to do one thing the winner says!"

"...Are you serious, President?"

"Dead serious. No matter what the command, the loser must absolutely obey. ...Got it?"

"Ha, I understand..."

There's no way she would back down even if I said 'no.'

It's better to finish this quickly by settling the match.

(Luckily, I'm not bad at card games)

I'll probably win.

"Alright. —Let's start the first match!"

Then, the president and I placed one life each in the center of the table.

"Hehe, I'm getting excited."

She firmly gripped the deck and dealt five cards to each of us.

(Ah... this is a trick)

I realized it as soon as the game started.

(Despite challenging me to a match like a child, she's willing to do such things behind the scenes...)

As the student council president, she's a bit devious...

But, it's nostalgic.

(Card tricks were something Jii-san was good at...)

When I was little.

I often begged Jii-san, who used all sorts of tricks, "How did you do that!? Teach me!"

I recalled those old days while calmly playing the game.

Fortunately, the president's tricks were very cute.

I had plenty of time to set up my own tricks.

After two and three more matches, my preparations were complete.

(This is good... Now I just have to wait for the president to make her move)

Then, it became a seesaw game of taking and losing lives.

On the seventh match,

"That face... You must have a good hand, Allen-kun?"

Finally, the president made her move.

My hand was a two and a five pair.

With the option to exchange cards, it was a very good hand that could potentially become a three of a kind or a full house.

"President, you really can see through everything, can't you?"

"Yes, it's obvious from your face."

She's not really looking at my face, though...

The president was smug, not suspecting that everything was transparent to me.

"I think continuing this seesaw game is pointless... How about we bet all our lives on this match?"

As expected, she proposed this.

I responded calmly, inwardly smirking.

"...That's scary. What kind of strong hand do you have, President?"

"Hehe, probably about the same as Allen-kun's?"

"...Alright. I have confidence in my hand, so I'll accept."

"Alright, I'll change one card!"

She quickly exchanged a card.

It seems the top card of the deck was the key.

"Hehe, Allen-kun, please exchange your cards."

The president was already confident of her victory.

She was smiling happily the whole time.

"Alright. I'll exchange my cards."

I discarded all my cards and

"...What?"

placed the five new cards from the deck face down in the center of the table.

"Five... all exchanged...!?"

"Yes. In big matches like this, I leave it to fate."

"Plus, not even checking the cards... Are you sane!?"

"Yes, I'm going to play with this hand."

"..."

Faced with the unexpected situation, the president was taken aback.

"...What will you do? Of course, you can still fold."

That's right.

She still has the option to fold.

If she folds, she'll only lose half her lives and avoid immediate defeat.

"Hmph...! Such a bluff won't work! (Was it rigged...? No, impossible...! I dealt the cards, and I shuffled them before that. Allen-kun had no chance to interfere... So this must be... 100% just a bluff!)"

"Too bad... "

She let go of her last chance.

"Cards open! My hand is an 'Eight of a Kind'! Show me your hand!"

"Alright."

Then, I revealed the five cards one by one from the top of the small pile.

The ten of spades.

The jack of spades.

The queen of spades.

The king of spades.

"Lie...!?"

And the last card was—the ace of spades.

"Sorry, President. 'Royal Flush'—it seems I've won this match."

Four of a kind versus a royal flush.

I achieved an overwhelming victory.

Then, Lirim-senpai and Ferris-senpai, who had been listening, quickly came over.

"Amazing...! A royal flush...!?"

"An incredible probability...!"

Thus, the president, who suffered a complete defeat unexpectedly,

"This is definitely rigged! It's a trick, a trick!"

She pointed at me with a trembling hand and shouted.

"Hehe, who's the one rigging things?"

"What do you mean...?"

In response to her insistence on innocence, I pointed to one of the face-down cards and said,

"Is this a 'gimmick card' that reveals the number on the back...?"

"…!?"

When I clearly pointed out the trick, she couldn't immediately counter and turned pale, falling silent.