episode_0081

“So.”

Grace let out a deep sigh and gazed at Ashel with a serious expression.

“You called me because of a board game?”

“Yeah.”

Ashel nodded while setting up the board game on the table. At that, Grace showed clear disappointment. Regardless, Ashel and Saya set up the board and placed the pieces corresponding to the players at the starting point. They also sorted the various cards by type. Grace sighed again, watching them.

Ashel’s dorm room. She had come, having fretted over what to wear and even put on makeup, at the sudden call. Yet, the actual purpose was a board game. It was bound to bring disappointment to Grace, who had let her imagination run wild.

Wasn’t that obvious? It was natural to rush over like a dog if her former husband, who was never around when she looked for him for days and never called first, suddenly summoned her. In Grace’s common sense, it was like that. While going in and out of the academy and picking up lucky encounters was important, Ashel’s call was even more important than that. And this was the reward. Hugging her knees, she let out a deep sigh, she didn’t know how many times.

“You seem to be in a bad mood.”

Ellen, who was watching her, sat down next to Grace and said.

“It seems you’ve been wandering outside the academy for the past few days. Didn’t get much results?”

“No, it’s not like that.”

“Hmm. Is that so.”

Ellen replied like that and quickly looked around. Everywhere she turned her head, people were swarming.

“What kind of card is this?”

“It’s a card that determines your player concept.”

Saya and Ashel were setting up the board game on the table. Elena was standing behind them, sucking on a blood pack, and Celine was lying on the floor, carving constellations into the ceiling.

There wasn’t a single calm person anywhere. Celine kept waving her hand, muttering ‘This is Orpheus. This is Betelgeuse,’ and Ashel was learning the rules of the board game from Saya. Elena’s gaze had been fixed on Ashel’s neck for a while now. The only calm ones were Grace and Ellen. Thanks to that, the conversation the two of them were having quietly wasn’t conveyed to the others.

“Grace. Do you perhaps like Ashel?”

“Yeah.”

An immediate reply came back. Ellen smiled bitterly and took off her school uniform coat.

“I thought so. Every time we ran into each other, you’d ask if I knew where Ashel was, and you’d just talk on and on about Ashel… I couldn’t help but know, even if I didn’t want to.”

“I didn’t really intend to hide it. But why are you asking that?”

“I can help.”

Ellen turned her head towards Grace and showed a confident expression. On the other hand, Grace’s face was awkward.

“…Suddenly?”

“Suddenly? Isn’t it natural to help a friend with their love life? I don’t think there’s anything to be surprised about.”

“No, that’s true… but it’s so out of the blue.”

“Let me tell you the truth. The role of the protagonist’s helper in a novel I recently read looked too fun.”

Ellen stood up, gazing at the board game that was already set up.

“I wanted to try it too.”

“……?”

Grace looked up at Ellen with eyes that seemed to say ‘What the hell is this nonsense?’, but since she said she’d help, there was no need to refuse. She chuckled and nodded.

“Okay, I’ll take you up on that.”

At that moment, Ashel clapped his hands, drawing everyone’s attention.

“Alright everyone, gather ’round. Let’s play a game.”

Flash!

The board game, having absorbed plenty of Ashel’s magic, sparkled with a brilliant light.

***

The moment Ashel heard about the board game from Saya, he didn’t look back and said, ‘Let’s do it now.’ Thus, the board game party was formed. The group consisted solely of Ashel’s acquaintances. There were a total of 6 people, and excluding Ashel, they were all women. At this, Celine looked at him with strange eyes, but Ashel didn’t even give her a glance.

“Okay, here’s the rulebook. Everyone, read it.”

As befitted the grand name “Life Game,” the rules of the game were also quite complex. First, when the game begins, players each draw one [Start Card]. And with the characteristics written on it, they had to live from newborn to elder.

The characteristics were quite diverse. The number of cards was much larger than the number of participants, and there were also some fantastical contents included.

What Ellen drew was like that.

“You are a cat beastkin. Your actions are faster than others, and you can make quick decisions. But you must add ‘nyang’ at the end of every sentence…?”

“Nyang, you say?”

“That’s what it says, nyang?”

“?”

“Nyang?”

Ellen, whose speech pattern was forced, looked around with a flustered expression. Celine and Ashel, who had already known that the board game was enchanted, burst into laughter. Ellen shouted, blushing towards the two of them.

“D-Don’t laugh, nyang!”

“Keu-heo-eo-eo-eo-eo…! My stomach and cheeks feel like they’re going to tear!”

“Ce, Celine nyang!”

“Yes, *choke*, Lady Ellen Cat. Ce, *cough*, Celine Cat is here.”

“Eeeek nyang!”

As the usually stoic Ellen instantly became a cat filled with embarrassment and fluster, the laughter quickly spread to the others. Elena, who usually got along well with her, was practically crawling on the floor, bursting into uproarious laughter.

However, the card she drew was also not easy.

“You are a princess of the kingdom. You have more money than others and are steeped in authority. Your speech pattern becomes overbearing?”

“Oh, say something.”

“How presumptuous! If you dare to speak to me, use honorifics!”

“Ah-ha, like this?”

“Wh-What is this? I dislike it! Bring me cake and wine at once!”

“What are you talking about?”

Besides this, everyone drew a start card. To list each person’s characteristics, they were as follows.

Ellen was a Cat Swordsman, Elena was a Princess, Celine was a Saint, Saya was an Alchemist, Grace was a Duke, and Ashel was a Mercenary. Among these, Ellen, Elena, Celine, and Ashel had forced speech patterns. Celine and Ashel were still quite decent compared to the other two.

“Okay, now that we’ve drawn our start cards, shall we decide the turn order? Everyone, please draw one number card each.”

The number cards had numbers representing the order from 1 to 6.

The first turn was Ashel’s. But before rolling the dice, there was one more card that had to be drawn as soon as the game started.

It was the [Parent Card]. Ashel read the brief description written on the card he drew and frowned.

“You are an orphan. This fucking shit, an orphan here too. Am I always going to be an orphan bastard?”

“Brother! Aren’t your words too rough?”

“So what? It says this is the concept. You wanna really die?”

“Wh… What did you say?”

Anyway, thanks to being an orphan, there was no need to send money home. Instead, the initial difficulty of the game sharply increased.

“Here I go.”

After drawing the card, move the piece according to the number rolled on the dice.

On the board game squares, [Event], [Happiness], [Unhappiness], [Incident], and [Romance] were written on each space. The space Ashel landed on was Unhappiness. He frowned and drew one Unhappiness card for the Mercenary role.

[You were betrayed while handling a request and lost your left arm. If you encounter the ‘Saint’ among the participants, you can recover. Until then, you must live as a one-armed person.]

“This fucking shit.”

What Ashel intended to say was ‘Ah, I’m screwed,’ but what actually came out of his mouth was foul language. Similarly, Celine, who was about to say ‘Serves you right,’ had her words filtered into a benevolent voice.

“You have received divine punishment. How pitiful.”

“Shut up, you damn prayer-spouting bitch.”

“Do not worry. I will *choke*, heal you when we meet.”

“Huh? You’re giggling?”

“It appears it is my turn.”

Celine gently threw the dice while making the sign of the cross with one hand. For your information, the Parent Card she drew was Orphan.

“It seems to be an incident. I shall check.”

She hummed a tune and drew the Incident card for the Saint role, revealing it to everyone.

[You are reckless. Even though the Grand Priest of the order said he would discipline you, you were given a few days of house arrest as punishment for stepping on the garden flowers as you pleased. The duration of the house arrest is determined by the number you roll on the dice.]

“Hmm. So it’s like this.”

“If a high number comes out, do you stay under house arrest for longer, nyang?”

“Hey there, Sister Cat. Could you possibly close your mouth for a moment? It’s because I feel like I’m going to burst into laughter again.”

“…What kind of saint is this, nyang? Isn’t she just a villain, nyang? She’s making discriminatory remarks based on species, nyang.”

*Pfft!*

Celine rolled the dice, bursting into laughter.

A 6 came out.

[Having received the maximum disciplinary action, you cannot move for the next three turns.]

“Ah, my God! Why such a trial for me!”

The words ‘No, this fucking shit’ were uttered in a highly purified state. Ellen drew a Parent Card, scoffing at her. Unlike the previous two people, her card had the words ‘Parents who set their child free’. The effect was moving one space further than the number on the dice.

“Here I go, nyang.”

Ellen rolled the dice. The number that came out was 3. Adding 1 to that, she stood on the same space as Ashel. She pursed her lips and drew an Unhappiness card.

[You were betrayed by a friend you trusted and framed, and chased out of the village. The Parent Card effect disappears.]

“Nyang? What is this, nyang?”

The moment Ellen said that. Clear text suddenly surged up from the center of the board game.

[You have encountered another participant on the same space. Event occurred. Please move together by the number rolled on the dice.]

“Oh, something like this exists, nyang.”

“Roll quickly.”

“Understood, nyang.”

Ellen immediately rolled the dice and moved together with Ashel by the number that came out.

“Nyaa?”

It was the Romance space.

Ding-a-ling!

Along with the sound of a beautiful harp, the surging text changed its appearance.

[In childhood, the two people who had wounded each other met fatefully. Realizing that they could heal each other’s wounds, the two fell in love despite their young age and became engaged. The two became a fated community and parted ways, promising to meet again later. While embracing each other.]

“Heok nyang!”

[If the two people encounter each other again next time, a marriage event will occur. At this time, if the two participants are male and female respectively, the female participant will become pregnant. Please rest assured. It is not a real pregnancy.]

At the following sentence, Ellen covered her mouth with her hand, her face turning red.

“Preg… nant…?”

Grace glared at Ellen with demonic eyes. Elena also looked at Ellen’s lower abdomen with a poker face and ground her teeth. At that moment, when Ellen felt an unknown terror at that scene.

“Don’t threaten my woman, unless you want to die.”

The words ‘Hey guys, what’s suddenly wrong’ came out of Ashel’s mouth in a severely distorted state.

“…Ha!”

“…She’s mine. Commoner.”

The faces of the two became even more ferocious.

“Nya, nyaaaa….”