Ch.116Rise Up, Gambling God (13)

Anyway, the match began. The winner would face me.

It should have been incredibly engaging… but it wasn’t.

‘Tina… what kind of text did she send?!’

Suggesting we have a “happy affair” together… it was such a dizzying message that I momentarily lost my senses.

Well… whether to have an affair or not was beside the point, but I decided to keep it secret from my girlfriends for now. If I told them, I’d just end up looking like the bad guy.

While watching the match with my girlfriends, Tina suddenly squeezed herself in beside me.

“Hey. There’s already someone here.”

Eri, who was sitting next to me, made a displeased face.

Umi, Eri, and Taiga had maintained a three-person formation surrounding me.

Tina had used her martial artist’s physique to wedge herself in.

“I’ll have you know I made it to the semifinals. I could give Shota some combat advice.”

Tina said with a wink.

“Hmm…..”

Umi clearly didn’t like that idea.

“So you’re the girlfriend who blocks her boyfriend’s path forward.”

Tina smiled and subtly attempted some gaslighting.

“Ah!! That’s not true!!”

Eri, with her perfect housewife syndrome, was the first to react.

“Fine!! Go ahead! Come in then!”

Taiga immediately lost emotional control. She made room for Tina to sit.

“I don’t mind either.”

Umi went along with the mood.

My girlfriends are so precious to me, but… they’re really simple-minded. I’ll have to protect them from being scammed by bad people.

“Ohoho. Then excuse me.”

Tina immediately occupied the spot next to me.

“By the way, did you see my text?”

Tina whispered to me with a bright smile.

“Are you… serious?”

I asked Tina.

“Yes. I’m always serious when it comes to you, Shota.”

Tina said with a chuckle.

She’s really… incorrigible. In a different way, she was similar to Umi.

She was like… a smart Umi. She had Umi’s initiative but thought before going full throttle. Anyway, she was more dangerous than Umi.

‘Being Western by birth, her chest is also bigger…’

If Umi had large breasts, Tina’s were closer to enormous. Is she smarter because her thought containers are bigger? I found myself thinking such nonsense.

Anyway, just before the match started, I felt a sudden killing intent and looked toward the arena.

“………..”

Kana was glaring at me with tremendous intensity.

More precisely, she was looking at my girlfriends who were squabbling around me.

“Tch.”

Others probably didn’t hear it, but I definitely heard Kana click her tongue.

“Now, let the match begin!!!!!”

At the announcer’s call, Kana finally seemed to focus on the match.

And so, the clash between the two began.

———–

Clang-! Clash-! Clang-!!!

I had expected Kana to overwhelmingly defeat Thumbs-up Man, but surprisingly, that wasn’t the case. They were clashing swords on almost equal footing.

‘Are they exchanging standard techniques…?’

Thumbs-up Man was unexpectedly strong.

Claaaaaang-!!

After a particularly loud clash of swords, he even had the composure to throw a thumbs-up as a psychological attack.

However, Kana showed no particular reaction to Thumbs-up Man’s mental attack. She simply continued swinging her sword calmly.

“Huh? Wasn’t she supposed to be easily provoked?”

She had such a short temper that it was fun to tease her.

“Right. She reacted a lot to Shota’s words.”

Umi said while munching on potato chips. Our Umi… has such a good appetite. Does everything she eats go straight to her chest and hips to create such a dynamite figure? That’s how I rationalized it.

“She only reacts well to Shota’s words… Ah.”

Eri suddenly made an unpleasant expression. Her tanned complexion darkened even more.

“Looks like we need to watch out for that one too.”

Taiga spoke as if she was ready to take someone down. What’s wrong with everyone?

——-

Anyway, the match was evenly balanced.

“Saito Kana… isn’t as strong as I thought?”

“Man, I’m disappointed.”

“I thought she’d use some kind of supernatural technique.”

The audience’s whispers of disappointment were audible. Well… the impact of the previous match had been too strong.

“……….”

However, Tina just kept watching the situation with a serious expression.

No, more than that, she seemed to be itching to provide commentary.

“Tina. You want to commentate, don’t you? Go ahead.”

I immediately encouraged her.

“C-commentate? Well… I did have something I wanted to explain.”

Tina, hit right on the mark, cleared her throat as if embarrassed.

“As expected… only Shota truly sees me. Hnnng❤”

Then, Tina looked at me with a blush. The strange moan she added was just a bonus.

“Look at that bastard. Raising another girl’s affection again.”

Umi clicked her tongue in displeasure and started gobbling potato chips.

“Umi. There’s something on your mouth.”

I immediately tried to soothe Umi by kissing away the potato chip crumbs.

“Hehehe❤ I love you, Shota.”

With that, Umi’s anger immediately dissipated.

Phew… crisis averted. Anyway.

“Can I start my commentary now?”

Tina looked straight at me. She really wants to commentate…

“Oh! Go ahead!!! Ticolo!!”

I immediately assumed a listening posture.

“Ticolo… that nickname is a bit…”

Tina made a bitter expression.

“Anyway, you know my ability, right? I can copy any technique after seeing it once.”

Tina said.

“Yeah, that’s right.”

It was hard to believe when I saw her immediately use Kiryu Second. Still, since it was an on-the-spot imitation, its output was low.

“But… I couldn’t copy Saito Kana’s sword technique.”

Tina said with a serious expression.

“Why?”

I asked Tina.

“Because it changes every time.”

Tina’s expression was serious. She was looking at Kana with genuine fear.

“Changes…?”

“The Thousand-Thought Heart Style that Saito Kana uses is Kana’s own version. How should I compare this… do you know the ‘Ship of Theseus’?”

Tina said to me.

“STOP!!! Cut the explanation!!! I know what it is, just get to the point!!! Three-sentence summary!!!”

I immediately attempted to eradicate her explanation mode.

Yes, that’s it. She would waste 15 minutes explaining the ‘Ship of Theseus,’ then another 15 minutes explaining its connection to Saito Kana. That style of explanation is outdated.

“O…okay.”

Tina looked dejected. Tina… you’re quite the chatterbox. I learned something unexpected about her. This gap is quite cute.

“In short, Saito Kana is growing every moment, even right now. Even if I copy Kana at one moment, it’s already not the current Kana. It’s just garbage sword techniques discarded within Kana’s mind. So it’s impossible to copy her perfectly.”

Tina said.

“Ah… I see.”

In other words, her growth speed was terrifying. I felt a bit intimidated by that fact.

When I faced Kana during the hot springs trip, I thought she was a manageable opponent. I thought the same when occasionally watching her preliminary matches.

But… what if Kana had become much stronger since then? I felt an uncharacteristic anxiety.

“Look. Thumbs-up Man is going to lose.”

Tina made a statement.

“What…”

I looked at Thumbs-up Man in surprise.

Clang-! Clash-! Claaang-!

The exchange of sword blows continued, but the situation had clearly changed.

Saito Kana was effortlessly deflecting Thumbs-up Man’s attacks. As a bonus, she delivered sharp counterattacks after each deflection.

Sweat beaded on Thumbs-up Man’s forehead. He couldn’t even give his usual thumbs-up. It was obvious he had lost his composure.

“About one minute, I guess. One minute… that’s slow. Anyway, I’ve completely figured out how to counter you.”

Saito Kana declared confidently.

“I’m no longer interested in you.”

Saito Kana said with a smile.

Humiliation flashed across Thumbs-up Man’s face. Yes, his sword technique had been countered in just one minute. If it were me, I would have screamed in despair.

“Kieeeek…..”

A strange cry involuntarily escaped my mouth as I deeply empathized with the situation.

“Ieeeek…!”

Umi tried to join in with a duet, caught up in the mood.

Thwack-!

Eri immediately hit both me and Umi with loving force.

“Hey! No weird noises.”

Eri immediately scolded us both. With that, Umi and I both shrank back.

———

Clang-! Clash-! Claaaaaang-!!

The match was reaching its climax. Thumbs-up Man swung his sword with all his might.

However, Saito Kana deflected the sword strikes with ease. It was like she was swatting away flies.

“…………!”

Thumbs-up Man had to make a decision.

About three seconds later.

Thumbs-up Man resolutely raised his finger.

Thumbs up!!!

It was a thumbs-up filled with resolute will.

“I see. You’ve made your resolution.”

Saito Kana immediately raised her sword.

“Be defeated with that resolution intact.”

Whoosh-!!

Saito Kana closed the distance toward Thumbs-up Man with tremendous momentum.

WHAM-!!!!!

Saito Kana’s strike hit Thumbs-up Man directly on the head.

“Guhurk….!”

With that, Thumbs-up Man lost the first round.

Afterward, the second round began, but Thumbs-up Man’s fighting spirit had already been crushed.

Saito Kana advanced to the finals with an overwhelming victory.

She had clearly demonstrated the dignity of an emperor to the audience.

And so, the final match would be between me and Saito Kana.

“Now we’ll take about a five-minute break before moving on to the finals!!”

The announcer shouted loudly.

Already wearing my protective gear, I headed toward the arena. My girlfriends’ enthusiastic support was a bonus.

At that moment, I encountered Thumbs-up Man trudging down from the arena.

“………”

Thumbs-up Man looked at me silently, then gave me a thumbs-up.

Thumbs up!!

I returned a thumbs-up to Thumbs-up Man, exchanging our mutual respect.

Ah… I definitely received it. Your will.

I took a deep breath and focused my mind.

I’m definitely going to win this match. That was the only thought I had from the beginning.