episode_0011

“It’s a pretty nice room.”

“… … … … .”

“Princess? You are a little far away.”

I.

What on earth was I thinking?

Lacia blamed herself from just five minutes ago. At best, it was a momentary anger, and he couldn’t hold back his desire to win, so he ended up letting an outsider in.

I wish I could interact with people naturally, but we’re not in sync and it’s been a few years since I’ve had a conversation with another person. It may have been Lacia in the past, but Lacia now couldn’t even look at Kyle Byron’s face properly.

I want to send her out right now, but even Lacia has common sense. I synchronized with the spirit and lost the game on my own, so I was furious and told her to come into the room first, but now it was too shameful for Lacia to kick her out.

And so the strange confrontation continues.

Kyle was sitting on a chair with a relaxed expression, but Lacia was surrounded by spirits and was only touching the wallpaper in the corner of the room.

[Growl?]

[Sigh.]

[Ringle.]

[Whirl!]

[Yaaahhh.]

It’s just that the water and wind spirits still remain on Kyle’s side?

If Lacia told them, they would come to her too, but Lacia didn’t feel the need to do so.

Rather, she only reaffirmed her own mistakes when two of the spirits who had always liked and affirmed her remained on Kyle’s side.

How long was it like that?

Kyle, with a bitter smile, opened his mouth again.

“It seems like the princess is quite shy. You looked confident when you came out the door earlier.”

“… … … … .”

“You’re not upset because of what I said earlier, right?”

“… … … … … .”

no. I wanted to believe that it was absolutely not the case.

Lacia didn’t want to admit that she was narrow-minded enough to get upset at this level… …

“Hmm, then how about this? It’s okay if you don’t say anything. Please just sit across from me. How about it?”

… … If that’s the case.

When Kyle first proposed a suitable compromise, Lacia nodded inwardly.

Now that things are like this, the quickest way to get Kyle out is to achieve his goal.

Since Lacia knew roughly why she had come anyway, she gathered her courage after taking a few deep breaths.

Of course, we couldn’t make eye contact. I just sat down on the chair on the other side with my head down and with the help of the spirits.

But perhaps that was enough, Kyle grinned.

“Thank you for your courage.”

I know. Then, quickly state your purpose and leave.

“So, princess.”

Anyway, it’s just obvious things like let’s go down from the spire, meet your father, or look at reality, so come on…

“How about a round of board games?”

“… … … Yes?”

“You finally answered. My purpose is as you said. How about just one round?”

For a moment, I was dumbfounded because I couldn’t read Kyle Byron’s thoughts.

If you think about it slowly, it wasn’t such a bad condition for Lacia.

Instead of saying something annoying and obvious, he said he would just play a board game and he would leave. That was the extent to which I could get along.

but.

“… … … … … .”

“Ah, Kyle Galli seems to be a bit like that.”

Yes, of course.

Maybe it was because I was in sync with a spirit, but I didn’t want to get into a fight with a man who wasn’t a spirit and had only known me for less than 10 minutes.

Therefore, Lacia hoped that Kyle Byron would quietly step aside.

But Kyle thought for a moment and then took out a pack of cards from his waist.

“Design… … … Well, there are a lot of good subjects around.”

“… … … ?”

“One with the Water Tiger, one with the Wind Horse, one with the Fire Cat, and one with the Lightning Sparrow… … … .”

The newly taken out cards were clean blank sheets. It is a blank piece of paper that does not have shapes drawn on it like Kyle Gali, nor does it have patterns or numbers like playing cards used in gambling.

Without hesitation, Kyle started drawing on the blank paper with his pen.

I raised my head slightly and looked at the card with the picture on it.

“… … … Ah.”

[Ureung?]

“That’s right, it’s you.”

With just a simple sketch, a water spirit full of life is drawn. There are 8 cards drawn like that.

Since it was drawn by hand, not all pictures were the same, but the composition and posture were only slightly different, so anyone could tell that it was a water spirit.

[Shut up!]

“Of course you will draw it too.”

Wind Spirit, Fire Spirit, Lightning Spirit.

In addition to the water spirit, there are 7 types of spirits, and a total of 8 types of spirits are quickly drawn in 8 sheets each.

While Lacia was slightly impressed by the high-quality drawing skills, Kyle selected the spirit cards one by one and laid them out in front of him.

“If you don’t like Kyle Galli, how about this game?”

“… … … … … .”

“It is not an intense game. And the rules are simple. Would you like to listen first?”

“… … … … .”

Nod.

Lacia hesitated for a moment.

He quickly nodded. Anyway, as long as there is no contact with each other or games like that, it’s okay.

That’s why I couldn’t see Lacia.

At that very moment, what expression did Kyle Byron have?

*

There are some board games.

Like Halli Galli, this is a game that doesn’t require any bells or boards, and can be played with just 64 cards.

While Harley Galli encourages competition by physically clashing with each other, it is a game that consists only of psychological warfare without any physical elements.

However, the name of the game is a bit provocative.

‘Cockroach Poker.’

In my opinion, it is the best party game after Harley Galli, and it is also a game where you can see the extremes of psychological warfare.

They just drew spirits instead of cards where cockroaches and other bugs should have been drawn.

“You can play it with multiple people, but it’s a game that even the two of us can play. Can you see the spirits drawn on the card?”

“… … … … .”

Nod.

The princess just nodded without answering.

I’ve been keeping my mouth shut ever since she suddenly opened the door and came out fuming, but the purpose of this game was also to get her to open her mouth.

This is a game that needs to be talked about.

“Players deal out cards and ensure that only they can see them. Then, you choose a card and hand it to your opponent face-down so that it cannot be seen.”

“… … … … ?”

“And says: This is the water spirit.”

But the card I gave you is a lie.

In other words, it’s a lie.

“… … … .”

“Then the princess can answer after considering whether or not this card is really a water spirit.”

“… … … … … .”

“Would you like to give it a try?”

If you keep your mouth shut even after doing this, I guess I should get out another board game.

Princess Lacia opened her mouth, as if the fact that it was a card with spirits on it was quite effective.

“… … … This is a water spirit.”

“Then shall we turn it over? this! It was a lie!”

“… … … … … … .”

“Please don’t glare at me like that. Anyway, the princess is wrong, so just place the card in front of you with the picture visible. Then, the person with the card in front of them hands the card again. If you repeat this and 4 cards of the same type are placed in front of you, you lose.”

“… … … … … .”

“Oh, there are no separate victory conditions. If you survive until the end, that’s victory. How is it? Would this game be okay?”

Nod.

Lacia, who seemed to hesitate for a moment, eventually nodded.

‘There is no reason to refuse.’

At first glance, it looks like he is very shy, but if he becomes friends with someone like that, there is no way he would be able to play a game like Halli Galli with someone he has never met. So I switched to cockroach poker, a game that’s good to play even when it’s your first time playing.

There is no room for contact with each other, all you have to do is hand out your card and say one word. It’s a static game with no room to become more intense.

… … It looks like that.

The real fun of cockroach poker is that you have to try it yourself.

How crazy is this game?

Originally, there were separate rules for games played with multiple people or with two people. First, randomly remove 10 of the 64 cards from the game and divide the remaining 54 cards in half.

I put half of the cards in front of me and then pulled out a random card and checked it.

“This is the spirit of the wind.”

“… … … … … .”

He handed the flipped card to Lacia with a smile.

The princess was worried for a moment.

“… … … This is not the wind spirit.”

Perhaps because of the memory of being deceived a little while ago, he declares a lie.

If you turn the card over right away.

“… … … … … .”

“Oh my, the wind spirit was right.”

shaking.

Lacia, who trembled for a moment while holding the truth card, took a deep breath and placed the wind spirit card down in front of her.

After that, Lacia, who had a slightly solemn expression on her face, chose a card and placed it in front of me.

“… … … This is a fire spirit.”

“This is not a fire spirit.”

“… … !!”

“Shall we check?”

Lacia was taken aback by the answer that came out without the slightest hesitation, but when she turned over the card, what came out was a lightning spirit.

He smiles as if it was a natural occurrence and returns the card to Lacia.

“Originally it would be the princess’s turn again, but since this is our first game, let’s take turns. This is the spirit of the wind.”

He talks about the same spirit as before. Those words were true without lies.

Lacia thought deeply about that.

“… … … This is not the wind spirit.”

Even so, it seems like he wouldn’t tell the same truth twice in a row or with the same card.

Lacia answered as if she were asserting, but when she turned over the card, she couldn’t help but widen her eyes.

Well, that was also a wind spirit card.

“What… … !”

“I’m just being honest, princess.”

“… … … … … .”

Okay, let’s be blunt. This is a game that has no choice but to be in my favor.

Cockroach Poker… … Should we call it spirit poker now? It is easy to think that spirit poker is all about psychological warfare according to the game rules. It’s a game where you just have to be good at poker face and acting.

It’s not wrong at all. However, there are elements that are just as important as acting.

That is, creating a ‘pattern’.

Because reading the opponent’s psychology is what this game is all about.

The process of making the other person realize that this is what I will do becomes very important.

That player enjoyed telling the truth twice in a row, so I guess he’ll do it again this time.

‘Actually, it’s a gambler’s fallacy.’

In cases where the case is an independent trial, the previous result has no effect on the current result. It is an unfounded belief that since only 5 times an odd number has been rolled out of an odd or even number, there will be an even number this time.

Spirit Poker is a game that is easy to win if you make yourself think about the gambler’s fallacy.

“This is the water spirit.”

“… … … is it so. This is a water spirit.”

Tell the truth once.

“This… … It is also a water spirit.”

“… … that’s right. This is also a water spirit.”

After telling the truth twice.

“Well, this is the lightning spirit.”

“No. This is not the lightning spirit.”

“Isn’t this a scam? How do you guess the answer?”

“… … … There is something like that.”

After that, it’s an unconditional lie.

It doesn’t all proceed in this pattern, but it does so quite often. After all, spirit poker is not a game that ends with guessing the card once or twice.

Moreover, the cards I handed out were as diverse as possible. Even if they were placed in front of me, I had to guess more to get 4 cards.

The moment I thought about it for so long and waited for over 10 minutes.

“… … … … … Ah.”

I had far more cards in front of me. There were all kinds of cards laid out, and the most played were 3 Wind Spirits, so they were on the verge of elimination.

On the other hand, there were not many cards in front of Lacia, but there were three Wind Spirit cards that were wrong the first two times in a row.

And now it was my turn.

“This is the spirit of the wind.”

“… … … !”

No matter who looks at the situation, it looks like Lacia has the advantage. You just have to be careful with the Wind Spirit card.

However, if you guess wrong this time, you may still lose because you have 4 Wind Spirit cards. The moment she realized this, Lacia’s eyes were filled with tension.

Is this the wind spirit as I said? Isn’t it?

Maybe this choice would determine victory or defeat. Both Lacia and I have three Wind Spirits.

… … And in the game just before.

I already told the truth twice in a row, and Lacia saw through it.

then.

What choice will Lacia make this turn?

“… … … … … .”

The worries were long. Lacia was very cautious, as if she realized that simply having a small number and type of cards does not necessarily mean an advantage.

It’s been a long time since she focused on this simple yet heart-pounding board game.

“… … … Yeah, yo.”

“… … … … .”

“This is the wind spirit… … That’s right.”

After closing her eyes and remaining unnaturally silent, Lacia gave an answer.

Unlike any routine I’ve done so far.

Answer the truth three times in a row.

And, the card I gave you──

“Wind, spirit.”

“That’s right. This is my 4th Wind Spirit.”

──It was the spirit of the wind.

Lacia did not believe in the routine that was constantly hinted at at critical moments.

It was quite surprising, but it could be so.

“I won, I won… … !!”

Shake!

Lacia, who barely won after 10 minutes of bloody psychological warfare, must have been so excited that she immediately got up from her seat.

I smiled at her.

“Congratulations, you won.”

“… … … … Yes.”

Lacia seemed to have realized what she was doing only then, and sat down again with her head down.

It was like the board game was coming to an end.

“Now, as promised, I am leaving the spire… … Only.”

“… … … ?”

“Can we play spirit poker one more time?”

“Spirit… … … Poker?”

“This is the name of the board game. How do you feel?”

Is it because of what I kept talking about in Spirit Poker? Lacia, who was no longer keeping her mouth shut or avoiding her gaze, looked at me for a moment.

After thinking and thinking, I nodded slightly.

“… … If it’s just one round.”

“Thank you, princess.”

I nodded quietly.

It was half a success.

*

Now you just have to win once.

If you look at Princess Lacia’s attitude toward board games, her shyness is just a problem that comes from not meeting people for a long time, and her winning spirit is excellent.

The plan was to instill a competitive spirit in her by showing her winning, and gradually increase the number of contacts in that way.

“This is the spirit of lightning.”

“That’s right, it’s the lightning spirit.”

hmm.

“This… … It is a water spirit.”

“No, this is not a water spirit.”

uh.

“… … … This is the wind──”

“That’s right.”

“… … … … … .”

Next edition.

When I started playing spirit poker with Lacia again, I realized it within a minute of starting.

Whether it’s a routine, a bluff, or a psychological game, Lacia guesses all the cards with full confidence.

‘This bitch?’

now.

… … They say something is being done.