“Yay! Master Hiro, I won again!”
“Ha ha ha… You’re great at this, Mimi. Way better than this elf who only knows how to lose.”
“Grr!”
All smiles, Mimi pointed at her chips on the roulette table; they began glowing in rainbow hues as a fanfare played. Elma, on the other hand, groaned in frustration as her own chips appeared to crumble away.
I’d sensed the hostility directed toward me by onlookers when I brought the two girls in bunny costumes into the casino Iga Security had recommended. Inside, I’d purchased a ton of chips, and now the three of us were having a blast.
“You’re out of chips.”
“Mgh…!”
Elma had gambled on the turnaround of the century by putting all her chips on red, only to end up with zero chips remaining. I still had a lot of chips on hand, of course—but if Elma wanted some, she needed to do a certain something.
“M-Master! Please give me more chips! Bun!”
“Pfft! Ow, ow! Okay! Sorry, I won’t laugh!”
Her face flushed, Elma had begun punching me in the side. Since she’d fulfilled her obligation, though, I replenished her chips. As for what that obligation was, I’d told her, “If you want extra chips, you need to ask in a cute way.” Cringe? You think I’m cringe? I don’t care! It hurt, but it was totally worth it; I got to see Elma beg me while her face was as red as a tomato!
As for Mimi, her pile of chips simply continued to grow. She had insane luck when it came to gambling. “Lucky” didn’t begin to describe her. Seriously.
“Safe… I’m going to play safe! It’s got to be red this time!” Elma declared. “Hmm…I’ll bet on a middle number next!” said Mimi. “I’ll do a street bet on sixteen, seventeen, and eighteen!”
Once everyone had set their bets on the table, the dealer put in a ball and spun the roulette wheel. Elma, there’s about a fifty percent chance of the ball landing on red, but I still can’t say that betting all the chips I just gave you on red was a safe strategy.
“Red, red, red…!” With sweaty palms, Elma watched the ball. It gradually slowed, landing—not on sixteen red, but next to it on seventeen black.
“Yay!”
“Nooooo!”
The chips Mimi had gambled again glowed in rainbow colors as she won twelve times the amount she’d put in. As for Elma, once more, nothing remained of the chips she’d gambled. She really was bad at this. Honored guest, please don’t prostrate yourself on the table. You’re disturbing other guests.
“If you want to continue…you know what to do,” I told her.
“U-ugh…Maaaster… This poor bunny only knows how to lose… Can you please grant her more chips? Bun!” Elma practically sobbed as she clung to my arm.
I replenished her chips again. Wait, you idiot. Why do a street bet now? If you’re going to gamble, at least do it sensibly!
As we enjoyed ourselves, a strikingly imposing older woman appeared in the seat across from us. However charitable you tried to be, she didn’t come off as a law-abiding citizen. Her dress was similar to that of a mercenary or a buccaneer, and she wore a curved sword—likely a cutlass—and laser gun at her waist. She also had on a visor that looked like a wearable computer. She probably had more weapons hidden from view.
✦ ✦ ✦
✦ ✦ ✦
Since this woman was armed to the teeth, she had to be some sort of noble. Normal guests—non-nobles—weren’t allowed into the casino with weapons. If you had any, they were confiscated at the entrance. That rule didn’t apply to me either, though, since I was an honorary viscount.
The older woman and I stared at each other. For my part, I stared because I could feel the animosity she harbored toward me. Wait… I recognized this as the same hostility I’d felt before.
I tried to contact Iga Security through my terminal, typing: Hey, the person targeting me just showed up. How did she get here? Where are you guys? They didn’t respond, however. Actually, it was more like I couldn’t get through to them. Confused, I looked back at the older woman—the granny—and caught her smirk as she lowered her visor.
“You two! Get down!”
Experiencing a bad premonition, I rose from my chair and reached for the sword at my waist. That was when it happened. The room suddenly went dark—both the gaudy casino lighting and the light from the holographic roulette table had been extinguished.
Other guests began to scream, which was to be expected, since a blackout was suddenly taking place. There was confusion, fear, screams, and the sound of something being struck—no, the sound of someone leaping. In the darkness, hostile intentions hurtled straight at me.
In that moment, I held my breath, slowing time down. Even if I’d wanted to fight back, though, I couldn’t see anything. My eyes were used to the light and hadn’t yet adapted to the darkness.
That was why, instead, I focused and created a giant, invisible telekinetic hand. Sweeping it in the direction the granny was coming from, I ended up striking the roulette table, the dealer, and some other guests as well. Still, there was no way anyone could have identified me as the one using invisible psionic abilities in this pitch-dark room. I stepped from between Mimi and Elma, who’d tensed up when I shouted, and activated a light on my terminal. The flow of time returned to normal.
“Mgh?! You…!”
People groaned in agony as a sudden force flung them head over heels through the air. The granny, however, skillfully spun in midair, recovering her balance. When she landed, she immediately fled deeper into the casino.
“Elma! Prioritize safety! I’m going to chase that granny!”
“Hiro?!”
I left the stunned Mimi and flustered Elma behind, chasing the old woman with a sword and my light source in my hands. I’d only brought the longer of my two swords, but I still had a laser gun and terminal with me. I also had my psionic abilities as a trump card. However skilled that granny was, there was no way I’d lose.