The game resumed once more. During the next few rounds, Alicia learned from the way things progressed that what Isabella had said earlier was indeed true.
It’s exactly as Mistress Isabella said. He doesn’t immediately get rid of six cards and go out within three or four turns every time. Those first two rounds were probably lucky even by his standards. Most rounds, Adek only had at most one meld in his starting hand. Though that’s plenty of nuisance.
But this meant they had a fighting chance. There were even some rounds where no one managed to go out at all. Since rummy was a game where the players needed to get rid of a mere eight cards by forming them into melds, it was likely that one of them would go out right away, but there were cases where the deck ran out of cards without anyone managing to go out.
These stalemates often occur because the players end up holding the cards the others need in their hands. In the similar game of mahjong, each tile has four copies, so this situation isn’t as common. Since rummy only uses one deck of cards, each card is unique, and players wind up without access to the right one. Therefore, players must memorize every discarded card, assess which their opponents are holding, and—if what they need is out of the picture—make the decision to intentionally discard from their existing pairs.
Because of the aforementioned factors, although rummy is meant to be a game about picking one’s cards with the highest efficiency, actually pulling that off is challenging. In stories, characters usually play games as efficiently as possible like it’s the norm, but that’s practically impossible in reality.
Not even Alicia, someone who’d graduated second in her grade from the most prestigious academic institution of the Fourth Kingdom, managed countless government affairs as Queen Isabella’s attendant, and was probably one of the five smartest people in the kingdom, had the intellect to perform at the aforementioned “highest efficiency.”
Human brains are just not built like that.
However... Alicia glanced at Adek to her right.
“Oh, I have another meld,” he said, leaving his hand with only one card. “I’m so sorry. Seems I’m the first to one card again.”
This man is playing almost perfectly! Alicia had arrived at that conclusion over the course of this long battle. When she examined the three cards Adek had just placed on the table and his discarded ones, it was clear he’d made the most optimal moves. She also realized that he’d calculated early on that the card he’d been waiting for was likely in her hand and discarded the other two to instead build a different meld.
His ability to infer what cards are in his opponents’ hands is too high. His Ex-Skill gives him excellent luck, but his skill is also amazing, Alicia thought.
The title “God of Games” wasn’t just for show. His ability at games was with no equal. Alicia had no choice but to accept this was how he’d remained undefeated for over ten thousand years.
Nevertheless, she’s also doing well. Alicia looked to her left side as she discarded her card.
“I’ll add the six and seven of diamonds to your meld. That leaves me with two cards,” Isabella said.
Isabella could also read her opponents’ cards as if it was second nature to her. Every time Adek reduced his hand size, she also cut herself a piece of the pie.
Mistress Isabella never changes, Alicia thought.
Isabella’s infamy as a monster of politics was on full display. She was terrifying even to her allies.
“You’re one step away from going out with those two cards, aren’t you? That was pretty quick. I need to take care not to discard the card you need,” Adek said with a chuckle.
“I don’t want to hear that from someone who always goes out first thanks to his cheating ability,” Isabella replied.
This round would come down to who drew the card they needed to go out first. Naturally, Adek’s luck-boosting skill gave him an advantage. However, Isabella did have her own advantage, since he only had one card left and couldn’t go out by forming a meld of three with the card he drew next. Even so, Alicia’s heart beat like a drum as she watched Adek draw his card.
He didn’t go out. He kept the new card and discarded the one he previously held. The new card likely gave him higher odds of going out, or he judged there was a chance it was the one Isabella was waiting for.
Thank goodness, Alicia thought.
Isabella held the jack and queen of hearts. Both of them were worth a lot of points, so she’d take a lot of damage if Adek went out while they were still in her hand.
We have to go out first for sure this time! Alicia thought as she drew her card. She looked at it in surprise for a moment before asking Isabella through magic, Should I discard it?
Isabella nodded in response. Alicia nodded back and discarded her new card.
“I’ll make a direct hit with this card,” Isabella said. The card Alicia had discarded was the ten of hearts, so Isabella combined it with her other two cards into a meld.
“Phew!” Alicia let out a sigh of relief.
While Isabella had managed to go out, it was thanks to her ally’s discarded card and not Adek’s, so he wouldn’t be losing any points. At least they’d managed to prevent any point loss on their end.
Regardless... Alicia checked the current score.
Adek: 500 Points
Isabella: 56 Points
They’d managed to keep their losses to a minimum, but they’d been slowly bleeding points all the same. Meanwhile, Adek had yet to lose a single one. It felt inevitable. While both Isabella and Adek played optimally, he was the one with the odds in his favor. If Isabella stopped hedging her bets in favor of aiming for a high-scoring hand, Adek would simply go out before her.
I can’t see us making a breakthrough. Alicia ground her teeth in frustration. She looked over at Isabella, whose expression remained largely unchanging. She kept making perfect move after perfect move like some kind of machine. How do you plan to break this deadlock, Mistress Isabella?
Adek, clearly amused, just watched the two of them.