Vol 2 Chapter 1 (2/2)

“T-there’s-- no way in hell!! Are youfun of me!?”

But there wasn’t a chance either Sora or shi+ro would miss that moment’s

hesitation

“Whoaa, I thought soe……”

Considering this came from the one who had forced her into it, there wasn’t

much left to be said

Steph, today, was in top form

She had never once cursed the God who had forbidden all violence

Yet being pressured by that intense glare, Sora relented

“Alright, alright, I’ll tell you……’card counting’”

He never ceased eating, however

“Card……eh, what?”

“Card counting Si a number to cards For example 2-

6 is 1, 10 or higher is -1, and 7-9 are 0”

“……? What do you gain by that?”

Seeing all of that had completely flown over her head, Sora stated bluntly

“You can 'predict the next card'”

“—-Huh?”

As Steph suspiciously pondered whether that was ic, Sora leisurely

elaborated

“By keeping track of the cards which have been dealt, one can anticipate the

cards which are left, and it’s possible to 'mathematically predict the

probability of which cards will come next' If you can reliably do that, you

won’t lose, right?”

“Ha, haah~”

It appeared the idea of using ‘ new for Steph

She see forced to ‘sit’ at

thesimply lost in awe

As if wanting to write everything down, she took out a notepad

In the

“W, wait a !?”

Sora refuted her point with a coolface

“If playing s like predicting

your opponent’s nextas well?”

“T-that’s……”

--In Sora’s previous world, card counting was indeed considered a form of

cheating, but he decided not to mention that

“Speaking of cheating, your [deliberate shuffle tracking] would be a far more

appropriate case”

--------eh

“Y-you noticed!?”

Sora’s wry face seeht he hadn’t

“It’s so countless times Well, thanks

to that it was easy for me to count as well”

Sora, who had at heart truly wished to lose, spoke with a sigh

Naturally transitioning froround

Not only had her cheating been uncovered, it had been taken advantage of as

well

According to the [Ten Oaths], siht should have already

resulted in her loss

Yet for her [cheating having been used to actively beat her] caused Steph,

while lying down, to wet the ground with her tears

However, soh her mind

--Ifso, what if they played a game which ”truly was reliant on pure luck”?

Wouldn’t she have a chance of winning then?

“……Fufufu……Sora! We’re having another game!!”

Still lying on the ground, Steph looked up and shouted defiantly

It was awell— extreht

“You……right after what happened thisfor?”

It would have to be so sufficient to make Sora accept in spite of

himself

“The sa, ‘Make Sora a riajuu’”

“Alright let’s do it (immediate answer)”

What Steph offered caused all of his compassion to scatter to the winds

“……Nii, gamedetails…”

“shi+ro!! Do you think there’s even a million to one chance your Onii-chan

would lose to Steph!?”

“……I will make it, one in a billion……no, a……trillion”

If the siblings were together, whoever the opponent was, they could see

through everything

“……shi+ro, will, play also……as……『 』”

--That ainst a half

If Steph carried out her challenge, it would be against the full ht of

”Iamer”

Not a probleht

Ability is ame of pure chance

Victory would always be 50/50!

“……If Steph, loses……you’ll have tolisten to……one order, of mine”

Steph probably—didn’t see

The true face of Iamers

Although seely expressionless, the clear fire which burned deep within

their eyes

“Fufu, I don’t ame will be—!!”

With a flourish, Steph pointed to the corner of the road

“A guessing game on— whether the next person to step past will be a man or

a woman!”

Hearing the gaht for a moment then answered

“……The gamewill be, best……out of……ten 【Acciente】”

“As you wish!+ 【Acciente】!”

Steph was enthusiastic, but Sora

Heaving a sigh, he looked at Steph with distant eyes

“W-hy whyyyyyyyyyyy!?”

The result was……9-1

Needless to say, it was a crushi+ng defeat for Steph

“T-this is wrong! Winning 90 in a game of chance, what did you do!?”

Sora, who had never doubted their win, explained with genuine regret

“—Did you think that everyone was just ai past that corner?”

“……Eh?”

“I’ve been watching the interval of people passing through while ere

having tea this whole ti it in with the

population density, employment

rate and work content, it’s possible to determine the male-female ratio of

people purposefully passing through here”

“……V”

shi+ro, who had memorized all of the appropriate data and made all the

calculations off of then

Seeing that V, Steph finally felt so akin to hostility……but more

importantly—

“A-a-aren’t you taking this way overboard!?”

Going to these absurd lengths just to guess the gender of people appearing

from a corner, just how serious are these two!

——But for Sora and shi+ro, when it caames, that was a foolish

question

If asked ‘how far will you go’

There could only be one answer——‘[as far as it takes]’

“……And, so……”

shi+ro, victorious, announced her request as per the bet

“Steph’s……underwear, confis……cate……”

“——heh!?”

“W-what!?”

However, she had already agreed under the Oath

“Hiii—ait, please, change the request!!”

Nuer will be

unconditionally adhered to

An absolute agreeainst it

Steph proceeded to re all the while

Paying absolutely no heed, however, shi+ro took her panties As a result,

Steph was now crouched down on allfours, nopan

[6] and face completely

red

The one panicking all over, however, was Sora

“Hey, erous in various ways!?”

“……shi+ro is……an 11……year old child, so……I wouldn’t, know……”

Saying so, she proceeded to wear Steph’s panties on her head

Reer to her lips and tilted her head

“Wha—stop with the innocent child act, will you!? It’s way too bright!!!”

Not to irl with panties on her head was drawing the

attention of everyone passing by

As a result, Steph’s panties were displayed for all the world to see……

Ho terrifying What a terrifying child—shi+ro!!

However, Sora, feeling a sense of er sister,

spoke

“H, hey, for some reason, shi+ro, you seem particularly severe today? Are you

in a bad mood?”

“……Not, really……?”

His asking that question, however, seemed to have put her in one

Looking bored, shi+ro responded with lidded eyes

When Steph had risen against Sora, who had commanded her to ‘fall in love’

She had requested not for ‘the command’s cancellation’, but for ‘Sora to

become a citizen’

……the reason behind that should have been obvious with a bit of thinking

“……Fuu……”

Still in a bad

Yet it seemed she had been the only one who had had that on her mind

--Meanwhile

Still dressed as a dog, and nowher underwear, was Steph

”Fu, fufuthis is nothingthat day when I lost to Sora, I had already

given up my chastity”

Father, randfather

Your Stephanie has been stained

Fufu, ufufufufufu As Steph laughed under her breath, she turned to face Sora

”H, hey shi+ro, as I thought, this really feels bad--I mean, that look of hers is

scary”

”she's, fine”

She really didn't seem fine, but shi+ro asserted so with panties stillfirmly on

her head

All of a sudden, Steph fell to the ground again while pressing down her skirt

As she once again watered the ground with her crying, so flashed

through her ain

Strange--there's absolutely no way a true game of pure chance doesn't exist

in this world

(That's right In that last gameSora and shi+ro were off once as well!)

A prediction is, in the end, still just a prediction

Precisely because of that unreliability, shi+ro had specified it was to be 'best

out of ten'

Ifso----!

”S-s-Sora! A, a-another match, another!!”

Declining to stand up, probably due to her lack of panties, Steph said this in a

flustered voice

”I, I passsay, are you really allright?”

Already being forced to act like a dog, noith her underwear removed

Pushi+ng the boundary any further than this would definitely turn things into

so R18

But Steph spoke strongly

”I don't ing you two

down, it's far too cheap!!”

A glimpse of how Elchea had been pushed this far to the brink could be seen

”Is, is that so Then with the saame?”

”We'll guess how many seconds it takes for that bird over there to fly away,

and the closest is the winner--and we'll[only play once]!!”

With another flourish, Steph pointed

”Craw”

Perched on a house roof was a white rat--or eon

(You, 『 』, on't accept a defeatwhen facing a single game of

chance-- ill you do!)

In all likelihood, they sie

But even that's fine If this will allow her to close the gap between them--!

Yet contrary to Steph's expectations, Sora nodded leisurely

”Allright Saer as before 【Acciente】-- yes, what?”

”Eh, um, 【Acciente】th-then-- 30 seconds!”

Caught off guard by his ready acceptance, Steph hesitated momentarily

--Still, she was certain that there was no way the bird would remain there for

more than a minute

Therefore, she siuessed the middle

value

Steph looked up expectantly

However, as if he wasn't even listening, Sora spoke as he picked up a rock

”Then--three seconds for me”

He then immediately made an overhead throw

”huh!?”

The rock, thrown at fullforce, whizzed right past the pigeon

With an explosive flap, the startled bird took off

”Rightit's Nii'svictory”

Without even looking up from her book, shi+ro spoke, panties stillfirmly on

her head

Steph raised her voice in fierce protest

”W-ait just a !?”

Sora was fully aware of his own actions, however

”I don't believe any rule had been set which [disallowed provoking the bird

into flight]?”

”Wha--”

”If you don't properly set the rules of the gas like this will happen”

Ho childish—however s far too childish!+?

Sora, going back to his book and leaning into his chair, spoke seriously

“—There is [no such thing as luck] in this world”

“……eh?”

Nosuch thing?

At that far too sensible view, Steph frowned

“Rules, pre, condition……all

of these countless ‘invisible parameters' have already decided victory or

defeat before the ga left to chance”

Chance

It was nothing more than a word used for an unforeseen, unpredicted result

“For example, let’s see……let’s say a card was drawn out of a deck”

His eyes never leaving his book, Sora continued speaking fluently

“What’re the chances that the card is the ‘Ace of Spades’?”

“……Um, there are 52 cards in a deck, so it should be 1/52”

“That’s hoould be nor

from the bottom of a new pack?”

“……huh?”

“The initial order of cards in a new pack is set In other words, when you

take a fresh pack without jokers, if you draw the card from the bottom of the

deck you will be guaranteed an ‘Ace of Spades’”

“Eh, b-but……”

Steph tried desperately to refute him

“That’s right, I hadn’t told you it was a new pack—so you didn’t know, did

you?

However, as ifsaying that was the point, Sora kept going

“That’s exactly it If you’re aware, that ‘192’ becomes ‘100’ The one

who doesn’t knoill blame bad luck, and the one who does knoill

walk aith the definite win”

He spoke with a sigh

“Do you get it? There’s always a way to win a game That hy you lost

to me in Blackjack That’s also the reason [I until now]

—“

And then—

With a sullen face, Sora declared

“—The reason e’re being ‘checkmated’”

…………eh?

Checkmated?

“This past h countless books that cover the

whole country, but there’s hardly anything with information on the other races

There’s not an exploit to be found Good grief, just what have you guys been

doing……”

“Eh, uhm……what, do you mean?”

“—H the past month in our room

playing games?”

“Most obviously, of course, right?”

Steph asserted without a doubt

Well, whatever, Sora muttered as he proceeded

“For exadom—er, the

Eastern Union”

Evidently he hadn’t given up on that yet

“However, about all that Imanity knows about them is that werebeasts have

some sort ofsixth sense”

“Y, yes……so able to read the heart, or the like……”

“If they can do that then bluffs willfallflat, and bargaining would also be

impossible”

Ranked dead last at 16th of the 16 races of the ‘Exceed’, Imanity had no

ic powers or special abilities whatsoever

Meaning that in order to fight and win against the other races who could use

‘paranormal abilities’—

“Without adequate ‘intel’ on the enein to consider a

game”

Yet in spite of that—the information Imanity had on the other races was far

too little

Naturally, since if they were found out it’d be a disadvantage, the other races

would be hiding their abilities

For all that however, it was stillfar too little

Their coainst the books to be found in the libraries stemmed from

that fact

Nothing is known of the opponent’s games, nor their abilities

But the other side knew perfectly well just what Imanity was capable of—

The playing field of those ‘invisible parameters’ was completely uneven

If they went ahead and fought without that vital information, it’d end in

‘certain defeat’

For the exact same reason Steph was always completely crushed by Sora—

an undoubtable, definite loss

“And so, we’ve been co to determine our

angle of attack and just been sitting around the past month”

Closing his book, Sora said so

“S-still”

Sora’s cold words denounced the fruitless efforts of her grandfather

Unable to let that go unchallenged, Steph painfully retorted

“E, even so, if nothing is ever done on’t ever begin!”

But

Sora’s words held no emotion in particular

“Hey……if we screw up [even once], [everything’s over]”

Yet his voice rang with a pressure equal to that which held Steph down on the

ground

“—This is how far gone we are Don’t forget”

--One moment

It truly was for just one moment

Yet in that moment Steph clearly saw, the ‘frustration’ which fluttered across

Sora’s face

Such behavior was rarely displayed, so the truth was easily looked past

Yet it was a fact now that the fate of Imanity, a full three million people, were

burdened upon the shoulders of these siblings

The ones who had indirectly bested the Elves, without a doubt the greatest

gamers Imanity had

Those two had said--'checkmated'

The ht

Only now did Steph begin to understand the pressure the two must feel

--That by their oo hands, they could be the end of millions of lives

Carrying such a heavy burden--realizing that, Steph could only draw in a

breath

Sora began fiddling with his task scheduler once more

”--Even after all this we don't have a single 'key' which would lead to a

breakthrough Sheesh, what to do”

Being so nonchalant though, they had some tremendous nerve

Steph felt a chill--

When

A shadow fell, and turned the surrounding day to night

”What? Why's it suddenlydar--”

Sora glanced around

Even shi+ro opened her lidded eyes, and took the donut from her mouth

Looking up, the clear blue sky was no more

Instead, as if gouged straight fro there

”Wha, what the hell is that?”

Wow, so Laputa really exists

Such thoughts flitted across Sora's mind

No ht from a certain anime

A giant island, floating in the sky

--Come to think of it

The h the sky, they

had seen plenty ofsuch drifting islands

So in this world, they're actually a faht

Only Sora and shi+ro had been surprised; everyone else was just

disinterestedly walking down the road

”This world really is so elsethis pace is also a 'bit much'”

As the two of the up in a daze, Steph finally noticed

”Ah, this is your first ti it isn't it”

She then followed their gaze

”That, is 'Avant Heim'--one of the Phantasma species”

Now that she mentioned it, if one looked closely

What had looked like just a bare rock, actually had fins sticking out of it

It looked--aliant whale, and yet not quite

A question sprang to mind

”--Those in this world who are allowed to infringe on things like the right to

sunlight and right to airspace--those 'Phantasma'?”

”Yes One of the 'second ranked' of the ”

The Exceed

Prescribing to the 'Ten Oaths' God had set down, the 16 intelligent species

Pointing towards the sky, or rather the (for now) Laputa, Sora yelled

”Is that really an intelligent lifeforames, hell

how does it even communicate in the first place!? If Pa had said not only

'Laputa exists' but 'Laputa talks', even his old man would have looked at him

with pitiful eyes!!”

”I don't get half of what you just said, but well, it's useless”

Steph spoke flatly

”Iel' who live on it”

”Flügel--A, Aah, 'Avant Heim'So that's it?”

Exceed

16 Races

Laputa continued on past the street

As Sora watched the Phantasma 'Avant Heim' drift away

It had disappeared from his mind due to the surprise, but

So up

--Ranked 6th of the 'Exceed'--'Flügel'

In the former Great war they had been created by the Gods to kill Gods, the

vanguard They were born for battle

After the 'Ten Oaths', their combat capability had ostensibly been sealed

Despite a lifespan bordering on eternal, and their high ic affinity, their only

territory re sky city

Because of that they did not participate in the border betting 'country

gae in order to collect information

fro books, they often played games on a

personal individualscale

For I pool was now limited

They were one of those who could be led out by the bait of Sora and shi+ro's

'knowledge from another world'

They had been the race Sora had kept an eye out on fore

to this world

However

”Getting those Flügel on our side would be great and all, but we don't

have any way to contact them huh”

More sought after even than--the kemonomimis

Information hich they could take on all the other races--the 'Bounty of

the Flügel' was beyond priceless

Iy

There were no means by which to contact 'Avant Heim'

And with allsaid, publicly announcing the 'knowledge of another world' Sora

and shi+ro possessed was also no good

It was still too early to reveal that trump card Elchea--that Sora and co

possessed

Hearing Sora's troubled mutters, 'Eh?' went Steph

”If you have business with the Flügel, there's one nearby, you know?”

------

”--What, was that?”

”Rather, I guessit's better to say there's one staying here?”

No, wait, wait, wait, Sora cried

”In all the libraries of the country, I never once read so about that!?”

”Well, the Flügel had already lifted any such noticeable books from Elchea

after all”

--Faintly, Sora recalled a sense of vertigo

However his lidded-eyed sister

Barely able to stand, he urged her on

”T, tell us more”

”Uel caest library,

the 'Great National Library of Elchea', and ended up winning all the books in

therehat happened”

I seee~~♪

So that's why Elchea has barely any inforuess~~♥

”You idiots [bet knowledge and practically put it on a silver platter], are your

heads screwed on right!? Rather, [who's was it to bet] in the first place!?”

If they had no knowledge--no 'information', they could not hope to overcome

the other countries

Betting like that would be si away your sword and shi+eld

before a fight

To say the least, 'pure stupidity'

Even passersby stopped in surprise, as the target of that outburst, Steph,

attempted a flustered response

”T-th, the one who gaood

idea”

But Sora would not be stopped

”What had been the 'bet'!?”

”Uh, uel would become our ally' or so I

heard!”

--So he had been trying to obtain a friend with e than Imanity

To Sora, those were actually not bad conditions

Yes, not bad at all What was bad was--

”So he went ahead and lost, depriving us of basically all our

knowledge!!!!!?????”

Tearing at his head, Sora shrieked at Steph

”Did he not at least consider the consequences if he lost!? Make copies of the

!?”

”T, that's, uet”

”Budget!? What the hell did the budget have to do with this!!”

Panties stillfir brother

”NiiElcheapaper, techand, literacyrate”

”Eh, ah, r-right”

As someone who lives in modern japan, this may sound unbelievable but

The literacy rate back in 15th century Europe was--barely 10

They knew from the data that Elchea was similar in that respect

Added to that without the technology to

etary constraint--

”Steph, after we've translated soe, please

give thehest priority”

Heaving a heavy sigh, Sora stood up

”Ah, of coursewhat memos?”

”Blueprints for 'paperpress'”

At that however shi+ro, with lidded eyes and panties firmly on head, doled out

blame

”Niicheating, again”

”Sorry shi+ro, but not having this would be [e]”

Entering another task into his ain

So Steph, who had a personal library collection

Was actually really well educated for these timesbut

In this world where everything was decided by games

”How in the world do you play games if you can't even read or write Is

hu?”

”Knowing six or 18 languages like you guys is far more weird!”

”Don't be stupid! If we're going to face off against foreign powers, knowing

six languages should be the [bare minimum]!”

Finishi+ng all that in one breath, Sora was left panting

”--N, never, mind Steph”

”Y-yes?”

”According to our references, the [Flügel traditionally, only play, one game]”

Regarding the Flügel--the infor

Therefore Sora had only really been looking for a confirmation, and Steph

nodded

”Then, the next task, is clear”

He slid his finger across the scheduler--then entered

”If weSteph,

call a carriage”

”Eh, alright?”

As he spoke, Sora once again checked the new task entered into the phone

--'Retrieve Ie'

”Well, guess I may as well add this too”

Sora's fingers danced again

”Uh, 'obtain one Flügel'should do it”

Just earlier

The race Steph had declared it was 'iainst'

Ranked 6th--the God killers

He was quite comfortable about it too

As Steph stared stunned at Sora's back, who had declared 'it could be done'

Sora, taking shi+ro's hand, walked forth