Chapter 93.1 - Top Secret and Thousand Blade Festival [10] – part 1

93. Top Secret and Thousand Blade Festival [10] – part 1

I gained a huge victory over the president, and quickly cleaned up the cards on the desk.

「But this is… No way…」

She was trembling with an『unbelievable』expression.

I guess she never imagined that the match would end with such a result.

(Well, it’s no wonder…)

The president had prepared three cheats for this fight.

The first was “stacking” the deck.

Before the game started – I checked the deck to see if it was a gimmick card.

(Perhaps the president was confident that I wouldn’t find out, but…)

Just going through the deck for a little while makes it apparent. All the cards in the deck were lined up with『Three Number Skips』.

It was precisely – 1, 4, 7, 10, K.

(Instead of allowing yourself to get a good hand, it’s a “disordering stack” which doesn’t allow the other person to get a good hand.)

It is difficult to even make One Pair, let alone a Straight, with a deck that is lined up with three number skips.

And letting me have the first turn was part of the strategy.

In the first game, some cards will be opened up.

The cards which form a pair, she will casually slip into the bottom of the deck

Then the president prepared two more different cheats.

『False Shuffle』which does not change the order of the cards, but simply makes the deck look like it was shuffled.

『Bottom Deal』which pretends to give out the top card but distributes the bottom card.

(I’m sure she has been practicing a lot for this day.)

She executed two very high level cheats.

Normally, even one pair is difficult to get in a deck of『stacking』.

But a combo of『False Shuffle』and『Bottom Deal』will guarantee the president a hand of more than one pair.

(It’s a great strategy that’s plain but carries less risk of failure…)

If I had faced her squarely, 9 out of 10 times will end in the president’s victory.

But her strategy collapsed easily with one move from me.

Yes, it was the riffle shuffle.

This type of stacking is strong against normal shuffles that do not change the order of cards greatly.

However, it is powerless against the riffle shuffle that breaks the line of cards.

The president tried to make full use of False Shuffle and Bottom Deal with the broken stacking, but it failed without the tactical foundation of stacking.

「Well then, president. The victory belongs to me. So can I have your gin?」

After winning Poker of Cheats with the president, I made a request for her gin, the winner’s right.

However,

「W-Wait a minute!」

Unexpectedly, or should I say as expected, the president didn’t give it to me.

「Allen-kun! What kind of cheat did you use?! Onee-chan won’t get angry if you tell me now, so just be honest!」

「No, like I said, I haven’t done anything that can be called a cheat.」

「Lies! It’s not possible that a Royal Straight Flush will be come out twice in a row!」

She seemed to be convinced that I cheated.

「A-Ahaha… Well, let’s put that aside for now.」

It’s not a good idea to reveal your hand to the public.

And the act I did is a little different from cheating.

It is more appropriate to call it a “skill”.

「No! I’ll never give you my gin until you confess!」

The president said something so childlike and turned away.

「Haa… Is that so…」

I stood up from the chair and observed her body, mainly around the pockets of her uniform.

(There is no “bulge”. I don’t think she has that many gin…)

It’s no big deal even if I don’t collect her gin.

「W-What are you looking at?」

When she noticed my gaze, she crossed her hands in front of her chest, and took a step back.

「No, please don’t worry. Well then, excuse me.」

I spun on my heels and tried to leave the student council room.

「W-Wait a minute! For God’s sake, please tell me what kind of cheat it was! If you leave like this, I won’t be able to sleep tonight!」

She grasped my hand and pleaded desperately.

「Even if you say that…」

To be honest, there was not a single merit in exposing the modus operandi to the president.

「I-If you don’t tell me…」

「And if I don’t tell?」

「I’ll say Allen-kun did indecent things to me!」

The president uttered ridiculous nonsense, with her face flushing.

「Please give me a break.」

Even under normal circumstances, the rumours already drive me crazy.

He tried to misbehave with the daughter of House Arcstria, if such a bad reputation were to spread, at worst, even the Holy Knights could start to move.

「Which will you choose?! Will you obediently confess to cheating? Or, will you let the rumours spread that you did lewd things to me? You can only choose one of the two!」

The president approached closer with her face bright red. Perhaps this situation was exciting for her or something.

Her sweet smell filled my nostrils which caused my heart to start beating faster.

「Haa… I guess it can’t be helped.」

I sighed, giving up to her persistence.

「I did it! That’s right, Allen-kun!」

The president clapped, smiling like a child.

「Well then, president. Give me a difficult hand to make. It can be anything.」

「A difficult hand to make?…Umm, a Straight?」

「Ahaha, that’s too easy.」

I quickly shuffled the deck and dealt five cards from the top.

「What is this?」

「Can you turn them over for me?」

「Oookay? Wha! A Straight?!!」

The president’s eyes widened at the hand she just mentioned.

「H-How did you do that?」

「It’s not all that difficult. Let’s see… Do you know『card counting』in blackjack?」

「Y-Yes… You count how many『10』or higher cards remain in the deck, and calculate the chances of your hand exceeding 21. A tactic that reduces the chance of going bust. Is it the one?」

She answered with little confidence.

「That’s right, president. And what I’m doing right now is an extension of that, ”Card Memorizing”.」

「Card Memorizing… You mean memorization?」

「Yes. You memorize the total order of the fifty-two cards in the deck. All the numbers from『1』to『13』and the four kinds of suits.」

「T-That’s impossible, right!?」

「It’s easier than you might think when you get used to it. It takes about half the effort needed to memorize the『multiplication table』.」

「No, no… Even if you can memorize the order, if it’s shuffled, then it’s not going to be the same!」

「It won’t be a problem if you observe closely. All you have to do is change the order of the cards in your head.」

Compared to the earnest fight between swordsmen, where life and death is determined within a fraction of a second, it is not so difficult to follow the movement of the shuffle.

After that, every time the deck is shuffled, you just have to rebuild the order of the cards in your mind.

「If you remember the order of the deck, the rest will fall into place easily. When it’s your turn, just shuffle with little care so that the cards you want will come up. And there you go.」

I shuffled the deck and dealt five cards in front of the president. She unfolded it and became completely speechless.

It was the Royal Straight Flush that I showed many times a while ago.