Chapter 308

We began discussing what to do in the free time we have until dinner . Alice says she knows just the right place we could go, so I followed her guidance and arrived at a large building .

[……This is the place Alice recommends? What do you do in a place like this?]

[Lots of things . Well, for the time being, how about we go in?]

Is this place a theatre or a concert stage? No, the atmosphere around it doesn’t seem like so .

When I followed Alice into the building, wondering what in the world this place could be, I heard very lively sounds coming from all over the place .

[Errr, first of all, that’s the clock card, there’s the target…… There are many different games around here . ]

[Heehhh~~ This certainly looks like a very busy place . ]

I see, games huh…… Is this something like this world’s version of a game center? This place would certainly be a great way to pass the time and with all the various games we could play, we could have lots of fun .

[……Ahh, by the way, the “chips for games” can be exchanged over th——- Fugyaaahhh!?]

[Isn’t this a freaking casino!!!?]

I tried pretty hard to look at it in a favorable way, but this was undeniably a casino .

Seriously, if I just let down my guard for a bit, this woman would start going off to gamble……

[P- Please wait for a moment, Kaito-san! There’s a deeper reason for this . ]

[……Hoohh…… Let me hear it then . My sermon will come after that . ]

[……I- It’s already decided that I will get a sermon huh…… I- It’s that, you know? There’s one misunderstanding that my beloved Kaito-san may still have right now…… I thought I’d tell you one more thing that I’ve been hiding . ]

[Unnn? Something you’ve been hiding?]

I thought she would probably just make another excuse today, but from what Alice said, it sounds like she really has a reason .

Seeing this, I asked Alice back, pushing down the anger in my mind earlier .

[Well, please just watch…… It will be alright . I’ll only be using one copper . ]

[O- Oi…… Alice?]

Emitting a somewhat solemn, yet intimidating feeling, as if she was a battle-hardened gambler, Alice went to the counter with a single coin .

Then, an hour later…… Alice had a mountain of chips piled up in front of her .

[A- Amazing……]

[Fufufu, this is my true ability!]

As if to overturn my previous impression of her, Alice has shown her monstrous ability in the casino .

Although she wasn’t winning all her games, she was calmly discerning when to call and when to fold, and interestingly, her chips were increasing .

She had really overwhelmed her contenders, that if she continued playing, there’s a chance that she might be banned .

Well, seeing the smug look on her face was inexplicably annoying though .

[Isn’t that a bit too mean!?]

[Then…… The smug Alice is cute too . ]

[Wha!? Ah, s- suddenly saying that…… Auuuu……]

While slightly teasing Alice, whose expression frequently changes, I returned to the subject at hand .

[……Even so, for you to amass this much……]

[Fufufu, have you seen it now? The Perfect Beauty Alice-chan’s serious mode!]

[……Then, why have you always been……]

At least, from what I saw in the past hour or so, Alice was always calm and collected, not getting hot-headed and assessing the flow of the game .

In layman’s terms, she would be able to win most of the games with her skill .

That’s why, I was reflexively stunned, seeing how far apart Alice was now from the Alice who was weak in gambling back then .

[…… . Ahaha, that was what I’ve been hiding…… . I have actually been “losing on purpose” . ]

[……Why?]

If she can show this level of ability, I can honestly believe her when she said that she’s been losing on purpose, but I don’t see why she should do that .

Well, if she can win this much, it definitely would be easier for her to lose on purpose……

[Ahh~~ Errr, actually, you see . I’ve always been super good at gambling, and I almost never lost . So, since the old me has disappeared already, I thought I should lose on purpose . ]

[……Then, you should have just not gambled . ]

[W- Well~~ But, you see~~ I really like gambling…… so I couldn’t resist playing……]

It seems that the secret Alice wanted to tell me is that she was actually a strong gambler .

It’s nice to know another thing about Alice but…… why is she telling me that at this time?

As I was thinking this, a grin appeared on Alice’s lips, and holding out half of the pile of chips towards me, she spoke .

[……Let’s have a revenge match . Kaito-san, let’s have a match to see who can make more money!]

[A- A match?]

[Yes! If I win, I’ll have a special dessert along with the fancy dinner!]

[……And what if I win?]

Revenge match…… She must be referring to that match we had previously at the monster race track .

In summary, what she’s saying is that “I didn’t really give it my all that time, so let’s have another match” .

Well, we have plenty of time to spare, so we can do that…… For some reason though, Alice even added a condition as to when she wins .

That’s why, I was wondering about what would happen if I won . I know that Alice was confident about her skills, but my chance of victory isn’t zero .

So, I thought I’d ask her about that before accepting her challenge .

[……E- Errr…… If Kaito-san wins…… Ummm, when we get home…… I- I’ll give you a reward……]

[A reward?]

[Y- You can only look forward to it after you actually win!]

[……Fumu, well, fine . Let’s do it . ]

[Fufufu, the me of today is different from the me back then! Come on, let me show you the bitter taste of defeat!]

Carried away by a strangely enthusiastic Alice, the second match between Alice and I began .

To skip to the conclusion of our match…… Well…… “We were banned” .

After a certain amount of time had passed since my match against Alice began, a person claiming to be the owner of the casino appeared, got down on his knees and said “Please let us off already” . After exchanging looks with Alice, we decided to end our match .

Well, I didn’t think that I’d be this lucky, and I also feel like I got carried away too much, so I’ve decided to accept this ban as a means to reflect .

[……Guhhh…… Uuuuu……]

[W- Well, you see, we were interrupted in the middle of our match so……]

[……Kaito-san is an absolute cheat…… How come you were able to “consecutively win in betting with single bets” in the roulette… . . There’s no way you can win if that wasn’t the case……]

[Ahh~~ No, I was just lucky……]

As for the match with Alice…… I had won about three times as much as her before our match was interrupted .

I didn’t know if it was because of beginner’s luck or something like that, but in the end, I never lost a single bet .

Incidentally, Alice had also increased her hand several times from the start, so she wasn’t weak at all . It was just that I was strangely lucky .

[……Uuuuuuu . ]

[No, like I said, our match was interrupted, so we can just make that match invalid……]

[T- That won’t do! My pride as a gambler will not allow me that . So, I’ll properly give you a reward after we get home…… T- T- T- That’s why,l- l- l- look forward to it……]

[Y- Yeah……]

Why is she that red? Moreover, she’s even stuttering with her words? What exactly is this reward that she’s talking about?

I tried asking her, but she only told me “You’ll know about it after we got home”, so let’s just put it aside for now . Anyway, now that we’ve killed enough time, it’s time to start thinking about dinner .

Dear Mom, Dad———- I had another gambling match with Alice . And with my beginner’s luck, I won once again, but there seems to be something wrong with Alice———– What in the world could this reward be?