"Five heads."

-CLANG!

"Two heads."

-CLANG!

"Your win, Sir Iatra."

"Where's your hometown, Sir Raeran."

"I am unaware. I was a wandering knight before I joined the imperial ranks about two years ago."

"I see. I am, in fact, unaware of my origins as well."

The knights in the room watched with bated breaths as the two increased their pace. The shaking of the fast train and the deepening dark of the night seemed to have disappeared from their minds as they continued on with their game.

They were smiling, surely, but their eyes told an entirely different story. The tension between the two shunned the excited knights into a quiet observance.

"We share more in common than I thought." Raeran collected the coins and prepared them for the next round. Neither of them showed signs of doubting the other, not because of any flimsy promises or rigged magic tricks, but because of their pride.

They weren't afraid, nor were they averse to lying. They were more than willing to cheat or lie towards victory. But it was beneath them to do so until they were pushed into a complete corner.

Raeran gathered the coins and put his hand on the table. This was the seventh round in total, with him winning two and the Otherworlder four.

With a swish, the coins soared in the sky.

"Four heads."

The coins came down with six heads.

The Otherworlder gathered the coins and flicked them up.

"Five heads."

Four heads were facing up on the table.

"Sir Iatra, which schoolbook on magic did you like the most?"

"I didn't learn in a school. I taught myself."

The Knight nodded and collected the coins again...

-Clank!

"How many years have you been a knight for?"

-Clank!

"When did you become an adventurer?"

-Clank!

"Any siblings?"

-Clank!

"How many quests have you taken on?"

In such a way, the battle of wits continued relentlessly. Both tried their best to get as much information about the other without crossing any lines. A question the other won't answer was an enormous opportunity missed, a question the other had to lie on would put the entire game in question.

They had to tread very carefully.

Soon, fifteen total rounds passed as the scenery outside the window changed from the deep forests to a scarce cityscape. The trees were replaced by beautiful houses of brick and concrete. Small gardens and fences zoomed past them on the train.

Raeran had only won six of these rounds.

"You, you sure seem to have strong luck, Sir Iatra," Raeran said after his guess had been thrown off by a large amount.

"Strong luck?" Suddenly, the air in the room cooled down. A chilling breeze brushed at the skin of everyone observing the game. The Otherworlder leaned ahead on his seat. It was his turn to guess now.

"Flick it up," the Otherworlder said.

A strange pressure was pressing down on the elf knight. Something had changed. Something had changed within the Otherworlder and he didn't know what. What did he figure out? Did he offend him in some way?

The elf knight gulped in nervousness as he put his hands out over the table again, his eyes fixated on the Otherworlder's countenance.

The Otherworlder, meanwhile, had really had something change within him. He had gained a sense of realization.

'I am fucked.'

Indeed, the Otherworlder was quite fucked. He had gathered enough to know who exactly Raeran was working under the orders of, and he did not know how he could get out of things.

With a troubled gaze, Raeran turned his hand and threw the coins in the air.

"Ten heads."

"Wha-"

"Huh?"

"Haah!"

Gasps and squeals of surprise rang out from all the observers as the Otherworlder announced his guess.

The coins soared in the sky and arced above, like trinkets of fate. The coins seemed to have brought time to a lull as they slowly dropped down.

-CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG

Six coins fell at once, all heads.

One coin went farther up than the others and came back slower.

-CLANG

Heads.

One coin remained fluttering on the table. Dancing from side to side. It slowed down soon.

Heads.

"Hah!"

"How?"

"Is this real?"

Another coin rolled in circles on the table. Spinning around, itself before falling limp on the table.

Heads.

"N-nine heads"

"Where's the last one!?"

The knights and Raeran all lowered their gazes to the floorboard of the moving train. Covered slightly by the knight's shoes was the last coin of the batch.

Raeran moved his feet and crouched down low, and the other knights followed.

"T-this…"

"Unbelievable…"

"Sir Iatra…" Raeran said, half in disbelief and half out of impulse. "It's heads…"

Ten heads.

Ten entire heads, all at once.

Raeran gulped again as he got back up and looked at the Otherworlder, who barely seemed fazed by the outcome.

"Oh, yeah?" The Otherworlder said, his tone slightly chilly. "Well then, I'll ask my question."

Suddenly, a new wave of fear gushed over the elf knight.

Yes, the game wasn't about flipping the coins. The real game was their questions.

"U-h yeah."

The immovable captain, Raeran Yllafir, who seemed as charismatic as the sun and even stronger than he seemed charismatic, was being put in a tight spot against this man they called the destroyer.

Raeran Yllafir. Was scared.

"Sir Raeran…" The Otherworlder spoke, as if announcing a sentence. "… Shall we, end this game now?"

"Huh?" Raeran said. "I-I guess. Sure…"

"Good. It was fun to play with you." The Otherworlder stood up from his seat and walked away. He was sitting there originally, but they didn't seem ready to move yet and the Otherworlder needed to get away and think as fast as he could.

Only when the Otherworlder was out of earshot did Raeran finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Another hour passed, and the train reached the capital.