Chapter 74 Tenkouin Reika and Samidare Satsuki ⑤
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Tenkouin Reika remained rooted to the spot, dazed, as if her mind refused to process the reality of her defeat.
”Me… losing? That’s impossible… It simply cannot be-desuwa…” she stammered.
”And yet, here I am, the winner,” I countered. “Don’t you think it’s time you faced reality?”
”…Kh!” Tenkouin Reika spat.
She glared at me. While I enjoyed the look, I needed her to do more than just pout if I was going to break her properly.
Time for the reveal.
First, there was the matter of her hitting the jackpot on the 21-reel slot yesterday. I’d wager she used her unique skill, Lucky Star¹. As the name implies, it’s a total luck-cheat-as long as the odds aren’t zero, she succeeds. Of course, such power comes with a price, but I’ll get to that.
The 21-reel slot only uses ‘7’s and ‘dots,’ distributed evenly. To line up twenty-one ‘7’s is a 1-in-2.1 million long shot-lottery territory. Statistically impossible for a normal person, but trivial for her skill. So, how did I beat a girl with the literal goddess of fortune on her side? Simple: I forced her to waste her Lucky Star before the match even began.
Lucky Star is broken, sure, but it’s limited to once per day. More importantly, it has a secondary, passive trigger: if the user is in mortal peril, it activates automatically to ensure their survival. That “random” assassin from earlier? His strike was meant to be fatal.
You might ask if such a convenient coincidence is even possible. In this world, “coincidence” is just another word for a skill effect.
Specifically: Jinx².
It’s a Sloth-category skill that weaponizes superstition. You know the old wives’ tale about eating eel and pickled plums causing a stomach ache? It’s nonsense-unless Jinx is active. Then, it becomes a physical law.
Just before the final hand-the one where I folded-Tenkouin Reika drew a pair of black Aces and Eights. In the gambling world, that’s the “Dead Man’s Hand,” named for the man who was murdered while holding it.
The logic was flawless: by drawing that hand, Jinx flagged her for “death.” Her Lucky Star was forced to trigger to save her life from the “coincidental” assassin, burning her one-use-per-day miracle.
Of course, she didn’t just “happen” to draw that hand. I’d signaled the dealer to stack the deck the moment my chips dipped below a thousand. It was blatant cheating, but since I was the one losing at the time, no one spared a glance at the deck.
To seal the deal, I’d been running Luck Charge³. It’s a Greed-category skill that lets you “bank” luck. The catch? To save up good luck, you have to endure a streak of miserable misfortune. That’s why I lost every single hand leading up to the end. But when I finally cashed in that accumulated fortune for the last round? The universe bent over backward to hand me a Wild Poker⁴ Royal Straight Flush.
Tenkouin Reika could have walked away with her winnings if she’d just quit while she was ahead, but greed blinded her. She’d clearly never bothered to read the fine print on her own abilities. Or perhaps, fueled by a lifetime of winning, she simply couldn’t fathom the concept of “loss.”
In the end, we were both cheaters. She “happened” to draw the Dead Man’s Hand, “happened” to almost get murdered, and I “happened” to draw the strongest hand in the house. A series of very convenient, very deliberate coincidences.
Tenkouin Reika, however, wasn’t about to bow out gracefully.
”…I see-desuwa,” she muttered, her eyes narrowing. “If I simply make this man a corpse, then there is no loser-desuwa… Nigotori, kill him!”
”Understood!” Nigotori shouted.
She barked the order while burning a hole through me with her eyes.
”I have no desire for the Servitude⁵ of a man like you,” Nigotori spat. “Perish!”
She reached into her Item Box⁶, pulling a sword from the void and settling into a perfect mid-level guard. She was a ranked Kendo practitioner, if I recalled. The blade looked like a bastard sword-the kind of versatile, “edgy” weapon that really appeals to a teenager’s sense of style.
The crowd erupted into a panic. Screams echoed through the hall. Honestly, people really need to stop brandishing lethal weapons in public spaces.
”Lil,” I said.
I glanced at my companion. She gave a curt nod and stepped between me and Nigotori’s blade.
”Hiding behind a woman… you’re pathetic,” Nigotori sneered. “And you, girl-you have terrible taste in men.”
”That would be you,” Lil replied coolly.
”Tch-! You-!” Nigotori lunged.
Nigotori tried to slash at her, but Lil didn’t even flinch. She stepped back a mere half-pace, twisted her torso to let the blade whistle past, and seized Nigotori’s wrist. A sickening crack echoed through the room as the joint was forced into an unnatural position. Lil ignored the sound and slammed the warrior to the floor.
”Agh-! Help me-!” Nigotori screamed in agony.
Nigotori’s face contorted. Her right arm was twisted at an impossible angle. Lil had clearly dislocated the joint, if not shattered the bone entirely.
”Kh, useless… Samidare!” Tenkouin Reika screamed.
”Kill this man with your summoned beast!”
”Ye… yes!” Samidare Satsuki replied. “‘I shall summon, using that person as a sacrifice’…”
”Uwah!? What?! There’s a magic circle at my feet!” one of the staff yelled.
A magic circle emerged at the feet of one of the casino’s black-suits. I recalled Samidare Satsuki’s unique skill… this was going to get messy.
The crowd was thick, and reaching her would normally be a chore. But I wasn’t feeling normal. I activated Time Compression⁷. The world slowed to a crawl. I wove through the frozen statues of the onlookers and reached Samidare Satsuki in a heartbeat.
”Sacrificing an innocent, living human? Have you fallen that far, Samidare Satsuki?” I asked.
”Eh? …Gah!?”
Whether she was shocked by my speed or the fact that I’d used her full name, she froze. I didn’t give her a second to recover, driving a backhand into her face. I held back-I didn’t want her head to explode-but it was enough. She crumpled, clutching her face as blood leaked through her fingers.
I planted my boot firmly on the Hero’s head, pinning her to the carpet.
With her concentration shattered, the sacrificial sigil flickered and died.
”To step on a girl’s head… what kind of man are you!?” Tenkouin Reika shrieked.
”The kind that didn’t draw first blood,” I reminded her. “Brandishing weapons is one thing, but human sacrifice? That’s hardly the work of a sane mind. Are you still Heroes? Honestly, I’m shocked to hear it. Now… Torimaki. You aren’t going to try anything stupid, are you?”
I flashed a predatory grin at the last girl. Torimaki nodded frantically, her face pale with terror.
”Very well… then take them to my mansion,” I ordered the nearby staff. “Be sure to be courteous.”
Tenkouin Reika and the others were led away by the black-suits. Now, as for what to do with them… well, I already had a very specific plan in mind.
* * *
If there’s a better expression for “shocked” than a deer in the headlights, I’ve yet to see it.
Tenkouin Reika and the others had been brought to my dining hall, where a spread of the finest delicacies awaited them. They sat there, blinking at the feast.
”…Um, what on earth is the meaning of this-desuwa?” Tenkouin Reika asked tentatively.
”Aren’t we supposed to be your Servitude?” Nigotori asked.
”Wasn’t that the point of the match?” Samidare Satsuki added.
I took a sip of wine. “I won the match and received everything you are… but I never said a word about making you my Servitude.”
I’d provoked them into wagering their lives, but the technical status of Servitude was never my goal.
”Eh? Oh… I suppose… you didn’t-desuwa,” Tenkouin Reika admitted. “Then why?”
”Because I wanted your persons,” I replied. “I had no intention of making you Servitude from the start.”
I cut a piece of steak, the savory juices flooding my palate. It was exquisite.
The truth was, I had no intention of employing them as public-facing subordinates. In the eyes of the system, they were already bound to me the moment the bet was settled. But perception is everything.
”Then… this treatment… does this mean you intend to marry into our lines-desuwa?” Tenkouin Reika asked, a hint of her old ego returning. “Is that why you went to such lengths? You really should have just asked-desuwa.”
”Let’s be honest,” I said, looking her in the eye. “If a masked stranger like me walked up and asked for your hand, would you have said yes?”
”…Certainly not-desuwa,” Tenkouin Reika admitted. “A suspicious man in a mask? In the first place, you are far too creepy-desuwa.”
I felt a vein throb in my temple. I’d asked for that, but it still stung.
”Exactly. So, we did it my way,” I said.
”So that was it-desuwa,” Tenkouin Reika sighed.
”Th-Then we also…?” Samidare Satsuki asked.
I nodded.
”Is this a golden ticket?” Torimaki chirped.
”I mean, losing to a billionaire isn’t really losing, right?”
”True. And honestly, being a Hero wasn’t really my style,” Samidare Satsuki added, looking around the opulent room. “Living here with this person might be good too.”
”In the end, it seems I’ve come out on top once again-desuwa,” Tenkouin Reika concluded.
They all began to chatter, convinced they’d been scouted for a harem. It’s a natural assumption when a wealthy man wins a group of women and feeds them steak. Only Nigotori remained silent, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.
”Eat up,” I urged. “It’s a shame to let such a meal go cold.”
”You’re right-desuwa,” Tenkouin Reika said. “It really is delicious-desuwa!”
”Mmm. I wonder if I could make it a little more delicious,” Torimaki mused.
”Is that so? Perhaps you can show the maids of the house a few tricks?” I asked.
”I’d love to!” Torimaki replied.
The dinner continued in a disturbingly harmonious atmosphere. They laughed and ate, completely oblivious to the man sitting at the head of the table.
* * *
For the next three days, I gave them the run of the manor. The only rule was that they couldn’t leave the grounds.
I spent time consulting with Tenkouin Reika on my casino operations. Say what you want about her personality, but a daughter of the Conglomerate Tenkouin knows her business. Her insights turned my amateur management into a well-oiled machine.
Torimaki took Lotte and Nadja under her wing in the kitchen, and my staff’s culinary skills skyrocketed. Samidare Satsuki vanished into the archives, living her best life as a bookworm. Even Nigotori eventually stopped looking for assassins in the shadows, her guard blunted by the sheer mundane comfort of the estate.
Three days of peace. Three days of luxury.
The stage was perfectly set.
Now… let’s see how they enjoy the taste of hell.
—
Summary:
The protagonist explains how he manipulated the casino match using the Jinx skill to force Reika’s Lucky Star to trigger prematurely. After a failed assassination and a brief violent confrontation, the girls are captured and taken to his manor. Mistaking their situation for a ‘harem’ or marriage proposal, they relax into a luxurious lifestyle while the protagonist prepares a dark fate for them.
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Trivia:
- Lucky Star is a passive auto-trigger for mortal danger, not just for winning games.
- The protagonist lost every hand intentionally to charge his ‘Luck Charge’ skill.
- The ‘Dead Man’s Hand’ (Aces and Eights) was the specific trigger for the Jinx skill.
- Samidare Satsuki was willing to sacrifice a casino staff member to summon her beast.
- Only Nigotori remains suspicious; the others are fully deceived by the luxury
—
Character Insight:
The protagonist shows a high level of strategic cruelty, letting his victims feel safe and pampered to maximize the impact of their eventual ‘hell.’ Reika’s arrogance is her blind spot, leading her to believe her beauty has ‘won’ her a billionaire husband.
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Behind the Scenes:
The ‘Dead Man’s Hand’ is a real-world poker legend based on the death of Wild Bill Hickok.
—
TL Notes:
Notes:
• Reika – Wealthy half-foreign heiress with drill blonde hair and blue eyes, flat-chested. Leader of the bullying group.
• Luck – Shin’s partner and a wind magic user. Hunter from Rubia. Deceased.
• Lil – One of the heroines. Height 166 cm, B-W-H: 90-56-90. She is a top-tier beauty with long indigo hair down to her waist, a large scar on her abdomen and sharp golden eyes. She has wolf ears and a tail.
• Satsuki – Large chest (noted as ‘milk woman’ or ‘cow’ by Reika), indoor type, former bullying victim turned perpetrator.
• Lotte – A maid in her late 20s who is a high-level combatant (Level 50+).
• Nadja – A female goblin. She was treated as a breeding bed for orcs and was r*ped, but Natsumi (Sieben) saved her. Short stature.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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