Chapter 5

Seconds already passed but none of them spoke

Eleri stared at the boy and saw that he was engrossed in his own thoughts while looking at the cards

Eleri squinted her eyes as she thought 'Although this game might look simple, it is actually much more complicated, It is similar to a rock-paper-scissor game'

'As the dealer said the General of the Army is the strongest and could eliminate everyone else so this could already be considered a win, but…'

She looked at the cards on the boy's hands and thought 'If he played the Spy card then my General of the Army is already gone and he already has a huge advantage over me if so'

'He could then play his General of the Army which would force me to play my Spy card, but if so, he might play another card instead and my Spy card gets eliminated leaving a guaranteed win for him'

'It's game over for me then if so'

Closing her eyes she pondered on what to use when she suddenly heard the boy calling her and she opened her eyes to look at the boy

The boy said "How about we have a truce?"

Eleri raised one eyebrow as she heard this and muttered "Truce?"

The boy pushed up his glasses and nodded as he said "Yes, we could have a draw so that none of us loses and dies"

Eleri was silent for a moment before she asked "How?"

The boy seemed to finally get serious as he furrowed his eyebrows and said "We both play similar cards each round so that none of us loses"

Eleri understood what he meant but…

"That's a good idea, but the dealer said we cannot tell each other our cards"

The boy smirked as he said "Correction, he said that we cannot 'show' or 'peek' but he didn't said that we cannot 'tell' no?"

Recalling his words Eleri widened her eyes and said "You have a point"

The boy smiled and said "So, do you agree?"

Eleri stared at the boy but didn't speak, she contemplated and thought 'He has a good point, if we came down to a draw then it's a good trade'

'But' Her lips curled up into a smirk as her eyes bent into an arc 'Unfortunately for you even though I cannot always tell if it's true or not, you are easy to see through'

"Sure. I agree with the truce" Smiling she thought 'Let's play your game shall we?'

Hearing this the boy's lips curled up into a strange arc as he mumbled "Bingo"

"Alright then, for the first round let's play the 'Private (1 chevron)' shall we?" He asked as he raised one card

"Don't mind if I do" Eleri said as she raised her card aswell

The dealer stepped forward and asked [Are both contestants ready?]

Both Eleri and the boy simultaneously said "I'm ready"

[Alright then, I'll go ahead and peek at your cards right now] Saying that he walked towards Eleri first before he walked towards the boy

Going back to his spot he announced [For the first round, the game is a tie]

Hearing this the boy remained unchanged as Eleri just smiled lightly

[Well then, let's begin the next round shall we?]

Nodding they started the second round already

"This time let's play the 'Sergeant (3 chevrons)'"

Eleri hummed as she raised her card, just as the boy was about to raise his card he suddenly heard Eleri say "By the way I haven't asked your name yet, would you mind telling me?"

Hearing this the boy raised his head and wanted to refute but instead said with a solemn voice "Magnus, Magnus Mccarthy. What about your's?"

"You can call me L, Detective L at your service"

"A detective?"

"Yes, I was a private detective before but because of all the things going on I guess I'll have to retire"

Magnus was speechless and wanted to say 'Who would think about work in this situation?!' but had to swallow it down as he nodded and said "I see"

Raising both cards the dealer clasped his hand and went towards Magnus first this time before walking towards Eleri

The dealer then announced [For the second round it is once again a tie]

These procedure began to repeat several times until it was the sixth round

[5 - 5] [6]

[For the sixth round the winner is Magnus!]

"What?!" Both Magnus and Eleri exclaimed at the same time

The card in Eleri's hand disappeared as she stared at Magnus with disbelief as she said "You--!"

"I didn't I swear" Magnus said calmly as he added with a frown "The Dealer must have lied…or, you changed your card than what we deal with didn't you?"

Eleri's eyebrow twitched as she said "What? Don't you mean you cheated didn't you?"

[Alright settle down now the next round is about to begin and violence is strictly forbidden here]

Eleri frowned and clicked her tongue in dismay

Magnus lowered his head but he silently smiled and scoffed as he thought 'Fool'. Looking at Eleri who was looking at the dealer with vigilance he couldn't help sneering as he thought 'Ofcorse it was me who changed the cards and yet she believed that it the dealer who lied'

'This game is already in the palm of my hands'

___

The next round started and Magnus said "Let's play the 'General (4-star)' this time"

Eleri was hesitant but nodded as she raised her card, Magnus scoffed in his heart as he also raised his card

As the dealer peeked at their cards he announced [The winner for this round is--]

[--Magnus Mccarthy!]

Eleri almost fell to the ground as she heard this and couldn't help looking at Magnus

Magnus couldn't help it anymore and laughed madly as he said "You fool, did you really believe what I said?"

Eleri covered her mouth and frowned as she stuttered "You lied to me…you…lied…"

"And you just noticed that you idiot hahahaha" Magnus laughed to his heart as he wiped his tears. He then looked at the dealer and said "Well dealer, let's begin the next round"

The dealer and Eleri looked at each other before the dealer said [Alright, the next game begins--]

[--Now!]

[5 - 7] [8]

*****

The next round begins and both of them raised their cards as Eleri raised hers with trembling arms

The dealer peeked at both cards before he said [ The wionner for the eight round goes to--]

[--L]

"...Huh?" Magnus blinked as he said "Wait…who won?"

He looked at Eleri and saw that she also had a dumbfounded expression as she said "I won?"

Magnus gritted his teeth as he said "There must be a mistake! Dealer-" he suddenly froze as he met the dealers crying mask and felt a chill down on his spine and backed away

[Well then, let's start the next round?]

*****

[The winner for the ninth round, is L!]

Magnus froze as his face turned red and blue from anger as he glared at Eleri

He saw Eleri smiling and blinking innocently at her as she asked with a meaningful smile "What's wrong?"

Magnus clicked his tongue and looked at the scoreboard

[7 - 7] [9]

He suddenly panicked as he thought 'If I lose this last round I'm dead!'

Gnashing his teeth he thought 'There's no other way, I have to use my ability without them knowing it'

Raising her card Eleri looked at the dealer

Seeing her looking away from him Magnus immediately thought 'Ability Activate: Eye Seer'

[Ability: Eye Seer]

[Owner: Magnus Mccarthy]

[Rank: E]

[Level:28]

[Description: Allows user to see through any items]

[Requirements: Skill can only be used once a day]

As Magnus looked at the card he was gradually able to see what card Eleri was playing

'Bingo. So she was playing the Lieutenant General this time hah'

Smiling he mumbled "This is my win"

*****

[The winner for the last round is--]