Volume 1 - CH 5.4

I was taken to the back of the building to the manager’s office which had a very wabi-sabi aesthetic.

The desk was made of steel. The sofa’s cushioning was torn, and sponges and springs were sticking out of it. There was a frame on the wall which read ‘Wholeheartedly’.

“I’m sorry, I’m out of coffee.”

“It’s alright.”

“It’s fine~.”

He brought out vegetable juice poured in teacups. Yoshinaga-san immediately opened the small package in the middle of the table. I also quietly took a jelly wrapped in wafer paper. The green colour on the jelly looked yummy.

“So, what do you think of Sir Ed’s match?”

“In a few words, it wasn’t spectacular. He settled the match too easily.

“You’re right. Anything else?”

Youshinaga-san and I looked at each other.

“And… it was too short.”

“Yes, that’s exactly it. That’s all there was to his match.”

The manager looked down weakly. I could feel indescribable sorrow from his slumped shoulders.

“Sir Ed is too strong. Extremely strong. So strong that even I, as a man, am charmed by him. But he’s too strong. He has no one who could match him. He has no one who could match him, but he trains every day. He shows no sign of slowing down. His challengers are instantly defeated. People don’t challenge him anymore except for those who are weird.”

“Hah.”

“I warned him about this. I told him, ‘You need to put on a show to let people see how strong you are’. But he said, ‘I don’t like fixed matches’. Why do I have such a body?”

He uses ‘I’ [1]. How unfit. Well, I guess using I is alright since he’s a stuffed bear… even though he is three metres tall.

“I didn’t tell him to go easy on his opponent because it’s a match. I understand that, but how do I say this, the programme…?”

A fighter who is too strong and unaccommodating may be difficult for a promoter to deal with. Of course, it all depends on how the show is presented.

And Yoshinaga-san, you’re eating too many snacks. Hold back a little.

“Say, don’t you have any idea about what I can do? I want to make Sir Ed lose. I believe he’ll understand that way.”

The manager leaned forward. Even if he says that, Edward is the strongest. It’s absurd to defeat the strongest.

“Okay!”

The voice came from beside me. It was Yoshinaga-san.

“We’ll take care of it!”

Yoshinaga’s eyes were blazing. She loved adversity.

We wandered around the shopping district of the Divine Realm while planning our strategy after leaving the manager’s office. I felt like I wasn’t in a place much different that the one in my previous life when I walked around like this, but when I see crocodiles walking on two legs, dragons as tall as my knees, octopi in full body armour, and two-centimetre men evoking daimyo processions among the shoppers, I realise that I am in the Divine Realm.

“You said yes too easily. Do you have any ideas?”

“It’s your job to think of one.”

Yoshinaga-san declared as she stuffed her mouth with the Takoyaki that we had just bought at a food stall.

She hasn’t changed at all. She still leaves the job to other people.

Yoshinaga-san, the commander, sets the target, and I, the execution unit, take action. This was the Go and Shogi club style. I guess the division of roles went fairly well. Yoshinaga-san would come up with ideas on how to move, and it doesn’t turn out great when I do as she instructs.

Yoshinaga-san pushed me around a lot when I was called ‘Hirabon’ in my freshman year in high school. It was only one year but I Have a lot of strange memories from that time.

“Either way, we have to get Edward-kun the <Left> to lose in order to get him to go to the lower world.”

The only way to get Edward to lose is to get him to fight a challenger who is stronger than him.

But he’s that strong. I don’t know if there’s anyone here who could beat Edward, and even if there is, there’s not enough prize money to entice them to fight. There’s no maniac who would fight for free.

“The manager promised to give us 300,000 karma for funds. Of course, he’ll pay it to us later. What can I even do with that?”

“People, goods, and money. We don’t have any of that.”

In this case, people are strong challengers. Things are tricks to win, and money is the prize money. We have none of the above. It might be possible to do something about this if we had one of those things, but the current situation is extremely worrisome.

“You don’t need to think so much. Why don’t you just do it in a way you’re good at?”

“The way I’m good at?”

“This again?”

“It’s a bit different this time.”

A Japanese-style room about 100 tatami mats wide.

Go boards.

And smiling and laughing gods in front of me.

This is the Malkund that I had ravaged before.

“It’s been a while, Nii-chan.”

“We’ve been waiting for you.”

“We won’t let you win and run away like last time.”

I sat down in front of the angry eldery gods, who were speaking in a Kansai accent for some reason and smiled politely.

This isn’t good. Not good at all. My long experience in playing betting Go has made it clear that this is a very bad situation. When an elderly person gets into this state, they basically don’t let you leave. I’m alone and there are several of them. I’m psychically at a disadvantage.

“But Nii-chan, I thought you were strong, but I didn’t realise you were a direct disciple of the <Goddess of War>.”

“No wonder you’re strong.”

“We haven’t even been trained by her directly.”

Yoshinaga-san was standing behind me. She smiled politely and waved her hands.

It seems that Yoshinaga-san really did introduce the gods to Go. Well, it does seem like something she would do, but why did she decide to teach people how to play Go in the Divine Realm? Curious.

“So, I would like to ask you to play another game with me today.”

I asked in a gentlemanly manner and the gods, who had free time on their hands, smiled in an amused manner.

“Of course. We won’t just play a game with you; we’ll play a hundred or a thousand games with you.”

“We gods here have plenty of time after all. We’ll play as many games as you want.”

“Of course, we’ll bet with karma.”

Then I realised something; I had no karma to bet. To be more precise, I had about 80 million karma. I have that but that’s my karma. I came here as part of my work to defeat Edward. So, I was afraid of piling up karma debt. 

“What’s wrong, Nii-chan? Have you already spent all the karma you took from us?”

“Oh, come on, isn’t that too soon?”

“It’s great to be young.”

The eldery gods were jeering as they liked. Now then, what should I do?

Yoshinaga-san stepped forward when I thought this.

“We’ll go with a different way of playing this time.”

“A different way?”

“Yes, a different way.”

Yoshinaga-san smiled her usual smile and quickly set up a Go board in front of me.

I didn’t expect this.

“You understand what I mean when I say two-player, right?”

The assembled elderly gods began to whisper among themselves.

Of course, they would. Two-player betting Go. She was looking down on the serious masters here.

But Yoshinaga-san’s provocation didn’t stop.

“You can place a handicap stone on the board if you want to. But this Evil God Hirano will still win even if you do.”

Give me a break. You’re telling a serious player to place a handicap stone on the board?

It was nothing but an insult to give them an impossible condition like two-player Go and then give them a handicap.

This isn’t about whether I will win or lose. It’s a matter of pride.

“… We don’t mind?”

“But we’ll get our karmas worth.”

“Yeah, since this isn’t just a game.”

The elderly gods’ eyes glittered mysteriously.

It wasn’t a surprise that they were acting like this since I took all their karma last time and now Yoshinaga-san was acting like this towards them. We couldn’t complain even if we were thrown out of the room.

I looked at Yoshinaga-san and saw that she had a big smile on her face.

“I’ll be the one betting.”

She pointed to her chest with her thumb in a chivalrous manner.

“I’ll bet you the right to spend the night with me. You’ll be able to acquire karma.”

Wait. No, no, no, no.

What’s she saying? I wonder if the Takoyaki that she had just eaten has some brain-eating parasite in it.

She bet herself in a betting Go game, and it’s a two-player Go game at that. Even if I’m good at Go, this is still a serious two-player Go game to me. I might even lose. It’s nuts to bet yourself on such a game. I went pale and Yoshinaga-san brought her face close to my ears and whispered.

“I believe in you, Hirabon.”                  

My face twitched. Blood rushed from my face. Disgusting sweat ran down my back.

The elderly gods on the other side of the table were staring at Yoshinaga-san with smirks on their faces as if they were tasting her.

I can’t lose. I absolutely can’t lose.

The woman I had fallen in love with was at stake. There’s no way I can lose.

I was playing against three players before long.

There was a stack of bills beside me. More than last time, that’s for sure.

I was winning, winning and winning, but I was getting tired.

I wanted to take a coffee break, but my opponent wouldn’t allow me to do so. I proceeded to play the game against the seething elderly gods while eating a banana that Yoshinaga-san had brought me.

My opponent’s eyes were bloodshot.

It would be bad for the future of the business if a serious player played three against one against such a youngster who was leading them by the nose. I wouldn’t be happy about it if I were in their shoes.

It was time for them to make a move. In other words, an off-the-board attack.

“What cheerful thing is going on here?”

A voice came from behind me. It was a lovely voice which sounded like a bell chiming.

When I turned around, I saw a girl, who looked like a doll, smiling at me.

Her hair is in ringlets? The blonde girl with a distinctive hairstyle picked up the hem of her skirt and bowed at me with a graceful gesture.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Evil God Hirano-san. I am Christina von Malkund, the person in charge of this gambling house.”