As we sat drinking in her room, Vanessa-san was dressed quite provocatively, wearing only a T-shirt and underwear without a bra. Her appearance was that of a downer-type beauty, and normally, I would have been incredibly flustered. However, the way she sat there gulping down beer and puffing on a cigarette felt so much like a middle-aged man that the effect was almost neutralized... actually, was "neutralized" even the right word? It felt more like things were just becoming chaotic.
"By the way, Vanessa-san, what kind of games did you play at the casino today?"
"I played Seven-card Poker."
"Ah, if I recall, that's the one where you're dealt seven cards and choose five to make a hand, right?"
"Exactly. The version I played didn't just depend on winning or losing; the payout multiplier changed depending on the strength of the hand. If you managed to win with a powerful hand, you'd get a massive return."
The Seven-card Poker Vanessa-san had played was a game I’d seen before at the casino I visited with Alice.
Usually, poker is played with five cards, but in this version, you had seven. While that made it easier to form hands, the dealer also pulled strong hands more frequently. As a result, you could almost never win with just a simple pair. It felt like a version of poker designed for bigger swings and higher stakes.
"Man, it was so close. On the final card exchange, if I’d pulled a heart, I would’ve had a flush; if I’d pulled a 3, I would’ve had a straight; and if I’d pulled the 3 of hearts, it would’ve been a straight flush. It was such a hot hand. I thought for sure the momentum was with me, so I bet big... but then the three-card swap happened, and I didn't get a heart or a 3. I ended with a measly one pair."
"That really is a shame. Setting the 3 aside, pulling any heart for a flush seems statistically plausible. Though, if you didn't even have a completed hand at the time of the exchange, maybe you shouldn't have bet so big..."
"I think that too, in hindsight. But when you're in the heat of the moment, you just end up betting... Kaito-kun, you seem like you'd be a natural at the casino, though?"
"I'm actually banned from the casino near the northern district of the Royal Capital."
"Ahaha! I can't imagine you'd ever cheat, Kaito-kun, so was it the 'won too much' pattern? What did you play?"
When I told her the story of how the casino manager had performed a dogeza while half-crying and begged me, "Please, I'm asking you, never come here again," Vanessa-san slapped her knee in amusement.
"I played a few things, but for poker... it was the type that included a Joker."
"Oh, the one where Five-of-a-Kind is the strongest hand. So, how did you display your absolute dominance?"
"I played three rounds. At the moment the cards were dealt, I had a Five-of-a-Kind, a Royal Straight Flush, and then another Five-of-a-Kind."
"Bwahaha! That's totally against the rules! Your luck is just outrageous because of those blessings, Kaito-kun. But still... I guess it’s not very fun if you win every single time. In your case, it’s not like you’re desperate for money anyway."
In truth, that's how it was back then, but now I seemed to have even more blessings than I did at that time, so I had a feeling I might pull a Five-of-a-Kind on the opening deal every single time.
It certainly wasn't fun that way, just as Vanessa-san said, so even if I wasn't banned, I didn't think I would go back to the casino.
"Oh, but if I think for myself and choose in a Monster Race, the blessings don't have much effect. If I just pick randomly because I don't know what I'm doing, then I end up winning through pure luck..."
"Ah, I see. So if you think and choose for yourself, it's fine. I like a good Monster Race too, but there isn't a race track in the Royal Capital. It might be because they’d compete with the casinos for customers..."
"When I played, it was in the Arclesia Empire."
"That reminds me, do people bet money on horse races in Kaito-kun's World?"
"Yes, Horse Racing. I haven't seen it in this world, though..."
My impression had been that Monster Races occupied the same niche as Horse Racing, but what was the reality? Did races with actual horses even exist here?
"Horse races exist, but it's more like nobles pitting the horses they own against each other. There's almost no betting... or rather, they aren't really open to the public. It's more of a social event hosted by the nobility. Lilia-chan enters her horses occasionally, too. Well, it's strictly part of her social obligations as a noble, and Lilia-chan herself doesn't seem very interested in it."
"I see, so horse races themselves do exist. In that case, it wouldn't be strange for Horse Racing to exist as well... Is it because Monster Races are already so popular?"
"I think that's part of it, but maybe it's simply because it's hard to distinguish a horse-type monster from a regular horse? There are many that look almost identical... but even if they look the same, monsters with magic power are overwhelmingly faster."
"But if you checked for magic power, you should be able to tell... Ah, I see."
"Exactly. There aren't many people among humankind who can actually use magic. If people started complaining that a horse-type monster had been snuck into the race after they lost, it would be a disaster. It’s probably just too much trouble to manage as gambling."
"I see..."
The difference between a monster and a regular animal was whether or not they possessed magic power. A person who could use magic would know instantly, but since there were few magic users among humankind, being unable to distinguish them by sight would be a recipe for trouble.
If they were going to allow monsters to participate, they might as well just have a Monster Race, so there wasn't much point in doing it with horses...
"As expected of Vanessa-san... you really know your gambling."
"Leave it to me. I'm confident in my wealth of knowledge that is completely useless for life... I heard that when you eat chocolate, your brain gets about four times more excited than it does from a kiss... Want to try?"
"Doesn't chocolate clash with beer?"
"That’s true... I guess we should save that for when we’re drinking wine or whiskey."
I suspected it was a joke meant to tease me, but... how should I put it? I had a feeling that if I had playfully agreed, Vanessa-san would have actually gone through with it, so I decided to handle it by changing the subject.
Serious-senpai: "Wasn't the original story about how the duration of the pleasure felt when melting Dark Chocolate on the tongue is four times longer than that of an intense kiss...?"