Chapter 666
666 The number of the beast
“What kind of betting game do you have in mind?” Awa questioned, revealing she became interested.
“A coin has two sides, thus a fifty-fifty percent chance to guess right. That is why I suggest playing a coin-flipping game.”
“Furthermore, you will be the first to decide on which side to choose. I hope you will be able to remove the idea about me trying to cheat in some shape or form.”
Awa crossed her arms and asked, “What are the rules of this ~fair~ game?”
“The rules are simple. ” Vincent said while approaching with a coin in his hand. He flipped the coin in the air and caught it on the back of his hand without revealing which side the coin landed on.
“We need to wait for the coin to fall, as you just saw. After I catch the coin with both hands, you will need to pick one side. The other side will be mine.” Vincent flipped the coin towards Awa.
The coin spun in the air until it landed in front of Awa. She curiously lifted the coin and examined it. Awa acted as if she had never seen a copper coin before, giving the assumption the Dullahans didn’t have currency.
Shortly, Vincent and Plow sat on their previous seats.
‘Plow wants to learn bet bet. Plow wants to bet bet Lupa and win. Plow will show bad wolf how foxes are the best.’ Plow thought slyly while watching Awa curiously. Plow wanted to know how to play a game before Lupa and win against her.
.....
“So. What do you think? One side will be called tails, and the other side will be called heads. Isn’t the game to test how keen we are great?” Vincent extended his hand to receive the copper coin.
If Awa answered “yes” or if she placed the coin in his hand, it meant Awa had accepted. The betting game of supplies vs. information could begin depending on Awa’s answer or action.
Awa keenly looked at the coin in her hand once more. Try as she might, Awa could not find anything wrong with the coin.
Awa tried to copy Vincent’s coin flip shortly after because she wanted to check if a person could cheat in this kind of game.
However, it was futile. The thumb lifted the coin, but after raising a few inches in the air, the coin embarrassingly fell on the table.
Awa blushed and embarrassingly pushed the coin at Vincent. On the other hand, Plow got to learn how her small paws would not allow her to be the coin flipper in this game.
Vincent grabbed the coin with a poker face. He had to secretly bite his tongue to keep himself from laughing, while Kazumi could have a good laugh after watching Awa’s epic fail.
“Before we begin, I am pretty sure you know you can not eat all the food you might win. I can keep the food in my special storage until you need them. Not to mention as you witnessed, the food remains warm in my special storage.”
*Tap* Vincent tapped the coin on the table and continued, “Furthermore. If you win more food than I have in my storage. I will offer parts of the large tiger or large wolf.”
“Will you stake your pride and honor in this bet you are suggesting? Will you offer me that many every time I win?” Awa questioned. It appeared she had made up her mind about walking back home with a lot of supplies.
“Yes, this gentleman will not go back on his words. ” Vincent answered with a friendly smile.
[Nice smile, hehe. I can already tell you are planning to use this game as control training.]
-After suffering a few losses, the house always wins one way or another. You know that saying, right?-
[So, are you going to scam this unfortunate Dullahan?]
-Consider it a forced trade of sorts. I will force my supplies onto her and give her more than she can take back to her people alone.-
[So that is the excuse you want to let Awa think in order to take her home and clear your mind of unnecessary thoughts.]
[Sigh. We came here to relax and train, but we ended up with another situation. Let’s wrap up this situation today, if possible, and start walking back home.]
-Do not worry. That is my current plan.-
“Fine. Flip the coin. I want to see if you really want to play a fair betting game.” Awa said while her gaze expressed suspicion.
“This side will be the heads, and this side will be the tails. ” Vincent said. After Awa gently nodded, Vincent flipped the coin up high in the air.
The coin spun and turned many times before falling. Vincent swiftly used one hand to catch the coin with the back of his hand and the other to cover the result of the coin flip.
“Which side will you choose? Heads or tails?” He asked.
Although the result of the coin flip appeared to be very difficult to predict, Vincent controlled his strength to allow Awa more chances to guess the current coin’s position.
Vincent intended to give Awa the first win. Only by giving Awa the first few wins could Vincent let Awa feel the game is in her favor. The more Awa felt the winner high. The more she fell into Vincent’s trap.
“I choose heads, but I will tell you right now, in the name of my tribe, I will choose a shameful ordinary death over revealing the location of my tribe. ” Awa stated before choosing a side of the coin.
Vincent controlled his intent and stored the copper coin without letting the green light appear from the corners of his hands.
Vincent summoned the coin back as heads. He wanted to be certain Awa was going to win no matter what. In fact, not even Kazumi noticed Vincent storing and summoning the copper coin.
Vincent raised the hand covering the coin. A frown appeared on his face. *Sigh* “Heads. I guess beginner’s luck does exist.”
*Sigh* Vincent sighed again in his act to show he was unhappy to lose. “Food or drink. Which one do you want?” Vincent asked in a saddened tone.
‘Huh!!!’ Vincent noticed Awa’s lips faintly curve a smile. However, her lips stopped showing a hint of a smile after a second.
“Food. Now flip again.” Awa said while focusing her gaze on the coin to prove Vincent wrong about her win being considered as beginner’s luck.
“I will win next time. Mark my words.” Vincent said while acting like a sore loser who didn’t accept the result.
Plow soon saw Vincent flip the coin and fall on his hands again. She used her heightened senses to try guessing which side the coin falls on.
‘Plow guessed heads.’ Plow guessed while keenly staring at his hands.
“Tails.” Awa guessed.
Vincent revealed the coin, and it was tails, as Awa guessed.
Plow became perplexed. Plow was sure she guessed the coin’s position correctly this time. However, the result was different because Vincent was altering the results in his favor, even if Plow had guessed correctly on both times.
“I choose food again. ” Awa said while keeping her eyes on the coin. She kept her guard against any kind of cheating from Vincent’s side.
Vincent remained acting unhappy while flipping the third coin. After Awa chose tails, Vincent revealed the result.
“Yes! It’s my win. Finally!” Vincent exclaimed while acting relieved to win. He made himself win, but he had to act surprised as he wanted to trick Awa into thinking he was lucky for once.
‘Plow does not like bet bet anymore. Plow can not tell the coin position.’ Plow unhappily thought. Plow started to believe that if she played this betting game with Lupa, she was going to lose most of the time.
Plow wasn’t the only unhappy person in the kitchen. Awa also showed signs of being unhappy because of the result.
[Did you perhaps use Soul Dimensional Storage to win?] Kazumi curiously asked.
-Yes. I am training on training to control the Soul Dimensional Storage by altering the result.-
[That means the previous two losses were strategic.]
-Yes.-
[Hehe. This is starting to look fun.]
Vincent looked at Awa and said in a concerned tone, “There is no need to worry, Awa. I will ask simple questions like do you have a food and water problem in your home?”
“We...” Awa stopped after realizing how the response was going to make her people appear weak in Vincent’s eyes.
“This answer costs two more losses. ” Awa stated. She tried to haggle her way out of answering Vincent. However, to her surprise, Vincent accepted without a single complaint.
“Okay. I hope I will be lucky in the next one.”
‘Did I tell him a low number? Should I have said a higher number?’ Awa contemplated while thinking she might have fallen into a trap.
Vincent smirked and acted confident before flipping the coin and acting unhappy to lose once, twice, thrice. Soon, Vincent altered the results to make Awa win seven times in a row.
Vincent could see Awa was starting to feel confident now. What goes up will eventually go down. Those who win will eventually suffer loss.
Vincent won twice in a row after deeming it was enough. “Can you answer now? Or are the proud Dullahans liars?” Vincent questioned.
Awa frowned, but after hearing Vincent’s provocation, she had to respond to his question this time.
Awa’s lips moved, her mouth opened, and her voice was about to utter a word *BAM!* Zero opened the door all of a sudden.
“Master. Many. Animals. Gather. Zero. Kill. But. They. No. Remain. Dead. ” Zero informed. From outside, they could hear strange growls and grunts.