The day after the club fee war.
　I had finished my morning class and was eating lunch with Leah and Rose, as usual, when I heard the campus announcement.

Allen-Rhoddle, Class 1-A, please come to the student council room immediately. I repeat. First Year A--

　That voice was definitely the voice of the president of the school I had just fought yesterday.
I'm not sure if it's "ASAP." .......
　As far as I could see, it was obvious that this was not an important matter.

　However, I couldn't just ignore the fact that I had been summoned all the way through the broadcast.
　I dragged my heavy feet and headed for the student council room.

And now...

　And now...

"Hey, Allen-kun.

"What's up with ......, Mr. President?

　In the student council room, I was being bombarded with questions by the weirdly smiling president.

　There are four of us in the room: me, the president, Lilim, the secretary, and Ferris, the treasurer.
　Lilim was cleaning her sword, while Ferris was eating sweets and reading a fashion magazine.

　Neither of them seems to have any intention of stopping the president from running amok.

"What was that thing yesterday?

　The Chairman asked me as he sat in his magnificent chair, standing across the desk from me.

"What exactly is ...... that thing?

"Hmmm, you're playing dumb, ......?　Well, let's change the question. --You obviously cut corners at first, didn't you?

No, I wasn't.

　Yesterday, in the general match, I gave it my all from start to finish.

　And then...

No!　Then, what was that blow?　What was that thing that knocked my sword off?

　She slammed the desk and stood up, asking questions in rapid succession.

No, it was that ...... thing.

　To be honest, I still don't know what it was.

(Maybe, but he had nothing to do with it. ......)

　It was a little different from the strange feeling of having your body taken over.
　More importantly, there was no uplifting of the soul at all.

It must have felt so good to make that big comeback after being trapped!　I've been embarrassed by it!

I'm sure you'll be happy to hear that, .......

　It's a great way to get the most out of your business.

　It's a great way to make sure you're getting the most out of your money.

...... Hey, do you enjoy picking on girls?

No, I don't mean that. ......

"......

"......

　She instantly fell silent.
　I don't like it when you stare at me like that. .......

...... So. You're not going to apologize, are you?

　Apparently, she's been waiting for my apology for some time now.
　If you don't say it out loud, I won't know.

If you're so stubborn, Allen-kun, you'll have to accept the match.

"Oh, a match?

　When I asked him that.

"Dekedekedekedekedekedekedekedekedekedekedekeden!

　The chairman of the board suddenly uttered a bad drum roll and pulled out a set of playing cards.

"...... Playing cards, you mean?

That's right!　Do you know what poker is, Mr. Allen?

I know the rules. ......

Well, that's good to know.

　Then she took out twenty coins from her desk drawer and handed half of them to me.

Is this ......?

"Hmm, that's 'life'.

　She smiled wickedly and began to explain.

She smiled wickedly and began to explain, "Now, Mr. Allen and I are going to play a game of poker with these lives. The rules are very simple, so you can skip over them.

　With that, she proceeded.

First, you each bet one life. Then you draw five cards and it's time for your first bet. You may bet an additional life or keep the same number -- but your opponent may bet an additional life. --But if your opponent bets an extra life, you must bet the same number of lives.

　There's nothing unusual about this.
　Nothing unusual about that. It's just the way poker works.

Then you exchange cards once, and it's time for the final bet. If it's a good hand, you can bet an extra life. On the other hand, if it's a bad hand, you can get out.

What happens if I get out?

You lose half the lives you've wagered so far. Any fractions are rounded up.

　I see. .......



If neither player gets out, both players open their hands and the player with the stronger hand wins. The winner takes all the lives wagered in the game.

　After a brief explanation of the rules, the chairman said.

"Well, to put it simply, you play poker as usual, and the first player to reach zero life loses.

　The first player to reach zero life loses.

I understand.

　There was nothing remarkable about the rules.
　There was nothing remarkable about the rules. It was just a standard poker game.

(Okay, let's lose at the right place. ......)

　(Okay, let's lose at the right place.) If I win here, I'll get into trouble again.

(In order not to leave a grudge, I should try to win moderately but lose in the end.

　As I was thinking about this, the chairman finally said something very, very troublesome.

And the loser has to do 'one thing' that the winner does!

"...... Are you serious, Chairman?

I'm serious too. No matter what the order (・・・・・) is, the loser must obey it absolutely. ...... Okay?

"Huh, okay, .......

　There's no way she's going to snap when you say 'no' anyway.
　So, it's better to play the game right here and get it over with.

(Fortunately, I'm not bad at card games.)

　Well, maybe we'll win.

Good. --Let's start the memorable first game!

　Then the chairman and I laid out our lives one by one in the middle of the desk.

"Hmm, this is exciting.

　Then she grabbed the deck and dealt out five cards at a time.

(Ah, ......, this is cheating (・・・・).)

　I knew as soon as the game started.

(You offer to play like a child, but you don't mind doing this (・・・・・・) behind the scenes. ......)

　Even though he's only a sophomore, he's still a little black-hearted, as he sits in the important position of "student council president. .......

　But I miss it.

(Grandpa Take was good at cheating at cards. ......)

　When I was little.
　When I was a little kid, I used to ask him, "How did you do it?　Tell me! I used to beg him to tell me. .......

　Remembering those old days, I went through the game without hesitation.
　Fortunately, the chairman's cheating is very cute.
　There was plenty of time for me to prepare.

　After two or three more games, we are ready to go.

We're ready. Now all we have to do is wait for the chairman to make his move.

　After that, it was life and death.
　It was a complete seesaw game.

　And then, as we reached the seventh game.

"That face ...... got a good role, didn't it, Mr. Allen?

　Finally, the chairman made his move.

　I had a two pair and a five.
　This is a very good hand for a three card hand or a full house, as we haven't exchanged cards yet.

"As expected of the chairman, you know everything, don't you?

Yes, I can see it in your face.

　It's not my face she's really (...) looking at, though. .......

　I'm not sure if you've heard of it, but I'm sure you've heard of it.

I'm not sure if we should continue to play see-saw games like this. ....... I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that I'm not the only one.

　While smiling inwardly at the predictable turn of events, I responded quite calmly.

...... is scary. What kind of strong hand did you get, Mr. Chairman?

I'm not sure.

...... Okay. I'm pretty confident in my hands, so I'll take it.

So, I'll take a change.

　So she hurriedly exchanged the cards.
　It seems that the card at the top of the deck was the final key.

"Hmmm, come on, Allen, you can trade too.

　The Chairman must have already been convinced of his victory.
　He was smiling all the time.

"All right. Now, let's exchange cards.

　I discarded all the cards in my hand.

I discarded all the cards in my hand and drew five cards from the deck.

　I discarded all the cards in my hand and piled the five cards I had drawn from the deck face down in the middle of the table.

You're going to change all five cards. ......?

Yes. I've decided to leave it to luck when it comes to big games like this.

And are you crazy not to check your cards?

Yeah, I'm going to play this hand.

".......

　The chairman of the board gulped in the face of the unexpected situation.

...... What should we do?　I'm sure you'll be happy to hear that.



　Yeah.
　She can still go down.
　That way she'll only lose half a life and avoid immediate defeat here.

"Huh, ......!　You can't shake me like that! (A crafted ......?　No, it can't be ......!　I dealt the first card. I shuffled the cards before that. There is no chance for Allen to interfere with the board,......!　(In other words, this is ...... 100 percent just a bluff!

"Well, that's too bad .......

　She had given up her last chance.

"Well, cards open!　My hand is eight 'four of a kind'!　Now show me your hand!

"Okay.

　Then I flipped through the small pile of five cards, one by one, from the top.

　Ten of spades.
　Jack of spades.
　Queen of spades.
　King of spades.

That's ......, isn't it?

　And the last one-- Ace of Spades.

"Excuse me, Mr. Chairman. "Sorry, Mr. Chairman. 'Royal straight flush' - looks like I'm winning this one.

　Four of a kind versus a royal straight flush.

　As it turned out, I had won by a landslide.

　Then, I must have been listening in.
　I'm sure they were listening.

I'm not sure what to say.　It's really a royal straight flush,......?

The probability of this happening is outrageous,.......

　Thus, the chairman was completely defeated.

"This is absolutely ridiculous!　It's cheating, it's cheating!

　He pointed at me with a trembling hand and said so.

"Haha, which one(・・・・) is the cheat?

"What do you mean, ......?

　To her, I pointed to a face-down card and said, "This is a card with a pattern on the back.

"This is ......, isn't it?

"......?

　The girl, who had clearly guessed the cheat, turned pale and fell silent, unable to reply immediately.