༺ Everybody Lies ༻
I thought the undying would come running out at any moment, but he didn’t show up for a long while. Meanwhile, the regressor made the world’s most unabashed declaration of stalking and went off to observe the other two. Thanks to that, I had a moment to spare.
I sat in a corner of the prison courtyard and pulled out a deck of cards. I pressed it lightly between my right thumb and index finger, letting it slide against my fingertips. The cards began to flutter into flight one after the other, and very soon, the last one escaped the oppression of my tyrannical grip, settling comfortably in my left hand.
Alas, there’s no paradise in escape. The caring embrace of my left hand revealed its true nature, transforming into the same monster as my right. The spines of the card pile arched like a bow, struggling once more to break free, and found an opportunity to return the hand they had just left.
As I shot the deck of cards to and fro, a voice called out to me.
“Impressive dexterity I see.”
It was Tyr, perched daintily on her great coffin with her dark parasol leaning on her shoulder as ever. She floated gently before me and descended, stepping closer.
I chuckled and deftly retrieved the cards, ceasing their butterfly dance. With folded wings, they rested in my palm like pupae.
“You’d call this impressive? I’m sorry, but a trick like this is as easy as drawing tears from a five-year-old on the alert after stealing candy. Looks like you’d faint if I let you see me being serious.”
At my wily retort, Tyr covered her mouth with a fist and giggled.
“Why would a fully grown adult want to make a child cry?”
“Eh? Don’t you ever get that kind of urge? Or is it just me?”
“You should not indulge in such behavior either.”
“Really? When you see a kid looking all shifty and trying to evade an obvious situation with blatant lies, don’t you want to call them out on it, if only because it’s so exasperating?”
It was a playful question, yet Tyr fell into serious thought. What would she do and how would she react if a little child tried to deceive her with futile trickery? She ran a mental simulation of every possible scenario and soon reached a conclusion.
“I would not do that.”
“Wow, really?”
“Certainly. There is only a petty sense of satisfaction to be derived from pointing out a child’s lie. The mature must act with a little more dignity.”
Oh? Petty satisfaction. Petty… petty?
“Huh? Might you be implying I have a bad personality?”
“As a matter of fact, your personality leans away from gentleness, does it not?”
Tyr laughed playfully in a fully teasing manner.
Well, well. So we’re close enough to joke around like this, are we? Alright. Let’s see how you take this next.
“Tyr, let’s make a wager.”
“A wager?”
“Yes. I’ll hide a card, and you try to find it.”
I drew a card without even looking at the deck and handed it over. Tyr accepted it with interest and examined both sides. The back had a regular pattern, no different from any other card. It was symmetrically shaped, so flipping it over wouldn’t make any difference. On the front, there were two bright red hearts, with the number 2 written.
Tyr attempted to feel for any hidden tricks on the card’s surface, but it was perfectly ordinary. She inspected it from various angles, making a remark.
“There does not seem to be any tricks.”
“That card is ordinary. I swear on my honor as a magician.”
“No need for that. If I fail to notice anything beforehand, it is due to my lack of ability.”
Tyr spoke earnestly, having experienced a time when knowledge wasn’t freely shared. Back then, knowing held power, and facing the consequences of ignorance was common.
Of course, I also meant what I said.
“No. At the very least, there should be fairness with regard to the tools we have. There’s no fun making a bet using a trick only I know.”
“If you say as much.”
Tyr nodded, then returned the card to me before asking a question.
“Yes. A wager requires a reward. What do you suggest we wager?”
“One wish. How’s that sound?”
“… A wish?”
｢A wish, as in asking for anything…? If so.｣
For an instant, Tyr’s eyes gleamed with a blood-red hue. Feeling a shiver down my spine, I hastily added a condition.
“Of course, within mutually reasonable and sensible bounds! Naturally!”
“… Ah. Indeed. I understand.”
…What a relief. Just now, I had a sense that Tyr briefly entertained the wish of turning me into a vampire. The kind that defies death and can stay forever by her side…
In any case, Tyr accepted my suggestion.
“Yes. Go ahead, give it a try.”
“Heheheh. Alright. Prepare to gape in amazement at the dexterous expertise of the new generation.”
“I should warn you not to be disheartened even if I win too easily. You are merely outmatched.”
“I’ll return the same words to you. Don’t be too indignant even if you feel cheated.”
I placed the remaining pile of cards on the ground and spread both hands wide open to show I wasn’t hiding anything. Tyr confirmed it with a nod. Then, I picked up a two of hearts with only two fingers.
“Well then. Here goes.”
“Yes. go on.”
Tyr’s eyes gleamed even redder as she enhanced her vision to not miss even a single detail of my moves.
I intended to meet her expectations. With a confident smile, I started moving the card around, switching it between both of my hands. The two of hearts spun and darted busily between my hands, like drunken butterflies or leaves swirling in the breeze.
Tyr’s expression grew increasingly odd as she watched the dizzying display.
｢…I can see it far better than I expected.｣
Her crimson irises moved ceaselessly. They weren’t trembling, but rather, they were tracking my card. Even if I shook it or suddenly moved it out of sight before returning, even if it momentarily vanished behind my hand, her piercing gaze followed the card every step of the way.
｢It certainly has flair… but for all that, it is too conspicuous. It is not so swift, and while chaotic, the movements are simple.｣
“…Argh!”
An anxious exclamation escaped me. My fingers trembled with tension, and I even almost dropped the card at times. But I managed to hold on each time and continued with desperation.
And then, I crossed my hands at a certain moment, taking advantage of the blind spot to hide the card in one of my palms, and extended them forward.
With an awkward grin, I raised my voice.
“Tada! Where could it be?”
“Ah…”
Tyr let out a small sigh. She glanced furtively at my face, then at my left hand, wearing a quite troubled expression. But not because she missed the card—she had captured its movement too perfectly.
｢Though I feel sorry for Hu… I saw everything. How he pretended to hide the card while crossing his hands, then slipped it into his left sleeve.｣
A vampire could control even their eyes with Blood Aura. With the assistance of bloodcraft, their rapidly moving crimson eyes could completely track even the most dazzling movements that ordinary eyes would miss.
Tyr hesitated to answer, afraid that I might feel embarrassed.
｢Perhaps I should not have enhanced my eyes. I was too serious, tempted by the idea of a wish…｣
“Heheh. It was a bit challenging, huh? It’s fine. Don’t be disappointed. There’s no helping presbyopia, after all.”
｢… But seeing that despicable, conceited attitude, perhaps I should show him that the world is not as simple as it seems.｣
A few words were enough to change her mind. Incensed, Tyr pointed her finger at my left hand.
“Take out your left hand.”
“Left hand! You said my left, yes? No takebacks! Well then! Will it really be the left? Let’s check! Ta-tadada-tada-da.”
I immediately opened my left hand. Naturally, and as expected by Tyr, it was empty.
“…Oh no! What a shame! There was nothing in the left~! The card must’ve been in the right! Alright. Since you got it wrong, I won this—”
“No, I meant your left sleeve.”
As Tyr pointed out my sleeve precisely, I gasped in shock and averted my gaze, starting to sweat bullets.
“L-l-left sleeve, you say? What’s that?”
“Here, you can see.”
Tyr kindly grabbed my left hand and twisted it, revealing the sleeve where a card was faintly visible. It was undeniable evidence. If this were a gambling table, someone would’ve needed to bring a hammer immediately… yet I chuckled with a shrug.
“Look, a shallow lie. Can’t help but expose it, right?”
Well, there’d be many reasons for such a reaction. Whether it’s to teach someone a bitter lesson about the world, because they acted like a fool, out of base desires, or simply because they were unsightly.
It all depended, but regardless, when you catch someone in a lie right before your eyes, it’s only natural to want to expose it. It’s close to an instinct anyone has.
Tyr looked at me suspiciously.
“Did you, by chance, plan this wager to say that from the start?”
“Kind of. Tyr, how ridiculous was I? When someone tries to shamelessly hide something in plain sight and pretends otherwise, you can’t help but catch and show them, can you?”
She couldn’t deny it. That was exactly how Tyr acted just now. She chuckled and replied with a wry smile.
“I fell for it completely. However, you are no child, are you?”
“Compared to you, Tyr, I may as well be. When you generously consider the human lifespan to be 100 years, as a 24-year-old, I’m just a two-year-old baby going by the Tyrkanzyaka Age Comparison Law. Goo-goo, gaga.”
Tyr shot me a sharp look and pouted as she took out the card from my sleeve.
“Yes. You are right. Clearly, I was not as dignified as I claimed. I admit it. Nonetheless, since I found where you hid the card, this wager is my victor—”
As Tyr flipped the card over and confirmed its face, her eyes widened in surprise.
“… Ah?”
Gone were the two hearts drawn on the card’s white background, replaced by an imposing queen holding a flower with a straight gaze. It was as if somebody had drawn it anew.
The queen of hearts. This card was definitely different from the one I had picked. Tyr stared at the card as if possessed for a while before turning to me. I pointed at my right hand which was still clenched closed.
“I couldn’t finish earlier, but let me try again. It must’ve been in my right hand! Tada!”
With a vocal effect, I opened my right hand; the two of hearts Tyr had to find was wrapped inside my right palm.
Perplexed and still feeling disoriented, Tyr looked between her hand and the two of hearts. Meanwhile, I indulged in dignified pleasure as I gave her a deep bow.
“Well, you gotta overcome those shallow antics to be called a magician.”
Tyr’s face turned bewildered.
“H-how did you do it?”
“Not teaching. Revealing tricks to the world is something a magician shouldn’t do.”
When blood surges, vision narrows. This was true for Tyr as well.
To gain something, you have to relinquish something else. Prey, in their case, acquired widened vision to spot potential predators from anywhere, but in exchange, they lost the ability to properly discern what’s right in front of them.
Predators, on the other hand, have their eyes fixed forward to chase their target to the end. They face the penalty of being unable to see behind them without turning their head.
Now, humans are predators worthy of the name, and Tyr’s a predator of predators, feeding on their blood. She focused her Blood Aura in her eyes to track my card. Her ability was so exceptional that not even I could completely shake her concentration.
That’s why I tricked her from the start. While the queen of hearts herself lured the Queen of Shadows, the two of hearts leisurely hid behind my hand and made a slow appearance. That’s all.
“After all, those who lack the ability to deceive can’t go around claiming they can see through the tricks of others.”
Well, this was also mostly thanks to my mind reading, but well, the power was already me and I was the power. After spending a lifetime together, how could we be separated? In the first place, if I couldn’t read minds, I wouldn’t be able to even detect the tricks people hide deep inside.
“How… amazing. Truthfully, I still do not know what happened. I thought for sure I was keeping up.”
Tyr clasped her hands together, impressed. I appreciated the honest reactions of the folks around here. Feeling smug, I rubbed the bottom of my nose.
“Haha, you can ponder how you’ll grant my wish.”
“However, Hu.”
“Yes?”
Tyr cautiously raised her head, pointing at the queen of hearts she held in her hand.
“Though this is not the one with two hearts… was this not also a card you hid?”
“Eh?”
“If so, I have won the wager.”
“Ah?”
Hang on a sec. What did I say earlier?
｢He said he would hide a card and asked me to find it, I am sure. Although this card does not have two hearts on it, it was hidden nonetheless. And since I have indeed found a hidden card, then…｣
Um? She’s right?
“Why did I phrase it like that?”
“Why are you asking me about it?”
I know, right? The heck? Did I want to give her a wish?
Carefully recalling the conditions, I eventually nodded.
“It makes sense, hearing what you say. I can’t logically refute that.”
“Then, you must grant my wish.”
“Come on, you still gotta think of your pride as Progenitor. You want a wish for this kind of win, after being completely fooled?”
Tyr promptly nodded in response. She was evidently feeling better as her eyes had regained their vitality.
Well, guess it doesn’t matter. I doubt Tyr will ask for any strange wishes, considering how she acts dignified. Otherwise, it’s a straight-up no-go.
At that moment, I sensed movement from inside the prison. I tidied up the cards and stood up.
“I’ll hear your wish later. Someone I’ve been waiting for has just arrived.”
Immediately afterward, the undying and the officer appeared. The former was rubbing his belly after a feast, while the latter was leading him to the courtyard.
Alright. Can Lieutenant Colonel Callis be true to her heart? The preparations are done. Now, I just need to observe.
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