The Extra Prince Sets Out To Conquer The World

After a simple dinner, Bahamut and I sat facing each other across the table.

I tore open the packaging of the new deck of playing cards and explained the rules of the bet.

“The rules are simple.”

First. The bet will be played using poker, and the poker rules will be ‘Five Card Stud’ excluding the joker.

Second. I will be the dealer, and Bahamut will be the player.

Third. The standard for the space where the bet takes place is set to a radius of 10 meters from the table. Leaving the betting space ‘voluntarily’ will be considered a loss in the bet.

If the betting space is left due to external factors, the bet will be temporarily suspended.

Fourth. The chips bet in the game are limited to gold coins, and there is no limit to the amount of betting chips. However, once one side declares an all-in, the other side cannot bet more than that.

Fifth. ‘Lost chips’ cannot be used again by both the dealer and the player. If the chips were won in the game, the winner’s bet chips can be used again.

Sixth. If all possessed chips are depleted, both sides can leave the betting space and replenish their chips under mutual agreement.

At this time, if an agreement is reached, the third rule is nullified only to the extent of the agreed content.

Seventh. The use of magic is prohibited within the betting space, and if the use of magic is detected, the detected side is considered to have lost that ‘game’ and pays the other side ten times the bet amount as a penalty.

The penalty is treated as ‘lost chips’ specified in the fifth rule and as chips won by the winner.

Eighth. The game will proceed for at least two hours, and thereafter, the bet ends at the point when either the dealer or the player declares the end of the game.

Ninth. The winner of the bet is the one who wins more chips at the end of the game, and the chips won by both sides are not returned to the other.

Tenth. If I become the winner of the bet, Bahamut will provide me with a treasure exchange ticket or something I desire.

“How is it? Did you understand?”

At my question, Bahamut nodded her head readily while taking out a box filled with gold coins.

“Aren’t the conditions too fair? I kept it a secret that the Count was a demon worshipper and that a superhuman-level death knight was hiding.”

It may seem very unfair to say it’s fair because the last rule clause is quite unfair.

But if you think about it, this is a very fair rule.

Because betting with Bahamut itself will be a golden time for her to relieve her boredom.

She has already benefited, while I only benefit if I win, so it’s somewhat fair.

At her question, I grinned.

In fact, the moment she thought the conditions I proposed were fair, it was already messed up.

If she doesn’t realize that the betting conditions are full of toxic clauses, she’s a complete sucker.

“Wouldn’t it be more fun to be as fair as possible when playing with a friend?”

“Is that so?”

“Then, taking that as an agreement, Jade.”

At my call, Jade nodded.

“I will immediately inform you the moment Purple Dragon-nim uses magic.”

Good, very reliable.

No matter how hard I try, there’s no way I can read a dragon’s magic, right?

I skillfully spread out the playing cards to show that there were no abnormalities in the cards.

Then I gathered the spread-out cards and shuffled the deck.

Here’s one of the toxic clauses in the betting rules: I took on the role of the ‘dealer’.

Naturally, Bahamut, the ‘player’, will never have to shuffle this deck of cards throughout the bet.

Needless to say, I won’t use bottom dealing or hidden cards.

No matter how fast my hands are, they’re not fast enough to escape a dragon’s eyes.

The key to what I have to do lies in card shuffling.

Among common magic tricks, there is a shuffling method where the magician places the desired cards in the desired position through the sense of touch.

Since card magic is the most common thing to learn when professionally learning magic, there are quite a variety of shuffling methods, and if I use this, it’s possible to control the opponent’s and my hand even with my eyes closed.

No matter how much of a dragon she is, if she doesn’t know the details of this shuffling method, a situation where she gets her nose rubbed in it will occur even with her good eyes open.

Perhaps if it were ‘Yard, the Jester of a Thousand Arts’ or ‘Arcana 00, The Fool’ Yumil Javan, they might have gotten hit on the back of the head about thirty times and noticed.

“Alright, I’ll distribute the cards.”

One for Bahamut, one for me, one for Bahamut, one for me….

Five cards were distributed, and before revealing the hands, Bahamut and I placed one gold coin on the table as an ante (mandatory basic betting amount).

“Let’s reveal one card.”

Bahamut and I revealed one out of five cards according to the stud rules.

I had the 10 of hearts, and Bahamut had the 5 of clubs.

If it’s as I distributed, Bahamut’s hand is a triple, and mine is two pairs.

When fooling a sucker, isn’t it polite to lose the first round?

In the beginning, I’ll play a reception game and let her go back and forth.

I confidently placed a gold coin and declared.

“Bet.”

Bahamut immediately followed and declared.

“Call.”

Instead of raising the bet, she just follows the amount I put in.

Is she trying to test the waters since it’s the beginning?

If she wins a lot now, she’ll at least be able to save face.

“Let’s reveal the next card.”

Like that, Bahamut and I piled up gold coins on the table each time we revealed a card.

Bahamut somewhat cunningly revealed discard cards and raised the stakes, and on the fourth card reveal, she revealed that she had two pairs or better.

I held back my laughter and pretended to ponder seriously.

“Oh my, the first roll is a losing roll. Die.”

When I gave up, Bahamut laughed and swept away the gold coins on the table.

She put the money she had bet back to the side, and the money she won from me into the empty box placed under the table.

The difference in the amount that goes into that box determines the winner of the bet.

“Haha, it’s more fun than I thought.”

Bahamut’s cheeks were slightly flushed, as if she was starting to get interested.

“Is this your first time gambling like this?”

It was unexpected. I thought someone like her, who had fallen into boredom due to her long life, would have lived in a casino at some point.

“Huh? No, I did live in a casino for a while in the past.”

I knew it.

“Ah, it’s the first time playing a game with these restrictions.”

Well, casinos would have had their own anti-magic measures, but they probably weren’t at the level to detect a dragon’s magic.

Naturally, if she was curious about the opponent’s hand, she would have peeked at it.

For other games like roulette or dice, she could have guessed them with a dragon’s senses without even using magic.

It’s obvious that she would see through magic-operated slot machines.

By the way, I thought Bahamut might be able to see the cards reflected in my eyes, so I slightly covered my eyes from her view when checking the cards.

“Come on, there are still a lot of stakes. We need to keep playing for at least two hours, so let’s move on to the next game right away.”

“Okay.”

I naturally arranged the deck of cards to check the positions of the desired cards and shuffled them.

After shuffling the cards that were mixed up after one round using a different shuffling method, I distributed the cards.

In the beginning, I manipulated Bahamut’s win rate to be high to draw her initial interest, and then I gradually changed her interest into immersion by making the match close.

As her eyes began to focus on the cards, I slowly started to increase my win rate.

Of course, in between, I showed her fierce psychological battles, close matches, and very occasional big wins.

It was a bit scary to see Bahamut’s eyes turning red, but she wouldn’t become addicted to gambling because of this, right?

Then, why would she be called the Dragon Lord?

Although I was a bit anxious, I decided to believe it wasn’t the case.

As we continued playing the game like that, the minimum time of two hours had long passed, and the sun outside the window had completely set.

And her chips had run out.

“You’ve run out of money. Do you want to stop?”

Fifth rule, ‘lost chips’ cannot be reused.

If Bahamut wants to continue the game, she needs to bring new gold coins.

By the way, I still had plenty.

The box had become quite empty, but it’s not much compared to the money I won from her.

At my question, she became excited.

“No way! It’s just the beginning!”

After shouting like that, she tried to open her subspace to take out gold coins.

“Jade.”

Bzzt-!

Jade prevented Bahamut from opening her subspace.

Suddenly interrupted, she looked at me and Jade with surprised eyes.

“Seventh rule, no use of magic within the betting space. Since it’s not during the game, there’s no penalty.”

“No! You should at least let me take out the gold coins!”

At her protest, I snapped my fingers left and right.

“Look at the rules carefully. It’s okay to use magic as long as you leave the betting space.”

“Then… Wait! Third rule! If I voluntarily leave the betting space, I lose the bet!”

At her exclamation, I grinned.

“Fifth rule, it’s okay if we make an ‘agreement’.”

Realizing the toxic clauses in the betting conditions I proposed, Bahamut flared up.

But she couldn’t argue with me.

“The promised minimum time has already passed. It’s okay to stop if you want to.”

At my nonchalant words, she became anxious.

“What if I just take out the gold coins?”

“The moment you do that, I will declare the end of the bet according to the eighth rule.”

Even if we end it here, it’s my victory.

Seeing my smile, Bahamut burst into laughter.

“Uhahahaha! You got me! Let’s make an agreement. It doesn’t make sense to end it like this. What do you want?”

“It’s no use asking for a lair treasure exchange ticket, right?”

“Of course.”

At her firm answer, I slightly brought it up.

“Then what if I ask for Watson’s Mirror Shield?”

The Mirror Shield is one of the treasures in her lair.

At my question, Bahamut was surprised.

“How did you know I have that?”

“I just guessed it as a famous treasure. Since you’re the Dragon Lord, it’s likely you have it.”

I gave a simple excuse, but she looked at me with an intrigued face as if she didn’t believe it.

“Unfortunately, that’s an item inside my lair, so I can’t hand it over with this kind of agreement.”

I guess this kind of trick doesn’t work.

“The more I talk to you, the more my interest in you as a human never ceases.”

“I don’t want too much attention. Then give me a treasure or magic tool that you can give appropriately. If possible, I’d like a shield that can swap subspaces.”

If I give it to Gilbert, it will be useful in case of an emergency.

I was planning to give the Mirror Shield to Precia.

Considering their skills, it might be better to give it to Gilbert, but it’s still too early to give Gilbert a treasure that’s too good and easy to rely on.

At my request, Bahamut thought for a moment and soon agreed.

“Alright, if I search the warehouse, there should be one. If not, I’ll get one made by requesting the dwarves.”

When I gestured for her to do as she pleased, Bahamut quickly went out and brought back five boxes of gold coins.

“Hurry! Let’s start again quickly!”

Seeing Bahamut’s slightly bloodshot eyes, I lightly laughed and tore open a new deck of playing cards, shuffling the deck.

Her overly immersed appearance is very pleasing to see.

It seems all the preparations for her to become a sucker are complete, so shall I start fleecing her in earnest now?