“Get ’em, Zophia! Win this for us!”
“If anyone’s winnin’ this, it’s Chief Lynga!”
“Mistress Loeweee! Show ’em what we orcs can dooo!”
“Lilyyy! You’re so cuuute!”
Each competitor had her own cheering squad, all trying to out-shout the others. Amid all the cries of encouragement, the women headed for the final game booth, manned by the werewolves.
“So, what’s the last game about?” Zophia asked.
“Heh! Check this out!” Lynga replied, pointing to where five dice were placed. The idea was to roll them all simultaneously, and the added total would be the score.
Oh, that’s right, Zenos mused. Lynga and her werewolves run a gambling den.
“Sounds good to me,” the lizardwoman said. “Whoever is luckiest wins in the end.”
“Agreed,” Loewe added. “Straightforward. I like it.”
“I’m glad this game doesn’t require strength,” Lily murmured.
“The maximum score is thirty, right?” Zophia asked.
“Yes, with one exception,” Lynga said, pointing at a chart written on a signboard. “The total is your score in most cases, but if you roll five 1s, you get a special bonus of ten thousand points.”
“Ten thousand?!” Loewe exclaimed. “That’d make every other game pointless!”
“An absurd rule,” Loewe agreed. “Exactly what I’d expect from Lynga.”
“I want ten thousand points!” Lily said in awe.
That being said, rolling five 1s in a row was unlikely, and so they started the game as usual.
Zophia went first. “Come on...” she muttered as if praying, before throwing all five dice into the air. They landed on the ground, showing four 6s and one 5. “Hells yeah!” she cheered, striking a victory pose.
Twenty-nine points was an impressive score indeed. The crowd murmured at the lizardwoman’s incredible luck.
“Not bad, Zophia,” Loewe said, stepping up next. “But don’t underestimate my luck.” The orc tossed the dice high into the air, and they showed the same result: four 6s and one 5. “Ha ha ha! See that?!”
Zophia clicked her tongue in frustration. “A tie, is it? Stubborn woman...”
Lynga was next, stepping up with five red dice in hand. “I’ll be using these special dice.”
“Wait a second!” Zophia protested. “Those are loaded!”
“Why do you get to use those?!” Loewe asked.
“H-How rude!” Lynga said. “Do I look like a cheater?”
“You look like the epitome of a cheater! Those are definitely rigged to always roll 1!” Zophia retorted.
“So that’s why you added that strange rule!” Loewe said. “Use the same dice we did!”
Zophia and Loewe ended up confiscating Lynga’s special dice. The werewolf’s shoulders sagged as she picked up the ordinary dice off the ground.
“Ugh...” She shut her eyes tightly and tossed the dice—four 6s and one 5. Twenty-nine points. Her eyes widened and she began to hop around excitedly. “Take that! I don’t need rigged dice to do this!”
“She just totally admitted to the dice being rigged,” Zophia pointed out.
Loewe grumbled. “A three-way tie...”
The heated developments elicited a mix of cheers and roars from the audience.
Carmilla let out her signature chuckle. “The probability of three people scoring twenty-nine points in a row is incredibly low. No wonder they all rose to leadership among demi-humans in the dog-eat-dog world of the slums. What an incredible stroke of luck. How fun! How will this contest end, I wonder?!”
“You sound way too excited about this!” Zenos interjected.
Finally, it was Lily’s turn. The girl gripped the dice nervously, glanced at Zenos, then took a few deep breaths. “It’s okay. It’ll be okay!” she said to herself, letting out a shout as she released the dice into the air.
Four of the dice settled with the number 6 facing up. The last one bounced on the ground several times before stopping in front of Zenos.
It was a 6.
Cheers erupted all around. “Holy hells!” Zonde shouted. “Thirty points! The winner is Lilyyy! Celebrate, you bastards!”
Lily stood there, stunned, as the audience broke into thunderous applause. “Huh? What? H-H-H-H-Huh?” she stammered. “No way...”
The demi-human women all stared in disbelief.
