Heine and Ledriano said nothing, but shifted their gazes to the podium to avoid making eye contact with Lay.
Since they used to believe themselves to be Kanon’s reincarnations, they probably had complicated feelings about Lay. The other Hero Academy students were also whispering among themselves while glancing at Lay’s face.
“All right now, please be quiet, everyone! Class is about to start!” (???)
The one who went up to the podium while clapping her hands was Emilia.
However, as if completely ignoring her demand, the Hero Academy students kept chattering.
“Are you listening?! Please be quiet!” (Emilia)
It had been a few days or so since Emilia was assigned here.
It appeared that she had yet to settle into her new class.
“Kahaha! Isn’t it great how full of energy they are?” (Eldmed)
Eldmed walked toward the podium while slowly scanning the students with his eyes.
Looking a bit confused, Emilia gave a slight bow to the Conflagration King.
However, the Hero Academy students still hadn’t quieted down and kept chatting away.
After watching them for a while, Eldmed pointed at me with his cane.
“Anosh Polticoal. Come up here.” (Eldmed)
I got up and walked to the stairs.
“What the… a kid…?” (Human male student A)
“No matter how you look at it, he’s gotta be, like, only six or seven, right…?” (Human male student B)
“And yet, he’s a student of the Demon King Academy… right?” (Human male student C)
Curious voices spurted out from the humans.
“Listen up, humans. I understand that you guys aren’t interested in this school exchange program. So here’s what we’re going to do. One representative from each of our academies will compete against the other. If the Hero Academy wins, then this school exchange program will lose all meaning, and all the lectures for the scheduled period will be canceled. What do you think?” (Eldmed)
“Eh…?! W-We can’t have that… I would be troubled if the classes were canceled…” (Emilia)
“What are you so worried about? There’s no way we would lose to the likes of humans, is there?” (Eldmed)
Eldmed scoffed at Emilia’s worries.
“As you can see, the representative of the Demon King Academy will be Anosh Polticoal here. If you beat him, you’ll get to take a break from classes for a while. But if you lose, you’ll have to take them seriously. Unless the wannabe-hero students would rather run away, with their tails between their legs, from a mere child, that is.” (Eldmed)
The Hero Academy Students reacted indignantly to Eldmed’s taunt.
“You talk a big game. But…” Heine said in a cheeky tone.
“Demons don’t play fair, do they? Even if he’s just a kid, you’re gonna make it a game in his favor anyway, right? That’s a haaaard pass for me.” (Heine)
“In other words, if the odds of this game are in your favor, you’ll play it. Is that right, human? Then come on up, and tell us the rules.” (Eldmed)
Heine remained silent for a moment, perhaps in surprise at being offered to determine the winning conditions.
However, a grin soon appeared on his face.
“Heh. Well, I don’t mind.” (Heine)
Heine stood up and went up to the large podium.
“If I beat this kid, will you really cancel our lectures?” (Heine)
“Of course.” (Eldmed)
“Then it’s a deal.” (Heine)
Heine sneered fearlessly and glanced at me.
“Well then, here’s how we’re gonna play.” Heine grinned as he spoke.
“Let’s play a game of dice. How about we each roll a dice, and the one who rolls the highest number wins? Demons are too tough in combat and magic, after all~.” (Heine)
“I don’t mind.” (Anos)
Heine handed me a wooden dice.
“Hm.” (Anos)
Its center of gravity was off.
This dice was loaded. It was designed so that it was almost impossible to roll any number other than one.
“Well, I’ll go first.” (Heine)
Heine threw his dice.
He rolled a five.
“All right! Come on now, you’ve got no choice but to roll a six.” (Heine)
When I peered into the abyss of his dice with my Magic Eyes, I could see that it was designed to make it easier to roll a five.
The reason why he didn’t make it six was so he wouldn’t be accused of cheating by rolling the highest number.
Since he was going to cheat anyway, he should’ve made it so that he would achieve the best result while he was at it.
“I just have one question. Does it matter how I roll it?” (Anos)
“Eh? Uh no, roll it however you like. When it comes to dice, no matter how you roll them, it’s all about luck, after all.” (Heine)
Heine chuckled to himself while emphasizing the words ‘it’s all about luck’.
“Hmm. Very well, then. But I have to say, even if the dice are only made of wood, it was a mistake to make the floor this fragile.” (Anos)
“What are you talking abo—” (Heine)
A thunderous sound rang out from the stone podium.
I rolled the dice as hard as I could and slammed it straight down.
The dice had sunk into the stone floor, just as I had intended.
“Wh… Wha… WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT…?!” (Heine)
I made the wooden dice, made of an inferior material, penetrate the floor by slamming it as hard as I could after figuring out the core of the stone.
“Hmm. Looks like I rolled a six.” (Anos)
My dice, which was stuck in the floor, was showing a six.
Leveraging the locational characteristics to restrict the roll of the dice was common practice two thousand years ago.
Therefore, it was common knowledge that when playing dice, the floor should fundamentally be made of an impenetrable material. Otherwise, there would be multiple ways to roll the desired number.
Heine said that dice games were all about luck, but apparently, even the art of dice-rolling had degenerated in this day and age.
Two thousand years ago, competing in a dice game was all about how many times you could keep getting the desired number.
Which was why it was common to throw not one, but about a thousand dice at the same time. With a thousand dice, one of them might turn up the wrong number.
Of course, I always got the number I wanted.
“H-Hold on a sec! You can’t roll it like that! It’s against the rules! Redo it, right now!” (Heine)
“You’re the one who said it didn’t matter how I rolled it, remember?” (Anos)
“…Well…” (Heine)
“Well, nothing would change no matter how many times I roll it, anyway.” I said to Heine, who was at a loss for words.
I picked up my dice and rolled it again.
It rolled and rolled, and turned up another six.
“Geh…?! B-But why…?! It’s supposed to only give a one—” he said before stopping himself with a look of regret on his face.
“If you’re relying on tools, then you’re not ready for this game. Learn the art of dice-rolling better. Even if the center of gravity is off, it’s not like one is the only number I can roll. Once you have looked into the abyss of the dice and read the environment and the air on the floor, all you need to do is just adjust the strength of your throw to get the desired roll.” (Anos)
I picked up the dice and rolled it again.
It turned up a six.
I rolled it over and over again, but no matter how many times I rolled it, I could only roll a six.
And Heine could do nothing but watch in shock.
“I’m not the kind of guy who would roll a wrong number, no matter what kind of dice I play with.” (Anos)
