In the different world “Astral” card games are popular.
In order to equalize the difference among the many different inhabitants of this world, the supreme god offered cards to all races with a built-in magical effect, called Wiz[1].
At the same time, the supreme god completely prohibited the use of violence to solve problems. This makes people have to duel[2] in order to solve their conflicts.
These Duels use the card game Wiz, so it is not an exaggeration to say that every being in Astral is part of a gigantic card game showdown.
According to the rules set by the supreme god, the loser has to obey the winner’s every command, so in Astral your strength and talent in the card game directly lead to your position.
Amongst all the players, he, who was the biggest slave trader in Hyural[3] was also considered a prominent wealthy person in the whole of Astral – even amongst other powerful area masters[4] he was considered to be outstanding.
But it seemed that the glory of this slave trader had come to an end.
“It’s a lie! Such a stupid thing can’t possibly have happened!!”
Impossible! The slave trader shook his head.
He went into the battlefield with 1xx mercenaries, already having prepared a winning strategy for the game.
On the other hand, the opponent was only one person.
Actually there were two people, one man and one woman, but only the man was fighting using Wiz. The woman wearing fiber clothes was not using Wiz and was just watching as a bystander.
Even if they were only two people they had an overwhelming advantage. Normally you couldn’t even imagine such a thing as defeat, as winning had to be natural in this situation – the slave trader was completely convinced by this way of thinking.
… But this way of thinking proved to be flawed.
1xx of his mercenaries were annihilated by a single boy. It was like seeing a terrible nightmare.
The slave trader dropped to the ground with his knees and strongly hoped that he would wake up if this was a dream, but the one thing that seemed to be out of place was the smell of burning plants drifting around on the battlefield — this made him realize that what he just perceived was indeed reality.
So, if this tragedy was indeed happening, he had to come to his senses now and prepare for battle. Otherwise the slave trader would be robbed of everything.
Overwhelmed by despair and fear, the slave trader looked up while trembling uncontrollably.
There, on the other side of the smoke, were the man and woman who caused this disaster. They were two distinct figures standing out on the battlefield.
One of them gave a frosty glance at the slave trader.
“Even that other bigshot from Hyural could be considered to have quite some ability. But even though I didn’t expect too much from him… wasn’t he just too worthless? That’s boring. With his ability he couldn’t even dream of making it big in Hyural, right?”
This slandering attitude was displayed by a boy wearing a black cloak and leather boots.
He had pitch-black hair and a slim body. But that body did not make you think he was weak. His bangs were long enough to cover his eyes, and the black eyes were glaring out from behind them.
“But, I can say that he did okay. Well, he is still weak, but compared to the thug we fought the other day, he was a little bit better.”
Speaking to the boy with an angelic voice was an incredibly beautiful girl.
She was about the same age as the boy – 16, maybe 17 years old. She had snow-white hair with shades of silver, sparkling with a beautiful luster. The white robe she wore was exposing a lot of skin and her breasts were really big.
“What thug?” The boy looked away from the slave trader.
“What, did you already forget that? They got involved with that restaurant managed by the girl from the Beast[5].”
“… Thug, you say? They were so weak that I already forgot about them. They had a big attitude but turned out to be trash, right? Doesn’t this always happen? … Geez, I thought that I could enjoy myself at least for a little but I guess the best this world has to offer turns out to be trash.”
“Let’s forget about thugs for a moment, the opponent this time was classified as strong – at least from the amount of Wiz cards he has, he should be ranked as one of the top players in this world…”
“Having a large amount of cards does not automatically make you strong, right? What is important is how you use them. Sorry if the people in this world can’t understand that.”
“I don’t know how people think where you came from, but this is common sense in Astral. In other words, this guy is not weak, he is incredibly strong.”
“Oh, that’s a good thing to say. You truly are my wife. I love you Iris.”
“W-What are you saying so suddenly…!? Don’t look at me with those passionate eyes. I-It makes me feel embarrassed.”
“Your face when you’re being shy is cute too.”
“But it’s not like I am cute or anything… Hey, do you really think so?”
“Yes, I do.”
“I am… cute?”
“Yeah, very cute.”
“… Ehehe”
The boy and the girl were displaying public affection in front of the slave trader.
‘Don’t mess around!’ He almost wanted to shout his thoughts out loud.
‘But… isn’t this an opportunity?’
He had saved up an ultra-rare Wiz card which could buy him a fancy mansion if sold. It was an SS ranked Wiz card that could destroy any opponent with one hit.
He carefully chanted a defensive Wiz card before he used it, with this he should be able to defeat that fucking cocky brat.
‘I will win. I will definitely win.’
The slave trader who was already convinced of his victory prepared to relax.
“Thunder Bolt!![6]”
At that moment the chant activated the fire magic that was built in the Wiz card. A crimson magic circle was drawn in front of him and an intense light source accumulated in the center. He wanted to cover his eyes because of the blinding light rays, but he also had the desire to see that boy’s cheeky face distort with horror because of his victory.
But the boy just kept happily conversing with the girl. He didn’t even bother to look at the attack?
This made the slave trader incredibly infuriated. ‘Let’s end this battle quickly. Then I’ll carve terror into the boy right after the battle is over.’ As long as he won this fight, he could take everything away from the boy, according to the Duel‘s rules right?
“Die, brat!”
The light source that had accumulated so far finally turned into lightning, and it was released towards the boy.
“What a fool! Reflect World[7]!!”
Just before the lightning bolt struck, the boy cast a Wiz with a calm expression.
At that moment, a huge mirror appeared in front of him.
The lightning was sucked into the mirror as if it was sinking below the surface of water, and disappeared.
“ … !?”
In the next moment the slave trader couldn’t help but doubt his eyes. A lightning strike came out of the mirror surface and was targeted right at him.
He suddenly started to scream because of the unexpected backlash of his attack – no, he was roaring.
The slave trader who received the lightning strike took major damage and his life turned to 0 with one blow, then he disappeared from the battlefield.
♦
“Geez. Being caught by such a cheap trick. He really was a boring guy.”
The boy who confirmed that the slave trader was withdrawn from the battlefield yawned.
Iris agreed with a nod.
“It is as you said. To be caught by such obvious tactics. I was also surprised … W-Wait! When you had that nice conversation with me earlier… you were just acting so he would use that powerful Wiz…? Is that it?”
To Iris who was asking him with a questioning look on her face, the boy Rindou Shouma replied by nodding while looking serious.
Then Iris couldn’t help but look at Shouma and ask.
“Well… Then… Hmm… about when you said I was cute…?” (TL/ED note: omg she is so damn cute!!)
Seeing what Iris said, Shouma showed a gentle smile for the first time.
“That was not a lie.”
“I-I see. Uhehe. I see, I see…”
Iris happily relaxed and smiled.
“Even so, your card game does not have any tactics. Plus, that guy was really adamant.”
As soon as Shouma listed those complaints, Iris stopped smiling at once and asked with an uneasy look.
“No way, do you perhaps want to go back to your original world? Are you really that resentful because I summoned you?”
“Of course not.”
Shouma instantly denied and shook his head.
“When you are in Astral you can battle using Wiz every day, right? And if you win you can get any reward you want – this means you can do whatever you want as long as you’re good at Wiz. There is nothing I could complain about, this is the best world I could be in. Really, I appreciate you a lot for summoning me to Astral. Really.”
While saying that with an innocent smile on his lips, Shouma thought back to the day when he was summoned here.
……
Translator notes:
[1] (Kanji 魔札 “Magic Trick” furigana “ウイズ”)
[2] (Kanji 神託遊戯 “Oracle game” furiganaデュエル)
[3] (Kanji 騎士門 “Knight Gate” furigana ヒューラル)
[4] (Kanji 全権代理者 “a full agent authority” エリアマスター)
[5] (Kanji: 獣牙門 “Beast tooth gate” furigana: ビースト)
[6] (Kanji 雷帝の裁き “Thunder Emperor’s Judgement” furigana: サンダーボルト)
[7] (Kanji鏡面世界 “Mirror world” furigana: リフレクワールド)
In the different world “Astral” card games are popular.
In order to equalize the difference among the many different inhabitants of this world, the supreme god offered cards to all races with a built-in magical effect, called Wiz[1].
At the same time, the supreme god completely prohibited the use of violence to solve problems. This makes people have to duel[2] in order to solve their conflicts.
These Duels use the card game Wiz, so it is not an exaggeration to say that every being in Astral is part of a gigantic card game showdown.
According to the rules set by the supreme god, the loser has to obey the winner’s every command, so in Astral your strength and talent in the card game directly lead to your position.
Amongst all the players, he, who was the biggest slave trader in Hyural[3] was also considered a prominent wealthy person in the whole of Astral – even amongst other powerful area masters[4] he was considered to be outstanding.
But it seemed that the glory of this slave trader had come to an end.
“It’s a lie! Such a stupid thing can’t possibly have happened!!”
Impossible! The slave trader shook his head.
He went into the battlefield with 1xx mercenaries, already having prepared a winning strategy for the game.
On the other hand, the opponent was only one person.
Actually there were two people, one man and one woman, but only the man was fighting using Wiz. The woman wearing fiber clothes was not using Wiz and was just watching as a bystander.
Even if they were only two people they had an overwhelming advantage. Normally you couldn’t even imagine such a thing as defeat, as winning had to be natural in this situation – the slave trader was completely convinced by this way of thinking.
… But this way of thinking proved to be flawed.
1xx of his mercenaries were annihilated by a single boy. It was like seeing a terrible nightmare.
The slave trader dropped to the ground with his knees and strongly hoped that he would wake up if this was a dream, but the one thing that seemed to be out of place was the smell of burning plants drifting around on the battlefield — this made him realize that what he just perceived was indeed reality.
So, if this tragedy was indeed happening, he had to come to his senses now and prepare for battle. Otherwise the slave trader would be robbed of everything.
Overwhelmed by despair and fear, the slave trader looked up while trembling uncontrollably.
There, on the other side of the smoke, were the man and woman who caused this disaster. They were two distinct figures standing out on the battlefield.
One of them gave a frosty glance at the slave trader.
“Even that other bigshot from Hyural could be considered to have quite some ability. But even though I didn’t expect too much from him… wasn’t he just too worthless? That’s boring. With his ability he couldn’t even dream of making it big in Hyural, right?”
This slandering attitude was displayed by a boy wearing a black cloak and leather boots.
He had pitch-black hair and a slim body. But that body did not make you think he was weak. His bangs were long enough to cover his eyes, and the black eyes were glaring out from behind them.
“But, I can say that he did okay. Well, he is still weak, but compared to the thug we fought the other day, he was a little bit better.”
Speaking to the boy with an angelic voice was an incredibly beautiful girl.
She was about the same age as the boy – 16, maybe 17 years old. She had snow-white hair with shades of silver, sparkling with a beautiful luster. The white robe she wore was exposing a lot of skin and her breasts were really big.
“What thug?” The boy looked away from the slave trader.
“What, did you already forget that? They got involved with that restaurant managed by the girl from the Beast[5].”
“… Thug, you say? They were so weak that I already forgot about them. They had a big attitude but turned out to be trash, right? Doesn’t this always happen? … Geez, I thought that I could enjoy myself at least for a little but I guess the best this world has to offer turns out to be trash.”
“Let’s forget about thugs for a moment, the opponent this time was classified as strong – at least from the amount of Wiz cards he has, he should be ranked as one of the top players in this world…”
“Having a large amount of cards does not automatically make you strong, right? What is important is how you use them. Sorry if the people in this world can’t understand that.”
“I don’t know how people think where you came from, but this is common sense in Astral. In other words, this guy is not weak, he is incredibly strong.”
“Oh, that’s a good thing to say. You truly are my wife. I love you Iris.”
“W-What are you saying so suddenly…!? Don’t look at me with those passionate eyes. I-It makes me feel embarrassed.”
“Your face when you’re being shy is cute too.”
“But it’s not like I am cute or anything… Hey, do you really think so?”
“Yes, I do.”
“I am… cute?”
“Yeah, very cute.”
“… Ehehe”
The boy and the girl were displaying public affection in front of the slave trader.
‘Don’t mess around!’ He almost wanted to shout his thoughts out loud.
‘But… isn’t this an opportunity?’
He had saved up an ultra-rare Wiz card which could buy him a fancy mansion if sold. It was an SS ranked Wiz card that could destroy any opponent with one hit.
He carefully chanted a defensive Wiz card before he used it, with this he should be able to defeat that fucking cocky brat.
‘I will win. I will definitely win.’
The slave trader who was already convinced of his victory prepared to relax.
“Thunder Bolt!![6]”
At that moment the chant activated the fire magic that was built in the Wiz card. A crimson magic circle was drawn in front of him and an intense light source accumulated in the center. He wanted to cover his eyes because of the blinding light rays, but he also had the desire to see that boy’s cheeky face distort with horror because of his victory.
But the boy just kept happily conversing with the girl. He didn’t even bother to look at the attack?
This made the slave trader incredibly infuriated. ‘Let’s end this battle quickly. Then I’ll carve terror into the boy right after the battle is over.’ As long as he won this fight, he could take everything away from the boy, according to the Duel‘s rules right?
“Die, brat!”
The light source that had accumulated so far finally turned into lightning, and it was released towards the boy.
“What a fool! Reflect World[7]!!”
Just before the lightning bolt struck, the boy cast a Wiz with a calm expression.
At that moment, a huge mirror appeared in front of him.
The lightning was sucked into the mirror as if it was sinking below the surface of water, and disappeared.
“ … !?”
In the next moment the slave trader couldn’t help but doubt his eyes. A lightning strike came out of the mirror surface and was targeted right at him.
He suddenly started to scream because of the unexpected backlash of his attack – no, he was roaring.
The slave trader who received the lightning strike took major damage and his life turned to 0 with one blow, then he disappeared from the battlefield.
♦
“Geez. Being caught by such a cheap trick. He really was a boring guy.”
The boy who confirmed that the slave trader was withdrawn from the battlefield yawned.
Iris agreed with a nod.
“It is as you said. To be caught by such obvious tactics. I was also surprised … W-Wait! When you had that nice conversation with me earlier… you were just acting so he would use that powerful Wiz…? Is that it?”
To Iris who was asking him with a questioning look on her face, the boy Rindou Shouma replied by nodding while looking serious.
Then Iris couldn’t help but look at Shouma and ask.
“Well… Then… Hmm… about when you said I was cute…?” (TL/ED note: omg she is so damn cute!!)
Seeing what Iris said, Shouma showed a gentle smile for the first time.
“That was not a lie.”
“I-I see. Uhehe. I see, I see…”
Iris happily relaxed and smiled.
“Even so, your card game does not have any tactics. Plus, that guy was really adamant.”
As soon as Shouma listed those complaints, Iris stopped smiling at once and asked with an uneasy look.
“No way, do you perhaps want to go back to your original world? Are you really that resentful because I summoned you?”
“Of course not.”
Shouma instantly denied and shook his head.
“When you are in Astral you can battle using Wiz every day, right? And if you win you can get any reward you want – this means you can do whatever you want as long as you’re good at Wiz. There is nothing I could complain about, this is the best world I could be in. Really, I appreciate you a lot for summoning me to Astral. Really.”
While saying that with an innocent smile on his lips, Shouma thought back to the day when he was summoned here.
……
Translator notes:
[1] (Kanji 魔札 “Magic Trick” furigana “ウイズ”)
[2] (Kanji 神託遊戯 “Oracle game” furiganaデュエル)
[3] (Kanji 騎士門 “Knight Gate” furigana ヒューラル)
[4] (Kanji 全権代理者 “a full agent authority” エリアマスター)
[5] (Kanji: 獣牙門 “Beast tooth gate” furigana: ビースト)
[6] (Kanji 雷帝の裁き “Thunder Emperor’s Judgement” furigana: サンダーボルト)
[7] (Kanji鏡面世界 “Mirror world” furigana: リフレクワールド)
