Chapter 173: The Couple's Game
After thinking it over multiple times, Eikou still spent 5,000 QP to buy a women's swimsuit.
"Kouhai, are you crazy? Why spend 5,000 QP on that swimsuit?" Yu Ji asked in confusion.
"Because Assassin's spirit origin is a bit weak, so I thought if she wears a swimsuit and switches to another spirit origin, maybe she'll be a bit stronger—at least it might add another option."
Eikou explained with a serious face.
Changing to another spirit origin can at least improve her basic stats, and she would no longer have the humiliation of Luck E.
"You, you—"
Yu Ji stared at the extremely revealing bikini in his hand.
"To be honest, this swimsuit is way too flimsy, kouhai, are you planning to have me wear this into battle?"
"Believe it or not, this bikini is the most modest outfit in this store."
"I'm not wearing it, that's way too embarrassing!"
Her fair, beautiful face instantly turned bright red as she shyly refused.
"Haha, sorry about that! I joined the Holy Grail War to save you, but I'm not planning to spare your feelings. For the sake of victory, senpai, whether you want to or not, you have to wear it! Didn't you already wear it at Chaldea in the parallel world? Everyone's already seen everything, so what's there to be shy about now?"
But Eikou had no intention of forcing her to change right this moment—he'd have to see how the situation developed first.
After all, what's so shameful about wearing a swimsuit? She's no longer a naive fifteen- or sixteen-year-old girl. After living this long, could her maturity really stop at her body alone?
Kriemhild pouted childishly: "Why am I the only one who doesn't get a present? Am I hated or something?"
"What are you saying, how could I forget you? Here, take this and have fun."
Eikou handed her the shop's freebie: the combo of the waterbed and Volumen hydrargyrum.
"Th-this… what on earth is this even for—!"
...
[After that, you went through three more dice rolls.]
[Nothing special happened, and you still didn't find the two missing wife Servants.]
[With Kriemhild temporarily joining, your combat strength increased; at present no team dares to openly start a fight with you.]
[The Gemini twins' team and the Sakamoto Ryouma couple's team have obtained Holy Grail Shards.]
[All participating teams are cautiously observing the situation. These couples look harmonious and cheerful only because no one dares to ignite a war; it seems only Team Orion truly treats the Holy Grail War as just a fun game.]
[Perhaps because everyone was being overly cautious and progress was slow, a major event square was soon stepped on.]
"Oh, looks like Team Moriarty hit a special event square,"
Commentator Finn looked at the live screen and explained,
"The event is: 『Merchant Columbus, who monopolized the Holy Grail Shard supply chain and drove prices sky-high, has now been suspended and investigated by the authorities. The shopping center sincerely apologizes for the inconvenience to customers and has decided to distribute this Holy Grail Shard free of charge.』"
"What?!"
Eikou and the others were stunned—who would have thought something this good would happen?
"But… there's only one Holy Grail Shard here, not nearly enough to share among everyone. So there's no other choice—please use a couple game to determine the winner. The space restrictions have been lifted; please proceed to the board-game club on the mall's second floor."
[All of you have arrived at the board-game club indicated by Finn.]
[Most of the board games in the club have been put away.]
[In front of you is a Jenga tower built from countless rectangular blocks, along with a ping-pong table.]
Seeing the Jenga tower and the ping-pong table, Eikou immediately guessed what kind of couple game this would be.
"You can use either ping pong or Jenga to decide victory. Aside from not violating the basic rules of the game, you may use any Servant skills or traits you wish. The couple who scores the most points and wins the most will receive the Holy Grail Shard!"
Finn's voice suddenly grew serious:
"Moreover… if anyone loses the game, that couple will be directly eliminated from the Holy Grail War. The first round with Jenga will eliminate at least one couple; the remaining six will play ping pong, eliminating three more couples."
"In other words… only three couples can successfully advance, and only one person will obtain the Holy Grail Shard!"
"Seven teams, and four have to be eliminated right from the start?"
The players on-site all grew uneasy; this was going to be even more brutal than they'd imagined.
"I mean, ping pong needing coordination makes sense for a couple game, but Jenga? How's that supposed to be romantic?" Eikou pointed out. "I don't see anything couple-like about it at all. Using such a slow game to decide victory is boring."
"Hm… you'll understand once you play. Let's begin," Finn said, pretending to be mysterious.
The rules of Jenga were simple: each person took turns pulling one wooden block from the tower; whoever toppled the tower lost.
Seven couples sat around the Jenga table, each secretly sizing up the others.
"Finn-sensei, who pulls first? Clockwise or counter-clockwise?" Eikou asked.
"There's no fixed order among you," Finn replied. "Each round we draw lots to decide. Luck is part of strength."
In other words, if you were unlucky, you might have to pull multiple times in a row?
Eikou cast a near-sympathetic glance at Yu Ji.
"Senpai, let me give you a word of advice… hurry and put on the swimsuit, maybe it'll raise your Luck a bit."
"Don't even dream of it," Yu Ji said, blushing. "Everyone else is wearing their own clothes—if I'm the only one in a swimsuit, wouldn't that be weird? I'd die of embarrassment."
Eikou thought to himself that her third-stage spirit-origin art was practically like a swimsuit anyway.
"There are seven couples here; surely there are plenty of people as unlucky as me!" Yu Ji said firmly.
"Better hope so…" he replied gloomily.
Kriemhild, on the other hand, didn't need to worry at all. Her Luck was EX—EX! Unless she somehow rolled a great failure, destiny itself guaranteed her success.
[Drawing lots begins.]
[Please make a Luck check.]
A die rolled across the table.
When he saw the number, Eikou's face froze.
[Result: EX—beyond your Luck level, great failure!]
[Please pull a block.]
"..."
"How embarrassing, kouhai," Yu Ji teased, giving him a sidelong glance. "You were just saying my luck was awful, and you're the one who got picked first. Maybe you're the one who should put on the swimsuit—might raise your luck a little."
"Damn it…"
Fortunately the game had just started; taking the first block was easy enough.
Eikou carefully slid a block free from the Jenga tower.
"Eh, there's writing on this block…?"
Finn's voice rang out immediately:
"So you finally noticed, contestant Eikou. This isn't ordinary Jenga—it's Couple Jenga combined with Truth or Dare. Pull a block and you must answer the Truth or perform the Dare written on it. And all the challenges are couple-themed."
"So that's how it is…"
Eikou nodded thoughtfully.
He looked down at the words on the block—he'd drawn a Truth.
[Name one Servant you'd most want a one-night stand with.]
What kind of "couple question" was this supposed to be? This outrageous prompt was clearly designed to wreck relationships!