Chapter 29: Are You Only Targeting Me or What.
[You begin playing the tense and thrilling game of Cheating Moth.]
[The first winner may designate another person to carry out a punishment.]
[No matter how humiliating the punishment is, the loser must comply.]
[Hehe, you absolutely must win!]
"…Alright, let's begin."
Everyone drew their cards in turn, and the match officially started.
Aside from the Guard Bug, Tristan, everyone else could cheat freely.
The prerequisite was not getting caught by Tristan's squinting eyes and lightning-fast hands!
"Alright, I'll go first."
Tristan calmly played the first card.
"My turn."
Next was the Sun Knight Gawain, who played a card adjacent to his, and all players followed in clockwise order.
The game had officially begun—cheating was now allowed…
But Eikou did not dare act rashly.
Although Tristan looked as if his eyes were half-closed and he was about to nod off, in reality he was sensing every movement around him.
Breathing sounds, tiny hand movements, heartbeats, sidelong glances—everything was within his surveillance range!
At this moment, anyone who dared to cheat would truly be courting death!
The correct approach was to stay still and wait until Tristan caught someone else cheating, then simply let the Guard Bug identity be transferred to the next unlucky person.
Whoosh——
Suddenly, Tristan's eyes snapped wide open.
He swiftly raised his hand and unexpectedly hurled the Guard Bug card in his hand forward with force.
Smack!
The thrown identity card hit its mark perfectly, knocking down the exact card that Marie Alter had just secretly discarded.
"Caught you cheating, Your Majesty the Queen."
Tristan said calmly.
"Huh!"
Marie Alter cried out in surprise.
"!"
Everyone's eyes widened.
This Tristan guy actually caught someone red-handed in an instant?!
"Amazing, Tristan,"
Eikou praised wildly in his heart. "You didn't catch just anyone—you caught the most troublesome Marie Alter. Well done!"
This way, for a short period of time, Marie Alter would no longer be able to cheat. It could be considered that the boys' side had gained a huge advantage.
"Alright, the cheating has been caught, so it's time to pass on my Guard Bug…"
"Wait…"
Just as Tristan was about to transfer the identity, Marie Alter suddenly spoke up.
On her fair, beautiful face, a pitiful and aggrieved expression appeared in an instant.
"I just slipped a little, Knight-san, could it be that you misunderstood?"
"Huh, but I clearly saw—"
"Knight-san~…"
Marie Alter stared at him with her beautiful eyes filled with a pitiful look.
"Ah…"
Tristan froze for a moment, then immediately put on a calm smile that he thought was very handsome.
"Sorry, I must have seen it wrong just now. A dignified and courteous married woman like you—how could you possibly cheat? Suddenly making trouble like that was truly rude of me!"
Eikou: "???"
You useless Tristan, you actually got led around by the nose by that married woman?!
[He retracts one instance of catching cheating.]
[Tristan still retains the Guard Bug identity, the game continues.]
After that scene, it was obvious that all the players had realized how terrifying Tristan was.
For a while, no one dared to cheat casually anymore.
Eikou naturally didn't dare to act recklessly either. He could only obediently play his cards while praying that the next unlucky person would appear as soon as possible.
This was a battlefield without gunpowder smoke.
Under Tristan's high-pressure surveillance, no one dared to breathe loudly. Everyone secretly prayed that someone else would be caught first.
'Hurry up and cheat, hurry up and let someone cheat...'
Eikou swept his gaze around the other players, constantly urging this in his heart.
When everyone was playing strictly by the rules, as long as one person successfully cheated even once, they would already be far ahead of everyone else! Are you really not cheating?
I don't believe you can endure it for that long.
His gaze suddenly stopped on Artoria.
He saw the blonde girl sneaking glances around, her expression flustered, secretly peeking at Tristan who was resting with his eyes closed.
The ahoge on her head swayed back and forth in panic, sweat beading on her face, her eyes darting away, her whole body in a state of extreme tension.
Boar-chan: Σ(ﾟДﾟ;≡;ﾟдﾟ)
Artoria finally couldn't hold back anymore—was she plotting to cheat?
Eikou thought to himself.
And honestly speaking, her preparatory movements were way too obvious, Boar-chan! Let alone Tristan, anyone with working eyes could tell what she was about to do at a glance! There was absolutely no concealment at all!
But Artoria's clumsy appearance was also rather cute.
In that case, she would definitely be caught by Tristan and then become the scapegoat for everyone.
Whoosh!
Artoria finally made her move.
A card-cutting-through-the-air sound rang out.
She forcefully threw a card from her hand outward, the movement very obvious, the sound also very loud.
But perhaps because she was too nervous, her hand slipped a bit, and she threw the card straight toward Tristan.
Smack.
The card flew straight and hit Tristan squarely in the face.
"Hiss——"
Artoria was so scared that she sucked in a sharp breath.
No way, this is way too blatant, isn't it?!
Eikou crazily complained in his heart—this was cheating shoved straight into someone's face in every sense of the word!
However, Tristan had absolutely no reaction at all, only silently playing his next card.
Completely ignored?!
Eikou was truly shocked.
What the hell, and he doesn't catch this either?
Just because Artoria is his King, so even if she cheats he pretends not to see it?! What a lack of competitive spirit!
He doesn't catch the married woman, he doesn't catch the King, then it seems Tristan is planning to only catch the remaining three people among them.
Eikou thought.
With no other choice, he could only wait for Jeanne d'Arc and Gawain to reveal a flaw.
Just as he was thinking this, the Sun Knight beside him also made a move.
"!"
Taking advantage of the Guard Bug not looking over, Gawain decisively picked up a card and secretly tossed it behind him.
But unexpectedly, a gust of wind suddenly rose from the window behind them.
Smack.
The card that had just been secretly discarded flew back and stuck squarely onto the back of Tristan's head.
The other party still had no reaction at all.
"???"
No way, Tristan, you're the Guard Bug, so why are you living like an NPC? This kind of covering up is way too blatant—what exactly are you trying to do?
Eikou frowned slightly.
In other words...
Tristan was planning to cover for people on his own side.
If Gawain could cheat, then Eikou felt that he could as well.
Thinking this, he carefully stacked two cards together, pretending they were a single card, and then played them out.
Using an extremely subtle method, he successfully cheated away one card.
The very next second, Tristan's hand suddenly shot out, flipping over the discarded pile where he had hidden it.
"I caught you cheating, Sir Eikou."
"?"
Very good, so you're only catching me after all?!
"Alright, now you are the Guard Bug."
Tristan's face was expressionless as he pushed the identity card over to him.
[You have become the new Guard Bug.]
[From this moment onward, you are not allowed to cheat until you catch the next cheater.]
...