Yashiro the Blind

"And who do you think you are? We're having a great time here, what right do you have to say anything!"

"I am nothing special, just a guest staying here, like everyone else."

The girl smiled and lightly touched her lips with her finger. "Instead of that, I suggest you all try not to speak too loudly. After all, you probably don't want things to get too big and reach the ears of Lord Kabei and your Lord Hikita, right?"

"you……"

When Hikita Toyogoro was mentioned again, the group of people on the other side were clearly hesitant. They exchanged glances and finally put forward Genhachiro as their representative, who frowned and asked, "What exactly are you trying to say?"

"I just hope this matter can be put on hold, as if nothing happened."

"...Is that all?"

That's all.

It wasn't that she didn't want to stand up for Kokoro, who had been beaten, but the other party was, after all, a group of people specially invited by Matsushita Kabei to be guests. Given their status and position, even if things really escalated, Kabei, as a samurai, would probably not offend Hikita Toyogoro for the sake of a mere maid.

On the contrary, this would make Xiaoqin a target of public criticism, and she might not even be able to stay in this mansion anymore.

Similarly, it's not that she can't punish him herself. If it's in a remote, deserted place, she can just beat him up. But if she disciplines Hikita Toyogoro's disciple in front of so many people in the mansion, what if he feels his face has been damaged and he's caught in a bind, and in a fit of anger draws his sword, and she accidentally slits his throat... then things will become even more uncontrollable.

It wasn't a big deal to begin with; if both sides took a step back, the situation would be much better. There was no need to act impulsively for the sake of momentary pleasure... Analyzing the pros and cons in his mind, Yashiro, though slightly unhappy, decided to let the matter rest.

She fully expected that Genpachiro and the others would also agree to the proposal. After all, they were in the wrong, and they didn't want the matter to become public knowledge. No matter how you looked at it, they had no reason to oppose it.

To everyone's surprise, Genpachiro paused for a moment, then suddenly shouted in a gruff voice, "No way!"

"……what?"

"I said no! That maid and you both treated us like fools, and now you want to pretend nothing happened? I won't allow that!"

"That's it!"

"We are not to be trifled with!"

Led by Genjiro, several drunkards started making a racket. Someone even grabbed at her with one hand, but Yashiro, sensing the sound, dodged to the side, her eyebrows already furrowed into a small mountain—that's why she hated these kinds of unreasonable troublemakers the most.

"Then what do you want?" Her tone was now somewhat unfriendly compared to before.

However, the group, still fuming, clearly didn't notice this change. Genpachiro, assuming the girl was showing fear and weakness, said smugly, "First, you must kneel down and kowtow to apologize for your rude behavior. Then, call that ungrateful maid over and have her atone for her sins by serving us drinks. Once she's made us all comfortable, we might be lenient and forgive everything—"

"Speaking of which, although you're a bit skinny, you're quite pretty. Otherwise, you could replace her, hahaha!" He seemed to only then notice the girl's appearance, licked his lips, and his eyes flashed with an unsettling light.

"Yamazaki is absolutely right!"

"Let's do it this way!" Some of the others clapped, some cheered, and they all surrounded Hachiro, laughing together.

"..."

He silently gripped the staff head with his left hand, then released it after a few breaths. Hearing the laughter of Genpachiro and the others, Yashiro twitched the corners of his mouth and smiled as well: "That's no problem."

"Oh?" Perhaps not expecting her to agree so quickly, even Genpachiro himself was taken aback.

The girl then changed the subject: "However..."

"But what?"

"You gentlemen are disciples of the Shinkage-ryu school and the students of Lord Hikita. You must all possess extraordinary skills and remarkable attainments. You must first demonstrate your true abilities so that I can accept defeat wholeheartedly. Otherwise, when others tell the story, they will not think that you are bullying the weak or taking advantage of the strong."

"You're saying we ganged up on the few?"

"I wouldn't dare," the girl replied softly, her head lowered.

But the more he displayed this weak attitude, the more uneasy it felt, as if a thorn was stuck in one's heart. Genpachi waved his hand and snorted, "Fine, I'll do it your way. I'll make you admit defeat wholeheartedly, and then let's see what you have to say! So how do you plan to compete—not that I look down on you, but with your skinny arms and legs, you probably can't even lift a sword, right?"

"You jest, sir. How could a young lady like me dare to compete with such masters in swordsmanship? That would be courting death." The girl was not annoyed at all and smiled.

"Haha, at least you know your place. So what do you want to compete in, and how do you want to compete?"

"Well..." She tapped her cane lightly on the ground, and with a thud, the dice at her feet rolled once. She tilted her head and smiled, "Since we have dice, how about we simply play a round of odds or evens?"

……

And so, this scene unfolded.

"You're clearly blind, yet you still know how to gamble?" Genpachiro asked the girl with disdain as he skillfully shook the dice cup.

Amidst the rustling sounds, Yashiro smiled faintly: "To be honest, I'm actually quite good at this kind of game."

As if to prove this point, she even took out two dice from her sleeve, waved them in front of the group, and then put them away.

"Alright! Let's follow the agreed rules. The four of us will take turns being the dealer, and you'll guess the numbers. We'll only bet one round at a time. If you win five times in a row, we can pretend everything that just happened never occurred. But if you lose any round—"

"This body is at your disposal."

Yashiro spoke softly, her tone and expression resembling that of a lamb that had wandered into a pack of wolves, except for her slightly twitching eyes and her silently clenched fists.

Seeing this, the four people opposite them felt even more pleased. It seemed that someone had already thought of what was going to happen next, leaning forward with a lewd expression.

Genpachiro was even more pleased with himself, after all, he had taken the initiative to suggest it. His hands kept moving, and after shaking it for a while, he suddenly slammed the dice cup upside down on the floor: "Come on, guess! Is it odd or even!"

The game of guessing the number of points on dice has been played in various countries throughout history. However, unlike the guessing game of big or small that girls are more familiar with, Japan at this time usually prefers to add up the numbers on two dice to guess whether it is an odd or even number.

Although there is essentially no difference.

"Guess quickly!"

As if he couldn't wait any longer, Genpachiro urged him again as soon as he put down the dice cup.

The girl shook her head, and without hesitation, replied, "Single."

"Single? Are you sure it's a single?"

"Yes."

"it is good!"

Under several expectant gazes, the dice cup was lifted, revealing the numbers on two dice: a three and a two, totaling five, which was an odd number.

"This……"

Genpachiro was momentarily stunned. His companion sitting next to him sneered, "It's just a coincidence. I don't believe she can actually guess correctly four times in a row!" He snatched the dice and dice cup away, shook them, and then put them on the ground.

This time, Yashiro guessed the pair.

The dice cup was lifted, revealing a four and a two; another win.

She didn't hesitate for the next two times either, announcing the results almost as soon as the dice cup hit the ground, and both times she was right.

If it happened once or twice, it could be attributed to luck or chance, but four times in a row, it inevitably raises suspicions. Genpachiro frowned deeply, and someone nearby couldn't hold back any longer, shouting, "You blind man, you're clearly cheating, aren't you!"

"That doesn't make any sense. The dice are in your hands, how could I cheat?"

"You must have used some trickery, otherwise how could you have guessed correctly four times in a row!"

The man was still shouting with his neck stiff, while the other two had different expressions; one hesitated to speak, and the other's face was also full of doubt. Yashiro sighed, "I thought you were all samurai who kept your word, but now you can't accept defeat... and you want to cheat?"

"Stop trying to cheat, I—"

"Alright!" Before he could finish his sentence, Genpachiro reached out and stopped him, then pushed the dice cup over and placed it in front of the girl.

"Let's play one more round. This time, you roll the dice."

"This……"

Yashiro's expression changed slightly. Genpachiro looked at her coldly: "What's wrong? If you didn't cheat, you can roll the dice and we can guess. Or did you really use some tricks? If so, I won't ignore it!"

"...Alright, but I haven't done much betting, so my techniques might not be very skilled. Please forgive me..."

Knowing she couldn't avoid it, the girl slumped her shoulders, obediently picked up the dice cup, and shook it somewhat awkwardly.

Only at this moment did Genpachiro reveal a victor's smile—he had won!

He also suspected that the girl had used some kind of trick in those four times, but since he couldn't find any evidence, he couldn't convince everyone with just words. On the contrary, it would make it seem like his side couldn't accept defeat and was planning to cheat, just like she said. If this got out in the future, he would inevitably be ridiculed by others and his reputation would be ruined.

Similarly, without being able to uncover the trick the opponent used to know the dice roll, no matter how many times he tried, the result would likely be the same. So he racked his brains, and finally, a flash of inspiration struck him, revealing a fatal flaw:

As long as the girl rolls the dice, and some on their side guess odd and some guess even, regardless of the final result, they will inevitably win. This is perfectly within the rules; the only one to blame is the girl who suggested the rule—she was wrong to not think of this aspect…

"Then... I'm going to put it down."

With extremely clumsy movements, he hesitated for a while before taking a deep breath and suddenly slamming the dice cup onto the floor.

"..."

"..."

"W-What's wrong, gentlemen... are you going to guess odd or even?"

Despite her question, the four people, including Genpachiro, remained silent.

To be precise, they were all trying hard to suppress their laughter.

"How could there be such an idiot..."

Genpachiro nearly burst out laughing. The dice cup was standing perfectly fine in front of him, but the two dice inside had rolled out of the cup with a flick of the girl's wrist, landing outside the cup. The numbers were a five and a two, totaling seven.

Now he doesn't even need his sure-win strategy anymore. After all, if you have to say, Genpachiro realizes that his method of betting on both sides is no different from cheating. Now that there is a simpler way to win, he naturally doesn't need to lower himself.

That's just right, making this little girl admit defeat wholeheartedly.

"one!"

He slapped his thigh, the sound like thunder.

"I also think it's a single!"

"one!"

"It's definitely a single!"

The other three then spoke up, each unable to hide their smiles as they looked at the girl before them as if she were a delicious meal about to be devoured.

"Hey, do all four of you think it's odd? Nobody bet on even?" Yashiro tilted his head, seemingly very puzzled.

Fearing that it would take too long and she would discover that the dice had fallen out, Genpachiro hurriedly urged, "That's right, we all bet on single numbers. Alright, quickly open the dice cup and let us see the results!"

"Well..." She was about to reach for the dice cup when she suddenly stopped. "Let me confirm this for now. This should be the last time. You gentlemen... shouldn't cheat again, right?"

“Of course, of course, as long as you win this round, according to the agreement, everything will be wiped clean!” Genpachiro said without hesitation.

"Great, then—"

The girl smiled happily and, to everyone's eager anticipation, finally lifted the lid of the empty dice cup...

"……What!"

Inside the dice cup, which should have been empty, lay two dice, both showing sixes, totaling twelve, an even number.

Genpachiro's eyes widened and his mouth gaped open, momentarily speechless. The other three were in no better shape.

Yashiro tilted her head, reached out, and ran her fingertips along the indentations of the two dice. Then she laughed, "Great, it's an even number... which means I won, right?"

"you……"

"Oh, how come there are two dice here... Oh, they must have fallen out of my sleeve by accident. Oh dear, what an accident, please forgive me." With her usual soft tone, she leisurely put away the two dice outside the dice cup, then, supporting herself on her knees, picked up her cane and stood up unsteadily.

"Then... as agreed, I hope you gentlemen will be magnanimous and not take what just happened to heart, and please don't cause trouble for that maid... I have other matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave now." As she spoke, she turned to leave.

But after taking a few steps, before he even reached the door, he suddenly heard a loud shout: "Stop!"

"...Is there anything else you'd like to teach me?"

Yashiro stopped in his tracks, his back to Genpachiro who had called out to him, his bangs hanging down, his expression slightly somber.

"Don't think I don't know! You clearly threw those two dice out of your sleeve on purpose to confuse us and mislead us!" Genpachiro was furious. He stood up and, taking advantage of his height, looked down at the girl's head.

"That's strange... Aren't we betting on those two dice in the cup?" the girl countered. "Why is it that the dice I accidentally dropped outside were able to confuse you all?"

"You..." Genpachiro choked on his words, then became even more furious. "Stop talking nonsense. What I hate most is self-righteous guys like you. If you don't kneel down and kowtow to apologize properly today, don't even think about leaving this room alive!"

As he spoke, he reached for the sword leaning against the wall, about to draw it, but Yashiro sighed, "I advise you not to... If you're empty-handed, everything can be discussed. Once you draw your sword, things will get complicated..."

"Hmph, it's too late to be scared now! Kneel down right now, or I'll use your head to test my blade—"

Swish!

The blade was drawn from its sheath and held in his palm, gleaming with a cold light.

The girl showed no fear, but her heart was filled with displeasure.

I originally thought this could be resolved peacefully, with things calmed down. But it turned out it still came to this...

She frowned. Just from the sound of the knife being drawn, she already knew that the other party's knife skills were probably not as good as his dice-rolling skills.

The sticky feeling after killing someone surged into her heart again. She sighed inwardly, her left hand already gripping the hilt of the sword.

"..."