「—I suppose it’s about time to end this game.」

「… What do you mean?」

In the middle of the game. Tanaka interrupted at a convenient moment. In response to it, General Red raised his voice while giving him a quizzical look. The words of the man who could be said to have been controlling the entire game, it was inevitable that General Red was very wary of them.

「You’ve had your fill of fun, haven’t you? If you continue to trade points bit by bit like this, everyone will surely lose the heat before long. So I think it’s a good time to put an end to this game here once and for all.」

「… What suggestion do you have?」

Tanaka floated a wide grin and answered. It was unknown how many times he had been overwhelmed by that grin. Readying himself inside, General Red waited for Tanaka’s words.

「A fitting conclusion to close the game…, the only hand is royal flush. And how about doubling the points you get?」

To put it simply, the next game was the final. The victor was the one who completed a royal flush first. That was what he suggested.

「What?!」

Toby exclaimed in surprise. In contrast, without batting even an eye, General Red fell into thought. As far as he was concerned, it wasn’t a bad rule change by any means. At this rate, if he continued to play against a monster that could see through his thoughts and control the tide of the game at will, his defeat was already a foregone conclusion. However, with this suggestion, reading each other’s thoughts would prove to be almost of no use. It could be said that the game would be decided solely by the sense to advance one’s hand as well as the luck of the players. He had a considerably higher shot of winning here instead of persisting on the drawn-out normal game. If there was a problem to speak of, it would be the reason why the man wanted to expressly give up their advantageous position. As he couldn’t read the motive of the man, he felt a tinge of eeriness.

「…Very well. I accept that game.」

「…..」

Disregarding Toby’s presence, the change of rules was settled. The crowds also erupted in cheers. Most likely they were getting bored as the ending they were expecting had yet come into view up until then. The whole place suddenly went into a frenzy.

(Kukuku, with this my presence here must have increased by notches at once. If I ride this wave and attack a beautiful woman as I’m now, she will definitely fall!)

It was unknown where such confidence of his originated from. Tanaka was arbitrarily getting excited by himself inside.General Red was burning with the obsession of victory.

And then there was Toby, whose presence was ignored and whose tension was steadily dropping down.

Surrounded by lively crowds, the curtain rose on the final battle.

◇ ◇ ◇

–Echo of an inorganic sound tore through the darkness.

The place was the base of the Kingdom army in the city of Ketavanagh-O. A prison that existed deep beneath it.

And what had echoed through the air just now was none other than the sound of the heavy iron bars of one of the cells being shut. And at the same time, it was also the moment when the future of the two pitiful lambs was shut.

The two men standing in said cell–.

「Heck, we went and ended up losing in the end! What are we going to do now?!」 The one protesting in a loud voice was the young man Toby Saar, a gambler who was thrown into the depths of misery as a result of being swept away by the mood of the moment. And then, there was another man who had been thrown into the same situation but was completely unfazed, the man of steel, Tanaka. Raising a thumbs-up, he showed a smile to the young man and responded.

「Worry not. We’re merely at mortal wound.」

「Mortal wound?! How can I not worry then? This situation, aren’t we practically at death door?!」

Despite the kind and cool Tanaka-san reassuring him to calm down, Toby didn’t cease his rants and raving. He was in such a disgraceful state where he couldn’t help but feel like wanting to boil and drink the nail dirt of Tanaka-san whose lower half was wobbling and trembling despite the calm expression on his face.「Well, calm down alright. At any rate, let’s think over our current situation calmly for the time being. In the first place, why do I have to get locked up in a place like this? Could this be some kind of new play? If I wait here, will the beautiful woman from earlier come to visit me? … I don’t know. What a conundrum.」

「I don’t get what you’re talking about at all! It’s too complicated!」

After repeatedly exchanging idiotic remarks and retorts as such for a while, Toby finally regained his composure. Rather than listening to Tanaka’s words, however, it was more like due to him getting exhausted. Finally, silence drifted around them. However, the one who broke the silence was neither Tanaka nor Toby.

「—What a surprise. The people in this country have a tendency to execute criminals right away. I even thought that prisons were nothing but mere decorations here.」

It was the cell just across theirs. Inside was a man leaning against the wall, staring at them. His most noticeable traits were his neglected hair and beard, which must have been left unattended for a long time. Moreover, the sharp eyes peeking out from between his hair were nothing short of impressive. It was hard to tell his age, but he was probably in his late thirties. A little older than Tanaka.

「Hohou. In that case, I’d love to hear some tips on how to avoid being executed.」

Facing the man whose appearance and speech and conduct were too contradictive, Tanaka was on guard. It was because the handsome man sensor in his mind was ringing furiously.

(At a glance, he looks dirty and shabby, but I can tell. This guy…, he is a dandy handsome man!)

The appearance of a man whose character was overlapping with his own set off the biggest alarm in Tanaka’s mind.

「That’s a tough question…. Oops, I have yet to introduce myself, have I? I’m Nakatani Shichirou. Feel free to just casually call me Yashichi.」 「Umu. In that case, feel free to call me Echigoya.」

Hiding his identity for no apparent reason was the basic rule of a cool man. The slickly acting Tanaka was operating as great as usual. However, next to him, Toby leaked out his words with a shocked expression.

「—could it be… Hero Yashichi….」

His voice was not that loud. However, Yashichi responded firmly.

「Hmm, I suppose there was time I was once referred to as such.」

It was approximately twenty years prior to the present. There was an otherworlder who was summoned to this world through hero summoning. A man who was once praised as the strongest hero in history and yet suddenly disappeared five years ago, the previous generation hero. That was the man who appeared in front of Tanaka and Toby.