"Emil… f-fingers… you mean…"
Frightened by the glinting knife, Lia softly gripped my clothes and asked.
I responded with a faint smile. "Don't worry too much. I won't ask for fingers right from the start."
"What…?"
"Bran, don't you have something to bet instead of fingers for your first turn?"
At my question, Bran's impassive eyebrows twitched. He seemed to have understood the meaning of my words. His gaze drifted to the parchment on the table.
"…You want to play a game with Lia's contract as the bet? Why would I?"
"Why should you? The reason is simple."
As soon as I finished speaking, Chris approached the table. Bran's eyes trembled as he looked at her. Perplexity could be felt. Though she wasn't visible from behind, Chris was likely exuding killing intent.
"Don't be so wary. It's not such a bad deal for you."
"What…?"
"I'll let you bet the contract first, while I'll bet my fingers from the start."
"..."
"How about it? Isn't that appealing?"
"W-wait, Emil…! That means… it's too dangerous…!" Lia gripped my clothes, as if trying to stop me, and spoke.
But I didn't answer. I just glared at Bran. Anyway, if I didn't take that contract here, Lia would become Bran's possession.
"..."
Bran stared at me intently, without answering. What was he thinking? I grinned to steer his thoughts. Then I put my arm around Lia's shoulder, who was still gripping my clothes.
"E-Emil…?"
"Why? Are you hesitating?"
"..."
Bran's eyes widened, and his eyebrows twitched. I immediately had a premonition. This guy wouldn't refuse the offer.
"Yes, fingers."
And just as I expected.
Thud.
Bran tossed the contract onto the center of the table.
"Don't think about losing and running away, Emil."
The game with him was set.
***
"Since you made the offer, I'll decide what game we play. No problem, right?" Bran said this after accepting the proposal.
It seemed he had a lot prepared. And I readily nodded. "Do as you please."
"Good."
And then.
Clunk.
Bran pulled something from under the table and placed it on top. It was the same kind of parchment Lia had signed. And a red rope.
"What we'll play now is the Chain of Truth."
"..."
"We'll tie the rope around each other's wrists and stain the contract with blood. And then…"
"And then we take turns revealing a secret about ourselves, and the other person guesses if it's a lie?"
"..."
As I cut off Bran's explanation, Bran's eyes widened slightly. He seemed surprised that I knew the rules of this game.
"You… what exactly are you…?"
"Never mind that, if you're going to do it, let's do it quickly."
It wasn't strange for Bran to be surprised. Because this wasn't a game you'd know just from enjoying board games.
The Chain of Truth.
This game, similar to modern-day 'Doubt' games, was a game usually played in the underworld, where lives were bet on gambles. It was quite strange for me, an ordinary academy student, to know it. Of course, I didn't even know such a game existed until the 3rd regression.
'As expected, he's pulling this out again.'
When Lia called me in the 3rd regression and I confronted Bran, the game we played then was also this one.
Slice.
Bran and I cut our fingers with the knives. And stained the parchment with blood. Then, the enchanted parchment momentarily glowed with a blue light.
"The correct answer is golden, the incorrect answer is red… you seem to know this too."
"..."
"Each of us will state five secrets. You five times, and I five times. A total of ten times."
"Alright."
"I'll say it again."
Tightening.
Bran tied the red rope tightly around his wrist and grinned. "If you guess wrong, whether it's truth or lie, the one who guesses wrong cuts off a finger. No complaints, right?"
"And if I guess right, the other person cuts theirs?"
"That's right."
Tightening.
At Bran's reply, I also tied the red rope tightly around my own wrist. With this, the game preparations were complete.
Then Bran picked up the dice and looked at me. I replied lightly. "Odd."
"Then I'm even."
Once our turns were decided, Bran threw the dice onto the table.
Rattle rattle.
The number was 4. It was Bran's victory.
"Then shall I go first?" Having gained the right to decide the order, Bran confidently took the first turn. That meant he would state a secret. And I would guess whether it was true or false.
"..."
Bran stared at me silently for a moment.
Tap, tap.
Tapping the table with his fingers, he seemed to be organizing his thoughts.
And then.
"I…" He opened his mouth. As usual, with an expressionless face that betrayed no emotion.
"I killed my mother."
***
I recalled old memories as I faced the scene once again. It was a memory from the 3rd regression.
'Emil.'
'Ugh, ngh… h-huh…'
'So, can you pay off the debt of the woman you love?'
At that time, I was glaring at Bran with two fingers cut off. His stake was Lia's debt. My stake was my ten fingers. We were playing the Chain of Truth game, with those as our bets.
'By the way, I'm surprised, Emil. To think you had such a secret. At first, I thought it was definitely a lie.'
'Shut up…'
'Shall we move on then? It's my turn now, isn't it?'
There was a reason he had confidently proposed the Chain of Truth.
'I…'
Bran showed no expression. No emotion, no agitation was easily revealed. That's why this game, where one had to guess whether it was truth or lie, was overwhelmingly advantageous to him.
'I just had sex with Lia.'
'You son of a bitch━━!!'
'Haha, Emil. We're in the middle of a game right now. You have to guess if it's a lie, right?'
'You bastard, I…! I'll definitely kill you…!! Definitely━━!!'
And then. Another one of my fingers was cut off. What I had chosen was a lie.
"..."
"Are you scared? Emil."
Recalling that memory, I looked at Bran. The first round of the game.
"I killed my mother. Guess." Bran asked me with a confident expression.
"..."
He probably wanted me to fall into deep thought and keep pondering. That was why Bran chose this game. He was confident. Whether he spoke a lie or the truth, he was confident in confusing me and making me choose the wrong answer.
But.
Grin.
"…Bran."
"..."
"You think I'm agonizing over it, don't you?" I smiled casually, looking at Bran.
Then, Bran's confident expression subtly stiffened.
━I killed my mother.
…Something that wouldn't normally happen. But precisely because of that, it sounded even more like the truth. Normally, one would fall into confusion here. Because the stakes were fingers, no less. Even if one wanted to confidently declare it a lie, the thought of "what if" would block the answer. It was a card designed to induce such confusion. As expected, Bran was familiar and skilled with this game.
However.
"But what to do, Bran? I already know."
"...What?"
The unfortunate thing for him was:
━He had already used that card in the 3rd regression. The one that cut off my first finger. That card it was.
"You never killed your mother, did you?"
"..."
At my answer, Bran's expression stiffened and his eyes trembled.
Vibrating.
Simultaneously with my answer, the parchment glowed with a golden light.
"H-how…"
"Why? Is it strange that I got the correct answer?"
"Did you perhaps investigate me…! No, but my mother…!"
"Huh? Don't tell me your mother passed away? Haha, I didn't know that."
"..."
Bran's face twisted into a menacing grimace. It was the moment his expression, usually impassive, changed most significantly.
"Emil… what exactly are you…" He growled like a beast, glaring at me.
What was he thinking, I wonder? Would he think I guessed by luck? Or would he think I knew the truth and therefore got it right?
In any case.
"Then, the first stake is mine, right?"
"Ugh…"
"Chris."
"Yes."
At my words, Chris took Lia's contract from the table. With this, the debt of 50 gold coins lost in the previous gamble was nullified. Of course, the compensation for breaking the vase was also invalidated. After all, that vase was probably just some meaningless trinket anyway.
Anyway, Lia's problem was resolved. I smiled, looking at Bran.
"Then let's get into the main game now, Bran."
"..."
"It's my turn, right?"
The game wasn't over yet. Since the game would proceed for a total of ten rounds.
"Ha, haha…"
And Bran, knowing that fact, erased his confident expression from moments ago. He chuckled with slightly shrunken eyes.
"You're getting a bit full of yourself just for a lucky guess…"
"So that's what you've decided to think."
"..."
It seemed he believed I guessed his lie by luck.
"Well, anyway, it's my turn now, isn't it? And your turn to guess."
"..."
"I hope you're lucky, then."
"Shut up…"
Having lost Lia's contract, Bran openly revealed his hostility, seeming quite displeased. I calmly met his gaze.
This time, it was my turn.
…Even though I played the Chain of Truth game with Bran in the 3rd regression and knew quite a few of his secrets, this game also carried a significant risk for the one revealing the secret. The reason being that if the opponent guessed correctly, one had to pay the stake. So, if Bran were to guess correctly here, I would have to cut off a finger. That's why courage and a poker face were more important than anything in this game.
However.
I didn't care about courage or a poker face. Because it didn't matter if my fingers were cut off anyway.
"I."
"..."
Rather, precisely because of that, I spoke to Bran even more confidently.
"Bran, I've played this game with you before."
"...What?"
I grinned. At my words, Bran's face stiffened coldly.