The guys and I were playing poker, and surprisingly, I was winning quite a bit. Since we were quite wealthy thanks to the Moon Exorcist, we were placing quite large bets.

"Can you stop Carpy from staring at me so menacingly?" Agon complained.

"What are you talking about?" I feigned ignorance. Psychological warfare would make everyone else feel nervous and play to my advantage.

Carpy extended his serpentine body to look at Gem's cards and then returned, whispering in my ear. "Am I doing alright?"

I nodded. That seemed to annoy Gem, and he got up and pointed at me. "Okay! That's bullshit! Now you're not even trying to hide that you're cheating!"

"Prove it," I said, which riled him up even more.

"What? You literally had Carpy extend, look at my cards, and then come and whisper something in your ear!" He rallied up the rest of the group.

"He just asked if he was doing okay and never told me anything," I shrugged.

In response, Gem headed to the middle of the camp and brought someone with a lie detector ability. It was a woman in a two-piece suit with a briefcase in her hand. I wrote down the statements to activate her ability, and they came out true.

"See, I told you I wasn't cheating," I wiped away a tear that Carpy had created on my face. "It hurts me to know that a friend of mine suspected that I would ever cheat."

"You clearly have some kind of way to trick lie-detection abilities! We all saw you cheat," insisted Agon. He and Gem were working together on an issue for the first time.

Cheating lie-detection abilities was quite difficult, as that was what they were made to do. Strength or power didn't matter much to those kinds of abilities. Though the looks on the faces of the people around me showed that even they were suspicious.

Joke's on them, I wasn't actually cheating. But now my opponents would be paranoid enough about these things. A good deal of misdirection never hurt anybody. Well, it didn't hurt me at least. Also, seeing their reactions was kind of fun, so it was a win-win situation.

…

After the party ended, I returned to my tent. As soon as I opened it, I saw my cousin Delia wearing just a swimsuit, which was somehow even less clothing than her usual skimpy outfits.

I rubbed my eyes in disbelief. "Can you please cover up? I don't want people to think weird things about us."

"Well, I'm not the one who has to worry about a betrothal, as I'm never getting married,” Delia shot me a mischievous look. “But I didn't come here to talk about that. Father and Uncle sent me to ask if you're feeling more inclined to join the clan in killing deserters."

I held her gaze, refusing to let my eyes stray to her barely-clad body. "That still doesn't explain why you're dressed like you're going to the beach."

"I got blood on my clothes while hunting a fugitive on my way here," she said, pouting. "I didn't want to make your tent reek of blood."

"I've already told you, I'm not interested in joining your clan," I said firmly, trying to ignore the fear that crept into my voice.

Delia looked at me with an unreadable expression, then got up and hugged me. "Just know that the clan cares about you, Kon. We're not trying to manipulate you or anything. If you come back, we can even cancel the arranged marriage we have planned for you."

"It's not about that," I said, not caring about the marriage or any fiancée I had never met. "There are more important things going on than my love life."

Delia nodded and walked out of the tent, waving at me. "Then I guess you won't see me for a while."

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

As she left, her words sounded ominous, like she might never return. I lay back on my futon with my Carpy and picked up a book titled 'The Strongest Demon Slayer'. On the first page was a picture of a man using a red-skinned demon on all fours as a chair. The demon looked like Satan, but I couldn't recall ever seeing a demon like it in the manga.

Just as I was settling down to read, Bets popped his head into the tent, interrupting my peace.

"Did I just see your cousin walk out of your tent looking angry and wearing a bikini?" He raised a questioning eyebrow and looked at me suspiciously.

If this were anyone else, I might have panicked to clear up the misunderstanding. But I knew Bets. He was smarter than all of my other friends combined. "I know you're not the type to misunderstand this situation like Gem did."

The mask of confusion slipped off his face, and he chuckled. "Yeah, but with an opportunity like this, I had to at least try."

He came into the tent and sat down cross-legged. "Anyway, I came here for something more important than your strange relationship with your cousin."

***

Bets looked at Kon, but only bored eyes stared back, as if asking, "Are we really doing this?"

Yet, a part of Bets hoped that Kon would take the bait and act annoyed. That way, he wouldn't have to explain why he was here. Midway, he had already gotten cold feet. But he knew he would have to tell Kon about this sooner or later. "When Ambster died, there was some weird reaction from my special ability, and I wanted to consult with you about something."

"Ambster?" Kon tilted his head.

"The guy with the ability to harden his Ord like a diamond," Bets clarified.

"Okay, so what's got you so worked up?"

But instead of telling Kon what had happened, Bets decided to show him, and the Ord around him burst out and weakly covered his body. It was a cover that even the weakest of warriors could outdo, but he was still technically using the Warrior Affinity.

Kon's eyes widened, and he approached and touched Bets' Ord, pushing against it. "Hard Ord, just like the diamond guy. If someone who holds your chess piece dies, you get their abilities? Though it seems quite a bit weaker than when the guy used it, so it must be dependent on your affinity. If you used your chess pieces on Creators, with your high affinity, you could grow the abilities you inherit even…"

Kon stopped talking, and the excited smile that had been growing on his face dimmed down. Bets clenched his teeth; it seemed like thinking Kon wouldn't notice had been too much to hope for.

"This kind of ability is very powerful," Kon stated and looked Bets dead in the eye. "If you played your cards right, it could make you the new Sage, or maybe even stronger. But you're just a fifteen-year-old, and you've only just started your road as an Exorcist. An ability like this…just how big was the sacrifice?"

Now there was no doubt in Bets' mind that Kon already knew what the ability entailed. His friend just wanted confirmation for it, and Bets gave it to him. "For every chess piece point, I lose five years of lifespan when I manifest the chess piece."

"A pawn is 1 point, and a rook is 5. You lost 30 years of lifespan," Kon concluded, looking down with lifeless but unreadable eyes. "Why didn't you just manifest another pawn?"

Bets had lost his lifespan way back when they had been fighting against the eel demon and had tried to give the Rook piece to Agon. "When I gave Gem the pawn, it was only 5 years of lifespan, so I hadn't even noticed this part of the ability."

"Well, you're not going to use your special ability anymore," Kon stated firmly. Despite his calm demeanor, there was a threatening tone in his voice that made it clear this wasn't a request, but an order. His friend clutched his forehead and let out a sigh. "We’re so fucked up. If you use this ability even once more with one of the big pieces, you could end up dead. Your organs and cell vitality should already be that of someone 45 years old. No wonder you get tired so easily. I dismissed it as just being because your muscles are weighing you down."

They sat in awkward silence for a dozen minutes, neither saying anything. After a while, Bets took the hint and left the tent. It was clear that Kon wasn't in a talkative mood anymore. Bets felt guilty for bringing this up to Kon, but he knew that if he didn't do it now, he might never have the chance to tell him.

…

A couple of weeks had passed, and during that time, Kon barely talked to anyone, which worried Bets. However, there was nothing he could do about it. At least there had been no demon attacks during these two weeks.

Although the army had gathered once again, the scouts had reported that another attack was imminent. Unlike the first time, the exorcists were not afraid, and some were even smiling. But Bets couldn't shake off this uneasy feeling. Every time he glanced at Kon, his friend had a sharp gaze and seemed ready for a battle to the death.

He wanted to approach Kon and ask if he knew anything about the enemy they were about to face. However, remembering what he had told him a couple of weeks back, Bets decided to keep his mouth shut.

Whatever problems they had, they would party and fix them after the battle. Bets hoped that Kon would even teach him his trick of evading lie-detecting abilities.