Gamble Fish 47

Chapter 47

01

Tomu: It looks like my efforts paid off.
SFX: Wobble...
Tomu: I know what trick you're using now.
Title: Fight 47: Forcing

Tomu: Hanasaki...Your "magic"...
Tomu: The source of your ability to control the dice...
Mayo: Gh...!!

02

Tomu: Is heat!!
Tomu: You can change the outcome of these dice with heat!!

Crowd: Heat!?
Crowd: What does he mean!?
Crowd: So they really are trick dice!?

Mizuhara: B-but we got to choose which dice we used!
Mizuhara: It was only chance that the "Witch Dice" were left for the final match!!

Tomu: I'm aware of that of course.

03

Tomu: And that's why I subconsciously abandoned any doubts I had about the dice.
Tomu: But what if that was a trap laid by the Seminar?

Tomu: I had the preconception that the witch dice were left due to a "chance" or a "coincidence".
Tomu: But if I get past that preconception, it seems obvious something's been done to these dice!!

Tomu: Of course, I had no proof the source of the trick was heat.
Tomu: But since Hanasaki chose this abandoned mine to be the stage for our match...
SFX: Rumble

04

Mizuhara: Oh, that's why you thought of heat!!
Mizuhara: This stage is blazing hot so you knew the trick had to deal with heat!

Tomu: I just said I had no proof, didn't I?
Tomu: It was nothing more than a guess.

Tomu: At any rate, the only option left for me was to go under the pot.
Tomu: So I bet it all on my idea that her magic was heat.

Tomu: A change occurred to that die in the heat from the coke.
Tomu: There's probably something inside set up to change the center of gravity.

05

Mizuhara: But we were free to choose whichever dice we wanted...
Mizuhara: If it was a trap, how did they manage it?

Yuka: W-wait, Mizuhara!!
Yuka: Didn't you tell me there a die full of poisonous bugs...
Yuka: sent by the Seminar before the matches began!?

Mizuhara: Yeah!! I told Na-chan about it, too. What of it?
Yuka: Na-chan knew, too!?

06

Yuka: Sot that's it!!
Yuka: I was too careless!!!

Tomu: What is it, Tsukiyono?
Tomu: Does that poison bug die incident from a month ago have something to do with this match?
Yuka: Yes!!

Yuka: It was "Forcing"!!
Yuka: You used forcing on Shirasagi and the others, didn't you!?

07

Mizuhara: F-Forcing!?
Yuka: It's a technique magicians use!!

Yuka: For example, in a magic trick where an audience member is asked to choose any card he likes...
Yuka: there are plenty of ways for the magician to have the audience member choose a certain card and still think he was choosing of his own free will.

Yuka: What they used today was a "Mental Force"!!
Yuka: When you were first choosing your dice, did anyone say anything about the poison bug die?
Natsumi: Come to think of it, Mushroom-senpai mentioned it...

Yuka: Before a match like that, you're going to be nervous.
Yuka: It's only natural you would remember your fear of that die at a time like that.

Yuka: So you chose transparent dice you could see inside of.
Natsumi: Ah...

08

Natsumi: C-come to think of it, I might have done that...!
Natsumi: They crystal ones seemed the safest for that reason and because they probably weren't rigged.

Mizuhara: Wh-what about when I chose the casino dice!?
Mizuhara: Was that because they were semi-transparent?
Yuka: It could have been, but you chose after you heard the rules of Dice Stacking, right?

Yuka: Basically, you had to stack the dice as high as you could.
Yuka: As an amateur, you did your best to win subconsciously...

09

Yuka: choosing the large dice with right angles that looked the easiest to stack!!!
Mizuhara: Pah!!!

Mizuhara: I-It's true!! The witch dice were so small and round.
Mizuhara: I thought the casino dice would give an amateur like me better odds of success.

Yuka: In the end, Mizuhara's victory was a miscalculation on the Seminar's part.
Yuka: But even if it would go on to the final match, they had it set up so the witch dice would be left over!!
Yuka: The curse on the dice Hanasaki mentioned was this forcing!!

10

Yoizame: Tch!! Damn it, Tsukiyono.
Yoizame: Her stomach fared better than we thought.
Nana: That's why we would have given her aconitum instead of the laxative!!
SFX: Appear!!

Yuka: It was you...!? How dare you!!? You made me retire so there would be no magician there to notice that you were using forcing, didn't you!?
Tomu: That's enough, Tsukiyono!! You've proven my reasoning to be correct.

11

Abidani: Heh heh heh. That you fell for mere child's play like that tells me quite a lot.
Abidani: You're as childish as ever.

Tomu: Let's restart the game, Abidani.
Tomu: I'll show you who's childish by the end of this.

Abidani: Ha ha ha!! But can you keep that energy to the end with all those burns!?
SFX: Push together!

12

Tomu: Now then...Since I subconsciously thought the dice were fair...
Tomu: I couldn't focus on anything to figure out how Hanasaki was predicting my dice throws.

Tomu: But now that I know they're trick dice, this is a simple matter.
Tomu: There are marks on the dice that only Hanasaki can understand telling her which die will get what result!!

Mayo: Heh. And where are these marks?
Tomu: That's what I'm going find out.
Tomu: Give me dice 5 and 6!!

Tomu: Hanasaki, I'm sure you already know what results I'll get with these.
Tomu: You looked at the dice each time to check on the marks.
Tomu: And did you always make sure to make your prediction because there was something mark didn't tell you?

13

Tomu: Most likely you can change the result using heat.
Tomu: That's what I'm about to test out.

Mayo: Ridiculous!! Where am I hiding a heat source?
Mayo: And how are you going to test it? By surrounding yourself in fire again!?

Tomu: There's another way to check...Mizuhara.
Tomu: Go get me a couple of tree branches.

SFX: Grab...

14

Tomu: The pot was dropped on a doll as a demonstration before the game, right?
SFX: Drop...
Tomu: This is a piece of coke that fell down then.

Mayo: Uuh...

Tomu: My guess is that there's something inside the dice letting you change their center of gravity.
SFX: Sizzle
Tomu: There's probably a special alloy inside that melts and hardens at only a slight temperature change.

15

Tomu: Since there was nothing odd when they were checked at the beginning, the alloy weight must have been hardened in the center of the dice to begin with.
Right label: Hollow-out Areas
Left label: Alloy Weight
Tomu: When it's heated it melts and can move around inside the die.

Tomu: So you get the result you want...say 1 and 2 and have them facing up.
SFX: Turn

Tomu: Gravity brings the weight down changing the center of gravity.
Tomu: That way whatever was facing up then will be your result when it's thrown.
Right label: Original Condition
Left label: When Heated

16

Tomu: After wards, it's taken away from the heat, lowering the temperature. It solidifies in that position so the weight stays in place no matter what angle you put it at.
Tomu: With that process, you can change what you get each time.

Yuka: Wh-what an ingenious trick!!
Yuka: That's why I didn't notice anything while checking the dice!!

Tomu: You can tell now.
SFX: Roll roll
Tomu: It's not so much that you would notice it if you weren't looking for it, but the center of gravity is definitely off.

Tomu: And with such small round dice, a small offset like this is enough.
Tomu: I was careless to overlook it, but that's the power of forcing.
Tomu: You almost could call it a curse!!

17

Tomu: I predict these dice will be a 1 and a 2!!
SFX: Toss

SFX: Clang!!
SFX: Roll roll

SFX: Stop!!

Crowd: W-wow!! Shirasagi reproduced Hanasaki's prediction!!
Text: Ohhhh!
Crowd: It really was a trick using heat!!

18

Mayo: Heh heh. It was a trap 2 or 3 levels deep.
Mayo: You shouldn't have been able to distinguish such a perfect trick from magic.

Mayo: Even though we used forcing on you...
Mayo: you stuck to your instincts telling you the dice were rigged.

Mayo: And you finished it by recklessly went under the iron pot.
Mayo: It really was a miracle brought about by the tenacity of a gambler.

19

Abidani: Don't worry, Hanasaki!!
Abidani: By decision as the witness for this match is that you are the victor!!

Abidani: You don't get it!? Now that both of you can control the dice, every time you get doubles, your opponent will succeed in their "Judgment"!!
Abidani: So neither of you will be able to get doubles and the game will continue forever!!
Abidani: So due to the current point difference, Shirasagi loses!!

Tomu: No. It won't necessarily end in a stalemate.
Tomu: This game still has room for improvement.
Mayo: What?

20

Tomu: Hanasaki, you don't want this to end with you having your trick seen through, do you?
Tomu: Let's change the rules slightly and decide this once and for all.

Mayo: Change the rules?

Tomu: Let's seal off both of our abilities to cheat...
Tomu: and have a contest of luck and guts with "True Judgment Fire"!!