Playing Cards in Class
Since we learned to use karuta yesterday, today’s class finally lifted the ban on playing cards.
“We’ve got enough now to use them in lessons. This box has cards up to thirteen, plus the Demon King card. These other three boxes go up to ten.
Vio, you said we’d use them for studying, right? Then up to ten should be plenty.”
When Ms. Elia came in carrying four boxes, everyone’s excitement shot up.
Among the games we’d explained before, the ones using only numbers up to ten were enough for study purposes. And since we didn’t have to make picture cards, as long as we had the stamps, it was easy work.
Some students asked how to use them, and that’s when I realized we’d never actually explained playing cards the way we had with karuta.
With ten people in class, it’d be tough to play all together, so we decided the three sisters and I would demonstrate. Ms. Elia would explain the rules.
“First game’s called ‘No Demon King.’ Normally, you’d mix these thirteen cards with the Demon King card.
If you’ve got a pair with the same number, you can discard that set, and whoever’s left holding the Demon King card at the end loses.
But today, we’re using this for math practice. So you’ll each get cards from one to ten, plus one Demon King card.
The rule’s still that whoever’s left with the Demon King card loses—but the cards you can discard are different.
If the sum of two cards in your hand equals ten, you can discard them as a pair.
Now then, Tony—can you tell me which combinations of numbers from one to ten add up to ten?”
“Uh—uhh, let’s see, one and nine, two and eight, three and seven… ah! Four and six too!”
“And don’t forget five and five! Teacher, what about ten?”
Tony managed to answer, fumbling a bit under the sudden question, but Ren helped him out at the end.
“You can discard ten by itself. Got it?
All right, now watch how it’s done. Even if you spot the Demon King card, don’t say a word.”
“Oh my, I wonder if I’ll manage.”
“Well, it does look fun.”
“My, my, I suppose I’ll have to do my best.”
“Hehe, let’s enjoy ourselves.”
Ms. Elia shuffled the deck of cards up to ten, then dealt them face-down.
Behind me stood Natch and Hachi, behind Mare were Tony and Mire, behind Mire were Kathe, and behind Mure were Run and Ren.
Holding our cards, we picked out pairs that added up to ten and placed them in the center.
“Watching what others discard is important too. Sometimes someone’ll mix in the wrong pair. If that happens, point it out. Also, other than tens, you always discard in pairs—two cards per turn.
If someone tosses out four cards at once, that’s cheating, so keep an eye out!”
The three sisters were their usual calm selves, taking their time discarding one pair at a time, while the teacher gave reminders as we played. Even the Guildmaster had messed up last time, after all.
From behind me, Hachi called out, “Vio, you’re fast!”—but I swear I was doing the math properly before discarding!
Once everyone had finished sorting their cards, Ms. Elia gave the signal to start.
This time, Mare took a card from Mure.
“Ah!”
“Oh my, I could pair that up! Ehehe, I almost missed it.”
“Kathe, no talking out loud,” the teacher chided.
Kathe had spotted a matching card among Mare’s discards and couldn’t help blurting it out. Mare noticed, picked up the two and eight, and discarded them. Kathe drooped under the teacher’s scolding—but really, it’s hard not to react when you notice something.
Play continued: Mare drew from Mire, I drew from Mare, discarded a pair, then Mure drew from me.
With their usual “Oh my,” “My,” and “My my,” the sisters kept such straight faces that no one could tell who had the Demon King card—until it finally seemed to land with Mare.
Now that most of us were down to a few cards, I had two left in hand.
Behind me, Hachi held his breath, and Tony… well, his tail and ears were giving him away completely.
When I reached for the left card, one of Tony’s ears perked straight up.
When I reached right, it drooped.
Left again—perk!
This was too funny.
Tony tried to keep a poker face, but his ears were hopelessly honest. Meanwhile, Mare’s calm smile never wavered.
“Hmmm… I think I’ll go with this one!”
I feigned deep thought and chose the right card—flipped it over to reveal the Ace of Hearts. Combined with my nine, that made ten, and I discarded the pair, leaving just one card.
Behind me, a tail was wagging furiously even though he was supposed to stay still.
Yeah… this game is definitely not suited for beastfolk kids.
When Mure drew my last card, I came in first.
And thanks to Tony’s ears, Mire ended up dead last.
I thought Ren and Hachi were just as bad with their tails giving them away, but apparently Mare had held the Demon King from the start—Mure even said, “If it were me first, I couldn’t have discarded it at all.”
“You lot’s ears and tails show your feelings way too easily. But I guess learning to keep them still’s good practice for growing up.
So, take this as training—for your math and your tails both.”
Just when I thought the game was falling apart, Ms. Elia turned it into a lesson.
Well, this isn’t an ordinary school—it’s the Adventurers’ Guild’s academy.
Pretty tough training, all things considered.
And so, for a while, we’ll be playing Number Ten in groups of five.
What do you think about this chapter?
