Mardock Scramble: The Third Exhaust Page #2

aren't deceiving.

We have a draw.

Stay.

Hit.

Stay.

We have a draw.

Sixteen draws in a row.

You don't see that every day...

A sign that your luck is an

even match for the casino's .

You're formidable opponents, indeed.

What is this man after?

I don't know.

What's he thinking?

What's this scent I'm smelling?

What should I do?

For now, we'll hold him off

using the optimal strategies.

It's not as if my card counting

is being blocked.

We have a draw.

He precisely ordered

over 300 cards while shuffling.

His skill is hard to believe.

Every single hand

ends in a draw...

You two have magnificent luck.

Or perhaps there is some third party

who is giving you your luck?

Perhaps it's time

for a change in strategy.

Hit.

Hit.

Hit me.

Player busts.

Hit.

What should I do?

Stick with the optimal strategy.

Let the Doctor handle the frontal assault.

Stay.

We have a draw.

It'll take more than one card

to get you to budge, huh?

Hit.

Hit.

Hit.

Hit me.

Player stays, I assume?

Stay.

We have a draw.

That's some countermeasure. Who else

besides you could possibly do that?

It's simply a matter of practice.

For someone who shot down

every ball I threw,

...you're putting on

a boring show.

Chips don't mean anything

to you, right?

So who are you

holding back for?

Restraint is like a pile of sh*t.

During a big match,

the stink distracts you.

Concentrate on the game. Don't forget

that she works for the casino, too.

You're you. You don't need

to hold back for anyone.

Hit me.

Stay.

Player loses, player draws.

One can lose his luck

over the slightest thing.

No one can laugh at someone

who's been abandoned by luck.

I'll hand off my good luck to her,

and my bad luck to you.

Feel free to rejoin the fight

whenever you like.

Stay.

Player loses.

Stay.

I made a mistake.

I'm sorry.

Stop it.

He's manipulating you.

He's trying to implant

a sense of defeat in you.

But if I had done as you taught me

and not asked for that hit earlier,

...I would have had blackjack.

It's my own fault for not being

able to read this man.

My condolences, miss.

By the way, you can't hear someone's voice

through that left glove of yours, can you?

How did you--

Bingo.

You aren't speaking with the cards,

you're speaking with your left hand.

I'm sorry, Oeufcocque...

I'm sorry.

It's all right. Stay calm. He isn't

allowed to touch a guest's clothing.

They don't have any means

of separating us.

Stay.

Player loses.

I have a question for you.

What is it?

It's just a little icebreaker.

It's no fun to play when the atmosphere

is this tense, don't you agree?

Let's say that you're driving down

a long road in your car.

But the engine breaks down.

Around you is nothing but desert.

What do you do?

I wait for help to arrive.

So you would hitchhike.

What would you do if you came across

someone who needed help?

If they look like they

can be trusted, I help them.

I see.

Both are 50% answers.

You're average.

There are other answers?

Did you stop to consider that it could be

a carjacker pretending to be a hitchhiker?

You're saying that I should

never help anyone?

By "50% answer," I mean that

your attitude changes...

...depending on which side

of the situation you're on.

For example, if no one helps you,

you won't go looking for help.

Or if you do help, you're prepared

to be killed by that person.

What would a 1 00% answer be?

If someone asks for help, you kill him.

That person is prey.

And if someone offers their help,

that person is also prey.

This is a place where we can

legally steal from others.

That is what gambling is.

What is a sweet young lady like you

doing in such a place?

Were you born mute?

Or did you lose your voice

because of someone?

While hitchhiking, perhaps?

Stay calm. I can't read his intentions.

Don't make any hasty moves.

This man is testing me.

To see whether or not

I'll play his game.

Stop what you're doing.

Please trust me.

I do. That's why I'm asking you

to please trust me.

Balot!

Do I look like

I'm that easy to kill?

You're a formidable opponent.

We probably wouldn't find anything

even if we searched your body.

There might not have been

anything to begin with.

In any case, you took off your gloves

of your own accord.

Neither I nor the casino

forced you to do so.

No.

When I say you're a formidable opponent,

I mean that you don't run or hide.

Hit.

Stay.

Player loses.

Oeufcocque, do you read me?

I still seem to be able to transmit.

What are you up to?

I'm sorry. I just thought

that I had to do it.

I have a favor to ask.

Do you mind?

If it's in my power.

Add the numbers to my senses.

Not the count?

That's too narrow.

Something's bothering me,

something besides the numbers.

I want to know what it is.

Understood. I'll have the numbers

reflect your visualization as best I can.

Manipulate them however you like.

Thank you.

Sure thing, Partner.

Player busts.

Player busts.

Player busts.

They're like birds flying...

Excuse me?

Player busts.

It's pointy, so I want

to round it off.

Hit.

It's incredibly pointy.

Still, hit me.

It's getting pointier

and pointier.

Hit.

Hit.

Hit.

Stay.

A draw...

Do you know why I am looking forward

to this next card?

If it's a king, you lose.

Especially if it's a spade.

All that card plucking

would be for nothing.

You saw through my shuffle?

No. But the cards have been in

your favor this whole time.

Not very many, it seems.

I don't need to win much.

I want to bet on clubs.

They're going to be on my side.

Understood.

Hit.

Hit.

Stay.

You won!

Congratulations.

Next hand.

Hit.

Hit.

Stay.

She did it!

Did you see that? Say what

you like about this girl,

...but she knows what

it means to endure.

Bell Wing... And here I thought

that you were on MY side.

It's no fun if the game

is over quickly.

There's just one thing

that I want you to remember.

That thing I blurted out and tried to

teach you even if you already knew it.

About being ladylike?

Right. Be the person you ought to be.

Be who you're meant to be.

Otherwise, you'll never be

able to talk to the cards.

If you can't talk to the cards, you'll never

be able to beat this man. Right?

Right.

That's better. You're far more

beautiful now than before.

Thank you, Bell Wing.

I should have asked

someone else...

It's hard to believe...

You're beginning

to understand luck.

I've spent my whole life trying to do so,

and you've done it in a mere hour.

You're humble.

Such people take coincidence

and turn it into the inevitable.

Inevitability that will

allow them to survive.

Have you ever

thought about luck?

I used to think a lot

about how bad mine was.

There's more to that hitchhiking story

I was telling earlier. May I continue?

Of course.

I had an older brother.

Two brothers against the world.

He meant the world to me.

But one day, he picked up a hitchhiker

in his car and was killed by him.

He was forced into the trunk,

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