The game has begun.
"Magical board! Talking board!"
The young girl's cheerful voice echoed in the darkness of the living room.
"Please tell me!"
The voice paused for a moment, the small face hidden in the darkness pondering the question she was about to ask... then... she would ask... "Please tell me!"
"Every single digit of Pi!"
Yuno Gasai:... Arrietty:... "Do you not plan on doing anything else for the rest of your life?"
Arrietty shouted in exasperation, "Don't think I don't understand. What kind of idiot ghost would go crazy along with you?"
Sure enough, the divination board didn't move.
The girl was very annoyed.
"It knows nothing. This ghost is truly ignorant..."
"Maybe the person asking the question is sick. What do you think?" Arrietty clicked the light on with a'snap'. She had realized that no matter how strange the game was, in Mori Tsukisa's hands, it would turn into a 'Nervous Breakdown Battle'."
"Is my question unreasonable?" The girl looked at Yuno.
"It's reasonable. It's the ghost that's ignorant."
Having received affirmation, the girl looked at Nagini again.
"It's reasonable, Master. If such a thing exists, it's not worthy of answering your question."
There was no need to ask Imhotep and Nagini.
Arrietty suddenly found it very interesting, specifically the order in which Mori Tsukisa sought affirmation... Yuno was ranked first.
Is she still that important? Even though the Queen has a personal maid to serve her, a Sprite Vanguard Army, and a mage and enchantress guard who manipulate the desert sands... is Yuno Gasai still that important?
Really the first place?
Hmm, or is it... a certain blonde?
Hehehe... The Sprite, immersed in her fantasies, didn't notice that the five pairs of eyes around her were looking over again... "Arrietty?"
The Little Sprite was startled.
"Lately you're always spacing out, staring at the floor and giggling non-stop. Are you... sick?" Mori Tsukisa leaned in worriedly, her large eyes carefully observing the retreating Sprite, and even reached out a finger to touch her forehead: "Hmm... do you have a fever?"
It was from having her head pressed against the teapot lid for too long.
"Or... have you reached puberty?"
Pah, pah, pah!
A Vanguard Silver Knight shall never fall in love!
"Oh." Mori Tsukisa didn't believe her at all. "I think that short-haired boy with the spear would be a great match for Arrietty. Do you need me, as the 'Queen', to go and talk to him for you?"
Setting aside the matchmaker talk, Your Majesty... "Atalanta is a girl."
Mori Tsukisa choked for a moment, then forced out, "Then that's even better."
That certainly is the case for you... "Are you going to play or not?" Arrietty stepped onto the wooden board and kicked several human fingers with her toes. "Hurry up, hurry up, I'm sleepy! I still need to hold your ear while I sleep."
The game continued.
To prevent Mori Tsukisa from asking any more World-shattering questions like 'the end of the Universe' or 'who are all my Mamas'—this time it was Yuno Gasai's turn to ask.
Everyone agreed unanimously.
"Hmph. I am a girl who is good at seeking knowledge."
"Thank you, please stop tormenting the ghost, Miss Curiosity."
Yuno Gasai tapped the divination board, her peripheral vision catching Mori Tsukisa gazing at the moon outside the window. She spoke softly: "Magical board—talking board."
"Please tell me."
"Can I get what I want?"
Arrietty knew very well what Yuno Gasai wanted. Now, it remained to be seen if Yuno would push the divination board towards the spot marked 'YES'.
The divination board shook slightly.
"Ah! It moved, it moved, it moved!" Mori Tsukisa raised her free hand high. "Wow, a ghost that isn't very smart and has poor grades but likes to answer other questions!"
The divination board moved slowly towards the left. Imhotep and Anck-Su-Namun didn't believe in these things—or rather, the man used to be the one being asked questions in the past. Therefore, having sensed the different energies in Mori Tsukisa's World, he could be quite certain that there was no such creature in the surrounding space right now.
If it moved... it could only be man-made.
This pair of lovers turned their gazes towards Yuno Gasai with extreme tacit understanding.
Just then, the divination board stopped.
It made a 'click' sound.
Yuno Gasai glanced at Nagini across from her. While curling her lips, the divination board began to move towards 'YES' again... and two seconds later, it stopped again.
"A ghost with poor grades who is also a bit timid."
Mori Tsukisa chattered away, looking left and right, while Imhotep and Anck-Su-Namun lowered their heads in silence. Only Yuno Gasai and Nagini looked at each other, nodding with smiles.
Then, moving... to the left.
Stop.
To the right... stop.
Arrietty could already hear the loud friction between the low-quality wooden board and the slider.
Between YES and NO, the helpless Mr. Divination Board was being squeezed and pulled by two immense forces, moving left for a bit and then right. If there were any ghosts, spirits, gods, or Buddhas, please help push it... but there was no such thing.
The wooden block was still being pushed and pulled by the two forces.
Then... after the wood split, there was the sound of wood chips exploding into powder.
Crack.
The divination board split into two: one half pressed under Yuno Gasai's fingers, and the other half under Nagini's hand.
Imhotep and Anck-Su-Namun quickly lifted their hands with great alertness, pretending nothing had happened as they held each other and turned to admire the moon... "Eh...?"
Mori Tsukisa blinked.
"It seems the divination board Master bought was of poor quality. Were you cheated by the shopkeeper?" Nagini dusted off her hands and stood up gracefully. "Do you need me to go and kill him?"
"It stopped at YES." Yuno Gasai ignored Nagini's words and looked at Mori Tsukisa. "The ghost said YES."
"Not yet, it was just a little bit short." Nagini uncharacteristically interrupted what Mori Tsukisa was about to say. This normally well-behaved maid was extremely unusual at this moment: "Miss Yuno's question is perhaps one that even a ghost cannot answer."
"Probably because it felt it was an unnecessary question to answer."
"Is it unnecessary to answer because the answer is obviously YES?" The unyielding Yuno was also very unusual today.
Mori Tsukisa looked at Yuno and then at Nagini... just before the girl felt something was wrong, Arrietty suddenly started shouting.
"I! WANT! TO! GO! TO! SLEEP!" The Little Sprite nimbly climbed up Mori Tsukisa's sleeve and jumped onto the girl's shoulder in a few bounds. "Giddy up! Sensen Dummy Beast! Target—bed—room!"
"Ahhhhh! Mortals cannot tame transcendent monsters!" The girl flailed her arms and legs, hopping and jumping as she ran towards the bedroom... Imhotep:... Anck-Su-Namun:... The reversal always came so quickly.
Nagini put on a smile, and only after her Master had disappeared at the end of the hallway did she turn her head, looking at Yuno Gasai with a cold expression.
"I had a lot of fun today, Miss Yuno. It's truly strange that the ghost couldn't answer your question."
Yuno Gasai walked around the table, and under Imhotep's furrowed brow, she approached Nagini step by step. Her long pink hair lay flat against the girl's thin back like a withered pink rose.
She traced Nagini's lips with her fingernail, then touched her own pale white teeth and the tip of her tongue with her finger stained with lipstick.
"Perhaps." She licked her fingertip, looked up, and after her anger had dissipated, that annoying, sharp emotion resurfaced in her pupils. "But now, I have to go and rest 'together' with your Master..."
"See you tomorrow, 'forever' Maid Miss."
Nagini remained expressionless.
Anck-Su-Namun affectionately hugged her lover's neck, whispering teasingly in his ear: "Tell me, who do you think won today..."
"What do you mean who won?" Imhotep was confused. "Nagini... just doesn't like Yuno Gasai, right? Didn't she say she was too arrogant and rude..."
"You're a fool too."
Anck-Su-Namun pinched the man's ear in disdain.
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