"Can I join now?"
The coin traced a streak of gold-and-green light as it continued descending toward Yakatikto like a comet.
Only deciding to join midway through admittedly seemed rather shameless.
But Yakatikto clearly wasn't someone who cared about details like that.
"Of course you can," she replied with a sweet smile.
Yet rather than reassuring Rei, that smile only deepened his unease.
Yakatikto...
If you suddenly make the coin grow a third side, that counts as cheating, right...?
Surely a dignified Moon Sovereign wouldn't stoop to something so shameless?
After all, if she truly didn't want to give it away, she could've simply refused from the beginning.
There'd be no need to go through all this trouble.
Ding!
Rei's gaze locked onto the coin.
It spun at incomprehensible speed as it fell, flipping hundreds of thousands of times per second.
Fortunately, Rei could still track it clearly.
Its speed continued increasing.
During the descent, the coin flashed several more times.
Rei even noticed the coin briefly vanishing from space itself before reappearing, the blood staining it growing darker and darker.
Oi...
What exactly had this coin been doing?
PAH!
A crisp clap suddenly rang out.
Yakatikto raised both hands overhead and brought her palms together.
The coin had already crossed countless layers of sky and returned to her palm.
Still spinning at terrifying speed, it was intercepted directly between her hands.
"Go ahead, guess~"
Her palms pressed tightly together.
The hands concealing the coin extended toward Rei and Shin Senka.
Her palms were pressed completely flat.
At the very least, the coin shouldn't be standing upright in that position...
At least, visually speaking.
"You're not cheating, are you?" Shin Senka suddenly asked.
Rei's eyes slid sideways toward the overly serious girl.
You're really that fearless?
Should he call her socially clueless?
Or just inexperienced with the world?
At times like this, even if the other party really was cheating, shouldn't you just pretend not to notice and keep your mouth shut?
This was a Moon Sovereign.
If she actually cheated and you exposed her for cheating, what if she got embarrassed and killed you on the spot?
The main issue was that not only was she overwhelmingly powerful, but she also hadn't made any real oath nor needed to pay any price.
If she truly cheated, what exactly could you do about it?
That was why Rei had absolutely no intention of asking.
If she really did something like that, he could only accept it.
Still...
Thanks to Shin Senka blurting it out—
Maybe it could at least block that possibility.
Perhaps it would place Yakatikto in a slight moral dilemma, making her think that as a Moon Sovereign, she shouldn't need to cheat against weaker beings.
"No, I never do things like cheating~"
Her smile remained warm.
"Because everything in this world revolves around my will."
It was as though nothing in heaven or earth could ever go against her wishes.
"Then I think it's tails!"
Because when she saw the coin descend and get caught by Yakatikto, the visible side had clearly been tails.
And Rei had seen the same thing.
Judging purely from visual observation, tails should indeed be the correct answer.
Except...
"I think it should be heads. Mm, I've decided. That's my answer—I think it's heads."
Hearing his response, Shin Senka looked at Rei as though he were an idiot.
Didn't he see it was tails?
Even though the speed was absurdly fast, with Rei's strength there was no way he could've missed it.
It was obviously tails!
Wait!
If Rei was guessing like this, then maybe the situation had changed!
Heads must actually be correct!
"I want to change my answer! I think it's heads too!" Shin Senka suddenly raised her hand.
Yakatikto responded instantly without even a frame of delay, agreeing cheerfully.
"Okay~ Then that's settled."
Rei stared at Shin Senka in utter disbelief.
His eyes were full of shock.
He had calculated every possibility—
Whether the coin might suddenly grow a third side.
Whether it might land upright.
Whether Yakatikto would go back on her word.
Whether the coin might disappear entirely.
But the one thing he never expected—
Was his idiot teammate suddenly changing her answer at the last second!
And she was even looking at him with an expression that practically screamed I'm a genius.
No!
Little sister!
You're already Level 8!
If you pick A and I pick B, do I really need to teach you teamwork too?!
The reason Rei hadn't discussed tactics with Shin Senka beforehand was partly because he wanted to avoid Yakatikto overhearing their strategy.
But another reason was because he might ultimately need to steal Shin Senka's magic anyway, so he never truly considered her a cooperative ally.
And in that instant of realization, Rei immediately tried to change his own answer!
But the timing was disastrously precise.
Yakatikto's hands opened too quickly, leaving Rei no opportunity to speak.
Yakatikto smiled.
"The two of you guessed..."
"Very accurately~"
As her hands opened, the revealed coin showed—
Heads facing upward.
Seeing the result, Rei froze slightly.
The result actually...
Was heads?
"You guessed right after all! Amazing! How did you know it was heads?" Shin Senka looked toward Rei excitedly, her face full of delight.
How did he know?
With how innocent your thought process is, you're absolutely going to get scammed someday.
Rei didn't say those words aloud.
He only smiled bitterly.
"Just luck. I was guessing too."
Yakatikto retrieved the coin before raising two fingers toward the sky.
"Luck is strength."
"Looks like luck is standing on your side as well."
"If that's the case, then we should be the same kind of people~ I can still sense my Luck Enhancement Ritual on you, though the effect of that ritual is far too weak."
"You should try this instead."
Yakatikto stepped forward lightly, the sharp heel of her shoe touching the dividing line of the Yin-Yang symbol.
Rei still didn't understand why a Taiji diagram from Earth existed here.
But based on the clues available, this place had existed for a very long time—
At least five thousand years.
Ding!
The Yin-Yang symbol shattered apart, transforming into black-and-white streams that rose into the sky.
In its place appeared a four-leaf clover shape constructed from geometric lines.
The entire mountaintop became covered by a gold-and-green four-leaf clover symbol.
"Blessing of Good Fortune."
"You should be able to learn this restriction directly, right?"
A cylindrical restriction field enveloped the entire surrounding space.
This restriction wasn't particularly complex.
Not only could Rei seize it—
He could directly learn it as well.
Of course, whether he could deploy a learned restriction depended on whether he possessed the required conditions.
But this particular restriction was simple.
It required nothing but mana.
"While inside the restriction, you become fortunate."
That was its only effect.
Yet in terms of classification—
It was a Ninth-Tier Restriction.
"This is far too valuable..."
Even as Rei spoke, his mind never stopped moving.
He had already completely mastered the restriction.
Yakatikto merely smiled lightly.
"Then next..."
"Comes the Eighth Forbidden Magic, right?"