Double Losses
"Tell you what, not only will I have to get all five correct, but if I lose, we'll wipe both deals out, and neither of us will owe the other one anything." Minos said.
At this point, even the Chess Grandmaster had to agree, the deal simply being too good to refuse.
"Okay, but I want to be the one flipping the coin!"
"No problem." Minos said, flipping the coin directly into his open palm.
Grabbing the coin out of the air, he couldn't help but inspect it for a half a second before nodding, acknowledging there was nothing wrong with the coin.
"Then on 3. 1, 2, 3." He said, before flipping the coin, his eyes focused on Minos, making sure he didn't cheat.
But Minos was certainly no cheater, so after a second, he closed his eyes, his oldened face calm and peaceful.
With a soft clink, the coin hit the floor a few times before coming to a stop, the Chess Grandmaster immediately picking it up, his heart rushing as he was about to speak.
However, before he could even get a word out, Minos spoke, causing his already rushing heart to tighten.
"Circle."
With a deep gulp, he looked down at the circle-side of the coin, his eyebrows scrunching slightly before admitting defeat.
"Correct, but that's only 1 out of 5, it could simply be due to luck."
"You're right." Minos said, his face still bland, seemingly not anxious at all.
Seeing how confident Minos was, the Chess Grandmaster couldn't help but feel even worse, wondering whether he had bitten off more than he could chew.
But since it was only the first go, he quickly calmed down, once again flipping the coin as he watched Minos's face intently.
Just like before, as the coin came to a stop, Minos gave his response before the Chess Grandmaster could even check it, causing his nerves to tense even more as he looked over.
But despite how much he prayed in his heart, Minos's answer was still correct, causing his anxiety to build further.
However, he once again told himself it could just be a matter of luck, so after a moment's thought, he got back into flipping.
Yet it was soon proven Minos was not relying on luck, and even if he was, he must have a tremendous amount of it, because he proceeded to get the next two correct as well, leaving only one left.
At this point the Chess Grandmaster could only acknowledge that Minos had access to a skill or ability he didn't, and he probably wasn't lying with what he said from before.
Nevertheless, he didn't want to lose two million Nux Stones, which was a lot even for a man of his caliber, so after gritting his teeth and coming to a decision, he flipped the coin once more.
However this time he made sure to flip the coin such that it landed underneath the table, in a place where the crowd couldn't see the results.
As the coin once again hit the floor, the Chess Grandmaster couldn't help but smirk discretely as he reached under the table, his body blocking the few eyes that could actually see from such an angle.
Seeing the coin had landed on the square side, he used his nimble fingers to secretly flip it onto the other side, before pulling his hand back out from under the table.
"Go ahead." He said towards Minos with a smile, all his anxiety suddenly washing away, certain he wouldn't lose this time.
"Shall I give my first answer, or my second?" Minos suddenly asked, causing his smile to immediately turn into a deep frown.
"W-What do you mean?"
"Nothing, let's go with the circle then."
As he heard Minos's answer, he immediately realized what he meant, his forehead sweating heavily as he looked at the circle-side up coin in his palm.
With open lips, he wanted to say wrong, but seeing the entire crowd had already seen the result, he could only whisper defeat.
"C-correct…" He said, his voice weak and powerless.
Smiling, Minos opened his murky eyes again before using his crutch to lift his body up out of his seat.
Slowly walking towards the Chess Grandmaster's side, Minos patted him on the shoulder before speaking in a voice only he could hear.
"Two million is a lot of money, but a man's word, well that's priceless." Minos said before nodding towards Jena, the two walking off.
However before Minos disappeared completely, his husky voice once again spread out, filling the entire hotel.
"By the way, I'll be staying at the Joyata Clinic, so send the money there, and try to be quick, I'm old after all, who knows how many years I have left?"
Like that, Minos and Jena vanished completely, the crowd standing in silence for a moment before exploding into chatter.
…
Back in the private room, the distinguished middle-aged man could only look at the last place Minos was, his eyes filled with both shock and admiration.
"Joyata Clinic, huh? Tolan, you're quite close with that Jena girl, aren't you?"
"Uhh, you could say that…"
"Good, then take this invitation and give it to that old man, I'll be holding a banquet soon and I want to invite him."
"What about calling him over?" Tolan asked.
"Forget about that, a man of his caliber isn't one you can just holler at, you have to deal with that type with etiquette, understood?"
"Of course, then I'll go right away!"
"Not yet, give it a few days, if you go right now you'll just look desperate." The middle-aged man said, stopping Tolan mid-step.
"That's true!" Tolan said, agreeing with the man whether he understood his logic or not.
Nodding in satisfaction, the middle-aged man looked towards the Grand Chessmaster with some disappointment before leaving the private room, off to do heaven knows what.
…
Back at the Joyata Clinic, the first thing Minos did was head towards his bed, his body already feeling sore despite him having not really done anything.
Who knew he'd ever experience what it was like to be in your eighties in his mid-twenties, but I suppose life was all about experiences.
With a groan, Minos layed down with satisfaction, Jena immediately running out not only to get a glass of water, but also to brag to her grandfather.
"What did you say?" Old Man Joyata shouted, his voice so loud even Minos could hear it from the other room.
With some quick footsteps, his door was flung open, the old man looking at him with shock, as if it was an alien laying in the bed, not a human.
"Is it true? Is my granddaughter being honest?"
"Hey common now, am I one to lie?" Jena said with some dissatisfaction.
"She's not lying, I'm just a little bit more talented than you expected, that's all." Minos said, his eyes still not opening, trying to get some rest.
"A little bit more? More like a massive bit more!"
"What did I tell you, gramps? Guess I'm not as foolish as you say." Jena said, blowing a raspberry towards her grandfather.
"Right, right, you're a genius! So the money, did he give it to you?"
"It should arrive in time." Minos replied.
As if predicting the future, not long after Minos said that, a loud knock came from the clinic's entrance, Old Man Joyata quickly running over to answer it.
But as he saw the man at the door, his jaw couldn't help but gap for a second, having never expected the Chess Grandmaster to come in person.
"I'm here to find the man who beat me." He said succinctly, not in the mood to waste any time.
"You must mean Minos! T-This way!" Old Man Joyata said, stumbling on his words for a moment before finally catching himself.
Heading inside, the two soon arrived at Minos's room, the Chess Grandmaster looking at Minos lying peacefully with some introspection.
"To think your condition is this bad, you must have been an ever better player when you were healthy." He said, tossing a spatial ring Minos's way.
Despite having his eyes closed, Minos still tactfully grabbed the spatial ring, not even giving it a glance before tucking it away in his robes.
"You aren't going to check the amount?" The Chess Grandmaster asked with some interest.
"You wouldn't deceive yourself twice." Minos answered, his response causing the Chess Grandmaster to once again think deeply before letting out a long sigh.
"You're right, thank you for correcting my ways, I suppose I've just been at the top so long that I've started to take losing personally."
"It's no matter, as long as you've realized the err's of your way." Minos said before going silent.