Poker

Tshhhhh~

The sound of running water echoed around the restroom.

"Ugh…. Finally…" Zen, who was currently washing his hands, sighed in relief.

He was stuck in the toilet for a full 30 minutes before he saw the end of his suffering.

Fortunately, there was soap, bidet and toilet paper inside the cubicle. So he didn't suffer any further.

Ba-dump!

Zen subconsciously reached and touched his right chest. He could feel a heart beating inside it.

'Is this the reason why I had to shit for 30 minutes straight?' Zen wondered. Thinking of it, it indeed seemed quite possible. After all, building a new organ would require a partial restructuring of the body.

'But where does my body get the nutrients needed for this? If there's a connection between me and the Free World, then where was it?' Zen pondered before an idea popped in his head, 'Let me try to see if I can feel it.'

Then, he closed his eyes and spread out his senses and mana.

After feeling for a while, Zen could vaguely sense a translucent thread on his back. When he tried to see where it leads, he saw that it was just a few meters long before disappearing.

"Argh!"

A splitting headache also assaulted his senses, just like the time he tried to stare at the burning runes on the door at Arthur's basement. The only difference was that it was much worse this time.

After a short while, the headache subsided.

'Damn, it seems like I need to get stronger before I can see the connection between Earth and the Free World…'

Then, he tried to feel the changes in his body.

'I can finally use evil energy too!' Zen thought happily.

Earlier in his room, he found out that although he could use both divine energy and mana, he couldn't use evil energy.

Now that he had the [Evil Heart], he discovered that he could use it again.

'Phew, I thought the system wouldn't be able to transfer the [Evil Heart] to my real body. Thankfully that didn't seem to be the case.'

'Oh right! The fluctuation that I felt earlier!' Zen remembered the fluctuation he felt when he was sitting on the toilet earlier.

He hurriedly dried his hands and proceeded to the room where his family was at.

After the butler, who was standing guard outside the room, greeted Zen, he opened the door for him.

***

"What!? So you killed the president!?" Margareth's shocked voice sounded in the room.

Fortunately, the room was soundproof so the butler didn't hear her shout.

"Yes…" Ren answered, further making Margareth's frown deeper.

"But it is just as you have said. Their response was too quick…" Margareth said with a confused tone as she supported her head with her arm.

Rina interjected from the side and said, "Well, maybe they have some miracle medicine that could revive the dead? Because we checked for any possible surveillance cameras and recorders but didn't find any."

Sera, who was playing with the little girl on the side, silently listened to their conversation.

While waiting for Zen to arrive, her parents and aunt talked about things that she didn't understand.

In boredom, she approached and played cards with the little girl.

"Hey Nana, what did the things you said earlier mean?" Sera asked as she drew a card from the deck and placed it besides the other four on the table.

They were currently playing Texas hold'em poker. When Sera got bored earlier, she chatted with the little girl, who introduced herself as Nana, and asked what she wanted to play.

Nana said that she wanted to play poker, which surprised Sera. After all, a child who looked to be around 10 years old wanted to play poker instead of hide and seek, tic tac toe, and other child-friendly games.

"Hmmm?" Nana asked nasally with her childish voice.

"You know. When you looked at dad and said crown and clock was it? Or when you looked at mom and said rose and knife?? Or when you looked at me and called me a goddess?"

"Oh that… Raise." Nana pushed 2 of her chips towards Sera.

Sweat dripped down on Sera's temple as she began to consider all the possible outcomes of the decision she was about to make.

'This brat is merciless!' Sera remembered the times when Nana toyed with her emotions with an innocent face and couldn't help but shudder.

It was about 20 minutes since they started playing. They've played a total of 2 rounds and were currently on their 3rd one.

Of the 2 rounds, not once did Sera win. Since it was only a casual game, they only had 10 chips each at the start of the game. Now, Sera only had 2 left.

Poker was one of the games that she and Zen played together when he was bedridden in the hospital since they liked those kinds of games that required thinking and reading your opponents.

So it could be said that she was not a newbie when it comes to poker. In fact, it could even be said that she was quite experienced in it.

Therefore, losing two consecutive times to a 10 year old child made her quite frustrated.

The five cards on the table were as follows: Ace of Hearts, 5 of Clubs, 10 of Diamonds, 9 of Spades and 3 of Clubs.

Sera stared intently at the two cards in her hands which were 4 of Spades and 9 of Diamonds.

'I don't wanna fold…' She felt like crying.

"Nana called Sister Sera a goddess because Nana saw you as a goddess." As if bored because Sera was taking too long to make a decision, Nana started answering Sera's question earlier.

She continued with a childish voice, "Nana saw a clock and a crown when she stared at Uncle Ren, while a rose and a knife when Nana stared at Aunt Rina earlier. This is because whenever Nana looks at someone, she always sees an image.

'Ahh, I don't care anymore!' At this moment, Sera made a decision and pushed her 2 remaining chips besides Nana's. "Call."

Afterwards, she showed her hand.

Nana silently looked at her with her fuchsia colored eyes that seemed to be glowing and sighed with a sad expression.

This action of hers made Sera think, 'Did I finally win? Please let me win!'

However, Nana, who was staring at her, suddenly revealed her hand at this moment.

What Sera saw almost made her breakdown.

It was a 7 of Spades and a 10 of Clubs.

The two of them both had a pair but Nana's pair contains higher cards than Sera's.

A pair of 10s was higher than a pair of 9s, after all.

"Hehe, Nana wins again!" Her cute childish voice caught the attention of the three people who were talking on the table, making them smile.

However, Nana's cute childish voice almost made Sera cry.