Chapter 41: Five Hundred Kaguyas

"I can't get married anymore..." 

Chika knelt in the corner, clutching her chest with her hands as faint wisps of steam seemed to rise from her head.

In her mind, if a boy saw her bare body, she'd lose all chances of getting married.

"I've got my eyes closed," Amemiya muttered.

"Closing your eyes doesn't help!" she retorted indignantly.

"..." 

It was their first attempt at a two-person strategy, and while the results were promising, some problems became evident. 

Firstly, according to Chika, the ability to forcibly rename someone could only work on one person at a time. If a second person was designated as Don, the first one would revert to their original name.

Then there was the matter of Amamiya himself.

Although he could subdue the vengeful spirit, he couldn't destroy it.

Take the spirit in front of them, dressed as Harley Quinn. She wasn't convinced of her defeat and continued to mutter threats, promising to make him pay later.

In essence, he could control the vengeful spirit's body, but not its soul.

Not that Amamiya had any particular interest in the soul of a vengeful spirit. The thrill was more in seeing them comply physically, despite their verbal defiance. Still, the situation was dangerous.

The ideal solution would be to eliminate the vengeful spirits entirely, but they didn't have the means to do that.

As he pondered this, Amemiya's thoughts turned to Kaguya. He wondered if her weapon would be of any use here.

"Where's Kaguya-chan?" Chika asked, now fully dressed again. "Why didn't she come with you?"

Amemiya shook his head. 

"Shinomiya-san isn't with me. We all ended up in separate rooms. She's likely next door."

"Let's go find her!" Chika urged. "Kaguya-chan may seem fearless, but she can't even watch a horror movie alone."

"You can't go out yet," Amemiya said, his tone serious. "The corridor's too dangerous in the dark."

After briefly recounting what had happened earlier, Amemiya turned his attention back to the ghost of Harley Quinn.

There was still time before the darkness would lift, so since they were stuck waiting, why not make the most of it?

"Human, what are you planning?" the vengeful spirit asked warily.

"Let's play a game," Amemiya suggested, releasing his grip on the ghost's shoulder. He pointed toward Chika and said firmly, "Chika is my apprentice. I've personally trained her."

"Huh?" 

Chika blinked in surprise.

Since when am I your apprentice? And how come I didn't know this?

"You've beaten her too many times. If word got out, I'd lose face," Amemiya continued, crossing his fingers in a businesslike manner. "So, I'll win back her dignity."

"Oh, so it's about your pride," Chika huffed. "Give me back that 'apprentice' nonsense!"

The spirit sneered and sat back down at the gambling table, licking her lips with the tip of her tongue. "You'll regret this, foolish human."

"I'm going to the bathroom first," Amemiya said casually, disappearing for a minute before quickly returning.

"Ready now?" the vengeful spirit asked impatiently.

"Yes," Amemiya replied, preparing to sit down.

"Wait!" Chika grabbed his arm, standing on tiptoe to whisper in his ear. Her tone was full of concern. "Don't do anything rash! If you lose, you'll lose control of your body."

"Don't worry," Amemiya whispered back. "I've got a trick up my sleeve."

"Ehh?" Chika exclaimed softly, eyes wide in disbelief.

"..." 

Amemiya took his seat across from the spirit.

Chika and Rikka knelt beside them, watching anxiously.

The deck of cards had fifty-four cards originally, but one joker had been removed, leaving the remaining cards to be shuffled before the game began.

The rules of the Joker card game didn't need to be explained—each player took turns drawing cards, discarding pairs until the endgame. In no time, it was down to the final showdown.

"Human, your loss is inevitable," the vengeful spirit said, her smile twisting with malevolence. Unlike the tricks she'd pulled on Chika earlier, she straightforwardly drew a card from Amemiya's hand. "This table has a special ability. As long as one of us doesn't want the game to end, it will continue. Let's see how many layers you're willing to strip off."

"Look at the card you just drew," Amemiya calmly reminded her.

The spirit glanced at the card in her hand—and her eyes widened in shock.

"...No... Impossible!" 

The card she had drawn was the devil card(Joker).

"You've lost," Amemiya declared, tossing the rest of his cards onto the table. "Honor the bet."

"H-how did we win?" Chika exclaimed in disbelief.

Amemiya, in his usual serious tone, replied, "When I was traveling through Sky Province, they called me the God of Gamblers. It wasn't until I took an arrow to the knee that I had to stop."

"That's amazing!" Rikka's eyes gleamed, filled with admiration.

Miss Evil Spirit glanced at her body, a hint of hesitation crossing her face.

For the game, she was dressed in a Harley Quinn outfit: colorful twin ponytails, smoky makeup, a tight crop top exposing her midriff, and super-short denim shorts—a bold and revealing look.

"Here," the spirit finally muttered, handing Amemiya the blood-stained baseball bat she carried.

Amemiya accepted it. "The game continues," he declared.

A short while later, the spirit lost again. This time, she was furious. "This is impossible! How are you beating me?"

"A game's a game," Amemiya said coolly. "You can't expect to win every time."

"..." 

When the one-minute grace period passed, the spirit could only comply with the rules. Despite her anger, she found herself removing her shirt.

Amemiya, however, looked slightly disappointed.

"You dare challenge me again? I won't lose this time!" 

Miss Evil Spirit covered her chest and prepared for another round. 

"Wait, can evil spirits even get shy?" Chika asked, tilting her head in curiosity. 

"Of course I'm not shy!" 

"Then stop covering yourself when you say that." 

"…" 

The game resumed. 

Once again, Miss Evil Spirit lost, and this time she had no choice but to remove her denim shorts. In the blink of an eye, she was left with only her last piece of clothing, just like Chika. 

"Impossible!" 

Miss Evil Spirit's chest rose and fell as she struggled to accept her defeat. "Human, you must have cheated." 

"Cheating? I prefer to call it skill. It's only cheating if I get caught." Amamiya replied confidently. "So tell me, how did I cheat?" 

"...Human, I won't forget this!" 

Miss Evil Spirit's body vanished into thin air, leaving behind a card that fluttered down from the air. 

"Huh?" 

Curious, Amamiya picked up the card. It turned out to be a summoning card that could call forth the Harley Quinn ghost for a single battle. It was a bittersweet prize—she lost more than she gained. 

The cheating method was actually quite simple. The bat specimens mounted on the wall weren't ordinary. They were remnants of evil spirits that could see through walls. That's why Chika kept losing. 

But as everyone knows, bats have terrible eyesight. Once Amamiya figured out this weakness, he made a small adjustment in the bathroom—just enough to win, almost stripping the opponent completely. 

"The hallway is getting brighter," Chika whispered. "Come on, let's go find Kaguya-chan." 

The three made their way down the corridor and knocked on the door of the next ward. 

"Kaguya-chan, we're here to see you—huh?" 

Chika was the first to step inside, only to stop in her tracks, eyes wide with shock. "Why are there three Kaguya-chans?" 

Amamiya hesitated at the doorway, astonished to see not one, but three identical Kaguyas in the room. Their clothes, their faces, even their expressions were exactly the same. 

One of the Kaguyas looked pale, "I've been copied." 

Another Kaguya shook her head, "They're all impostors." 

The third Kaguya chimed in, "Every now and then, another one shows up. Both of them are fakes." 

Infinite duplication? 

Amamiya realized the situation and pulled Chika back. 

"Maybe we should let Kaguya-chan keep duplicating," he thought. "Once we collect 500 of her, we could send them all to work at a construction site. We'd earn enough to buy a house in half a month."