EXTRA CHAPTER 1 - I - A MOST TREACHEROUS GAME

 

Another change of season had come.  If you remember, the last season that we had was that of ‘Fire’, which was the same as the season of ‘Summer’ back on Earth.  This time, however, an entirely new—and I admit, it’s weird—season arrived.

 

“Hm?  What’s weird with the Season of White Rain?” Maddie asked.

 

“Well, it felt like it’s snowing.  And it’s just surreal for me to experience snow, just when the summer had ended a few hours ago.  And it’s just the middle of October!”

 

“Well, you know…” she shrugged her shoulders, “This is how our climate works here.  In any case, come inside.  It’s about to get cold soon.”

 

Soon enough, and true to Maddie’s words, a few hours of snow later, the temperature went down.  Because of this, Maddie put out the order for everyone to wear their ‘cold weather’ uniforms.  The paladins switched to their ‘winter’ armors, and the normally sleeveless maid uniforms of the palatial garden servants were now sporting long, thick sleeves made of wool.

 

The pretty weird setting, eh?

 

I had no winter clothes with me, as I was summoned from a tropical country.  Snow itself was a strange phenomenon to me, and if indeed there’s ice in the rain, it’s usually hailstones.

 

“I’m sorry for overlooking your situation, Kuro!” Lily repeatedly bowed and apologized to me, “I forgot you were summoned, and have no cold weather clothing with you!”

 

“Haha!  It’s…f-fine!” I tried reassuring her in-between my shivers.  Maddie and Lily wrapped me in a thick woolen blanket, and Eris lit the nearby fireplace to warm up my room, aside from closing the windows and draping the thick curtains over it.  However, as I was used to the warm and tropical weather of my country, Chersean winter was a bane of my existence.  I could feel my muscles go numb from the extreme cold.

 

“I asked the Duchess of Henristone to fetch you winter clothing at Arles.” Maddie told me, “If you want, I could warm you up.”

 

“Err…c-c-could you, p-please?”  Desperate for warmth, I asked her.

 

“A-Alright…j-just a m-minute…”  Though flustered, Maddie then unbuttoned her dress in front of Lily and Eris.

 

“W-What are y-you doing?” I asked.  I mean I knew what she was about to do, but I don’t think Maddie should do that in front of others.

 

“Well, you know…they say that when naked bodies huddle together, it gets warm.”

 

“Ah, yes!  That’s right, I remember that, Maddie!” Lily then undressed as well.

 

“Y-Yeah…b-but L-Lily and E-Eris are here!” I could feel my nose getting runny, and I couldn’t help but sneeze from the cold.

 

“We’ll be your wives in the future, what’s the fuss?” Lily asked, “And there’s no malintent here, so you better man up and accept our goodwill.”

 

“E-E-Eris is s-still a k-k-kid.” I countered.

 

“Well, we’ll only strip to our undergarments.” the head maid offered, “And Lady Braunhauer, you may leave us for now.”

 

“What?!  I’m Lord Kuro’s servant!  Of course, I’d stay!” Eris protested, “Don’t worry about me; I’m a servant.”

 

“C-Can’t you d-do something a-about it with your magic?” I asked.  To be honest, I don’t find it bad to…you know…huddle around half-naked with beautiful girls.  However, I don’t like the idea of having little Eris around while doing that; it’s improper, even if she’s becoming my wife in the future.

 

“Tch.” I heard Maddie clicked her tongue.  She muttered, “Just when I get to feel your body with mine…”  At once, she began chanting a light spell, and my body slowly felt warm.

 

 

So, with the issue about the body temperatures solved—temporarily, our next problem was boredom.  The snowfall outside was getting heavier by the minute, and playing outside (I wanted to do that, too) was next to impossible.  Only important businesses should be allowed to go out, and the visits were suspended for now.

 

“…”

 

Maddie, Lily, and Eris remained in my room long after Maddie cast a ‘warmth’ spell on me.  They were just idling around, with the saint floating quietly as usual over my bed, Lily doing some knitting, and Eris was lying with her head on my lap as I read a book on a nearby chair.

 

“I’m bored.”  Finally, Maddie aired her sentiments.

 

“Want to draw something?” Lily asked her.

 

“Nah.  I’m taking a break from that.”

 

“How about eating something?”

 

“I’m full.”

 

“Right.  You always do, fatty!”

 

“Shut up, horny Lily!”

 

“Well, how about playing a game?” I offered.

 

“Oh?!” Both Lily and Maddie turned to me once they heard that.  It was Maddie who asked, “What kind of game?”

 

“Peek into my thoughts,” I told her.

 

“Hm?  ‘Uno’?  That’s a pretty weird game of cards.” Maddie commented.

 

“A game of cards?”  Lily then said, “I’m pretty much good at those!”

 

“Well, Uno’s a pretty fun game.” I narrated, “And since we’re four people here, we could all play together!”

 

“Oh!  That’s great, Kuro!” Eris finally joined our chat, “I’d like to play some board games with you!”

 

“Okay, so let me explain its rules to you.” I offered, “But first, Maddie, could you create the cards for this game?”

 

“Sure!  Just think of those and I’ll try to copy it with my magic.”

 

So, I did what she requested, and soon, we have 112 differently colored and valued cards.  Lily and Eris were both having fun watching Maddie create those, while I was impressed by her ability to copy my thoughts.

 

“Uhh…are you sure you really have to put gold trimmings into the cards?”

 

“Why not?  Since we’re playing, why don’t I create something beautiful along the way?”

 

“Alright…”  Well, I’m not used to seeing gilded ‘Uno’ cards, but I guess if Maddie liked it that way, it’d be fine to me.

 

 

Now that we’re done and ready with the cards, I began explaining the rules to them as they huddled around me on the bed.

 

“So, here’s how to play this.  Our goal here is to be the first player with only one card left on his/her deck.  If so, shout ‘Uno!’ before another player catches you.” I took the cards and began shuffling the deck, “I’ll be the ‘dealer’—the one who’ll be giving you the cards.  Each of us would start with seven cards, and please, be careful not to show it to your opponent, which in this case, every one of us.”

 

“Err…you’re my enemy, Kuro?” Eris asked.

 

“Ah yes.  I’ll be your opponent, Eris, and so are Maddie and Lily.”

 

“Right…”,

 

“Okay, so the rest of the cards that I didn’t give you would be known as the ‘Draw Pile’.  It is faced down so that we won’t know what card are we pulling ‘till it’s on our hands.  Again, remember not to show your deck to your opponents.  Are you following me?”

 

The three ladies nodded.

 

“Next, this space beside the ‘Draw Pile’ is the ‘Discard Pile’.  For starters, the player to my left, the dealer, should begin the game.  To begin, just choose any card from your deck and place it on the ‘Discard Pile’.”

 

Maddie was on my left, so she was the first to put a card down:  a blue ‘1’.

 

“Alright.  Maddie has placed a blue ‘1’ on the Discard Pile.  Now, since Eris is the player next to Maddie, you either put a similarly colored card, or a card with the same value as to what is in the top of the Discard Pile.”

 

“What if I got no matching card?” Eris asked.

 

“You have to draw a card from the ‘Draw Pile’.” I explained, “Remember, if there’s no matching card, or you just decided not to play any card on your deck, you’ll have to draw one card from the ‘Draw Pile’.”

 

“Ah, we could decide to put down a card or not?”

 

“If you got a matching card, then it’s yes.  Otherwise, you have no option but to draw.”

 

“Alright.”

 

“So we’re taking turns in playing this game?” Lily asked.

 

“Yep.  The normal route is clockwise, starting from the player to the left of the dealer going around to the right.”

 

“I see…”  Lily then showed me a four-colored ‘Wild’ card, “I’m curious what’s this for, though…”

 

“Well, that’s a ‘Wild’ card, meaning, that card can represent any color.  You must state what color it will represent though, for the next player’s turn.”

 

“So if I say it’ll be red, then it’ll be treated as red?”

 

“Correct.  And since I’m the next player after you, I have to play a red card.”  I put down a red ‘6’.

 

“Kuro, what’s this card do?” Maddie flashed a red ‘draw two’ card.

 

“Ah…haha…”  I inadvertently looked at Eris, “If you played that card, it means that the next player would have to draw two cards, and then forfeit her turn to the next player.”

 

“WHAT?!” Eris cried out, “It’s unfair!”

 

“It’s only a game, Eris!” Maddie countered, “Besides, we’re just starting.  It’s good that we get to know the mechanics of this game as we play along.”

 

With no other choice but to follow the rules, Eris reluctantly drew two cards and put them on her deck.

 

“So, it’s my turn now?”

 

I nodded at Lily.

 

“What about this, Kuro?” she asked about the red ‘skip’ card on her deck.

 

“Err…that means I get to lose my turn.”

 

“Eh?!” Lily was shocked by that, “Won’t you get angry if that happens?”

 

“Of course not!” I laughed, “It’s just a game.  Remember, you can only play those cards if the preceding card on the Discard Pile is of the same color.  I put down a red ‘6’, Maddie put down a red ‘Draw two’ card, and you put down a red ‘Skip’ card.  If I play a blue card, then you both can’t use those action cards except blue.”

 

“Oooh…this is pretty complicated, huh?” Maddie quipped.

 

“But it’s fun!” Lily backed her up.

 

“I’m getting the hang of it.” Maddie admitted, “Want to restart the game?”

 

“Hold on!  I haven’t explained all the cards yet to you!”

 

“Then get down to it, hurry!” Maddie demanded.  It seems that, out of the three of them, she’s the one who’s really interested in the game.

 

“In that case, Kuro, what does this card mean?” Eris showed a ‘Reverse’ card.

 

“Ah, that action card forces the turns to ‘reverse’ in order.  For example, our turn now is clockwise…meaning, from left to right.  If you played that card, then we’ll have to change the order to counter-clockwise, right to left.”

 

“I see.  Should be the same color as the one previously played, right?”

 

“Yep.  Or, another ‘Reverse’ card of any color.”

 

Eris smiled at me.  I think everyone understood that rule.

 

“Okay, let me show you the rest of the other ‘special action cards’.”  I took the cards from the draw pile and searched for those, “This card with a blank on it is the ‘Wild Customizable’ card.  There are three in our deck, and its purpose is for us to make our own rules as we play the game.  For example, if I put here ‘Drink water’ and then I decided to play it, the next player would have to drink water.”

 

“So…you mean that any order is written there should be followed by the next player?” Maddie was confirming what I just said.

 

“Basically…yes.” I think I just stepped on a landmine, but well, I’d try not to think about it, “But everyone has to agree with it.  It was blank so that we could write our made-up rules.”

 

“Okie!” Her smile was too sweet and innocent.  It reeked of schemes.

 

Next, I pulled a card with two hands on it, the ‘Swap Hands’ card.

 

“This one…well, it this was played, we all have to swap decks.”

 

“What do you mean?” Lily had a worried expression.

 

“Well, we have to swap decks.  Yours would become mine, mine would become Maddie’s, and Maddie’s would go to Eris.  Eris’ deck, of course, would go to yours.”

 

“Isn’t that unfair, for, let’s say, Eris got a few cards left?”

 

“Haha…yeah…but this is how this game’s rules are.”

 

“Goodness!”

 

And finally, I flashed a card with four colors and the number 4 on it, “This is called the ‘Wild Draw 4’ card.  It functions like a ‘Wild’ Card, but forces the next player to draw 4 cards on the draw pile…effectively stacking him/her with new cards to play.”

 

“This game is really unfair!” Eris commented.

 

“Haha!  Well, back in my world, a lot of friendships got broken because of this!” I jokingly bragged.

 

“S-Seriously?” Lily had a serious expression.

 

“Of course, it’s just a joke.  However, someone who’s good with strategies, quite lucky, and with a cold heart will win this game.”

 

“W-Well…” the head maid cleared her throat, “This is an interesting game.”

 

“So!” Maddie had a triumphant face, “Who dares to play against me in this game?  I think I’ll be the best player for Uno in this world!”

 

“Uh, Maddie…” I told her, “You can’t play reading our minds.  It’s cheating.”