chapter 8

“Aah, I lost again! Hey, Chris, how are you so good at cards? Kazuma’s only good point is high luck, but I think you’re even luckier than him.”

In the adventurer’s guild, Aqua, who has been playing cards with Chris, grumbled.

The game they are playing is similar to poker, and Aqua has lost every single game.

“Isn’t that obvious? It’s because Big Boss is-”

“A-Assistant-kun?”

Chris frantically sputtered upon hearing my words.

“-A Thief of the Church of Eris.”

“Ah, yeah. Eris is the goddess of fortune, and it’s only natural for a thief to have high luck. Yeah, I get it now.”

Seeing Aqua nod repeatedly, Chris let out a sigh of relief.

Then, Aqua tilted her head to the side and,

“Say, between Chris and Kazuma, just who has the higher luck?”

Asked a question that threatened my very reason for existing.

Chris and I looked at each other…

“Of course, that’ll be me. Remember when I was manning Aqua-san’s store during the Eris thanksgiving festival? None of the customers received a winning lot. It’d be pretty difficult for Kazuma to do the same thing.”

And she confidently boasted.

It doesn’t seem like she has any intention of backing down on this matter. Well, she is the goddess of fortune, after all. However…

“Wait, what are you saying? That did happen, but didn’t I successfully steal your panties? The success rate of Steal is highly dependent on Luck. That means that my luck is higher.”

“No, hold on, that doesn’t count! Resisting Steal requires high magic resistance! I’m a Thief! Of course I wouldn’t have any magic resistance!”

Chris refuted, but I’m a man who places quite a bit of pride in the strength of his luck.

I pulled out my adventurer card and showed it to Chris.

“This is my current luck stat, and it’s still growing as I level. I’m sure you know what this means.”

My luck has risen by quite a bit since I’ve arrived in this world. That extraordinarily high value shone brightly on my adventurer’s card.

“As expected of Kazuma whose only high stat is luck. I really wish I could get even one percent of that.”

“Hey, what do you mean by that? My intelligence is pretty high too.”

Aqua ignored my retort and turned to face Chris.

“So, what about yours?”

Flustered by Aqua’s attentions, Chris averted her gaze, seemingly considering if she should take out her card or not…

“Come on, let me see!”

Aqua snatched Chris’s card out of her pocket…

“Is this for real? Is the value on her luck stat bugged? I should take this up with a guild worker.”

“N-No, it’s fine! It’s not like it’s causing me any problems…”

Chris’s luck stat is so high that Aqua thinks that the display is bugged. As expected of the goddess of fortune.

I feel like this clearly determined who’s the victor in this match, but Aqua said,

“But this is a problem. There’s no way to tell who has the higher luck like this.”

No, we already clearly determined who has the higher luck.

Just when I was about ready to admit defeat, an adventurer sitting at the next table over said,

“Why don’t you guys decide this through a game of Rock-paper-scissors?”

Rock-paper-scissors. It’s a game that relies heavily on luck and, to a small extent, intelligence.

I see, if that’s case, there might be a chance for me to win.

“Rock-paper-scissors? Well, I’m fine with it, but can Assistant-kun really best me in luck? You haven’t forgotten who I am, have you?”

“Do you really think I relied solely on my luck to defeat all those Demon King’s Generals? There’s no way I would accept such a challenge without making preparations.”

I clenched my fist and looked at Chris with a serious expression.

“Oh? You sure talk a big game. Come to think of it, didn’t you lose to me in a contest of Steal back then? Do you intend to use this chance to take your revenge?”

Hearing Chris’s words, the surrounding adventurers became excited, and Aqua too was looking at us with expectant eyes.

“Very well, let’s decide this once and for all! As adventurers, we should act like adventurers and give this our all. Rock, paper-!”

“Eh? Wait, now? Eh, hold on, er— paper!”

Crap, the first round is my loss.

“Wait, assistant-kun, why are you stripping!? There’s no need to strip! I’ve already won!”

“What are you saying? Aren’t we adventurers that put our lives on the line? We can’t possibly play the same kind of games as children do, can we? Are you saying I’ve already lost?”

Hearing my challenge, Chris gritted her teeth.

“Okay, very well, I accept. After all, there’s no way I can lose!”

“That’s what I’m talking about! Everyone, show me some support!”

“I’m rooting for you! Blessing!”

“Receive the protection of the Goddess Aqua! Blessing!”

“Hey, call some more priests over! Aqua-san, please…”

“If Kazuma loses, let me go next! I’m a thief too! I’m pretty confident in my luck!”

“Hey, no fair! Other people shouldn’t be allowed to support you like this! Assistant-kun, wait!”

Chris whined after seeing the surrounding adventurers pile buff after buff on me.

— In the end, all the adventurers present, including me, ended up getting stripped bare…