TFOA Chapter 22

The playing cards were among the things she had gazed at more often than family photographs back then. When a battle ended and they counted the heads of the living, Noel Hugger, Niksi's superior officer, would invariably round up the five most mentally shattered soldiers and make them play "Catch the Thief."

It was to snap them back to their senses. At the same time, it was an act of showing them that the present situation was just like any other perfectly ordinary day. Bullets might be flying overhead, but it was just another ordinary day like always. Let's play cards and have some fun. So loosen up a bit and get your heads straight.

Of course, hardly anyone picked up on such sentiments. Everyone just sat there in a stupor, minds elsewhere, not even knowing whether what they held in their hands was a family photo or playing cards.

Niksi would peer at their hands from behind them and steadily pilfer their money, bit by bit.

"So naturally, I became quite skilled at gambling."

Niksi had opened a 10-euro gambling den at Raul's bar, drawing on her experiences from that day. Entry fee: 5 euros. Five participants. The simple rule was that you earned 2 euros for each game won, and as soon as anyone earned 10 euros, the game would end immediately.

"10 euros isn't bad, right?"

Betty said.

"Right? I specially invited exactly five people."

The five people invited by Niksi included herself. Betty, the lovely carpenter who received abundant attention from Niksi; Gilbert, the village head who couldn't (wouldn't) stay out of any incident; Raul, the bar owner who somehow ended up providing the venue. And of course...

"This is my first time drinking at the same table with Painter. Hello? I'm Victoria. Please call me Betty!"

"......"

It was Benjamin, the hungry painter who had come for dinner and got caught up in this.

After barely finishing the one-sided introduction with Betty, he gripped his beer mug tightly. He already desperately wanted to go home.

But what was even more desperate was that he found her proposal tempting. He was in such a situation that he would have to eat nothing but omelets for a week since he was exactly that broke.

"How about Catch the Thief for the game?"

"I'm good with that!"

"But Niksi, why specifically us five?"

Gilbert asked. It was a reasonable question since such an inconsistent group of people had gathered.

"Because you're all people who don't sleep until late at night."

Rural evenings come faster than in the city. Once the sun sets, the elderly go inside to sleep.

On the other hand, the five gathered here were people who stayed awake late because they were somewhat young.

"That's true. I also sleep late since I run a bar."

"That's a cute condition. Anyway, you're saying I can pay 5 euros and potentially earn 10 euros? If I come in first, I'll buy everyone drinks tonight!"

"Haha. If Betty wins, that'd be a no-loss business for me."

"Oh? Then Raul, would you like to team up with me?"

Betty and Raul exchanged cheerful banter.

Gilbert, carried along by the warm atmosphere, also declared that if he came in first, he would make expensive 10-euro food for everyone to eat.

And so a bizarre alliance was formed where they were making bets but generously giving everything away.

"Haha. That sounds exciting."

"Hahaha, it'd be great if Gilbert comes in first too!"

Ha ha, you foolish people! What's all this giving away! First place. If I just get first place, I'm leaving this gambling den immediately!

Niksi and Benjamin, who were desperately in need of money, didn't think so warmly about it.

Niksi's five guaranteed night owls spread out and settled into a corner of Raul's bar.

Niksi distributed the cards with practiced hand movements.

"Did everyone get their cards?"

A subtle tension hung in the air.

"Then check your hands."

Shuffling. They all spread their cards in unison.

Niksi first. She checked the expression of Betty, who was sitting across from her.

Betty's eyes, as she sipped her beer, squinted slightly. Then her body fidgeted a little and her face turned red.

Niksi was certain.

'She has the thief!'

'She has the thief.'

Benjamin thought the same thing. He had similarly detected Betty's subtle fidgeting.

In reality, Betty was just holding back from choking on her drink.

"Then shall we each draw a card from the person to our right?"

That way, the thief that's probably with Betty would come to her later!

Niksi proceeded with the game, hiding her dark intentions. Benjamin nodded silently.

That's when Gilbert, who had been fiddling with his cards, spoke up.

"...But this deck has a really unique Joker design. Why is it wearing a military uniform instead of clown makeup?"

'What?!'

Niksi and Benjamin simultaneously looked at Gilbert.

Gilbert was still fiddling with his hand.

'That means... Gilbert has the thief?'

"Maybe it's because it was produced during wartime? The playing card Joker itself symbolizes someone who can become anything."

"Oh my. Raul. You must be very nervous, you're spilling alcohol on the table."

Raul, who was speaking calmly, had hands trembling like aspen leaves.

"How embarrassing."

The man who briefly placed his card-holding hand on the table took a deep breath like he was trying to calm himself.

'What's wrong with you now.'

A suspicious situation where everyone seemed to have the joker at the same time.

Benjamin and Niksi sensed that what they thought would be an easy gambling game was going to be quite a tough fight.

"Then let's start."

The declaration to start the game. People sorted out matching numbers from their card hands and discarded them.

Benjamin also spread out his cards to discard some.

And he discovered one card that had been cleverly overlapped and hidden from view.

He had been holding the joker.

'These cheaters.'

"Before coming to Auvers? I was living in the north of Colmar."

"That's nice, Colmar. I remember staying there briefly once to research Alsace region aperitifs. It was a place with incredibly beautiful wooden buildings."

"You recognize that loveliness? The reason I wanted to become a carpenter was all because I grew up looking at those 80-degree angle roofs there."

After about three turns, people were holding only two or three cards.

Benjamin, who had barely managed to get the joker out of his hand, finally began sipping his drink with relief.

"Which region of Germany did you live in, Mr. Painter?"

"The east. Southwest of Dresden."

"What's most famous there?"

That place? He blankly pulled up distant memories.

The Elbe River that encircled the city like a fortress wall. The arched Augustus Bridge. In the lower elevations were green grass and humble little shops, while on the slightly higher ground stood glass-domed buildings and open gardens from which you could take in the river and city in a single view.

On the rare clear day, he would play catch with his younger brother on the grassy riverbank.

"...I don't know. The last time I saw it, the entire city had turned into a sea of flames."

"Really? Me too. Hehe."

The painter's socially inept answer, which would normally have made things awkward, was received like a joke.

All the game participants were drinking alcohol, so their mental guards were down.

"Actually, I thought I could go back and live like before once the war ended. My family and relatives are still living in Colmar. But the road back home is so far."

"Not everything becomes happy just because the war ended. But I'll make you happy, Betty! First, starting tomorrow, shall we remodel our house roof to an 80-degree angle!"

"Just hearing about it sounds romantic. While we're at it, would you hire me for that construction work?"

"Good. I'll hire you!"

Pop!

That's when it happened. The store lights went out.

"A power outage?"

"Oh right. I had set the store lights to turn off automatically at this time. Sorry, everyone."

Raul got up rustling around.

"Oh no, just when things were getting fun."

Betty took out matches from her pocket and lit a candle on the table. The dim light brightened the darkness.

Niksi glared at the candle with an unnecessarily displeased expression.

"There's a circuit breaker in the storage room, so I'll go turn it on and be right back."

"I'll go with you, Mr. Raul. I happen to be out of alcohol anyway."

"Take care, Raul. See you later, Gilbert."

The mood deflated.

Benjamin scratched his neck and looked out the window beyond the bar.

Perhaps because the interior was dark, the pitch-black night sky's stars outside seemed particularly prominent.

That hazy light that spreads out like a halo when seen through bleary eyes.

He felt somewhat sleepy. So he relaxed his body loosely.

Then.

Dang! Dang! Dang!

A short, sharp alarm bell shattered the silence.

At the same time, Niksi and Benjamin bolted upright from their seats.

Crash!

Because the two suddenly stood up, beer mugs fell to the floor and shattered into pieces.

"Eek! Oh my, are you okay?"

But those two paid no attention.

Victoria turned her head toward where the bell sound was coming from. It was in the direction of Greta's sheep ranch.

"Greta's sheep..."

Crash!

Niksi extinguished the candle on the table with her bare hand. Then she immediately reached out to Victoria and covered her mouth.

Benjamin quickly crouched low and pressed his body against the wall by the window. He watched beyond the window with bated breath.

Something was dripping from his tightly clenched hand.

"......"

"......"

In the tightly compressed silence. Rustling sounds could be heard outside the door. It was the sound of footsteps.

The sound of footsteps treading on dry ground went thud, thud. Calmly, they approached the bar where they were.

In the tension sharpened to the point where even breathing sounds could be fatal.

Click, and the lights came on in the bar.

"......What are you all doing?"

Gilbert appeared with a bewildered expression, holding the wine he had just brought out.

Only after the lights came on could they see their surroundings. Their cheerful card game table was in complete disarray.

The candle, crushed by someone's grip. The ruined tabletop. The beer mug that had fallen and shattered to pieces, and Niksi's red eyes flashing sharply.

Red bloodstains.

"Mr. Richter......?"

At the end of the bloodstains was Benjamin.

"Gilbert...... Grace......?"

At the painter's deflated voice, Gilbert swallowed dryly.

Benjamin was gripping a broken beer mug tightly against the wall, breathing heavily. The broken glass looked like a knife with a blue-black blade.

Gilbert stepped back hesitantly at the eerie tension that wouldn't easily dissolve.

Raul, who had just returned after turning on the lights, quickly assessed the situation and approached Benjamin.

"Calm down, Benjamin. This isn't a battlefield."

"Gasp...... huff, ugh......"

"That bell sound just now was from Greta's ranch. It was a signal that a lamb is being born."

It felt like someone was pressing down hard on his windpipe.

When Raul grabbed and shook his shoulder, Benjamin startled and exhaled sharply.

"A lamb...?"

Niksi muttered, removing her hand from Victoria's mouth.

"Oh, yes. In case the mother sheep might have complications, to wake the doctor... Kyaa, Niksi! Are you okay? Your hand has wax on it...!"

Niksi's hand, which had crushed the candle with her bare hand, was a mess with wax.

Niksi looked at the candle wax stubbornly stuck to her hand. It was a terribly numb sensation.

"Uh... sorry. I thought I had to put out the light."

Her heart was still pounding hard.

"It wasn't an air raid warning..."

A sound that always made her react the same way no matter when she heard it.

"...I accidentally broke the beer mug and ruined the mood too! Sorry, Raul. I'll pay for this!"

Niksi laughed brightly to change the atmosphere.

However, her heart pounding thump-thump showed no signs of settling down.

The sound of metal clashing against metal. Explosive sounds. The regular drip drip of something falling. The thack, thack sound of a knife striking down on a cutting board. Fireworks. Thunder. Someone's shout of exertion. Phantom sounds. Dizziness. Pupils suddenly contracting without knowing why.

Terrible war trauma.

And so Niksi's gambling den came to its end.