"How unrefined," she said. Sunlight beamed through ceiling holes and windows, illuminating the floating dust in the dim auditorium and strewn debris. A few steps in and the dirt was already settling in on her elegant Gothic dress and my black suit. "Our host should be ashamed, Naegi."

"I guess he should have at least brought in a maid?"

Celes's nose twitched. I don't know if it was because of the dust, the must, or my comment. Each step down towards the curtain-less stage puffed more particles, but at least the stage itself was in decent shape. Not only clean, it was well-lit with two high-backed red velvet chairs facing each other three feet apart. At the edge of the stage was a tripod camera, ready to film the action.

Between the stage and seats was a folding chair and scratched-up desk, but that desk had an expensive-looking laptop, electronic tablets, mini-microphones the size of a lapel, and speakers about half a foot tall.

Footsteps echoing into the room grabbed our attention as a middle-aged graying blond walked in from another corner. He looked like any other man his age, with wrinkles starting to set in, sagging neck skin, and hairline pulling back. But on his face were large splotches of purple bruises, and his mangled ear was stitched on. However, what was most striking to me was his choice of clothing.

He wore a suit, two-toned white and black.

"Welcome!" he said. "I'm so glad you could make it, Ms. Ludenberg."

Her smile hid a demon. "It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Mr. Schaeffer. You may call me Celestia."

"Very well then, Celestia. And you can also just call me Hans."

"Thank you. I heard on the news that you were attacked and spent a month in the hospital? It looks like they weren't exaggerating. Novoselic must be eager for the First Minister to finish recuperating."

"I'll be fine. Especially if I win!" He shook our hands. "I see you brought someone?"

"Indeed. I attend Hope's Peak Academy, so I brought along a classmate. He's the Ultimate Average Student."

Thanks, Celes. Although I guess saying my real talent would've landed me in trouble.

"Why? Attendant? Boyfriend?" He chuckled. "Lucky charm?"

"He is my attendant." Celes dusted some hair off her long, black drill pigtails. "For a high roller, you have quite the...taste in backdrops."

"Oh! I'm sorry. We're all dressed up like this, yet here we are. Well, there's so much social unrest in Novoselic, along with several scandals plaguing top officials. So you'll understand that I can't risk being seen gambling. My precious country, it struggles..."

"Shall we get down to business? I heard that we were going to play Bingo?"

I looked around. There were no balls, cards, or tickets whatsoever.

"Indeed," he said. "That gamble is so popular in the West that they even play it in churches. But since just playing Bingo between the two of us is nothing more than fancy coin-flipping, we'll be playing a specialized version."

"Oh?"

"For that, we'll bring in the Club."

The door to backstage made a solid creak for five men in black suits. Seeing them, I felt embarrassed. Pick any! He's tall, slicked hair, wearing a "Don't you screw with me" professional look on his face; I'm short, messy hair, wearing a "Gotta not screw up" amateur look on my face.

The last man, a young-aged buzz cut wearing shades and skin-tight white gloves, bowed before us. "Good morning, Master Hans and Lady Celestia. I am Referee Smith, and I shall be in charge of today's gamble."

I must have been tense, because Celes laid a hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry. The Club is merely an organization that presides over certain gambles on request and enforces collection. When I last gambled in their purview, I defeated someone nicknamed the Lie Eater. They collected his title of Ultimate Gambler and invitation to Hope's Peak on my behalf."

"What kind of game did you play?"

"Hangman."

I touched my neck.

"No need to worry," said Hans. He continued speaking after taking a seat with Celes. "We're only playing with a few paper bills."

"Now then," said Celes, "this Bingo variant?"

"I'll explain," said Smith. "You're familiar with American Bingo? The game is played using any number of cards determined by the players. Each card has a grid for 5x5 numbers. The columns, 'B', 'I', 'N', 'G', 'O', may contain any ordering of the numbers 1-15, 16-30, 31-45, 46-60, and 61-75, respectively. The center square, found in the 'N' column, starts covered as a free space. Normally, players cover the random numbers called by the neutral party."

That sounded simple enough.

"But here, players take turns calling out a number for the opponent to cover. Victory occurs after one player has covered a row, column, B-O diagonal, or the opponent makes a false call."

"I don't see anything for keeping track of the game."

"You'll keep track of everything in your heads."

I rolled my shoulders to try and ease the stiffness. Keeping track of twenty-four numbers? And that's just a single card. What about the numbers called over the course of the game? Then the high stakes! The concentration required must be staggering. Celes was always doing stuff like this?

She appeared to lack any of my apprehension.

Smith handed to Celes and Hans each a clip-on mini-microphone. "Please wear this. As the game progresses, voice recognition will keep track of the game progress."

A couple men then handed the electronic tablets to Celes and Hans.

"You may enter the cards you want to use into a tablet. Although Master Hans was gracious to set up a laptop to record game data, I will keep a record of the game using my personal tablet for redundancy. In order to conceal the number of cards in play for each player, each card you enter will receive an ID from 1 to 1000, or more numbers as needed. After ten minutes, you'll give up the tablets and begin calling.

When calling, it cannot be a number he/she already called, although both players can call the same number. Each call must be in one minute. Once a player wins, he/she must declare 'Bingo!' and then parrot the winning card's ID and numbers. Failure to do so is an automatic disqualification, so be careful. Now then, what will be the stakes and number of games?"

Hans shook his head. "I don't want to get pigeonholed by such details. We'll decide on a game-by-game basis, if that's okay with Celestia?"

"Sure. Oh, and I have a small request. Since I'm the guest, may I request that we keep track of money in yen?"

"Not keeping up with the exchange rate?"

"I might want to talk with my attendant between games. It would be easier for him to track just one currency."

I made an awkward cheery face.

"I guess that's fair," said Hans. "The Club is doing all the wiring and transfers anyway, and I did a quick check on the rate for myself before coming here."

"Thank you."

"So how about five billion yen for the first game?"

Even though I wasn't the one in danger, the world started wobbling. I recalled discussing with Celes that she had five billion yen on hand, although she used to have ten at some point. Did she plan to gamble the rest of her money on an unfamiliar game against an experienced enemy? Speaking of enemies, what about Hans? Novoselic was supposed to be a small kingdom. Where did his five billion yen come from?

"Oh my!" she said. "You must have quite the budget. May I suggest just one billion to start, so that we can both enjoy the gamble for more than one game?"

Good call. That would give Celes a chance to test the waters of this gambling ocean.

Hans shook his head. "High rollers don't take baby steps."

Celes sighed. "I suppose if it can't be helped, I'll wager five billion yen."

"Now we're talking."

As I cringed, Smith cleared his throat. "Before we begin, I'd like to confirm one other thing: cheating."

"I don't care."

"I have nothing to hide."

"Then I shall only stop acts of cheating once proven by the player?"

I gulped as Celes and Hans smirked at each other.

Hans keyed quickly; Celes tapped slowly. Would this be okay?

"The time is up," said Smith. "Please stop any cards you're building and press the 'Finish' button. Lady Celestia will go first."

"Naegi," said Celes, "would you please hold this for me?"

"Uh, sure."

I took one step forward before Hans interrupted with "HEY! What are you doing?"

"Is there a problem?" she asked. "I wanted my attendant to keep track of my own tablet."

"Oh...excuse me. I'm just jumpy right now. I said five billion yen like I was experienced, but this is still a huge sum I'm gambling. I want to make sure we do this right."

"Don't worry about it. Then, I will start with B7."

Hans closed his eyes, scratched his chin, and took his time. How much time does someone need just to call a number? Was there a strategy? Then again, I suppose it takes plenty of concentration to keep track of all those numbers. He did enter a whole bunch of cards, so he probably shouldn't rush.

Being her tablet-keeper, I reviewed Celes's numbers.

BINGO CARD#7
15-30-36-51-63
12-16-37-53-73
09-28-Fr-55-65
06-18-38-57-75
02-22-32-52-62

That makes sense, and explains how Hans was able to enter so many cards. With patterns, you don't need to remember all the numbers because you can just recreate the numbers! However, I wondered why Celes used multiple patterns. I suppose it was fine if she only had one card, and going by that logic, Hans must have a whole bunch of simple cards. What was the better strategy?

BEEP! The sound ripped my concentration.

"Master Hans," said Smith, "you have fifteen seconds."

"B7. I'll just follow her lead for now," said Hans. "This game requires so much concentration that it's easy to lose track of your time, so I prepared it as a convenience."

"Oh, and Lady Celestia? Players are free to adjust the sound as they wish, in case you find it too loud."

They continued calling numbers. Celes called at a brisk pace, Hans settling into a trance.

Celes: [B7,B9,B11,B13,I27,I28,I29,I30,N31,N33,N35,G46,G47,G48,G49]

Hans: [B7,B8,*B9,B10,*I16, I19,*I22, I25,*N32,N34,*N36,G50,*G51,*G52,*G53]

Seeing this on my tablet, I realized that not only did both players have to keep track of their cards, but keeping track of what number to call was going to be a chore as well, because repeating a number was automatic disqualification. In the end, both players also patterned their calls. Did this mean that each game was based on trying to predict the opponent's patterns? That must be why Celes used multiple patterns.

At this point, any further numbers could potentially make a Bingo.

Celes: [O61,O62,O63,O64,O65,B8,I16,G60]

Hans: [*O63,O66,O69,O72,*O75,O61,*O62]

"...B15," said Hans.

I clenched my fist, eager for her victory. That corner number helped a lot, bumping her outs up to B2, I30, and G57!

After half a minute, Celes added her next number. "B15."

Hans's eyes popped open. "BINGO! Thank goodness, I was starting to panic."

"You say Bingo, but what numbers?"

"Right, right…" He returned to his trance-like state, pausing per number. "On card...153, going across: B...15. I...30. N...Free. G...48. O...61."

"That's correct," said Smith. He then checked the laptop. "This laptop concurs. Then, the winner is Master Hans. The wiring of five billion yen has already been deposited to your account."

"Nice."

"Congratulations," said Celes. She stood up.

"Oh, sorry," said Hans. He also stood up and offered to shake hands. "That was really intense. Time crawls when you're playing, but it's just the blink of an eye after everything is done. I appreciate your time and competition."

Was this it? We came all the way to Novoselic just for Celes to lose five billion yen?

However, Celes shook her head. "It's not over yet. Now that I'm getting the hang of this game, why don't we double the stakes? I'm confident that I can win this time for sure."

Uh, Celes?

"So much enthusiasm!" he said. "But I'm a little busy. Besides, I just managed to best the 'Ultimate Gambler' and I don't know if I can really bet everything and do it again. To be honest, I'm ready to call it a day."

"Well, the flow seems to favor you, and I don't know if you want to regret the chance to win again. Any gambler would continue."

"Hmm..." Hans glanced at the camera. "I'll think about it."

"Master Hans," said Smith. That amused smile on his face did nothing for my nerves. "About the stakes Lady Celestia proposes..."

"I know that you're going to voice some doubt," said Hans. "It's a lot of money. But for now, I'll take her word for it. Regardless, I want to make a phone call. Excuse me."

As Hans left the room, I whispered to Celes. "Is this a good idea? I thought that was all your money?"

"You can speak normally. The Club and I both know I don't have ten billion. Hans probably thinks so too."

"Indeed," said Smith. "But Master Hans is free to assign value as he chooses. If Lady Celestia has something that she's willing to bet and he validates its worth, then we will be able to continue into the next round."

"You can't be thinking of gambling your life?"

"But of course," said Celes. "And Hans will choose to continue, because he didn't actually defeat me."

"But you just lost!"

"No more than folding a hand in poker. It happens."

"Then how will you continue?"

"Hans will deem my life at ten billion. You're good at guessing the thoughts of others, right, Naegi? Then tell me, why do you think that man is gambling with me?"

I closed my eyes and scratched my chin like Hans, as if it would help me get inside his head. Was he gambling for money? Novoselic was a small kingdom. Maybe he needed money to quell that unrest he mentioned? But Hans was a high-ranking official. There had to be a better way to get money. After all, he managed to raise five billion yen before coming here.

Wait…five billion yen? Wasn't he insistent on that total as the wager? Did he just happen to pick that number? Where did that money come from? Come to think of it, didn't Celes lose another five billion yen somehow at some point prior to coming here?

"You seem to have realized something."

"Where do you think he raised that much money? Actually, why is he even gambling? He seems like the type of man who cares for his country. I feel as if he would rather spend it helping his fellow citizens. This isn't personal, is it?"

"I've never met him before this gamble. As for 'where', the possibilities are endless."

"For a small country to suddenly have that much money, maybe he took out a loan. Wait a minute, if that's the case...Celes, do you mind if I ask a question?"

"You already asked three without my permission."

"Oh, haha, right. It's just that you might not want to answer."

"Take a chance."

"What happened to the other half of your money?"

She gazed into the auditorium. "As you can imagine, it's dangerous to have ten billion yen unsecured, or to even deposit that through official channels. So there are underground banks that can hold and lend big sums with little fuss. Being underground, these banks aren't required to hold a reserve."

"So if they loaned out your money!"

"I'd doubt Hans would take huge risks just to spite me. He has better things to do."

"Yeah, you're right. Maybe…what if he was ordered?"

"That begs the question. Why put me through this?"

"I guess they just wanted to wound your pride, or something? I'm not sure."

"Then do you think your reasoning is off?"

"Maybe, but then nothing else really makes sense."

"People do illogical things all the time, especially when it comes to gambling. Keep thinking. Knowing the enemy's state of mind is crucial."

Hans returned. "I'm sorry to have kept everyone waiting."

"No, not at all," said Celes.

"I've decided to continue into the next round. I accept the ten billion yen wager. Now, I understand that there were some concerns about whether Celestia is able to pay the money. If, on the off-chance that she really IS broke, I will collect her life as collateral."

"I'd be happy to accept." I'd be happier if she didn't.

"Then let's begin," said Smith. Once both players received the tablets, they started making their cards. Would this game turn out like before? If she can just win here, then everything will be fine. Yeah! She's the Ultimate Gambler. I'm sure she can do it! After ten minutes, "the time is up. Hans shall go first."

Collecting Celes's tablet and stepping back, I tried not to think of what they would do to her if she lost. To push those thoughts aside, I decided to check her card and preview the upcoming game.

In doing so, I had to stifle a despair-induced gasp.