Whether it was to celebrate the goal of unifying all of Inazuma under one rule being largely achieved, or simply a rare gathering among friends, what was on the table didn’t matter at all.
As the sky grew dark, at Kitsune Saiguu’s suggestion, several of them excitedly put together a game of Karuta.
Since the venue was the Grand Narukami Shrine, Kitsune Saiguu, as the host, was naturally responsible for preparing the cards.
Taking advantage of this gap, the others enthusiastically and actively introduced the rules of Karuta to Clementine.
Hearing the name, Clementine thought it was some kind of battle game similar to chess, but that wasn’t the case.
The cards used in Karuta didn’t have numbers or suits, but rather different short poems.
During the game, players are divided into Readers and Takers.
The Reader randomly draws a card and recites the poem on it, while the Takers are responsible for snatching the corresponding card.
The person who snatches it scores a point.
At the end of the game, the person with the most cards wins.
There were no restrictions against using Elemental Power during the snatching process, so the game often turned into a chaotic display of unique abilities.
If there weren’t many cards, Clementine was confident she could barely remember them.
But seeing Kitsune Saiguu bring out a full set of two hundred Karuta cards—even writing one sentence a day would take over half a year—she had to numbly admit that she was the illiterate one.
Amidst her shock, she also grumbled a bit internally.
Makoto said Inazuma was founded not long ago, but with its human political system, entertainment activities, and a grand shrine for worshipping Archons, it didn’t look ‘recent’ at all.
Thinking of this, she comforted herself.
To a long-lived Archon, a hundred years could be considered ‘not long,’ which was plenty of time to get these things done.
Put that way, the logic held up.
Perhaps because her daze was too obvious, Clementine was poked twice by Makoto.
The other person very thoughtfully suggested: “If you haven’t played this before, how about being the Reader and drawing the cards?
Or, you can play Karuta in a team; do you want to join me?” “Then I want to be with you.
I can be responsible for snatching; you just tell me which card we need.” In the end, the role of the Reader fell to Kitsune Saiguu to fulfill her duties as the host.
The first Karuta card she drew read: ‘The flower’s color fades as people grow old.’ In the initial state, these cards were all face down.
Therefore, in the beginning stage, everyone was mainly busy flipping cards.
This truly tested one’s luck.
Makoto quietly leaned in and whispered to Clementine: “The next line is ‘In the long, bitter rain, I cast my body away.’ I’ll try to find it; you watch if anyone else finds it and try to snatch it from them.” Clementine nodded in understanding.
But luck wasn’t exactly on her side.
By the time the text was revealed, the card had already been claimed by Ei.
The usually taciturn warrior showed no outward signs, but it wasn’t hard to detect a small joy of victory in her bright purple eyes.
The others present were not stingy with their praise, satisfying this small competitive urge.
The game continued, cards were flipped one by one, and their positions were pushed all over the place.
Some cards gradually moved further away from the seats.
In this situation, the element of luck diminished, becoming more a test of eyesight and speed.
Kitsune Saiguu, who was watching the scene with great amusement, clearly excelled in eyesight.
Occasionally, she would speak up to point out that someone was secretly reaching for a certain card, making the whole scene even more chaotic.
Clementine couldn’t tell which card to snatch, so she simply observed the reactions of the other participants.
Ei clearly wasn’t very good at this game.
Despite being a sharp warrior whose speed should be fast, most of the cards she got were because they were close to her when discovered, and others didn’t have time to snatch them.
She was likely the type who, like herself, didn’t quite remember which card was the corresponding one.
Then again, as a dragon from out of town, she literally couldn’t match a single line of poetry.
In terms of poor skill, she was still the bottom tier.
Chiyo and Sasayuri seemed evenly matched in their Karuta skills; both could sharply identify the card they needed.
However, the Tengu seemed to be born with a unique advantage in speed.
In situations where the two competed, Sasayuri could always hook the card first, leaving the Oni girl indignant at her side.
At this moment, the Tengu held the absolute advantage on the field.
The Yokai general was usually steady and serious, but in such a relaxed atmosphere of competing with friends, she couldn’t help but wear that specific expression of having the upper hand.
Even though she seemed to pretend not to care, Clementine still captured a trace of the victor’s pleasure.
As for Makoto, she seemed to be the one who didn’t care about winning or losing at all, only occasionally directing her to snatch a certain card.
When they failed to get it, she would conversely comfort her, saying that participation was what mattered.
Their team’s score happened to be kept at a middling level; it was hard to say there wasn’t some intentionality behind it.
As if sensing Clementine’s gaze, Makoto cast a questioning look over.
Caught secretly observing, Clementine had to come up with an excuse.
“I was just thinking that if we can take a few more of the remaining cards, we might actually win.” Makoto replied, “If winning makes you happy, then we can win.” Clementine was still wondering what that meant when she was already being reminded by Makoto to snatch the next card.
She clearly noticed that Makoto’s reminders were much faster this time.
Sometimes, before the final syllable of the line Kitsune Saiguu was reciting had even left her mouth, Makoto had already pointed out the location of the corresponding Karuta card.
So just now, she meant that if I want to win, she’ll play properly with me?
The cooperation between the two grew increasingly familiar.
While her hands were in motion, Clementine could even spare a thought to reflect.
With only one card left, Clementine had gradually caught up to the previous leader Sasayuri’s card count.
Now, victory or defeat rested on a single card.
Coincidentally, this card was placed far away from both of them.
Sasayuri straightened up slightly to reach for the card in the corner.
Thinking that Clementine was even further away and would need more effort to get it, she almost let out a victorious smile.
But just as his fingertips were about to touch the card, a silver-white shadow suddenly flashed before her eyes.
The shadow was soft in texture but had a sharp tip.
In a flash, the tip hit the ground and flipped the card up, then curled around it with lightning speed and vanished.
Clementine used her tail to reel back the final card and added, “This doesn’t count as a foul, does it?” Makoto clapped at her side and replied, “Of course not.
Look, now we’ve won.”