I’m Not Doing This With A Friend

The bull’s-eye has a double zone and a triple-zone. If you hit them, you get double or triple the points written on the edges.

The highest score on a dartboard is 20 points.

Triple that, and you get 60 points in one shot.

I gave the student who thought it was luck a quick glance and grabbed the remaining dart.

To show him that it wasn’t a fluke, I nailed two darts in a row, this time into the triple 20.

The student keeping score looks at me, mouth agape in surprise.

Undaunted, I manage to get my shoulders back down from their rise and ask nonchalantly,

“What was the score?”

“Double… one hundred and eighty points.”

The magic stone was worth 250 points.

There were five throws left, so if I missed even once, I wouldn’t get it.

As I picked up the dart again, the student who had been keeping track whispered something to the other members of the club.

It looked like an emergency meeting.

Were the magic stones a prize to attract customers?

There were still two more rounds to go, and they were all running around like that.

Well, it’s none of my business.

If it was valuable, it shouldn’t have been offered for a prize in the first place.

I raised an eyebrow, then refocused and threw the dart.

…Huh?

“Out!”

The student who had been keeping track of my score earlier shouted excitedly.

Crap. I thought I threw it well. I hadn’t even hit the bullseye.

Likewise, I frowned out of the corner of my eye and glanced at the more relaxed members of the club.

… Aren’t they just being a little too enthusiastic, anyway?

It was time to throw the last dart with a heavy heart.

“Anne.”

At Carson’s call, I turned my head to look at him, the same smile I’d grown to love.

But why does he look like he’s in a bad mood?

Just as I was questioning this, he leaned in and whispered in my ear.

“Anne, what do you think is the right level of punishment for a fraudster?”

I thought of Hans for a moment, and then, embarrassed, I said in a dismissive tone.

“As long as it doesn’t involve me, I think it’s fine.”

Carson’s smile deepened and said, “And if you were?”

“What?”

I casually glance down at the dart in my hand.

…Did he do something to me?

Come to think of it, this club was magic-related. That meant that all the members were mages.

If they could secretly cast magic, they could easily control the darts.

Carson felt the mana. I’ve learned alchemy, so I know how to manipulate mana. But I couldn’t feel it with the precision of a mage.

“Sion, is this what I think it is?”

“Maybe.”

“Haha. Interesting.”

Despite my anger, I approached the huddled group of club members to give them a chance.

“I think there was something wrong with that dart I just threw.”

One of them stepped forward with a smug look on his face.

“They were all flawless darts.”

“Yes. As you said, the darts weren’t flawed, but your conscience… no, I mean, I noticed something a little suspicious when you threw them.”

He glanced at me, decided I wasn’t a wizard, and replied, visibly relieved.

“Oh, well. Can you tell me specifically what the problem was?”

There was a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

My eyebrows wiggled and I pointed at Carson.

“My friend who came with me is a mage, so I’m not going to hold you responsible for the trick you just pulled on my dart, so I’m going to void it and give you another chance.”

“What do you mean, cheating? We swear we didn’t do anything.”

“Even though my friend says he detected mana spikes?”

“Yes. He must have mistaken it for something else.”

“Aha.”

You picked the wrong opponent, you rotten bastards. I turned to Carson, bracing myself for what was to come.

“Our magic is holding up well, right?”

“Yep. I’ve hung it up, so a mage wouldn’t be able to see it.”

I could see why Hans had said that wearing a mask made him feel confident.

Normally, I might have let it slide, but I doubted it.

I didn’t feel like doing that today.

“Perfect. Now then…”

With a slow turn of my head, I looked at the members of the club.

“Let’s play some games.”

I flipped the desk over as soon as I finished speaking.

Carson smirked, obviously intrigued by the amount of work I was doing, and cast a spell.

“Sion, the darts are sharp and dangerous, so leave them where they are.”

“Yeah.”

Sion replies lightly, and the objects in the clubroom start flying around.

“Hey, what are you doing!”

They came toward me and Carson to stop us, but then they hit the air and bounced off, as if they were blocked by something.

I thanked Carson with a glance and gave him a stern look. It was a look I’d made up, reminiscent of a corrections officer.

“What the hell, if they can’t talk, there’s only one answer.”

“Guards! I’m calling the guards!”

“Call them.”

He doesn’t know who we are anyway. I tore my gaze away from him and looked around.

In the short time we’ve been talking, Carson has made a mess of the clubroom.

It was his specialty, quick and precise work.

But a criminal shouldn’t linger at the scene of a crime. He’s made a mess, so let’s make a quick exit.

I held out my hand to Carson and winked at him. We were going to teleport away.

After all, I paid for it, so it wouldn’t be unfair to take something.

I’ve made a mess, so I’ll forgive them for the magic stone…

Suddenly, I saw a bunch of stuffed animals floating randomly in the air.

They were cheap stuffed animals that you could get if you scored over 30 points, practically a contest prize.

I couldn’t decide between a cat or a dog, so I grabbed a puppy.

As it turns out, Carson was more of a big dog than a cat.