25. Hikigaya Hachiman Accepts the Executive's Trial
"Such a familiar scene."
Hikigaya Hachiman stood with his arms crossed, silently observing. He didn't step in to stop anything—after all, this condition posed no real harm to Saotome.
Compared to selling away her life, becoming Juraku Sachiko's pet for three years didn't seem all that bad.
If one lacked the resolve to win, it was always better to leave a path of retreat for oneself.
Hikigaya recalled an exchange from six years ago. The young and powerless version of himself had once been presented with the same kind of ultimatum by Juraku Sachiko.
He could still remember the words she'd said to him:
"Kiss my feet, and I'll take care of everyone who's been bullying you."
Hikigaya muttered under his breath,
"I was born with wings—I should not crawl."
Smack—
Saotome Mary's face was frosty as she slapped away Juraku's raised foot with force.
"Get it away! Who wants to be your dog?! I'll win—I'll show you I can win!"
"Heh, is that so?"
Juraku Sachiko shook her head. Yet, no anger or embarrassment showed on her face. Her gaze shifted to Hachiman, and their eyes met with silent understanding.
'She's just like the you from back then.'
'Otherwise, I wouldn't be here.'
The air between them turned heavy with silence.
No one spoke to break the strange tension. Juraku sat behind Sado Mikura, while Hikigaya stood quietly behind Saotome. In that moment, they both seemed like spirits looming behind their respective champions.
And in Hikigaya's flickering gaze, it seemed he had already guessed what Juraku wanted to wager with him.
Then—the door to the second library opened once more.
The green-haired girl with the somber expression walked in again. Her face emotionless, she approached the long table. Seeing the desk she usually used for reading now being used for a gamble, a wave of sorrow rose within her.
"Yukimi Togakushi, did you bring the money?" Sado Mikura stepped forward and snatched the leather pouch from her hands. Inside was a thick bundle of cash.
"I'm very sorry… I'm only worth 10 million yen."
"It's fine. Since everyone's here, Sado, go ahead and explain the rules of the game."
Juraku stood up and with a grand wave of her hand, announced the start of the gambling match:
[The upcoming game is the "Triple Dice Game."]
• A single six-sided die will be used.
• Rolls of 1, 2, or 3 are considered D; rolls of 4, 5, or 6 are considered U.
• Each player will bet on a specific combination of three rolls, such as UUD or DUU.
• The dealer will continuously roll the die. When the exact combination bet by a player appears in sequence, the game ends.
[The two players must guess the result sequence I will roll. Whoever's sequence appears first wins.]
Example:
In a match between Player A and Player B:
• A predicts UDD
• B predicts DUD
• If the dealer's sequence is: D, D, U, D, D — then B wins.
[Before starting, each of you will write your prediction on a card and hand it to me. Once I confirm both predictions, the game will begin.]
"I'm sorry... I've staked my life on this. I have to protect the library, so I have to win."
Yukimi Togakushi looked at Saotome Mary with an apologetic gaze, then, after a brief pause, resolutely wrote down her prediction and handed it to Sado Mikura.
'Triple dice, huh…' Hikigaya crossed one arm over his chest, the other hand reflexively rubbing his chin as if stepping into the shoes of a detective from one of his books. He began analyzing the trap in this game.
'Each die roll can result in two outcomes: D or U. With three rolls, there are eight possible sequences. All have equal probabilities.'
'On the surface, this seems like a flawless game of pure luck.'
'But… because the rule requires continuous rolling, the outcomes can shift dynamically. For example, UDU might become DUU or DUD on the next roll if no match is made. Each sequence has two possible successors—and can also be the successor of two others…'
Complex equations rapidly assembled in Hikigaya's mind—numbers danced to life as he mentally mapped out all possibilities. He murmured to himself:
"Regardless of initial probability distribution, after enough rolls, the probabilities of all combinations converge and stabilize."
"But in a two-player match, there's a counter-strategy dynamic. For instance, UDU might appear more frequently than DUU on average, yet it could still fall behind DUU in actual sequence occurrence due to transitional dominance."
Hikigaya considered himself a corrupt adult—a person who habitually analyzed others with the darkest possible assumptions.
He never believed there was such a thing as a truly fair gamble in this world.
'Oh, maybe there is. If it were Jabami Yumeko, she might really not cheat—but her situation doesn't apply here.'
In other words: every gamble must involve cheating!
If it were him, how would he cheat in a game like this that only seems fair?
Hikigaya's gaze instinctively locked onto Sado Mikura.
'The dealer is the core of this game, with two key powers: seeing the cards and rolling the dice.'
'Then the method of cheating becomes very clear…'
.
.
.
"The boy I once knew… has reached a height I now have to look up to."
Juraku Sachiko had somehow slipped behind Hikigaya Hachiman without him noticing. She lazily stretched, pressing her voluptuous body against his back.
In terms of height, even in heels, Juraku was still about two fingers shorter than Hikigaya.
"Don't exaggerate," Hikigaya said dryly, arms crossed.
"I told you why you shouldn't have come to this academy. I warned you that if we met again, I'd devour you without mercy."
Juraku hooked a slender finger under Hikigaya's chin and licked her lips, openly displaying the predatory hunger in her vertical pupils.
That gaze—it was like a lion on the savanna staring down its prey as it writhed in desperation.
But unfortunately for her, Hikigaya was no longer a helpless victim with no means of resistance.
"You said it yourself: I was born with wings, and wings are meant to fly high."
"I didn't know you were in this academy. And even if I had, it wouldn't have changed anything."
"I will win—and I will keep winning. In fact, I have. Ever since that day, I haven't lost once."
The lion's eyes of the beast king met the unwavering gaze of someone who had sworn victory. Finding it impossible to simply devour him, Juraku reluctantly shifted her target.
"So bold now~ You're not nearly as adorable as you were back then. What a pity. Your mouth may be hard, but your heart is soft."
Juraku murmured as she placed her hand on Hikigaya's left chest, feeling the heart beneath, its beat accelerating at a geometric rate.
Hikigaya had to admit—no matter how well he could recite prime numbers, it was all just surface-level bravado. When the enemy had her hand right over your heart, this sense of panic simply couldn't be hidden.
"It's just a desire to win," Hikigaya retorted stubbornly.
"Oh? In that case… how about we make a bet?"
Hello everyone! I'm VarieTL.
Read ahead (40 chapters) by supporting me on https://www.patreon.com/c/VarieTL and https://ko-fi.com/varietl
There you can also read 5 other Novels and 2 Fanfiction between Oregairu and classroom of the Elite