Dokeshi March ~ 24!

After they both had some rest, Suki and Grant got serious about practicing a few select card games. Grant was particularly fond of the strange game ‘twenty-one’. It was simple, and he didn’t have to worry about whether the other player was being honest or not.

Poker, the one he was told was a ‘gentleman’s game’, was probably his least favorite. He couldn’t believe it when Suki told him that a player could outright lie about the cards they were holding. Not only that, but there was no standard bet! If someone felt like dropping a ridiculously high number of coins on the table, they could just lie! Grant had no dependable way to determine if they were telling the truth or not. Suki, on the other hand, had no problems.

“It’s not hard. The only advantage I have is that I’ve been training since birth to read the intentions of others, no matter how hard they try to hide them.” Suki gathered up the large pile of wood chips they were using to mimic bets from the center of the table. Grant looked at her askance, and she shrugged. “What? It’s common training that all nobles receive from the cradle. Any person meant to lead should know if people are lying to them.”

“I suppose that… makes sense,” he stated slowly, “I just think that people in charge shouldn't equate politics to gambling. It might send the wrong idea.”

“They have almost the exact same skill sets.” Suki pointed at the pile of cards on the worktable between them. “There is something we both want. One of us is in the better position to obtain it, but neither of us knows who it is. So, you posture and bluff your way into winning, even if you know you have the winning hand.”

“But… it’s lying your way into the winner’s spot.” Grant squirmed a little in his seat. “I don’t like not telling the truth. A warrior should be honorable, and people will follow them naturally.”

“Don’t think of it like that.” Suki stood up and swung side to side to limber up. “Imagine two fighters in a duel. When you make a feint, the person you are fighting reacts to that action, and you use the opening to strike.”

Grant nodded, agreeing with her argument so far, so she drove on, “If they try a feint, and you see through it, often it allows you an opening that you can take advantage of. That’s what it’s like when you know you have the better hand. You can crush them by playing along properly.”

“Okay, but how do you know you have the better hand?” Grant pointed at the cards she had just picked up. “There are all kinds of combinations that can trump one another.”

“Well, there is one way to win for certain every time.” Suki paused in her shuffling to flick a card out of her sleeve. “You cheat.”

“You wouldn’t!” Grant stood up, pointing his finger at the evidence of her double-dealing. “Have you been cheating this whole time? We’re supposed to be practicing, and you just ruined it by tricking me instead of training me how to play correctly!”

“Do you really think the people you are going to have to play against won’t do exactly the same thing?” Suki made the card disappear with just a simple bending of a finger. “Part of your training should include learning how to spot a person that is cheating. They take that oddly seriously here, so you have to make sure you only call out them on cheating when the timing is right. Don’t do it too soon; try to let the best cheaters clear out some of the other players first, then you pounce!”

The cards scattered as she punched down on the table for emphasis. Grant stood, scooting the cards back toward her half of the table. “I think I’m done practicing with you right now. For someone that lectures me on being a leader, you sure seem ready to do all sorts of… tricky things. Just, we need to go. The sun is starting to rise.”

Suki seemed taken aback by Grant’s aversion to cheating, so they walked in silence as she tried to come up with something to say. The two of them were soon weaving in and out of sprawling streets and narrow alleys to throw off any possible pursuit. Once again, the obvious devastation of seeing a District based on a single product was hard to witness. There were practically hollow people around almost every corner, and nearly every business except large casinos were either abandoned or on their last legs.

“I don’t know if these people can make it much longer.” Grant had paused to hand out some of the produce from the crate in his pack to a group of emaciated children with sunken cheeks and cracked lips. “They look close to death.”

<This place is practically a war zone,> Sarge chimed in, adding his personal experience to the mix. <If you don’t end the reign of this mad jester, none of these people will see the end of next month. They’ll riot before then and be wiped out by the clown’s Vassals.>

“What was that?” Suki was passing out some of her gross health food bars. Even the starving children seemed to look at them like they were unsure if they should eat them or not, leaving Grant feeling rather vindicated. “Did you say something?”

“Not really. We need to get going.” Grant passed out a few more vegetables that looked like they were close to going bad. He was down to less than half of the food he had won in the jackpot. Most of what remained was miscellaneous root vegetables and a few pieces of a spiny fruit which Suki had told him would last for a long time. “The market might be closed before we get there, and we won’t get a chance to practice.”

Back on the road, the two silently agreed to pick up the pace. Instead of weaving through the abandoned buildings, they stayed on the main road and kept up a steady jog. Handing out the food to the kids had noticeably lightened Grant’s pack, enough that he noticed the difference even with his enhanced cultivation numbers.

They made it to the market indicated on their map with roughly an hour to spare, and Grant was less than impressed. Sure, hints of its former glory could be seen under the dirt and grime that covered everything in the District. But now, instead of stalls and carts, permanent pagoda-like structures had been spread in concentric circles around the large fountain that was spewing dirty water in the center of the square.

“What do you think that is?” He gestured to the lumpy shape in the center of the fountain. It was coated too thickly in some kind of scum to identify what it really was. “Some kind of… cow?”

“No, I think it used to be a statue of the Dokeshi’s father.” Suki squinted at the plaque at the base as they approached, but it was filthy to the point of becoming unreadable. She was clearly unwilling to wipe away the dirt in order to read it. “Maybe his grandfather? I can’t even imagine letting an image of my father deteriorate so far.”

“Yeah, I remember.” Grant’s soft chuckle earned him a sharp glare, but he waved her off. “Let’s split up, but keep each other in sight. After we practice some games, we meet back up right here when they start to close down. Hopefully, we can add to what we already have, and make it to the gate opening with plenty of time to spare.”

He went straight for a meat vendor that seemed to be using twenty-one to determine what his customers won, and Suki drifted over to a dry goods vendor that already had three people sitting at a small table with piles of chips in front of them.

“That’s right, good sir!” The man in front of Grant wore a spotless white apron over surprisingly nice clothing. He was one of the first people Grant had seen who didn’t look like he had missed more than a few meals. “Mighty Mike’s Majestic Meats—we beat the meat of all our competition! Step right up and let us dazzle you with the size and quality of our fine fares!”

Grant didn’t know what to say, so he just walked up and placed a Day coin on the counter. He was eyeing a particularly tasty-looking piece of sausage that looked fat and juicy as it sizzled on the hot grill. It was making his mouth water, and he couldn’t even remember the last time he had seen such a delicious-looking tube of beef.

“The game is twenty-one. A Day coin is only one chip, though you need at least two to play.” The vendor waved to the dealer standing behind a small round table covered in a white tablecloth. “Every ten chips are worth one item of your choice. That’s right, you manage your own magnificent meat at Mighty Mike’s!”

“How many chips do you want to start with, sir?” The dealer was a much younger, smaller version of the vendor, leading Grant to easily guess it was his son. “You need at least one more Day to play at all.”

“Here, take it.” Grant was more than a little distracted by the display of wonderfully prepared flesh laid out before him. He handed over a stack of nine more Day coins, drastically reducing the amount in his coin pouch. “I really want that sausage.”

“I understand, sir. Here are your chips.” The dealer scooted over five chips and made the money disappear with a flourish. He then shuffled the deck of cards with a practiced motion and laid out four cards, two in front of each of them.

“Wait… you didn’t give me-”

“Please place your bets!” The vendor hurriedly tapped the table. Grant had no idea what to do in this situation, but he was still aware enough to play it safe. He laid out a single chip, and the dealer flipped over one card in each pile. Grant could see a ten on the top card, and carefully lifted the corner to see what the bottom card was. Another ten.

“Hit or stay?” The dealer was holding up the deck, ready to flick another card on the pile. Grant waved his hand to signify he didn’t want another card. The dealer was showing a five, and flipped his other card over to show a nine. “Dealer hits.”

The next card was an eight. “Dealer busts. Congratulations, sir.”

Four more hands went in a similar fashion, and soon Grant had a pile of chips next to his elbow. He began to feel good about his chances, and he grew comfortable betting taller stacks of the small clay disks. A small crowd started to gather, and eventually a gloved hand grasped his shoulder.

“Grant, what are you doing?” Suki was eyeing the group clustered around the pagoda. “You do realize you are making a scene, right?”

“I’m just practicing, like we planned.” Grant motioned toward the stack of over fifty chips precariously balanced on the edge of the small table. “I think I’m doing pretty good!”

“If you’re doing well, maybe you should cash in and we should go somewhere else?” Suki’s eyes flickered around the crowd of people. “There are plenty of other places for you to practice.”

“Okay. Just one more hand.” The gleam in his eye was almost feverish. He still wanted the meat, but winning so many chips was giving him a thrill a good sausage just couldn’t. “I have a feeling about this next one.”

“Sir, please place your bet.” The dealer interrupted their conversation, and Grant scooted over half of his pile to the center of the table. “Very well; thank you sir.” He flipped the cards over, and Grant had a ten on top. The dealer had a six. After checking his other card, it was also a ten.

“I want a split.” Grant turned over his hidden ten, and slid the other half of his stack over to cover the additional hand. “I’m feeling lucky!”

“As you wish.” The dealer quickly dealt another two cards, one next to each of Grant’s tens. One had a six, and the other a nine. “Would you like another card?”

“One card on this hand, please.” Grant indicated the hand with sixteen. “I’ll stay with the other one.”

“Very well.” The dealer placed down another card, this one a ten. “Ah, a bust. So sorry sir.” The pile of chips was swept away, leaving Grant with the hand showing nineteen. Grant swallowed as the dealer flipped over his second card, showing a ten. “Dealer hits.”

The next card was a five, giving the dealer a perfect twenty-one. “Dealer wins.”

Just like that, Grant went from top of the world to rock bottom. He gazed longingly at the meat sizzling only a few feet away from him. The speed of the change in fortunes had literally made him dizzy. Suki grabbed his arm and led him away, heading for the dry goods vendor she had approached earlier. “Come on, let’s go somewhere else. I could have told you that was going to happen. The dealer kept picking cards from the bottom of the deck.”

“What?” Grant stopped in his tracks and turned to fiercely glare back at the pagoda where the sign with Mighty Mike’s Majestic Meats was hanging. “He was cheating me?”

“Of course he was. Frankly, it's a good lesson, since it only cost you money and not your ability to go deeper into the District. The dealer wanted you to get overconfident.” Suki stopped a few feet away from a table where a handful of people were playing poker. “That way, when you lost everything, you would blame yourself instead of taking a closer look at the way he was dealing cards.”

She nodded toward the poker game, firmly ignoring his crestfallen stare. “Now I want you to learn. Just stand and watch for a minute. Pay attention to how they play, how they each work the table. I need to make up for the Time you lost, and we could really use the grand prize the winner gets.”

Grant finally noticed the railing of this pagoda was draped with signs displaying the various items players could win. The first-place prize was a large bag of rice, an even larger bag of flour, and a small sack of salt. Somehow, he knew that Suki was going to win. Her arched eyebrow and Sarge’s light chuckling confirmed exactly who would be carrying the bulky bags around as punishment.