Editing The Unexplored Summon Blood Sign:Volume5 Chapter3 (section)

===A Happy Memory from an Unknown Point on the Timeline 3===

It had originally been meant as a thought experiment.

When looking at the Regulation-class, Divine-class, and Unexplored-class, the Summoning Ceremony could summon as many Materials as there were stars in the sky. What would summon what, how did one lead to another, what route was used to reach what, what Material was the enemy summoning or preparing to summon, how could that be avoided or beaten, and what were their Costs and Sound Ranges? The possible paths were as complex as a spider web.

The location of the Petals and Spots, one’s stock of White Thorns, the terrain, and the movement of the enemy summoner also had to be taken into consideration, but they set all that aside for the time being to focus on it as a thought experiment.

Could they memorize the Materials so efficiently it became second nature?

What was the optimal medium for that?

“Okay. Starting from the Transforming Box (r u m – t e), I use a three hit combo to draw alphabet cards from the deck and complete the Leather Bag that Swallows and Digests (j k v – j k v – k m o l – m). That’s Cost 11 and Middle Sound Range, so the greater Cost and superior Sound Range do major damage to the Cost 10 and Low Sound Range of your Pure Sphere with Hidden Fangs (t – e i – k o – f b – j i). And while Biondetta has to skip a turn, I continue powering it up to the Divine-class!!”

“Vahhh!?”

It was a handmade card game.

Biondetta screamed at the beating she took from the major damage Shiroyama Kyoumi announced and her voice echoed through the large party space.

The adults had taken a trial and error approach to finding a way to teach the 15 the patterns of the Materials through rote memorization and repetitive practice, but as Shigara Masami had watched, she had shouted “God, how boring. You’re never going to get them motivated like that.” and developed this card game all on her own.

The combos and having to skip a turn were not the same as the actual Blood-Sign method, but it was a convenient way to teach them how strong the different Materials were and which Materials made good stepping stones to reach which other ones.

While watching Kyoumi and Biondetta’s duel from a short distance away, Kyousuke asked a question of the person next to him.

It was the developer named Shigara Masami.

“Aren’t you going to play, Shigara?”

“Don’t forget the ‘-san’, newcomer. Besides, why should I play? This is a study tool for summoners.”

She sounded exasperated as she drank a clear liquid from a glass.

That seemed to be a sign that she was not working at the moment.

“…”

Shigara Masami seemed devil-may-care at first glance, but something caught Kyousuke’s attention. This card game had been arranged for children, but it still included all of the Materials that could be summoned with the 3rd Summoning Ceremony, aka the Blood-Sign Method. That included the Regulation-class, the Divine-class, the Unexplored-class…and even the White Queen, the peak of the peak.

The card illustrations were hand drawn and given cute deformed proportions, but how had Shigara Masami learned the traits of all of those Materials and what they looked like?

Inside the Artificial Sacred Ground created when an Incense Grenade detonated, no cameras or sensors could see the summoners or Materials. That meant she had not used photographs or videos as reference material. That was simply not an option.

Then had she seen them all with her own eyes?

The other developers estimated the names of the individual Materials that were theorized to exist based on the spelling of the ones proven to exist, but had she actually seen them?

Simply putting together all of the names and Sound Ranges would have taken a lot of effort.

Even the round Mock Battlefield in the center of the Miniature Garden had not seen every last Material yet.

“Hmm? What is it, boy? Oh, are you feeling the seduction of this sinful young woman?”

The developer who gave him an intoxicated look was still nothing more than devil-may-care.

And just as he opened his mouth, Biondetta called out to him after losing badly.

“Kyousuke! You come over here too! Go beat up the Queen of Hearts and Hatter who keep using cruel combos!!”

“Why are you summoning a human instead of a Material? …Well, whatever. Kyousuke! I’ll defeat you next.”

His older sister beckoned him over with a fingertip, so Kyousuke sighed and left Shigara Masami. The adult simply waved goodbye.

The battle began on the desk like a practice run on paper.

Biondetta played the role of the referee.

“Ready, set, go!”

Kyousuke and Kyoumi both played their first cards.

“The Original Yellow (s).”

“Geh. I’m the Original Green (k). My Sound Range loses.”

The Queen of Hearts lamented, but she was not that worried. This card game did not focus as much on the very first move as chess and Reversi.

By playing more cards, they could build up their Material to make it stronger and stronger.

And then Kyousuke made an announcement.

“Check.”

“?”

“Sorry. I have the ‘White’ Queen who Wields the Sword of Unsullied Truth (iu – nu – fb – a – wuh – ei –kx – eu – pl – vjz). That’s an instant kill.”

“Gyahhh!?” screamed Shiroyama Kyoumi as she threw her cards into the air.

The White Queen.

She was the strongest of the strongest who assured victory once she was summoned.

Just like the big bang, the theory behind her was understood, but it was thought they would never actually see her.

In poker terms, it was like smoothly gathering your cards and grinning with a full house only to have your opponent hit you with a royal flush.

“Y-you just got lucky. That one didn’t count. Kyousuke, I demand a rematch!!”

“Sigh… Complain like that in an actual battle and you’ll end up crawling around like a baby…”

“Deadly shut up! What do you mean you want your noble big sister to submit to you in absolute defeat mode!?”

The Queen of Hearts blushed and began the rematch.

But once more…

“Oh, I have the White Queen.”

“Gwaaahhh!”

“Sorry. The White Queen again.”

“Gyahhh!!”

“The Queen.”

“…!!!???”

It looked like they were going to keep playing forever, so Biondetta stepped in as the referee while looking really bored.

“Wait. Isn’t the White Queen going to Kyousuke way too often? Are you cheating somehow?”

“I’m really not sure what to tell you.”

They tried swapping out decks and Biondetta kept a watchful eye on Kyousuke’s cards from behind him. And then the Queen of Hearts, the Mad Hatter, and space suit Humpty Dumpty all tried to battle him.

“The White Queen.”

“Ghahh!?”

“Sigh…. Why do I keep getting her? It’s the White Queen.”

“Psshhh. Th-this isn’t due to your own skill!”

He made short work of all his older siblings.

But even as those older siblings lay collapsed on the floor before him, it was Biondetta watching his hand as the referee who was trembling most of all.

She knew better than anyone that he had done nothing suspicious.

And yet the White Queen seemed to always find her way into his hand.

How was that anything but unfair?

It was a miracle…or a nightmare.

“Hmm. He may just be more compatible…”

Shigara Masami casually spoke up while chugging her clear liquid a short distance away.

“Hic. He may have been born under a star of great love from the Queen.”