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 Ace
Ace 
|
Cater, put the card you picked back into the deck and I’ll shuffle it well.
Now that they’re all mixed up, I’ll guess which one your card is. Hm~…
The card you picked… is a five of diamonds!
|
 Cater
Cater 
|
Ehh~! Wow! How did you know~!?
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 Ace
Ace 
|
Hehe, I used mind-reading magic on you. …Just kidding.
This is a magic trick using the “key card” principle.
It’s one of the most basic card tricks to be able to guess which card your spectator picked.
Anyone can do it if they learn the trick. Well, I also think you kinda need to be good with your hands to do it.
|
 Cater
Cater 
|
You said that was really basic, right? So can you do any other tricks, Acey?
|
 Ace
Ace 
|
Hm, aside from cards, I can do a few kinds of table magic using cups and coins and things.
|
 Cater
Cater 
|
Really? Show me how to do an easy one! Maybe something that could impress the ladies at parties~✰
|
 Ace
Ace 
|
Sure! …Well, that’s what I want to say. But I can’t just show you one for free.
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 Cater
Cater 
|
There’s the catch~ Acey, you’re actually pretty underhanded.
|
 Ace
Ace 
|
Well, yeah. You gotta make the most out of life.
How about you take over hedgehog care duty for me one time?
Then I’ll teach you two card tricks and one cup trick, as detailed as I can ♪
|
 Riddle
Riddle 
|
You two. You look awfully excited for some reason. Have you finished your homework yet?
It’ll be off with your head if you’re just messing around instead of doing your work.
|
 Ace
Ace 
|
Oh, Dorm Leader! Perfect timing.
Could you pick one of these cards?
|
 Riddle
Riddle 
|
Hah? What is this all of a sudden?
|
 Ace
Ace 
|
C’mon, just go with it. Give us five minutes of your time.
A little recreation is important for students to bond more. Right?
|
 Riddle
Riddle 
|
Honestly… I suppose. …Alright. I’ve picked a card.
|
 Cater
Cater 
|
Riddle, let me see which one you picked.
…King of hearts, huh?
|
 Riddle
Riddle 
|
And what was the purpose of doing this?
|
 Ace
Ace 
|
Now I’m going to guess which card you picked.
|
 Riddle
Riddle 
|
Oh, I see. You’re practicing clairvoyance magic.
|
 Cater
Cater 
|
Mm~ This is a little bit different.
It’s a magic trick. Acey’s really good at them.
|
 Riddle
Riddle 
|
A magic trick? Hmm… I’ve never seen one before.
|
 Ace
Ace 
|
Put your card back on top of the deck. Then I’ll shuffle it really well.
…Hey, Dorm Leader. Don’t look away; watch my hands carefully.
Now that the whole deck is shuffled, I’ll let you hold onto it.
|
 Riddle
Riddle 
|
Okay…
|
 Ace
Ace 
|
I’m going to snap my fingers and focus on the cards. And then…
The one you picked will appear inside my jacket’s inner pocket!
Make sure to tightly hold onto the cards with both your hands so they don’t escape.
|
 Riddle
Riddle 
|
…I don’t believe these cards have magic cast on them. How would they escape my hold?
|
 Ace
Ace 
|
C’mon, just go with it. …Ready? One, two, three!
|
 Riddle
Riddle 
|
…Nothing happened.
|
 Ace
Ace 
|
Heheh! You’d think!
But inside my inner pocket… Look! One of the cards got away from you!
|
 Riddle
Riddle 
|
!
|
 Ace
Ace 
|
This card is… the king of hearts! This is the one you picked, right?
|
 Riddle
Riddle 
|
Yes. That’s correct.
|
 Cater
Cater 
|
Amazing! That’s way more advanced than the trick you showed me earlier.
|
 Riddle
Riddle 
|
And… he didn’t use magic to take that card from my hands?
|
 Ace
Ace 
|
Nope! It’s just a trick.
|
 Riddle
Riddle 
|
How does this work? And how did you know which card I chose? At what point did it get inside your pocket?
|
 Cater
Cater 
|
Ahaha! Riddle, you’re so invested in it~
|
 Ace
Ace 
|
I reacted the same way when my big brother first showed me this trick.
|
 Riddle
Riddle 
|
Oh? I didn’t know you had a brother.
|
 Ace
Ace 
|
I never talked about him with you? He’s a Night Raven College grad.
And he was in Heartslabyul!
There’s not a lot to do for fun when you’re living in a dorm.
So he just played around with playing cards to kill time, and ended up building his magic repertoire.
|
 Cater
Cater 
|
So your brother taught you magic tricks?
|
 Ace
Ace 
|
Sorta… He didn’t just nicely teach me how to do them or anything.
It was more like, I watched him do them over and over again and learned by copying him.
|
 Cater
Cater 
|
I get it. So you’re the “skill stealer” type.
You’re super good at remembering things, huh, Acey? And you’re a quick thinker.
|
 Ace
Ace 
|
I guess ♪ For most things, I can copy them after watching them a few times.
Unlike a certain clumsy Mr. Goody-Two-Shoes, I’m pretty advanced.
|
 Riddle
Riddle 
|
Since you’re so proud of your memorization skills, why don’t you show us?
By memorizing the rules of the Queen of Hearts and the timeline of magic history.
|
 Ace
Ace 
|
Gegh… That’s a whole different story! I suck at memorizing facts!
|
 Riddle
Riddle 
|
Next week, the freshmen have a magic history quiz, don’t they? Deuce told me about it.
If you get any red marks, you won’t be having a seat at our Unbirthday Party next weekend.
|
 Ace
Ace 
|
Man… I thought I could distract you with a magic trick, but we’re back to talking about school…
|
 Cater
Cater 
|
Distractions don’t work against Riddle, Acey.
|
 Riddle
Riddle 
|
Ace, what is your answer?
|
 Ace
Ace 
|
Yes, Dorm Leader!
|