Rock-Paper-Scissors Game

“I really want to make them into bag form, but there’s no time now, so this is as far as I can go.”

I spread the freshly made strocloth on the floor, then tilted the receiving tray and transferred the pile of flour onto it.

“After that, I just wrap this using the method of a ‘furoshiki,’ which is passed down in the Eastern country, and tie the outside with strope.

All right, done. This makes one bag of wheat flour weighing about ten kilos, I’d say.

Maachan, sorry, but could you load this onto the cart outside?”

Maachan was staring blankly, but she immediately rolled up her sleeves and responded, “Ah… okay, leave it to me!”

She was full of energy, but her strength was still that of a girl after all, and she carried the ten-kilo bag with visible effort.

“Hey, Leopin-kun, can I go call my classmates? I was thinking of having them help carry things.”

“Yeah, do that.”

“Then I’ll be right back for a bit!”

Leaving behind those words and a lingering scent like sunshine, Maachan ran out of the waterwheel hut.

Watching that energetic back as she left, I muttered to myself.

“It hasn’t even been an hour yet, but we’ve already made almost a ton of flour. At this rate, we should be able to turn it all into wheat flour before the noon bell.”

That is, unless some pointless interference shows up…

But that seemed to be a fleeting hope.

Because when I glanced sideways toward the corner of the hut, Payper and Kakerukun were in the middle of whispering to each other.

After a while, Payper came at me with that same cross-eyed look, like a company president who had spotted an incompetent employee in the factory.

“Paaah~? Just as I thought, you really are a complete idiot. You’re supposed to do this contest by yourself, and yet you’re borrowing Maachan’s help.”

“This is a milling contest, right? What I’m asking Maachan to do is transport the flour after the milling is finished.”

“Pay! Well, Pay is a generous merchant, so I’ll specially allow it. But in exchange… you’re going to play one more game with Pay!”

Thinking he’d lose at this rate, he must have been cooking up more dirty tricks with Kakerukun.

“I’m in the middle of milling right now, and I’m also doing straw weaving at the same time. And now you’re telling me to play a game on top of that?”

“Paaah~. If you refuse, then you lose by foul play! Isn’t that right, Principal!”

“Yep! This is a game in exchange for us allowing Maachan’s assistance, so Leopin-kun has an obligation to accept it! Right! Right!”

At this point, it was basically anything goes.

“Fine, but make it a simple game that doesn’t require me to move from here.”

“Paaah~. It’s a game even a complete idiot like you can play: ‘Rock-Paper-Scissors’! And the punishment game will be the same as before in the ‘Which Wheat Game’: a slap!”

When he declared the punishment, Payper pressed the cheek that was still slightly red as if nursing a toothache.

Apparently he was still holding a grudge about being hit and was trying to get revenge.

The other day, I had acquired the Gambler job.

The Gambler has a skill called Paper-Rock-Scissors that lets you know what hand your opponent will throw in rock-paper-scissors.

As long as I had that, I didn’t think I could lose, but…

“…Are you really sure about this?”

I started to say that, then swallowed the words.

I had the Dexterous Job Change skill that let me switch into all kinds of jobs, but I had never told anyone about it.

That was because no such skill had ever existed before, so I didn’t think anyone would believe me.

It was frustrating, but when I thought about it, that had a convenient side too.

In contests in this world, the other person’s job was important information.

If you knew the other person’s job, then naturally you knew what skills they would use, and that narrowed down their tactics.

From the other side’s point of view, I was “jobless,” so they thought I “couldn’t do anything.”

That arrogance was a major advantage for me…!

“All right, fine. Let’s settle this with rock-paper-scissors.”

As I accepted, I took off my boots and went barefoot.

“Paaah? What are you doing?”

“I’m in the middle of straw weaving, so my hands are occupied. I’ll be playing rock-paper-scissors with my feet. This is rock, this is scissors, and this is paper.”

I raised my foot and curled and spread my toes to show each hand sign.

“Pay! Playing rock-paper-scissors with your feet, how insulting…! Fine then, let’s begin!”

“Hold it, before that, you’ll kneel in front of me while we play rock-paper-scissors.”

“Payii!?”

Payper made a face like he was about to bite off his own tongue.

“It can’t be helped. My hands are occupied, so I can’t slap you.”

“D-don’t tell me you’re planning to slap Pay’s cheek with your foot!? In all my life, Pay has never been struck even by a hand, you know!?”

With tears of frustration in his eyes, Payper pressed his cheek again.

Apparently being slapped by me had been an unbearable humiliation for him.

“It can’t be helped. My hands are occupied over here. If you don’t like it, why not make it a different punishment game?”

“Pay! N-no, I don’t want that! If I don’t slap you, Pay won’t be satisfied!”

Then Kakerukun, standing nearby, placed a hand on Payper’s shoulder.

“It’s okay, Payper-kun, you won’t lose! Because I know verrry well just how strong Payper-kun is at rock-paper-scissors! Right! Right!”

“R-right, Principal! I-I understand! I’ll accept those conditions!”

When Payper bent his knees, he looked up at my face like a rebellious shoe shiner.

I secretly activated Jack-of-All-Trades’ Dexterous Job Change skill and changed into Gambler.

When I activated the Paper-Rock-Scissors skill, an aura in the shape of an open palm appeared above his head.

…His opening move is paper, huh… That suits a guy who keeps saying “paaah”…

Then on my side, it should be scissors…

The moment I thought that, the aura above his head changed to rock.

…What’s going on?

Then I should go with paper after all…

But then the aura changed again, turning into scissors.

…What’s been happening this whole time?

His hand keeps changing over and over.

I immediately realized what it meant.

Directly behind the crouching Payper stood Kakerukun, his hand hanging loosely at his side.

At first glance it looked like a natural stance, but on closer inspection, it also looked like he was touching Payper’s back.

…I see!

Kakerukun is using the Paper-Rock-Scissors skill too!

He’s reading the hand I’m going to throw and passing it to Payper through his back!

That’s why the hand Payper was going to throw kept changing to match the one I had been thinking of!

Well, I had figured they’d pull some kind of trick, but I never expected something like this…!

At this rate, it would turn into a game of pure luck where I’d have to throw without thinking.

That would be the proper form of rock-paper-scissors in its own way, but wasn’t there some other move I could make…?

A thought suddenly flashed through my mind.

Right, in my head I’ll think of it as if I’m “playing rock-paper-scissors against Kakerukun.”

Then for Payper, I just need to throw “the opposite hand” to that.

I avoided looking at Kakerukun and focused my awareness on him.

…If I were playing rock-paper-scissors with Kakerukun, the hand I’d throw would be “scissors”…!

In that instant, I felt like I saw Kakerukun grin at the edge of my vision.

“All riiiight, here we gooo! Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!”

…Bam!

Hand and foot collided as though sparks were flying.

As expected, the hand Payper threw was “rock.”

And my foot was…

“Pa… paaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?!!?”

With that winning move—or rather, winning foot—I struck his cheek with a loud smack, as if refusing to hear another word.

Sspaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanーーーーーーーーーーーーーーっ!!

“My paaaaaaaperーーーーーーーーーーーーーー!?!!?”

After taking the blow of my bare sole, Payper flew straight sideways and disappeared from my field of vision.