Chapter 3.2: Dinner and Mahjong
Meanwhile, inside the log house—
“Ron.”
“Riichi.”
“Pon.”
“Got a dora… hehe.”
A different kind of life-and-death battle was unfolding.
At the center of the table was a wooden board.
Smooth white tiles were neatly arranged on all sides.
The mahjong tiles and table were both made by Yu using magic.
Their hardness and weight matched those from his previous life—or so he claimed.
But any craftsman in this world would cry upon seeing their precision.
And seated around the table were—
“…Why are the two maids in first place?”
North seat, Yu.
He stared down at his hand with a gloomy expression.
The east and west seats were maids.
The south seat was Aurora.
It was South Round 2.
The ones fighting for first place were the two maids.
Aurora’s group had fully mastered mahjong over the past two years.
At first, they struggled with terms like “calling,” “tenpai,” and “furiten,” but now they were full-fledged players.
Aurora was even seriously considering introducing the game to the capital.
It was too fun—so much so that it could lead to gambling problems.
She had already fallen asleep multiple times while thinking about legal regulations for it.
But right now, the current match mattered most.
‘This is bad. Really bad.’
Yu nearly widened his eyes but held back.
‘How did it come to this… me and the princess fighting for last… and this hand is terrible…!’
His tiles were scattered, with isolated honors.
No shape, no dora.
There was no way to turn this around.
Meanwhile, Aurora also frowned deeply.
‘What is this hand? This is garbage! What am I supposed to do with this…!?’
Equally terrible.
Even if she pushed forward, she’d be left with dangerous tiles.
In contrast, the two maids remained calm.
The east-seat maid spoke quietly.
“Pon.”
She took a white tile and set it aside.
An early call.
A fast push to secure first place.
‘She called… even from that score, she’s pushing…’
Yu groaned internally.
Then came chi, pon—three calls in quick succession.
The aura of tenpai spread immediately.
Without delay, the west-seat maid aligned her tiles.
“Riichi.”
She slammed a tile onto the table.
The sticks moved, and a riichi stick stood.
That one word changed the atmosphere.
Pressure.
A challenger refusing to let first place escape.
‘Can she escape with that short hand…?’
The east-seat maid remained unfazed.
Only a moment’s pause—then she discarded smoothly.
No fear.
Her eyes seemed to say, ‘Do you think that’s enough to stop me?’
Meanwhile—
Yu and Aurora, both fighting for last place.
Neither had even reached tenpai.
And there were no safe tiles.
Everything on the table was uncertain.
‘What am I supposed to do…’
Yu resisted the urge to clutch his head.
‘If I fold, I can’t fully fold… If I push, I’m feeding someone… but if I don’t, I’m guaranteed last…’
Aurora faced the same dilemma.
‘With this score and this turn… if I back off, I lose. Then—’
A drop of sweat ran down her temple.
‘Then I have no choice but to go forward…!’
She clenched her tiles.
Then lifted her gaze slightly.
“…Victory demands stepping into danger! The path forward lies ahead!”
“Stop raising flags!”
Yu immediately retorted.
But Aurora’s hand did not stop.
She picked a tile that had never been discarded.
A completely unsafe tile.
‘Go through…!’
She placed it down.
Clack.
“Ron.”
A calm voice.
The east-seat maid narrowed her eyes slightly.
“Ron.”
Another voice overlapped.
The west-seat maid grinned.
“………”
Time froze for a moment.
“Double ron.”
The west-seat maid said casually.
Both revealed their hands.
Both decent scores.
East was a solid hand.
West had riichi, dora, and a high-value combination.
They calculated the total—
“…Princess, you’ve busted.”
Yu said quietly.
“South Round 2, game over.”
“That one tile ended it!?”
Aurora nearly slid off her chair.
Her points were completely wiped out.
A negative score.
A bust.
The east-seat maid took first.
The west-seat maid placed second, barely behind.
“…If only I had one more ura dora, I would’ve won!”
“That was close. Truly a narrow victory.”
An intense battle between first and second.
But the two fighting for last—
Yu barely avoided last.
Aurora finished dead last with a bust.
The contrast was overwhelming.
“………”
Both Yu and Aurora stared blankly at the tiles.
The silence was broken by the west-seat maid.
“But Your Highness, that tile was clearly dangerous.”
“I knew! I knew that! But there are times when one must go forward!”
“Could you not justify pushing unsafe tiles like that…”
Yu sighed heavily.
“Well, I was in a similar situation… one wrong move and I’d be the one busting.”
“Hehe.”
The top-ranking maid smiled softly.
“Today’s results. East wins, west close second, north survives, south—”
“Stop that phrasing.”
“In battlefield terms, one dead, one critically wounded.”
“Stop that too!”
Aurora, frustrated, began shuffling tiles loudly.
“Again! One more round! This time I’ll take first!”
“Your Highness, we leave early tomorrow.”
“Your Highness, staying up late is—”
“Silence! I can’t sleep after losing!”
The maids sighed and began resetting the tiles.
Yu smiled wryly and picked up the dice.
“Alright, last one. If we go beyond this, no breakfast tomorrow.”
“That would be a matter of life and death… then this final match will decide it!”
“You’re the most honest about food…”
The game continued.
Introducing mahjong to the capital.
Regulating gambling.
All those concerns faded.
Right now—
Aurora was simply a player, staring at the tiles before her.