The Acolyte of Spirits and Curses

They wandered for a while longer until the street gradually grew louder and more crowded.

Evelyne slowed her steps slightly when something caught her attention.

Through the glass panels of one of the buildings, she could see rows of glowing machines, screens flickering in every direction while people stood in front of them, completely absorbed.

The sounds of button presses, digital effects, and occasional cheers echoed faintly even from outside.

"...What is that place?" she asked, tilting her head slightly as she looked inside.

Klein followed her gaze and gave a small smile. "Arcade."

Evelyne blinked. "...Arcade?"

"You’ve never been to one?"

She shook her head slowly, still watching the lights inside. "No... I’ve heard of them, but..."

She hesitated for a moment before looking back at him. "...It looks noisy."

"Oh, it is... it’s fun though."

She looked back inside again, her eyes flickering with curiosity.

"...Do you want to go in?" Klein asked.

Evelyne stared for another second before a small smile appeared on her lips "...Yes."

They stepped inside together.

And the next instant, the noise rushed in, startling Evelyne for a moment.

People stood shoulder to shoulder in some areas, laughing, shouting, or groaning depending on how their game was going.

Evelyne’s eyes moved from one machine to another, "There’s... a lot."

Smiling, Klein spoke "Wait a minute, I will buy some tokens."

With that, he left, and a few seconds later, he returned with a handful of tokens.

He took one token and placed it in her hand. "Start simple."

Evelyne looked down at the token, turning it slightly between her fingers. "...What do I do with this?"

Klein nodded toward a nearby machine. "Come."

He led her to a shooting game with two stations side by side and inserted his token before picking up the controller.

Evelyne watched him for a moment, then followed, inserting hers with a bit more hesitation.

The game started.

Targets appeared on the screen.

Evelyne froze for a second, unsure how quickly she was supposed to react "Klein- wait!"

"Shoot."

"I don’t-"

"Just press it."

She pressed the trigger.

The sound of the shot rang out, and the target shattered on the screen.

Evelyne blinked in amazement "...Oh."

Another target appeared and this time she reacted a little faster.

Then another.

Her movements gradually became more confident as she focused and tried to keep up with the pace of the game.

By the time the round ended, she was breathing slightly faster than before with her eyes still fixed on the screen.

"...That was actually fun."

Klein glanced at her score, "Wow. You’re not bad."

Evelyne turned to him immediately "Not bad?"

"For your first time."

She narrowed her eyes slightly. "...Again."

He smirked faintly. "Alright, Young Lady."

This time, Evelyne reacted faster from the very beginning as she tried to predict where the targets would appear.

Then the final score appeared and Klein still had more.

Evelyne stared at the screen "...Again."

Klein didn’t even comment this time. He simply inserted another token.

They played again.

And again.

Each round followed the same pattern, with Evelyne improving, adapting, getting closer... and Klein still winning by a small margin every single time.

Evelyne stared at the numbers "...This game is biased."

Klein let out a quiet laugh. "It’s not."

"It is."

"You are just... bad at this game."

"I was disadvantaged."

"How?"

"You’re experienced."

Klein tilted his head slightly. "So?"

"So that’s unfair."

"I can’t just... play intentionally bad, you know. You’re the one who asked to play again."

"...Again."

---

They moved on to other machines after that, and Evelyne pointed things out now instead of waiting for Klein to suggest them, pulling him along whenever something caught her interest.

The more time passed, the more comfortable she became, until the composed noblewoman from earlier completely faded.

At one point, she stopped in front of a claw machine.

Inside, a soft plush toy was sitting among several others.

Evelyne leaned slightly closer to the glass. "...That one."

Klein glanced at it. "You want it?"

"...Maybe."

He inserted a token and tried.

The claw descended, hovered for a moment, then closed and missed entirely.

Evelyne pressed her lips together, clearly trying not to smile. "...You missed."

"Quiet."

He tried again, and this time it grabbed the toy but dropped it halfway.

Evelyne couldn’t hold it in anymore and laughed. "You said you were good at games."

"I am."

"Clearly not at this one."

Klein stepped aside slightly and gestured "Then you try."

Evelyne inserted the token and carefully adjusted the claw’s position with a serious look on her face.

"...This is about precision," she muttered.

Klein watched silently, and she pressed the button.

The claw descended, grabbed the plush, and dropped it just before reaching the edge.

Evelyne stared at the machine "...It cheated."

Klein laughed quietly. "It didn’t."

"It did."

She turned to him with complete seriousness. "This machine is rigged."

"Obviously."

"...Then why does it exist?"

"To take your money."

Evelyne glanced back at the machine "...Again."

She inserted another token.

And another.

Each time, the result was the same.

The claw would either miss entirely or fail at the very last moment.

Her lips twitched in irritation "...This is unacceptable."

Evelyne simply inserted another token with slightly more force than necessary.

The claw descended again and... missed.

"...One more time."

Another attempt and another failure.

The plush slipped from the claw once again at the very last second, bouncing back into the pile.

Evelyne stood there for a second, staring at the claw machine.

Then, very calmly, she reached toward her storage bracelet.

A faint glint of light flickered, and in the next instant, a sword appeared in her hand.

"...This evil piece of junk should be eradicated."

Before she could take even a single step forward, Klein wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her back.

"Whoa-hey."

Evelyne stiffened in his hold, clearly caught off guard. "Let go."

"No."

"I said let go."

"No, you’re not destroying the arcade."

"This thing is clearly a scam."

"That’s the point. It’s business."

"It deserves to be destroyed."

Klein tightened his hold slightly, keeping her firmly in place "You’re overreacting."

"I am not."

She tried to step forward again, swinging her sword, but Klein simply pulled her back a little more, preventing her from moving any closer.

"Let me go," she insisted in a stubborn voice. "I will end this quickly."

"You’re not ending anything."

"This machine has wronged me."

"Calm down, Evelyne... it’s just a machine."

Evelyne went quiet for a moment, still staring at the machine like it had personally insulted her dignity.

Her fingers flexed slightly around the hilt of her sword, and for a second, Klein thought she might actually try to break free just to prove a point.

"Release me, Klein... today I will destroy this scam machine to pieces."

Her eyes narrowed slightly, and he shifted his grip just enough to pull her a step farther away from the claw machine, increasing the distance between her and her "enemy."

"If you break something, we’re getting thrown out."

That made her pause, and she turned her head towards him "...That would be inconvenient."

The sword in her hand flickered, then vanished back into her bracelet.

"...Fine."

Klein didn’t let go immediately, keeping his arm around her waist for another second as if making sure she wouldn’t suddenly change her mind and charge the machine again.

Evelyne gave the claw one last look, and her eyes still carried that resentment "...Next time, I will win."

Klein smiled faintly as he finally loosened his hold. "I’m sure you will."

He reached down and gently took her hand again "...Let’s go somewhere else."

Evelyne’s eyes narrowed slightly as she glanced back at the machine one more time "...At least let me give it a kick."

"Huh?"

She stepped forward just enough, lifted her leg with perfect balance, and kicked the machine.

THUD.

The sound echoed far louder than it should have been, and for a second, everything around them seemed to stop.

A visible dent formed on the metal casing of the claw machine as the entire structure rattled slightly from the impact.

Klein slowly turned his head to look at it.

"...-_- Fuck."

Evelyne lowered her leg in panic "T-That... I didn’t mean to kick it that hard."

A few people nearby turned to look, with some whispering while others stared at the damaged machine and at Evelyne.

"...We need to leave."

Evelyne glanced around, finally noticing the attention. "...Are we in trouble?"

"Yes."

"...Oh."

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