TBCTW Chapter 27

Chapter 27 – Genius Dealer

Chapter 11, Part 3

Novel Title: 獣はかくしてまぐわう (The Beasts Copulate This Way)

Author：風結子 沙野 (Fuyuko Sano)

Illustrator：小山田 あみ (Oyamada Ami)

Translator: K (@kin0monogatari)

Protagonists: 鹿倉 陣也 (Kagura Jinya -MC) & ゼロ (Zero -ML)

*Please read at novels.space, the original site of translation. TQ*

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“No more bets,” Haiiro announced in his slightly raspy voice.  

With a wave, he shuffled the cards, delighting the spectators, and then began dealing.  

Two cards were dealt each to the player area and the banker area. The side whose total’s last digit came closest to nine won. Even those not directly playing could place bets on the outcome.  

“Player eight, banker eight—a tie on eights.”  

The round ended in a tie without any additional cards being drawn. For ties, chips are simply returned to their owners—but Kagura stared at his chips, which he had bet on the tie as per Haiiro’s signals. The payout for ties was eight times the bet.  

Haiiro’s moves were brilliant.  

He ensured Kagura wouldn’t attract too much attention by letting him lose occasionally, while strategically guiding him to place large bets on high-payout outcomes. Kagura’s chips steadily increased.  

It even seemed that Haiiro was monitoring Kiriyama’s chip stack from a distance and adjusting accordingly.  

―――What a ‘genius dealer’, indeed.  

Haiiro skillfully balanced the bets of all the players, managed the game seamlessly with mesmerising card handling, and planted his tricks subtly. At the same time, he sent precise signals to Kagura and kept an eye on Kiriyama. Each game lasted roughly two minutes, and he repeated this process with remarkable speed.  

Kagura had seen Haiiro juggle multiple knives in the past, but this—being a dealer—was undoubtedly his true forte.  

With less than thirty minutes left until 3 a.m., Kiriyama took a seat beside Kagura.  

“You’re doing quite well, it seems.”  

In front of Kagura stood several pillars of chips.  

Kiriyama joined the game, his eyes keenly observing Haiiro and Kagura from beneath his mask. If anyone could decipher Haiiro’s signals, it was Kiriyama.  

If their ‘tricks’ were discovered, Haiiro would be dragged into it too. Cold sweat trickled down Kagura’s back.  

Haiiro seemed to sense the danger as well and began signalling less frequently, reducing the use of his ‘tricks’.  

When there were no signals, Kagura placed only modest bets, but during this time, Kiriyama’s chip stack steadily grew.  

Kiriyama’s chips were now visibly more than Kagura’s.  

Even though he knew it was a mistake, Kagura couldn’t suppress his growing anxiety.  

Would he have to give up on this once-in-a-lifetime chance to learn Toono Ryouji’s whereabouts from Kiriyama?  

Then, with just five minutes remaining, Haiiro sent a signal.  

Kagura hesitated for a moment but realised he had no choice. It was all or nothing.  

Taking his place as a player, he bet all his remaining chips on a tie.  

Kiriyama placed a modest bet and fixed his gaze on Haiiro.  

By signalling Kagura to bet everything on a tie, Haiiro was clearly planning to use a ‘trick’. But could he pull it off under the weight of Kiriyama’s scrutiny?  

Kagura’s heart pounded noisily, and sweat trickled down the back of his neck.  

“No more bets,” Haiiro declared, his voice faintly tinged with tension.  

Yet his hands remained steady, moving smoothly as he dealt the cards.  

The banker’s cards were a 2 and a 5, totaling 7. The player’s cards were a 2 and a 3, totaling 5. The ‘trick’ had failed. Kagura’s vision darkened.

“Banker seven, player five, standing seven.”

Kagura recalled the rule that when the banker’s total was seven, the player side would receive one more card.

A new card was dealt next to the player’s 2 and 3.

“Banker seven, player seven, tie.”

Kagura felt like his entire body was about to collapse in relief.

The chips in front of him were returned eightfold.

“Time’s up. The match is settled.” At 2:59 a.m., Kiriyama rose from his seat beside Kagura as he spoke.

***

Kiriyama stepped into the purple elevator on the seventh floor, where the casino was located, and pressed the button for the first basement level. Kagura, intending to return to the Kilik room on the 11th floor to get information on Toono, spoke sharply.

“Are you trying to pretend the bet never happened?”

“I’m simply moving to a more appropriate location.”

It seemed Kiriyama didn’t think it suitable to discuss sensitive information related to the master of the castle while still inside it.

When they reached the underground parking lot, a sleek black car pulled up in front of them. A suited driver opened the door, and at Kiriyama’s urging, Kagura got into the back seat first.

Soon, the car arrived at the underground parking lot of a high-rise condominium.

As expected, Kiriyama’s place was on the top floor.

When they entered the spacious entryway, Kagura, still wearing his shoes, immediately demanded, “I’ll hear what you have to say here. Where is Toono? Is he still being sheltered by Li Azhar?”

But Kiriyama didn’t answer. He removed his shoes, slipped into black slippers, and even set out a pair of navy-blue slippers for Kagura before disappearing down the hallway.

Apparently, Kagura had no choice but to go further into the room. Clicking his tongue, he followed Kiriyama, passing through a door fitted with frosted glass in a pale blue frame at the end of the hallway.

The space opened up, giving Kagura a liberating sense of being outdoors. Glass windows stretched all the way up to the high ceilings of the mezzanine, offering a panoramic view of the city’s nightscape at 3:30 a.m. Below, the highway sparkled with the rhythmic flow of car lights.

The apartment was a duplex, with a staircase along the wall of the expansive living room.  

Kiriyama walked around the island kitchen and retrieved two bottles of mineral water from the fridge.  

After handing one to Kagura, Kiriyama’s gesture made Kagura realise just how parched he was after hours of intense focus without a single sip of water.  

As Kagura gulped down the water, Kiriyama ascended the staircase.  

“Wait! Answer my question!”  

Calling out, Kagura followed up the stairs. The sweeping night view gave him a faint sense of unease, as though he were climbing an outdoor staircase.  

At the top, Kiriyama entered a room at the end of the second floor. Kagura stepped inside after him—and froze in place.  

It was a bedroom, furnished with a king-size bed.  

Under the dim glow of the recessed downlights, Kiriyama was taking off his jacket.  

Kagura couldn’t process the situation.  

“Take everything off,” Kiriyama ordered. It was spoken so casually, as though it were the most natural thing in the world, while draping his jacket over the back of a chair.  

“…I’m the one who won the bet,” Kagura said cautiously.  

Was Kiriyama planning to invalidate the bet by accusing Haiiro of cheating, imposing some kind of penalty for the deception? Kagura’s concern grew, but Kiriyama replied calmly.  

“Yes, you won. Regardless of the methods.”  

From his tone, it was clear that Kiriyama had noticed the trickery but wasn’t planning to call it out.  

“In that case, tell me where Toono is.”  

“I’ll tell you later.”  

“…After what, exactly?”

Kiriyama loosened his tie but left his vest on.

“After I tasted you.”

The words alone sent shivers down Kagura’s entire body. His expression twisted into one of pure disgust, unfiltered.

“In other words, you have no intention of telling me.”

Kiriyama might have lost the bet, but he clearly had no plans to hand over the information about Toono. Instead, he was trying to drive Kagura away with this absurd proposition. So much for the so-called integrity Kiriyama supposedly valued.

“I’m leaving. This has been a waste of time.”

It had been a mistake to entertain any offer from someone like Kiriyama, no matter how desperately he needed the information. 

As Kagura turned to leave, Kiriyama called out to his back.

“I will tell you the information. But apart from that, you will obey me—for that man’s sake.”

“…”

Kagura clenched his fists and turned back. 

Kiriyama sat on the edge of the bed, looking directly at him. His deeply chiselled face exuded the confidence of someone who had already foreseen how things would unfold.

When Kagura allowed Kiriyama to touch his chest, the man had seen through his feelings for Zero. At that moment, Kagura himself had been forced to acknowledge it: he would use his own body to ensure Zero was never sold out to anyone.

No matter the outcome of the bet, tonight’s result had already been decided.  

Kiriyama had always intended to manipulate the situation to this point by dangling Zero over him. He could have gone straight to blackmail, yet he’d intentionally added the element of a potentially disadvantageous bet, as though it were some perverse foreplay.

“That irritated look suits you well.”

This was Kiriyama’s particular fetish.

Suppressing his emotions, Kagura adopted a blank expression as he confirmed, “You will honour the terms we agreed upon.”

“Neither of us will use our genitals. Is that acceptable?”

To Kagura’s surprise, Kiriyama made this concession.

It was just like when Kiriyama had touched his chest—he only needed to endure it.

Still facing Kiriyama, Kagura began removing his coat and tossing it to the floor. He followed with his jacket, tie, dress shirt, undershirt, slacks, socks, and finally, his boxer briefs, piling them one by one.

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*Translator’s Note: Not Kiriyama wanting that booty so bad… Hahaha. -K

Next update: 6th Nov 2025. If you see no updates, wait for announcement on Discord

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