Why did the game come to this point?
At the beginning, everyone was just rolling dice and buying land. There were no problems back then.
After all, there were more unowned lands than owned ones. Even if someone landed on another’s property, the rent wasn’t that high.
Lukesil even doubted if her magic had gone wrong for a moment.
Back then, Monopoly was peaceful, not ominous or unsettling at all. Naturally, there was no reason for the players to get excited.
“Was I overthinking it just because it’s a board game?”
………And then it gradually became clear that this was an overly naive thought.
“I’ve bought three lands of the same color in the east, so now this area is my monopoly. I’ll build a building here.”
It all started with Kyle Byron’s monopoly and building purchase.
According to the rules he explained, building structures allows you to collect higher toll fees, but the land must be in a monopoly state.
There were also restrictions like not being able to build multiple structures on one plot and having to build equally on all lands.
I didn’t know why such restrictions existed, but since the creator said so, I just accepted it.
Even though Kyle Byron was the first to start a monopoly, it was only three spaces. If you rolled the dice well, you could avoid it.
“Actually, Kyle Byron couldn’t buy more lands because he spent all his money on buildings.”
But you can’t avoid it forever. The first to get caught was her assistant.
And then.
“90 gold, please.”
“Okay……….”
Indeed, the toll fee for monopolized land with buildings was quite high. Considering that the toll fee was only 18 gold without buildings, it was five times more.
Kyle Byron used that toll fee to add more buildings to his monopolized land.
Next was the magician from Arkhé Magic Tower.
“250 gold, please.”
“……Two hundred fifty.”
“Adela?”
“………Understood.”
‘Two hundred fifty!?’
When I first heard that price, I couldn’t believe my ears. The toll fee was 90 gold with one building, but with just one more building, it had tripled.
Only then did Lukesil take a closer look at the board game. Specifically, at the other players’ lands.
Lukesil and her assistant had the most lands. It was natural since they kept participating in auctions. However, they had few monopolized lands, so they couldn’t build structures and earned very little gold.
In contrast, the magician from Arkhé, being Kyle Byron’s companion, seemed to focus on monopolizing, perhaps having played this board game before. But since they also tried to expand their lands, they were short on money.
And Kyle Byron.
He rarely bought other lands, focusing only on his three monopolized spaces. At first, it seemed foolish, but───
‘……Gulp.’
Lukesil felt cold sweat every time Kyle Byron’s land was near.
Saying you just need to avoid that land is the same as saying you’re doomed if you land on it.
I wanted to pay to avoid it if possible, but the only way to move was by rolling dice. Lukesil closed her eyes tightly, prayed to her tower lord, and rolled the dice.
*Rolling sound*
“The result is……8. Oh dear, you’ve landed on my property?”
“Ahhh!”
She cursed the tower lord in her heart.
250 gold. That’s a fortune. For Lukesil, who had almost no buildings on her lands, it would take over ten landings by other players to earn that much.
Still, Lukesil, who still had some spare funds, tried to pay the toll fee.
“700 gold, please.”
“Wha, what!? Just a moment ago, it was……!!”
“The place Adela landed on had two buildings, but the place you’re on now has three buildings.”
“……Ah.”
Saying it’s 700 gold, but when I first played Monopoly…
When you think about it, the 1500 gold you received at the start is half of your initial funds. Lukesil didn’t have that much cash on hand.
Am I really going to lose like this? Just because of one unlucky roll of the dice?
While I was thinking that, Kyle Byron spoke up.
“If you’re short on cash, you can give me land instead.”
“Even so… is that allowed?”
“Didn’t I mention it at the beginning? Everything, whether it’s buildings or land, can be traded.”
…Looking back now.
I should’ve just lost back then.
It would’ve been better to just lose cleanly, giving up all the land I had.
If I had done that.
I wouldn’t have had to cling to false hope afterward.
“Alright. Shall we begin?”
Honestly, when you think about it, Kyle Byron’s land was landed on less than five times by others. Considering the number of turns that had passed and the fact that Lukesil had collected toll fees over 20 times, it was a really small number.
But Lukesil only collected a small amount in toll fees, while Kyle Byron raked in a massive amount.
‘Monopoly… it means monopolizing, right?’
The strategy Lukesil used in this game was wrong.
The moment you monopolize land and build buildings, just having a lot of land can’t keep up with a monopoly.
With the money he made, Kyle Byron literally went on a cash rampage.
“T-twenty gold!”
“Thirty gold.”
“T-thirty-five gold!”
“Forty gold.”
“Fifty gold!”
“Seventy gold.”
“Ughhh…”
He showed off overwhelming financial power in the auction.
“Adela, won’t you sell me that one piece of land over there?”
“If I sell this, you’ll achieve a monopoly. Absolutely not.”
“50 gold.”
“No.”
“80 gold.”
“Are you trying to buy me off with money now? I’m disappointed.”
“120 gold.”
“…N-no.”
“150 gold.”
“………”
“200 gold.”
“Here’s the deed.”
“Thank you, Adela.”
He bought any land he wanted.
Meanwhile, whenever any of the three players landed on Kyle Byron’s land, they had to pay 700 gold, so it seemed like Kyle’s funds were endless.
Wasn’t he buying land at too high a price? But Lukesil realized that thought was meaningless anyway.
On the board now, there weren’t many monopolized lands. It was because Lukesil and her assistant had been buying up land haphazardly.
But the monopolized lands were almost all Kyle Byron’s.
In the end, the players were paying more in toll fees to Kyle Byron than they were earning from selling land.
And.
Kyle Byron’s land, monopolies, and buildings just kept growing.
“……Please.”
Later on, I was practically begging not to land on Kyle Byron’s land every turn.
Before I knew it, Monopoly had turned from a game of collecting toll fees from each other into a game of avoiding one player’s monopoly.
“Sally, can you lend me 3000 gold? Everyone’s out of cash.”
“Y-young Master, the royal treasury is out of money now…”
“Already? Oh well.”
While the other players were struggling with just a few hundred gold, a few hundred gold was pocket change to Kyle Byron. He casually took out thousands of gold using land as collateral, to the point where the fake money prepared for the game was almost gone.
Can this even be called a board game?
At this point, it felt more like torture than a game.
I wish it wasn’t my turn. I don’t want to roll the dice and land on Kyle Byron’s land…
I hope it goes well.
Dreaming of buying more land, monopolizing, and building buildings? Forget about it.
Every day, I desperately try to avoid Kyle, who has become an overwhelmingly wealthy noble.
Like that.
“Don’t worry. You won’t feel any pain. I’ll end it in one swift move.”
“Ah, Adela!?”
“I felt it last time too, but this devilish board game should disappear immediately. If you don’t want to die, destroy this Monopoly board game…”
“Just kill me instead.”
“………..”
The game is over. From the beginning, Kyle Byron maintained an overwhelming lead.
There was no chance of a comeback. It was a miserable, unpleasant, and infuriating board game, to the point where I envied the first one to be eliminated.
Lukesil realized why she felt an ominous vibe from the name Monopoly.
‘Just because the players get a little excited?’
Recalling Kyle Byron’s words, Lukesil let out a hollow laugh. She was desperately holding back the urge to blast magic like a mage from Arkhé.
This thing, this thing.
“What if we made this a regular event at the Academy?”
“………Kyle.”
“Lukesil. Do you remember the requirements you wrote in the letter you sent?”
“Of course.”
When she sent the letter, she requested the creation of a board game along with a special ‘condition.’
It was the bare minimum measure for Astron Magic Tower to escape 6th place this time.
“A game that can be played by six players. Since all players are mages, it should be a game that uses the mind rather than the body. A game that relies somewhat on luck.”
And.
“If possible… a game where you can overwhelmingly dominate the other players if you win.”
“………”
It was a condition born from past defeats and a desire for revenge.
……It wasn’t just for Lukesil’s personal satisfaction.
It was for the mages who chose Astron.
‘You can’t tell the kids in front of them that they’re not good enough, so they only challenge one-on-one.’
At first, Lukesil taught with more passion, and the students also worked hard to escape last place this time.
But after five consecutive years of this, a general sense of “it’s pointless anyway” was slowly spreading.
‘I heard they’re subtly being looked down on by mages from other fields.’
How much would that hurt their pride? How much resentment has built up?
To reverse this situation, this atmosphere, simply escaping last place or getting first isn’t enough.
An overwhelming, one-sidedly dominant first place.
That’s what Lukesil wanted.
Even though it seemed like an impossible dream while worrying about ending up in last place again, that’s why she clung to Kyle Byron as her last hope.
“Lukesil, what will you do? Will you choose… Monopoly?”
If that sounds like the devil’s whisper, maybe it’s just my mood.
The mage from Arkhé was right. This Monopoly board game is truly a devil’s game. A game that shouldn’t exist.
But still.
“Can we… win?”
If her students could break free from defeatism and that gloomy atmosphere, if they could just be happy…
Lukesil would even shake hands with the devil.
……And maybe secure her retirement savings along the way.
“I like fair board games. Normally, I wouldn’t help one side specifically.”
“………What are you saying?”
“If you just promise me one condition, I’ll give you tips to help Astron win first place. Of course, it’s just strategic advice, so I can’t guarantee first place.”
“Enough, I suppose.”
It was a strategy directly revealed by the creator himself. If it were magic, it might be different, but if it’s a battle of wits, even the current Astron had a fair chance of winning.
That’s what Lukesil thought, but…
‘But what on earth is the condition………?’
Kyle Byron—no, that devil—what kind of condition could he possibly be talking about?
At that moment, as an inexplicable sense of dread crept over her, Lukesil trembled.
“────, how about it?”
“W-what do you mean!?”
“If you don’t accept it, I won’t be giving you any advice.”
“But………….”
Before she knew it, Kyle Byron, who had transformed from a genius board game creator into a truly devilish human, laughed in Lukesil’s mind.
Was it just her imagination? To Lukesil, it seemed like the laugh of a devil.
In fact, even the magicians and maids of Arkhé, as well as the Water Spirit, were trembling.
“Wait. You, think again. Are you in your right mind?”
“Y-yeah! Young Master, are you serious……?”
[Grrr!]
“I’m serious. That’s the only way it can be considered ‘fair,’ don’t you think?”
“………….”
“Lukesil, in the end, it’s your choice. What will you do?”
“………I.”
Ah.
To all the students of the Academy.
“I accept……….”
“Excellent!”
I’ve summoned the devil, haven’t I?
Curse me………
*
The next day.
Astron announced the event for this Academy gathering.
“Monopoly? What kind of game is this?”
“Kyle Byron made it? That makes it trustworthy.”
“Who’s that?”
“You don’t know Abracadabra from Arkhé Magic Tower? He’s the one who made it. Well, it’s not an illusion but a board game.”
“Huh……? That guy who was made an honorary elder at Arkhé even though he’s not a magician? Didn’t know his name.”
It was a board game called Monopoly.
“So what’s this game about? If it’s the event, shouldn’t we practice or something?”
“Look here. They set it up in the Astron dormitory hall.”
“Oh, let’s check it out during break. Even if we’re not the representatives, I’m curious. It’s Kyle Byron’s game, after all.”
“Wait, Byron? If I remember correctly, Byron is the top student from Natura’s side………?”
Thanks to the ‘condition’ Kyle Byron set, Monopoly was installed in Astron’s dormitory and made available to all Academy students.
Naturally, after classes ended, a flood of students gathered at Astron Magic Tower.
………And so.
“You jerk!? Why did you buy that!?”
“Is there a rule saying I can’t?”
“Then I can’t monopolize it!!”
“If you’re upset, buy it back. I’ll sell it to you for double the auction price.”
“You little!!”
The Academy descending into chaos.
Perhaps it was already destined to happen.
