Undead Mongols and clairvoyant dreidels

As the dining hall descended into chaos thanks to Mălina's cash raining down, Okisato took the chance to sneak out before Mimoko could notice. He made his way down the hall, but stopped and hid as he noticed a scene unfolding.

"P- Please. Leave me alone!" a girl with long brunette hair tied up in a ponytail trembled as a man clad in Mongol armor cornered her against a wall.

"No way. I feel like making you one of my wives. Now let's have some fun," the man sneered as he grabbed the girl's face.

Okisato sighed as he prepared himself. While he wasn't typically versed in geo-politics, he did know of Mongolia's recent infamy thanks to their new leader, Genghis Jad. A number of countries and parts of large ones like China and Russia had fallen to them. Mongolia's borders were now starting to resemble that of the old Mongol empire, though nations with strong chess talent like Uzbekistan had managed to hold their own, some others weren't so lucky, notably Iran which had completely fallen to them.

It was said most of Mongolia's new army were undead soldiers from it's past, brought back through necromancy, though this man appeared to look normal, at least on surface level.

"Oi, you trying to rape that girl?" Okisato growled as he revealed himself.

"Huh? Of course. I'm taking her as a wife," the man sneered as he clenched the girl's face tighter.

"Pretty bold of you to come out and say it," Okisato glared as he cracked his knuckles.

"I do things like it's 1206," the man smirked as he threw the girl aside and approached Okisato, ready to throw down.

The girl took her chance to try and escape, however, she was blocked by a girl with jet black twintails and glowing yellow eyes.

"Möge saw you trying to escape . Why you run?" the girl asked as her head began to rotate 360 degrees.

The brunette-haired girl let out a scream and fell to the ground as the man turned towards her and the other girl and sighed.

"Möge? Why are you here? I can have my fun."

"Jad is looking for you, so Möge went searching. Who is this woman? Is she a new threat to Möge?"

Jochi scowled as Okisato stared at Möge. It was clear by the fact that her head was rotating 360 degrees that she was either possessed or undead. Her pale grey skin and fact that her eyes were black instead of white seemed to point more towards the later.

"Does Jad NEED me? And don't try and claim he wants me not to get more wives. He's already got... how many?"

"Möge heard Jad wants you, so Möge came to fetch you!"

"Then drag that girl back with us."

"OKAY!"

Okisato however blocked Möge's path to the girl.

"Move, Möge needs that girl so Jochi will return to Jad."

"Ugh, then would a game of chess settle this?"

Jochi clicked his tongue and pulled up his WWCF card, but began scowling as he realized who he was dealing with.

"Don't bother Möge, we'll come to claim her another day, the day after we crush Japan," Jochi menacingly declared as he and Möge began walking away.

Once they were gone, the brunette girl emerged from behind Okisato and thanked him for his help.

"No worries, but you should be careful on your own-"

"TANABE-KUN!"

The sound of Mimoko's voice echoing out caused Okisato to grow uneasy, however, the brunette-haired girl decided to repay the favor by dragging him along with her.

"Where are we going?"

"To where my father, friends, and teammates are."

"Y- Your father?"

Okisato quickly realized things might be getting dicey, but he felt it'd be easier to deal with whoever this girl's father was than with Mimoko.

Eventually, the two reached a lounge area where various people were seated. Okisato was led to a table where people were gathered around a dark-skinned girl with gold hair and a middle-aged man with shoulder-length wavy brunette hair and a beard a mustache who were staring intently at a spinning top.

When the top stopped spinning, the girl began jumping for joy, before freezing and scowling. "Nun again!? You rigging this shit!?"

"You and me both. Nun's all I ever seem to get," the man chuckled as he spun the top and took a sip from what appeared to be a bottle of grape juice.

"Father, I'm back," the brunette girl smiled as she approached the man.

"Noa? What took so long? And who's that you brought?"

"Oh, he saved me from being assaulted, but it sounded like he was having some trouble with his girlfriend so I dragged him here as a way to repay the favor."

All eyes quickly turned to Okisato.

"Noa, you brought a guy back here, prepare yourself for what's to come," a girl with short pink hair smirked as she playfully began ruffling Noa's hair.

"Ah! Chaya, stop that!"

"No can do. Tis your punishment for cheating on me."

"I didn't cheat. In fact, you should thank him. I really was about to be dragged off by that scary Mongol."

"Which Mongol?" a woman with short green hair that obscured one of her eyes growled.

"Orit, no need to get too worked up. That guy took care of it," a dark-skinned woman with short blonde hair and blue highlights calmly nodded.

The green-haired woman stared at her before letting out a sigh and directing her attention to Okisato. "... Seems I just can't run from trouble."

Okisato shot the woman an odd stare, as he didn't recognize her at all, but when he instinctively tried to look her up with his WWCF card, he received an error message.

"Sorry, but you can't just see her card, or mine for that matter," the blonde-haired woman winked. "But... we are the heads of state of Ethiopia and the New Kingdom of Simien, respectively, thus I suppose it is fair to show our hand since it is already documented."

The blonde-haired woman then displayed her WWCF card, revealing her name to be Gudit Haiile and her rating to be 2910.

"So you're an executive board member then?" Okisato asked.

"Correct, and also the president of Ethiopia."

"Then you must be..."

"Orit Shairir, queen of the New Kingdom of Simien. I didn't choose this position for myself, but rather it was my duty to my people," the green-haired woman sighed as she flashed her WWCF card.

Seeing the rating of 2960 made Okisato recall something Iori had mentioned the other day. "So you're the one that's caught Iori-chan's eye then?"

"I assume you'll tell her... Though I would kindly request you don't. I don't need an annoyance like her hounding me," Orit glared as she sat down and pulled out a necklace, staring at it intently.

"Well, she's always brooding like that. Anyway, I'm Maccabee Ben-Horin, and this is my daughter, Noa. Thanks for being there for her in my place," the middle-aged man smiled.

"I'm Chaya Shamir, Noa's best friend. You better not have done anything dirty with her," the pink haired girl smirked.

"Chaya? Like tea?" Okisato asked.

"No, Chaya like "Hi-ya", as in "Hi-ya how ya doing." You're Japanese, right? Noa actually got my name wrong many times when she first moved to New Tel-Aviv."

"What do you mean?"

"Ah, we moved to the New Kingdom of Simien about 3 months ago shortly after my wife passed away. She was Japanese, just like you, and an archaeologist. Noa got her face, but my eyes," Maccabee stated.

"AND I'M Golda Goldschmidt, the golden girl of New Rishon LeZion! Unfortunately, you don't get the right to challenge me as we are not in a secret puzzle cafe. And no, I won't just walk into one so you can get your prize. Prizes should be earned, yes? Ahahaha!" the dark-skinned girl with gold hair laughed as she flashed her gold fingernails and gold medal hanging around her neck.

Okisato briefly turned to Golda before turning back to Maccabee to ask him more about a topic he was curious about. "So you moved to Simien and weren't an original resident back when it used to be Israel?"

Orit's eye narrowed as Maccabee nodded and confirmed that was the case.

"I was there, but I don't really remember much. One day, the Babylonians came in with their robots and conquered us, but the next thing I know, we're all in Africa just north of Ethiopia," Chaya stated.

"Why there?"

"Because it was once the site of the Kingdom of Simien, also known as the Kingdom of Beta Israel. Me and Gudit are descended from folks that lived there, but only my family ended up emigrating to Israel. Though funnily enough, Israel ended up getting plopped down in the Red Sea just North of Ethiopia, so I guess we ended up coming back like a boomerang in a sense. Gudit even gave the territories that housed the boundaries of the original Kingdom of Simien, including Gondar to the new kingdom, which seemed a bit weird at first, but it's worked out for everyone as the new kingdom's pretty much back to where Israel was economically before it moved continents, and since those regions Gudit gave the new kingdom were well, par of the new kingdom, they're in their golden age. Heck, my old home's still intact, and all the old neighbors are still there, just as friendly as always. Ethiopia itself is right behind us in economic prowess too. Guess good neighbors really can help each other become strong and golden," Golda smirked.

"Were you in Israel when the Babylonians attacked?"

"Yeah? But I don't remember it... Hmm, more like I can't. Must not have been a big deal since a brilliant mind like mine doesn't forget things."

"Well that's debatable," Chaya snickered as Golda shot her a glare.

"Simply jealous you couldn't get a golden DSPCM spot like me?"

"Nah, I lost that bout fair n' square to Noa. Nor would I want to be a girl that inflates her ego by stringing a fake gold medal around her neck."

The jibe appeared to be a critical hit as Golda collapsed to the floor and began twitching on the ground.

"She's always been obsessed with being at the top. Probably cuz of all the "gold" in her name," Chaya chuckled as she leaned down and began poking Golda's back.

"Anyway, wanna take a spin?" Maccabee asked as he gestured towards the top on the table.

"What is that?" Okisato asked.

"A dreidel. They're typically associated with Hannukah, but you can play with em' year round. Normally, we'd play for keeps, but today we're just spinning for fun, trying to see which letter we tend to roll the most."

"What do you mean?"

"Dreidels got 4 sides, each with a Hebrew letter. There's gimmel, which means you get it all, nun, which means you get nothing, hei, which means you get half, and shin which means you gotta add more into the pot. Since there's no pot though, the letter you spin now represents your affinity, so to say."

Okisato nodded and gave the dreidel a mighty spin. Maccabee let out a whistle at how good the spin was, noting that Okisato could win the dreidel spinning championships with it.

"Those exist?"

"Yup, though forget the championships, you're gonna break a record with that spin."

"If only Tola and Tufa hadn't dipped out. Those two are filming nearly 24/7," Gudit sighed.

"Who?"

Gudit briefly explained to Okisato that Tola and Tufa were twin sisters that were members of Ethiopia's women's team that were set on becoming big Ewetubers.

"You sure have a good relationship with the Simiens, Haille-san. Did you perhaps play a role in helping them escape from the Babylonians?"

"You seem curious about Babylonia... Might I ask why?" Orit glared.

Okisato thought for a moment before deciding to go ahead and play his card. "Yes, specifically regarding the man rumored to be running it, Olavi Hellkkinen."

Pure bloodlust and malice shot forth from Orit's eye, startling Okisato. Never before had he faced this much malice and hatred head on, but there was no turning back now.

"Answer me... WHAT is your relationship to that demon!?"

Hearing those words eased all the tension Okisato had. Now he could answer truthfully without worry. "Olavi Hellkkinen was one of the bastards that conspired to murder my mother, Kana Tanabe. I want to kill him," he stated as the dreidel landed on gimmel.

Orit stared into Okisato's eyes before relaxing and sitting back down.

"Wow, gimmel on your first spin... You've got a good fate," Maccabee nodded.

"Is that what it symbolizes?"

"Well, it's my interpretation. As for me, I'm always rolling nun, same for Golda. Guess it means we just can't get the wins in life we so seek."

"I tend to roll hei, meaning things tend to go half-way the way I want them to," Noa smiled.

"Gimmels for me. Guess we have some affinity after all," Gudit smiled.

"It was only a single roll. It might not reflect his true affinity, if you even believe in it anyway," Orit growled as she pulled out her necklace once more.

Now Okisato was able to see that the necklace contained an ornament in the shape of the letter shin.

"So do you tend to roll shin?"

"... Yes."

"What's so bad about shin?"

"Nothing. In fact, it's said to be good," Maccabee stated.

"Then why's it got a bad rep?"

"For dreidel? Oh, because the Yiddish phrase, שטעלן אַרײַן, meaning "put in". The other letters have similar meanings with nun standing for נישט, or "nothing", gimmel for גאַנץ meaning "entire/whole", and hei stands for האַלב, meaning "half".

"Then why is Sharir-san so melancholic about it?"

"Asking a lot about me... Well, I'll tell you one thing, but in return, you'll need to leave."

Okisato decided it was best to accept as he did technically come in unannounced. Orit was also clearly on edge due to his presence, even after he seemingly eased her bloodlust. It didn't seem like she was an enemy to him, but that could change if he continued to poke and prod.

"Very well. You probably don't know this, but the letter shin represents two different phonemes in Hebrew. If you look closely at my necklace, you'll notice there's a dot on the right side from your point of view. When the dot's on the right, the letter is shin, and if it's on the left... sin."

The cold look in Orit's eye coupled with her explanation provided the missing piece Okisato had needed to get a better grasp on who Orit was as a person.

"I see. Thanks for that. I'll take my leave."

"I'll kindly ask once more, even if it falls on deaf ears... Do not tell Iori Ishikiridokoro about me. I don't need another headache."

Okisato nodded, but Orit took it as simply a courtesy, as she fully expected him to tell his female teammates about her. It would only be natural especially if Simien ended up facing Japan. However, Okisato actually was being truthful. He knew Iori well enough to know that if she actively sought out Orit for her own sadistic pleasure it could end really badly for her due to how Orit was. Not to mention, Japan had enough to worry about just with Ginji and the other Desperados. Starting a new beef would only make things worse. Yet ironically, Okisato had in fact unknowingly caused a new problem to spring forth for not just his team, but Japan as a whole...

...

"Зүчи, чи хаана байсан юм бэ [Jochi, where have you been]!? a man garbed in Mongol armor and horse skull that obscured his face growled as Jochi strolled in with Möge.

"Зүгээр л гаремаа тэлэх гэж оролдож байна уу, эсвэл тэмүүлж байна [Just trying to expand my harem, or trying to]," Jochi smirked.

An aura surrounded the man with the skull as a large visage of Genghis Khan appeared around him. "МИНИЙ эмэгтэйтэй [With MY woman]!?"

"Үгүй, үгүй. Би сая харсан охин, гэтэл нэг япон новш саад болсон; Түүнийг Окисато Танабе гэдэг байв [No, no. I just saw a girl, but some Japanese bastard interrupted me; Okisato Tanabe was his name]."

"Япон уу? ...Тэд сул дорой. Бид тэднийг энд ч, газар дээр нь ч амархан дарж чадна. Бид Солонгосыг байлдан дагуулж дуусмагц тэдний арал дараагийнх болно [Japan? ...They are weak. We can crush them with ease, both here and on their lands. Once we complete our conquest of Korea, their island is next]."

This man was Genghis Jad, Mongolia's new leader. He was born in the current era, but somehow learned necromancy allowing him to bring forth the warriors of Mongolia's past. He always hid his face behind the skull of a horse, or the visage of Genghis Khan himself. When it was the latter, Jad allowed it to consume him, yet still remained in complete control of both his mind and body and the millions of undead soldiers at his disposal.

This man was the architect of the fall of many nations, and now Japan was in his sights. Luck seemed to be on Japan's side though as Mongolia's men's team was set to place Prussia next round, with it's women's team facing Simien. But that didn't mean Japan would have an easy time, in fact they probably would have loved to face Mongolia, as both teams were now set to face...

...

"India... And in the 4th round... Maybe Sharir-san was right. One roll wasn't enough to determine my affinity," Okisato thought as he stared at the pairings for the 4th round.