Or perhaps it was more likely that Mord and his friends paid their way in as promising new adventurers after the results of the War Game the other day.
“It’s a special privilege available to Orario adventurers—not only the upper-class adventurers! If you spend enough money, you can gain recognition and special services. As long as we mind our manners, even guys like us can get into the Grand Casino.”
Certainly, an upper-class adventurer who could bring back valuable magic stones and drop items from beyond the middle levels was more dependable than a rich person with no skills. Even more so if they were a member of a powerful familia. However, the adventurers and factions that could afford to mindlessly flaun6 that kind of money would normally be limited to those in the first- and second-tier adventurers categories. If a third-tier adventurer like Mord was here, he must have spent an unimaginable amount of money, using up everything he recovered from the Dungeon day after day.
“…I am beginning to understand why you all are still only third-tier.”
“““Sh-shut up!”””
Their passion withered a bit under Lyu’s stare. However, this is convenient. Looking toward the oak door, she whispered to Mord.
“I want to know about the VIP room beyond that door. Know anything?”
“Huh? You want to get in there? That’s hopeless…” Mord shrugged as Lyu tried to probe his experiences at the casino for information.
“Look at the two guys standing in front of the door—they ain’t Ganesha Familia. Same goes inside there, too. Even Ganesha Familia can’t go near the VIP room, let alone get in. That’s controlled by casino management. That’s where you’ll find the real extralegal territory.”
“So anyone who can’t be trusted to keep quiet about what goes on inside won’t be allowed in?”
“Yeah. According to one drunken VIP I ran into, the rumors that they enjoy themselves with high-stakes games are true…and that after, the owner’s mistresses come out. The guy’s a pervert who surrounds himself with crazy-hot women. Likes to flaunt them in front of the VIPs. Tch, always going on about adventurers,” Mord spat back.
Lyu’s confidence increased as she listened to his explanation. If she was going to meet the owner who had purchased Anna, as well as Anna herself, it would be behind that door.
“Also…there are stories that new members going back there get ‘baptized,’ you know? They say he eats them alive. It’s only whispers, but…well, like I said, the owner is a giant pervert…You know what I mean, right…?”
I don’t know why you came here, but it’s better to not stick your neck out—Mord was trying to warn her.
“…I see.” Lyu’s reply came in a low voice, ending the conversation.
“Uh…umm…I guess I should leave now…?”
“Since you already came to the casino, why not play some, Bell?”
“B-but, if I just play by myself, that wouldn’t be fair to the goddess and the others…”
While Lyu was talking to Mord, Syr was beside them inviting Bell to gamble, though his face betrayed his guilty conscience.
“If it’s only a little, then I know your goddess, Lilly, and the others won’t be mad. And you might not get another chance like this.”
“Exactly, Little Rookie, give it a shot. You’re a full-fledged, upper-class adventurer now; there’ll come a time when you’ll regret not enjoying the nightlife. If nothing else, do it for the experience.”
Bell struggled to find some reason to run away as Syr and Mord’s friends were all urging him to play.
“Um, I don’t have any money, though…”
“I’ll lend you some. You can pay me back if you win, and if you lose, I don’t mind.”
“But, um, I don’t know how to play cards…”
“How about roulette, then? That’s famous enough that even I know it. All you do is put the chips down on the table, so it’s nice and simple, you know?”
“…Okay, I get it. Then just a little…”
In the end, his resistance was worn down. Rubbing his cheek, Bell resigned himself as he took enough gold coins from Syr to exchange for ten chips.
“Perfect, there’s no one at that table in the middle there. Let’s go!”
As his conversation with Lyu wrapped up, Mord broke in to lead the group over toward a table. A human dressed as a bunny girl was standing in front of the game table. The beautiful dealer greeted them with a smile. A vibrant black-and-red roulette wheel sat in a silver cradle at the table’s edge.
As Syr had mentioned, roulette was very well known, often called the queen of the casino. Once the bowl-like wheel started spinning, the dealer would add a ball, and the player would try to predict which pocket on the wheel the ball would land in. The pockets alternated red and black with different numbers on each one. The player placed chips on a grid of cloth to signify where they thought the ball would land, and if they were correct, they won.
“So I just put the money on top of this sheet?”
“Yes. And there is a difference in payout depending on how you bet. If you bet red or black, then you win two times what you bet, all the way up to thirty-six times if you bet on a specific number.”
“Th-thirty-six times…”
“Of course, it’s because the odds of guessing a specific number correctly are so low.”
Lyu straightforwardly explained the game’s rules as everyone watched the first-time gambler step up to the table.
“Evens, odds; you can even bet on a column of numbers. There’s no limit on each bet, and you can make multiple bets on a single roll. Well, it’s less about learning and more about getting used to it. First, just give it a shot.”
At Mord’s prodding, Bell timidly exchanged the money Syr had lent him for chips from the dealer. He blushed self-consciously as the cute woman smiled at him before he became nervous again. He studied the table carefully, figuring out where to bet. Once he had finished his painstaking consideration, he chose red, meaning half the possible pockets the ball could land in—a bet with the lowest payoff.
“What’s that? After all that, you just chose a color!”
“It’s fine, isn’t it, since it’s his first time. Hee-hee, if you win, Bell, you should give me the winnings.”
“Just the color?” Hemmed in by Mord and Syr’s back-and-forth, Bell let out a strained laugh.
After confirming the three chips placed on the cloth, the dealer spun the roulette wheel with a practiced hand and tossed the ball in. After making sure there were no new bets or adjustments from Bell or the spectators, the dealer announced the end of the betting window. It was just Bell versus the house.
Seemingly fashioned from an ore mined in the Dungeon, the polished red sphere emitted an inexplicable light as it danced across the fast-spinning wheel. The entire group held their collective breath as they watched the ball slide into the 1 pocket with a thunk—a red pocket.
“You did it, Bell!”
“I—I won?”
“Yes, good job.”
Syr smiled broadly while Lyu praised him without a change in her expression. Bell’s shoulders had stiffened up while the wheel was spinning, but he finally broke into a smile when the dealer pushed his doubled stack of chips back to him. He now had thirteen chips, including what Syr initially loaned him.
“Great, Little Rookie! Let’s keep it rolling!”
“Eh, what?! But I already won once…”
“Dumbass! What are you saying you already won once? Didn’t you hear little missy here say to pay her back with the winnings?”
“Don’t play something small like red or black, go for a bigger payout! Let’s grow that stack of chips.”
“O-okay, one column this time, then…”
With the encouragement of Mord and friends, Bell nervously put five chips on the table. Lyu sighed as she watched. The dealer tossed the ball into the wheel once, and Bell managed to win
again. The payout was triple the original bet.
“You got it right another time, Bell! That’s amazing!”
“Ha-ha…It’s just coincidence…”
“Alllllll right! Let’s ride the momentum, Little Rookie! Go for a bigger bet this time!”
Bell forced a smile for Syr as he bet again: eight chips on a double street bet, covering six numbers for a payout of six to one.
Hit.
“Ah-ha-ha, it’s a fluke, a fluke.”
Ten chips, a corner bet on four numbers, payout nine to one.
Hit.
“Huh, another fluke…”
Thirty chips, a street bet on three numbers, payout twelve to one.
Hit.
“A f-fluke…?”
One hundred chips, a split bet on two numbers, payout eighteen to one.
Hit.
“…”
Three hundred higher value chips, straight up on a single number, payout thirty-six to one.
—Hit.
“Whoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!”
Mord and his friends screamed as the mountain of chips Bell had built sparkled under the hall’s lights.
As they leaned over the side of the table, Syr and Lyu both looked on in a daze, unable to believe what they had just witnessed. Bell himself was standing with his mouth agape, more shocked than anyone else.
“What? What did you say?!”
“Look at that! The roulette table!”
“Look at that mountain of chips…!”
“Who won that?!”
“Wow, it was that white-haired guy, no mistake. The Little Rookie who was the talk of Orario yesterday!”
“The champion of the war game!”
“Little Bell! Isn’t that my adorable little Bell?!”
“How much luck can you have?”
“It’s the lucky rabbit!”
It was such a shocking win that attention started pouring in from guests all around. Even deities turned to watch as they heard the clamor from Mord’s group and the surrounding crowd. Following Mord’s suggestion to bet an enormous stack of chips on a single number—and winning—was a big event.
By this point, even the dealer was smiling as she congratulated the novice gambler on his victory. His face twitching in excitement every bit as much as Mord’s, Bell unconsciously patted his back, thinking of a certain slot in his Status.
“…!”
Syr and Lyu were not about to let this opportunity go to waste. Before people started to gather, they had Bell pay them back the winnings from the mountain of chips he had earned.
“Thank you very much, Bell!”
“I’ll return the favor, Mr. Cranell. You can be sure of it.”
Carrying an armful of high-value chips, they left the table.
“Can you do it again, Little Rookie? We’ll put up the money, so let’s do it!” “No way! I’m definitely going to guess wrong!!”
As they started their own game, they heard Mord and his friends greedily shouting at Bell in the background.
Their original concern about funds having been resolved, it was now time to make a killing. With the chips that Bell had unexpectedly won, Lyu tore up table after table.
“Straight flush.”
Mostly, she avoided games where the casino had the advantage—where the player faced off directly against the dealer—and instead played poker where she could challenge other guests. Thanks to a naturally high level of concentration, her poker face, and the training she had received from an old friend in the familia, she racked up wins and amassed even more money.
“Raise.”
Thanks to Bell, she had plenty of funds for her war. Occasionally, she would lose one hand badly on purpose. Then, like a disinterested elite without any care for money, she would bet even more chips, as if to declare the loss had meant nothing.
Because she was betting so much, the other guests at her table were miserable and started to be overly cautious of her hands, shrinking back from showdowns and folding hands that they could have won. Her eye patch did its job, too, making her look mysterious and intimidating.
“Split.”
When she did play against the dealer, she always chose the game with the best odds for the player and took advantage of the dynamic vision of an upper-class adventurer. While reading the movement of the cards, she secretly used card-counting techniques her old friend had drilled into her to make as much money as possible, betting at only the best times. Once she had grasped the flow, she created a positive feedback loop.
“Ahhhh! You’re amazing, dear!”
And Syr perfectly played the role of a rural count’s wife, her eyes sparkling, clapping her hands in front of her voluminous chest, and from time to time hugging Lyu in excitement.
Syr, you’re overdoing it…
Hee-hee, is that so?
Lyu wanted to sigh when she warned her partner with a glance and received a childlike smile in return. By then, Syr nonchalantly ordered a high-class drink with a smile, tactfully displaying her dignity.
“Excuse me, sirs, could you gods spare a moment?”
“Oh, Syr! Why are you here?”
“Please keep my real name a secret. Also, I have a little favor I’d like to ask, if you don’t mind listening? I’ll be sure to give you a lot of freebies the next time you come to the restaurant.”
“Go ahead, go ahead, ask anything you want!”
While not compromising her disguise as the countess to anyone watching, Syr also made use of her true identity. Using her wealth of connections as the restaurant’s poster girl, she asked favors from the gods of debauchery who were at the casino to play. Those deities, hooked by her cute smile and the lure of freebies, took her up on her request and spread out across the hall.
“Do you know who that man in that striking eye patch from earlier was?”
“I heard he was the Count of Felnas!”
“Isn’t Felnas that small country…?”
“Yes, they were supposed to be having some economic difficulties, I thought…”
“It seems they found a mountain of seiros in a forest within their territory.”
“What? I’m so jealous!”
“I heard he completed several projects after that, so he’s living it up now!”
“Oh, no wonder!”
“He certainly cuts a splendid figure!”
“Look at that, I think he’s winning again!”
“I didn’t know someone of his caliber existed in that country.”
“Yes, he’s so young and dignified. How dreamy.”
“And the wife next to him is gorgeous, almost like a white lily next to him…”
“And I heard that his wife is a distant relative of the imperial house!”
“That’s amazing!”
The gods who had wandered among the crowds were spreading false information as they pleased and fully enjoying it. What started as plausible lies became more and more embellished as the rumors spread through the casino. All according to plan, the entire hall started watching as Lyu won game after game with towering stacks of chips on the line.
“Excuse me, sir.”
Just as she was about to bet even more money, an older human wearing a well-tailored black suit appeared in front of her.
“The owner, Mr. Cervantes, would very much like to meet you.”
It’s begun, Lyu thought as Syr smiled at her side. She was confident they had taken the bait. Without letting her expression shift, she responded.
“It’s an honor for the owner himself to say that about a fledgling like me. Where should we go?”
“Please, this way.”
Apparently a manager, the middle-aged human, led them with a courteous manner toward a stout dwarf who was circling the floor, greeting guests.
“Oh! You’re Lord Maximilian, aren’t you?”
Noticing them, he approached with both arms raised. He matched the typical d
warf body shape; the top of his head didn’t even reach Lyu’s eyes. His beard was in perfect condition, and his brown hair was slicked back. His high-quality black suit bulged slightly from his thick arms, legs, and broad chest. As expected of a person who engaged in a less than wholesome trade, a bodyguard was visible nearby.
“I am Terry Cervantes, the owner of this casino. Thank you very much for coming tonight from so far away.”
“Likewise, thank you very much for inviting us. I am…Ariud Maximilian. And this is my wife, Sirène.”
“Thank you for giving my husband and me a chance to have so much fun, Mr. Cervantes.”
Once Lyu had finished the introductions using their fake identities, Syr politely thanked him, as befitting a woman of her status. The man who came to greet them was not lacking for charm. At first glance, he had a hard face, but he was adept at encouraging people to let their guard down, speaking without breaking his smile.
However, Lyu had dealt with countless people who wore a similar “mask,” so inducing her to lower her guard was impossible. Putting up her own facade, she continued to play the part of an aristocrat.
“I wanted to meet you earlier, but there were so many guests tonight…Allow me to welcome you once again, and please enjoy yourselves.”
As the manager who had led them here started to leave his seat, Terry stuck out his right hand. Lyu looked down at his thick hand before refusing.
“I’m incredibly sorry, I’ve sworn my love to my wife. I’m not permitted to touch anyone aside from her. I hope you can forgive me.”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. It’s understandable since you are a pure elf. Your husband certainly loves you, madam.”
“Hee-hee, thank you very much.”
Lyu alertly sensed a stiffness hidden behind his words.
He must be a dwarf who doesn’t get along well with elves. He’s not an inexperienced newcomer to Orario anymore, so I don’t think he’ll make a scene of it yet.
She also did not overlook the flash of lechery in Terry’s gaze as he smiled at Syr.
That expression. As I expected…
Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Familia Chronicle: Episode Lyu Page 5
