Chapter 178
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 178
Chapter Title: This Isn't What I Gave You This Ability For (2)
To be honest, the Pushover Knight hadn't always been addicted to gambling.
Back in his home country, the Kingdom of Orleans, he had apparently lived a rather wholesome life, far from the world of gambling.
The problem was the journey from his homeland to the Empire was far, far too long.
A long journey that took a fortnight even on the fastest clipper ship.
On a regular passenger ship, one would be stuck on the cramped deck for at least a month.
Aboard a ship, surrounded by the sea on all sides.
Admiring the vast ocean was fine for a day or two, but by the third day, boredom was bound to set in.
It was around that time. Unable to bear the tedium, he had thrashed about until he happened to join a card game started by the sailors, and he'd supposedly won a few times.
After that, though, it seemed he did nothing but lose.
Well, it was a common trick.
It wasn't unusual for sailors to pick out a wealthy passenger and fleece them like that.
In any case, like a late-blooming thief who loses track of time, the Pushover Knight, now completely hooked on gambling, seemed to have frequented gambling dens even after disembarking.
Things weren't much different afterward.
Like all gamblers in the world, he lost every penny he had.
He personally proved the saying that a man mad with gambling would even sell his own wife and children.
The only difference in his case was that what he put up as a stake wasn't his family, but his squire.
In any case, his life was at rock bottom all the same.
Anyway, that was the story from my past life.
“Looks like I win this time.”
“Well, well. He won again.”
“You're lucky today, aren't you?”
“I'll gladly take it.”
I continued to rake in the money.
The players, who had offered kind words with friendly faces when I first started winning, had long since fallen silent.
“……This gentleman wins. New game.”
One of the tense players furtively shifted his gaze.
A woman who had been watching us with an indifferent expression moved her lips slightly.
The man sitting across from her shot up and approached our table.
“If there's a spot, mind if I join…?”
“I was just about to get up, actually…”
Just as one of the players at the table seemed to be waiting for this moment to stand up.
“Oh, my. Look at the time.”
I shot to my feet with exaggerated alarm.
“Don't tell me you're leaving already, young friend.”
“Just when things were getting interesting. You can't do this.”
I cleanly ignored their whining.
I just swept every last silver coin piled high on the table into a sack I had prepared beforehand.
*Clatter.*
With a pleasant sound, the glittering silver coins were swallowed into the sack.
“The night is still young, just a little more…”
“Yawn. It's time for good little boys to go to bed.”
Coming from someone who frequented illegal gambling dens, my words must have sounded rather shameless.
The players stared at me, dumbfounded.
“Hey. Do you think days like today, when Lady Luck herself is blowing you kisses, are common? You must be too young to know, but days like this don't come around often.”
“Come on, now. Don't be like that, sit back down. Just one more game. No, three. No, five more, and then we can all call it a night. How about it?”
Their expressions changing in an instant, they tried to hold me back with all sorts of excuses.
But when that didn't work, they changed their tune again, threatening me in subtle tones.
“No, young friend. Getting up like this isn't polite. Where in the world is the rule that lets one person win all the money and just leave?”
“We're all here to have a good time. If you act like this, we're all going to end up with red faces.”
I couldn't care less what these weaklings, holed up in a back room fiddling with cards, had to say.
In place of the weaklings, the gambling den's enforcers quietly surrounded me.
It was an expected situation.
In illegal gambling dens like this, leaving was always more trouble than entering.
What's more, when some stray mutt they'd never seen before cleaned out a mark they'd spent days working on and was about to bolt, there was no way they'd let him go quietly.
One of the heavies stepped forward, glaring.
I almost burst out laughing.
To think this brat, who wouldn't last a day on a battlefield, was posturing with his puffed-up muscles and a few clumsy scars.
From my perspective, the weaklings at the table and the heavy in front of me were one and the same.
Still, this one seemed capable of making my sleep a little less peaceful.
After all, back-alley folk specialized in slitting throats in the dead of night, quiet as a mouse.
If I wanted to sleep soundly at the inn, I needed to play along to some extent.
“Is tonight the only night? There's always tomorrow, and the day after.”
The heavies remained silent at my words.
I didn't expect an answer from them either.
“Hey, let's just say today was a brief introduction. Tomorrow, let's play for real.”
The real power was the woman in the corner, half-reclined on a sofa, puffing on a cigarette.
*Nod.*
Staring into my eyes, she gave a slight nod.
Only then did the heavies make way.
“Well then, take care.”
With that, I left the gambling den.
My pockets were heavy, but my steps were light.
“Hmph hmph.”
The clinking sound made me hum a tune.
If only the Pushover Knight hadn't blocked my path, I could have savored this feeling a little longer.
“Why…?”
I instinctively clutched my clothes, gripping the money pouch inside.
“I didn't follow you with any ill intent, so you don't need to be so wary.”
The Pushover Knight said, looking exasperated.
Only then could I get a proper look at his face.
Despite having lost all the funds he needed to settle in this distant, foreign land, his expression showed no sign of despair.
In fact, it was the opposite.
“Ahem.”
He flared his nostrils and twitched the corners of his mouth. I knew when he made that face.
“Watching you earlier, your card skills are quite impressive.”
When he got a good hand in a game of chance.
“Would you, by any chance, take me as your disciple?”
In this case, I was the good hand.
“…Excuse me?”
*What kind of bullshit is this?*
“Your disciple?”
I dug a finger in my ear, wondering if I'd misheard.
But I hadn't misheard.
“Yeah. Disciple.”
No matter how many times I asked, the answer was the same.
I was so dumbfounded I was speechless.
“Watching you today, I realized that cards aren't about luck, but skill.”
The Pushover Knight prattled on, oblivious to my mood.
“So please, take me as your disciple.”
The man I had served as a Master in my past life now wanted to be my disciple in this one.
It was driving me crazy.
* * *
“No.”
After a long moment, I came to my senses and stated my refusal firmly.
The only reason I'd gone all the way to an illegal gambling den to play a card game I didn't even like was to get revenge for him selling me off in my past life.
And to pick up some ownerless silver along the way.
“Why?”
He was persistent despite my refusal.
“Because you have no talent for it, Sir Victor.”
He seemed a bit flustered, apparently not expecting me to be so blunt.
“…No. It's just that I've never formally learned to play cards. I'm sure I'll be good if I learn, you know?”
“No. Some people can learn, and some can't. You, Sir Victor, are clearly the latter.”
I wasn't just saying that because I was annoyed.
Victor Lafayette truly had no talent.
First, he was far too honest.
He was the type whose thoughts were written all over his face.
When he had a good hand, he'd flare his nostrils and twitch his lips; when he had a bad one, he'd be visibly discouraged.
It was no different from showing his cards himself.
And no gambler loses when they know their opponent's hand.
“That's just because I don't have much experience yet. In the future, I'll gradually…”
“You won't get better. It's an innate disposition. No matter how much you try to fix it, there's a limit. To the eyes of a professional, it's painfully obvious.”
If that were all, he might have been able to raise his win rate somehow, but he had a fatal flaw that made it impossible for him to succeed at gambling.
“You're a knight, Sir Victor.”
The fact that he was a knight.
“…How did you know?”
“I can tell just by looking.”
“And knowing that, you still took my ring and all my travel money?”
“You haven't been certified as a knight in the Empire yet.”
The fact that he was a knight sworn to the stars was undeniable.
However, that was a status valid only in his home country.
To operate as a knight in our Empire, he needed to get a separate certification.
“…How did you know that, too?”
The Pushover Knight asked with a sour face.
The answer wasn't difficult.
I didn't even need to draw on memories from my past life.
“Your attire, for one. And this happens to be a gateway city for foreigners who have just arrived in the Empire.”
Considering Pomorie's location, not far from the southern port where foreigners entered and exited the Empire, it was something anyone could guess.
And the Freelance Knight Guild headquarters, where one could get certified as a knight of the Empire, was at least a month's walk from Pomorie.
“I think I get what you're saying. But is the fact that I'm a knight a reason I can't learn cards?”
“Yes. It is.”
“Why?”
“Because you're a knight.”
The biggest reason he was destined to remain a sucker at the gambling table for his entire past life.
Absurdly, the knightly principle of never backing down from an enemy applied just the same to gambling.
Like a knight who charges no matter the number of foes, he always went all-in, regardless of whether his hand was good or bad.
For a man who already revealed his entire hand through his expression to always go all-in, it would have been stranger if his win rate were any good.
“Wow. I'm kind of pissed off, but I have nothing to say to that.”
At my point-by-point breakdown, the Pushover Knight let out a hollow laugh.
“Then I'll assume you've given up. I'll be on my way.”
I turned to leave.
* * *
Contrary to my expectations, the Pushover Knight did not give up.
“Just teach me your secrets.”
“If not that, then at least the basics.”
“Then I'll learn on my own, just let me follow you around.”
He pestered me relentlessly until we reached the inn.
He wasn't officially certified in the Empire, but he was still a knight in name.
Where on earth had he sold off the dignity that knights live and die for?
They say there's no hope for someone addicted to gambling, and the Pushover Knight was a perfect example.
“I'm not asking you to teach me for free. I'll pay you a handsome fee.”
His tone, even mentioning compensation, was desperate.
Of course, his words had no effect on me.
“As I recall, that last stake was all you had, Sir Victor. What will you pay me with?”
The Pushover Knight was now penniless.
It was preposterous for a man who couldn't even afford travel expenses, let alone a reward, to talk about a teaching fee.
But it seemed he hadn't spoken without thinking.
“A knight possesses an asset so valuable it cannot be compared to money.”
Blocking my path, he crossed his arms and looked down at me arrogantly.
“If that asset happens to be swordsmanship or something of the sort, I'll pass.”
“…Why!”
“Because I'm already overwhelmed just trying to digest what I've already learned.”
It wasn't a joke. I hadn't been able to focus on my sword training lately, to the point where I could feel my body getting stiff.
That realm I had briefly stepped into when facing the Black Knight.
I had to first reclaim that sensation from back then, when my body didn't feel like my own, when the sword seemed to move on its own, finding its path.
Learning something new was not a priority for me right now.
“I guarantee it. The art I will pass on to you is not something you can easily encounter in the Empire.”
“I have no doubt, but my answer is still the same.”
Besides, the 'art' he spoke of wasn't even new to me.
While not deeply or for long, I had already learned as much as I needed of the Orleans Kingdom's arts in my past life.
Seeing my indifferent expression, the Pushover Knight bit his lip.
“…I'll give you!”
He then yelled something, and I had to doubt my own ears.
But deep down, I knew.
I hadn't misheard.
“Heh heh.”
I kept letting out hollow laughs.
Inwardly, I repeated the same thought.
“Passed down through long ages and finally to me.”
They really do say a man mad with gambling would even sell his own family.
“I will give you the Legacy.”
It seemed even a Legacy left by an Ascendant was nothing more than a stake to a gambler.
“…?”
Ah.