A Perilous Festival (4)
“So you spent a quiet evening with Miss Ligret last night and now you’re using me today. That’s the worst. Sob, sob.”
“If you’re going to pretend to cry, at least hide that smirk on your lips.”
Fiore blinked at my words.
“Oh? You’re saying it’s okay for me to act seriously?”
“…No. What you’re doing right now is fine.”
“What a shame.”
I wondered what she meant by “shame.” A chill ran down my spine, but surely it was just my imagination.
My public image wasn’t exactly stellar at the moment, but the second I let Fiore run loose, I could already see my reputation being buried deep underground.
“By the way, what exactly am I supposed to do today? I looked around yesterday, but I didn’t see anything that seemed to need my power.”
Of course she had already done her preliminary scouting. Still, it was only natural she hadn’t found anything. Even I wasn’t certain whether “that event” would actually trigger today. Getting blindsided by the original story’s knowledge wasn’t exactly new to me.
“For now, don’t worry about the details. Let’s just enjoy ourselves. Anywhere you want to go?”
“Ah, then I’d like to go here.”
The place Fiore pointed to was… the casino.
“Why that of all places?”
“If you ask me where I most want to go with Oraboni, isn’t the gambling hall the obvious answer?”
“……”
When she put it like that, I had nothing to say.
“Welcome, sirs and madam. We hope you enjoy your time with us.”
Beneath the massive tent, numerous employees bustled about greeting guests and overseeing games. They even had a small roulette wheel. I’d thought the same thing in my previous life—this festival event really threw historical accuracy out the window. At least there were no slot machines. That was something.
“Come on, come on, come ooon…!”
For a second I thought I caught the silhouette of a certain country boy who was clearly addicted to Midas Cubes, but I must have imagined it. Even if I hadn’t, it wasn’t my problem.
Fiore looked around with sparkling eyes, then held her hand out to me.
“Could you give your poor little sister—who has devoted her entire day to Oraboni—a bit of spending money?”
“I don’t mind giving you some, but don’t get addicted. If Theo finds out, he might send assassins after me.”
“Haha, how amusing. It’s only a game. Would that really happen?”
I glanced toward one corner of the casino.
“Aaaaaaaaagh!”
“Bust, sir. Would you like to try again?”
“Ugh… o-one more time, please!”
I quickly looked away.
“Right. Getting addicted would be weird.”
“Aren’t you going to play, Oraboni?”
“I’ll just watch for now.”
Honestly, I felt we should leave as quickly as possible… but there was still time until afternoon. A short while wouldn’t hurt.
Fiore had claimed there would be no problem with me around, but the ability of the Greedy Debauchee wasn’t actually all that useful in a place like this. In card games, for example, having better luck than others gave an advantage, but it wasn’t enough to guarantee victory. Good fortune simply meant that out of a hundred possibilities, you were likely to draw one of the top ten. It didn’t mean you would always get the perfect winning hand.
That alone could be called cheating, but against real professionals it lost its edge. Roulette, which left almost no room for player skill, was different, but in the end gambling came down to psychological warfare and nerve. And in that regard, Fiore was terrifyingly strong.
“Wow, I won again!”
“My, my. Such a lovely young lady has quite the sharp touch.”
“She said it was her first time, but her skill is incredible.”
“First time my foot! That’s clearly the work of a professional!”
Even Theo Midas—who always wore a sunny smile, kept an unreadable poker face, and could talk his way out of anything with his silver tongue—had never beaten her in a battle of words. Memory? I once tested her by playing a simple memory card game. The moment her turn came, she flipped over every pair without hesitation. Even if you mixed the cards face-down, as long as she could see the shuffle, the result was the same.
But the most important factor was that she was beautiful. Why did that matter most? Just look at the middle-aged men at the table who kept losing money yet couldn’t wipe the smiles off their faces. At this rate they should have left long ago, yet their backsides seemed glued to their chairs.
“Hah, I lost. I’m completely broke now.”
“Hmm, I got too absorbed in the game.”
“Well then, perhaps it’s time to head back.”
No matter how fun the heart-pounding money game with a beautiful girl was, ammunition eventually ran out. I thought it was about time to wrap up, but Fiore’s next move left me genuinely impressed.
“Ah, everyone, just a moment. I’ll return this to you.”
“What are you saying? We can’t accept that.”
“That’s right. It’s money you won fair and square, miss.”
“Ahem. Well, if you insist on returning it…”
“Have you no pride at all?”
“What? Who do you think you are—!”
As the atmosphere grew ugly among the prideful older men, Fiore stepped in.
“Now, now, everyone, please don’t fight. Even though you say that, I know you all went easy on me because I’m a beginner. There’s a limit to beginner’s luck. Winning so many times in a row—if you hadn’t noticed, that would be strange.”
The men’s expressions turned complicated. If they argued here, they would essentially be admitting, “I knew you were a beginner and still went all out, yet I lost!” So they had no choice but to stay silent.
“Thanks to you, I had a wonderful time! But please take this money back. I don’t want to become a sly woman who turns kindness into coins.”
“Well… if you put it that way…”
“Heh heh, I was planning to deceive you until the end, but I’ve been found out.”
“Now that I look at her, she has both skill and a good heart.”
After a brief internal struggle, the men eagerly accepted the option that let them recover their money while preserving their dignity. Soon a warm atmosphere filled the table.
“Your name was Fiore Midas, yes? If you ever come to the western part of the empire, you must visit the Eisner family.”
“Midas, Midas… Ah, I see. The Midas Merchant Group. I’ll write you a letter later.”
“I’ll remember your face, young lady. I hope this good connection continues in the future.”
“The pleasure was all mine. I truly enjoyed today!”
Fiore saw the smiling men off with a bright grin. The moment they were out of sight, she turned back to me, still smiling.
“They were all such simple, good people.”
“……”
Were they? To me they looked like they’d fit right into a mafia movie if you swapped their clothes for black suits and put cigars in their mouths. I had no desire to poke a bush that might hide snakes, so I quietly kept my mouth shut. Fiore tilted her head.
“By the way, Oraboni, aren’t you going to play?”
“Ah—well, since we’re here, I might as well. One round won’t take long.”
I approached a simple roulette table with almost no special rules, pointed at the section emitting a faint golden mist, and placed an appropriate bet. There was no need to check the result.
“The looks on everyone’s faces when you hit the highest multiplier three times in a row were amazing.”
“That’s why I waited until the end, played a few rounds, and left immediately. Even that was me holding back.”
On the fourth spin the golden mist had disappeared from the wheel. I assumed the dealer was about to manipulate the ball. I could have called them out, but picking a fight with the casino operators would have been stupid. I had no interest in causing that much trouble at a festival.
After leaving the casino, we wandered through the shopping district. The person we were looking for was nowhere to be seen. It seemed the event hadn’t triggered yet. Maybe we should just visit the quiz contest or something. The rewards weren’t great for the time it took, though.
“Oraboni, could that be it?”
“Hm?”
Following Fiore’s gaze, I saw a small shop made of a cone-shaped tent tucked away in an alley of the shopping street. No proper signboard, hidden in a back corner—anyone could tell it was suspicious.
“Nice. You found it quickly.”
Inside the tent, faint purple smoke drifted through the air. A round table covered with long cloth. A large crystal ball. And a mysterious figure wearing a robe. The owner, who practically screamed “I am a fortune teller” with their entire body, looked at us and smiled.
Now then. Shall we begin today’s main event?