Slots and Pachinko (4)
The bell signaling the end of class had barely finished ringing when the children poured out of the classroom as if they had all made a pact. In that lively torrent, eight-year-old Nikolai—usually called Nika—was also hurrying along with quick steps. In his small fist, he clutched the two iron coins his mother had given him that morning as allowance. The solid, slightly warm feel of the coins against his palm was reassuring.
His destination was Uncle Yevgeny’s candy shop. The closer he got, the thicker the sweet scent of sugar hung in the air. A group of friends who had arrived first were already huddled together in front of the store. There was Sonya, whose birthday came late so she was still seven, and Katya, who was the same age as her.
“Nika!” Katya spotted him and waved enthusiastically. But Sonya’s face was puffed up in a pout.
“Ugh… Can’t we just buy any candy? I’m tired of waiting~.” Sonya whined, tugging at Nika’s sleeve. Her big round eyes were glistening, on the verge of tears.
But Nika shook his head firmly. “No.” He tried to sound as grown-up as possible. “Just buying candy is a loss. Alyosha-hyung told me. This is a matter of probability.”
With one iron, you could at best buy one piece of bland licorice candy or jelly. With two iron, you could get something a little better, but it was still just one piece. But if you used that money on a slot machine or pachinko? The story changed completely. If luck was on your side, the possibility of getting something much more expensive and delicious opened up.
Nika had learned through experience that this was what probability meant.
“That’s right! Nika’s right!” Katya lightly patted Sonya’s back and took Nika’s side. “Did you forget our goal? It’s chocolate! Chocolate!”
At the single word chocolate, the pout vanished from Sonya’s face. All three children’s eyes sparkled at once.
It cost a whopping ten iron. That meant fifty tokens. It was a luxury item that required saving every single allowance coin for five days—no, ten days—without spending any. A precious treat that parents only bought on very special occasions like birthdays or holidays.
Not long ago, their classmate Becky had hit the jackpot on a slot machine and won that very chocolate. Becky had proudly broken it into pieces and shared them with her friends. Nika could never forget the taste of that tiny piece. The rich, sweet flavor that melted smoothly on the tongue. It was truly unforgettable.
“If we win, we split it equally, right?” Nika said, as always. Sonya and Katya nodded vigorously, as always. The children laughed brightly, each cradling dreams and hopes in their hearts.
The three of them pooled their allowances together. Nika contributed two iron, Sonya one iron, and Katya two iron. In total, five iron.
They entered the shop and held the money out to Uncle Yevgeny.
“Uncle! Please exchange this for tokens!”
“Alright.” The gruff-looking Uncle Yevgeny counted the coins, then scooped out twenty-seven brass tokens into a wooden bowl. The cheerful clinking sound made the children’s hearts flutter with excitement.
Since other kids had won quite a bit at pachinko yesterday, they made the ‘strategic’ decision that today was the slot machine’s turn to pay out. The children took their place at the very end of the long line in front of the slot machines. Listening to the cheers and groans of the kids ahead of them, the wait felt both long and short.
Finally, their turn came. The result was thirty tokens. Three more than the twenty-seven they had spent. In money, that was six iron. They had earned one iron more than the five they had put in. It was still far from enough for the chocolate they wanted, but at least it wasn’t a loss.
“Too bad…” Sonya stuck out her lower lip.
“Just a little more and we could’ve gotten the chocolate.”
But there was an unspoken rule among the children: you couldn’t use tokens or marbles you had already won to play again. Doing so was considered cowardly. If you broke the rule, you would be branded a ‘coward’ and excluded from all games for a week. You wouldn’t be forgiven until everyone prayed together at church on Sunday.
Not being able to hang out with friends was far more terrible than not getting to eat chocolate. The children swallowed their disappointment and gave up. Still, this was a successful outcome. With satisfied faces, the three headed to the counter.
“Please give us snacks with these!” Nika held out the wooden bowl containing thirty tokens. That was enough for each of them to pick one two-iron snack—ten tokens each.
Nika carefully scanned the display shelf. He chose a caramel the size of two finger joints, studded with hazelnuts. Once he picked it, Sonya and Katya chose the exact same one without hesitation.
The three children left the shop, each holding a caramel in their hand. The autumn sunlight poured warmly over their heads. Nika peeled off the wrapper and took a bite. The sweet caramel and the savory crunch of hazelnut filled his mouth. It wasn’t chocolate, but it was still delicious enough.
“What should we play now?” Katya asked, chewing on her caramel.
Sonya shrugged. “I don’t know!”
All three children’s faces were filled with happy smiles.
Erika Cage and Victoria McKenzie. They were the official ambassadors of the Far East Maritime Province Tourism Special Zone and rising stars of the imperial social scene. And at this particular moment, to Mikhail, they were nothing more than a pair of cheeky delinquent students who had come up with an excuse to escape the tedious academy ball, along with their reluctant chaperone.
“So, you really didn’t want to go to the ball at the academy that badly?” Mikhail asked, lifting his teacup and taking a sip. His voice carried more pure curiosity and amusement than reproach.
Erika nodded without the slightest hint of embarrassment, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “Yes. As you know, it’s a mandatory event unless there’s a special reason.” She calmly set her teacup back on the saucer and added, “Besides, I’m already rumored to be something like Your Highness’s mistress anyway. It worked out nicely.”
Mistress, huh… Mikhail barely managed to hold back a snort. She really was an audacious young lady.
“Ahem! Um, it’s embarrassing, but I’m also… sort of in the position of being Your Highness’s mistress…” Victoria, sitting beside her, turned bright red and spoke in a tiny, shrinking voice. She fidgeted with her teacup, clearly flustered. “People are just… so mean. Erika and I don’t have any relationship with Your Highness…”
Victoria’s gaze, however, was fixed not on Mikhail but on Erika sitting right next to her. Her large eyes trembled slightly with worry and anxiety.
“Any relationship, you say… That’s a little hurtful, isn’t it?” Mikhail said with an exaggeratedly wounded expression. “Aren’t the two of you official ambassadors of the Far East Maritime Province Tourism Special Zone? We share a very important ‘relationship,’ yet you say we have no relationship at all?”
“Eek! N-no, that’s not what I meant!” Victoria waved her hands in a panic. She tried to hurriedly explain herself, but Mikhail raised a hand to stop her.
“I know. I was joking.” He continued with a mischievous grin. “Still, it can’t be helped. Sorry for blocking the marriage prospects of two young maidens. I suppose it’s only natural you’d hear things like that. Or wait—shouldn’t you actually be thanking me? Isn’t it beneficial for your marriage prospects? There must be plenty of guys trying to get close to you just to create a political connection with me…”
At those words, a faint smile flickered across Erika’s usually expressionless face. She seemed to quite enjoy Mikhail’s joke. Victoria’s reaction, however, was different. Her expression hardened for a split second. She shot Mikhail a brief, pouty glare, but then instantly returned to her usual bright smile as if nothing had happened.
Mikhail didn’t miss that fleeting change. As expected of a nobleman’s daughter. Her poker face was impeccable.
“Ah! Th-that! The slot machines! Pachinko!” Victoria raised her voice, clearly trying to change the awkward subject.
Mikhail had once donated several slot machines and pachinko machines to the academy. Of course, he had given them the plausible excuse that they were “educational tools to train dynamic visual acuity and manual dexterity.” Naturally, unlike the ones installed in taverns or shops, these were purely manual operation models.
“The devices Your Highness donated have caused an absolute explosion in popularity among the students!”
“It seems they’re so much fun that not only the upperclassmen but even the professors have become completely hooked.” She paused to catch her breath, then put on a troubled expression. “They keep asking us to put in a good word with Your Highness so they can buy some. It’s really quite difficult. We’re ambassadors, not sales agents.”
She rattled off the words rapidly without waiting for a reply. Her relieved expression suggested that the whole marriage talk had been successfully forgotten.
“But… I have a question. Between the Tourism Special Zone and this machine business, you’re also partnering with tobacco companies, confectionery companies, and the railroad corporation. You’re making quite a lot of money—cash, at that…” The topic had clearly shifted to slot machines and pachinko. “What exactly do you plan to do with all that money?”
Mikhail clicked his tongue inwardly. As expected of a commoner genius attending the academy. She was saying the exact same thing as Laura.
“Want me to tell you?” Mikhail asked, resting his chin on his hand. The two girls nodded silently. Their eyes were filled with unmistakable curiosity. Or, to be precise, it was curiosity mixed with a hint of greed. They were probably earning quite a tidy income themselves and wanted to get in on Mikhail’s investments.
“It’s nothing special. Just investing.” Mikhail shrugged. “Expanding the business any further is getting annoying, and managing it is a pain. Even that drug business was incredibly bothersome.”
“Investing, you say?” Victoria’s eyes sparkled. “If I may ask… where exactly are you planning to invest?”
As expected.
“Bonds… something like that.” Mikhail lifted his teacup and drained the remaining black tea. “I’m thinking of issuing securities backed by debt.”
CDO. The culprit behind the 2008 Lehman Brothers crisis. He intended to sprinkle that very thing into this romantic fantasy world. It wasn’t about encouraging speculation—it was a kind of insurance. In other words… at the very least, if someone deliberately tried to harm him, the entire empire should burn, right?
He set down his empty teacup and added, “I don’t recommend it. It’s a risky product. Students should stick to safe things like gold or government bonds.”
Mikhail’s voice was low, but it carried a warning of considerable weight.