Chapter 10
Chapter 10
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: The Pilgrim's Gamble
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I set off without delay.
My destination was the very spot where Baldwin had squandered his entire fortune. A man was still gambling there.
Knights bearing the Lutens name surrounded him.
He must have even put his own knights up as stakes.
Shaking my head, I took a seat.
Thud.
I sat in the exact spot he had occupied and tossed out the chips I had exchanged for. I had swapped my gold coins for chips long ago.
To fulfill Baldwin's resentment, I had to gamble.
Of course, against the very man who had bankrupted him.
"What the hell? A pilgrim? Can a holy man even gamble? Hahaha!"
I didn't know the man's name.
But he had the skill to drain Baldwin of his fortune, so he was no amateur at this.
"Lord Valterus desires only the sword. Gambling like this is hardly a sin."
The men's eyes changed.
They realized I hadn't approached them with friendly intentions.
"I get what you're thinking, but you'd best turn back. I'm stronger than I look. I've had a knack for gambling since I was a kid and never lost a single coin. I don't want to take a pilgrim's money, that's all."
"There are things in this world you can't know without trying. Whether it's gambling..."
Or something else.
When I didn't back down, he looked at me with amusement and toyed with the dice.
"Pilgrim, you might not know this, but an hour ago, the noble heir I was gambling with lost everything, went berserk, and dropped dead. So I don't feel like taking your money right now. Gives me the creeps."
"Is that so."
"He said he came to make money for his family in the midst of a territorial war. Taking that kid's fortune and his life... damn, this gig's gone sour."
Wars make money. But they also burn through fortunes.
"I ain't got no talent for the sword or charisma to lead armies. All I've got is this gambling knack, and he said he just wanted to win big to help his house. Tsk, left a bad taste."
So, go home. That was the gist.
"Don't do anything stupid. Just leave. I don't want to rob a son of the gods."
Such sob stories were none of my concern.
All I wanted were the chip pouches around him.
Dozens of them piled up.
That was what Si-eun desired.
"Let's see your skill."
"If you're that insistent... Fine. Let's see what a holy man's game is like."
His face flushed from heavy drinking, he shoved in his chips.
"Sir, that guy's Ged, the gambler. They say no one in Trista can beat him at this!"
Ignoring the agitated Brans,
I tossed the dice.
"Roll them."
"Yes, sir."
The dealer put two dice in a wooden cup and shook it.
Clack, clack.
The cup slammed down on the table, and a number spilled from Ged's lips.
"Six."
Two dice.
He called one number out of the possible twelve.
Close to right, you win money. Miss, you lose. Neither close? Dealer takes it.
Simple game.
"Nine."
I matched his chips and called my number. The dealer lifted the cup.
Ged glanced at the dealer.
The dealer tapped the cup and opened it.
Two dice came into view.
Three and three.
The dice showed six.
"Ooh, lucky roll."
He had won.
Simple and straightforward.
Pure luck-based, which made it thrilling in its simplicity.
I'd lost half my money in one round, but I smiled.
"Pilgrims must stick to swords and training—no wonder you're no good at gambling."
Instead of answering, I placed all my remaining chips and Arsando from my belt on the table.
"What the hell?"
"A real man doesn't play small stakes. It doesn't satisfy."
"...Fine sword."
Arsando's blue blade gleamed sharply.
"A famed blade. Rare one. Worth a whole building, that sword."
Famed swords were scarce on the market.
This would raise the stakes plenty.
But he gestured as if it wasn't enough.
"I'd rather have a miracle from the pilgrim than the sword..."
The Lutens knights I'd met earlier said the same.
The territorial war likely raged on. They covered supplies with war spoils and victories, but prolonged conflict drained the land.
Apparently, Kallias wasn't the only one looking to raise the stakes.
"Fair enough. But do you have stakes worthy of it?"
His eyes wavered slightly.
"This ain't a joke."
The stakes ballooned, drawing onlookers one by one.
He glanced at them, then leaned back in his chair.
"Of course."
As if waiting, he piled dozens of bundles on the table.
Thud, thud thud!
All chips won that day.
"With my skills, cash these in and it'll more than cover your worth. About a thousand gold coins, give or take. And..."
Thud. He pulled out blank checks.
Two signed checks, each for a thousand gold coins.
Three thousand gold total.
His entire fortune.
"The city of pleasure, Trista—no standout men to liven things up, and now this. Getting interesting."
At this point, I wondered who he really was.
Not just any gambler, that much was clear.
"Brans."
"Yes?"
"You shake them."
"M-Me, sir?"
Ged's eyes sharpened.
"It's just putting dice in a cup and shaking. Who does it shouldn't matter."
Does it? I asked. Ged's mouth twitched.
"Or do you think I'll cheat? I swear on my sword and the gods. Unlike others, I don't play dirty."
"...Fine."
Clack. The dice were cast.
Clack, clack, clack.
Only the rattling inside the cup broke the silence.
Thud.
The cup settled.
Silence fell.
Three dice now.
Numbers from one to eighteen.
Kallias's ash-gray eyes, closed till now, flashed open.
"Two."
"Two? Hahaha, pilgrim, you homeless or something?"
Number two.
Three dice, calling two? Absurd, like he didn't know the rules.
Baldwin bellowed a laugh and called three.
"I'll take three."
Number three.
The dealer's hand moved.
The cup lifted. Onlookers scoffed.
A pilgrim who didn't know the rules, about to get nabbed by Lutens.
But the moment the cup rose.
The crowd gasped.
"Gasp!"
One of the three dice in the cup was stacked atop another.
Two layers of ones, and the last die also a one.
"The dice show two! Pilgrim's victory!"
Woooaaah!!
Cheers erupted.
In one round, Kallias had won over three thousand gold coins.
'Phew.'
I had an ace up my sleeve.
It worked because it was a dice game.
I focused holy power on my ears, sharpening my hearing several times over. The dice clashing, the cup's shake angle.
Calculated it all.
The game was rigged from the start, anyway.
Not just holy power on my ears, though.
[Bard's Blessing] Grade - Epic
-Musical talent at its peak.
Kallias's sole talent.
Thanks to Bard's Blessing.
Sounds counted as music, making it possible.
Perfect pitch from Bard's Blessing, amplified by keen holy-enhanced hearing.
"That's the goddess of luck tilting my way this time."
Kallias swept all the chips from the table.
* * *
Ged couldn't process what had happened.
'What? What just went down?'
He'd gambled since age five.
Hopping from den to den, honing skills, amassing wealth.
Not all pure skill, though.
'Cheating's skill too in gambling.'
Rigging was skill.
He'd worked the dealer, hid tricks in the dice game.
Tap the cup, dice shift.
Shape them as he wanted; opponents none the wiser.
That's how Ged built his unbeaten streak.
Then the pilgrim showed.
Threatening at first, but opportunity knocked.
A taunt, and the madman stakes himself.
Money was good, but a pilgrim meant endless swords from corpses.
Victory was his anyway.
Unbroken legend.
Ged never dreamed it'd shatter today.
So this was unbelievable.
'I lost?'
The chip pouches on the table.
Going to the pilgrim.
'A dream?'
No, real.
His fortune—gone. Richer than most nobles.
Heat rushed to Ged's head.
"Hands off!"
Ged drew his sword from his belt.
Drunk or whatever, he wobbled dangerously.
"My money! That's my money!!"
He bellowed.
The casino's festive air turned icy.
"Got more to stake?"
Kallias asked calmly.
He had nothing left. Of course not.
"Shut up!! Who the hell do you think you are, pilgrim?!"
Ged swung his sword.
Whoosh!
His sloppy blade cleaved air.
Kallias didn't even rise from his chair. He grabbed Brans by the scruff and used him as a shield.
"Argh!!"
Slash!
Blood soaked the table.
"Eeeeek!"
"Ged's got a sword!!"
Onlookers screamed and fled. A faint smile tugged Kallias's lips.
"Guhhh!"
Thud. Kallias shoved Brans aside and snatched Arsando from the table.
"You harmed my squire. Here in Trista."
Kallias stepped forward.
Ged, pale as death, stumbled back.
"Kill him! Kill that bastard right now!"
"B-But...!"
"Didn't you hear me? Kill him! I'm your master! Kill!!"
Under Ged's pressure, the knights gritted teeth and drew blades.
Murderous intent clear.
Kallias held nothing back. His sword flashed like lightning.
Slash.
"Argh!"
A knight's arm flew.
"Bl-Block him! That zealot's trying to kill me! Block him!!"
Four knights left. But none could match Kallias.
Splat, splat.
Each swing sent knights crumpling in blood.
Step by step, simple thrusts and slashes toppled Lutens knights like scarecrows.
Their swords, their plate armor—nothing stopped Arsando.
The gap between Kallias and them was vast, unbridgeable.
And soon.
"D-Don't come closer! Stay back, demon!!"
Ged fell on his ass, hurling whatever he grabbed.
Kallias sneered at him.
"Baldwin's gift."
"Sp-Spare... guk!"
Crunch, stab.
A sword forged from Baldwin.
It pierced the man.
Bones cracked, heart impaled—the feel transmitted through his hand.
Ged spewed blood and died. Kallias gazed coolly at the cooling corpse.
Baldwin's sword vanished into smoke, grudge fulfilled.
[Baldwin's Gamble - Complete]
[Special reward granted.]
[Three-Colored Eyes] Grade - Rare
-See targets in three colors.
Red, blue, gold.
'As expected.'
Three-Colored Eyes.
A trait discerning a target's impact on me via three colors.
A big help for the road ahead.
Rare to gain one from Si-eun.
I hadn't known at first.
Not until I recalled Baldwin.
Baldwin de Lutens.
Lutens viscount's heir, talented gambler.
Born with a trait.
When such a man dies unjustly, leaves a grudge, receives the corpse's grace.
The one who resolves it gains the trait. Lucky break.
Perfectly timed to meet Baldwin.
Thud thud thud.
Satisfied with the new trait,
Shing! Casino guards drew swords and appeared.
At their center, a man strolled leisurely, cigar in mouth.
Step, step.
A hulking figure emerged.
"You've made a mess."
Twice the usual bulk.
Brutish features, muscled frame.
Claw scar over one eye.
Slicked-back hair, wild beast vibe—yet impeccably suited.
"Cedric."
Owner of Cedric's Casino.
Cedric Bor Madrichan.
"You know me."
"Of course. I came here to meet you."
"Hoh, either you don't grasp the situation, or your guts are spilling out."
Cedric's casino.
Killed Lutens knights and their boss Ged inside.
Enough to get chased from Trista or jailed—no issue.
"Self-defense."
"Yeah? Doesn't look that way to me. Know this? In my house, my word is law. Self-defense? Nice try. But not to me. And that winning trick? Shady as hell."
Kallias's eyes narrowed.
"You planned this from the start."
"No idea what you're on about."
Ged raking cash in his den must've been a thorn.
No fix till now, but Kallias stepped in perfectly. He wiped Ged's crew, so Cedric just beats the troublesome pilgrim, boots him from Trista—problems solved, cash gained.
'Two birds, one stone.'
Kallias got the picture. But he knew this might unfold.
He'd killed Ged expecting Cedric.
Kallias's eyes gleamed.
Three-Colored Eyes.
Viewing Cedric, he appeared in faint red.
The color signaling danger.