Chapter 109: Intermission Date - Yurdias (2)
Chapter 109: Intermission Date - Yurdias (2)
A casino operated by Fermaton taxes.
Naturally, it was Fermaton’s primary source of income.
The clientele consisted of adventurers, residents, and tourists visiting for sightseeing.
To the casino’s management, the sudden appearance of someone like Ruji Fermaton in the middle of that crowd must have been nothing short of a nuclear bomb.
"Ah, dammit."
I was enjoying some perfectly wholesome gambling.
I was having fun with poker and various other games I’d learned in my past life, as well as picking up the local games by watching the rules from the sidelines.
But more than anything...
"Hani, shall we try this one next?"
"Honey, you’ve been losing non-stop. You might lose all your money at this rate."
"It’s fine. I have plenty of money."
Walking around and gambling with a half-resigned Yurdias in tow gave me a thrilling sense of being the center of attention.
The common folk didn't recognize me.
Between my hair being slicked back with wax and my behavior being that of a total punk, everyone just took me for some 'rich, lowlife noble.'
The only ones looking at me with eyes that said, 'What the...? Why is the Young Lord here?' were the dealers and the security guards.
In particular, the manager, who was watching me intently from a distance, kept glancing over as if worried about what kind of trouble I might stir up.
There was really no need for that, though.
I just came here to gamble.
With Fermaton’s tax money.
"All-in."
"...It’s a '3'."
"Kuh, I told you. I’m lucky today!"
The dealer had clearly manipulated the result to let me win, but I took the chips from the all-in anyway and headed to the bar with Yurdias.
"You seem to be enjoying yourself, guest."
"Are you the manager?"
"Yes. I am the manager of the Fermaton Casino, 'Joker'."
His name alone was unsettling.
When you hear the name Joker, a very famous figure comes to mind, though he goes by a different name in P.A.O.
'Young Lord. As you know, he is a dangerous individual.'
Yurdias thought I knew who this Joker person was, but I only knew half the story.
A standard gacha character from P.A.O.
One of the cool, middle-aged 3-star male characters.
On the surface, he managed the casino, but in reality, he was a man who could slit an enemy's throat with a single playing card.
The hitman, Joker.
Yurdias knew his true identity.
"Allow me to personally serve a drink to the lady."
Joker mixed a cocktail himself and handed it to me and Yurdias.
'Young Lord, I believe this man knows who I am.'
Probably.
It wasn't like I was trying particularly hard to hide Yurdias.
Of course, the idea that they were exchanging signals or figuring each other out through a single cocktail was beyond my knowledge and common sense.
"I'll enjoy this."
I simply knew that this pleasant-looking old man in front of me was a formidable assassin and a gacha character.
And I also knew that while he was the manager of the Fermaton Casino, he wasn't a direct subordinate of the House of Fermaton.
This casino...
More than half of its shares had been turned over to the Royal Family.
Because of that, Fermaton had lost the right to operate the casino and had been reduced to merely receiving a portion of the taxes.
Ah.
By the way, the management rights were lost by the Former Count.
Word is he lost the casino in a gamble with the current King.
A predecessor who lost the casino itself at a gambling hall... he truly was an incompetent gay.
The Kingdom then took over the casino, filled it with their own people, and the man who took the manager's seat was Joker.
In other words, the man before me was an assassin belonging to the Kingdom.
"Nice to meet you."
"I never imagined you would grace us with your presence."
"I came to have some fun with my girlfriend. Isn't wholesome gambling the best form of entertainment?"
"Girlfriend..."
Joker looked back and forth between Yurdias and me, then gave a thin smile as he mixed another cocktail.
"I see. I hope you have a wonderful night with your girlfriend."
"Right. Oh, by the way, is there anything a bit more... challenging? The games over there are too easy to predict."
"...What do you mean by that?"
"I mean, I'd like to test my luck with a bit more skill involved."
It was a provocation.
No, rather than a provocation, it was a request to play the game fairly.
Stop the match-fixing.
I came here to enjoy gambling; I didn't want to be forced into a victory just because I was Ruji Fermaton.
"Hani. Grab your glass. Let's go play a quick round of Blackjack. Thanks for the drink."
I led Yurdias toward the Blackjack tables.
'Young Lord. Will this be alright?'
'It's fine. It's not like we're doing anything wrong.'
After calming the worried Yurdias, I gripped her hand tightly and headed into the gambling hall.
'It's not easy to divert everyone's attention.'
My original goal was to send Yurdias off separately while I acted on my own, but there were too many eyes glaring at me from behind.
Were we really here just to gamble?
Or were we here to find someone?
Was the reason for the disguise to play purely on skill without revealing my identity?
Or was I scouting for a woman to have a one-night stand with while in disguise?
Or perhaps I was scouting the casino to prepare for a battle over management rights?
Was I planning to buy back the shares and reclaim management from the Kingdom?
Everyone who knew I was Ruji was watching me with all sorts of suspicions.
However.
It didn't matter.
"Hani. I'm leaving everything to you."
I would settle this with this pseudo-Blackjack.
"Honey, what did you say?"
"My money is your money. Do whatever you want. I'll just watch from the side."
I had Yurdias.
Yurdias, who had grown up stealing since childhood and had now risen to the position of Thief Guild Master.
"Dealer. Shuffle."
"Honey, leaving it to me is..."
"It's fine. You are my skill. A head-on match. Understand? We're playing with pure skill. I bet you could even bankrupt the dealer."
I deliberately provoked the dealer.
The dealer glanced toward Joker, then quickly regained his poker face and shuffled the cards.
"We shall begin. Would you like a card?"
"Stay."
21.
"I got it... phew."
Yurdias let out a sigh of relief at her first win, and I placed my hand on her waist to cheer her on.
"I'm counting on you, Hani."
"...Okay."
And so, several rounds followed.
We lost some, we won some; we lost a fair bit, then won big.
Amidst the back-and-forth of wins and losses...
The decisive moment arrived.
"Honey. I... I want to go all-in. Is that okay?"
"There is no reason why you cannot. The Fermaton Casino welcomes your bet."
After checking her hand, Yurdias called for an all-in.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. I'll definitely win."
Blackjack.
A game where you win by getting the sum of your cards as close to 21 as possible.
If you go over 21, you lose. The sum of the cards Yurdias held was 20.
If the dealer had 21, we were dead.
"Would you like a card?"
As it happened, we had the chance to take one more.
"I won't take—"
"Hani."
Yurdias looked at me and shook her head.
It was only logical.
The goal was 21, and we were at 20. Who in their right mind would take another card?
If it was 22 or higher, all the chips we went all-in with would vanish.
But.
"Hani. You trust Oppa, right?"
I wrapped my arm around Yurdias's waist, kissed her on the lips, and took the card the dealer was offering.
"Hani is the one who went all-in. If we lose the money, it's Oppa's responsibility."
"...Aren't the odds too stacked against you?"
"Stacked? There's no way the odds are against me when I'm with you. Show your hand. Hurry."
"......."
The dealer opened his hand.
20.
"......."
"Check it."
With trembling hands, Yurdias flipped over the card I had taken.
"!!"
I felt relieved the moment I saw it.
Maintaining my composure as much as possible, I patted Yurdias on the waist.
"See? This is how I feel about you, Hani."
"...It's the Ace of Hearts."
The Ace of Hearts. A 1.
Added to the hand we already had, it made 21.
"...Honey."
Yurdias suddenly stood up from her seat.
"This is how I feel."
She grabbed my face and gave me a deep, passionate kiss right in front of everyone.
* * *
We made a fortune.
We succeeded in multiplying the amount we brought in by more than five times.
—Congratulations.
"Manager, put half of these chips toward the cocktail bar."
"...Half? That would be enough for hundreds of drinks."
"A round for every guest in the building."
Waaaaaaaah!!
I rang the golden bell by entrusting half of my winnings to the manager.
Then, I heated up the atmosphere by sharing another deep kiss with Yurdias in front of everyone before taking our winnings and heading outside.
"How was it?"
"...I feel like I went to find a female companion but ended up doing nothing but gambling."
"Hani, are you sulking?"
"It's not like that. And it's Yurdias now."
"That's a shame."
The lover roleplay was over.
It definitely wasn't because I felt like someone blonde was watching us from the window of the sex room back at the Lord's Castle.
"Young Lord."
Yurdias bowed her head to me, pointing at the carrier full of cash.
"Thank you. I am truly happy that I can take care of my guild members thanks to you."
"Yeah. Feed them well. And tell them to keep looking for those women. Tell them that from now on, the Young Lord will personally hit the jackpot at the casino and share it with whoever gets the best results."
The ultimate reason I came to the casino today was this:
To instill motivation in Yurdias's subordinates.
I needed to manage them so that when they saw a beautiful woman, they would think of the financial reward rather than any dark impulses.
"Today was great, Yurdias. Let's go out like this at night every now and then."
It was a good chance to go on a date with Yurdias and enjoy the gambling hall.
"Was it uncomfortable for you?"
"...Since calling me 'Hani' might lead some people to realize I'm 'Hania,' I request that you use a different nickname next time."
"Is that so...?"
Hani and Hania.
One could think there was a connection, but how many people would actually think that far?
"I look forward to whatever other nickname you call me next time. And, Young Lord."
"Yes?"
"Thank you for believing in me. And... thank you so much for that final turnaround. If it wasn't for that, we would have lost all the money."
"It was just a bit of light gambling."
"...To me, it will be a memory that is anything but light. I'll be back soon, Young Lord."
Tap, tap, tap.
Yurdias disappeared into the darkness, carrying the suitcase full of cash.
After she left for the Thief Guild, I waved goodbye to her back and let out a sigh of relief.
That was a close one.
Yurdias...
'She has the worst gambling luck imaginable.'
Whether it was poker or blackjack, she was a woman who suffered defeat after defeat.
"...Betting the opposite of Yurdias at the very end was the right move. Phew. Thank god."
—If you want to invest, invest the opposite of Yurdias.
Thank you, game brain.
For being helpful in a situation like this.
"...I'll have to bring her along next time, too."
As my true Joker card for victory.