Chapter 246: House of Oro
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 246: House of Oro
“Azyeth, can I talk to you for a second?”
I called out to Azyeth, who was lazing around on the sofa as usual. Perhaps because my voice was more solemn than normal, the slaves, their PTSD flaring up, flinched.
“Did you do something wrong?”
“…?”
“You’re in for it now. Not even Rin can help you.”
The other slaves tiptoed away, leaving behind a clueless Azyeth who could only turn her head in confusion.
Before long, only Azyeth and I were left in the room. She looked at me with an anxious gaze.
“I’m sorry…”
“I haven’t said anything yet.”
Apologizing without even knowing what she did wrong. Was asking to talk privately that scary?
“It’s just that I’ve been thinking you’re not adjusting well. Are you having a hard time or anything?”
Azyeth’s eyes darted around in thought for a moment before she shook her head.
“I see.”
She said she wasn’t having a hard time, but Azyeth was someone who rarely expressed herself. There might be something she was hiding inside, not letting it show.
Or perhaps she wasn’t even aware of it herself.
And it’s a master’s job to solve such problems.
It’s definitely not because I was paid to do this.
“Come here.”
Azyeth came and stood beside me.
I opened the window.
A warm spring breeze blew in.
“The others will get jealous, so we have to sneak out.”
“…?”
“Let’s go have some fun, just the two of us. Without the others knowing.”
I sat on the windowsill and held out my hand.
Her eyes wide, Azyeth nodded eagerly.
*
“To think that I, the Ice Dragon Skadia, would be used as a mere mode of transport for humans…”
High in the sky, the ground looked like a toy.
We were flying on Skadia’s back.
“What are you so upset about? Your beloved princess is riding on your back.”
“I would be, if you weren’t on here with us, you bastard.”
Skadia grumbled all day, acting nothing like the colossal dragon she was.
Thwack!
“Ugh! P-Princess? Why did you hit me?”
“…Mean.”
“What did I do wrong?”
“Just like a dragon, you have no conscience. You destroyed Azyeth’s kingdom, didn’t you?”
“That was…”
“And if it weren’t for me, Azyeth would still be trapped in that crystal cave.”
There was no bigger son of a bitch in the world.
I had no idea why Azyeth would accept someone who was practically the nemesis of her life.
“…She looked lonely.”
Did she feel a sense of kinship with Skadia? I wasn’t the one involved, so if she was okay with it, I had no right to say anything more.
Besides, I was satisfied with getting a pretty dragon slave.
I didn’t question the fact that Skadia was female. I mean, in an otaku game, it’s only natural for a dragon to be a female character, right?
She got a pass because she was a girl. If she were male, I would have kicked her out myself, even if Azyeth had allowed it.
Riding Skadia, we quickly traveled and arrived at a city.
However, since a dragon’s appearance would obviously cause an uproar, Azyeth and I dropped from above the clouds, landing on the city’s outskirts.
Azyeth slid down a quickly-formed ice slide and landed softly on the ground. And I was cradled in her arms like a princess.
“Thank you. Could you put me down now?”
“…”
“Azyeth?”
“Karami, want to… be a princess?”
“No.”
Her face fell at my immediate reply, and she put me down.
Azyeth and I left the outskirts and headed toward the city center.
Large crowds of people strolled along the main street.
The name of the city we’d arrived in was Fortuna. As the name suggested, it was named after the goddess of fortune and was famous for its casinos.
House of Oro.
The House of Gold.
It was a crucial place that satisfied the dopamine cravings of players who easily fell into a rut due to the repetitive nature of tycoon games.
After earning money from customers by running your shop, you could come here to gamble.
Multiply your money, obtain items, or acquire special slaves.
The reason I brought Azyeth to Fortuna was simple: to introduce the nerve-wracking fun of it to the emotionally detached girl.
“Shall we?”
When I offered my arm, Azyeth took it, linking hers with mine. We headed straight for the casino.
As we walked, people stopped in their tracks. Their gazes were fixed on Azyeth.
—Huhu, you uncivilized humans. You’ve never seen someone so beautiful, have you? Look closer. Praise and revere our princess.
Ever since the slave contract, I could also hear the voice of Skadia, who resided within Azyeth.
That crazy princess fanboy. There’s a limit to projecting yourself onto someone. Anyone watching would think she was Azyeth.
‘Well, I say that, but it’s not like I don’t understand.’
You know that feeling. That sense of superiority you get when your friend or partner is beautiful.
I, too, felt a sense of pride in the fact that the beautiful Azyeth was my slave.
‘This is my slave.’
—This is our princess.
And so, we entered the casino.
A dazzling, golden interior greeted us. Tables were set up throughout the casino, surrounded by people.
People shouting in excitement. A man sobbing on the floor before being dragged away by the staff.
A casino, where you can see all sorts of people, is fun just to watch. What kind of side will Azyeth show? I was already looking forward to it.
I led Azyeth to a table where a game was in full swing.
“Have you ever played games in the castle?”
“Chess…?”
“You play chess, Azyeth?”
“…”
“Just kidding.”
Azyeth playing chess.
The usually dazed girl suddenly seemed intelligent.
“Have you played card games?”
“A little.”
“Do you know the rules?”
“Maybe…?”
If she knew the rules, this would be simple.
The game at the table we were watching ended, and a middle-aged man who had lost his money was dragged away. I had Azyeth sit in his place.
“Karami?”
“Give it a try. Who knows, you might have a knack for it.”
“But…”
“If you do well, I’ll tell you a new fairy tale.”
Just as I expected, Azyeth’s eyes sparkled.
I bought chips with 20 gold coins and placed them in front of her.
There were three players, including Azyeth.
The game was Caribbean Stud Poker.
It was a common type of poker with simple rules.
You win if you have a higher hand than the dealer. Luck and decisiveness are more important than psychological warfare, so even Azyeth should be able to play it.
The dealer began to shuffle the cards with smooth hands.
“Let the betting begin.”
Azyeth, who had been staring at her chips, pushed one forward. For the first round, a light ante of 1,000.
After the other players placed their bets, the dealer dealt five cards to each.
The dealer’s cards were laid on the table, with one card face up.
The King of Hearts.
I checked the cards Azyeth received.
Spade 1, Diamond 5, Heart 8, Club 3, Spade 7.
“Wow.”
A hand so weak it made your palms sweat.
While the other players called and placed additional bets, Azyeth alone folded her hand.
“Fold…”
The dealer had a pair of fours.
Azyeth was the only one to lose chips. Next round.
Once again, she placed a thousand for the ante.
Azyeth’s cards: Heart 6, Diamond King, Diamond 7, Club 6, Club 9.
A pair of sixes.
The dealer’s face-up card was the 5 of Hearts.
“Oh, this time it’s playable.”
Azyeth nodded and called, adding another thousand to the pot.
The dealer’s hand.
Three of a kind, fives.
Azyeth lost her chips again.
Third round.
She’d already lost 4,000.
Azyeth’s expression didn’t change, but was she growing impatient on the inside?
Perhaps the typical gambler’s mindset of winning it all back had kicked in, as she boldly bet 5,000 this time.
The cards she received: Spade 7, Diamond 9, Heart 5, Spade 6, Diamond 8.
Consecutive numbers.
A straight.
A strong hand that would almost always win.
“Call.”
Confident of her victory, Azyeth pushed in chips worth 10,000. There was more force in her voice than before.
Just as I thought she would recover her lost chips with that bold bet, the dealer revealed the rest of his cards.
“No hand.”
Flinch.
Azyeth’s expression froze for an instant.
More expressionless than even her usual poker face.
No hand.
If the dealer’s hand isn’t Ace-King high or better, the round is void.
It was a golden opportunity with a straight and a big bet, but it vanished in an instant.
She’d lost two rounds, and while she didn’t lose this one, it felt worse than losing. How could someone’s luck be so exquisitely bad?
I sensed something was off.
“Azyeth, did you happen to get on Rin’s bad side?”
“…Ah.”
As if something had just occurred to her, Azyeth let out a belated sigh.
Seeing her reaction, I understood what had happened.
She must have kept trying to touch her tail, so a fed-up Rin threw some misfortune Azyeth’s way. No wonder she was losing every single bet.
“You should have known when to stop.”
“But… so fluffy…”
Azyeth pleaded her case as if it were an irresistible force of nature, but the price for annoying the pink fox was harsh.
After that, she didn’t win a single time, losing every bet she made. At some point, there was nothing left on Azyeth’s side of the table.
Chips all gone.
She was kicked out of the game.
“…”
Azyeth pouted in vain, staring holes into the innocent floor.
“It can’t be helped. Let’s call it a day at the casino and go somewhere else…”
“Excuse me.”
A casino employee approached us, politely asking for our attention.
“Excuse you for what?”
“The manager of our House of Oro would like to invite you as VIPs.”
The casino manager… I knew him from the game.
Erma de Rovel.
The eldest son of the Rovel family.
He shouldn’t know anything about us, yet he was inviting us as VIPs.
There were two possibilities I could think of.
Either he recognized my outstanding charisma at a glance, or he was interested in Azyeth.
The probability of it being the former was absolutely higher, wasn’t it?
As expected of the manager of the kingdom’s top casino.
He has an excellent eye for people.
I was also quite interested in the casino, so I decided to hear his esteemed opinion and followed the employee to the VIP room.
There, we found a man with hair the color of molten gold. It was Erma de Rovel, the casino manager.
“A pleasure to meet you. I am the leader of the Merchants of Death…”
“Ooh! You’re even more beautiful up close!”
Erma completely ignored me as I held out my hand for a shake and stood before Azyeth.
He circled Azyeth, looking her over as if she were a product.
Only then did I remember Erma’s personality.
Right, this bastard was a hopeless womanizer.