Back to the Casino
And then, while everyone else had been watching the situation with easy patience, one man finally raised his paddle.
“$1.8 billion!”
Jake quickly leaned in and whispered an explanation to James.
“He represents the British royal family. It looks like he was waiting for the moment the price climbed as high as it could. It’s a forceful declaration that they intend to win the piece no matter what. The others have probably caught on to Britain’s position as well.”
“Ah... I see.”
Then another bidder, who had been competing up to now, lifted his paddle.
“$1.9 billion!”
Seeing the man who had just raised his paddle, Jake explained again.
“This time it’s the Vatican Museums. The Vatican’s representative looks a little tense, so I suspect they don’t have much room left.”
“……”
Come on. Director of the Royal Treasury, just let it go already.
From the start, the Vatican had been keeping its promise to push the bid higher.
The man receiving the British royal family’s calls frowned slightly and raised his paddle again.
“$2 billion!”
The Vatican seemed satisfied there and did not lift its paddle, and the representative of the British Museum, also from Britain, showed no sign of making another bid. The man acting on behalf of an Arab tycoon had also ended his call. None of them wanted the Crown of King Arthur badly enough to spend more than that.
“Any more?”
The auctioneer waited patiently, as befitted a record-setting sale, but no one raised a paddle.
“If not, I’ll count to three and close the bidding. Three. Two. One! The ancient Crown of King Arthur is sold for $2 billion!”
Bang!
That was the end of the long, long main event.
“Whew.”
“Congratulations, James. You’re a billionaire now.”
With today’s auction, James had gone beyond millionaire status and climbed into the ranks of the billionaires.
My wealth just jumped again.
James had succeeded in shorting TY Telecom, but he still hadn’t reached billionaire status. It was only through this auction that he had finally become a billionaire.
“It’s all thanks to Sotheby’s and Jake.”
In truth, there was someone else James should have thanked.
Master, I’m deeply grateful!
If James’s teacher, Mercia Lynchberg, whom he had only ever met through books, had known, he might have raged at the sale of a friend’s precious legacy. But since he had already been flung into another world long ago, James had no reason to hesitate.
And if King Arthur knew his crown sold for this much, wouldn’t he be pleased?
Whether Arthur would have agreed was another matter entirely.
“Haha. Just as I expected, a record-breaking price has appeared. I think I’ll be getting a rather handsome bonus too.”
The commission on the $2 billion sale of King Arthur’s crown alone came to $20 million. Jake would receive a portion of that as a bonus. Since he had played an important role in bringing the crown to auction, it was only right that he be rewarded.
Then I don’t need to give him anything separately.
In fact, James had been thinking of giving Jake one gold coin as payment for his trouble, but he could see now that it wasn’t necessary.
Jake will get a bonus worth more than the coin itself.
“Jake. May I ask one favor?”
“Anything at all, James.”
“Would it be possible for me to attend the Sotheby’s party tonight as well?”
“Of course, James.”
A party was scheduled after the auction. Those who had bid by phone from across the ocean wouldn’t be there, but several notable figures had attended in person, and most of them planned to stay for the party. James intended to use the occasion to make connections with influential people.
“Even if I don’t reveal that I was the owner of the relic?”
“Haha. James, you’re already a celebrity in Las Vegas, aren’t you? You can attend as a celebrity.”
“That’s a relief.”
“I’ll let you know the final results once the sale is settled. It won’t take long.”
James still had to settle the sale of the Crown of King Arthur, which had fetched $2 billion, as well as the gold coin of King Arthur, which had sold for $30.5 million. The auction was over, but it would still take time before the proceeds were actually deposited and settled.
“I appreciate it. Ah, the party venue is this way, right?”
“I’ll show you. I’m the one who appraises and handles the pieces that go up for auction, so I’ve got some time.”
James and Colt followed Jake. Along the way, they even ran into someone they knew.
“Oh! James is back!”
“Haha. Good to see you. It feels like I’ve returned to my hometown after a long time.”
“Hey, man, and what, I don’t even get a greeting?”
“Colt came too?”
It was Clark, the bellboy who usually stood at the hotel entrance and guided people around. Whenever the two of them passed through here, they always exchanged greetings. Today Clark had switched posts and was guarding the place where the party would be held.
The two exchanged a brief hello with Clark and went inside. Then they leisurely greeted the people around them.
“Colt, James came with you too?”
“Ah... good to see you, Philip.”
“Haha. You’re here too, Mr. Philip.”
Philip was the man in charge of the casino run by this hotel. Colt seemed to be feeling that old guilt about having robbed Philip’s casino vault again, but James greeted him without the slightest sign of discomfort.
“That matter from before was unfortunate. In the end, they never caught the thief, did they?”
“It’s only a matter from before, as you say. Kent was definitely involved, but he slipped away beautifully.”
“……”
“……”
The robbery of the casino vault had nothing to do with general manager Kent. No one else knew that, but James and Colt certainly did.
“And I learned from the newspaper, but... there were apparently some issues with the games back then.”
“Ah... James played poker there at the time too, didn’t he?”
Even after the incident, James had kept up with news reports about the Las Vegas casinos, and he had seen an article about how professional poker players were used during Kent’s investigation. Kent, who had grown disgruntled with the casino owner Philip, had blurted out what had happened with the fixed poker game.
That gave James a perfect opening to claim he had learned about it through the papers as well.
Robbing the casino was one thing... the game was the game.
“I’ve kept quiet until now out of respect for you, Mr. Philip.”
“...Hmm.”
“I lost as much as $1.5 million that day. If the casino dealer and the professional poker players were all in on the game, then of course I had no chance of winning, did I? Should I pursue compensation through a separate lawsuit? I could call Kent as my witness.”
“……”
If Kent steps forward...
If James proceeded with a lawsuit alongside Kent, he could drag the casino’s reputation, which had barely been put to rest, right back into the open. Kent had already fallen out with Philip, so it was obvious he would cooperate enthusiastically with James’s suit.
“...James. We need to talk. Let’s go somewhere quiet.”
“By all means.”
Philip put a hand on James’s shoulder and led him away from the others. Then, before Philip could speak, James did first.
“You have no idea how disappointed I was that you never contacted me, Mr. Philip.”
“We had to deal with the casino incident first. When a casino’s been robbed, it isn’t easy to worry about anything else.”
“I understand. But now that matter is being wrapped up.”
“James. But the culprit is still...”
“Who robbed the casino has nothing to do with me, does it? I’m simply talking about what I unjustly lost.”
“……”
“Tony Anderson played that day as well, did he not? I wonder whether you compensated him separately.”
“……”
Of course, Tony, who was practically one of Las Vegas’s grandees, had been met privately before the story ever reached the papers, and they had settled things with compensation so there would be no noise. But James, who had made his living performing magic shows in Las Vegas, had not been considered a compensation claimant.
“Could it be that you only made peace with Mr. Tony and then forgot about me?”
“No, no. When I heard you’d suddenly gone traveling, I was thinking over how to handle the compensation.”
“Then it seems I’ve returned right on time.”
“……”
Philip regretted having spoken to James at all.
If he’s willing to go as far as a lawsuit, then he means I’ll have to pay more in a settlement, doesn’t he?
He was already deeply concerned because he had paid out more compensation to the disappointed Tony Anderson.
“Haha. You don’t need to worry so much, Philip. You don’t think I’d ask for more than I lost, do you?”
“Then... would it be enough to return what James lost that day?”
Returning the money wouldn’t be a problem. Leo, who had won the poker game at the time, had taken only a small commission and returned most of the chips to the casino.
“You don’t even need to give me cash. Just give me chips so I can enjoy myself at the casino.”
“Oh!”
If it was casino chips instead of cash, Philip’s burden would be even lighter. After all, once someone played at a casino, they were bound to lose some of it back.
“Let’s forget the bad memories from Philip’s casino by enjoying another poker game tomorrow.”
“Hahaha. As expected, James, you’re a man who can talk sense.”
“I’ve performed so many shows at this hotel, haven’t I? Please think of it as repayment for that, Philip.”
“I won’t forget James’s kindness. Come to the casino tomorrow, and I’ll make sure the chips are ready for you.”
“Thank you, Philip. Thanks to you, tomorrow’s poker game should be full of luck.”
James had never forgotten the humiliation he suffered at the hands of the dealer and the professional poker players when they maliciously ran that game. That was why he had asked for casino chips instead of cash. Only then could he naturally join a poker game again.
Tomorrow will be different. Philip.
“You’ll be guiding me to the VIP table like last time, won’t you?”
“Haha. I was actually about to recommend the VIP room myself.”
James planned to raise the stakes tomorrow without thinking about what came after, and Philip judged that he would be able to recover every chip he gave out as compensation.
“See you tomorrow, Philip.”
“Hahaha.”
The two men shook hands and returned to the event hall. There James found Colt waiting with a deeply furrowed expression.
“Colt. Why are you looking so worried?”
“Jimmie, forget about the money you lost that day and just...”
He had assumed James had already recovered everything by robbing the casino.
“Philip said he’d give it all back.”
“...What?”
“Tomorrow I’ll get back what I lost.”
“...You’re getting that back too?”
James’s nerve was astonishing—robbing the casino vault and then demanding the return of the money he had lost there as well.
“But I’m taking it in chips, not cash.”
“Casino chips?”
“Philip invited me to the VIP table.”
“...You.”
“Colt. I don’t forget when I’ve been wronged.”
“What do you mean, wronged? The one who got taken was Mr. Philip.”
“Tch.”
James took two champagne flutes from a tray carried by a waiter and handed one to Colt.
“That way, no one will suspect us.”
That was the main reason James had asked for the chips back. If the matter had ended with the casino vault robbery alone, there would have been no reason to ask Philip for money separately. But thanks to the police investigation, other things had come to light, and those things were deeply connected to James.
“Ah.”
Only then did Colt understand why James wanted the money he had lost at poker.
After the police investigation and the newspaper reports revealed what the casino manager Kent had planned and carried out when the casino was robbed, James still had not forgotten the need to protect himself.
If I knew they’d done something so sordid in the casino and still didn’t ask for my money back...
That would be strange indeed. As James said, it might invite unnecessary suspicion.
“……”
Colt lifted his glass to meet the champagne flute James had raised.
Clink.
“To our innocence.”
“...To our innocence.”
“I’m going to go mingle. You can go off and do your own thing, Colt.”
“Uh...”
“Today... I won’t warn you. You know what I mean, right?”
“……”
It meant James wasn’t going to interfere with Colt meeting women today.