Arms Dealer
James set the gold coin back down on the table and nudged it lightly toward Tony, who was seated across from him.
Tick.
The coin slid to a stop just before it could fall, coming to rest with perfect precision on the very edge of the table. Tony, who had already half lunged to catch it, pressed a hand to his chest and let out a shaky breath.
“Whew… I thought it was going to drop.”
“Haha. I was in a very good mood because the coin fetched an excellent price at the Sotheby’s auction.”
“!”
“!”
It was essentially a confession that he had been the one to consign Arthur’s gold coin in the first place.
“But then I felt a little guilty the next day, when I cleaned Tony out of every chip he had at the casino. After all, Tony was the one who gave me such wonderful advice.”
“……”
“So I gave you a final coin with roughly the same value as the chips you lost. In short, that’s the full story of how Tony Anderson came to own Arthur’s gold coin. Simple enough, right?”
“So James really was the coin’s true owner!”
“Not anymore. It’s not in my hands now.”
James was lying through his teeth, and he knew it. But he didn’t think of it as a lie at all.
It’s in my inventory, so it’s not wrong to say it isn’t in my hands.
“I’ve returned my goddess of luck to you, Tony, so now you’re the coin’s rightful owner.”
“Goddess of luck?”
“I played poker with it, and I went on an absolute winning streak. I probably took more than twenty million dollars in chips that day, right? Isn’t that right, Philip?”
The Philip from Diamond Casino admitted it without hesitation.
“…That’s right. The chips I cashed out for James came to twenty-two million dollars. So that lucky coin really was the source of all that.”
Everyone’s eyes turned back to Tony. Every one of them wore the look of someone starving for the chance to get their hands on the coin.
“…I’m never selling this. Don’t even dream about it.”
“Hahaha. Tony lost his chips in poker, but he ended up getting a lucky coin instead.”
“I should’ve gone with Tony and played poker that day. If I had, that lucky coin would’ve been mine.”
“…Of course you’d have lost a few chips too, though, right?”
“Tony, you’d better put that coin in a bank vault. I’ve got a feeling a huge run of luck is coming your way.”
“Haha. Thanks.”
James confirmed the coin’s ownership one more time.
“I definitely returned it to you, Tony.”
Tony hurried to pick up the thread.
“And I definitely received it. As soon as this gathering is over, I’m going straight to the bank.”
Once the heated exchange had finally run its course, Tom gestured to the staff and said, “All right, let’s get dinner started. Tonight’s menu is Texas top-grade T-bone steak.”
“Nice. I’m sure Tony brought the wine?”
“Naturally. I prepared a wine made from grapes harvested when the vineyard’s fruit quality was at its peak.”
This place, too, was one of the many restaurants Tony owned.
“Then I suppose I’m on dessert duty?”
James took out the deck of cards he had brought tucked inside his jacket and spread them open in his hand.
“So this is our chance to watch James’s card magic up close.”
“I was worried James might not show us any card tricks at all.”
“Thanks to the overwhelming enthusiasm of the audience, I’ll put on a splendid show. Hahaha.”
What followed the delicious meal was a dazzling display of cards, no different from the one he had given before. James was a magician—no, a wizard—who could perform at a professional level at any time without any special preparation.
When the performance ended, James’s cards flew back into his pockets one after another.
Whish-whish-whish.
“It’s a shame we didn’t have a host for today’s show. Next time, I’ll make sure to bring my partner Colt along too.”
Only after James delivered the closing line of his card act did the members manage to collect themselves from the spell he had put them under.
“Wow.”
“…You’ve gotten even better. We’re really going to have to raise the performance fee.”
The members who had watched James’s magic from up close added their own chorus of praise.
“I still can’t figure it out no matter how hard I look!”
“How the hell did you do that?”
“That’s a secret. No matter how many of you are members, that part belongs to the magician.”
That day, James successfully joined the Las Vegas VIP club and was accepted as one of them. He had melted seamlessly into their circle.
Tom was giving him a thumbs-up from behind them.
James gave Tom a small nod and brought the day’s schedule to a close.
James knew his flight home was only a few days away, and he started wondering whether there was anything else he needed to handle in the States.
The auction went well…
He had avenged his old losses at the casino, and he had also made valuable connections with influential figures in Las Vegas. More than that, using the book from his master that he had acquired through the auction, he had unexpectedly accomplished something huge: Colt had begun walking the path of mana.
And in the process, I managed to shape a knight’s vessel for myself too.
The clear, transparent vessel of mana sitting in James’s abdomen was awakening a confidence that had nothing to do with magic.
I feel like I could dodge bullets now.
James, too, could sense something very similar to what Colt had felt. Just as Colt had when he first formed his own knight’s vessel, James had sharper vision, a keener sense of smell, and the heightened perception of all five senses—along with that soaring, overwhelming force that made him feel as though he could do anything.
If I fill it a little more, it’ll be practically full.
On top of that, James had already reached the point where filling the vessel of Knight’s Mana was no great challenge, since he had long since come to understand the sea of mana through his magical training.
…This is what growth feels like.
Because of that, James had made considerable progress. It was an intoxicating sensation, far more exhilarating than anything he had felt while learning magic. But the pleasure wasn’t the only thing—James truly had reached a high realm, like a knight who had tempered mana to its absolute limit.
Fzzzt.
Now he could easily draw out a blade of mana and scatter it apart.
I’m still a long way from physical training, though…
Colt still needed more time.
“……”
Ever since their run through the park together, Colt had done nothing but exercise.
Well, not nothing. He’s sitting there practicing the knight’s mana method right now.
At James’s remark that he still lacked mana, Colt had been working hard to increase his total reserves. He was also obsessively training his body so that it could match the engine-like output of a knight’s vessel.
A knight should be able to lift a sword, at the very least…
“!”
James sprang to his feet as he realized what he had forgotten.
Right… We don’t have any cold weapons.
Cold weapons were the general term for weapons that didn’t use gunpowder. In the past, a knight had been a soldier who fought on horseback with sword and spear, and in his master’s book, there were detailed records of the methods knights used to train with swords and spears.
If we want to move on to swordsmanship after the basic training…
After the basic training he and Colt were doing now, the next step would be learning sword forms, which followed the path of the blade, and weapon arts, which covered the use of all manner of weapons. There was also mounted lance work, but James didn’t really feel any need to train that particular discipline.
We don’t need horses, but… I should prepare a good sword…
It would be difficult to get one once he returned to Korea. He had heard that in Korea, people needed special permits not only for firearms but even for knives above a certain size.
James picked up his phone and gauged the time he had left.
Three days left. Could I get a sword in that time? I don’t even know whether they sell proper swords in the States.
“Phew.”
Colt, who had been sitting beside him, finished his mana breathing and James hurriedly said, “Colt.”
“Yeah? What’s up?”
“We need to get a sword.”
“A sword?”
“A knight’s sword. A night sword.”
“Ah… we need something like that?”
“Do you think we could get one at an arms dealer?”
“Uh… I’m sure we could get firearms, at least…”
He couldn’t say for certain when it came to blades other than guns.
“Let’s look together. We don’t have much time.”
“Cool. I’ll contact some people I know in Las Vegas. You won’t need to look for it separately, Jimmy.”
“It’d be great if we could find one here…”
“Couldn’t we find one in Korea too?”
“Korea’s difficult. That’s a place where they control all sorts of weapons.”
“What’s so scary about it that they won’t let people own anything?”
“At any rate, that means even swords instead of guns won’t be easy.”
“So basically, you’re saying we can’t find one?”
“Right.”
“At least firearms are easy to get here. Wait a bit. I should be able to find a few.”
James and Colt were underestimating their own country’s arms dealers by a wide margin.
Colt found several arms dealers after just a few phone calls, and James, following Colt’s directions, drove a pickup truck over to one of them.
“You’re sure about this?”
“It’s not a place that’s officially registered, but they said they definitely have the goods.”
“It isn’t a place officially licensed by the government?”
“You said it was urgent, didn’t you? And we wanted to keep the fact that we were buying weapons hidden from other people if possible.”
“……”
James had never liked weapon shops. The fact that Andrew, who was dead now, had bought firearms through an illegal arms dealer only made him hate those places even more. But James soon changed his mind.
…Maybe this can help the world too.
“What are you thinking now?”
“You’ll see when we get there.”
James and Colt crossed out toward the outskirts of Las Vegas and arrived at a building that looked like a private home.
“Is this the place?”
“Yeah. Hold on.”
Colt rolled his shoulders and loosened up his suddenly bulked-up muscles, then approached the building while performing what could only be described as boxing warm-ups in disguise.
Whoosh, whoosh.
He used one of the fists he had been swinging to tap the iron door.
Bang. Bang.
The heavy outer steel door shook with such force that it sounded as though it might cave in at any moment.
“Colt. There’s a button right there. Why are you knocking?”
“Ah, crap.”
Beeep.
When Colt pressed the call button, a voice snarled back through the speaker.
— Who’s there? You trying to break down the door or something?
“Sorry. We were sent by Joe Rickles.”
— Ah. I got the call. Was it Alan? You alone?
“No, there are two of us. I thought I said that. And you’ve got the name wrong too. It’s Colt and James.”
— Right. Just making sure.
“……”
The big door opened, and James drove the pickup truck inside. The moment the truck crossed the threshold, the steel door began sliding shut again with a grinding metallic shriek.
Creeeak.
James was worried he might not find what he wanted here.
What if I end up buying only guns after all?
He had come here intending to buy firearms too, after all.
“Welcome. Now that I look at you, you do seem familiar.”
“Heh. If you don’t know our faces in Las Vegas, then you’re not one of us.”
Colt clasped the man’s hand as if they were old acquaintances and brought their shoulders together in greeting.
“Hey, bro.”
James followed Colt’s lead, took the man’s hand, and greeted him the same way.
“Hey, bro. Good to meet you.”
“Oh. The magician James Kane. Your performances were always incredible.”
“Heh. I haven’t had any shows lately. Been taking it easy.”
“Really? Well, you found my collection for me, so I suppose it’s time to get down to business.”
“What should we call you?”
“Everybody calls me Sam.”
“Samuel?”
“Damn it, everybody guesses that. Come on. My collection’s downstairs.”
James and Colt chuckled and followed Samuel, whom everyone called Sam, inside.