Chapter 10
I immediately moved my steps.
The destination was the place where Baldwin had squandered his entire fortune. There, a man was still gambling.
Around him were knights bearing the name of Lutens.
It seemed he had even put his own knights up as stakes.
Shaking my head, I sat down.
Thump.
I sat right in the seat he had been occupying and tossed out the exchanged chips. The gold coins in my possession had long since been converted into chips.
To resolve Baldwin's lingering resentment, I had to gamble.
Of course, from the guy who made him lose everything.
"What's this? A pilgrim? Is it okay for a clergyman to gamble? Hahaha!"
I didn't know his name or anything.
But since he drained Baldwin's wealth, he must be skilled at gambling.
"Lord Valterus favors only the sword. Something like gambling is well within my capabilities."
The men's eyes changed.
It seemed they realized I hadn't approached him with good intentions.
"I know what you're thinking, but it'd be better if you just turn back. I'm stronger than I look. I've had a talent for gambling since I was a kid, so I've never experienced losing money. I don't want to take a pilgrim's money either."
"There are many things in the world you can't know without experiencing them for yourself. Whether it's gambling..."
Or something else.
When I didn't back down, he looked at me as if it was amusing and fiddled with the dice.
"Mister pilgrim. I don't know if you know, but an hour ago, the eldest son of a noble family who gambled with me squandered his fortune and died while causing a scene. So I don't want to take your money right now either. It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth."
"Is that so."
"He said he came to earn money for his family, which is in the middle of a war. Taking money from a greenhorn like that, and even taking his life... This is a terrible business."
War brings money. But it also consumes a tremendous amount of money.
"'I have no talent for the sword, nor the charisma to lead an army. The only thing I have is a talent for gambling, so I just wanted to win a lot of money to help my family.' That's what he said. Tch, it just left a bad taste in my mouth."
In other words, he was telling me to go back.
"So stop doing pointless things and go back. I don't want to take money from a son called by God."
That circumstance was none of my business.
What I wanted was the chip bags placed around him.
There were dozens of stacked chip bags.
What Si-eun desired was that.
"Let's see your skill."
"If you insist that much... Let's see how a clergyman's gambling goes."
With a flushed face, likely from heavy drinking, he pushed his chips forward.
"My lord, that guy is a gambler named Ged. They say no one in Trista can beat him at gambling!"
Ignoring Brans who was making a fuss.
I tossed out the dice.
"Roll them."
"Yes."
The dealer put two dice into a wooden cup and shook it.
Rattle, rattle.
Soon the cup was slammed onto the table, and a number spilled from Ged's mouth.
"Six."
Two dice.
He spoke as if spitting out one of the twelve possible numbers.
If you're close to the correct answer, you take the money; if not, you lose it. If neither is close, the dealer takes the money.
A simple game.
"Nine."
As I bet the same amount of chips and called out a number, the cup in the dealer's hand was lifted.
Ged glanced at the dealer once.
The dealer tapped the cup and opened it.
Soon, two dice were revealed.
Three and three.
The dice number was Six.
"Oh, you had good luck."
It was his victory.
A simple and clear game.
It's simple because it's purely based on luck, but that's why it's fun.
I lost half of my money in just one game, but I smiled.
"It seems pilgrims only search for swords and train, so they have no talent for gambling."
Instead of answering, I put all my remaining chips and Arzando, which was hanging at my waist, on the table.
"What are you doing?"
"Playing timidly like this doesn't satisfy me."
"...A fine sword."
Arzando's blue blade gleamed sharply.
"It's a famous sword. A rare one. This single sword could buy a whole building."
Famous swords are rare as market goods themselves.
With this, there would be no shortage in raising the stakes.
But he made a gesture as if asking if that was all.
"Rather than a sword, I'd like to have the miracles a pilgrim can perform..."
Not long ago, the knights of Lutens I met also said so.
The territorial war must still be nowhere near an end. Although they were securing military supplies through the war and reporting victories, a long war dries up the territory.
It seemed Calias wasn't the only one who wanted to increase the stakes.
"Very well. But do you have assets worthy of that?"
His eyes wavered slightly.
"This is no joke."
As the stakes suddenly grew, spectators gathered one by one.
He glanced at the spectators and leaned his back against the chair again.
"Of course."
As if he had been waiting for it, he placed dozens of bundles on the table.
Thump, thump thump!
They were all chips he had won today.
"I have a lot of talents, so if you exchange all of this, it'll be enough to cover your ransom. It should be roughly about a thousand gold coins. On top of that..."
Tap. He pulled out blank checks.
The two checks, already signed by him, had numbers equivalent to a thousand gold coins each written on them.
A total of three thousand gold coins.
It was his entire fortune.
"I was getting bored thinking there were no outstanding men in the city of entertainment, Trista, but this is getting quite interesting."
At this point, I was curious about his identity.
I thought he was just a simple gambler, but it seemed that wasn't entirely the case.
"Brans."
"Yes?"
"You shake them."
"M-me?"
Ged's eyes changed.
"Anyway, there's no difference other than putting the dice in the cup and shaking it. It shouldn't matter who does it, right?"
When I asked as if that was the case, Ged's mouth twitched.
"Or do you think I'll cheat? I swear on my sword and my god. Unlike others, I don't play tricks."
"...Fine."
Click. The dice were cast.
Rattle, rattle, rattle.
Only the sound of the dice shaking inside the cup broke the silence.
Thud.
The dice cup settled down.
Silence flowed.
Three dice.
Numbers from 1 to 18.
Calias's ashen eyes, which had been closed the whole time, flashed open.
"Two."
"Two? Hahaha, look here, pilgrim. Do you perhaps have nowhere to go?"
The number 2.
Calling the number 2 when there are three dice was such an absurd number that one might think he didn't know the rules.
Ged laughed heartily and shouted the number three.
"I'll go with three."
Number 3.
Soon the dealer's hand moved.
The cup was lifted. The spectators thought it was ridiculous.
They thought the pilgrim, who didn't even know the rules, was going to be dragged away by the Lutens family.
However, the moment the cup was lifted.
All the spectators gasped.
"Gasp!"
One of the three dice inside the cup was stacked on top of another.
The dice stacked in two layers showed 1, and the remaining die also showed one.
"T-the dice number is two! It's the pilgrim's victory!"
Waaaaaaaah!!
A cheer erupted.
In just a single game, Calias earned over three thousand gold coins.
'Phew.'
I had something to rely on.
It was possible because it was a dice game.
I concentrated my divine power into my ears, heightening my hearing several times over. The sound of the dice colliding, the angle of the cup the dealer was shaking.
It was an answer derived by calculating everything.
Because this game was rigged from the start.
Of course, it wasn't simply because I concentrated divine power in my ears.
[Bard's Blessing] Rank - Epic
-Musical Talent: Highest
Calias's only talent.
It was because of the Bard's Blessing.
It was possible because things related to sound were classified as related to music.
It was the result of the harmony between the perfect pitch inherent in the Bard's Blessing and the sharp hearing amplified by divine power.
"It seems the Goddess of Luck favored me this time."
Calias took all the chips on the table.
* * *
Ged was unable to properly comprehend the current situation.
'What? What just happened?'
He had been gambling since he was five years old.
He wandered from gambling den to gambling den, honing his skills, and eventually amassed a great deal of wealth.
Of course, it wasn't entirely pure skill.
'In gambling, cheating is also a skill.'
Cheating was a skill too.
He colluded with the dealer and hid a trick in the dice board itself.
When the cup was tapped, the dice moved.
That way, he could make the dice show whatever he wanted, and the opponent wouldn't even notice.
That was how Ged built his undefeated streak.
But then a pilgrim appeared.
He was a rather threatening man, but a crisis soon became an opportunity.
A little provocation, and the crazy bastard put himself up as the stakes.
The money was good, but taking the pilgrim, who could produce countless swords as long as there were corpses, would be even better.
The victory was his anyway.
An undefeated myth that had never been broken.
Ged never thought that it would be broken today.
Thus, he couldn't believe the current situation.
'I lost?'
The chip bags placed on the table.
They were heading toward the pilgrim.
'Is it a dream?'
No, it wasn't a dream.
His entire fortune had evaporated.
It was his wealth, meticulously saved up, making him richer than most nobles.
Ged's head heated up.
"Let go of this!"
Ged drew his sword from his waist.
Whether it was because he was drunk or couldn't handle the weight of the sword, he staggered dangerously.
"That's my money. That's my money!!"
He screamed at the top of his lungs.
A cold wind blew through the casino, which had been spreading a festive atmosphere.
"Do you have anything else to bet?"
Calias asked calmly.
There was nothing else to bet. There couldn't be.
"Shut up!! You're just a pilgrim, who do you think I am!!"
Ged swung his sword.
Whoosh!
His sloppy sword sliced through the air.
Without even getting up from his chair, Calias grabbed Brans by the scruff of his neck and blocked the front like a shield.
"Agh!"
Slash!
Blood soaked the gambling table.
"Kyaaaah!"
"Ged drew his sword!!"
The spectators screamed and scattered in terror. A faint smile hung on Calias's lips.
"Guuuhk!"
Toss. Pushing Brans aside, Calias picked up Arzando, which had been placed on the table.
"You harmed my squire. And in Trista, no less."
Calias took a step forward.
At that, Ged's feet stepped back, his face turning pale.
"Kill him! Kill that bastard right before my eyes!"
"B-but...!"
"Didn't you hear me tell you to kill him! Kill him! I am your master! Kill him!!"
Under Ged's pressure, the knights gritted their teeth and drew their swords.
Clear killing intent.
Calias didn't hold back. His sword surged like lightning.
Slash.
"Aagh!"
The knight's arm flew off.
"B-block him! That fanatic is trying to kill me! Hurry and block him!!"
The remaining knights were four. But none of them were a match for Calias.
Splatter, splatter.
Every time he swung his sword, the knights fell bleeding.
Walking step by step, simply by thrusting and slashing, the knights of Lutens fell like scarecrows.
Neither the swords they wielded nor their solid armor could block Calias's Arzando.
The gap between Calias and the knights was vast and insurmountable by anything.
And finally.
"D-don't come! Don't come, you demon!!"
Ged, having fallen on his backside, threw whatever he could grab.
Looking at such a guy, Calias twisted his lips.
"This is Baldwin's gift."
"S-spare me... Gwack!"
Crack, stab.
The sword made from Baldwin.
He stabbed him with it.
The sensation of bones shattering and the heart being pierced was felt at his fingertips.
Ged immediately vomited blood and died, and Calias watched his cooling corpse with calm eyes.
As if it had no lingering regrets, Baldwin's sword suddenly turned into smoke and disappeared.
[Baldwin's Gambling - Completed]
[A special reward is given.]
[Three-Colored Eyes] Rank - Rare
-Views objects with three colors
Red, blue, gold.
'As expected.'
Three-Colored Eyes.
A trait that allows one to discern what kind of influence an object will have on them by seeing it in three colors.
He acquired a trait that would be of great help in his future journey.
It was a rare occurrence.
To obtain a trait through Si-eun.
He hadn't known at first.
Until he remembered the name Baldwin. Baldwin de Lutens.
He was the eldest son of Viscount Lutens, a man with a talent for gambling.
A person who originally possessed a trait.
When such a person leaves a grudge from an unjust death and receives the grace of a corpse...
The one who resolves it gains a trait. He was lucky.
To think he would meet Baldwin right on time.
Tadadadadak.
Just as he was feeling satisfied with his newly acquired trait...
Shring! The casino guards appeared, drawing their swords.
And in the center of them, a figure walking leisurely while smoking a cigar.
Thud, thud.
A massive man appeared.
"You've done it for me."
A frame twice as big as others.
A rugged appearance and a muscular body.
A claw-mark scar carved into his eye.
Despite his slicked-back white hair and beast-like appearance, he wore a well-fitted suit.
"Cedric."
Cedric, the owner of the casino.
Cedric Bor Madridchan.
"You know me."
"Of course. I came all the way here to meet you."
"Oh my, I don't know if you're failing to grasp the situation, or if you're a fool with your guts hanging out."
A casino operated by Cedric.
He had killed the knights of Lutens and their master, Ged, there.
This fact alone was enough for him to be kicked out of Trista or imprisoned without any issue.
"It was self-defense."
"Really? It didn't look like it to me. You know what? In my establishment, my word is the law. Self-defense, sure. But it didn't look like it to me. The method you used to win the money was also completely off."
Calias's eyes narrowed.
"Were you aiming for this from the start?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Ged, who was recklessly winning money in his establishment, must have been a thorn in his side.
But he had no way to deal with it and just left him alone, and perfectly, Calias stepped in. Since he had killed Ged's entire gang, from Cedric's perspective, if he just beat up the troublemaking pilgrim and chased him out of Trista, all problems would be solved and he would also get the money.
'It's killing two birds with one stone.'
Calias roughly understood the situation. But he hadn't been unaware that this situation would unfold.
He had killed Ged with Cedric's appearance in mind.
Calias's eyes shone brilliantly.
Three-Colored Eyes.
When he looked at Cedric with it, his figure appeared in a subtle red.
A red that signaled danger.