Natural Change #3

 

“From now on, I will teach you about the world of adults.”

Kyahaha—

Mitchell smiled, showing his teeth.

Whenever I see it, it’s a strange, un-elf-like laugh.

We wandered through the streets of Garden for a while and then entered a dark back alley.

“I never dreamed there would be a place like this in the pioneering area.”

“Wow- it looks like a secret hideout.”

A hidden underground shopping mall whose existence is unknown to outsiders.

The products being sold are extremely suspicious, and the gazes of passersby are gloomy.

Unlike the downtown area, there was no solicitation here.

All there is is a silent exchange of glances and the exchange of money and goods.

‘I knew you’d bring me here.’

Garden Black Market.

It’s a place I sometimes stopped by in the game.

However, Flora’s purpose is probably something other than black market trading.

“Our beautiful ladies, welcome to the evening banquet.”

Mitchell gestured exaggeratedly toward the entrance of a store.

A store that is obviously suspicious, with a black tent covering the inside, making it impossible to see what’s going on.

Of course, as expected, it’s a casino.

“Night banquets are a piece of cake. The sun is shining brightly outside right now.”

When I scolded him, Mitchell narrowed his eyes.

“Let’s not go into all this nitpicking, okay? Okay, let’s get started.”

We were pushed into the casino by Mitchell.

“You said you paid for everything.”

First of all, I received confirmation.

I had planned to visit the casino at least once anyway.

There’s no reason to hesitate when you can play as much as you want with other people’s money.

“Don’t worry, everyone. I brought them here, so it’s only natural that I’ll be responsible for the military funds. Okay, what should we do first?”

Mitchell looked around the casino, rubbing his hands together.

Eyes already filled with dopamine even before you’ve even bet your money.

These are the eyes of a complete gambling addict.

It was not difficult to predict the ending she would soon face.

Mitchell will be able to leave this casino only after he becomes penniless.

Well, Mitchell’s situation is none of my business.

I need to make my own money. I have no intention of just handing my money over to a casino.

Cards, dice, roulette – what will give you the best chance of winning?

“I see this is your first time. As a welcome, I’d like to offer you a drink.”

A crow who served at a gambling house approached and offered me a drink.

“How much is it?”

“Oh, it’s all free. Enjoy as much as you want. We’ll provide unlimited drinks and refreshments during your stay.”

Flora’s eyes widened.

Compared to the grand casinos in big cities, this gambling establishment is extremely poor, but it seems to adhere to the basic principles.

The first rule: Hold onto the foot of the fool.

Then you will definitely have to spit out all the money you have.

Free drinks and snacks are just a lure for this.

“Wow, this is delicious, Estelle. Have a drink.”

“I’m done.”

“It’s delicious-”

Flora sipped her fruit wine and smiled bashfully.

‘He should experience the world at least once.’

Flora will learn a valuable lesson here.

There is no such thing as an unmerited favor in this world.

Gambling is a shortcut to ruin.

Of course, it’s Mitchell’s money that’s being lost. Otherwise, I never would have brought him to the casino.

“Then let’s play for about two hours and then meet again. You guys can’t lose everything before then, right?”

When they got to the casino, Mitchell, who had become very spendthrift, gave away money.

“If you have any questions, just call me. I’ll be hanging out over there.”

Mitchell, who was walking briskly as if he was impatient, ran off to play cards as soon as he finished speaking.

Flora and I each looked around the casino as we pleased.

Flora was so captivated by the snail race that she couldn’t take her eyes off the track.

“Senior, is it fun?”

“I don’t know if it’s fun, but when I watch it, I find myself cheering in a daze.”

Flora squatted down in front of the snail track and watched the snails crawling along slowly.

‘It’s a slow-moving gamble, so I won’t lose money right away.’

At a quick glance, Flora hadn’t bet much on a single game. Five hundred or a thousand gold at most.

It’s a petty bet. It’s literally gambling for fun.

Since they were enjoying themselves in a healthy way, it seemed like there was nothing for me to interfere with.

‘Then I guess I’ll play my game.’

I went to a dice casino first.

“Okay, everyone, go for it. If you don’t know the rules, I’ll explain them to you in simple terms. Even an idiot can understand after just a minute.”

Moon, moon, moon—

The crow cheerily shook the dice in the cup, livening up the excitement.

As the crow said, the gamble is simple.

A game where players compete to determine the pedigree created by rolling three dice.

There is no need to worry about other gamblers; all you have to do is break the genealogy of the crow, the matchmaker.

And, I have a way to manipulate the dice without anyone knowing.

‘I guess there’s no one among the crows who’s good at magic.’

He shook the cup quietly, allowing his magic power to seep into it.

“Symphony”.

The magician’s secret technique of manipulating the dice in a cup without touching them.

It’s a scam that works even in large gambling halls in big cities.

There’s no one who can stop me in this remote corner of the countryside called Garden.

“Oh, you’re lucky. You’re a tough opponent.”

“Yahoo!”

As the dice with three numbers lined up in a row appeared, all the gamblers’ eyes were focused on one another.

1,1,1. The strongest hand in dice games.

The crow narrowed its eyes faintly, wary of the lucky Lucky Guy.

“Well, I won this one, and I won here too⋯.”

The crow quickly retrieved the gold coins and paid them out.

“I guess I lost to the young lady.”

One thousand two hundred gold coins came back to me.

My genealogy is 4,5,6.

It’s a pretty strong pedigree, but not the strongest.

‘This is just right.’

The important thing to keep in mind when playing card games is not just about building a strong hand.

‘You must not arouse suspicion.’

Win moderately, lose moderately.

Don’t just focus on winning. The casino is always watching its customers with an eagle eye.

If you get blacklisted, in the worst case scenario you’ll get beaten up and kicked out.

So I gave the bet to another gambler next to me.

It’s a kind of aggro distribution.

“What day is it today? The dice are going crazy!”

Lucky Guy smiled brightly.

However, while he was unable to come to his senses due to the continuous onslaught of bad luck, a sinister shadow was cast over the crow’s eyes.

The crow stared intently at Lucky Guy’s hand.

“Brother, you’re amazing.”

The crow, who had been losing to Lucky Guy in succession, seemed to be very angry and didn’t even pay attention to me.

It’s all according to plan.

I finished playing dice after about thirty minutes.

Final score is +6200 gold.

It was harder to manage profits carefully without arousing suspicion than to win.

Next is card gambling.

This time, I used my clairvoyance to look into my opponent’s cards and run the game.

+5200 gold.

Next is another card game.

This time I gave up a little bit so as not to arouse suspicion.

-2300 gold.

Next is ladder climbing. I lost about a thousand gold again.

In the last roulette, I manipulated the ball with a stimulant and won quite a lot.

+21500 gold.

“Wow!”

“It just stops.”

“That’s what I always say, bet on 7!”

The final roulette bet was deliberately rigged so that the ball would stop on the lucky number 7, a number many people bet on.

There are many other people who have hit the jackpot, so I don’t think it’s suspicious.

“It’s the right day, today! Walk, walk.”

“Let’s fry it tenfold.”

Excited people bet all the money they earned.

Do you believe that today, at least, the goddess of fortune is watching over you with a benevolent smile?

Ultimately, there’s no happy ending to gambling. It’s a hellhole where every last drop is sucked out.

‘Then I guess I’ll start to lose weight.’

I quietly slipped out from among the cheering people.

Before I knew it, two hours had passed while I was playing.

I had a lot of fun, and I made a decent amount of money without worrying about the casino’s boundaries.

Now that you’ve rejoined your party, all you have to do is grab the rare items you can find here and you’ve completed all your objectives.

“Oh, sir⋯.”

When we met again, Mitchell was crying.

I could guess the result just by looking at their expressions without having to ask.

“If only the spades had landed at the end, I’d have won them all. This is driving me crazy. How about you, kid?”

“I just got what I paid for.”

“I thought so.”

Mitchell chuckled.

“What about Flora?”

“I was watching the snail race earlier.”

“Is that fun? It’s so slow, it’s frustrating to watch.”

We moved to the front of the snail racing track.

Flora sat motionless and crouched in the heat of the gambling hall.

The calm gaze is impressive.

It was a face like a god, transcending the world of money, desire, and competition.

“How are things going?”

Only when Mitchell tapped her shoulder did Flora come to her senses and turn around.

“Ah, I’m sorry. I didn’t even notice you coming because I was watching the snails.”

“We lost everything. Flora, you too, right?”

“I got some.”

Flora smiled brightly.

Flora took her wallet out of her pocket.

‘What is that size?’

The wallet was bulging to the point of bursting. It looked heavy at first glance.

“Senior, how much did you get?”

“Uh- there are so many I haven’t counted yet- but about 50,000?”

“Oh, Oman?”

Mitchell’s mouth fell open.

“At first, I bet two hundred, then a thousand, and then when I got the hang of it, five thousand, ten thousand, and somehow I ended up winning this much.”

I earned 50,000 gold in two hours, and that was for a beginner who had never gambled before.

Suddenly, a scenario appeared in my head.

‘Is it the magic of weight?’

A magic spell that increases the weight of the target.

This is the last magic Flora learned in the Magical Classics.

Just as I constantly cheated with my telepathy and clairvoyance, did Flora also use magic?

If you magically slowed down all the snails except the one that bet money⋯

“Huh? Magic? No? I was just cheering you on. Snails, cheer up! Don’t give up! You don’t have to win first place, just try to finish!”

When asked, Flora shook her head with an innocent expression.

Well, he can’t lie. The idea of using magic to trick a casino is far-fetched.

The truth is that I won that huge sum of money honestly through luck.

‘Scary kid!’

Mitchell and I exchanged a silent glance.