episode_0102

“Um… …I guess I can’t play at the casino.”

The fake golden sun muttered like this.

Although there are many requests near the forest, I wonder if it’s because I remember Leo and his group sweeping up all the requests in the morning last time. The kids in my class have been working extremely hard on the requests since the morning.

Besides, even if there were requests from the surroundings, it wasn’t because the request office couldn’t handle them. They just left some of the requests for the students. In the case of the North, there was really a shortage of people, but Northwood was a place where there were no battlefields nearby, there was a lot of money, and above all, the security in the surrounding area had to be stable.

Unlike when I was doing more than just the subquests, this time there were fewer quests, so I had a lot of time to rest after doing them.

Especially in the evenings, this means that there is time to sit leisurely in the casino.

“… … .”

Of course, Charlotte, who followed us, had a very dissatisfied expression. Considering that she didn’t even bother to come out last night, she must really have no interest in the casino. That was fortunate. Since Charlotte was in her room like in the original, we were able to be relatively relaxed in the casino.

Charlotte opened her mouth as Jake, who had lost a couple of times in a card game, returned to the railing where we were leaning against.

“It’s wrong to think that you can make money in a place like this. The people who run the casino aren’t stupid, and if they thought they would lose money, they wouldn’t have run a place like this.”

It’s not a bad place to cheat. If you cheat in front of high-ranking nobles, you’ll be in big trouble. Even if the duke is behind you, you can’t blatantly cheat in a place where other dukes are also present.

“The teacher also told me to do it in moderation.”

To be more precise, Caroline’s expression was one of extreme embarrassment for showing this place to her students.

Even though the Duke of Northwood raised Caroline upright, it seemed like he raised her too upright.

In fact, out of all the characters, she was the one who seemed like she would suit the bunny girl look the most… … Well, let’s just ignore that since there’s no reason for the original author to wear something like that.

“I don’t know what the fun is in gambling.”

“That’s obvious. Don’t even try to learn it.”

Charlotte quickly replied to Lena’s words.

Lena was the youngest among us. Charlotte probably thought Lena was cute, or maybe she thought she was in a similar situation as a foreigner, so she took care of Lena a lot.

Perhaps because she came from a place where the infrastructure was far inferior to that of the Empire, Lena looked at the casino itself as if it were new, but she didn’t look at the women dressed as bunny girls wandering around inside or the people engrossed in card games with a particularly favorable view.

There weren’t many, but there were also roulette machines running. They were actually powered by a mainspring. The machines seemed to be sitting on the floor, but they were actually connected to a gas pipe underneath the building, which was running a steam engine and continuously winding the mainspring. In any case, it was the most advanced in the empire.

“Are you finished?”

When I asked, Jake shrugged and said,

“I thought about giving Roti a diamond ring, but I lost all my money. I don’t even have enough money to spin the roulette once, so if it’s over, it’s over. ”

“… … Did you lose all the money you spent on going to the cafe?”

“Yeah, right. So, can I borrow some money?”

Alice sighed deeply at Jake’s words.

“The eldest son of the Duke borrows money from the princess… … .”

“It’s not a lot of money to buy a territory, so what? Huh? Or should I give it to you? ”

“… … I’ll lend you some, so let’s get out of here quickly.”

Alice glanced at Jake and said,

There must be another reason for saying that. Looking at Alice, who had been looking around here and there since a while ago, it seemed like she was worried about yesterday. Even though she had a mask on her face, people who wanted to know recognized her.

Actually, some eyes were drawn this way, but it was probably because there was a crowd of people wearing academy uniforms rather than because they knew that Alice was a bunny girl.

“Sigh.”

Alice and Claire also let out a small sigh.

… … In fact, there were many reasons why Jake acted that way. To some extent, he was deliberately rebelling against his family.

By the way, Leo was sticking close to Claire. He wasn’t physically close to her, but his whole body seemed to be expressing, ‘I’m one of these people.’

From the moment he entered the casino, bunny girls started flocking to Leo. That may be because he’s handsome, but… … Judging from the fact that no one really flocked to Jake, the biggest reason is probably because he gives off a ‘foolish vibe’.

And Claire looked at Leo as if she found him a little pitiful.

“How about it, Sylvia? Don’t you want to try making some money? If you lend me some money, I can make it bigger. You could hit the jackpot that you can’t read with a calculator, right?”

I quietly looked at Jake, who was talking nonsense as if he had an iron plate on his face, and said.

“Rather, I have work to do. I don’t mind you staying here late at night, but if you stay here without a penny, you might end up in debt by tomorrow morning that I can’t afford. ”

“Okay, okay. I didn’t want to get scolded by Dorothy.”

Just what you just said would make you 100% mad at Roti.

A prince who borrows money from a princess, let alone a maid, it wouldn’t be strange for the duke to come out and give orders himself.

I guess that’s what you’re aiming for.

“Then, let’s go and find out what he wants to talk about.”

We followed him one beat slower, looking at Jake as if he was saying those words and leading the way without permission.

*

Before telling this story to the group, we had a rather long conversation.

The treasure is hidden, and it must not be discovered by Lee Young-ji’s Duke.

Even two of them are foreigners.

But if we disappear on our own, that would be a problem in its own right. If we disappear on our own, we’ll be suspected of that.

In the original, Verratti ends up going in first, followed by Alice and Leo. Claire watches from afar. This is the first time Claire participates as a guest character.

When he returns, he is subjected to a romantic comedy-style misunderstanding because Alice and Leo disappeared together.

But this time, there are four of them. No matter what, if that many people disappear at the same time for two days in a row, it’s impossible not to notice.

So what we came up with was… …just talking.

But not openly, but in a more ‘aristocratic’ way.

“Look at this.”

After leaving the casino, we sat down at a nearby cafe and showed one of the invitations to the other kids who still didn’t know about the events of the day before.

“This is… … .”

Charlotte said as she received the invitation.

It was a luxurious envelope. It literally felt like it contained an invitation from a high-ranking official.

Charlotte, who received the envelope, glanced at us. When Alice nodded, she carefully opened the envelope and took out the paper inside, which was also of high-quality material.

What was inside was a request form.

“Explore the hidden areas of Northwood Forest… … ”

Charlotte looked a little dumbfounded after reading that short statement.

“If there is such a request, why is it not done through the agency?”

“After all, this is the land of the Northwood Duke.”

“… … Aha.”

Charlotte said, putting the paper back in the envelope.

“So you’re saying that someone who wasn’t a ‘duke’ made this request?”

“That’s right.”

“But, is there really a reason to ask ‘us’ for this?”

“That’s… ….”

Alice closed her eyes for a moment. Then she took a deep breath, slowly opened her eyes, and spoke as if exhaling.

“… … I have something I can’t say.”

“… … .”

Charlotte looked at Alice with narrowed eyes and spoke quietly.

“So that’s it.”

Charlotte continued speaking, shaking the envelope between her fingers.

“They’re people who are strong enough to think about raiding the duke’s territory, but they’re also people with a rough relationship with each other who don’t want to get caught. If they’re the ones who made this request, they’re not dungeons, they’re dungeons. It’s so obvious that you can see through them.”

Alice kept a poker face, but Charlotte could see it all.

However, Charlotte did not add any more to the story.

“Okay. Everyone has stories they don’t want others to hear. I’ll fool you this time.”

Charlotte glanced at Jake and Lena, who were sitting next to her. Jake had an amused expression on his face, and Lena tilted her head.

“Both of you seem to agree… …But there is one condition for being fooled.”

“… … Just say it.”

“If I ever ask you to fool me, will you fool me at least once? Wouldn’t that make things work out?”

“… … .”

When Charlotte said that as if she was joking, Alice nodded.

And then, just as Charlotte had done a moment ago, she glanced at the two people sitting on either side of her.

“What about me? I’m a duke. I don’t want to clash with the royal family, so I’ll just follow.”

Jake, who answered like a whiner,

“… … If a request comes, wouldn’t it be okay to just solve it?”

Lena answers as if she still doesn’t know.

Both people gave answers that were unique in their own way.