Book 2: Chapter 354
The light of the chandeliers above reflected brilliantly on the wine.
Peran took a small sip of the sweet smelling liquid into his mouth. Not only did it roll over the tongue like silk, but it also flowed down his throat almost as if it had a mind of its own.
This was, without a doubt, high class wine.
“If it’s alright with you, may I have a drink as well?”
His expression almost hardened like a stone when he heard the sudden voice.
A woman was standing behind him with a bright smile.
It was Iris.
From a naive girl to a seductive beauty.
Iris Phisfounder was a woman capable of completely changing her aura depending on her smile.
Peran deliberately turned his eyes away from her face. He’d only just moistened his mouth, but it already felt like he was intoxicated. This was proof that he was already being swept away by Iris.
“It would be my honour, my Lady.”
After receiving a glass from a passing waiter, he politely poured wine for Iris.
Clink-
They lightly tapped their glasses before simultaneously bringing them to their lips.
Except, this time, Peran could hardly taste the wine.
“I’m surprised.”
“What do you mean?”
“I never thought I’d meet you in Yuterdam.”
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“…”
If her words were to be believed, that meant she hadn’t come all the way here to meet Peran… In truth, that much was obvious. After all, Peran hadn’t informed anyone that he would be coming to Yuterdam.
Nevertheless, that didn’t mean he could be too quick to jump to any conclusions.
After all, this person was the Black Witch.
She was a master of negotiation and a wizard when it came to language and speech.
Even experienced politicians were nothing more than newborn babies in front of her, so for her, keeping her intentions hidden was as easy as breathing.
“Gambling sometimes serves as an excellent distraction. As long as you don’t overdo it.”
“Huhu, I still don’t think you came all the way here to flip some cards.”
“…well. Naturally, I came here for other business, it’s just that I sadly can’t tell Miss Iris what that is.”
Rather than insist till the end that he didn’t have any other goal, it was better to admit that he had other business and claim that it was too private to share. Of course, he didn’t forget to mix a bit of firmness into his voice.
‘She must never find out about Lady Snow.’
While Iris was a member of the moderate faction, she was by no means an ally. In fact, she was someone who had been deemed as a potential enemy by the alliance.
Therefore, it was imperative for him to hide the fact that Snow, the leader of the alliance, was currently wandering the small path between life and death.
“What did Miss Iris come here for?”
“I came to meet the Lord of Yuterdam.”
“…the Lord of Yuterdam?”
He couldn’t help but ask back.
Iris chuckled gently before nodding.
“Yes. I’ve been having a bit of trouble lately so I’ve been meaning to ask for the Lord’s help.”
“Then why Number Fight.” (TL: There was a typo in the raws for the previous chapter. It is Number ‘Fight’(파이트) and not Number ‘Five’(파이브). I thought the name was strange but just went with it.)
“It’s boring to just wait.”
It was thanks to this boredom that Peran lost half of the money he earned to her.
It was then.
“…excuse me.”
A tall young man approached them and looked at Iris before opening his mouth.
“Are you Lady Iris?”
“You are…?”
“I am Lady Asilla’s assistant, Merad.”
“Oh my, you came much faster than I expected.”
“…I was told that if I didn’t come hurriedly, the Gold House might have lost all of our money entirely.”
When she heard Merad’s words, Iris let out a soft chuckle.
“That’s not true. For a casino of this size, it would take about a week, even for me.”
“I, I see.”
She was saying that it would be possible in a week.
Peran couldn’t help but feel a surge of awe for Iris.
The beautiful woman in question placed her wine glass on the table before turning to Peran.
“I want to give you something in return for the excellent wine, Peran. Won’t you come with me?”
“Huh?”
“Don’t you have business with her as well?”
“…”
How did she know?
Peran had a suffocating feeling in his chest, but he tried to hide it as best as he could.
“Then, please.”
“Is that alright, Merad?”
“That…”
Merad, who had an embarrassed expression on his face, tried to say something, but soon, his face changed and he nodded.
“Understood. Then, both of you, please come with me.”
Iris followed Merad with a smile. Peran watched her back for a moment before letting out a soft sigh.
Ever since he’d met Iris, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being dragged around by her.
‘There’s probably no one who can take the lead when she’s around.’
At the very least, he found it hard to imagine Iris being led around by anyone.
…Now wasn’t the time to think about this nonsense.
With a quiet shake of his head, he followed after them.
* * *
“Hey, brother. If you don’t want to play anymore, why don’t you give up your seat?”
“…”
“Hey. Didn’t you hear me…”
When the large man frowned, the man who was beside him restrained him.
“Hey, that’s enough. He lost like 1,000 gold coins in the last round.”
“What was that? What’s the point of gambling if you’re going to lose so much?”
“Forget it. Look at his face, this is probably his first time in a place like this. Imagine how terrible it would feel to step in dog shit as soon as you step out the door.”
“…ha.”
With a low snort, the man walked up to Lukas and patted him on the shoulder before handing him a gold coin.
“Eat a bowl of hot soup on your way home. Your head will still be hot so avoid going to a bar, alright?”
“…”
Lukas looked down at the coin in his hand in dismay.
A gold coin.
This gold coin, which glittered in his palm, was now the entirety of Lukas’ fortune.
…In other words, Lukas had no money left.
1,200 gold coins.
It had only taken him a single hour to lose all of the money Peran gave to him.
‘Impossible…’
Something that should be nigh impossible probabilistically had happened.
From what he’d seen, he could win nine out of ten of the games in the casino.
And even the one he wasn’t completely sure about, he was confident that his chances of winning were 90 percent at least. To bet on such odds could not be called gambling.
But he lost.
He lost again and again.
In fact, it would be easier to say that he never won.
In terms of probability, he’d made thousands, no, tens of thousands of calculations.
There wasn’t any cheating, so how could this happen?
‘…just one more round.’
Theoretically, the probability of losing 15 times in a row was almost zero.
But Lukas sighed as he looked down at the gold coin in his hand.
“…what are you doing?”
He asked himself.
After staring for a while longer, he got up and left the building.
Standing in the cold wind for a while allowed him to gradually come back to his senses.
He would never gamble again. Seriously.
Just as he made this important decision.
Whoosh-
“…”
Lukas’ expression changed subtly.
He had a strange feeling. A feeling as if someone’s breath had just brushed past his face.
It was a trace of magic. It was done in an extremely stealthy manner, too. If he had still been in the building, he probably wouldn’t have noticed it at all.
Lukas narrowed his eyes.
‘Who is it?’
It had obviously been done by a high level Wizard.
Was it one of Diablo’s subordinates?
Lukas instinctively reached for his sword, but there was nothing at his waist.
Before boarding the ship, he’d bought a new sword, but he’d left it at Hector’s store. This was because weapons weren’t allowed in the casino.
At that moment, Snow’s advice sounded in his ear once again.
Have your sword by your side at all times.
If those words were so easily forgotten, then their weight had already been greatly reduced.
Nevertheless, it wasn’t like he was completely defenceless.
He put his hand in his pocket.
“…”
Feeling the cool touch of the dagger, Lukas looked around and tried to find the source of the strange feeling.
(TL: Where were those guys who expected Lukas to make a lot of money? Come on, lemme see you.
Also, Lukas can’t be inconspicuous to save his life. ‘Get a strange feeling, change expression, put hand in pocket, look around’.)