35 Advice from a Gambler

Daniel and Mia then left the Mercenaries' Guild Hall.

"I am going to have to part ways with you here, Ethan. I have a meeting in a little bit with the King, the Minister of War, the Captain of the Moon Knights, and the Captain of the Constellation Knights. After that meeting, my father is coming to the capital so I will need to meet with him. Plus, I assume you have other things that you need to do?" Said Mia.

"Yes. I'm planning to go to the casino." Said Ethan.

Mia had a concerned look on her face at this, but she said nothing further.

[She probably thinks that I'm some kind of gambling addict now who got a big head after having some luck last night. She doesn't realize that luck had nothing to do with it, and that I'm only going to the casino for the good of the Kastell Barony.] thought Ethan.

Ethan then walked to the casino which was nearby. There were not as many people there as there were the night before. [probably because its mid day] Ethan thought as he went toward the Blackjack area.

"Deal me in." Ethan said, and he continued counting cards the same way he had the night before. He wasn't losing as often though and he was winning more. He was improving his card counting skills from the night before. An hour went by and a significant crowd formed around Ethan who was once again winning a significant amount of money. Many gamblers were impressed with his skills at this game which was thought to be mostly about luck and therefore were crowding around him. Among the crowd that was forming around him were some of the casino staff who wanted to know how he was cheating so effectively. Also among the crowd was a certain famous gambler, who didn't recognize Ethan from the meeting that morning, but who did see that Ethan was winning a lot more than could be attributed to luck alone.

Ethan was slowly growing his pile of gold, and now had over 400 gold coins. Just as Ethan finished another round and the casino was getting ready to kick him out if he won a few more rounds, the old gambler tapped him on the shoulder and said "Young man, let me buy you a drink."

Ethan recognized him as one of the national ministers from the meeting that morning but did not know his name or what he was minister of.

[It's weird that I'm getting approached by a national minister. He did vote to remove that 'Von Geld' person whom I assume wronged Mia in some way, so maybe this person is a friend of Mia's who she sent here to make sure that I'm not throwing my life away gambling? No, if that were the case she would send one of her knights, not a national minister. Maybe this has to do with the fact that the king was suspicious of me so he's sending this guy to keep a close watch on me? No, that doesn't make sense. This guy didn't really talk much in the meeting this morning, and he was stumbling suspiciously like he was drunk. If I were to guess I would say that this person doesn't take his job seriously, but then would that make his approaching me a coincidence? I guess a casino is a good place for people who don't take their responsibilities seriously, and I am attracting a lot of attention here. I guess that I will take him up on his offer and maybe find out more about him.]

"Sure, I'll take you up on that." said Ethan.

The two went to the bar area of the casino and the old gambler ordered two beers.

"What's your name, young man?" Asked the old gambler.

"Ethan. I'm the Baron of Kastell. If you don't mind my asking, why did you offer to buy me a drink?" Asked Ethan.

"Kastell, huh? That's in Von Ritter's territory... I think... I guess the reason that I intervened is because you reminded me of a younger me, and I saw where that was going had I not intervened." Said Von Weizen.

"Care to elaborate, Mr..." Said Ethan.

"Von Weizen, Frank Von Weizen. You can call me Frank. I don't suppose you recognize me, but I'm the Minister of Agriculture for this kingdom. Agriculture is not my true passion though. My true passion is gambling, and I'm good at it. Very good. When I was about your age I first came to this city I was a young noble full of ambition just like you. I first got into gambling then. I found that I was very good at a game called Kartenmerken. Have you heard of Kartenmerken?" Said Frank Von Weizen.

"Yes, a friend of mine plays it." Said Ethan thinking of Mia.

"Yes, well anyway, I was unbeatable until very recently. I guess that you could say that I revolutionized the way the game was played, by creating a new strategy of memory tricks. I defeated those with their silly pre-drawn grids on parchment all the time, just with simple memory tricks, and it worked. I was, for decades, considered to be the Word Champion of Kartenmerken, and I am still very good." Said Von Weizen.

"So then why did you intervene?" Asked Ethan.

"Because you were winning too much, and by too large of a margin. Don't misunderstand, I'm not accusing you of cheating. I know better. I watched you play for a while, and I know that you received no external help. What caused you to win was entirely in your head; I'm certain of that. How you created a strategy for that game is beyond me, but the casino was getting ready to kick you out, and probably slander your name as a cheater. It's not fair that they would do that, but its life. Even when I was young and brazen, I made sure not to win too much money per day, and not to win by too large of a margin. You were rash in betting so much, although in light of my recent conduct, I suppose I'm not in a good position to say that. The point is that you need to go back there, and lose a little bit. Don't lose a lot, but lose enough to give the casino some doubt. They are hesitant to kick out young nobles unless they think that they are fairly certain are cheaters for fear of reprisals from the nobles' families. If you lose just enough to give them doubt, the casino will just take the monetary loss for now, and not move against you." Said Von Weizen.

"I guess that I'll take you up on that. Thank you for the drink and the advice. I owe you one." Said Ethan.

"I don't want to hear the word 'owe' for a very long time, but you're welcome. Now if you'll excuse me, I have my reputation as a world champion gambler to restore." Said Von Weizen as he walked toward the Kartenmerken area.

Ethan then went to the Blackjack area with his beer in hand, and to the casino's relief, started losing a little more. After a short while of that, and feigning getting upset, Ethan left the casino with just a little bit less than 400 gold coins.

[I suppose that next, I should sell more of my monster cores before I meet with the mercenaries for their answer to my proposal] Ethan thought.