Chapter 3. Gambler’s Den (2) Part-1

Ellin raised her head with a start at the sound; the people gathered in the casino were letting out exclamations, watching the apprentice Holy Knight Tom who had just entered and Halsem having a match.

"Whoo. Earning quite a bit today, aren't you now, Halsem?"

"I got a fright thinking a Holy Knight's come to crack down on the casino, but that wasn't it, eh? An unlucky Holy Knight turning up to gamble?"

"Haha! Amusing, isn't it? Let's enjoy the spectacle of a proud Holy Knight getting stomped on."

"He won't be taking revenge later, will he? Or make a report to the Holy Kingdom…"

Ellin stood up dubiously after hearing the conversations and drew near Tom and Halsem's gambling table. As things stood, Halsem was holding a merchant card while the rest were slaves, which was by no means a good hand. However, Tom had the utterly worst deal of 5 slave cards. He seemed to be just like her, down on his luck.

"Yeesh! Absolutely awful."

"…Will you stop that, please? It feels like I'm being insulted."

Tom seemed to have caught Ellin's mutter. He scratched his cheek and put on a troubled smile as he gazed at his opponent, Halsem.

"Lady Luck just isn't on my side today. Still, I've wrapped my head around the game now."

Halsem cleared the cards and smiled in satisfaction as he retrieved the money placed on the table.

"Goodness, mister Holy Knight. First time playing this game? Haha! So did you figure out the rules to some extent?"

"Yes. Well, roughly, at least."

"Frankly, it's a game of status, to put it in simple words. The points are decided based on the ranks: slaves give 1, commoners 2, merchants 3, Holy Knights 4, nobles 5, a Hero 6, His Holiness the Pope 7, and the God Artarrk gives 8. On the other hand, drawing demon cards will result in negative points, and it's minus 1 starting from goblins. Ah! Additionally, you get a bonus of 5 points if every card you draw is the same. Unless they are all slaves. Well, the chances are fairly low with a deck of 200 cards."

"Mmm… I see."

"How 'bout it? One more round, eh? I say it's purely about luck. You never know; you might even win the next game, Holy Knight sir."

Ellin frowned at Halsem's words; she too had fallen for the exact same line in the beginning and lost all the money she had. Midway through, she had kept going on, trying to recover what she had lost. Still, in the end, the several coppers she had earned through sympathy had become her entire fortune. Ellin basically had lost it all.

Ellin shoved her face right next to Tom's with a playful look and whispered to him.

"How is it, sir Holy Knight?! I did say that you'd end up stripped down to your undies, didn't I? Now, give up!"

Tom shrunk back in surprise at Ellin's words and put distance between their faces, appearing uncomfortable. He opened his mouth to speak with an awkward smile.

"Still, it feels a shame to stop with the money I lost. I may still have a chance."

"Aah, I was the same at first! But I bet you'll be in big trouble if you continue, you know? You'll lose every single penny you have! You'll be regretting it, I tell you. You, sir naive Holy Knight, will never be able to win against that gambler! Ah, you might win, of course, but…"

Ellin cackled next to him, taunting in a discreet manner. She was provoking him on purpose, feeling animosity towards Tom's occupation of a Holy Knight — she hoped for him to feel some misery, no matter how small.

Needless to say, it was a simple prank on her part.

"I see. Then…"

Tom put his hand into his leather pouch and took it out, placing it on the table.

"I'll stake this much. Let's go again."

All the gamblers gathered in the casino froze, speechless for a moment. Even Tom's opponent, Halsem, had grown round-eyed from being surprised, while Ellin, who had spoken out of mischief, looked at him with a jump.

What he had staked were gems comprised of beautiful rubies and sapphires, precious stones of enormous worth with each one going for over hundreds of taels of gold coins.

"You crazy…"

Halsem let slip a curse despite himself, whereas the surrounding spectators yelled out cheers.

Snapping out of her shock, Ellin hastily grabbed Tom by the shoulder from the side and shook him.

"What are you doing, moron?! Gems? Why would you bet s-such precious jewels…? No, I should be asking: are you even an apprentice Holy Knight? How did you manage to get these sorts of…?"

Ellin's questions prompted Tom to recall the Holy Palace he had spent 30 years in. It was in the capital city, the origin of every kind of misdeed committed when the Holy Kingdom ruled the continent; it was where the 'Golden Treasury' lay… containing all sorts of bribes, tax income, donations, gifts from foreign emissaries, as well as the outstanding swords and magical tools used by successive generations of Heroes.

The basement of the Holy Palace was overflowing with these sorts of gems, and it was with this in mind that Tom spoke with a smile.

"Ah, I just took some of the gems I have at home…"

Ellin stood still, dazed, at the sight of which Halsem slammed down on the table, laughing loudly.

"Oi! Sir Holy Knight! You can't take back what's put on the table anymore. You can't back out since you've even declared the game's on again!"

"… Ah? Is that so? Then let's do it."

'No, you… I-I'm sorry.'

Ellin apologized subconsciously from the side, for it seemed like her simple prank was going to cause the naive apprentice Holy Knight before her to lose a massive load of money.

"Well then, shall we start dealing? Good. I should match the ante, shouldn't I? But what to do? I'm afraid my poor self doesn't have much on me, so I'll stake about half of what I got from that missy at the side."

Halsem put a bag of gold on the table, making Ellin cry out in a dumbfounded tone, jabbing her finger at him.

"Wait! That's strange! This weird Holy Knight…"

"… Don't call me weird."

Ellin continued to speak, ignoring Tom's interjection.

"… has put up these kinds of gems! You should, at the very least, throw down something of equal value, you cheapskate!"

"Haah? Missy! Don't you know the rules of this game? The moment you put money on the table and declare the will to play, that money immediately becomes the stakes. It doesn't matter even if your opponent bets several coppers. You're supposed to measure the amount to wager with each other and then begin with an agreement, but my opponent here said start first."

"He didn't know the game rules!"

"Not knowing is a sin itself!"

Ellin grit her teeth in response to Halsem's shouting, while Tom chuckled in apparent amusement.

"What's so funny?! You're getting cheated like a sucker!"

"… Sucker? Isn't that going too far?"

Tom felt dubious regarding Ellin and Halsem's behavior. Holy Knights were the highest order of knights in the Holy Kingdom. Apprentice though he may be, the grandeur and dignity that came with the position were in a whole different league compared to ordinary knights. Yet, the two were behaving in an unconcerned manner towards him despite this fact.

Seeming to have read Tom's thoughts, Halsem spoke up with a snicker.

"Hey now, sir Holy Knight, you aren't going to be acting wild, believing in the authorities, are you?" Noticing Tom's confused expression, Halsem continued, "This place — The Golden Casino — no, this fief that goes by the crummy name of Golden is run by Lord Kelvin, you see."

Ellin and Tom instantly reacted to the name 'Kelvin'. Ellin flinched, while the mirth vanished from Tom's face, and his eyes grew cold.

Halsem lifted his feet onto the table and shuffled the deck while continuing to speak.

"Do you know the amount of funds the lord invests in the casino here? Hundreds, thousands of gold come and go in a day. Besides, he has connections with numerous nobles, Holy Knights, and priests. Thus, there are no fellows that behave wildly, believing in their occupations, thanks to the lord. Even nobles can't carelessly step out of line, so what of a mere Holy Knight? If you throw your weight around while counting on your status, you'll only be making a fool of yourself. And note that rumors spread fast in this neighborhood. It doesn't matter if an esteemed Holy Knight's pride is injured due to losing, but taking revenge will result in a loss of honor, and word will spread to the Holy Kingdom in the blink of an eye. That's the reason why Holy Knights who cherish honor like their lives can't be cheeky here. You seem like a Holy Knight from an influential household; wouldn't want to sully the family name now, would we? So let's cut to the chase and play fair and square."

"… I'll bear that in mind."

"Alright then, let's start dealing."

After the long-winded speech, Ellin looked at Tom.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be? It's just a simple game of luck."

"I mean, you don't seem to be a favored one judging from your last game."

"Mmm, indeed. I am rather unlucky… then let's do it like this."

Halsem tossed the deck to Tom, who organized 5 cards face down on the table.

"I have no luck, but I'm good at praying to God. I'll beseech Him for some fortune this time around."

"… What nonsense is that?!"

Ellin yelled, almost screaming in response.

"Haha! Pray, because you're a Holy Knight? Must be the gag in trend these days, huh? Sure is funny!"

Halsem bursting into laughter prompted the spectators to snicker in ridicule as well. Ellin found this rather unpleasant, her face reddening.

"The heck?! You're being made a laughing stock because you spouted strange things!"

"… Why are you angry when I'm the one being jeered?"

"What does it matter! Argh! So annoying! Fine! Do as you like!"

Ellin shook her head harshly as she spoke, irked by his lackadaisical approach.

'I shouldn't have talked to a weird Holy Knight! Giving these kinds of fellows the time of day is bad for mental health in of itself!'

… Was what she thought, but she snuck a peek at Tom's hand out of worry.