Chapter 27 - An Important Call

Three hours later, Higler entered the bar searching for his travel companion. He had been to almost every restaurant and saloon on the main street of Park looking for him. When he had called Drake, all he received as answer was a few rushed words saying he was in the middle of a game.

Hoping that he could stop his friend before he fell into the trap of gambling, he entered the bar only to see a large crowd around a table. They were all watching a game of cards unfold.

Sitting on the table were Drake, a well-dressed man, and two pretty women. They all had serious looks on their faces, as it was to be expected, considering the sizable pile of money in front of them.

After asking around, Higler learned that the three people he didn't know were professional players, and rumors said they were also professional cheaters. Even then, the ranger decided not to interfere. It would be a valuable lesson for Drake, so he wouldn't fall for that kind of trick so easily in the future. If he started losing too much, then he would stop him.

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Drake wasn't the best player that existed, and he knew he was just a victim for the three people. Although he admitted gambling was addicting, even more when the professional players manipulated the deck so he would win the first round, and get more confident, he knew when to stop. And that was about now.

He had just won another round, and saw the two women exchanging glances. He couldn't be sure, but he thought that was a sign that they should stop losing, and start winning, which was why he decided to leave the table. It would serve as a lesson to them. It was just a few hundred dollars, nothing much to professional players, but it would leave them with a sour memory.

"I think that's it for me. I'm going to stop while I'm still winning. Hahaha!"

The three other people widened their eyes at him, realizing they had been played. Not a second later, anger surged inside them, especially when they heard the crowd mocking them. No one there was an idiot, and Drake wasn't subtle. Behind the three of them, he saw Higler clapping while laughing.

"Y-You! You can't leave in the middle of the game!"

One of the women got up, and slammed her hands on the table. For professional players, respect and reputation were everything. If they let him walk away after having tricked them, everyone would think they could do the same.

"Why not? The round is over, which means I can take everything on the table. There is no such rule as staying until I lose everything."

As he said that, he stretched his hand to pick the money, but the man held it. Drake raised an eyebrow, his other hand slowly reaching for his pistol under the table, but he didn't take it out.

"Are you sure you want to do that, buddy? I might not be the best player, but I know when I'm being cheated. Luckily for me, it was in my favor, until now."

The gambler's eyes widened, and he reached for his own weapon, but Drake was prepared, and faster. Before he could draw the pistol hidden inside his coat, there was already one aimed at him.

"Calm down, now."

"My friend is right. You too, ladies. Don't think I don't know what you carry under there."

As Drake was dealing with the man, one of the women had reached for a small pistol under her skirt. Luckily, he had backup, and Higler was already there, his own guns aiming at them.

"That's outrageous! You are threatening us to let you win!"

"No, I'm accusing you of cheating, and giving you an easy way out. Forget the money, and leave."

"Never! You don't have any proof we cheated, because it didn't happen! I will report this to the sergeant!"

"Do whatever you want. I really can't prove you are cheating, even though I know it. Luckily, I have eyes who watch for me. Three of them, actually."

With a finger gesture from Drake, Frainer appeared behind the professional players, and used Telekinesis to make several cards that were in their sleeves and pockets float. Not only that, but there were also a few cards tied with an almost invisible string. There was no doubt of what they were used for.

A wave of anger ran through the crowd. Over the last few days, many of them had lost a lot of money to those three. However, even if they knew they were cheating, they still couldn't prove how, so they had to take the loss quietly. Drake hadn't exactly proved how they cheated, only that they did, but it was enough for them.

"You know, back in my city, when we found a crook, we would give them one hell of a beating before pouring oil and sand over them. I don't know how you do it around here?"

"We like to switch the sand for a lit match!"

"Yeah!"

"Hahaha!"

Cowering under the murderous gaze of the angry mob, the three gamblers didn't dare to demand anything else.

"What do you want?"

"Leave Park, and don't ever set foot here again. If I see you again anywhere else, you won't escape unscathed, got it?"

"Yes."

"Good. Oh, and leave your money here. You need to pay back the poor souls you robbed."

Too afraid to say anything, they emptied their pockets and left the city. What they would do now wasn't Drake's concern.

"Split the money between you. Want a drink, Ben?"

Drake didn't want to have to discover who had lost money to the cheaters, so he just left the money on the table - not forgetting to take what he had won - and went to the counter with the ranger, who was smiling from ear to ear.

"You should be a politician, Drake. That's some talent for making a crowd happy. Hahaha..."

"Throwing money at them? I wish it was this easy. But I want to get as far from politics as I can."

"Haha! Well said. It was smart to use Frainer."

"I knew they were cheating, but I couldn't be sure of how. Since most people don't have an Ifere partner, I figured they wouldn't have prepared for it."

"Like I said, smart. However, if I was you, I wouldn't have gone so soft on..."

As he was talking Higler's phone rang, and he frowned while pulling it out of his pocket. At the same time, Drake remembered he had yet to call his grandfather, even though they had already passed by several outposts and two cities. Too much had happened, and he had completely forgotten.

"Yes, ma'am. But... I'm in the middle of something... Okay. Yeah, I got it. I understand. I will go right away."

After a few minutes, Higler finally finished the call. Drake couldn't hear what the other party was saying, but it had done most of the talking, and it wasn't anything good, judging by the ranger's face.

"What happened?"

"Something came up, I have to leave."

"Leave? But..."

Drake was shocked. He had spent over a week with Higler now, and he enjoyed his company. More importantly, how would he become a ranger if he didn't follow him?

"If you still want to become a ranger, go to the capital of Menoraz, Sapphire City. We got an office there. But you should probably wait a while. Who knows, maybe the trip there will be enough. Err... What I mean is, you haven't been in the wilderness long enough. Even if you shoot well, they will still consider you inexperienced, and won't give you the badge. Just do whatever you feel it's right. You are a good kid, you will be all right."

Anticipating what he was going to ask, Higler delivered an entire speech, before shaking hands with a dumbfounded Drake.

"What about Scarred Jack?"

"I really don't like to leave a job unfinished, but sometimes you aren't able to choose. You can either leave it to the Nulls, or go with them, it's up to you. Just remember you aren't with a ranger anymore, so you can't go shooting everybody like I did."

He winked as he said that, as if being a ranger gave him the right to do that - which legally it didn't, but in reality...

"Anyways, just be careful. There's a lot of dangerous things, and dangerous people out there."

Having said that, Higler left the bar. Drake went with him to the door, and soon saw him riding his Yscalent, even though it was the middle of the night. The ranger waved his hat at him, and Warkin let out a small tongue of fire as a goodbye.

"Well, that happened. He has a way of making people want to follow him, doesn't he?"

He turned around to see Anna standing there, Zaplin on her shoulder. Drake shrugged. Higler must have talked to her while he was grabbing his things at the hotel.

"So, what are you doing? Going to come with us after Black Bird and Scarred Jack, or do something else?"

He looked at Frainer, who made it's eyes switch places, and smiled. The Ifere couldn't talk, but he could transmit his feeling through the Spirit Contract, and it wanted to help.

"A beast like Scarred Jack can't be let roaming free, or he will repeat what he did to your fellow Nulls. I'm in."

"That's good. Ben praised you, and he doesn't do that easily. It will be good to have another pair of pistols with us."

"Uhum. When do we go?"