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 cla.s.s wine.

If its 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. Hed 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 gla.s.s from a pa.s.sing waiter, he politely poured wine for Iris.

Clink-

They lightly tapped their gla.s.ses before simultaneously bringing them to their lips.

Except, this time, Peran could hardly taste the wine.

Im surprised.

What do you mean?

I never thought Id meet you in Yuterdam.

0

If her words were to be believed, that meant she hadnt come all the way here to meet Peran In truth, that much was obvious. After all, Peran hadnt informed anyone that he would be coming to Yuterdam.

Nevertheless, that didnt 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 dont overdo it.

Huhu, I still dont think you came all the way here to flip some cards.

well. Naturally, I came here for other business, its just that I sadly cant tell Miss Iris what that is.

Rather than insist till the end that he didnt 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 didnt 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 couldnt help but ask back.

Iris chuckled gently before nodding.

Yes. Ive been having a bit of trouble lately so Ive been meaning to ask for the Lords help.

Then why Number Fight. (TL: There was a typo in the raws for the previous chapter. It is Number Fight() and not Number Five(). I thought the name was strange but just went with it.)

Its 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 Asillas a.s.sistant, Merad.

Oh my, you came much faster than I expected.

I was told that if I didnt come hurriedly, the Gold House might have lost all of our money entirely.

When she heard Merads words, Iris let out a soft chuckle.

Thats 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 couldnt help but feel a surge of awe for Iris.

The beautiful woman in question placed her wine gla.s.s on the table before turning to Peran.

I want to give you something in return for the excellent wine, Peran. Wont you come with me?

Huh?

Dont 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 embarra.s.sed 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 hed met Iris, he couldnt shake the feeling that he was being dragged around by her.

Theres probably no one who can take the lead when shes around.

At the very least, he found it hard to imagine Iris being led around by anyone.

Now wasnt the time to think about this nonsense.

With a quiet shake of his head, he followed after them.

* * *

Hey, brother. If you dont want to play anymore, why dont you give up your seat?

Hey. Didnt you hear me

When the large man frowned, the man who was beside him restrained him.

Hey, thats enough. He lost like 1,000 gold coins in the last round.

What was that? Whats the point of gambling if youre 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 s.h.i.+t 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 hed seen, he could win nine out of ten of the games in the casino.

And even the one he wasnt 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, hed made thousands, no, tens of thousands of calculations.

There wasnt 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 someones 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 wouldnt 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 Diablos subordinates?

Lukas instinctively reached for his sword, but there was nothing at his waist.

Before boarding the s.h.i.+p, hed bought a new sword, but hed left it at Hectors store. This was because weapons werent allowed in the casino.

At that moment, Snows 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 wasnt 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 cant be inconspicuous to save his life. Get a strange feeling, change expression, put hand in pocket, look around.)