47. Where money and salt come and go
Sitting on the rattling carriage, Robin frowned and grabbed the reins tightly.
Robin is currently upset.
To tell you why, you’ll have to go back in time to last night.
While standing watch, she couldn’t hold back her curiosity, so she had to look inside Sylvia’s tent, which she peeked through.
– Austin…
Sylvia bit her lip on her loose face, and witnessed her muttering the name of her senior with the expression of a so-called b*tch.
‘No way, Sylvia likes senior…’
This is nonsense. It must have been the first time we met, but it’s not a romance novel that girls read, does it make sense to fall in love at first sight?
…Does it make sense?
Robin decided to think a little deeper.
Wandering aimlessly through the forest, starving for several days, a handsome and tall man whom you meet by chance saves your life by giving him delicious food? In fact, you will look like a prince on a white horse.
In that situation, falling in love at first sight doesn’t make sense. Robin bit her lip softly.
‘This is no different from me…’
After all, Robin too, since Austin saved her life from a swarm of rock locusts four years ago, she has secretly developed feelings for her.
I’m in trouble recently because two annoying girls cling to my senior, but here’s one more girl?
‘…Absolutely not…’
I don’t want to be taken away. He is my own senior. I can’t bless you, but why are there so many things that hinder you?
…Okay. Before it is taken away, let’s make it mine. You’re creating a fait accompli.
Right now, even tonight…
“So, if you turn left in front of me… Robin?”
“Yes…Four?!”
“…Are you listening to me?”
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry. What did you say?”
“There will be a fork in the road in front of you, but you have to turn left.”
“Yes… Sorry…”
I unintentionally ignored the senior’s words. In the senior’s mind, it seemed like he could see the score for Robin drastically declining.
Robin felt his head getting a little cold, and he ate the shady thoughts from earlier.
If you try to make a fait accompli like this, it might turn into a negative. Trust as a comrade must have accumulated enough to overflow, but what is needed now is not as a comrade or close friend, but as a member of the opposite s*x.
Let’s take a little more chance. In order for seniors to see the opposite s*x with the same eyes, you have to build up your liking one by one.
And, if the way you look at me is finally different… Like a hunter who has caught his prey, he is looking for an opportunity, and at the moment he sees an empty gap, he jumps right in…
“Gulp…”
Robin swallowed heavily and raised his head.
As if blessing Robin’s future, the warm sunlight tickled his face.
* * *
“…Are you really going to come out like that?”
“Brother. The world of competition is a harsh law.”
“The world of winning is Niimi… You haven’t even played yet, so what kind of card did you come up with so confident?”
“Um… I’ll stop here. What will you do, brother?”
“You… You want to be broke today, right?”
“Brother. There is no point in bluffing.”
“Yes. Let someone die today.”
I tried my best to answer casually, but cold sweat was running down my back.
What is the card in Royman’s hand, why does it come out so proudly?
“Then… Reveal your hand!”
Along with Princess Alexis’s words, the cards in Royman and I turned over.
I quickly rolled my eyes and compared Royman’s card with mine.
“This… This sh*t…”
“Austin senior is King Cockatrice! Priest Royman is the Sea Serpent! The field is the sea! Austin-senpai’s defeat!”
“Awesome, Father Royman. Is this an eight-game winning streak?”
“Oh… Austin… Are you all right?”
So, what’s the situation?
In order to explain this absurd situation, it is necessary to go back a little bit.
When we arrived at Harman, a commercial city with a large canal dug, we had to line up in a long line of wagons.
If we had a merchant certificate or a plaque, we would have been able to get in right away, but unfortunately we only had the status of adventurers, so we had no choice but to join this long line.
While waiting for the tedious time to pass quickly, we found a card that a merchant passing by us was selling.
Originally, a card created by new adventurers in the Adventurer’s Guild to make the ecosystem of monsters easier to understand.
The intention is good, but if you dig a little, you can find out the fatal flaw of this game and the reason why it is so addictive at the same time, that everything in this game is decided by luck.
From drawing cards to the order of determining the field with rock-paper-scissors, it is a game of luck that relies solely on luck if you play according to the rules.
And then, Royman, who was calmly arranging the cards in front of me, smashed me eight times in a row for my courageous challenge.
I closed my trembling eyes and took a deep breath to regain inner peace.
“Brother. There may be days when you are not particularly lucky. Think of it as trick soldering.”
At the words of Royman who calmly opened his mouth, he finally exploded.
“Hey! Aren’t you f*cking cheating on this? What happened 8 times in a row, the field is advantageous, and the card is stronger!”
“It’s a scam. I swear by the righteous light, I didn’t do anything like that.”
“Hey, you f*cker!!! Don’t berate me, spit out my money!!!!!!”
“What…! Don’t do this!”
As Royman and I were squabbling and scattering cards, I saw Sylvia watching our card game with her eyes wide open.
With Sylvia, on the way back by carriage, the door opened up and we ended up talking to each other. He said that he was the same age as me, so he had no intention of maintaining an honorific expression.
“What is it? Sylvia, do you want to do it too?”
When I asked Sylvia at first, she took her blank stare at the card and flinched with a puzzled expression.
“Uh… Huh? Oh no… I just…”
“Ah, don’t take it out, come and try it. Because the rules are simple. Royman can deal with it.”
“Ummm… Then just one round…”
As I rocked the carriage and moved her sideways, Sylvia shook her head and sat down next to me.
“After playing rock-paper-scissors, the winning side decides the field first. Fields are limited to grasslands, forests, seas, lakes, volcanoes, and holy places. Did you understand this far?”
At Roy Mun’s explanation, Sylvia fiddled with her card, her eyes twinkling.
“Yes. Please continue.”
“The referee shuffles the cards, and the loser in rock-paper-scissors gets the cards first. In the state that each other has received a card, you will be given the opportunity to change cards only once, but with the consent of your opponent, you can change cards an unlimited number of times.”
“Ohhh…”
“After revealing the hand, the strength of the monsters is compared based on the type of field. Do you understand?”
“Yes. Let’s start quickly.”
… Still, it’s a national card game, but it seems that Sylvia lived in a remote area so that she couldn’t even play a card game like this.
Seeing Sylvia’s twinkling eyes and begging to get started, I felt that I had returned to my innocence as a child.
As I looked at Sylvia and smiled happily, Robin pinched my thigh.
“Robin, it hurts.”
“…Don’t look elsewhere. That is against the rules.”
“Where are those rules?”
“I don’t know. Anyway, focus on the game.”
“Royman will win anyway, what?”
So we waited for the entrance to Haruman, engrossed in playing cards.
* * *
“This nonsense… This… This is nonsense!”
“Be quiet, you bastard! Losing to beginners and talking too much!”
“No, brother! Don’t you think it’s strange too! To lose 15 times in a row to the first opponent today!”
“What am I after losing 8 times in a row to you? It’s just that Sylvia is unique in her card game.”
The card game between Royman and Sylvia continued until it was time to enter Harman, and it ended when Roiman played 15 consecutively.
“Sylvia. You did really f*cking well Did you just come out with admiration?”
“Uh… Yes. Thank you.”
“By the way… I waited another half a day. Are you glad I waited for you from dawn?”
I parked the wagon inside the gate, and soon after, a garrison came and started searching the wagon.
The garrison, which had been searching for food and daily necessities, nodded, and we were able to enter Harman after waiting since dawn.
The whitewashed buildings that welcomed us as soon as we entered the inside of the city walls shone dazzlingly in the sunlight.
“It’s been a really long time here, hasn’t it? Nothing has changed.”
Since it is close to the capital and a famous commercial city, I have also visited here in the past.
Harman, the largest commercial city in the Kingdom of Maetel, famous as a resort, where the scent of the sea wafts from far away.
The white and clean streets, the cool, fishy scent of the sea, and the sound of a boat horn announcing that a ship had entered the port were mixed together to form a subtle harmony.
Sylvia and Luna’s eyes were shining as they watched the merchants buying and selling all sorts of things from outside the wagon.
“Oh… Austin! I want to try that grilled volcanic octopus!”
“No. I don’t have any money because Royman robbed it all.”
“That… that…!”
Actually, we had enough money to buy snacks like that, but we had a different purpose for coming to this city.
“Royman. Where do you think Galan would go?”
At my question, Royman shook his reins and opened his mouth.
“Um… He’s a madman who takes casualties as a measure of his strength, so he’s very likely headed for heavily populated areas. For example… there must be a gambling hall, a market, or a plaza.”
“Uhm… Gambling hall, market, plaza…”
Because it is a famous commercial city on all continents, here in Harman, where outsiders do not stop, gambling halls were also prevalent.
A 24-hour gambling hall that is constantly visited by people.
“First, let’s find an inn, unpack our luggage, and then go to the gambling hall.”
I’d rather be able to meet Galan at the gambling house.
Better than not knowing where to go.
Faced by the scorching sun, we headed to a nearby inn.