55. Player Win
“W…… Wait a minute!”
The one who jumped out in surprise was none other than a dwarf.
“H…… Have you just come out of the Goblin Bank?”
“Word travels fast.”
“I…… I heard that a…… a noble guest would be visiting.”
The dwarf was the owner of the forge.
At his bowing attitude, the guards’ expressions changed.
“M…… Master?”
“Before I smash your heads with a hammer, why don’t you apologize right now! You’ll all be dead if this person says one word!”
“W…… We’re sorry. Please spare us!”
From Noble mtl dot com
The guards knelt down with pale faces.
It seemed that the bank manager had sent word in advance.
He was as quick-witted as he was corrupt.
He must have contacted them as soon as he judged that Joo-yeon was going to the forge.
‘But this guy. Why is he bowing to me like this?’
Usually, dwarves were known for their stubbornness and bluntness.
They were known for their dirty high self-esteem in craftsmanship, comparable to, if not more than, elves.
The more famous the craftsman as a blacksmith, the worse it was.
Basically, strong weapons were the desire of all warriors.
Naturally, it was inevitable that warriors who received such love calls would become arrogant.
‘Especially this blacksmith dwarf, I made him come by spending a huge sum of money when I was ruling the territory.’
The quest also included managing the territory.
Creating a bank by gathering legendary beings as founding members was also part of that.
In any case, this guy was the second best blacksmith after the [Dwarf King].
I got him drunk and forcibly signed a contract to bring him here.
That’s why he couldn’t help but be arrogant.
I could tell just by listening to the chatter of the people around me.
“No, that dwarf boss is bowing down. Who the hell is he?”
The dwarf had the nickname Midas’ Hand.
There were rumors that the weapons they made were all sold for more than the price of gold, and that those who received their swords became test who dominated an era.
It was no wonder people were looking at him with curiosity.
However, the face of the main character was distorted.
“What are you?”
“Yes?”
“You’re not a dwarf. Where’s the real boss?”
“……!?”
The boss dwarf turned pale at the main character’s words.
He wondered how he had discovered a secret that no one had noticed until now.
But it was so obvious to the main character.
I knew what kind of face he had, but-.
“Do you think you can become a dwarf by putting a beard on a gnome? You should deceive someone who can be deceived.”
The boss’s pupils shook.
Until now, no one had noticed that.
However, the main character’s gaze became fierce.
‘I have to leave the weapon to that guy.’
But if he’s not here, things will go wrong.
“Oh, okay. Where’s the real boss? I mean the dwarf guy.”
“That, that is……”
The more he rolled his eyes, the more certain I was that he was a gnome.
The characteristic of gnomes is that they are good at lying.
Of course, the main character’s voice couldn’t help but rise.
“Haken! Contact Duke Edmer’s family right now……”
“I, I’ll tell you everything!”
But an unexpected answer came back.
“I didn’t want to be the boss either! The damn boss said he had an accident! No, he’s not the boss anymore. He’s a slave!”
“Huh?”
Who became a slave?
* * *
Jooyeon entered the forge under the guidance of the fake boss.
The fake boss had brought him to the office, saying that he was concerned about the eyes of others.
However, what was important to Jooyeon was not the eyes of others.
“Tell me again. What happened?”
“Actually, that’s… He became a slave by his own hand and left.”
“Are you kidding me? Haken! Run to the smithy right now…”
“I’m serious! Not only me, but all the other blacksmiths know this!”
In fact, it is not uncommon for dwarves to become slaves.
However, most of the time, it is when they are kidnapped.
It was impossible for the head of the Edmer Duchy’s forge to become a slave as it is now.
First of all, the dwarves were close to the King of Knights.
“Make the head blacksmith of Edmer Duchy a slave? And to the dwarf who made the King of Knights’ sword?”
Does anyone want to be cursed by the King of Knights?
Jooyeon’s words made the fake boss sweat profusely.
However, the whole story he heard from the fake boss was absurd.
“What? The boss is addicted to perfume? So he put down his hammer and rented a bar?”
In a word, the amount of money he owed for alcohol was enormous.
It was an amount that even a great craftsman could not easily repay.
However, Jooyeon snorted.
“Are you kidding me? What kind of alcohol did he make into an elixir?”
“It’s not just alcohol, it’s also a little bit of gambling…”
“Your boss handles mithril, doesn’t he? How can such a craftsman fail to pay off his gambling debts?”
“Actually, he even gambled the forge as collateral…”
Oh my? A simple blacksmith gambled the forge as collateral?
He was up to all sorts of things.
But something was strange.
“No matter how addicted to perfume he was, how could a blacksmith who loves his craft more than anything put the forge up as collateral?”
And ended up becoming a slave?
Something was fishy about this.
No, it was a situation that Jooyeon was very familiar with.
“He was framed.”
“Yes? Framed?”
“Someone targeted the dwarf blacksmith and did the job.”
“Such…”
It was an event that happened occasionally in the Balantino Saga.
In the underworld, which targeted the skills of blacksmiths, they often handled things this way.
‘Drive them crazy with gambling, alcohol, and women, and make them slaves.’
Of course, to do such a thing in the territory of the King of Knights, they would have to be extremely daring.
If they were caught by him, who was overflowing with a sense of justice, they would be executed on the spot, which was a serious crime.
However, that was not important now.
“You dare steal my Dwarf?”
I can’t forgive him, whoever he is.
“So, who is the little punk? The guy who kidnapped my slave… no, my blacksmith.”
“That’s….”
They were criminals who had taken over the back alleys with the Duke’s permission.
They were also part of a thieves’ guild that mostly charmed people into drinking and gambling.
Jooyeon was taken aback.
“Thieves’ guild? You mean to tell me those guys did this? They must have a death wish.”
“Should I contact the former Duke?”
Jooyeon nodded at Haken’s words.
It seemed like they all deserved to be hanged.
‘The Blacksmith that the Knight King made… no, more precisely, that I made?’
The bank and other major facilities in the Edmer fiefdom were all places that he had created through quests.
Even though the quest was a failure because the hero Ryuujin self-destructed, that was when he had played with the Knight King as a companion character.
＜Quest＞
– Manage the territory.
– Citizen satisfaction: 90% or higher.
It was roughly that kind of quest.
Since he was doing it, he wanted to do it perfectly, so he had put in a lot of effort to find precious founding members and create it.
In fact, it would be fair to say that he had created the Edmer fiefdom itself.
So how could he not be angry?
They had turned the place he had made into a mess.
And the thieves’ guild?
He wouldn’t let them get away with it.
But when he said that he would go find the Dwarf, the fake guild master shook his hands frantically.
“N-n-no, you can’t! Absolutely not!”
“Why not? You’d like the Dwarf master to come back, wouldn’t you?”
“No. It’s not that it would be any better than now if that drunkard master came back… no, that’s not it! It’s the thieves’ guild! The ‘Grand Thousand-Hand Avalokiteshvara’ who is a companion of the hero…!”
Jooyeon scoffed.
“Yeah, yeah. He’s just that thief’s subordinate. If the Knight King finds out about this, he’ll take care of them all, won’t he?”
“No! That’s not it. I’m talking about the real Thousand-Hand Avalokiteshvara! He’s their backer!”
“What?”
The real Thousand-Hand Avalokiteshvara?
Jooyeon doubted his ears for a moment and tilted his head.
“What are you talking about? Are you saying that the guy who caused the accident is the Grand’s son? Even if the Grand is the head of the thieves’ guild, he wouldn’t take responsibility for all of those guys….”
“That’s not it. I’m saying that the real Thousand-Hand Avalokiteshvara has arrived. I saw him with my own two eyes.”
“……!?”
The Grand had secretly entered the Knight King’s territory that he hated so much?
To make the Dwarf in the fiefdom work?
And a hero who knew his limits, even if he was a thief, had done such a thing?
Even if it’s the guy who used to be a comrade of the Dwarf King?
“That guy. He’s a thief but he hates stealing the most? Especially an old man who hates slavery?”
“No, really. He makes some kind of gloves that look like hands… …”
“Gloves that look like hands?”
I got a rough idea of how things were going.
But it wasn’t a bad thing for Joo-yeon.
‘Was that bastard in this city?’
His old comrades had divine weapons that he had entrusted to them.
‘Then I can get a divine weapon without having to go far.’
Joo-yeon grinned as he recalled the unexpected reunion.
This meant changing plans.
“If you were kidnapped for money, you can just buy it back with money.”
“……!”
Instead, it was the surroundings that were shocked by Joo-yeon’s words.
“It won’t be a small amount of money!”
“It’s enough money to buy the Grand Duke’s prestigious forge. It’s more expensive than most castles…”
Haken shouted at Joo-yeon in a panic, as if he had realized something.
“Surely not with the money you brought from the bank just now!!”
“Am I crazy? To spend it there?”
“Then…”
“Of course, I have to rob those bastards. It’s not my money.”
“……??”
Of course, Haken and the fake CEO looked ridiculous.
Cheonsu Gwaneum was a man known as the master of the underworld.
There was no way that a casino run by such a man would be ordinary.
“They’re guys who do all sorts of scams. What are you going to do about guys who cheat on purpose?”
“That’s right. No matter how good you are, you can’t win at a casino. It’s impossible.”
There were also professional gamblers there.
The skills of the guys whose profession is [Gambler] are terrible.
But Joo-yeon just grinned.
“That’s even better. Originally, guys who play with their hands wrong tend to get ruined by their wrists.”
“Yes?”
He had already reflected on pickpocketing.
Would it be any different for a gambler?
Rather, I was curious to see what would happen.
“Come on, guide me. To my new cash cow, no, the guys who kidnapped the dwarf.”
I had to finish the job before the messengers from each faction arrived.
Of course, Haken and the fake CEO were taken aback.
“Are you really going to a casino?”
“Don’t do this. Even our crazy CEO calls it a ruined casino!”
No matter how he tried to dissuade Joo-in, it was no use.
Joo-in had already come to the doorstep of the gambling den.
Haken broke out in a cold sweat.
‘I think I might be wrong about this one. Joo-in is too pure to deal with those swindlers.’
He knew it well because he was a former thief.
The gambling den was a place where all sorts of evil and deceit swirled around.
No matter how great Joo-in was, there was no way he could be safe in a place determined to deceive people.
‘And it’s a gambling den created by the Thieves Guild? They’ll not only take your money but your very soul.’
It seemed like it was his turn to step up.
‘I may look like this, but I’m confident in gambling.’
Even Joo-in wouldn’t know much about gambling or the life of the underworld.
Yes, that’s what he thought…….
“……Number 17! Pla…… Player wins!”
Everyone cheered at the dealer’s declaration.
“Again! He won again!”
“Crazy……. He won with that one number out of so many?”
“What on earth is he? Is he a messenger from the God of Fortune?”
A huge pile of gold coins was stacked in front of Joo-in.
Haken was speechless at the sight.