56. He’s finally here
Deep in the gambling den,
A middle-aged man slammed the table and shouted.
From Noble mtl dot com
Thud!
“Is it not done yet!”
His underlings barely opened their mouths at his outburst.
“The Dwarf won’t listen to reason. He’s extremely arrogant.”
“Yes, Boss. He says he’s a craftsman and won’t budge no matter how much we try to persuade him.”
The man shouted at his underlings’ excuses.
“Then drug him!”
“But…… If we drug him, he won’t be able to make a proper product.”
“Then he won’t be able to make a prosthetic hand that can replace Daedo’s, will he?”
The middle-aged man grimaced.
“Ha…… Really. I knew Dwarves were arrogant.”
He never thought they would be so inflexible, even when offered both carrots and sticks.
Even when tortured, the Dwarf resolutely said,
-My hammer only moves for those who will become great.
-I will not create any weapons for trash like you.
But he couldn’t kill him either.
All the other dwarves had failed aside from him.
All that remained was the Dwarf King and this dwarf known as the Master Craftsman.
‘But the Dwarf King can no longer wield a hammer…’
In the end, this dwarf was their only chance.
Just then, a voice rang out.
“Don’t get too worked up. Time is on our side.”
Darkness suddenly enveloped the middle-aged man.
His subordinates were nowhere to be seen. The man flinched and took a step back.
“Haizen!”
A figure emerged from the darkness.
A sharp-dressed individual with two devilish horns protruding from his head.
A mazoku.
But regardless of the man’s surprise, the mazoku merely smirked.
“That dwarf will have no choice but to pick up his hammer in the end. If not, I’ll use my own means to make sure he does.”
“I told you not to come here. It’s dangerous if the Paladin finds out…”
“But doesn’t that just mean your work is all the more important?”
Normally, he should have been persuading the dwarf by now. He had already acquired all the materials, so all that was left was the crafting.
But he still hadn’t managed to make it so far.
The mazoku had appeared to deliver an ultimatum.
The man gritted his teeth.
“I have no choice. No matter how tough he is, he’ll surrender if we take his fellow blacksmiths hostage. We’ll torture them right in front of him and force him to work.”
“A wise decision. But what about the Hero?”
The middle-aged man’s face hardened at that name.
‘Shuen, he said. The new Hero.’
“The agent I sent to him failed. He didn’t secure the item and was instead captured.”
“Good grief… Why didn’t you send someone more capable?”
The mazoku’s words made the man’s anger flare.
“He’s a top-class agent! Top-class! Do you think it’s reasonable for someone like that to fail?”
He was a thief who ranked among the best even within the Thieves’ Guild.
He may have been inferior to the direct descendants of the Great Thieves known as the Twelve Fingers, but he had never failed a mission.
Yet now, that same man was babbling on about needing information.
“I thought he was just a rookie… It seems this Hero is a bit stronger than we anticipated.”
“This is no time to be complacent. If that Hero goes around stirring things up… The rumors about the Great Thief will definitely spread! And then the Paladin will make his move.”
That was why they had planned to use the item in the Hero’s possession to drive him out.
But Shuen had turned out to be stronger than expected.
He was a dangerous man, capable of overpowering a top-class agent in an instant.
The mazoku, Haizen, chuckled.
“Looks like I’ll have to step in.”
“Yes. You should be able to subdue the Hero.”
There was no need to go so far as to subdue him, though.
You just have to get out of the way so as not to disturb them.
“Even a warrior would surely put aside his dukedom to chase after you.”
Haizen was known to be a secretive and sinister one even among the mazoku.
A mental mazoku who manipulates the minds of his opponents and even crushes their will to fight.
There was no way he would fail once such a mazoku had taken action.
“Then please make a prosthetic arm for the Great Sword in the meantime. On the day our great plan is completed, we will be able to put not only the arrogant King of Knights who ignored you but the entire guild beneath our feet, just as we promised.”
“The day of the promise is finally coming.”
However, there was one problem.
“I heard rumors that the gnome is planning to sell his smithy to pay off the dwarves’ debt?”
“Even if he does, it will be in vain. He won’t be able to pay off all that debt by selling just one smithy.”
It would be difficult even if he sold the duke’s castle.
Debt is compound interest.
It grows larger and larger as time goes on.
No wonder the middle-aged man was laughing sinisterly.
“Where will he get that kind of money?”
But then, the door opened and a man rushed into the room.
Bang!
“Boss! No, sir! Something terrible has happened!”
At the man’s words, the black mist vanished in an instant.
The mazoku also disappeared in an instant.
The other subordinates, who had been dazed, finally regained their senses.
“Huh? What happened just now?”
“It felt like I was… sinking underwater.”
The middle-aged man frowned at their appearance and shouted.
“What is it! I told you not to disturb me unless it was something like the previous duke contacting us again!”
“No, that’s not it… That’s not important right now! The casino is being robbed!”
“What?”
* * *
Clackety-clack!
The dealer at the casino raised his hand.
“No more bets. Please remove your hands from the table.”
The ball spun around the numbered cylinder.
Roulette is a simple game where the player wins if the ball lands on their bet number, and the casino wins if it lands anywhere else.
There were dozens of numbers, but the dealer and the casino usually won.
However, the dealer couldn’t help but break out in a cold sweat as the ball approached one of the numbered slots.
As the dealer remained silent, Jooin smiled.
“What’s the result?”
“Th-that… 1… 17! P-player wins!”
With that exclamation, a huge pile of chips was stacked in front of Jooin.
The dealer who had paid out the chips couldn’t even think about wiping the sweat from his brow.
‘Damn it, where did it all go wrong?’
Jooyeon was originally someone who shouldn’t have been able to enter this place.
Everyone in the casino, including the manager, ignored him.
The manager, in particular, had hurled terrible insults at him.
“This is a VVIP casino. We don’t accept beggars here.”
He mocked Jooyeon’s attire.
He threw the food he was eating in front of him and ridiculed him. Then, something fell out of Jooyeon’s hand.
Thud!
It was a gold bar.
It was so big that everyone was shocked.
Even the manager, who had been running the casino for a long time, was surprised by the sheer amount.
“Hey, show me the way. I’ll show you what real gambling is all about.”
“……!?”
And Jooyeon showed them what real gambling was.
Using his overwhelming wealth, he swept away all the chips on the table.
The manager hurriedly signaled to the dealer.
‘What are you doing! Stop messing around and win already!’
But the dealer was genuinely bewildered.
Normally, he would have won as soon as he received the manager’s signal.
And with good reason, because he had mastered the Gambler’s unique skill perfectly.
– Gambler’s Exclusive Skill
It was a skill that allowed him to send the ball to any number he wanted.
However, it didn’t work on Jooyeon.
Nevertheless, the manager kept sending the dealer glances.
‘If you lose again… you’ll have to pay back the amount you lost with your body.’
If that happened, he would end up in a state worse than a stray dog.
Eventually, the dealer decided to use his trump card.
It was the Gambler’s strongest skill, taught to him by one of the twelve disciples of the legendary [Grandmaster of a Thousand Hands].
– Gambler’s Ultimate Skill
It was a skill that allowed him to manipulate the odds of the game, reducing his chances of losing to 0%.
He might not be able to fight, but he was unbeatable when it came to gambling.
Finally, the ball rolled out of the dealer’s hand once more.
Swish!
The ball rolled towards the 0 slot, which would allow the dealer to win.
It was a number that, while statistically unlikely to land in, would guarantee a win for the dealer and the casino the moment it did.
But right at that moment.
“All in!”
“……!”
A huge pile of chips was placed on the opposite side of 0, on 18.
It was Jooyeon’s chips.
Number 18, a whopping thirty-six times the bet.
If he won, he would have to pay a truly astronomical amount.
But what if he failed?
The dealer smiled, sure of his victory.
‘That money would be enough to make up for all my previous losses.’
He might even get a bonus for doing such a good job.
Yes, this would make up for all his failures….
Click!
“……?!”
The ball stopped, and the dealer’s eyes widened in shock.
The ball had landed on none other than number 18.
The exact number the protagonist had bet on.
The casino patrons who had been watching let out a roar.
“Wowww!”
“Are you kidding me? How much is that?!”
“Thirty-six times! Thirty-six times the bet! This is insane!”
A tower of chips piled up next to the protagonist.
Black diamond chips, the most expensive in the casino.
Haken, who had never seen anything like it before, was so shocked that his jaw dropped and he started drooling.
“H-how much is all this……!”
Even for a seasoned gambler like him, this was an unprecedented amount. It was enough to buy the entire casino outright.
Indeed, the protagonist’s eyes sparkled.
“What, is it over? Are you done?”
As the protagonist glared at him, the manager bit his lip.
“I-I apologize. This dealer is quite exhausted, so we will switch to a new dealer.”
“Oh? In that case, bring me a dealer who can handle unlimited betting. This is chump change, and it’s no fun.”
The manager, who had been gritting his teeth, suddenly doubted his own ears.
“E-excuse me, chump change? This amount of money could buy this entire casino!”
“It’s still not enough. I plan to devour not only this casino, but also the local branch of the Thieves Guild.”
Gulp…!
The manager frantically looked around.
But the other dealers all turned their heads away, avoiding his gaze.
They felt wronged too.
‘That guy is the most veteran dealer we have.’
‘He’s the best gambler, having received his skills from the boss himself, who is one of the twelve fingers…….’
‘There’s no one else left. We really did our best.’
In that short time, they had all been cleaned out by the protagonist.
He had won every single game, from card games to roulette, even dice games.
The huge pile of chips in front of the protagonist was proof of that.
But the protagonist was still hungry.
“What? This is it? This is disappointing?”
The manager broke out in a cold sweat at his words.
He had already noticed that the dealers were cheating.
However, he couldn’t give up because of the people around him.
‘Giving up a gambling match means losing your reputation.’
Who would want to come to such a shabby casino?
But the manager couldn’t find a way.
‘What should I do, what should I do…!’
No matter how much he thought about it, there was no one to ask for help.
If he left it like this, the casino would lose all its money.
Not only the dealers, but he and his family might be taken as slaves.
But he couldn’t use force.
“What? That man is the hero? The one who defeated the demons with the Knight King?”
“Yes. If we call the guards, we’ll all be dead, Manager.”
“No, why is a hero causing trouble in a casino?”
“How am I supposed to know that? What can we do? We’re doomed.”
He had no choice but to try to calm him down somehow.
From Noble mtl dot com
However, Jooyeon’s gaze was firm.
“What, you’re telling me to get lost like a beggar? Why? Can’t you even deal with a beggar like me?”
“Ugh…!”
The manager broke out in a cold sweat at Jooyeon’s words.
In the end, they somehow managed to call the best gamblers from other places.
“I lost.”
“P, player wins.”
“I can’t do it anymore… I admit defeat!”
Even they all gave up.
The casino’s operation was already in jeopardy.
However, Jooyeon’s pressure continued even then.
“Hurry up and bring the money. I cleared my schedule for today. Let’s play all night.”
“P… please spare me.”
When the manager kowtowed, Jooyeon laughed mockingly, as if he was talking nonsense.
“What? I’m not going to kill you. I just want to play a game. You sound like a beggar.”
Waaah!
The manager couldn’t hold on any longer and collapsed.
He was thinking of kowtowing to apologize for his mistake.
But at that moment.
Thud!
Suddenly, the door to the president’s office on the second floor opened.
A middle-aged man with a stern face, their boss.
“Which swindlers are causing a scene in my casino!”
The spectators were astounded by the man’s face.
“That… that man is…”
“…One of the [Twelve Fingers]!”
The corners of Joo-yeon’s lips rose.
The main character has finally appeared.