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Chapter 128.

The playing cards were first spread out on the table from high to low: spade, diamond, heart, and clover. Their numbers ranged from A being the smallest to K being the largest, with the joker at the end.

I focused on the dealer’s hand movements. About half of the 53 cards were divided into two piles of 25 and 28 cards. The top and bottom stacks were changed, and the middle 18 cards were removed and placed on top.

By doing this, he mixed the cards three times and then split them into two stacks and put them back on the table to play the game. He then lifted up the ends of the cards with his thumb and slid the cards off to make them overlap every card. I imprinted the order of the cards in my sight along with a pleasant sound of "charara."

The dealer pushed both ends of the cards to put them back together into one stack. And then he shuffled them once again two more times. The dealer didn’t play any tricks because it was the first round. If he played a trick in the first round, I was planning on breaking his wrist, but he seemed to have some business ethics.

"Ante is one bronze coin chip,” the dealer said.

The players pushed forward their chips. The dealer grabbed the wooden stick and disk from above his head and gathered the chips towards the center.

"Is Choice Rule okay for the rules?"

The players sitting at the table nodded. The Choice Rule was where everyone starts with four cards but had to throw one away. So the player’s choice was more emphasized than the normal rule.

"Doesn’t matter to me."

With all the players agreeing, the dealer distributed four cards to everyone. Starting from his left, the order was the woman with the swan mask, Hillis, me, then Rosellis.

"Before you look at the cards, please place a bet. The guest with the mask has the permission to do the first check."

"Let’s start light with a piece of refined bronze chip."

If my eyes and calculations were correct, the cards I received should be A of spades, A of clovers, 3 of hearts, and 5 of clovers. There was no need to use magic because I could calculate by looking at exactly how many cards the dealer moved when shuffling.

I couldn’t do this in my previous life because my eyes couldn’t keep up with the cards’ speed, but because my current body’s stats were good, there was no need to use expedients and tricks.

At Swan Mask’s bet, all the players put in one chip as well.

"Please check your hands."

After the first bet, the players checked their respective cards. My hand was A of spades, A of clovers, 3 of hearts, and 5 of clovers as I expected.

Then the swan mask got A of hearts, 10 of spades, 10 of clovers, and 9 of clovers. The cards Hillis received were 7 of clovers, 7 of hearts, 3 of diamonds, 7 of diamonds, while Rosellis received 6 of spades, 3 of diamonds, 4 of hearts, and 2 of clovers.

Rosellis had the worst hand at the start, by my estimates. Rosellis did not change her expression when she checked her hand, but her pupils shook slightly.

Either way, Hillis has a triple to start? What kind of luck is this?

If Hillis throws away the 3 of diamonds and doesn’t make stupid mistakes during the rest of the round, she will have a full house. If it had been just one step faster, Hillis would have received the 7 of spades that Swan Mask would have gotten and been able to make four of a kind. What a shame. [1]

Her hand was so good this round that if I hadn’t known that she was the saintess, I would have thought she was a spy who was planted here. In this case, there was no way I could win unless I played some tricks.

Neither dealer nor players were trying to cheat, so I didn’t feel the need to as well. It’s regrettable, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to fold this round.

The dealer distributed more cards so that each player had a total of seven cards. It was time to place bets again.

"Bet."

Swan Mask shouted ‘bet’ first. Swan Mask now had a clover straight. It was not a low hand.

Swan Mask pushed forward five refined bronze chips to bet. "The stakes have gone up. Would you like to call?"

Rosellis and I shouted at the same time.

"Fold."

"Fold."

Swan Mask smiled softly when Rosellis and I announced that we were folding. Rosellis was a wreck who lacked even a single pair. As such, it was natural for her to fold without needing a psychological battle, but I had triple A’s, which was quite a good hand.

Of course, it was still weaker than Swan Mask’s straight or Hillis’s full house. It was possible to make them give up using psychological warfare, but I didn’t want to use too much energy during the first round. The game would continue on, so I should be looking at the big picture.

"Two guests have given up on betting."

As the dealer calmly looked at Hillis, Hillis smiled and put out ten refined bronze chips. "Raise!"

Instead of calling, Hillis raised the stakes, and Swan Mask looked at Hillis with interest. For a moment, a war of nerves broke out, but then Swan Mask shouted, "Okay, raise!"

Ohh! When Swan Mask confidently responded to the raise, the psychological battle between Hillis and Swan Mask began.

"You must have a pretty good hand," said Swan Mask.

Hillis nodded lightly. Her face was full of composure. "Of course."

As the gaze of the two met, I could feel a lot of invisible hints and calculations coming and going.

"Then?"

"Raise, of course." When Hillis added a chip worth a silver coin with a confident face, Swan Mask’s eyes slightly shook.

It was a heart-pounding and entertaining sight for me, who already knew the result. I desperately wanted popcorn, but unfortunately, there was no corn for popcorn in the empire. Instead, I watched the psychological warfare with interest while eating the buffet food that I brought.

Raises were possible up to three times. Including the bet that Hillis just added, the money on the table was a wager of ten silver coins. It was ten months worth of living expenses for a family of four.

But was she really a saintess? How could a saintess bet so boldly and skillfully engage in psychological warfare? Of course, considering the saintess’s position, it was essentially pennies, but the image of a saintess and Hillis did not coincide at all.

Rosellis thought the same as me, as she was so surprised that she couldn’t close her mouth.

"What are you going to do?" Hillis looked at Swan Mask as if she were a god giving a young lamb an ordeal.

Swan Mask laughed pleasantly, "Ahahaha! How interesting. Of course, it’s a call!"

With Swan Mask’s response to Hillis’s provocation, the bet alone was enough for a family of four to live on for two years. The dealer seemed a little nervous when he saw a large amount of money coming and going in the first round.

He must still be a rookie if he’s showing his feelings. The dealer took a deep breath and said calmly, "Please show your hands now."

As the dealer spoke, the two flipped over their cards. A straight and a full house, as I expected. It was a victory for Hillis.

Even though she won, Hillis didn’t show much on the outside and instead spoke as she smiled calmly, "I’ll use it for good things.”

The dealer pushed the money towards the winner, Hillis. "Congratulations."

"Thank you." Hillis nodded lightly at the dealer’s congratulations.

She then paid 5% of the money she earned as commission. By doing this, as people continued to play, they would end up paying a large amount of money to the casino in proportion to their winnings.

In the end, only the casino would end up filling their belly. However, I’m not saying you shouldn’t gamble.

"Ah, I lost this time, but it won’t be easy next round.” Even though she lost quite a lot of money, Swan mask laughed like it was trivial.

Hillis smiled kindly and nodded. "This is fun."

The dealer opened a card box again and asked, "Do you want to continue with the next game?"

The players on the table nodded at the dealer’s question. It was only the first round.

* * *

"Oot-cha!” I got up with a stretch.

"Shall we try going somewhere else now?" I asked Rosellis. I swept up a stack of chips five or six times larger than what I initially had into my container as I spoke.

"Anywhere is fine." On the other hand, Rosellis, whose chip container had become much lighter, sighed and stood up.

Rosellis was the second-largest shareholder of my chips. This is why you shouldn’t be distracted in front of the sacred card.

I moved my chips into the slightly somber Rosellis’s chip container.

"Huh?" Rosellis gave me a puzzled look.

I said with a smile, "I’m just paying back the chips you gave me in the beginning."

"But this is more than what I gave you."

Seeing her dazed stare towards the chips, I lightly tapped her back and cheered her up. "Think of it as interest."

Considering the length of the loan, it was a crazy rate of 30% per hour. Rosellis seemed to be feeling better as her face blushed, and she coughed dryly. "Keuhmm, just let me know if you need any help later. I’ll help you."

I nodded in delight at Rosellis. "All right."

Now, whenever Fiona turns into a fanatic, I’ll just call Rosellis.

As Rosellis and I got up from our seats, Hillis also got up, and she said, "Oh, let me join you. Is that okay?"

Rosellis readily agreed when she saw Hillis’s desperate eyes, as she resembled a baby lamb. I could see just how many calculations were contained in those innocent-looking eyes. She was definitely the same kind of person as me.

With Rosellis’s permission, Hillis collected her pile of chips that she had managed to double.

"Thanks for your hard work.” I gave a handful of bronze chips as a tip to the now slim-faced dealer.

The major shareholder who contributed the most to my increased chips was the dealer. The dealer who should have been fair tried to play some tricks on me, so I only repaid him in kind. He had plenty of nerve to think of playing tricks in front of me.

Considering the future of the dealer who lost the casino’s money, it wasn’t that I couldn’t sympathize. However, since he caused this, I’ll leave it up to him to figure it out.

Well, since I won some of the casino’s money, I was thinking of spending all the earned money in the casino anyways. To think about leaving the casino after winning money made the back of my head itchy.

Of course, since I was here with Rosellis, the casino wouldn’t be able to touch me recklessly, but it wasn’t a hobby of mine to pick up future troubles.

In the worst case, I could just over-tip excessively. After all, I didn’t come to this underground gambling place to make money anyways.

1. Not sure what 7 of spades the author is talking about unless he mistakenly wrote 10 of spades for Swan Mask instead.