The first thing Elias saw after entering the biggest gambling house in the known city of wagers wasn't the huge hall.
He didn't see the lines of stairs going from one floor to another, to who knows where. Nor did he see the lines of tables lined with people playing poker, blackjack, and many other card games.
The chandeliers, the light, the beautiful designs—not a single thing registered in his mind.
The waiters who were moving here and there, serving the guests; the nobles, merchants, and rich people who were screaming while playing games before the machines that looked like backward versions of Earth's casinos.
The laughter of someone and the regrets of others.
The sound of every person, every step, every single to-the-minute detail left his mind.
Elias only heard his heart echoing in a deafening sound as it thudded against his chest so loudly that he could feel the pulse all over his body.
Ba-dump ba-dump
With the thudding heart, Elias could also feel his breath hitching awkwardly.
He could feel the blood rush—the tingling of his scalp, neck, and fingers.
He could feel his life coming back into his hands.
Everything he went through seemed to have borne fruit. The journey had succeeded!
The fiery woman with dark red hair and crimson eyes became Elias's sole focus. His vision tunneled, his world narrowing as the sides of his eyes blurred.
She was the key to solving the problem he was in!
While Elias couldn't control his body from drowning in relief and adrenaline.
"There's no fucking way you are not rigging this thing!" The woman screamed as she reached the worker in one step.
"Is she at it again?"
"What do you think?"
"Sigh, she is."
"It's pretty interesting, though."
"Yeah, it is, heh."
This time, the voice registered in Elias's ears. He calmed his overgrowing excitement and started moving towards a table that he fortunately found empty, all the while keeping his eyes on the redhead.
The said redhead was shaking the dealer with her hands around his collar as if wanting to give him seizures.
"No ma'am. I didn't do anything. P-please listen," the man quite literally pleaded.
"You think I am some dumb bitch, don't you?"
"n-NO, why would I think that?"
"Then why the fuck did you rig this thing?" She said, pointing towards the roulette.
"I didn't, ma'am. I really didn't."
"Fucker, you can try this on others, not me, though."
"Let's calm down," the dealer said, trying to be professional while trying his best to withstand being shaken like a dice in a dice roller. "Ma'am, please, at least listen."
But... the woman didn't. And to the shock of Elias, no one interfered.
Nor did the guards, nor did any people. They were just enjoying it like a good show, as if it were another weekend for them.
Elias also didn't try to think much of it. He simply went towards the empty seat he had spotted at the table and took his place while continuing to listen to the woman.
"You son of a filthy, dead mosquito, I will kill you today!"
"Ma'am, please!"
Whatever was happening continued, as Elias started to play the game he was involved in.
'I will go after she calms a little,' he thought, looking at his cards. 'What are we playing with, though?'
Elias didn't even know what he was playing. But after giving a glance, he understood that it was poker.
Well, it was not his fault that he didn't know what game it was or what his cards were when he had simply come and sat down at the only seat that looked empty.
His mind was only on the woman, who was still screaming at the dealer. Their "whatever was happening" had been happening for so long that Elias started to feel pity for the man.
But to not let the others near him think he was absent-minded, Elias "called".
"Oh," he muttered, getting the attention of all 5 sitting at the table. They looked at him as if he were some idiot. 'Is this good?'
2♣ 7♦
Due to the lack of knowledge of this game, Elias didn't know if the hand was bad or not. Even juggling through the previous Elias's memories, he still didn't find anything.
'That idiot only went to lose. Or he played roulette or some other shit.'
Yet, lack of knowledge didn't make Elias bad at the game.
He knew one thing for sure.
'Bluff, heh.'
And he had won some games due to this in a few casinos today. However, the loss was more!
'It's first for me, so it's expected.'
Elias muttered to himself not to let the twinge of pain increase as he continued to glance at his cards, while making his best "poker face". The people around the table, as if looking at some idiot, smiled at him.
The first to fold was the woman next to Elias.
"Fold," she said, glancing at Elias.
Elias, not wanting to let the act fail, looked at her and made his face twitch as if trying to control something.
Following the lady, another man, who looked to be the same age, around the woman, folded.
"Tsk, fold."
He threw down his card, taking a drink from the glass that his maid was standing with.
"Young people these days," the older man next to him muttered as he raised the pool.
"What?!" The man who had folded muttered in annoyance as he looked at the old man. "Want me to lose once more?"
However, he got no reply from the old man, which made him only more annoyed as he downed his wine, trying not to seethe.
Elias simply observed all of this while also keeping his attention on the redhead.
The community cards were displayed.
K♠ Q♥ 9♦
'Hm?' Elias once more glanced at his card, continuing with his act. 'Why do I feel like I have a bad hand?'
The game continued, as at the fourth card reveal, the old man folded.
K♠ Q♥ 9♦ J♣
"I shall back down now," he said, rubbing his long white beard as he put his card on the table.
"Why are you backing down? Play," the man who was seething said with a smile. "Scared, are you now?"
The old man didn't give him a single glance. He merely stroked his beard, shaking his head. "Young people these days, no respect."
A new back-and-forth started in which the man sneered at the old man, while the old man simply stroked his beard. Whereas the game kept on, only with Elias, a healthy man and a silent man who sat on the other side of the room.
In the same round of betting, the silent man also folded.
"Aww, why fold, Siren?" the healthy man said with a smile. But the silent man, supposedly named Siren, didn't reply.
'His teeth are yellow. Eww,' Elias thought as he looked at the fatty's teeth. 'Dude, you should clean your teeth first.'
'Wait.' However, the next moment it dawned on him. 'It's gold?! Fucking rich people.'
Not wanting to feel more jealous, he shifted his attention, continuing to play.
On the last and fifth card reveal. The fatty, not afraid of Elias's bluff, went all in.
"All in," he muttered, huffing as he pushed all the chips into the pool. "What are you thinking, kid? Go all in. Aren't you confident you are going to win?"
"..."
'Guess it doesn't work when people are filthy rich.' Elias shook his head as he looked at his chips. He had a total of around 25 gold coins' worth of chips in the pool. He could feel the pain of losing all of it.
Yet...
'I still have to continue this.'
"Fold."
He threw the card.
"Haha," the fatty laughed, his white teeth shining under the chandelier's light. "And here I thought. I can at last taste the flavor of loss. Guess you were bluffing too."
"Not bad for someone your age," the woman sitting next to him said with a smile. But Elias paid her no attention.
After this, as the game went on, Elias kept losing. Chips after chips kept getting won from him as he felt the hole in his pocket.
However, as the loss kept getting stacked, he also started to drink. Sylphie did warn him during one of the games that he was almost going to lose all the money.
But Elias didn't listen.
"Raise."
"Call."
"What the hell!"
"You guys are cheating, no?"
Now Elias had become the center of attention in the room. Everyone kept glancing at him as he continued to get more and more drunk.
"No way, I lost once more!" Elias shouted, standing up. His legs wobbled, but he controlled his body as he once more tried to sit down.
However, as he looked at Sylphie for more chips, she shook her head.
"My lord... You have lost all the money."
"What?!"
"You should take a break, kid," the fatty laughed, sipping on his wine.
"Well, there's nothing to bet with, so, no other option left for him," the man sitting next to the old man chuckled.
While the old man said his signature line.
"Young men these days."
"Go and have a walk. Fresh air is good for health, honey," the woman next to Elias added in a sweet smile.
"Huh?! Whatever." Elias stood up from the table, wobbling towards somewhere else.
"I still have one gold coin keke," He laughed, taking out a gold coin from his pocket.
As he trudged towards the machine area of the casino, people's gaze followed him. Moving further ahead, the light shone on his face as suddenly someone from the crowd spoke.
"Isn't he Elias?"
"Who?"
"Elias Varen, don't you know?"
"Ah, Varen does ring a bell. Oh! Elias."
The next moment, the hall was filled with the talk of this drunk kid, who had just spent all his money here gambling.
This was not a new thing. Many people lost money here. Every day, in fact, and others enjoyed that.
Even then, Elias, in particular, was a peculiar subject.
"Guess he really is a good-for-nothing son."
"Yes. Instead of taking care of his barony and taking it to its next height, here he is enjoying himself. I even heard that people of his barony are leaving. Hah! That's what happens if the baron just sees his people as money slaves and himself as a typical filthy noble when he is nothing more than a good-for-nothing gambling waste."
"Brother, you are not the one to talk. You yourself are blowing your wife's savings."
"Hey, I am not a baron, brother. If I were, I would have been different."
Not paying attention to the people in the hall, Elias went near one of the machines.
"Hey, go somewhere else. You are reeking."
"Hm, hm." He hummed as he inspected the machine. "How do I use this?"
"Hey," the woman grunted. "Here, I am losing all my fucking money, and some bitch is not even listening to me."
The woman turned towards Elias. As she did.
She saw him looking directly at him.
"What? Didn't you fucking hear what I motherfucking uttered?"
Seeing the situation, Elias was. Marcus, shaking his head at how pathetic the person he guarded was, started to move. He didn't want this manchild to get beaten by a woman, at least.
However, before he could reach Elias.
SHIING!
The woman's hand shifted. A blade gleamed in the chandelier's light, tearing through the air in a blur and moving towards Elias's neck.