Casino Wizard

Before I knew it, midnight was approaching.

At this hour, it was Lucy’s job to announce the casino’s closing—she was both the face of the establishment and one of its founding members.

It was a familiar sight: Lucy making rounds through the main and sub-game halls, personally wrapping up operations for the night.

But tonight, she was seated in the VIP room.

“Lucy, what’s the occasion? You’re in a dress.”

“I thought I’d have some fun tonight, too, Marquis Tripolia.”

“For a casual game, the stakes seem… a bit high.”

Lucy sat at the table, her golden hair flowing freely over the exposed neckline of her dress.

Tonight, she wasn’t a dealer.

She was a gambler.

And a formidable one at that.

If she wanted to, she could easily toy with the dealer. Not that she usually needed to use her skills.

“Do you even have the money to sit at this table, Lucy?”

“I have enough. Hyden lent me a little, too.”

“Ha. ‘Lent you’?”

“This is a personal gamble tonight.”

Her conversation with the remaining nobles made it seem like her usual customer-service mode.

But even at a glance, she was well-prepared.

Even when she wore dresses, she usually preferred sleeveless ones—but tonight, she had chosen one with long sleeves down to her wrists. Perfect for slipping a card into her sleeve.

A lavish balloon skirt.

A fan resting on the table.

She could use them all. To conceal. To switch.

The other guests might just think she dressed up for the occasion… but the dragonkin wouldn’t be so naïve. Whether for amusement or pressure, he would stay vigilant.

Lucy was the decoy.

But she hadn’t joined the game on a whim.

Because even for a decoy, the rules applied equally.

I had no intention of sacrificing Lucy, but… there was no guarantee that the game would go exactly as I planned.

After all, our opponent was that damned lizard who always managed to defy my expectations.

“Hyden, what if I take all the winnings?”

“Then it’s yours, obviously.”

“Guess I better focus. Thanks for hiring me.”

She was smiling, but…

There was no way to read any tension on her face.

Which meant she was serious.

I simply nodded and shifted my attention to another ally.

Among the spectators sat Madame Bonucci.

As always, her dress had a generous neckline.

The dragonkin had already seen through her petty tricks before. I wondered what he would make of her presence tonight.

Then, the last piece arrived.

“I brought the cigarettes.”

A half-elf girl with uneven dark blond hair and chubby cheeks—Selena.

A half-bum who spent her time in the staff quarters reading novels, eating bread, and gambling with the servers for one-bronze stakes.

Tonight, she was dressed as a server.

“Where’s the ashtray?”

“Ashtray? Uh… where did it go?”

I didn’t enlist her because I didn’t want to make full-time employees work late.

She was here to establish her presence—to ensure it wouldn’t be odd if she showed up later.

‘The dragonkin probably knows about Selena.’

He had a habit of using overheard casino gossip to feed the First Prince’s men—sometimes with information that was practically poison.

If he had paid attention, he would remember her.

The half-elf who stirred up chaos in the casino with her scrying magic.

Who was once treated as a corpse, only to be revived before the Second Prince, Stefano.

She was still occasionally mentioned in noble circles.

If the dragonkin had heard of her, he would remember.

I assumed he had superior hardware to me, after all.

“Stay at the bar until I call for you.”

“Okay.”

I sent Selena off—for now. I would use her when the time was right.

The rest of the spectators were just regulars.

Including Marquis Tripolia, one of the casino’s biggest spenders.

Counting Madame Bonucci, there were five of them.

The dragonkin would probably bring five or six of his own.

‘They’re still just casual observers… for now.’

To them, this was merely entertainment.

A gamble between the dragonkin who had often played here and me, the casino owner.

Something they could watch for free—what gambler would turn that down?

After all, the outcome wouldn’t affect them.

Unless I suddenly lost my mind and bet the entire casino.

As I finished making my mental checks, the clock struck midnight.

“Ladies and gentlemen, please exit in an orderly fashion!”

A commotion stirred from the main game hall.

Customers shuffled out, murmuring.

Security kept them moving, ensuring there were no incidents.

It was a process that repeated 350 days a year.

That was why every tavern near the casino had card tables.

Once the casino closed, gambling had to stop.

But tonight, there would be one exception.

A single table.

Soon, the final participant arrived.

“Apologies if I’m late.”

The dragonkin gambler—Dragon ear.

“It’s fine. Come in.”

“I brought one more guest, but they weren’t allowed in. They’re waiting outside. Is that alright?”

“That’s fine.”

“Aren’t you going to ask who it is?”

“You’ll tell me later.”

Dragon ear simply nodded.

No one thought much of it—at first.

But soon, tension crept into the VIP room.

“What… is that?”

One of his companions, Baron Bove, had brought something unusual.

Something out of place in a noble’s VIP gambling room.

A rather menacing-looking item.

Technically, it was a kitchen tool… but it could be used for something else.

“A guillotine. Just as promised.”

“I see.”

“Don’t worry. It’s only here to discourage cheating.”

A guillotine cutter—heavy enough to cleave through bone.

Dried bits of flesh still clung to its blade.

“I understand. I’ve brought something similar, actually.”

“Where?”

“Bring it in.”

A hulking figure loomed at the VIP room entrance.

The knight Jerome.

He had come to replace the role of a retired hero.

Jerome carried a war hammer on his shoulder.

Not just any hammer, but the very weapon he had once used to battle demons.

Its head alone weighed over ten kilograms.

It wasn’t hard to imagine what would happen if it struck a wrist or an elbow.

If Jerome actually swung it, there would be no avoiding disaster.

A guillotine and a hammer.

The air in the room grew heavier.

Yet, no one objected.

This was Alvinia—a country where honor duels were legal.

And though the Church disapproved, trial by combat still took place in some regions.

Even amid the tension, there was unmistakable excitement.

“Of course, we won’t need to use them. Right?”

“Naturally.”

We pledged to a fair game, and the gruesome tools were removed to the dealer’s break room.

Only then did I finally invite Dragon ear to sit.

“That aside, you don’t have a partner?”

“Not yet. But who knows later?”

He hadn’t come unprepared.

Partners were limited to one, but I had never said they had to be there from the start.

It was clear—he wasn’t just diving into my home turf blindly.

“That’s fine. Call them in later.”

Three players sat at the table.

Myself.

Lucy.

Dragon ear.

There was no turning back now.

…

The stakes were placed on the table.

“The relic of the Silver Priest, Sebastianos? I’ll buy that right now.”

“Alright. I’ll sell it.”

The value of the item that Dragon ear had brought was appraised, and some of the spectators even stepped in to make immediate purchases.

Tonight’s game was poker.

Not Hold’em, but two-card mini poker.

Basically, it was just a variant of Sutta, a simple game where players compete with only two cards.

Among all the card games I had spread, this one was the most susceptible to sleight of hand.

The reason Dragon ear could effortlessly rake in money from the First Prince’s associates was thanks to this very fact.

Stacking the deck while shuffling, slipping a swapped card into the deal—it was all too easy for him.

But this wasn’t just a normal Sutta. There was a slight twist to the rules.

“For the benefit of our spectators, I’ll explain briefly. One of the two cards must be revealed.”

“Face up?”

“Yes. The second card you receive will be open.”

The first card remained hidden, visible only to the player, while the second card was exposed.

At first glance, it seemed like a rule borrowed from Indian Poker.

However, I added a small degree of flexibility.

“If you prefer, you may choose not to reveal the second card.”

Players had the discretion to either keep their second card hidden or expose it.

Honestly, it wasn’t a drastic modification.

One could reveal their second card and bet aggressively, or keep it hidden to play a more cautious game. The only real impact was that it encouraged bluffing and made bluff-catching more complex.

The spectators quickly understood and nodded in agreement.

Yes. It was a simple change.

The real issue was that every player in this game had the skills to cheat.

Sutta was already the easiest game to manipulate with sleight of hand.

And now, I had just added an unpredictable twist to the rules.

A fair game? Impossible.

“Let’s keep this clean,” I said.

“Of course,” Lucy responded.

“Agreed,” Dragon ear added.

Despite our words, we all knew there would be nothing clean about this match.

“It begins.”

Dragon ear, having taken the dealer’s role, started shuffling with his single hand.

His movements were smooth yet rough at the same time—flipping chunks of cards in a seemingly careless manner.

It was too early for him to start stacking the deck just yet. This was preparation for later rounds, setting up a consistent shuffling pattern so that any change in technique wouldn’t raise suspicion later on.

“Dealing.”

The first card was distributed.

I looked at mine—♦K.

After confirming my hand, I made a slight movement with my left index finger.

Not a tap on the table, not a signal—just a small, almost imperceptible twitch.

From this moment on, this was no longer just a game.

This was war.

A war of money—

And a war of hands.