Casino Wizard

The Front Yard of the Hyden Casino.

The only sanctuary for gamblers eagerly awaiting the casino’s swift reopening.

Usually, the atmosphere was quiet and desolate, but today, it was anything but.

“Hey. Did you just swap the cards?”

“W-what? How could you accuse me of such a thing…?”

“Then how do you explain two Ace of Spades in play?”

A dispute over cheating had erupted in a casual game of Seotda.

Both the accuser, who caught the trick, and the accused, who was scrambling to explain, were women. Housewives who found their greatest joy in gambling away their husbands’ money.

“Did you hide a card under your skirt?”

“What nonsense!”

“Then explain yourself.”

“I… uh… I have two decks at home, and somehow they got mixed up?”

“Bullshit!”

They jeered at each other, tapped faces with their fans, and pushed foreheads with their fingers.

And then—

Smack!

“Did you just hit me? Did you seriously just hit me?”

“You were the one cheating!”

“Where’s your proof?”

What started as a verbal spat had escalated into a brawl.

Normally, someone would have stepped in to break it up.

But today, everyone just watched, dazed, unwilling to intervene.

Even those who initially stood up to mediate simply sat back down with a sigh, indifferent to the screams and hair-pulling.

It wasn’t that they were apathetic by nature.

“Why isn’t the casino reopening?”

Hilde Rakae, the very person responsible for the casino’s closure, had finally left the capital.

With the bane of their existence gone, Hyden should have returned and reopened the casino by now.

He had promised the Marquis. They had gathered here based on that promise alone.

They just wanted Hyden to return and get the casino running again…

Or at least give them an official reopening date.

So, they were all anxious, waiting.

And then—

“The Marquis has arrived!”

“Oh…!”

The carriage of Marquis Tripolia approached the casino.

Faces brightened with hope.

Even the fighting housewives paused, still gripping each other’s hair.

But the news the Marquis brought was far from good.

“Hilde Racaillé hasn’t actually left.”

“What?”

“The butler I sent to Hyden’s estate returned. It seems that damned woman is trying to track down Hyden’s whereabouts. She swore to me she was leaving, but… sigh. This complicates things.”

“What?”

A heavy silence fell over the casino courtyard.

Even gamblers, accustomed to betting on uncertainty, were stunned.

How could they not be? A supposed hero from the legendary party of warriors, now rampaging through a foreign land for personal vengeance.

And she was the one who had destroyed their beloved casino.

“So when will the casino reopen?”

No one—not the Marquis, nor anyone else—could answer.

The atmosphere grew even gloomier.

It wasn’t just about the casino anymore.

They had suffered too much.

People had been mutilated in illegal gambling dens, others had fallen victim to loan sharks, and some had been beaten for protesting unfair fees.

Even those who could protect themselves suffered.

Their tastes had become too refined; they could no longer find joy in the squalor of underground gambling rings.

They had only one wish.

The resurrection of the casino.

But the insane mage of the Dragon Kingdom kept thwarting that dream. The endless delays had piled up their frustration.

“I can’t take this anymore…! Let’s go to the palace.”

“Or the Dragon Kingdom’s embassy.”

“Anywhere. It’s just an inquiry; what harm could it do?”

Disappointment was mutating into rage.

“Let’s go!!”

People began taking action.

The nobles headed for the royal palace, while merchants and artisans made their way to the Dragon Kingdom’s trade office.

At first, some scoffed at them, calling them fools who had abandoned their dignity for gambling.

But the mockery didn’t last.

“Hilde Rakae attacked Hyden but was countered and lost her right foot. In the process, civilians were harmed, and Hyden himself was gravely injured!”

News of Hilde’s insane actions spread like wildfire.

This was no longer just a casino issue.

****

I regained consciousness two days after the battle.

The village was bathed in twilight.

A settlement two days’ carriage ride from the capital…

A place where retired bureaucrats from the capital spent their twilight years.

Not exclusively retirees, but that was the reputation it had.

The village had certain perks, like low property taxes (up to 100 grapevines were tax-exempt) and a village chief who facilitated real estate deals without a fee. It was the kingdom’s way of rewarding those who had served the royal court.

It wasn’t exactly paradise, but it was a comfortable place to live.

Or at least, it had been.

Now, the short battle we fought had left it in ruins.

I could still hear the complaints.

“The olive press is half-destroyed. It’d be better to tear it down and rebuild. Same with the inn. And Giuseppe’s house—one of the walls collapsed. He’s still lying on the ground, sobbing.”

“What a disaster! How are we supposed to live now?”

Buildings Lucy had used for cover had taken damage, and the olive oil processing facility was wrecked.

If that damned lizard had gone all out with her magic, the entire village would have been obliterated. But knowing that didn’t make things any better.

The only silver lining was that there were no casualties.

Only one injury—a sprained ankle suffered by an elderly man running for cover in the vineyard.

“At least that’s a relief, right, Oppa?”

“Yeah. A relief.”

“You nearly died, you know. It was that close.”

Lucy sat beside me.

She had fought just as fiercely, yet she looked unscathed. Dressed in a pristine gown, face clean.

But her hand still clutched a dagger.

She had a reason for staying on guard.

Hilde.

She lay bound, breathing heavily.

Unlike me, who had received divine healing and potion treatment, Hilde had only received the bare minimum of first aid.

A tourniquet on her severed ankle, a cloth over her burns.

For any normal person, shock alone would have killed them.

Yet Hilde’s eyes still burned with malice.

Drifting in and out of consciousness, coughing between gasps of pain.

At least she wouldn’t need painkillers.

“I was right… I was always right…”

Hilde was controlling her pain through self-hypnosis.

It wasn’t surprising anymore, so I just ignored it.

But I couldn’t ignore Hilde’s right foot, neatly severed above the ankle. It was placed right beside her, as if mocking her.

That was the moment I fully realized—I had amputated the leg of Hilde, the great mage of Leandro’s party, the firepower of the Dragon Kingdom’s hero party.

“The capital…”

“The village chief must have already sent someone to inform the palace. I didn’t check the exact contents of the report. Either way… as long as they relay what happened here as it is, it won’t put us at a disadvantage, right?”

“Yeah. Well done.”

“Yes. So just rest.”

Lucy, who always said she didn’t want to discuss politics, was now scolding me.

I was about to say that I had rested enough but decided against it.

Because I knew Lucy wasn’t saying this just out of concern for my health.

Regret flickered in her sapphire-colored eyes. And no, it wasn’t because she was disappointed that she hadn’t been able to cut off Hilde’s left foot as well.

“It’ll be difficult for us to stay here any longer.”

“…….”

“I talked with the village chief while you were unconscious. Just a few days ago, he was eager to introduce us to houses for sale, but now… he suddenly started speaking to me with formal honorifics. The other villagers are also keeping their distance in subtle ways.”

“Well, that’s…”

“It’s understandable.”

We were the ones who had brought disaster to this once-peaceful village.

Of course, the main culprit was Hilde.

But the way people looked at us wasn’t comfortable either.

A battle between hero parties—a fight to the death—was too much for the people of a small rural village to handle. If we announced that we intended to stay here any longer, some people would openly show their discomfort.

I looked at the dejected Lucy for a moment before gently placing a hand on her shoulder.

“Oppa?”

“If we offer to help with the restoration, their hostility will fade quickly. Right now, they’re scared, but the villagers are practical. If we rebuild the press house and repair the damaged homes, things will improve.”

“The inn needs to be completely rebuilt.”

“I won’t be paying for it myself, but I can still make it look like I’m helping.”

The restoration would probably happen regardless. Either Hilde’s noble family would compensate the damages, or the Dragon Kingdom’s royal family would step in to clean up the mess caused by their war hero. Still, if I got involved, things might move faster.

I wasn’t just thinking about this out of guilt.

“We need to do it so that we can return here proudly in the future.”

A scenic village with lush olive groves and vineyards, and houses painted in white, scattered across the hills.

If I ever found the time… No, even if I had to make time, it wouldn’t be a bad place to take a break. It was worth investing in.

“Let’s come back together, Brother.”

But before we could focus on rebuilding, there was something we needed to take care of.

We had to transport Hilde to the capital and deal with the aftermath of this incident.

Calling it “handling” was putting it nicely—honestly, it was going to be a bloodbath.

I had no idea how many people would be caught in the storm. This wasn’t just a royal matter; it was a tangled mess that involved the Dragon Kingdom as well.

However, some fates had already been sealed.

“Oppa…”

In a hoarse voice, Hilde mumbled something as she called out to Dragon Ear.

She looked miserable, but in reality, she hadn’t lost everything.

Just an ankle. Just a social death.

Just like Dragon Ear, who was probably still wandering somewhere, desperately searching for a plank despite losing both arms… Hilde, his sister, might also dream of revenge despite her crippled body. Now that I had cut off her foot, she would surely make vengeance her life’s purpose.

There was only one way to take away all of her chances.

…

A small delegation arrived to investigate and take Hilde away.

Officials and knights dispatched urgently from the palace, along with an ambassador from the Dragon Kingdom.

The Dragon Kingdom’s ambassador wagged his tail and opened his mouth the moment he heard my and the village chief’s testimonies, while the others turned pale.

But they calmed down surprisingly quickly.

“We must take her to the palace immediately. It is the king’s command.”

“His Majesty must be greatly concerned.”

“Concerned? I’m sorry, but it’s far beyond that.”

Apparently, the capital was already in chaos.

I willingly accepted the royal order.

It was time to go kill Hilde.