Chapter 132

Chapter 133. Royal Straight Flush (2)

Even if there is a hell, it probably wouldn’t be as noisy as this place.

“Let’s gooooo!”

“My, my daughter’s medical bills!”

“No way! How can I lose seven times in a row!”

“Kyaaaaaaah!”

As soon as we entered the casino Red Siren, screams and shouts assaulted our eardrums.

“Let’s go to the top floor.”

Ultima, looking annoyed, quickened his pace.

It was chaotic and crowded, but Ultima knew exactly where to go without even looking around.

He must have come here often or done a lot of research.

‘They’ve divided the floors by class.’

The people screaming on the first floor of this noise hell looked like commoners based on their attire. The games they were playing were also very simple and straightforward. Even a monkey could do them.

A game where you roll a six-sided die, and the person with the highest number takes all the bets.

A game where you flip a coin and guess heads or tails.

A ladder-climbing game where you follow a randomly drawn line to determine the outcome.

Just because it’s simple doesn’t mean it’s boring, nor does it mean it’s easy to win.

The minimum bet is 1 bronze. Generous. Even commoners who don’t gamble can enjoy it lightly.

Of course, the people screaming here aren’t crying over losing a few pennies. There’s a lot of gold coins on the table. Even some platinum coins are mixed in.

To me and Ultima, even platinum coins are pocket change, but for commoners struggling to make ends meet, they’d probably kill for a platinum coin.

‘These guys here would go crazy for just 1 gold.’

People who’ve lost everything and are weeping, others grabbing anyone to borrow money. To them, we must look like easy prey.

“My lord! Please, just a penny! 1 silver, no, even 1 bronze, I beg you!”

Before the man could finish his plea, Ultima kicked him aside without a word. Like swatting away a stone blocking his path.

If you’re that clueless, you deserve to get hit. And these guys truly believe they’re just unlucky.

‘If you’re stupid, you get left behind, that’s all.’

A gambler disguised as a commoner is colluding with the dealer to monopolize the game.

It’s not even clever. Anyone paying attention would notice that luck seems to favor only one person.

But the idiots are too blinded by their losses and the money they could win to see it.

“This is a scam! How can this guy roll a 6 five times in a row!”

The even dumber guy starts yelling right there.

Ugh. If you argue like that, the dealer will just say, “Oh, sorry. I’ll give you ten times your money back.”

“Do you have proof?”

“P-proof? That die! The die is suspicious!”

“What’s wrong with this die?”

The die the gambler is using is indeed rigged. A die that overwhelmingly favors rolling a 6.

But when the die is rolling, you can’t see it. From a human’s perspective, only the front face is visible. Plus, after the result, the dealer collects it, so of course, the die they give you now is a normal one.

“The dealer’s in on it too!”

The guy who’s dumber than the dumb guy is the one who dies first.

Look at that. The dealer didn’t even give a signal, and a thug came over and grabbed the commoner’s neck like a chicken.

“Kek, kehk!”

The commoner is dragged away somewhere. The other commoners watching are also shocked and seem to momentarily snap out of their gambling frenzy.

Then, the dealer says cheerfully,

“Well, that ruined the mood. I’ll add 10 gold to the pot at my discretion. Anyone want to join?”

The dealer places 10 gold coins on the table. The commoners, seeing the shiny gold coins, forget what the guy who was dragged away even said and start cheering.

Those guys must have been fish in their past lives. Even if you release them from the fishing hook, they’ll just get caught again.

Anyway—

I can roughly guess what kind of person the owner of this place is.

‘Someone who would wring water out of dried bark. But not completely inflexible.’

As expected of someone who can give Ultima a hard time. Not just some guy relying on his backing.

“Master Ultima. You’ve come again.”

In front of the elevator leading to the upper floors.

The thug guarding the entrance recognizes Ultima. Though his attitude is respectful, his mouth is full of mockery.

“Open the door. I’m going to the top floor.”

“Haha, how much did you bring this time? I remember you blew through 10,000 gold in 30 minutes last time. I hope you stay a bit longer today.”

Ultima’s face turns red.

I know this guy well, and he’s not angry because he lost money. He’s furious at himself for not seeing through the scam.

Thud!

Ultima punches the thug in the stomach.

The thug, clutching his stomach in pain, still manages to sneer.

“Ouch, that hurts. The master who lost money must have felt this pain too. I hope you win today.”

Ultima ignores the thug and steps into the elevator. Before I follow, I kick the thug’s knee.

“Kehk?!”

The thug, who withstood Ultima’s punch, collapses this time, clutching his knee.

“Ugh, I can’t get up. What did you do?!”

‘I destroyed your pressure points,’ I’d say, but you wouldn’t understand. And how dare you mess with my little Ultima?

The elevator doors close. The thug’s question isn’t even worth answering, so I give him the middle finger.

I feel Ultima’s gaze from the side.

I turn my head and see him smiling contentedly at me.

“What are you looking at? Huh, bastard! Aren’t you going to glare?”

“…You crazy bastard.”

Ultima curses but still glares properly.

Ultima is best when he’s glaring.

* * *

Unlike the market-like chaos of the first floor, the top floor was like another world.

From the floor to the ceiling, a dark background with countless stars twinkling. It felt like walking through the middle of the universe.

The types of games had also changed. Mainly poker, Texas Hold’em, and blackjack using trump cards.

The space was wide, but there were few guests. Barely a dozen or so. But the amounts they were betting were beyond imagination.

“Call.”

A middle-aged man who seemed to enjoy showing off placed five bills worth 1,000 gold on the table. Not just one, but five.

The table where the game was in full swing was filled with platinum coins. There wasn’t a single gold coin. There was also a bundle of bills.

The middle-aged man who called showed his hand first.

“King full house.”

The opponent across from him was young. A man in his mid-twenties. Wearing a purple uniform reminiscent of lilacs, he spoke with a tone of regret.

“I’m sorry about this, Count.”

Swish.

The young man lays down his hand.

He also has a full house.

But it’s an ace full house.

Losing thousands of gold by a single point would make anyone’s heart drop, but the middle-aged count just laughed.

“Well, well, I still can’t match Sir Philip’s luck!”

“Haha, that’s why I told you not to follow me.”

Even losing thousands of gold, he’s relaxed.

It wasn’t a bluff. Everyone here was wealthy enough to spend tens of thousands of gold in a single night for fun.

“Is that what Young Master Keter is looking for?”

Since there were many eyes here, Ultima spoke respectfully to Keter.

“Hey, you. Do you know that guy?”

“Huh?”

Keter pointed at Philip.

Ultima, looking at Philip’s face, shook his head.

“No. I’m seeing him for the first time. Why do you ask?”

“That guy was eyeing you. I thought you might know him.”

“People here know I’m the master of the Ultima Merchant. But in this place, there’s no one who doesn’t know me.”

Ultima brushes it off casually.

But Keter strokes his chin.

‘Hmm. That guy… no matter how I look at him, he doesn’t seem human.’

In Ruquer, there are many races besides humans. Elves, dwarves, beastmen. Even monsters with intelligence capable of social life like humans.

Based on Keter’s experience of seeing and beating up many races, Philip wasn’t human.

‘A disguised beastman?’

Even if he’s a disguised beastman, Keter wouldn’t pay this much attention.

The reason he’s interested is because Philip was paying attention to Ultima.

‘Even if you know Ultima is the master, you’d just glance at him and move on. Why are you so conscious of him?’

To others, it’s a trivial matter. You could just brush it off.

But Keter decided to remember.

Philip’s face, tone, and the habit of raising the right corner of his mouth when confident of victory. Even the way he smiles without showing his teeth.

‘Next time I see him, I’ll peel off his disguise.’

Having made a mental reservation, Keter returned to reality and headed where Ultima pointed.

There was a large wooden sign with names and numbers densely written.

– Sword Dragon Rajis Garcia: 3.7x

– Red Wolf Pasian: 4.2x

– Indomitable Knight, Maxid Erearl: 5.7x

– Knight Commander of Count Jephyrus’ Knight Order, Regan: 9.2x

– Second Son of Count Blitz, Gillion Blitz: 12.5x

– Dragon Spear Jordic: 18.6x

– 4-Star Knight of Marquis Garcia’s House, Polka: 25.7x

…

…

– 2-Star Knight of House Shadabon, Norman: 52x

– All eliminated: 100x

A betting game predicting the winner of the Southern Sword Tournament.

It was a list of 50 strong candidates.

Ultima whispered quietly to Keter.

“Keter. As you can see, your name isn’t here since you haven’t even applied yet. Not even Sephira’s name is here. It’s the same in other casinos.”

Ultima looked at Keter with a face that said, ‘What are you going to do now?’ Even if they’re on the same side, it was clear he wanted to see Keter fail.

Keter changed the subject.

“Who do you think will become the Southern Sword?”

“…If you’re asking who will become the Southern Sword, based purely on strength and background, it would be Sword Dragon Rajis. He’s achieved the realm of a master and has the solid backing of being the third son of the Garcia family, a renowned swordsmanship family. Red Wolf Pasian, an orichalcon mercenary, surpasses Rajis in combat experience, but being a mercenary holds him back…….”

Keter listened to Ultima’s flat explanation with one ear.

Something was off.

‘The 9th Southern Sword. Why isn’t that name here?’

Having experienced a past life, Keter naturally remembered who became the 9th Southern Sword.

‘Dophema. That was definitely the name.’

When he heard from Burgundy that the Sword Dragon was participating, he thought the Sword Dragon’s name might be Dophema.

But look at what’s written here. The Sword Dragon isn’t Dophema, but Rajis.

‘Burgundy said three masters were participating.’

Two have been revealed.

Sword Dragon Rajis and Red Wolf Pasian.

So, is the third master Dophema?

‘If that’s the case, why isn’t Dophema’s name here?’

It’s impossible that the organizers don’t know. They know about the other two masters but not Dophema?

‘There’s something I don’t know, something I can’t know.’

When something doesn’t add up, it’s common sense to worry.

But Keter smiled instead.

Why do people love tournaments? For the thrill of predicting and watching who will win, and the pleasure when your favorite wins.

But Keter, with his past life experience, already knew who would become the 9th Southern Sword.

But what’s going on here?

The name Dophema, who should be the 9th Southern Sword, isn’t on the list of strong candidates.

Keter couldn’t guess what was going on, and that’s why he liked it.

“This just got a bit more interesting.”

Not knowing Keter’s thoughts, Ultima thought he was talking to himself and whispered.

“What are you planning to do now? Give me a heads up.”

“It’s none of your business. Probably.”

“That’s a relief. So, what are you going to do? If you don’t have anything, let’s leave quickly.”

“Why wouldn’t I have anything? If you come to a casino, you have to gamble.”

Keter approached the receptionist and asked.

“What’s the maximum amount I can bet on the prediction?”

“Up to 10 million gold.”

“So, if I bet that amount on Norman and he wins, you’ll give me 52 times 10 million, which is 520 million gold?”

“……!”

Whether by coincidence or on purpose, the musicians stopped playing at that moment, so everyone heard Keter’s words.

“Who is that guy betting 10 million gold?”

“That’s an astronomical amount. I’ve never seen him before.”

“Wait, isn’t that Master Ultima over there?”

“Haha, after losing so miserably last time, he’s back again.”

The nobles gathered around Keter.

Ultima, inadvertently surrounded, was extremely uncomfortable with the situation.

But Keter, unfazed, raised his voice.

“Answer me. Can you pay 520 million gold?”

520 million gold.

It’s not an amount a single merchant can handle. It’s equivalent to the Lilian Kingdom’s military maintenance cost for 10 years.

“T-that’s something I’ll have to ask the master.”

The receptionist went behind the curtain of the floor.

Ultima said to Keter with a smiling face.

“Haha, Young Master Keter. You’re not really thinking of betting 10 million gold on Norman, are you?”

“I’m not betting on Norman. But I have to bet 10 million gold. That’s the maximum amount.”

“Even betting on Rajis, who has the lowest odds, isn’t safe. The Southern Sword Tournament isn’t a tournament where you can win just by being strong. Plus, this prediction… you know it’s nonsense.”

Ultima whispered the last part.

As Ultima said, this prediction was strange. The odds. Even if multiple selections aren’t allowed, the odds are fixed.

This way, the organizers would lose money. The structure makes it inevitable.

73 million gold is bet on Rajis, 55 million on Pasian, and 32 million on Maxid.

The total amount bet on the other knights doesn’t exceed 200,000 gold.

This means if any of Rajis, Pasian, or Maxid wins, the casino would suffer a huge loss. They’d have to pay more than the total bets.

Such a nonsensical gamble has never existed in history. Casinos, and merchants, never do things that result in losses.

Then, the curtain was drawn, and a man walked out. He looked like a rat.

“Well, well, who do we have here! Master Ultima!”

Ultima cursed as soon as he saw the man’s face.

“Aleron. I thought you died licking the nobles’ backsides, but you’re still alive.”

“Hahaha! Thanks to the 10,000 gold you ‘donated,’ I’m very healthy. I heard from my subordinate that you’re here to bet on the prediction? Quite boldly.”

Strictly speaking, Keter was the one gambling, but Ultima wasn’t crazy enough to say, ‘It’s not me, it’s the guy next to me.’

“Yeah. I’ll ruin you today.”

Ultima blurted out. No matter what, he couldn’t show weakness in front of Aleron.

‘I’m counting on you, Keter.’

Aleron, who came down from the floor, sat in the receptionist’s seat and said.

“So, you’re betting 10 million gold on Norman? If he wins, it’ll be a jackpot like no other. 520 million gold. Even if I sold my entire business, I couldn’t pay 10% of that amount. But I promise this. If Norman wins, I’ll transfer my entire business to you.”

Ultima scoffed at Aleron’s words.

“Why should I bet 10 million gold on a guy who doesn’t even have 50 million? 500,000 gold is enough to ruin you.”

“Then do as you please, coward.”

A good merchant never wastes money, no matter how excited they are.

Ultima is the same. No matter how annoying and irritating Aleron is, he knows he’s not a fool.

But the situation has come to this. Keter made it this way.

If it were Ultima, he wouldn’t have even mentioned betting 10 million gold, but since Keter brought it up, he couldn’t avoid the bet.

Then, let’s just bet 500,000 gold.

Of course, 500,000 gold is a lot, but it’s better than losing 10 million. That was Ultima’s calculation.

“Alright, I’ll bet. 500,000 gold……!”

But—

Keter cut off Ultima and spoke instead.

“I’ll bet 10 million gold. But, you have to bet everything too. All of yours.”

Keter handed a contract to Aleron.

Ultima looked at Keter with a ‘What are you talking about, Keter?’ expression, but Keter winked in response.

Aleron frowned at the Infinite Bank’s mark on the contract.

“Who are you to interfere between me and Ultima?”

“Keter. A solver.”

“Keter?”

Aleron made a ‘Who’s that?’ face.

One of his subordinates approached and whispered to him who Keter was.

“Ah! Well, well. My apologies. You’re Young Master Sephira. But, what’s your relationship with Ultima?”

Aleron wasn’t afraid of Keter or Sephira at all.

“Write the contract. That you’ll keep your word from earlier.”

Keter ignored Aleron and pushed the contract forward.

Aleron hesitated, but only