“Any objections then?” asked Royald, casting the dice inquisitively into the air.
His confidence made Maxi hesitate a little.
Although she knew the rules, she had never played with anyone other than Riftan.
Royald, on the other hand, was known to be a troublemaker and always started gambling games in the Wizards' Tower whenever possible.
Would it be wise for her to accept the challenge of such an experienced player so hastily?
His winning streak against Riftan could very well be due to him being completely inexperienced in the game.
She nervously shifted her gaze, thinking about what to do, when Anette sighed.
"I understand how excited you are to gamble, but I've never played before.
I barely know the rules."
"What?
You never played dice?" asked Royald, feigning exaggerated astonishment.
"Why don't you take this chance to learn?
It's not complicated, and I'd be happy to guide you."
“Royald, don’t you think it’s shameful for an experienced player to challenge a beginner?”
"You clearly don't understand anything about gambling!
Just so you know, beginners tend to have more luck."
As Anette gazed contemplatively at the deck, Maxi quickly considered her options.
Maybe she couldn't beat Royald, but defeating a newcomer like Anette wouldn't be that difficult.
She quickly considered which of the two options“drawing lots or rolling dice“would have a better chance of avoiding being chosen.
Drawing lots would guarantee a one in three chance of being chosen.
Rolling dice against a beginner like Anette, on the other hand, would offer better chances of avoiding last place.
The fact that she was having these thoughts made her feel guilty.
Anette was a friend who always looked after her in the Wizards' Tower.
Yet here she was, trying to push her into a risky mission.
How was she different from Royald?
Still, for the sake of her husband, who had already suffered enough, she didn't want to rush headlong into danger this time.
After carefully listening to Royald's explanation, Anette nodded.
"Alright.
It seems simple enough, so I'm willing to decide it with a game."
Maxi felt a moment of internal conflict before giving in to his conscience.
"A-Are you right?
You would be playing for the first time.
You don't think it would be“"
"If I lose, I will.
It's that simple.
I'm curious to see what this city of monsters is like anyway."
“If that’s the case, why don’t you volunteer so we don’t have to worry about this game?”
Anette, Maxi, Miriam, Geoffrey, Nevin, and even Celric glared at Royald.
“Just a suggestion!” said the wizard, with his shoulders slumped.
"You don't have to look at me like that.
Okay, so everyone agrees?
No complaints later."
Maxi spent a moment thinking before squinting his eyes.
She nodded.
The trio quickly unfolded the leather board filled with number symbols and pushed it closer to the light.
After silently observing them, Nevin slowly shook his head.
"I must admit, I'm a little saddened by how desperate you three are to save your own skins.
I was hoping for at least one willing candidate."
Maxi pretended not to hear as he accepted his letters from Geoffrey, who was chosen as referee.
Silently, she placed the buttons they would use in place of real money on the board.
Finishing her round, Anette passed the dice to Maxi.
"Here.
Now it's your turn."
After carefully inspecting his cards, Maxi played a few more buttons before rolling the dice.
Several rounds later, it became clear that the game was unfolding very differently from their expectations.
The buttons were piling up in front of Anette.
Both Maxi and Royald were pale.
After having confidently shown his hand a minute ago, Royald was now furious as Anette bested him once again.
"You“!
Didn't you say you'd never played before?!
Was that a lie to trick us?"
“I never lied,” Anette said flatly, collecting her winnings.
She looked Royald up and down with exasperation.
"It's not that I'm good at this“it's that you both suck.
Maxi, I understand, but you?
For someone who always carries data with them, you have no excuse for being this horrible."
“He may be an incessant player, but he's not very good at winning,” explained Geoffrey, doubled over laughing.
“His luck is so bad that the wizards of Undaim and Sigrew call him Wallet.”This seemed like a revelation even to Royald“his face turned red and his shoulders shook with fury.
However, it was Maxi who had a worse time than him.
For some reason she couldn't understand, her opponents seemed to know her hand every round.
It was so bad that she almost suspected magical foul play.
Chewing her lip, Maxi's eyes darted from her cards to the game board.
When she pressed them and rolled the dice, screams of dismay erupted around her.
Slowly, she opened one eye to see Royald screaming with joy and collecting his winnings.
Evidently irritated, Anette clicked her tongue.
"Try to do better, Maxi.
I really want Royald to go.
I need to see this asshole suffer a little."
Hearing this, Nevin, who was drinking beer next to the brazier, shook his head.
"Personally, I would prefer Maximilian to go.
Since we would have to work together, I would prefer it to be someone useful."
"Listen to this, Lama!
Do you really need to try to win when Master Nevin himself wants your skills for this mission?
You shouldn't disappoint the more experienced mages!
And it's obvious that you're going to lose anyway.
Why not save your pride and admit it?"
“S-Enough talking and play your cards!” Maxi said irritably, rolling the dice for Royald.
Until now, Miriam watched without saying a word.
She rubbed her temple with a sigh.
“I can’t believe I’m wasting my precious time watching this stupid game.”
"There is!" Royald said.
"This from the only volunteer who was rejected for being useless at support magic.
Stay out of this, Miriam!"
A fireball lit up in Miriam's palm.
“Should I burn you alive?”
Royald paid no attention to her.
Looking up at the sky, he said a heartfelt prayer with the dice in his hands before throwing them across the board.
Maxi closed his eyes and slowly opened them.
As soon as she saw the numbers, Royald groaned and hit her head on the floor.
Anette chewed on a piece of dried meat while narrowing her eyes, calculating her points.
Then she collected all the buttons.
Although Maxi also lost a few, she narrowly avoided finishing in last place.
The gap between her and Royald was small, which meant the tide could turn at any moment.
She nervously bit her nail as her eyes bounced between the board and the remaining cards.
At that moment, the tent flap opened and some of the knights peered inside.
“Please excuse the intrusion,” said the ever-courteous Elliot.
“We wanted to know if you had already decided who will…”
He stopped when he saw the game board on the floor.
Seeing her perplexed expression, Geoffrey explained, "Most of the members have already been chosen.
We're about to decide the last one with one game."
“For gambling?”
Until then, Ulyseon had been leaning over Elliot's shoulder.
He entered the tent, eyes widening at the sight of Maxi's sparse number of buttons.
"Ma'am!
You're losing!"
"N-No!
I'm in second place!"
“For two buttons!” taunted Royald.
“I can easily turn this around.”
“Bunch of idiots.”
Apparently deciding she wanted nothing to do with it, Miriam took a seat in a corner and covered herself with a blanket.
Maxi didn't spare him a look as he carefully placed his bet.
Elliot and Ulyseon approached silently from behind to check his hand, concern written on their faces.
Maxi looked over her shoulder to see what they thought.
They both had strange expressions.
“Is…something wrong with my letters?” she asked eagerly.
“Are you really going to bet that much with this hand, my lady?”
Maxi once again looked at his cards, then at the board.
She couldn't understand what the problem was.
Elliot rubbed his chin, unsure if it was appropriate for him to interfere.
He seemed to have decided to speak when Royald's shouts interrupted him.
"No interference!
This is our business!
Any outside influence is unacceptable.
It counts as cheating!"
“We are not strangers!” said Ulyseon hotly.
“How can we be when we serve you, the Lady of Anatol?”
"As we have reminded you several times, Maximilian is here as a mage of the Mage Tower.
We distribute our responsibilities equally among all members!"
Anette clicked her tongue.
“You can really speak for someone who always tries to shirk his responsibilities at every opportunity.”When Royald opened his mouth to retort, the tent flap opened once more.
This time, it was Riftan who entered.
“What’s going on here?”
An icy silence instantly fell over the tent.
Even though he hadn't done anything wrong, Maxi cringed.
She studied him cautiously.
Having already taken off his armor, he now wore a coat over a dark blue tunic and a black adderskin vest.
He approached them and leaned over the game board, frowning.
“Are you guys playing for fun?”
There was a pause before Elliot offered a cautious explanation.
“The mages are in the process of selecting the last member to join the recon team.”
Riftan turned his head to look at Elliot before his gaze landed on Maxi.
“With a game of dice?”
At his disapproving look, Maxi nodded shamefully.
Riftan's mouth opened as if he was going to shout something before he covered it with his hand.
It wasn't the reaction she expected from the person who had praised her as a natural player.
Whatever little confidence she still had quickly evaporated.
Riftan turned to Nevin and said menacingly, “Shouldn’t the members be selected from among the high-ranking mages?”
"Most have no field experience, so we thought it prudent to select mages proficient in search magic.
We decided that those with the necessary skills among the volunteers would go, but there weren't many willing..." Scratching his head in embarrassment, Nevin added, "So we decided to fill the remaining vacancy by a fair method."
“And that fair method is gambling?”
“That’s what the candidates agreed, so I don’t see a problem.”
Unable to offer any further objections, Riftan pressed his lips together.
Maxi noticed Royald's nervous glance around the tent.
“Come on, this is the last round,” Royald said, hurriedly passing the data to Anette.
“Play them if you’ve already placed your bets.”
Anette cast a quick glance at Riftan before accepting the data.
They resumed the game in the tense atmosphere.
As they took turns placing their bets, Riftan watched them like a hawk watching its prey.
Eventually, unable to bear the silent pressure any longer, Royald voiced his grievances.
“Master Geoffrey, as a referee, shouldn’t you prohibit this behavior?”
“What’s the matter?” Riftan asked with a cold smile.
“We’re just watching.”
“Y-You are trying to intimidate us!” protested Royald, although his voice grew weaker and weaker.
When he looked to Geoffrey for help, the senior wizard pretended not to notice and dealt out more cards listlessly.
"Stop making a fuss and roll the dice.
This is getting tiring."
Growing discouraged by the lack of support, Royald weakly accepted the letters.
Maxi carefully assessed his hand and placed two buttons on the board.
At the same time, Royald placed a letter on the floor and gathered his remaining buttons with a determined look.
“It’s life or death.”
With that, he placed all his buttons on the board.
Maxi's eyes widened in surprise.
Anette immediately played her cards.
“I give up.”
Royald stared defiantly at Maxi.
"Well, what about you?
Are you going to give up or continue?"
Maxi swallowed.
If she gave up, she would be left with just four buttons, while Royald would promptly take first place, winning her and Anette's bet.
She was certain that was the reason behind Royald's bravado.
Gnawing her thumb, she squinted and pushed all her buttons onto the board.
"Very well.
I-I'll go all in too."
Royald grimaced.
A second later, he said firmly, as if preparing himself, "Very well.
Open a letter, then."
Choosing the one with the highest value, Maxi placed it in front of her.
Groaning, Royald continued with his.
Maxi's face lit up.
Both cards added up to fourteen, and the chances of the three dice landing on a larger sum were low.
"Wipe that smile off your face.
The scary thing about gambling is that it's impossible to predict how it will end."
“S-Stop babbling and play already!” Maxi shouted triumphantly.
Royald turned his head to the side as if to block Riftan, positioned behind Maxi like a sentry, from his field of vision.
He began to pray fervently.
Geoffrey shook with laughter as he said, “What a shame the Temple Knights aren’t here to see a wizard pray so sincerely.”“I think that would only worsen their impression of us,” Nevin commented, shaking his head.
Royald concluded his prolonged prayer and rolled the dice.
The three cubes flew in an arc before slamming into the carpet.
As they stopped rolling, cries of dismay erupted from the tent.
Royald rubbed his eyes with his fists before jumping to his feet, shouting with joy.
"I won!
I turned the tables!"
Maxi looked at the data in disbelief.
No matter how many times she checked, the numbers staring back at her were six, six and five.
“T-That can’t be!”
“This is God’s will!”
Drunk with victory, Royald couldn't stop laughing despite the knights' murderous gazes.
"Have a safe journey, Lama!
I'll be praying here for your speedy return!"
Leaning in close, Ulyseon said in an almost sinister whisper, “My lady, if you wish, I can discreetly get rid of him and make it look like an accident.”
Devastated, Maxi continued looking at the data.
Riftan stood behind her, holding his forehead.
He looked darkly at her, then left the tent with a sigh.
Maxi's shoulders sank.
“We were going to anyway, so please don’t worry, my lady,” Elliot consoled her.
“This is not a situation we hadn’t anticipated.”
His words and gentle smile pierced Maxi's heart like a knife.
Close to tears, she weakly lowered her head.
The next day, the group prepared to leave without delay.
The mages drew a map based on the crystal model while the knights packed food and equipment.
As the mission was dangerous, Kuahel Leon chose to go with them.
And, after intense negotiations, Riftan and two subordinates were allowed to accompany them as well.