[V5C8] An Unfortunate Man

The room contained a blend of exotic lamps and rare animal furs——obviously luxurious items——as well as cheap sofas and table sets. This arrangement closely resembled its owner, a man named Throth.

Throth was a man in his mid-thirties with burnt-brown hair slicked back.

He wore a coat of high-quality velvet, but his shirt and shoes were cheap. Despite this, he adorned himself with numerous rings, earrings, and other jingling accessories.

Standing at Throth’s side was Veronica, a female mercenary with twin pistols at her waist.

She had neatly trimmed light golden hair reaching to her chin, and she wore a fur mantle resembling ethnic attire. Veronica stood behind Throth, staring expressionlessly at the visitor, Theodore.

“Uh, so, this is the shop’s earnings from yesterday…”

Theodore placed a pouch filled with coins on the table. After puffing on a cigar, Throth began counting the coins with his ring-adorned fingers.

While waiting for Throth to finish counting, Theodore glanced at the various items displayed in the room.

What particularly caught Theodore’s eye was an incense burner placed in the corner of the room. It had exotic carvings and emitted a cloying scent.

(What’s this smell…? Roses? And something else mixed in… Ugh, it’s a bit too strong for me.)

As Theodore fidgeted uncomfortably under the sweet fragrance, he noticed Veronica glaring at him.

Feeling intimidated, Theodore curled up on the sofa, thinking to himself how scary she was.

Throth had apparently finished counting the coins in the meanwhile.

“Alright, sales aren’t bad. Tell Dayan I said to keep up the good work.”

“S-Sure… By the way, um, when will you return my precious box…?”

Once Theodore cautiously voiced the question, Throth protruded his lower lip, frowning.

“Really, man?! Dayan has been telling me you’re completely useless. You break the dishes you wash, and you spill the drinks you carry. You’ve barely done enough to compensate for all the damages.”

“W-Well… If you don’t return that, it’s going to be a problem for me. Please, I’m begging you, return it already…!”

In front of the teary-eyed man in his thirties, Throth stroked his scruffy beard and sneered.

“If you want it back, show me some decent work. Tonight’s the grand Candy Party. Bring in a few high-paying customers. Even you should be able to do that, right?”

＊　＊　＊

After Theodore left the room, Throth confirmed that the door was closed and pulled out a small box from his pocket.

It was a black box adorned with gemstones of various sizes and gold highlights. There was no keyhole, so apparently, it was not locked. But for whatever reason, the lid wouldn’t open.

“Hey, Veronica. Do you know what this is?”

“A box.”

“Give me a more clever answer. It’s obviously a magical tool.”

Throth squinted to observe the gemstones embedded into the box. Each had been inscribed with magical symbols… but those symbols appeared blurry. Some sort of seal had been placed on the tool.

Throth was a magician skilled in imbuement magic. Therefore, one glance was usually all it required for him to discern the applied enchantments. However, the seal on the box prevented him from reading it.

Moreover, this seal was quite an advanced spell. It was the kind that couldn’t be released without channeling the mana of the caster.

(This sealing formula clearly isn’t the work of a single person… Two… no, three?)

The box was incredibly suspicious, to say the least.

It was in the possession of Theodore, who seemed like nothing more than an unremarkable scholar. Throth had no clue how Theodore got his hands on the box, but his intuition was telling him that it was extremely valuable.

Of course, Throth never had any intention of returning the box to Theodore. If Theodore continued to whine, he would simply send the man to sleep with the fishes.

Next, Throth shook the small box near his ear. Since no rolling sounds could be heard inside, the box was likely empty.

——…GRY.

“…Hm?”

For a moment, Throth thought he heard a faint voice.

“Veronica. Did you say something?”

“No. But I have something to say.”

“And what’s that?”

Frowning, Throth glared at Veronica. She stared back at Throth with an expressionless face.

Veronica’s eyes were a very light, almost icy, shade of gray, resembling a frozen winter lake.

Throth grimaced, feeling unsettled under her gaze. After a short pause, Veronica finally opened her mouth.

“When will you fulfill your contract with me?”

Throth and Veronica had a contract between them.

Veronica was searching for a person who fulfilled “certain conditions.” As long as Throth assisted Veronica in her search, she promised to assist Throth in his work.

After exhaling a puff of cigar smoke, Throth gave a side glance to Veronica.

“Don’t rush me. The nature and attribute you are looking for are… very rare. Finding someone who meets both conditions won’t be that easy.”

“I’m in a hurry. I want it done quickly.”

“If there’s someone fitting the bill at tonight’s party, I’ll let you know.”

Well, not like it’ll be that easy. Throth muttered to himself, returning the box to his pocket.

——H U N G R Y.

Unaware of the faint voice emanating from the box.

＊　＊　＊

“Ah, I couldn’t get it back today either…”

The dejected Theodore returned to Dayan’s shop, his weak steps echoing behind him.

Dayan’s shop was a bar and casino located in the western district of Sazandol.

Although it was most lively at night, there were still a few customers around this evening. As Theodore entered the counter, Dayan, the bearded owner, shouted at him.

“You’re late!”

“I-I’m so sorry…!”

“Whatever! Hurry up and take this to the customers at that table!”

Dayan pointed to a table occupied by two young women. One had flashy red hair, and the other had plain light brown hair.

The red-haired woman was lounging on the sofa with her legs crossed. She held cards in her right hand, and playfully pinched the cheek of the girl sitting next to her with her left. What kind of ritual was that?

As Theodore approached with their drinks, he overheard their conversation.

“O-Onee-san, um, my cheek…”

“What’s wrong? It’s not like I’m pinching hard. Just squishing them a bit.”

“B-But why…?”

“When I squish your cheeks, Moni-Moni, my heart feels at ease. Just stay silent and let me do it.”

“Wah…”

It seems the two were sisters. A pitiful younger sister dragged around by her gambling-crazed older sister, one might say.

“Here’s your drink~.”

Theodore placed a mug of beer on the table, and the older sister lifted the glass without a word and chugged its contents in one go.

“Ahh! Gambling while drinking is the best. I just can’t stop.”

“Um, Onee-san… you seem to be losing quite a bit… I think…”

“Maybe, but it’s exhilarating to turn things around from a losing position. Oh damn, another bust.”

The older sister clicked her tongue, while still kneading the younger one’s cheek. The younger sister whimpered but didn’t resist.

Theodore placed a glass of fruit water in front of the younger sister and casually struck up a conversation.

“Here you go. Seems like you’re having a tough time too.”

“Um, t-thank you…”

The timid-looking girl took the glass, seeming very fidgety.

Meanwhile, the next round was about to start on the table.

Although Theodore wasn’t very knowledgeable about these types of games, he knew that players were dealt two cards initially. The goal was apparently to get their cards as close to 21 as possible.

There were four suits of cards numbered 1 to 13. Cards over 10 were counted as 10, and the “1” card could count as either 11 or 1.

(Um, so exactly 21 is good. If you exceed 21, you bust and lose, right…?)

The red-haired woman was currently on a streak of busts. She had been too hasty in trying to reach 21, and kept drawing large numbers.

Theodore gave the sisters a worried glance. Those who lost heavily in this establishment were stripped of everything and thrown into the alley. The more severe cases were taken to Throth’s shop, never to return.

He didn’t want to see them end up like that. As Theodore was thinking about this, the older sister raised her voice.

“Now, let’s go all in!”

She pushed all her remaining chips forward.

However, the cards dealt to her were a 3 of clubs and a 10 of hearts, totaling 13. It was honestly a pretty bad hand.

Meanwhile, the dealer’s hand was 14. In other words, the dealer was winning since his cards were closer to 21.

The fiercely competitive older sister naturally tried to draw additional cards. However, just as she was about to say “hit me”, the younger sister immediately grabbed her hand to stop her.

The older sister glared back at the younger one with her deep green eyes.

“Hey, why are you interrupting me?”

“…You shouldn’t draw any more cards.”

This was murmured in a voice audible only to her sister.

Theodore leaned in to listen under the pretense of tidying up the empty glass.

The timid expression that the girl had a moment ago vanished from her youthful face. Her eyes were fixed solely on the cards on the table.

“The dealer must draw cards until their total is 17 or higher. That means he will draw more cards after this.”

“Yeah, obviously.”

“There are only three cards remaining in the deck that are 7 or lower: 7 of clubs, 4 of hearts, and 2 of diamonds… just these three. Thus, the dealer has an 88% chance of busting.”

Theodore’s eyes widened.

Did this girl remember every single card that had been played?

Just as the girl had predicted, the additional card drawn by the dealer was a 9 of spades. The dealer’s total became 23, confirming his loss. The older sister cheered.

“Great job, Moni-Moni! I’ll get you some candy later!”

The older sister arched her neck backward, laughing heartily as she affectionately stroked the head of her younger sister——who was apparently named Moni-Moni.

“Damn, I’m in such a good mood! I won nicely at the end, and I even found my unsuspecting prey.”

As she said this, the woman gestured for Theodore to come over.

Thinking it might be a request for more drinks, Theodore approached. However, the woman grabbed Theodore’s collar, violently pulling him closer.

“Wah! W-What’s going on? Did I do something wrong!?”

“Don’t move.”

After giving him a sharp command, the woman sniffed at Theodore’s neck. Then, she grinned like a cat that had cornered a mouse.

“…So you really were the source of the scent. Finally got you.”

While still holding Theodore by the collar, the woman smiled slyly. Theodore returned with a somewhat uneasy smile, until the woman began shouting toward the counter.

“Shopkeeper, this man spilled a drink on my dress. I’ll go strangle him outside.”

“Eeeeh…!?”

The woman tightened Theodore’s collar, muffling his protests, and began swaggering out of the building.

Desperate for help, Theodore looked at the shopkeeper, Dayan. However, Dayan merely wore a look that seemed to say, “Again…?” and offered zero assistance.

Desperation setting in, Theodore turned to the younger sister.

“W-What did I do! Hey, you there. Um, Moni-Moni, was it? Please say something to your sister for me!”

“Um, well, I-I’m not Moni-Moni…”

“Shut up! Just come along quietly!”

Turned silent by the woman’s sharp reprimand, Theodore and the girl obediently followed.

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