Chapter 10

All of it?!

The exciting situation drew people who had been watching other game tables.

"Then I'll explain the rules of the game."

The employee showed Kinaine an opaque container and two cubic dice.

"You win if you correctly guess whether the sum of the dice is odd or even. Now..."

"Excuse me. May I examine if there's any mechanism inside that container?"

When Kinaine asked with a naive smile, laughter erupted from those around him, probably thinking he was acting like a novice.

"Go ahead."

The employee readily handed the container to Kinaine.

"Our establishment never deceives customers. Trust is important."

"Hmm."

Kinaine quickly examined the container once and immediately handed it back to the employee.

"Yes, it seems so."

"Then shall we proceed with the game?"

"Yes."

When Kinaine answered, the employee put the dice into the container's hole.

"I'll shake it."

Clack!

The dice made a clear sound as they collided.

The employee turned the container upside down.

"Odd or even?"

Since the stakes were so high, everyone turned their attention to Kinaine with subtle expectation and tension.

But he had his eyes closed?

When one should be trying hard to watch even the blink of an eye. Had he already given up?

Just as someone clicked their tongue, Kinaine opened his eyes. A red glint flashed through his black eyes for an instant, but no one saw it.

"Odd."

It was an indifferent voice without any hint of tension.

"Then I'll open it."

The employee opened the container.

Gulp.

Everyone swallowed as they looked at the revealed dice.

One die showed 1.

And the other...

"It's 4!"

"O-odd!"

"He really got it?!"

While Kinaine remained calm, the spectators shouted in excitement.

Finally, the employee declared:

"The customer has won."

With this, Kinaine would receive double his gold tokens.

"Good for you, good for you. Now go buy yourself some expensive drinks!"

However, contrary to people's expectations, Kinaine didn't get up from his seat.

Instead, he said with a smiling face:

"I'll play one more round."

Kinaine added.

"Betting everything."

***

"Sir, your nose is bleeding..."

"Ah."

I should stop now.

Wiping his nosebleed with the handkerchief the employee offered, Kinaine thought.

The gold tokens he had initially possessed came from selling the diamond he had completely forgotten about in his chest. Fortunately, the value of jewels seemed similar in both the spirit realm and human realm, so he had received a decent price.

He had earned several times the value of the diamond, so it was enough now. Meeting the eyes of the employee who was starting to look suspicious, Kinaine smiled innocently. Though the atmosphere was still one of uncertainty, if he continued any longer, they would discover he had used trickery. There was no point in being more greedy.

Kinaine removed the handkerchief from his nose.

"Odd."

"...The customer wins."

"Thank you for your work."

Kinaine stood up. For a moment his vision swam and he almost fell, but he managed to walk normally.

"How did he win four rounds in a row?"

"Is it impossibly good luck, or did he pull some trick?"

The whispering around him made his head hurt more.

Of course, Kinaine hadn't won the games through luck.

Kinaine had studied black magic to try to return the city he had turned to stone back to normal. Though there were no references available, it didn't matter. He himself was a black mage.

In the end, he couldn't restore Jinaks, but through the process, he had learned to control black magic to some extent by his will.

Black magic responds to emotions and desires. Hatred, anger, sadness, fear, desire to dominate, desire to destroy... What he had just used was mental intervention. He had secretly placed a small insect in the container and shared its vision.

'Fortunately there are insects in the spirit realm too.'

Kinaine smiled bitterly. He didn't want to use black magic if possible. However, this wasn't a situation where he could choose based on likes and dislikes.

Kinaine was prepared to use black magic as long as it didn't harm innocent others. Even if it meant burning away what little remained of his lifespan.

"Ugh."

It was just then that Kinaine, stumbling up the stairs, bumped into someone.

"I'm sorry."

As he tried to pass after apologizing, a strong hand grabbed his shoulder.

"Wait, you."

When he raised his head at the familiar voice, it was the tailed tribe man from earlier.

"Let go."

"Oh? What's this?"

Though Kinaine warned in a low voice, the tailed tribe man instead grabbed Kinaine's chin and examined him, turning his face this way and that. Only then did Kinaine realize that his robe covering his head had fallen when they collided.

"Looking at you now, something's strange. You don't have ears, or horns, or scales."

Though startled, Kinaine tried to act calm.

"So what?"

"What do you mean 'so what.' I thought something was odd from before... Are you perhaps a human?"

Feeling the gazes suddenly fixed on him, Kinaine wore a dismayed expression. Though he wanted to strike once and run away, that would only cause more commotion.

"Human? I don't know what you're talking about."

Kinaine responded with a smiling face.

"I'm from the horned tribe. My horns are just too small to see."

"Ah, is that so? For horns to be this small, you poor thing!"

The tailed tribe man believed it without suspicion. It was easier to accept someone having small horns than a human entering Solem.

But unfortunately, others weren't as easily convinced as the tailed tribe man.

"Wait, stop right there. Did you say human?"

It was the Gold Pot employees who stopped Kinaine. Hostility gleamed in the employees' eyes as they said the word 'human.'

The conversation he had with Kor flashed through Kinaine's mind.

'I thought you might have some plausible plan, but in the end you're counting on luck?'

After hearing the plan, Kor had looked at Kinaine as if he were crazy. Not knowing that he could use black magic, the idea of making money through gambling must have seemed absurd.

But since there was no other way, he had advised with a half-resigned tone:

'Hah, if you're really going to do it, absolutely don't let them find out you're human.'

'Why not?'

'Because spirits hate humans.'

Kinaine wasn't the first human to set foot in Solem over the long years. And there had been several instances of humans deceiving or bewitching naive spirits and taking advantage of them. For this reason, spirits generally thought of humans as wicked con artists, he had said.

Since Kinaine had also read about this in documents, he was even more convinced.

'If they discover I'm human here, everything is ruined.'

Kinaine immediately drooped his eyebrows.

"I'm not human, I'm from the horned tribe. To receive such misunderstanding just because my horns are small... it's really upsetting."

His voice full of sadness caused reactions from those around.

"Hey, some people can have small horns!"

It was the horned tribe members.

"Nothing to be upset about. Having small horns doesn't cause any problems in life!"

"That's right, don't be so discouraged!"

Though surprised by the sudden support, Kinaine maintained his dejected expression.

He didn't know, but in the horned tribe, larger horns were considered more physically beautiful. Criticizing someone for small horns was like bullying someone for being ugly in the human realm.

"Dear customers, please calm down."

The employee calmly placated the horned tribe members. Meanwhile, two other employees approached to block Kinaine from the front and back.

"Excuse me, but would you mind if we check for a moment?"

Though it sounded like asking permission, the answer was already decided. Kinaine asked with an awkward smile:

"Um... what if, just hypothetically, I were human? Though I'm from the horned tribe, I'm just curious."

"The Gold Pot does not accept humans as customers."

The employee responded firmly.

"We would have to recover all money won here and ban you from ever setting foot in this place again."

Take all the money?

Though he appeared calm on the outside, Kinaine was breaking into a cold sweat.

'After what it took to earn this money.'

The area under his nose still burned. Indeed, he absolutely couldn't let his identity be discovered...!

"Then excuse me..."

The employee's hand approached his crown. Soon that hand would ruffle through his hair. Then he would lose all the money he had earned while suffering nosebleeds and be thrown out of the Gold Pot.

"W-wait!"