Chapter 36

"Ngh... ugh..."

"My arm, my arm..."

Leandros didn't hit the thugs with the back of his sword.

That was natural since the sword he used didn't have a back edge.

But understanding what he meant, Leandros chose the method of beating the thugs with his scabbard.

He had been slightly worried about the numbers, but watching him beat them, he soon realized it was an unnecessary concern.

Perhaps knights learned some efficient beating method separately.

"It's finished."

Leandros reported without even glancing at the thugs rolling on the ground.

A total of five men were knocked down.

Thugs in an abandoned prayer hall.

At a glance, suspicion was wafting all around.

He crouched in front of one of them and poked him.

"Mister."

The man, who had been fluttering like he'd received an electric shock, finally knelt down after receiving an unpleasant look from Leandros.

"Y-yes."

"Can I ask you one thing?"

"Wh-what are you trying to ask...?"

"What were you doing here? Were you up to something bad?"

"Oh my, not at all. What do you mean by 'bad'?"

The thug's face twitched even as he pretended to be nonchalant.

"We are, um, how should I put it, just vagrants who wander around this area and wanted to avoid the night dew! We're not people worthy of your concern, young lord. Hehehe."

"Are you laughing?"

"Hup."

Damn it.

He stroked his chin and asked again.

"So you're saying there's no one inside the prayer hall?"

"Yes, yes! That's right. No one is there. It's completely empty."

"Then did you light that fire over there?"

In the direction he nodded toward, scattered torches were lit along the outdoor corridor.

Seeing this, the thug hastily made up an excuse.

"We lit them. Because, well, it's too dark inside and we were scared. We're more cowardly than we look!"

"So you lit them because you're cowardly. And here I thought there were other people here or expected to visit."

"Oh, young lord, what a joke. How could that be?"

The corner of his eye was trembling noticeably.

He deliberately smiled.

"What are you doing inside?"

"Huk."

"If you won't tell me, forget it. I'll just go see for myself."

As he stood up, Leandros nodded as if to indicate he would take care of it.

The thug grabbed his pant leg in a panic and clung to it.

"Y-young lord! If you go in, we'll really die, I don't know where you came from, but please spare us just this once!"

"Die? By whose hand?"

"That's..."

After speaking so desperately until just now, he quickly backed down.

Well, it didn't matter.

He indifferently shook his foot to brush off the hand.

"It's unfortunate that you'll die. Then let me make a proposal."

"What kind of proposal?"

"First proposal: We go in, and you die by someone else's hand. The second is."

He pointed at Leandros as if to show him off.

"You don't tell us and die here by his hand."

The thug's face turned blue, then white.

Since Leandros was effectively setting the mood, the thug flinched even when he just placed his hand on the scabbard.

"Choose."

The thug looked like he wanted to knock himself out.

Who told him to get up?

He could have just pretended to be unconscious.

In the end, the thug, swallowing the bitter pill, confessed every detail about the prayer hall.

And moved by his effort, he decided to fulfill the thug's wish by knocking him out.

When Leandros went "Bam!" the thug collapsed immediately.

After finishing the task of gathering the unconscious thugs in one place, he asked Leandros.

"What do you think?"

"I don't think it's my place to comment."

"But isn't it shocking that the prayer hall has become a gambling den?"

A massive illegal gambling den.

According to what the thug had spilled, illegal gambling had been taking place in the monastery for a very long time.

In a way, it was to be expected.

Being a small village outside the lord's manor, it was possible to conduct such operations on a large scale.

It was fortunate enough that bands of thieves weren't regularly pillaging.

The thug had claimed they were well-known ruffians in the village.

Though not originally from this village, they were tasked with keeping watch around the monastery.

Their job was to protect the monastery from unauthorized people entering.

When asked who had given them this task, the thug tightly sealed his lips.

For a thug, he had unnecessarily deep loyalty.

Leandros rolled down his sleeve that he had raised.

"Once it's lost its purpose as a prayer hall, what meaning it had in the past doesn't matter."

"Then what's important now?"

"We'll find out when we go inside."

A massive shadow standing tall in the darkness.

They passed by a statue of a devout believer kneeling in the most sacred posture and headed into the gambling den.

Whether the security was lax, or they relied too much on those guys outside.

Throughout their entry, they encountered gatekeepers several times, but all of them merely glanced at him without saying a word.

If this were Korea, he would have been caught at least four times by now.

As soon as they entered the worship hall, which was as large as a great hall, a strange smell wafted over them.

Strong perfume, bad breath, sweat, and the smell of powder mixed chaotically.

The windows were tightly closed, making ventilation even worse.

Inside, tables and boards laid on the floor were everywhere.

Dice and playing cards with bizarre pictures were exchanged, along with the incessant jingling of coins.

Some people were laughing, others were angry as fire, and some were crying in corners.

Before he could take it all in, someone quickly attached himself to his side.

"Oh my, young lord! I'm honored that such a noble young master has visited our establishment. Seeing you standing like this, perhaps you haven't found a game to your taste yet? Or is this your first time here today?"

"I am..."

The man, who was fawning as if serving a VIP, talked non-stop.

After being bewildered, he looked around once more and understood the reason.

Here and there, customers between young men and boys were quite visible.

They made up about 30 percent of all the customers.

Most had their cloaks pulled down or wore ornaments that made them look older, like feathers, but they couldn't hide their youthful voices or appearances.

Looking at the man, he was clearly rubbing his hands, having judged him to be an innocent young lord who smelled of money.

"Shall I create a new game to your liking? Or shall I guide you to a table good for beginners?"

Well, well.

No wonder the guards outside didn't stop him.

They were determined to extort money from him.

"Let me look around first. I'd like to see if there's a game I enjoy, and if not, I'll call you."

"Oh, of course! Feel free, feeeeel free! Look around as much as you like."

The man with the strong voice quickly retreated.

Leandros bent slightly from behind and whispered.

"Do you intend to participate?"

"Why would I? It's clearly a scam."

Leandros fell silent for a moment as if surprised.

But why would he need to gamble?

There were exactly three things he never did in his life.

Gambling, guaranteeing loans, and not brushing his teeth after eating.

He casually said to Leandros.

"Go around and look. I'll pretend to be sightseeing so as not to arouse suspicion. Don't do anything suspicious."

"Understood."

After responding, Leandros immediately blended in among the people.

It would be easier for Leandros, who had seen the face at least once, to find him.

It would be difficult for him to pretend to know someone whose face he didn't know.

Just a few steps from where he was standing, there were five different gambling games one could participate in.

While looking around slowly, a clamorous sound erupted from one side.

"Come on, come on! It was in this cup, why can't you see it? Look carefully. It's here."

On a small wooden board, there were three cups and a small stone.

The one acting as the dealer, leading the game, proudly showed the stone being placed inside a cup.

Then he began to slowly mix the cups.

As the mixing speed increased, the participant opened his bloodshot eyes wide.

And finally, the cups stopped.

"How much will you bet this time?"

"I'll bet all the money I just won! This time I'm sure, I definitely saw it!"

"Really? Which cup?"

"It's definitely here. I saw it all. You'll have to cough up all the money I just won!"

The stakes must have been quite high, as the participant jumped up from his seat and pointed at the cup.

People around also murmured in agreement.

The dealer, holding the cup the participant pointed to, asked.

"I'll give you one last chance to change. How about it? Will you change?"

"No! That cup is definite!"

"Hmm. Fine. Fine."

And the dealer lifted the cup.

There was nothing inside.

After a brief silence, the participant screamed.

"B-but it was definitely that cup!"

"Oh my, I told you to open your eyes wide and watch carefully! That's unfortunate."

"No, this can't be right!"

"I'll confiscate all this money. Look at this. So much."

The dealer gathered the coins piled on the board with both arms and swept them towards himself.

The participant, who had lost all his money in an instant, screamed something unintelligible.

But before he could cause a disturbance, another participant roughly pushed him aside and sat down.

A complete mess.

After watching that spectacle, he turned his head away in complete disgust.

How would Leandros find Rotaer here?

* * *

Leandros had never gambled before.

If there was anything similar, it might have been when he threw himself at the former Duchess to be her escort knight.

But now.

'I'm too old for this kind of thing.'

Leandros shook his head briefly.

He needed to focus on the task at hand.

He couldn't leave His Grace in a place like this for long.

A gambling den - if the Duchess had been alive, she might have fainted.

Leandros recalled the appearance of the head butler he had seen long ago.

As he passed through numerous gambling tables, recalling the image of the head butler who had unusually many gray hairs for his age, Leandros suddenly stopped.

That corner.

A red curtain covering the passage leading to the interior of the worship hall and prayer hall.

Someone lifted the curtain and disappeared beyond it.

If nothing else, the walking figure from behind somehow looked familiar.

Leandros quickly walked towards that curtain.

But when he tried to pull back the curtain to enter, a person standing beside it, acting as a guide, blocked him.

"You can't enter here."

"I have an acquaintance with the person who just went in."

"It still doesn't matter. A game is being held for special guests. I need to check if you qualify."

"Special guests?"

Leandros asked back.

The guide pointed to the gambling hall.

"It's a game for guests who have a special talent for this kind of entertainment. You could say it's a place for guests who have won a particularly large amount of money here."

"So that's what 'important guests' meant."

"If you win too much, it gets boring, right? We've prepared an exciting game for such people."

In other words, the message was to gamble here if he wanted to enter.

Leandros asked again.

"What's the minimum amount required for entry?"

"Fifty of the big ones?"

Fifty gold coins.

Leandros wasn't particularly small-livered, but he narrowed his eyes as soon as he heard the amount.

An amount a commoner wouldn't dare dream of.

To think of winning all that money within this gambling den.

He couldn't even fathom the scale of this gambling den anymore.

Retreating from in front of the curtain, Leandros thought of two methods.

The first was to report to Arenheit and offer fifty gold coins to enter.

With the right words, who would know whether it was won or from personal funds?

The second was to win it himself.

Since he couldn't make Arenheit gamble, the only option was to participate in the game himself.

But...

Leandros wiped his face once.

Then he headed to the closest gambling table with the fewest people.

When the tall man suddenly joined the table, the onlookers were surprised.

Leandros, pushing through the people and crouching down in the participant's seat, resolved.

That he would never tell Arenheit about this.

That he could somehow handle it alone.

And exactly ten minutes later.

Leandros, with no more stakes to bet, was driven to a corner.