Chapter 121 – Nesos (7)

The composition of the roulette wheel was extremely distorted.

The minimum prize money was 500 Lina, but the maximum amount reached a staggering 2 million Lina.

A tremendous difference of 4,000 times.

Of course, given the amount, the area the maximum prize occupied on the roulette wheel was ridiculously narrow.

It looked even thinner than a single strand of microfiber.

Whirrr-

Regardless of my will, the roulette wheel immediately began to spin.

And this mystical spectacle was apparently visible to the Holy Sword as well.

Friend! Are you not too focused on the roulette! I thought you did not favor such games of chance!

That was true, but with such an absurd amount of money tucked in between the prizes, I couldn’t help but be interested.

No matter how meaningless this world’s currency was to me, with a sum of that magnitude, there would be nothing I couldn’t do during my stay here.

Come to think of it, I was genuinely hoping for first place right now.

It was a belief with weak grounds, brought on by the lucky coin.

‘Be quiet for a bit, Bastian.’

The vigorously spinning roulette wheel was now rapidly slowing down.

At this point, it would spin a couple more times at most.

If it spun about one more time in this situation, I would be able to predict the needle’s stopping point to some extent through the roulette’s rotation speed and deceleration trend.

I have a feeling! I will bet on 500 Lina!

There was no great reasoning behind it.

In fact, since about 80 percent of the roulette’s area was for the 500 Lina prize, the Holy Sword had made an extremely common-sense prediction.

But my thoughts were a little different.

I would have to watch a little longer to know for sure, but seeing the speed at which the roulette was spinning, it felt like it would exquisitely pass the 500 Lina and stop at a larger amount.

The needle was making a rattling sound as it was rapidly slowing down.

The wobbling needle of the roulette wheel was, just as I predicted, narrowly passing over the huge area of 500 Lina.

Clunk!

The Holy Sword’s prediction was too hasty.

How can this be!

The place the needle had now reached was 1,000 Lina.

But that was not the end.

The needle passed 1,000 Lina and was racing towards the 2,000 Lina mark.

Don’t tell me it will pass this too?

Clunk!

The needle unsteadily overcame another hurdle.

Unbelievable!

Now it was 2,000 Lina. In fact, it wouldn’t be a bad result if the needle stopped here.

2,000 Lina was by no means a small amount.

It was money I would have to roll around in the gladiator arena a few more times to touch.

But surprisingly, the needle still had some power left.

It was now facing another challenge.

The needle was now looking at the 5,000 Lina mark.

Friend! I believe it is absolutely impossible this time! There is not enough power! Not enough!

Clunk!

However, as soon as he finished speaking, the needle broke through the 5,000 Lina mark as well.

At this point, one thing started to worry me.

If the needle spun one more time like this, it would fall into the sea of 500 Lina.

Friend! My prediction was right! The needle is now heading back towards 500 Lina…….

Screeeech-

But the needle was now almost at a stop.

It was moving by barely squeezing out its last ounce of strength.

The roulette, having broken through even the 10,000 mark, now had only the final hurdle of 2 million Lina left.

Aish! No way, it will not pass this one!

Of course, the 2 million Lina was truly a desperate area, about the size of a single strand of microfiber.

If it exceeded its force by even one-ten-thousandth, it could pass through like the wind.

And the area that unfolded after that was the vast 500 Lina.

Screeeeeeech!

The roulette needle was precariously climbing the last hill.

I held my breath and watched this scene.

And then came the Abyss’s plain and calm message.

[You have won 2 million Lina.]

It was the moment the roulette wheel came to a complete stop, and the prize money was confirmed.

Friend! I suspect this is a trick on the part of the Abyss! Does this even make sense!

Trick or not, there was no overturning a result that had already come out.

At this point, I wanted to ask Lloyd.

This lucky coin. Where on earth did he get it?

“Ah! You mean that coin?”

“Yes. Where on earth did it come from?”

“It was bestowed upon me by a goddess.”

A goddess. I was momentarily confused.

“Did such a thing exist in this world?”

“Three years ago, Lina, who worked at a flower shop in the night market, was a beautiful girl, as if a goddess from the heavens had descended. And I had a crush on her.”

And this oaf, Lloyd, had apparently stopped by that flower shop every night to buy a single flower.

This coin was the change he received from Lina back then.

The moment I heard that, my head spun.

***

2 million Lina.

It was a large sum of money that I was reluctant to leave behind in Nesos.

Since I couldn’t pack it and take it to Earth, I planned to use it generously for the quest.

Originally, I planned to assassinate the lord of the night market, Nepaya, but with this much money, it was also possible to hire mercenaries and start a war.

Of course, that was just one of several options.

I planned to gather information on Nepaya and those around him and find the optimal method of elimination.

The information broker, Harkin, recommended another information shop to me.

“I’m sorry, but I barely have any information related to Nepaya. Instead, if you go to an information broker named Hans, you might be able to get what you want.”

“Hans?”

“Yes. If you show Hans the letter of recommendation I wrote for you, it will help you purchase the information you want. He’s a very suspicious fellow, so he doesn’t sell information about people to just anyone.”

Trading information about people was a very dangerous business.

It had to be done in secret.

Moreover, distributing information on a big shot like Nepaya was a life-risking affair, so it was only natural to hide the fact that one had collected such information.

In that respect, meeting Harkin first was a stroke of luck.

This made me believe in the coin’s effect one more time, even when I was about to doubt it.

“Thank you, Harkin.”

“I’m trusting you because you’re Lloyd’s friend. Well, you did provide me with a beneficial clinical trial. By the way, do you have enough money? The cost of purchasing information on such a big shot will be considerable.”

I was now rolling in money.

If it was useful information, I was willing to buy it no matter the cost.

First, I had to go and rescue Lloyd’s younger sister.

***

“Thank you, Johan! I will never forget this kindness for the rest of my life!”

“Enough! Stop!”

Lloyd tried to rub his face against my forehead again, so I ended up restraining the guy.

The first time I was caught off guard, but I absolutely could not allow it a second time.

“You don’t have to be so grateful. Even without my help, you would have been able to bring Rahel back soon enough.”

“That’s not true! If it weren’t for your help, Johan, Rahel might have passed her eighteenth birthday! If that had happened……”

She might have had to serve against her will.

It was a fortunate thing amidst the misfortune.

According to Lloyd, Rahel’s birthday was just around the corner, which meant the end of her training period.

“Johan! Please allow me to perform the ritual of gratitude! I don’t know why you refuse so strongly!”

“That gratitude. I’ll postpone it for a bit and receive it later.”

“Why?”

“I’m of the mind to save the good things for later.”

“That makes sense! I understand! You can look forward to it!”

Lloyd stroked his bushy beard and smiled.

Creepily.

“And Lloyd. If you want, you can stay with Rahel a little longer. It’s been a while since you’ve reunited.”

Rahel was currently staying with one of Lloyd’s relatives for the time being.

Lloyd tried not to show it, but he seemed disappointed that their reunion was short.

“I can’t do that! Johan, you are my benefactor, so I will be with you until the end of your journey.”

I knew he would say that.

Lloyd was a simple but steadfast guy.

“I’ll say it once more, it could be dangerous.”

“My life would have been lost in the gladiator arena without your help anyway. I don’t care.”

“Then, I won’t refuse and we’ll continue together.”

Of course, it was more comfortable for me to be with Lloyd.

It would be difficult to find someone as good as this guy for the role of a guide again.

Leaving Rahel behind, the place we immediately sought out was Hans’s shop.

I immediately handed him the letter of recommendation Harkin had written.

“What information do you want?”

“Everything about Nepaya. Including his close associates.”

“Don’t tell me, the Nepaya you’re talking about is Nepaya, the lord of the night market?”

When I nodded, Hans burst out laughing in an exaggerated voice.

“You’re an interesting fellow.”

“I heard that ‘interesting’ part from Harkin, too.”

“I don’t handle such dangerous information.”

I knew he would say that.

Even with Harkin’s letter of recommendation, we were complete strangers.

He would have no choice but to suspect the possibility that I was one of Nepaya’s subordinates.

But there must have been a reason why Harkin recommended Hans.

And my intuition told me that Hans had something.

“Here. 100,000 Lina.”

“What is this?”

“Information fee.”

“I told you. I don’t handle such dangerous information.”

“It doesn’t matter what it is. Even if it’s not about Nepaya. If it’s worth 100,000 Lina, I’ll buy it.”

And for a moment, Hans and I looked into each other’s eyes.

Then, the guy suddenly gave a meaningful smile.

“Put the 100,000 Lina away. I don’t handle information this expensive either.”

“Then, are you saying you won’t tell me anything?”

“Since you have Harkin’s letter of recommendation, I can’t just send you away, so I’ll give you something light.”

“Tell me.”

“The movements of Nepaya’s allied forces. For reference, the price is free, would you like to hear it?”

I nodded my head.

“There’s no reason not to.”

Hans immediately began a short story.

From the distribution of power in Nesos, the changes in Nepaya’s share in the night market, to the movements of the allied forces he had just mentioned.

Hans was a typical storyteller.

I couldn’t help but prick up my ears throughout the story.

‘But something is a bit…….’

There was a reason it was free.

It was a story infused with Hans’s insight, but it was all information that was already known.

Friend! He is testing you! To see if you are a trustworthy person, or perhaps one of Nepaya’s men.

I, too, agreed with the Holy Sword’s words.

The reason Hans was telling me this story now.

I had to prove myself.

“Did you say Animus? The organization that runs a house among Nepaya’s sponsors.”

“Yes. I hear a considerable amount of money circulates in that house. Nepaya’s side is looking after the house and taking the money.”

“I need to take care of it.”

“What?”

“I said I’m going to take care of it tonight. I haven’t told you why I’m trying to buy information on Nepaya, have I?”

Hans just stared at me with a blank face.

“Because I’m planning to kill Nepaya. First, I should cut off one of his allied forces there tonight.”

“Are you crazy?”

“That’s something we’ll know in due time.”

I grinned.

Of course, Hans would still be suspicious of me.

Whether what I was doing now was an act or real.

But it didn’t matter.

It was a matter of actually taking care of the gambling house called Animus tonight.

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