Casino Wizard

It seemed like Dragon Ear had finally found a way to shake things up.

“Wizard. I have a proposal.”

The game had been going on for three hours.

At this rate, Dragon Ear was on track to get thoroughly cleaned out by us.

Me: +58, Lucy: +407, Dragon Ear: -465.

The decisive moment had been when he tried to escape my trap by betting a dragon’s vital blood—and lost big.

It looked like he still hadn’t used any of the tricks he was suspected of having: stacking the deck using stecki techniques, or subtly marking the cards with his nails so only he could see.

That meant he knew.

He knew that both I and my partner, Lucy, were different from the usual gamblers he had faced.

At this point, the only thing Dragon Ear could do was play tight and hold on as long as possible.

But even then, it was only a matter of time before he hit his limit.

And there was no way Dragon Ear wanted to go out like that.

Maybe if a rematch was guaranteed, but this was the first and last time I would ever be sitting at a gambling table with him.

At this stage, he had a few possible plays.

Changing the game, removing the raise limit to open up the possibility of a sudden reversal, or…

“Are you proposing something related to a partner?”

“That’s right.”

Bringing in a “dummy” player.

Changing the game was difficult because it would require our agreement, and removing the raise limit was also something we’d have to consent to.

But asking to bring in a dummy player—that was something I had to allow. We had agreed on that beforehand.

I, for one, was playing comfortably thanks to Lucy.

She was already up over 400 gold.

It wasn’t like we had planned to funnel money to her in advance. It just naturally worked out that way because of the synergy we’d built over years in the Hero’s Party.

We didn’t even need signals like nods or winks. She would fold when needed, increase betting rounds, or subtly manipulate the flow to force Dragon Ear to reveal his cards. That kind of coordination was only possible because we spent 350 days a year together—and even on the other 15 days, we still ran into each other from time to time.

Maybe Dragon Ear just wanted a partner to adjust the variance in his favor.

“Fine. What about the money?”

“My partner has no money. To be honest, I don’t think she ever will.”

“Then you’ll have to cover her.”

“Of course. And I need your permission as well.”

A dummy that required my approval?

He must be talking about the companion he left waiting outside the casino.

Considering she had been banned from entering, it was probably Miriam, the former bookie boss.

I had no idea how she and Dragon Ear had gotten close, but she was the only person I could think of who had any connection to him and had been banned from the premises.

But it turned out, Miriam wasn’t the one he was after.

“The elf from earlier.”

“You mean our employee?”

“Yeah. I want that elf as my partner.”

He wanted Selena, the half-elf who had just stepped out.

“She’s only in charge of serving drinks, but if she works here, she should at least know the rules of mini poker. I’ll cover her stake. Just let her play. …It’s been a while since I’ve seen an elf outside the Dragon Kingdom.”

With an indifferent look, Dragon Ear requested to borrow my employee as his dummy.

He must have heard about the half-elf with vision magic. The fact that he only referred to her as an elf made his intent obvious.

He wasn’t going to bring up the mess she had made in my casino.

Or her ability to see through things.

At least, not publicly.

‘So it’s not just about adding randomness.’

Sure, he might want to cut off my ability to use her for tricks.

But that wasn’t the only reason.

It looked like Dragon Ear was making a real move now.

He was trying to flip the entire game in one shot, rather than just passively wither away.

“Are you refusing?”

I could have.

But I already knew how he operated.

If I refused, he would just force my hand in some other way.

Just like how he had manipulated the First Prince’s people to get me into this game in the first place.

Speaking of which, Baron Bove and two other close aides of the First Prince were currently watching the game with tense expressions.

‘Come to think of it, he could use them too. Refusing could get annoying.’

I looked at Dragon Ear.

His expression remained as calm as ever—just like when he had spent twelve hours a day counting cards and obsessively playing blackjack.

But his face was the only thing that looked normal.

Dragon Ear’s reward system was completely broken.

The only reason he was still alive was because he had insanely good physical instincts for gambling. If an average person lived like him, they would’ve been beaten to death a long time ago—or ended up as a homeless beggar.

“Is that a no, Wizard?”

“……”

“It’s fine if you refuse. But… I don’t understand why. I just want to make things more interesting. Do you really think I’d team up with an elf I met today just to cheat? You’re the one who decided to put her in the customer service department.”

Dragon Ear applied pressure with an air of nonchalance.

At that moment, Lucy tapped my foot lightly with her shoe.

Left foot. That meant fold or retreat.

She was telling me not to take the risk, not to introduce more uncertainty.

And honestly, she had a point—I had conspired with Selena.

But I decided to ignore Lucy’s advice.

Not because I didn’t trust her judgment.

But because I knew that even if I dodged this one, Dragon Ear would find some other extreme way to shake things up before the game ended.

“Alright. But only if she agrees. Lucy? Call her.”

Lucy sighed and turned her head.

“Hey, Baba… Selena?”

Baba was the name of Selena’s favorite bread—and also a nickname among staff. More importantly, it was a pre-arranged code.

Soon, Selena appeared, still holding her tray.

She looked much healthier than when she had first arrived—back then, she had the face of someone worn down by life.

An enigma of a person. Someone who could see through things, yet still managed to lose money at tavern gambling.

“Welcome, Elf.”

Dragon Ear’s eyes gleamed as he looked at her.

…

“Wait, you want me to play poker?”

Selena, now apron-free, sat at the table with a blank look.

Dragon Ear covered her stake, as promised.

“Wizard. This is a land deed I won from Kenridge Viscount of the Free Cities. It’s notarized, and can be cashed through the Belleville Merchant Guild.”

“I’ll value it at 300 gold and exchange it for cash.”

“Appreciated. Now, give it to my partner.”

The cash went straight to Selena.

Her eyes widened at the sight of a lump sum.

Dragon Ear stared at her and said in a low voice:

“I’m lending this to you, Elf.”

“Huh?”

“If you lose, you only have to pay back whatever’s left. No need to worry.”

Selena paled for a moment but quickly recovered.

And Dragon Ear surely noticed it.

He must have realized just how terrible she was at gambling.

“I’m sorry for the trouble, Elf.”

“Actually, I’m not a full-blooded—”

“Half-elf? Quarter? Doesn’t matter. I’m missing a hand and a horn. Anyway, as compensation for suddenly dragging you into this, I’ll offer a reward.”

“A reward?”

“If I win, I’ll give you 30% of my earnings. But only if I win. If I lose, you get nothing.”

A dummy in exchange for a generous cut.

Reasonable.

But then he added:

“However, if I catch you cheating for someone else—no payout. I won’t tolerate that.”

A pointed warning.

Directed at me.

Selena hesitated, then nodded frantically.

Dragon Ear patted her shoulder.

Why would he need to confirm that threats worked on her?

I was beginning to get a sense of how Dragon Ear intended to use the timid, bread-loving half-elf.

…

The game resumed.

At first, it seemed normal—aside from the half-elf at the table, cautiously folding every round.

“I’ve got this. From now on, I hope luck is on my side.”

Dragon Ear took the dealer’s seat and began shuffling the cards.

The method he used was called a Charlie Cut.

He held the deck between his thumb and middle finger, letting small stacks of cards fall naturally, then pushed them back up with his index finger, creating a shuffle.

The speed was fast, but the size of the falling stacks was inconsistent, and the rhythm was uneven.

Shuffling quickly with one hand wasn’t easy.

But I knew Dragon Ear hadn’t changed his method for no reason.

He was about to start cheating in earnest.

“Don’t worry, Halfie. Even if you lose all that money, I won’t blame you.”

And in the meantime, he was trying to put Selena at ease.

Maybe he was using her nervousness to mask the moment he’d execute his trick.

Or maybe, if I caught him cheating, he planned to use Selena as a diversion to deflect the accusation. He had already seen that she was a bit timid.

Or perhaps… he was trying to copy my own method—pretending to cheat to bait the opponent.

So this is how it would play out, in the end.

I folded my arms and made eye contact with Jerome, the armored knight standing by the dealer’s lounge.

It was a signal.

Bring out the war hammer and guillotine cutter from the storage room.

Without a word, Jerome gave a slight nod and opened the door.

“Dealing the cards.”

Dragon Ear started distributing them, one by one.

At that moment, a heavy scraping sound echoed through the room—

the sound of a massive hammer dragging across the floor.

Dragon Ear smiled in satisfaction.

I smiled back.

Because I had realized—this wouldn’t end until blood was spilled.