Casino Wizard

Mario was experiencing the magic of money disappearing before his eyes.

“Player, 2 gold. And… 2 gold on Either Pair.”

“Banker wins. And… Player Pair hits. Congratulations.”

“The side bet hits!”

Malena had definitely been a sucker.

She had been a baccarat rookie, learning how to squeeze cards from Mrs. Bonucci.

But the way she played now was far from anything like a sucker.

Malena was playing at a table with a minimum bet of 1 gold and a maximum of 10 gold—a bold table.

Maybe in the Hyden Casino, but in Mario’s gambling hall, that was beyond what they could afford.

Especially since there was no limit on side bets (as long as the total wager, including the main bet and side bets, stayed within the maximum) and the payout rates were quite high. Of course, some winnings might get reduced under house rules, but still.

Even so, there was only one reason why Mario had boldly allowed a 10-gold table.

He was confident he could take her money.

The game was set up so that Malena would inevitably lose, no matter what she did.

That was the original plan.

“I have a feeling a Tie is coming. What do you think, dealer?”

“I’m sorry, ma’am. I can’t say.”

“Alright, I’ll go with 5 gold on Player and 4 gold on Tie.”

Four gold on a Tie? Crazy woman.

Some gamblers sought high-stakes thrills beyond the usual Player-Banker coin flip, but even they knew the odds were low.

The probability of a Tie—where Player and Banker have the same total—is less than 10%.

Betting 4 gold on something with less than a 10% chance?

Normally, that would be throwing money away…

“Player, 3 and 5. Banker, 2 and 6… Tie. It’s a hit.”

The Tie hit.

And with an extra card, she won her main bet too.

In a single round, Malena pocketed 41 gold.

41 gold.

In just one minute.

‘How did she know?’

Mario had rigged the first shoe to have more Ties and Pairs appear.

It was meant to bait Malena into reckless betting.

But instead, she was raking in money from it.

Was this real life?

Mario’s hands trembled as he scanned the room.

Gamblers crowding around the table to witness the madness.

Dealers standing awkwardly, having lost their purpose since everyone was just watching.

One of Mario’s men constantly shuttling between the vault and the table, fetching money for Malena’s winnings.

As his mind started to go numb, Malena’s sweet voice rang out.

“Another hit.”

Another hit?

The cheeky woman now seemed to consider winning a given.

But it was thanks to that moment of irritation that Mario snapped back to his senses.

‘Right. This is no time to be dazed.’

Malena was siphoning his money in real-time.

Her main bets fluctuated between wins and losses.

But she kept hitting 5x payouts on Either Pair and occasionally scoring 10x on Tie.

Each time, his precious money vanished.

“Can I get a money tray? I think I’ll need more.”

He had to stop this.

If he let her keep winning until the shoe ended, the losses would be… not just irrecoverable, but catastrophic.

At times like this, Bonucci was his best bet.

Catching Mario’s signal, Mrs. Bonucci stepped in.

“Malena, you’ve won a lot. How about calling it a night?”

“Why would I?”

“There are so many people watching.”

“Let them watch. But Maria, you seem… off. Is there some reason I shouldn’t be winning here?”

Malena’s tone was teasing as she subtly jabbed at Bonucci.

Bonucci tried a few more times to persuade her…

But in the end, she shot Mario a look of resentment.

Mario wasn’t great at reading expressions, but this one was obvious. I told you to stop, that you couldn’t handle this, but you got greedy and let it go this far.

Meanwhile, the losses were piling up.

500, 550… dropping back to 500, then shooting up to 600 gold.

He had to stop this. This was really bad.

Thankfully, Bonucci managed to pull it off.

“Malena, take a break. Have some wine.”

“But I’m on a roll.”

“I said take a break. You won’t listen to your sister?”

“Why so serious? …Fine, just for three minutes.”

After getting Malena to pause with a glass of wine, Bonucci discreetly approached Mario.

There had to be a way.

But what Bonucci proposed wasn’t a countermeasure.

“Boss. Just stop now. Give up.”

“Just… what?”

“I told you yesterday. Something feels off. Malena is convinced. She’s sure that you and I are in this together. And now, she’s making her move in response.”

“A counterattack?”

Bonucci bit her lip, looking pale.

Then, in a hushed voice, she asked:

“Do you trust your staff?”

She was implying that someone among his employees had betrayed him.

Mario wanted to scoff.

But it was the most plausible explanation.

The guys he called his ‘brothers’ were all thugs. Sticky fingers, greedy, and lately, not all that loyal.

One of them could have taken a bribe and leaked information about the shoe’s tendencies to Malena.

“Those bastards wouldn’t dare—”

“Boss. That’s not the point right now. You need to stop this.”

“But the money I’ve put in—!”

“You need to forget about that… And keep your voice down. People will hear.”

Forget about it?

That meant letting her walk away with the money.

If Malena left now, who knew when he’d get another chance at her?

“Is it really impossible to turn this around?”

“…….”

“If you end this now, you can still walk away. I’ll handle kicking Malena out. And I won’t even ask you to compensate me for messing up my work—your loss is way bigger than mine anyway.”

Bonucci pleaded.

Malena was likely playing again by now.

This was the last chance to stop.

If Mario personally kicked her out, his reputation would take a hit. But if Bonucci did it, they could save face.

And if necessary, they could even use threats.

But Mario couldn’t agree.

There had to be another way.

Maybe he could find out who was backing Malena. Was she a foreign tycoon’s mistress? A noble’s kept woman? He needed that info to plan his next move.

If all else failed… he could resort to force and take back the money.

“Boss. You need to decide now.”

“There must be a way.”

“Don’t be an idiot. You let this drag on because of greed, and now look what happened…”

Bonucci was now cursing at him, urging him to stop.

But Mario couldn’t answer. He didn’t want to answer.

The sheer despair of letting Malena walk away kept his mouth shut.

“Wow!!”

“Holy shit! That actually hit?!”

“How much did she win?!”

A roar erupted from the gaming floor.

Mario swallowed hard and rushed out, praying his gut feeling was wrong.

But his man delivered devastating news.

“Boss, that woman put 9 gold 90 silver on Player Pair… and it hit.”

“What?”

“The payout is 118 gold 80 silver. After deducting the bet… about 110 gold in winnings.”

A catastrophe.

But the worst was yet to come.

“Boss, we’re out of money.”

“What?”

“We don’t have enough to pay her. We’re short… by about 6 gold.”

They were out of cash.

A gambling hall running out of money—unthinkable.

Mario’s mind went blank.

He turned on the dealer.

“Why the hell did you accept that bet?”

“It wasn’t against the rules.”

“So you just took it?”

“Y-yes, sir.”

The dealer stammered with a look of sheer panic.

Was it him?

Had that dealer colluded with Malena? That seemed like the most likely possibility…

No. Maybe one of the dazed-looking enforcers sitting around had played a trick. One way or another, someone needed to pay.

But how could he even start interrogating them? If he pushed too hard, he’d have to admit that the shoe had been rigged. He’d have to confess that Malena had figured it out and turned the tables on them. That hesitation kept him frozen.

That was when—

“Boss. You out of money?”

Malena slowly rose to her feet. The precursor to a walkout.

“Guess you are. Six gold is a lot, but… considering how much I’ve won, I’ll let it slide. Think of it as a tip.”

“A tip?”

“Guess I’ll call it a night, then.”

With that, she began gathering her winnings.

He couldn’t let her go. But forcing her to stay wasn’t an option either.

“Oh, and boss? Just a heads-up—there are city guards outside. Thought you should know.”

City guards?

As Mario’s hands trembled, Malena leisurely—almost mockingly—gathered her winnings and strolled out of the gambling hall.

It felt unreal.

He had lost over 1,700 gold over the last fifteen days, after deductions.

And it wasn’t just the money.

The moment word spread that his casino was running low on cash, customers would flee. Even now, many of them were already walking out.

In the end, everyone left. The only ones remaining were his staff. Even Bonucci was gone.

Mario, breathing heavily, turned with a creak—no, glared—at his employees, particularly the enforcers.

First, he needed to root out the traitor.

“There’s a rat among you. Confess now, and I’ll go easy on you.”

His voice trembled as he fought to keep his mind together.

His men flinched at first, then exchanged glances.

And then—one of them stepped forward.

“Boss. Are you actually a fucking idiot?”

“…What?”

“You fucking—!”

Whack—!

Mario snapped. He swung.

Once a famed monster hunter, his punch sent the underling flying into the wall, knocking him out cold.

But beating down one insubordinate fool wouldn’t change a thing.

He was bankrupt now.

****

“It’s over, big bro.”

The news came in—another gambling house had fallen.

“Mario Del Pozo… that guy got arrested for beating up his own employees. He’ll probably be out soon, but there’s no way he’s bouncing back from this. Oh, and the guys he beat up? None of them were our informants. Just the wrong people at the wrong time.”

“We had an informant?”

“Uh… No? You didn’t do anything, so obviously not.”

Officially, I had nothing to do with Mario’s downfall.

Just as I had nothing to do with customers deserting Coboli Casino, my next target.

“Mario’s still in custody, right?”

The players had done their part.

Now, it was my turn.

For a swift and clean finish, I planned to borrow just a little bit of power—

From the law itself.