Casino Wizard

The dusty warehouse was filled with a dull haze.

A woman with streaky blonde hair and pointed ears glanced around with a terrified expression.

Her name was Selena. Profession: adventurer.

In front of her stood a mage and a Hero.

“Identify yourself.”

“Um, yes… uh—”

“Hero, just bring me the hammer.”

“Understood, Hyden.”

Selena was now face-to-face with the mage Hyden in a storage facility separate from the main casino building.

She felt uneasy. She couldn’t understand why they were acting this way or why a hammer was needed.

And surely, they wouldn’t actually… oh.

He really brought one?

This so-called hero.

Despite lacking any semblance of heroic dignity, the so-called chosen one of the goddess was holding a hammer.

Not a weapon of war, just a simple tool, but a hammer nonetheless.

Selena glared at the mage Hyden, who had ordered the hammer to be fetched, with wide eyes, then hurriedly blurted out, “Selena, adventurer! I was working in the city alliance before moving to the kingdom three months ago! That’s all!”

“Insufficient.”

“In-sufficient? Then what is it you want?”

“Your backer.”

Hyden’s curt demand made Selena inhale sharply.

The truth was, she had taken on a request.

She knew the risk of getting caught using her unique magic in a casino. She had merely tried to delay detection as much as possible by acting naturally.

This wasn’t something she did without compensation. After all, she was an adventurer.

Usually, her days were spent drinking and gambling rather than taking on requests. Though a native of the kingdom, she had been living in the city alliance, utilizing her unique talents there.

Occasionally, when money ran out, she would accept small requests. She wasn’t much of an adventurer—more of a drifter.

But this request wasn’t small.

“You can penetrate the thickness of a couple of sheets of paper, I hear? Use your unique ability in the casino. You’ll probably get caught eventually, but don’t worry—don’t hide it until the end. Just cause a commotion before you’re thrown out. Insist on your innocence and hold out as long as you can. …If you get hurt scuffling with casino staff, we’ll even compensate for those injuries.”

A straightforward request, but the reward was generous.

Selena had learned baccarat quickly and visited the casino all because of her client’s instructions.

But she couldn’t reveal the identity of her client honestly.

She didn’t even know exactly who they were.

Just that they were wealthy and noble. But Hyden likely wouldn’t believe her. So Selena forced a smile and stammered out a weak excuse.

“Backer? I… don’t know what you mean.”

“Is that so?”

Hyden nodded slightly and extended his hand to the hero.

Soon, a hammer was placed in the mage’s hand.

A semicircular head with a thin handle that fit perfectly in one’s grip—a carpenter’s hammer.

It wasn’t heavy enough to serve as a weapon but was perfectly suited for other purposes.

And that purpose seemed likely to be…

“No, surely not?”

“It is.”

“…”

“We’ll start by having the hero restrain your right hand on the table. Then, I’ll hammer your fingers one by one until you give me the answer I want. And in case you scream, we’ll gag you too.”

“Wait—”

Hyden was calmly predicting torture without blinking an eye.

Selena couldn’t believe it. Weren’t these supposed to be members of a hero’s party?

“You—”

“I know what you’re thinking. Surely a mage who travels with a hero wouldn’t actually torture me. The mage might be morally bankrupt, but the hero standing next to him would surely stop him. This is just intimidation… isn’t it?”

“…”

“I’ve run this casino for five years. I’ve encountered plenty of people trying to cheat with magic. And I’ve caught every single one.”

Had such situations occurred often?

It seemed entirely plausible to Selena in that moment, heightening her sense of danger.

In taverns or adventurer guilds, even small dice games often ended in fistfights, sometimes even knife fights. Casinos, with their much larger stakes, would undoubtedly be rife with such issues.

And surely, disputes here wouldn’t always be resolved peacefully.

“Excuse me—”

“Not interested. Just tell me about your backer.”

“But wait, I—”

“No more waiting. Hero, restrain her.”

“G-got it.”

The hero, Pierrot, grabbed her neck and one wrist.

Despite his unheroic appearance, the hero’s strength was enough to overpower Selena completely.

Pinned in place, Selena’s pale face twisted in fear as the hammer loomed closer.

Hyden’s calm voice broke through the haze.

“If fingers are too delicate, I’ll aim for the back of your hand instead.”

“Please, no…!”

“A metacarpal fracture isn’t easily healed, even with holy magic. Only a saint could mend it perfectly, and that would cost a fortune. You’re just a rank-and-file adventurer—could you even afford it?”

Why was he so calm?

Hyden tapped the hammer lightly on Selena’s trembling hand, as if testing his target.

His slow movements gave her a sliver of hope.

Maybe this was all just an act to scare her.

I didn’t commit such a terrible crime, right? Sure, the amount might make it criminal, but I already paid back all the money.

But her thin hope evaporated quickly.

“Close your eyes.”

Hyden smiled faintly.

A man who could smile while preparing to inflict potentially disabling injuries on a woman.

Selena knew she’d misjudged her opponent.

She opened her mouth, desperate to name her client but paralyzed by her own ignorance. Just as the hammer swung downward, she squeezed her eyes shut and screamed.

“I’ll talk!!”

A loud bang echoed in her ears alongside a scream.

“Eek…!?”

But there was no pain.

Cautiously opening her eyes, she saw a hammer that had landed just beside her hand.

Selena stared at her trembling hands, gasping, when—

“Who’s behind this?”

Hyden pressed again, his face now devoid of humor.

Selena, with tears brimming in her eyes, hesitantly opened her mouth.

“I really don’t know. I swear. Hic… They looked like a noble. That’s all I know. Just their appearance…”

This time, she truly thought she might get hit.

****

Fortunately, Selena wasn’t a woman with strong nerves.

Just creating a slightly intimidating atmosphere was enough to make her start talking.

Her words were interspersed with sobs, making her pronunciation unclear, but it wasn’t incomprehensible.

Still, just to be sure, I confirmed it again.

“A middle-aged man dressed in reddish clothing came to see you? He taught you baccarat rules while giving you the request?”

“Yes… Yes!”

“And the request was to use your innate magic to win money at the casino, then cause a commotion at the right time in exchange for payment. After being kicked out of the casino, you were supposed to leave the kingdom and head to the city union. Is that correct?”

Selena wiped her tears with her sleeves and nodded.

“And you still have no idea who the client was?”

“Yes, I just took the job because they paid me.”

Her tear- and snot-streaked face made her look like nothing more than a scared girl.

But she was a half-elf and apparently 50 years old—older than the middle-aged Hero.

For someone who had lived so long, she was just a low-tier adventurer addicted to gambling and drinking.

Her life choices were evident.

If someone could drag out a woman like this and use her to mess with me, it showed that the Second Prince had a deep roster—albeit in the worst sense.

‘Still, they hid their direct involvement. Naturally.’

The Second Prince hadn’t directly revealed himself or his associates while sending this gambler.

He would probably continue to attack in this manner.

And when my reputation began to falter, he’d play his big move. There was a strategy at work, no doubt.

“Uh, um…!”

Selena called out to me desperately, so I slowly turned back.

Her face was twisted in fear.

“What?”

“Can I… Can I go now? I’ve told you everything I know.”

At this point, I had extracted all the information I could from her.

She wasn’t a direct subordinate of the Second Prince, just a disposable pawn paid to do a job.

Even if I claimed, “The Second Prince hired adventurers to attack my casino,” few would take it seriously. She had merely worked for someone in fine clothing. There was no direct link to the Second Prince.

But even disposable resources had their uses.

“Selena.”

“Please…”

“If you wish, you can leave now. You won’t be allowed in the casino again, but there will be no further punishment. You broke the casino rules, not the national laws, so you’re free to go.”

“Ah!”

Her face lit up as she stood up hastily.

I felt bad dampening her relief, but I still had more to say.

“But I’ll be informing the Second Prince that you identified him as the mastermind. I’ll politely ask for confirmation of the truth. You might want to stay cautious for a while in case there’s any fallout.”

“Wait, what? Why is a prince even involved in this? How would I—”

“The person who hired you was the Second Prince. There’s no evidence, but I’m certain.”

Selena froze in place, staring at me blankly.

She must have thought this was truly absurd. She had been humiliated, dragged here, threatened, and even described her client’s appearance at great personal risk—only for me to effectively blackmail her again.

But this wasn’t a threat for the sake of threatening.

“I have a job for you.”

“A job…?”

“If you follow my instructions, you’ll get to keep your life.”

I tapped her hand lightly with the worn hammer, making my offer.

I intended to use her as bait to draw out the Second Prince.

An unwitting pawn who had no idea her real employer was the Second Prince.

And that made her all the more useful as bait.