A crowd had gathered around us. Piled high before my eyes were stacks of coins, a roulette wheel, and a middle-aged dealer with salt-and-pepper hair. His polite smile seemed to be twitching ever so slightly.
"Whoa, he’s going all-in again? If he wins this, how much is that payout even worth?"
"I’ve lost track... How many wins in a row is that now?"
"Is this casino going to be okay? They aren't going to go bankrupt, are they?"
"I’m sure it’ll be fine, but still..."
At the word "bankrupt" leaking from the onlookers, the dealer’s face visibly spasmed. It was a stretch to even call his expression a smile anymore. For that matter, my own face was likely twitching just as much. How did things end up like this? It’s not like I had some personal vendetta against the casino’s profit margins.
We were in Orcus, a city within the Zephyrson Clan Union. Orcus was famous as a gambling hub. It wasn’t exactly a world where people could go on casual vacations like back on Earth, but apparently, people from all over the world who dreamed of hitting the jackpot flocked to this city.
Right now, we were in the most bustling casino in Orcus, a place called Rainanorn. Since we’d come all the way to a gambling city, I’d figured we should at least poke our heads in. I thought we’d just trade a bit of spending money for some coins and have a little fun—that was the extent of my plan.
The game I’d decided to try was roulette. I didn’t know the rules from my previous life that well, but they didn't seem to be all that different here. To put it simply, a ball is dropped into a spinning wheel, and you bet on where it’ll stop. There are actually more complex betting options, but I’ll skip the lecture on the rules for now.
Regardless, I started hitting random numbers. Every time I did, my coins multiplied. As I kept rolling my winnings directly into the next bet, I realized before long that I had amassed a staggering mountain of chips.
I knew it wasn't a good idea to win too much in a place like this. With that vague sense of self-preservation, I decided it was time to bow out, but—...
"As expected of Tort!"
"Now that we've come this far, I want to see how long your streak lasts!"
Halfa and Spira, who had apparently blown through their own coins and were now just spectating, started egging me on. Because the onlookers joined in on the cheering, I somehow found myself unable to walk away.
At that point, I figured I could just lose on purpose at some suitable moment. So, for the time being, I kept the game going.
After hitting the numbers a few more times, I finally tried to lose. That’s when it hit me: since I’d just been betting randomly, I didn't actually know how to lose on purpose.
This absurd win rate was undoubtedly a result of my Luck. I’d assumed that if I wished for a loss, the result would follow, but... I just wouldn't lose!
By then, the coins were piled up like a small mountain. It wasn't the kind of atmosphere where I could easily announce I was quitting. We were completely surrounded by spectators, and more importantly, the dealer wasn't about to let me escape. The dealer at the time had been a young woman; despite being pale as a ghost, she’d provoked me by saying, "Surely you aren't planning to run away now?" She probably wanted a chance to win back the losses, but that was a major tactical error.
This is getting bad. The guys in the black suits are going to show up!
Just as that thought crossed my mind, the middle-aged man I mentioned earlier arrived. He announced he would be taking over for the woman. He had a practiced, professional air about him—clearly a veteran of the trade.
Then I remembered something. In the roulette of my previous life, there was usually a window of time between the ball being dropped and the closing of bets. In this world, however, the bets were closed before the wheel was even spun. That meant a sufficiently skilled dealer could likely aim the ball to land on a spot where no one had placed a bet.
In other words, this veteran had been brought in to fix the game. Normally, that would be a reason to get angry, but for me, it was a godsend. Honestly, I didn't want the money badly enough to risk incurring a dangerous grudge.
And yet... why did I keep winning?!
When the round ended, the veteran dealer stared at me with a look of pure shock. I looked back at him with a similar expression. Our hearts were perfectly in sync, both of us screaming internally: How did that hit?!
And that brings us to the present. Since they’d sent out their heavy hitter, the house was clearly at its limit. I had no choice but to use my secret weapon...!
(Shiroru! Could you use Telekinesis to drop the ball in a spot where I haven't bet? Try to make it look natural!)
(Hmm? Why? Isn't it better if it lands where you put your money?)
(Just please, do it! If you help me out, I'll make you some sweets later.)
(Really? It’s a promise!)
I sent the request to Shiroru through the Bracelet of Bonds. This was my trump card: I would force myself to lose through the power of Telekinesis!
A moment of pure tension. The little white ball spinning around the wheel gradually lost momentum... before dropping with a slightly unnatural jerk into the pocket labeled 22. I had bet on 3. A total miss.
Fortunately, the customers didn't seem to notice the psychic interference. The veteran dealer looked startled, so he probably realized something was up, but... well, it shouldn't be a problem.
Amidst the noisy groans and cheers of the crowd, the coins were swept away. Even the shares of the people who had been tailing my bets were collected, but that couldn't be helped. That’s the risk you take for blindly following someone else's lead. Besides, unless they’d bet everything they had, they’d likely walked away with a profit anyway.
As the onlookers called out things like "Tough luck!" and "That was one hell of a show!" I managed to ward them off with a non-committal smile and finally let out a sigh of relief. With that, the house shouldn't have any reason to hold a grudge.
Or so I thought.
The veteran dealer casually approached my side and whispered under his breath.
"The owner wishes to see you. My apologies, but would you mind coming with me?"
...Why was I being summoned? I'd lost, so they shouldn't be mad at me anymore, right?