Chapter 126: Second Time's the Charm, the Detained Subordinates, and the Casino【All-In】

Jier was disappointed nonetheless; he was woken up early in the morning by a loud, rhythmic pounding on his door.

Throwing on a pair of trousers, Jier opened the door to see Xueya Site standing outside with a helpless expression, wanting to say something but hesitating.

"Let's hear it, which unlucky fool got held back by the local tavern's Red House again?" Jier yawned, asking his friend without any surprise.

Xueya Site sighed: "It's worse than that. The Warriors learned from the experience in Yemei Town and know to ask for prices before making large purchases, and to estimate costs with the shop owners beforehand to avoid overspending. But this place, Duoen Town, has some new tricks."

Seeing that the situation was not extremely urgent, Jier let Xueya Site, along with Aoni and Weier who were following behind him, enter. Once they were all inside, Jier listened to them explain the situation while he put on his clothes.

Since they still had to stay in Duoen Town for another day to resupply, and he had to go to the Burning Furnace Merchant Guild this morning to inspect the batch of ordnance provided as compensation for the debt owed by Steward Deripari, Jier simply put on a set of loose, comfortable clothing. With a Magic Dagger at his waist, the armor-piercing iron awl he had newly acquired from 'Killing Ken', and several Magic Tools on his hands, he walked out of the room in this light attire.

"It's a casino. Two idiots still couldn't resist the temptation and ran to the local casino to play last night. Even though Aoni and I had already warned them several times yesterday not to go to such places, you know how it is—those casinos always have various ways to lure in people who have never been there before," Xueya Site said, gritting his teeth with a look of frustration at their lack of discipline.

Aoni scratched his head, looking annoyed: "I shouldn't have let everyone go out last night, but they begged me for a long time since dark, saying that when they arrived at this bustling trade town, they could only watch from our own camp outside the town and hadn't been able to properly see the prosperous side of this place. They even said they didn't know when they would return here next time, or if they would even have their lives to come back, so they wanted to go out and have some fun."

"So you went soft?" Jier pulled a pair of sturdy, clean leather boots onto his feet. These were boots he had bought in Kendall County last year, but he had either been wearing hard cowhide boots or combat boots with Metal Armor Plates, so he hadn't really worn these much.

After putting them on, Jier felt the soft yet resilient sensation under his feet and nodded with satisfaction. Unlike combat boots, which had reinforced, hard soles—sturdy and durable, certainly, but uncomfortable to wear—these were different.

"Yes, please punish me, my lord!" Aoni lowered his head, looking embarrassed.

"It's not like you were the one held hostage, so why would I punish you? Besides, when I recruited everyone, it was already agreed that I wouldn't restrict your freedom or the use of your money. You can do whatever you like. And the people under my command are already quite elite Warriors; everyone needs to be responsible for their own actions."

Jier patted Aoni on the shoulder, telling him not to worry: "As for being held hostage, I will resolve it. If it's just a matter of money, that's easy to handle. The foolish guys who were held back can just fight and earn money under my command in the future to pay me back and fill the hole. But if they were beaten or even injured, that would be a different matter entirely."

He looked at Xueya Site: "Does anyone else in the inn know about this?"

Weier had woken up the earliest; he had been up before dawn for physical training, so he had noticed the situation in the inn lobby: "Some early risers know. The people sent by the casino were shouting directly in the inn lobby for someone to handle it, telling us to send someone with money to redeem them, and claiming that if we didn't pay to redeem them, they would sell them to the Golden Sickle Merchant Guild."

Jier was a bit surprised: "Don't the people at the casino know who is behind those two idiots?"

Weier was also a bit curious: "I asked, and they know, but they don't seem to care much? Because of the scene they made, even some Dwarves know about this."

Shrugging, Jier led the group out of his room, called two idle Warriors from downstairs to watch the door, and then took the three of them downstairs.

As they walked down the stairs, Xueya Site saw that Jier hadn't even brought a money bag when leaving, so he asked in surprise: "Are you not planning to pay to redeem them?"

Jier was noncommittal: "We'll see. If I can't resolve such a small matter just by showing my face, then I'll just fight my way out. You want me to spend money at a casino to redeem people? I can't speak for other places, but there is no one in this Duoen Town capable of subduing me."

"After all, unlike the Red House tavern where you eat, drink, and have fun—no matter how much you mess around there in one night, there's always a limit to the expenses, and the money I bring would definitely be enough to redeem them. But a place like a casino, if you understand it, you know that one can lose far, far too much in a single night, especially if someone is specifically rigging the game. Do you really expect me to pay money to redeem those two idiots if they lose dozens or hundreds of Gold Coins?"

Jier looked disgusted: "It's hard to say if those two guys, along with the set of equipment that belongs to me, are even worth dozens of Gold Coins!"

Weier had certainly been to various casinos before, whether they were opened by his family in the territory's towns, small gambling rooms inside the Swordsman Academy for teachers and students to relax, or during his flight, he had even worked as a bouncer in some casinos under an alias, though he never stayed long before continuing his escape. It wasn't until years later, after splitting the loot within a Bandit Group, that he had accompanied Shanlang Bani to play in some underground casinos nearby.

Therefore, Weier knew how complicated those places were, how deep the evil of human nature could be, and how much tragedy—broken families and separated loved ones—could be caused by a moment of loss of control or indulgence.

However, he rarely gambled himself, existing basically as a bouncer or guard.

As for Aoni, he used to be a farmer. Back in his hometown, he had participated in simple gambling games set up by people with gambling addictions during lively village activities at some relatives' weddings.

But the stakes in those rural gambling games were at most a bag or two of grain, or a few head of poultry or livestock from the house, and the gameplay was just simple dice games guessing the size of the numbers.

Xueya Site's life experience was more complex, but he was a rather upright person and rarely intervened in these so-called 'entertainment activities' that harmed people. At most, when the Caravan stayed overnight, he had seen small gambling games organized by the gamblers themselves, where the wins and losses were mostly a copper or half a silver coin.

"Then, Jier, what about you? Do you know anything about those casinos?" Xueya Site asked.

When Jier was in Kendall City, he had visited all the shops and entertainment venues in the city, but since he didn't have much money in his pocket at the time, he wasn't very interested in these non-supernatural matters, so he didn't know much about these things in this other world.

But if it came to these things from his past life, he was quite knowledgeable about various casino gambling methods and cheating techniques due to the influence of movies and television. After all, isn't it just checking cards, making sure the cards are fine, shining shoes, and small-time thugs competing in supernatural gambling matches?

Of course, those were just entertainment and jokes.

Real gambling is harmful, and the nature of gambling has always been hidden in the instincts of humans. It is a comprehensive instinct of adventure, game theory, and assessment and weighing that was naturally born during the primitive era when humans went out to hunt, which was just like gambling.

"It's alright. Watch my lead in a moment. Let's go over and see the situation first, to see if the casino thinks my skills as a Knight are too small, or if the power behind them is very large. Or if they simply didn't realize what kind of trouble they have provoked," Jier said.

"Do we need to have our own people still at the inn stay alert?" Aoni asked.

Jier waved his hand: "No need, this is a small matter."

Because it was early in the morning, and the entire inn had been cleared out by the Merchant Union, there were few people in the inn lobby at this time. Only the innkeeper and the Shop Assistant were watching the two lackey thugs from the town's largest casino spouting nonsense there as if they were watching a show.

Usually, the largest inn in town had no business connection with the largest casino in town, and the visiting Merchants who came to stay and rest at the inn were unlikely to focus their energy on a money-pit like a casino. In normal times, the innkeeper would have long ago had his Shop Assistants drive away such lackey thugs who came to cause trouble, as it wouldn't be good to disturb his guests' rest.

But now, he was just bringing people to watch the show, to see what the final result would be when these people provoked Knight Jier, a tough nut to crack. One had to know that the several Senior Stewards of the Merchant Union were very familiar with Jier! It might be hard to say in other places, but in Duoen Town, being friends with the high-level figures of the Merchant Union basically meant one could walk sideways through the entire town.

Not to mention the presence of so many strong and powerful Warriors under Jier's command; if the casino went too far, it was possible they would be directly stormed and dismantled by these Warriors. And by then, the boss behind the casino would be crying without tears.

Thump, thump, thump—several people came down the stairs. Walking in the front was the young Knight, dressed in ordinary clothing, yet possessing more presence than the few people behind him.

"Are you two from the casino? Lead the way!"

Jier didn't even look at the two, walking straight past them, and then pushed open the inn's front door.

As for the two lackey thugs from the casino, they were each grabbed by Aoni and Weier, held under their arms like catching chickens, and were pushed and clamped out of the door.

Xueya Site, walking at the back, nodded apologetically to the innkeeper who was looking over, and then waved to the few subordinate Warriors eating and exercising in the lobby, telling them not to follow out of curiosity.

"All go back, nothing to see, all go back and rest."

Arriving on the road, Jier didn't waste any words, reaching out to let the two casino people walk in front. These two guys had originally been quite arrogant, but after being handled by Aoni and the other just now, they knew they couldn't afford to provoke the two fierce-looking Warriors behind Jier, so they turned their heads and walked in front to lead the way, fuming.

As they walked, they kept rubbing their shoulders and arms in a low voice. Weier was one thing, but Aoni's strength just now was not small; one bear hug had almost broken the arm of this ordinary-looking thug.

A special note: although Aoni and Weier were not wearing their full sets of Plate Armor for combat, they were still carrying their main weapons and equipment. Weier carried his Sword, while Aoni, in addition to the Soldier Sword at his waist, also carried a Soldier Shield on his back. The crest of Knight Hartna originally on the shield had long been erased, replaced by a name from Aoni's hometown painted in colored pigments.

This could also be considered a manifestation of this tall and clever young Warrior missing his hometown.

Xueya Site was wearing the Leather Clothing he often wore when he was a Caravan guard. After all, it was early in the morning; no one would really wear a full set of Plate Armor and a Metal Helmet, right?

It wasn't like they were fighting a war.

The casino was not far from the Jinbi Dingdang Inn, even in the same place where Jier could see and hear the lights and noise from the balcony last night, separated by only half a street. Of course, it was half a street leading outward.

After all, an inn was a respectable business project, and the Merchant Union was willing to place it near the center of the town. As for places of entertainment and indulgence like casinos and Red House taverns, especially those specifically providing leisure and entertainment for ordinary people, there was no need to place them under the noses of those big Merchants; they were still a bit noisy and an eyesore.

The prominent Merchants in town naturally had their own high-end places to relax and have fun, and there was no need to squeeze in with ordinary people. Not only was the grade not up to par, but personal safety, social privacy, transaction confidentiality, and so on were all poorly handled in places that provided entertainment for ordinary people.

Many times, big Merchants or Merchant Guilds of a certain scale concluded their business in these leisure and entertainment venues.

"Look, that's the town's largest casino in front—Quantou Jinqu, that's our casino!"

One of the casino thugs seemed quite proud of this, acting as high and mighty as if he were the boss of that casino himself. Or perhaps the boss's illegitimate son? That wasn't impossible.

This casino was a two-story wooden building facing the street. The wood used was high-grade, and the roof had neat, bright tiles. Above the casino's main entrance, there was an iron sign depicting money being poured out completely.

If you didn't know better, you would think this was a vault for storing money and lending it out.

Even though it was early morning, when approaching this two-story wooden building, one could hear the shouts of the gamblers inside through the walls.

Many of them were screaming until their voices were hoarse about winning or losing, and the cheers and curses were intertwined in everyone's ears, attracting everyone who approached to want to go in and see why the people inside were so emotionally agitated.

Furthermore, don't look at the fact that it is morning; precisely because it is just daybreak, the gamblers who haven't slept all night are physically and mentally exhausted, but their spirits are all "stimulated" by the excitement of gambling. This state of excitement, which goes against the natural state of the body, causes most gamblers who haven't slept all night to lose their judgment.

In other words, this is the time for the casino to harvest the gambling funds of these gamblers.

Having been shrewd, careful, and cautious all night, these mentally excited gamblers at this moment let go of the "sure-win gambling commandments" they usually kept on their lips, first winning big, and then suffering a cliff-like, massive loss.

At this time, the moneylenders who came to work early would rub their hands and wait to take the stage, giving these desperate gamblers an "excellent" chance to turn things around!

If they lend them money and they can't pay it back, they just use valuable things from home as collateral. Or they sign loan agreements on the spot, willing to labor in debt on the farms outside the town after failing to repay the money.

And the gamblers, whose gambling addiction has gone to their heads, won't consider many extraneous things at this time; they will only feel that they can win in the next round. Even for those few who suddenly wake up and choose to stop, they will be mocked and ridiculed by some "onlookers" around them. The ridicule from these guys specifically arranged by the casino will also make some gamblers who care about their reputation choose to go all out and borrow money to fight again.

And then they fall completely into the Abyss.

Under this atmosphere, Jier led his men into the door of this Quantou Jinqu casino.

"What a lousy name, this casino."

Jier curled his lips and said in a voice that was not quiet at all.

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