Chapter 14

***

Mathias began to make money with his skills as soon as he entered the casino.

Wizards who could use earth magic were lucky with their money.

It was said that since most of the things of high value as determined by humans, namely gold and jewels, came from the land, it was only natural that the land attribute wizard who had them at his disposal would be able to obtain them.

Of course, Mathias was exceptionally lucky.

“Hahaha! What do you think, Liti? This is how you play this game.”

Before Mathias knew it, the money he borrowed from the accessory shop grew to the point where he could buy hundreds pieces of jewelry.

“Liti, let’s go play some games.”

Mathias took Lestia with him as he walked up and down the casino, kindly showing her how to play each game one by one.

In the process, Lestia was able to accurately notice that casinos were not “a place that will pay you if you play,” but “a place where you win a game to earn money and if you lose you have to give them back the money.”

From Mathias’s point of view, which had a surprising record of winning streak, it could only seem like the casinos were where people would get paid for playing.

“Come on, Riti. You do it too.”

Mathias urged Lestia to play the game as well.

But Lestia shook her head.

Because she was afraid of losing all the money Mathias had earned.

“Liti. What’s wrong? Isn’t this fun?”

After Lestia repeatedly refused to play the game, Mathias’ eyes drooped as he asked the question.

“Oh…well…”

Lestia realized that if she told Mathias what she was thinking, they would never get out of the casino as they did in the accessory store.

It was an exhausting experience, and one that she wanted to avoid.

So she made up a plausible excuse and said it in a roundabout way.

“I find it much more interesting to watch brother Mathias play than to do it myself!”

Hmm? Really? Well then, I’ll have to show you something more interesting!”

Mathias began to wager more seriously on the game.

And as he had done so far, he came back a winner.

“Oh, it’s going so well today. Maybe my sister is the Goddess of Fortune!”

She indeed was. Because Mathias didn’t even lose once.

Mathias whirled around holding Restia in his arms, looking far too happy.

It made Lestia feel good to see Mathias so happy.

However, when she saw the casino chips with huge amounts of money marked on them coming and going, Lestia became increasingly afraid.

She grabbed Mathias’s shirt tightly and said,

“Um…… brother, you seem to have a lot of money already, why don’t you stop here?”

“Yes. I’m sure you’re hungry by now. Let’s play one more game and go!”

Mathias pointed to the dice game.

Before Lestia even had time to reply, Mathias had already gone over to the green gaming table where people were rolling the dice and sat down quickly.

The dealer immediately explained the rules of the game as he handed the dice to Mathias.

“It’s a game where you throw the dice and whoever gets the highest number wins.”

“I see. That’s nice and easy.”

Mathias threw the dice on the game board without hesitation when it was his turn.

Two dice with numbers six spun around and stopped. As a matter of course, the dice thrown by Mathias had the highest numbers out of all the dice of the other people sitting at the game table.

It was another victory.

“This is fun. All right, I’ll bet all the chips I have in this round!”

His words rang through the casino and the crowd began to gather around the perimeter.

It was because the amount of chips Mathias had was enormous and it became a spectacle.

“Brother Mathias……”

Lestia gulped.

To put it all on the line was the same as to lose it all.

Just because you had won before, didn’t mean you would win again.

‘But brother would win, wouldn’t he?’

Mathias had won every game so far.

So he might win this one too.

Lestia looked at the game table nervously.

As the stakes were instantly increased by Mathias, each of the people participating in the game prayed in their hearts to the god and began to throw the dice one after another.

“Oh! Oh! That’s it!”

Whenever the dice rolled, cheers rang out.

And the cheers quickly became shouts.

Someone rolled number 11.

Now if Mathias could not make 12, he would lose all his money.

“Oh, how can he beat that?”

“I don’t care how lucky he is, that’s a tough one.”

Everyone clicked their tongues.

But Lestia firmly believed that Mathias could win again this time.

But…… Mathias just looked at Lestia without rolling the dice when it was his turn.

“Brother?”

When Lestia asked curiously, her mischievous purple eyes, softly hidden by her pale lemon hair, curved softly.

“Come on, Liti! You throw it.”

Mathias held out his hand with two dice in it to Lestia.

Lestia stared at Mathias with a panicked look in her eyes.

But Mathias’s gaze was vividly saying, “Now, it’s your turn.”

“Me? But, brother, if I lose, you’ll lose all that money………….?”

“That’s right. That’s why I need the power of the Goddess of Fortune.”

“Goddess of fortune?”

“Because you’re the one who helped me get all these chips.”

“Eh, what ………?”

She wasn’t the Goddess.

It was all Mathias’s luck….

At that moment, the bell rang.

“If you don’t throw the dice within ten seconds, you will forfeit.”

The dealer said calmly. Martius began to pester, sounding impatient.

“Liti, Liti, Liti. Quick, if you don’t throw the dice now, you’ll lose this money without even trying.”

Lestia eventually and reluctantly picked up the dice and tossed them onto the green gaming table, just as Mathias did.

But the odds of winning were too low.

Now, if the two dice did not show the number six, Mathias would lose all the money.

‘Please!’

The dice rolled very slowly, as if time had stopped. Then it came to a stop.

Lestia squeezed her eyes shut. A quiet silence took over the casino hall.

But soon the silence became a loud cheer that echoed throughout the casino building.

“Whoa!”

Lestia opened her eyes carefully at the commotion and checked the results.

The numbers that appeared on the two dice were a combined six.

“What……!”

The result seemed to relax every muscle in her body.

But before she had time to relax, Mathias picked Lestia up.

“‘Hahahaha! Liti! You did a great job!”

“I can’t believe it.”

“It’s incredible, isn’t it? You are indeed my sister. You’re as lucky as I am.”

Lestia’s cheeks flushed red at Mathias’s words.

She felt like she had her brother’s approval.

“Come on, so this is all our money!”

Mathias hummed as he poured all the chips on the game board into a large bag.

When he first came into the casino, he had money that could barely buy a slice of bread.

But now, at the end of this game, the amount was 10,000 times more.

“Liti, my lucky girl. Wait here and have a drink. I have to exchange all these chips for money.”

Mathias said as he took Lestia to the bar on the casino balcony and ordered her a glass of cotton candy drink.

Lestia carefully covered her reddened cheeks with her hands and nodded quietly.

Her little heart was still pounding from what had just happened.

‘It’s strange …… Is this what it feels like to win?’

The feeling was too tense, too raw.

While Lestia was feeling dazed, a cotton candy drink was brought to her.

On top of a clear glass of sky-blue lemon soda, a large white cotton candy floated fluffily like a cloud.

It was reminiscent of the vast landscape Mathias showed her before.

‘Yes, clouds. Clouds…The view there was really delicious.’

Thanks to Mathias, she got to know many different worlds today.

The world was much larger and more beautiful than Lestia had imagined.

There were diverse people living there, and there was so much to do.

‘Reading books is fun… but I think these things are fun too.’

It was so much fun to learn about things she didn’t know.

Lestia took a sip of her drink to calm her restless mind.

It was sweet and delicious.

‘Is this what happiness looks like?’

Lestia thought of it with a smile without realizing it.

At that moment, she felt the presence of someone right behind her.

Thinking that Mathias had already returned, Lestia slowly looked back.

“Brother?”

No, it wasn’t Mathias. There were men she had never seen before standing right in front of her.

Lestia stared at them with her eyes as big as saucers.

“Who are you?”

There was no answer.

In no time at all, the men covered Lestia’s mouth and bound her hands and feet.

They then began to take her somewhere.

“Ugh…ah…ah…”

Lestia struggled to escape with all her might, but it was no use.

** *

“Liti, Liti! Your brother’s coming!”

Mathias cashed in all his casino chips, put them in a bulky bag, and walked back to the balcony.

He could have issued a check, but he went out of his way to change it into cash to show Lestia.

Thinking when she sees so much money, she will blink her round eyes like a startled rabbit.

He couldn’t wait to see it.