The immature child was really an easy opponent to tease. As the child, absorbed in looking at his cards, ordered more and more drinks, Merlin’s lips also went up into the air.

There were already countless empty bottles lying on the floor. As if he wanted to act like a big shot, this little brat emptied his wallet and filled it up as soon as the alcohol in his room ran out.

Of course, all the bills were running in front of him. In addition, the price of alcohol here was twice that of outside. The cost of alcohol and food, which had to be paid in advance, was already growing like a snowball.

Furthermore.

“Hahaha! Young man, you’re so unlucky.”

“Shit.”

Eventually, Arendt let out a curse. His face hardened, as if he was starting to feel a sense of crisis. It was already too late.

“I’m sorry about this, what should I do?”

“There’s still a long way to go. Let’s go one more time.”

It had already been several hours, but the guy seemed to have completely lost all sense of time. It was late at night when he entered this room, but the clock was already ticking toward dawn.

Seeing that the people who came with Arendt were waiting without any complaints, it seemed that they had found something to enjoy.

Merlin, who had been lost in thought, suddenly came to his senses at the sound of a middle-aged man’s voice.

“Oh, did you run out of money?”

Arendt’s once full purse was now empty.

Arendt clicked his tongue and glared at Merlin.

“Hey, bring me the money.”

“Yes? Are you talking about a loan?”

“Then what would it be?”

“But…”

When Merlin paused for a moment in response to the fierce words, Arendt shouted.

“Don’t be so picky, just bring it! Do I look like someone who can’t handle that?”

“No, that’s not possible. Okay, I’ll get it ready right away.”

Merlin quickly lowered his head and gestured to the employee who was waiting. The quick-witted employee then quickly ran outside.

That young man may not seem like much, but his backing was clearly from a noble family with a lot of money. That could be easily seen just by looking at the money Arendt spent so far.

After a while, Arendt was able to hold a handful of gold coins again.

The other gamblers who saw that scene had a slightly more nervous expression than before. It was because they knew that the moment they touched that money, they would truly cross the river of no return.

“Are you sure it’s okay?”

“What could be wrong? Just worry about yourselves.”

Arendt snapped back irritably at the old man’s question.

Since he said so himself, there was no need for him to interfere. Besides, they were in a position to take the money.

“Then let’s continue.”

So the tables were turned again.

Naturally, the money that Merlin had been ordered to bring also disappeared quickly, and so once again, his pockets were emptied, and once again, twice, and three times.

Merlin now had his servant bring the gold back before Arendt could shout.

No, he was going to order him to do it.

Until suddenly Arendt raised one hand.

“Wait, wait.”

The curious gazes of the people in the room gathered around him.

“At this point, I think it’s time to talk about something.”

As Merlin tilted his head, Arendt blurted out nonchalantly.

The old man who was smoking another cigar and the man and woman who were counting the pile of gold coins in front of them also raised their heads.

“What are you going to talk about?”

“Why, did you use some trick?”

The first question was posed by a woman, and the subsequent laughter was uttered by a middle-aged man.

Arendt had already lost all the money he had brought and borrowed, and was now penniless. Knowing that he could not have cheated, she said this as a joke.

But the response she got back was unexpected.

“I did, but it wasn’t as petty as what you guys did.”

“What?”

For a moment, everyone in the room except Arendt froze.

Arendt burst into laughter.

“I knew you guys were making awkward gestures and eye contact all along. Oh, I don’t mean to blame you all at all, so please don’t misunderstand.”

“…You’re being unreasonable.”

One of the people who had been frozen for a long time suddenly crumpled his face.

“But that doesn’t mean you can get back the money you lost.”

“I don’t think so. I’m not that cool of a person. Actually, I tend to think that the problem is with the one being fooled.

Arendt shrugged his shoulders naturally.

The old man took the cigar out of his mouth and blew out the smoke.

“What on earth are you trying to say?”

“To put it simply, you guys are the ones who have a problem. Mr. Merlin, you too.”

Merlin, who had been absentmindedly staring, flinched when his name was suddenly called.

It was true that those three had cheated. It was also true that the young man had lost a lot of money because of it.

But…

Arendt, who had looked anxious until just now, suddenly seemed to have regained his composure.

‘Did he change because he was so shocked?’

He had that thought for a moment, but he had a strong intuition that it wasn’t true.

“Did you guys confirm the money I gave you?”

“Confirmation? …Of course I did that.”

The woman lowered her gaze to the gold coins piled in front of her. The amount was accurate. It’s not like money can be stolen when it’s right in front.

Arendt leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. A clear sneer appeared on his lips.

“No, not the amount.”

“What the hell are you talking about? Speak clearly!”

Finally, the man could no longer bear it any longer and shouted.

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

In response to the request, Arendt shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

“The gold and jewels I gave you guys. About half of them are fake.”

“…”

There was a silence that felt like ice water had been poured over them. Arendt’s words were not immediately understood.

“It was a bit elaborate, wasn’t it? But I didn’t expect you to notice it so easily. It’ll be a problem if you don’t retrieve it quickly, right?”

The money Arendt had brought himself had already run out. He gave handfuls to the employees who delivered the food, and he spent money lavishly when he played roulette outside.

Due to the nature of these places, money does not pile up in one place, but passes through many hands. It goes from the customer to the host, and then into the pocket of another customer.

The customer orders drinks and food, then hands the money over to the waiter… and then gambles on another round, winning and losing money.

This meant that counterfeit gold coins had already begun circulating inside the casino.

Their faces turned pale as they realized the situation a beat late.

For several hours there was no word from Arendt.

Even when he dozed off for a moment due to boredom that overcame the tension and woke up again, the situation was still the same.

Saif woke up, wiping his spit and looked around.

Arthur was still sitting upright on the sofa, not having moved an inch.

“…”

An awkward silence followed in the room where only the two of them were.

He’d rather just sleep through it all, Saif thought, glancing around and staring into the air, his hands wriggling in a way that didn’t suit his large body.

Finally, Arthur, unable to stand it any longer, broke the silence.

“Just stay still! I’m going crazy.”

“Oh, sorry, I’m sorry.”

Saif, startled and froze again, like a stone statue that had been roughly placed on the sofa.

Arthur sighed deeply and pressed his temples.

‘Yeah… what crime did this guy commit?’

If there was any fault, it must lie with Arendt, who created this situation.

Saif, who had been glancing at him as he sighed deeply, asked cautiously.

“Is that… is it okay?”

“What.”

“Leaving him alone. He doesn’t seem like a normal crazy person.”

“…”

It was clearly an insult to his colleague, but it was too bad that he couldn’t refute it. Arthur scratched his head nervously for no reason.

“Just leave him alone. What do you want me to do now?”

“I don’t think it’s normal to just leave him alone.”

“Shut up, you idiot. I’ve been trying my best to eavesdrop on them for a while now, so shut up.”

Saif, who was about to ask if that was possible, soon followed Arthur’s words and just shut his mouth. This was because he realized how stupid the question he was about to ask was.

It’s possible. He was part of the Imperial Knights.

As the surroundings became quiet again, Arthur sharpened his senses again, drawing on his magic power.

At least, nothing seemed to be happening so far. Judging from the employees constantly bringing drinks and food, the gambling tables seemed to be moving along quite quickly.

Considering that he could sometimes hear Arendt’s irritated voice… it seemed like things were going well for him internally.

It was a funny thing to think about; to guess that things were going well just from the discontented, displeased voice.

It was because he now knew that even if there was a wall blocking his way, instead of getting angry or showing his emotions, Arendt would calmly think about it and come up with all sorts of outrageous solutions.

So it was clear that even that nervous scream was fabricated.

As Saif, crushed by impatience and boredom, kept picking up and putting down the snacks placed in front of him, Arthur’s eyebrows rose.

And after a while.

Bam!

This time, a loud noise erupted that even Saif could hear.

Saif raised his head with a start.

“What, what is it?”

Arthur sighed deeply and wiped his face.

“Haaah… What else could it be? It’s the sound of someone causing trouble.”

“Yes?”

Boom, wooooong!

In the meantime, the commotion continued and then it suddenly became quiet.

Arthur muttered complicatedly.

“So this was the plan from the beginning.”

As if those words were a signal, the door that had been quietly shut opened violently as if the person outside was going to tear things apart.

As the terrified Saif abruptly sat up, a group of vicious mercenaries poured into the room.

“What, what is it? What’s going on?”

“You’d better follow along. You don’t want to see your idiot employer’s neck fall off.”

Merlin, with a blue bruise on his eye, appeared between the mercenaries who were standing still as if ready to rush in at any moment.

“Haaaaaah…”

That bruise must have been made by Arendt himself. Arthur put his hand on his forehead and sighed deeply.

He wanted to shout at the crazy guy who created this situation in half a day.

Very earnestly.

The knights were reunited again, locked in a prison on the lowest floor of the gambling house.

Merlin, who had finally dragged Richt in, threw him into the prison cell, and immediately slammed the iron bars shut and locked it.

“I’ll tell you in advance, you shouldn’t even think about getting out safely. You’re a worthless brat.”

“Yes, yes. Good luck~.”

Arendt waved his hand indifferently.

Merlin spat on the floor and led the mercenaries out of the prison. The sound of him cursing could be heard from afar.

“Stop the roulette immediately! We have to find the fake gold coins, even if it takes days and nights! Otherwise, we’re all dead!”

“…”

With just that one sentence, the knights were able to grasp the general situation. Their astonished eyes were fixed on Arendt.

Towards those seniors, Arendt gave them a thumbs up with a blank expression on his face.

“Operation successful.”

“What kind of success…”

Glenn licked his lips in a daze. His eyes gradually came into focus. The other knights did the same.

They knew it wasn’t not the time, but they also knew that the current situation did not allow for any room to judge who was right or wrong.

But they couldn’t stand it.

“What kind of fucking success is this, you idiot!”

Starting with Glenn’s scream, everyone rushed to grab Arendt by the collar.