As Raymond became engrossed in the casino game, Solen, who had entered the room, chuckled.
"How's he doing? Does he seem to be doing okay?"
"Yeah, it's his first time gambling and he seems to be hooked. How much do you want to work with?"
"All 100,000 I agreed to lend him today."
"...!"
The henchman stared in amazement.
"Don't you think working that much money at once might get you into trouble?"
"Don't mind it. That bastard could kick a tin can while gambling and still not be able to talk straight."
Solen laughed meanly.
He would never let another nobleman get away with this kind of behavior.
For fear of repercussions.
But there was no reason to not look down on the lowly bastard.
"If you do your job properly today, I'll let you enjoy whatever you want."
"I understand, it's not a job to strip a naive bastard like that, hehe. If it doesn't work, I'll slip him some drugged water."
As the orderly left the room, Solen let out a mean laugh.
***
Meanwhile, Raymond was gambling happily.
'It's easy to gamble, isn't it? I keep winning.'
By now, Raymond had won 30,000 pence.
'Should I have tried it?'
The thought crossed his mind, but he quickly snapped out of it.
In the distance, a masked woman glared at him.
It was Christine.
Her eyes seemed to say:
-Wake up!
'Ahem, ahem.'
Raymond coughed in vain.
With so much money changing hands in front of him, it was hard to keep a straight face.
'Let's get a grip. At this rate, far from catching Solen, I'm going to get eaten.'
The trickle of alcohol was also a problem. Raymond decided not to drag it out any longer.
"I can't take this. I'm feeling like a little kid. Do you have anything hotter?"
The casino employee's eyes lit up.
"We have a game for VIPs only. It's a game where there's no limit to the amount you can bet, and if you're lucky, you can win up to 50 times your stake."
"Fifty times?"
"If the jackpot is hit, we guarantee a 50x return. It's a long shot, of course, but you never know, you might get that lucky."
Raymond smiled pleasantly. And so the game began.
The VIP game was played by Solen himself.
After a few wins, a few losses, and a tense atmosphere.
Solen gestured to his henchman.
'Get the tools.'
Tools.
Scamming tool that would get Raymond in trouble.
"Haha, I'm feeling pretty good today, playing with such a great guy. Here's a new card."
After checking his hand, Raymond makes an unexpected move.
"All in."
He put all his money on the line!
"...!"
Solen was stunned.
'No, how could he be so stupid?'
The card that had just been dealt was a specially treated card, and Raymond was guaranteed to lose, but all in?
'Hmph. It's so easy to end up like this.'
Stifling a laugh, Solen was about to reveal his cards.
"Wait a minute. Is it true that the jackpot pays out 50 times the amount if you win?"
"Yes, it is. Why do you ask?"
Solen sneered.
Now, this guy's going to end up on the street, he didn't care about jackpots!
But then Raymond's next words sent a chill down his spine.
"Then I suppose you'll pay the same fifty times if you're caught in the act, according to Imperial law on gambling."
"...!"
Solen's face turned white as he realized something was wrong.
He tried to flip the board, but Raymond was a step ahead of him!
"Look, everybody! He's cheating!"
The sudden shout sent the room into an uproar.
"No, what nonsense are you talking about, Baronet! Gentlemen, there seems to be a misunderstanding here, and you must retire the board."
He quickly tried to destroy the evidence, but it was too late.
With a whimper, someone stood up and removed their mask.
It was Rao, the dandy with the one-eyed glasses!
"Wait! Stop moving! Don't move!"
Rao looked around as if he had 'accidentally' witnessed this situation.
"I don't know if you know, but since I've witnessed this with my own eyes, as a kingdom official, I can't help but step in. With the authority of a high-ranking official, I'll seize and search the scene."
"What, what...!"
Solen jumped up and down, but it was no use.
Besides, Rao hadn't come alone.
"Heh. I was wondering why little Rao wanted to go to the casino, but now I'm facing all these incidents."
"Let's check it out."
Rao's administrative colleagues threw their hands up in the air.
"No, no, no! What's going on?!"
Solen felt like he was having a nightmare.
The scam had been spotted, and senior administration officials had shown up just in time?
'What the hell, how?'
Of course, only Raymond knew the answer.
[You are using Magic: Eagle Eye!]
[Your skill level is A!]
[You are able to make 'clear observations'!]
Clear observation.
It was like looking through a microscope and seeing the slightest detail. It allowed him to spot fraudulent tools that he would never have seen otherwise.
'Thank goodness Solen made the move I expected.'
Raymond had come up with the plan because he knew that if he fell into the casino, Solen would try to rip him off with a scam.
'Thanks to him seeing me as a pushover, the plan worked, and now it's all over.'
If you're caught cheating, you have to pay 50 times the stake.
The former emperor. The law was enacted by the Great Emperor, who represented the entirety of the Twelve Allied Empires, so there were no exceptions.
'The stake was 130,000 pence, so 50 times!'
Raymond's head spun. It didn't add up.
"There's a chalcopyrite in the card!"
"Mr. Solen, I am arresting you for fraud and deceit!"
Solen gritted his teeth, a wicked man who had seen it all.
He didn't kneel down.
"You are mistaken! I have never committed fraud!"
"Then what's with all this silica?"
"It's just a specially processed card. I've never cheated with it! It's just a bastard's insistence!"
Solen snapped at Raymond.
"You're trying to frame me for something that doesn't even make sense! Do you think they're going to believe a filthy bastard?"
But a voice shut him up.
"Do you take us for fools, expecting us to believe your ridiculous claims?"
Black hair, deep, clear blue eyes.
Dazzlingly beautiful.
But a voice that was chillingly hushed.
It was Christine!
She stared at Solen with cold eyes.
"Your fraud is no doubt responsible for my brother's losses at this casino. How dare you defraud Duke Laverne. You want to die, don't you?"
Christine's eyes narrowed in disdain.
This was a completely different mood from the one he'd seen in the healing center.
Solen shuddered at the commanding tone of his voice.
"Ah, no, my lady, I have never defrauded the Great Prince of Laverne!"
"Then why did my brother lose so much money?"
"That, that.. Prince Alfred bet too much and lost..."
"Ha! To think that even under these circumstances you would still try to defeat Laverne. You must be worth ten lives."
Raymond inwardly admired her.
'Well done...'
He'd asked her to do it, but he hadn't expected her to do it so well.
It was the queen's (?) style to do something so well. He felt like he'd be punished if he got it wrong later.
'... I have to do it well so I don't get punished.'
It didn't end there.
Christine's interruption brought the other nobles to their feet.
"Fraudulent gambling?"
"Then what about all the money I've lost? Was it all a scam?"
They had lost quite a bit of money.
They were ready to tear Solen apart at a moment's notice.
Of course, they hadn't been scammed, but they were taking out their anger on him.
"No, gentlemen, I'm serious!"
It was no use.
No one believed him.
"Follow me!"
The soldiers rushed in and dragged Solen roughly away.
He was now utterly doomed.
***
[The quest has been fulfilled!]
[Bonus level up!]
[Bonus level up!]
[Gained 30 skill points!]
But Raymond didn't hear the message.
'I'm super rich now!'
That was all he could think about.
He fell asleep drunk with joy, and woke up the next day to the sound of a deafening crash.
"What? Solen actually knew?"
What kind of bad joke was this?! The financier Rao had introduced him to smiled awkwardly.
"I wouldn't go so far as to say he knew, but I guess he's a lightweight. The debt was more severe than I thought, and he had very little cash assets, which is probably why he was trying to scam you, Baronet."
"Why?"
"He had recently been trying to open a new casino in the capital, and it seems that he had put all his money into it."
Raymond's mouth dropped open.
"T-that's still ridiculous... that someone so rich has no money at all..."
"He doesn't have zero wealth, no, he just doesn't have cash, but he has tons of other forms of wealth."
"That's right!"
Raymond gave him an alive look on his face.
"But here's the thing..."
The treasurer paused.
"It's all bond rights."
"What?"
"They're bond rights to the money he lent to the commoners at very high-interest rates. With the compounded interest to receive... It's an enormous amount of money."
The usury that made his patients weep. It wasn't just patients, but many other desperate people who fell prey to Solen and fell into debt.
"In accordance with the imperial laws enacted by His Majesty the Great Emperor on gambling, all of Solen's property has been seized, and you have the right to collect the money."
"..."
"What will you do?"
Raymond clenched his jaw.
***
The incident caused a stir in the capital. Those who heard the story frowned.
"Solen, you say he was caught cheating?"
"He was caught in front of all the nobles, and now they say he's completely ruined, which makes me feel good."
"That's right, a scoundrel like that deserves to be punished."
True to their word, the incident ruined Solen's life.
He would rot in prison for the rest of his life.
"But how did they find out he was cheating? He doesn't seem like a nice guy."
"Baronet Penin found out."
"Baronet Penin? Isn't he the head of the Penin Clinic, the one who's so good to his patients?"
The commoners rolled their eyes at the name.
"Why would such a man go to a casino?"
"I don't know exactly, but it's said he was there to uncover the scam that was Solen's from the beginning."
"Hehe! Is that true?"
"Yes. How many patients has he stabbed in the back over the years, and he was so angry about it that he went into the casino?"
"Yeah, yeah, that's what I heard, too. "I'll avenge my patient's death!" he said, barging in."
The word was out among the commoners, and once again Raymond's reputation had soared.