NOVEL NEXT Volume 8 16
When I went to exchange monsters with Stolas, we had talked about how the [Dragon] Demon Lord was starting to distribute his monsters and assets before his remaining time was up. So, before it was too late, I thought we should go eat and drink at least once.
However...
"I didn’t expect to have that chance so soon."
"...Sorry about this, Procell. Yesterday, he just came to my dungeon and said we should go to yours. I did try to tell him to not go as that will be a bother to you, but he just won’t listen."
[Wind] Demon Lord Stolas, my ally and friend, said so with an apologetic look on her face.
In contrast with her, [Dragon] Demon Lord Astaroth had quite a merry look on his face instead of his usual serious countenance.
"So, this is Avalon’s casino, huh. Ooh, it’s giving me the chills."
"Ast, curb your enthusiasm. I don’t think I need to tell you that it’s inappropriate to be so excited."
Chiding the middle-aged Astaroth was the fine-looking young man, [Time] Demon Lord Dantalian.
"Dan, I’d say it’s more inappropriate to try to act cool and adult-like in a place like this. Besides, those clothes you’re wearing, aren’t you the one most excited?"
The [Time] Demon Lord was exquisitely dressed with a very stylish suit. It nicely complemented his beautiful and mature form.
And, to complete the line-up...
"Really, this kid. Why would you build such an amusing thing and not invite me? Can you imagine my surprise when I came and saw this?"
"...like I said countless of times before, don’t treat me like a child."
...was [Beast] Demon Lord Marchosias, the brown-skinned beauty with white wolf ears and white wolf tail.
Yes, all together in front of the casino were the three strongest Demon Lords.
"Procell, well, let’s save why we have come here for later. First, why don’t we enjoy your casino?"
"I didn’t have much choice in coming here as Ast’s chaperone, but being a wet blanket is another matter. So, I say, we go have fun... I hear you have Carulet and Banyatta here in your casino. Why don’t you show us those first?"
Dantalian seemed excited.
The Carulet he mentioned was a card game where the players try to build a winning hand. Much like poker, psychological warfare was vital to success in this game.
As for Banyatta, it was a dice game where players competed not against the dealer, but against other players. It was a very popular gambling game at the moment.
"Dan, you seem well-versed in gambling games."
"Only as much as someone with a small interest in it."
"...I see"
When talking with [Dragon] and [Time], I didn’t use honorifics anymore. Instead, I called them Ast and Dan respectively.
To save Marcho back then, I didn’t ask them for their help, I offered fair trades to them. Since then, the two had asked to not be addressed so formally.
"As for me, I want to see the flying dragon races first. I hear it’s the most popular one."
"Ohh, you have that kind of thing here? Well, as the [Dragon] Demon Lord, I have to go see that."
"Marcho, Ast, the next dragon race isn’t until two hours from now. Until then, why not play inside to your heart’s content? Dan seems to prefer that, and I think it’s better to be together."
Marcho and Astaroth laughed when I pointed out that Dantalian was already walking toward the casino.
These are very important guests. I have to do my best to please them.
◇
"Gahaha, Dan, this casino thing sure is fun"
"It’s just beginner’s luck. Don’t get carried away!"
"Fumu, despite calling yourself a first-class gambler, you’re just losing this whole time."
"It’s not over yet. It’s only just begun."
After enjoying card and dice games, they were now playing roulette.
Employing no strategy whatsoever except perhaps relying on blind luck, Ast had been winning bets one after the other. So much so that piles of chips had accumulated up in front him.
On the other hand, Dantalian was constantly losing. He observed, calculated, and predicted, but it ended up backfiring on him. Out of the many, many chips he bought, only one remained in front of him.
What an unlucky guy.
"Turn these to chips, please. All of it. I’m going to turn things around starting now!"
Dan took out a pouch full of gold coins from his breast pocket and handed it to a female staff member. Considering his luck, that was a terrible way of using money.
Anyway, there were various chips in use here in the Fafnir casino, and the ones Dan exchanged for were the highest valued ones: the platinum chips. Each platinum chip was worth 10 gold coins. To give an idea, 10 gold coins would be what a higher-ranking blue-collar worker would earn in a month in Avalon. It was a chip almost entirely for VIPs.
After receiving his platinum chips, he then placed 30 in one spot.
Two and a half years’ worth of salary wagered just like that. Unsurprisingly, the dealer and the staff members’ faces became somewhat stiff.
Nonetheless, the dealer had no choice but to spin the roulette.
"Dan, if you don’t mind my asking, how do you make money?"
I was slightly curious so I asked.
One way a Demon Lord could earn money was through gathering the belongings of the fallen adventurers that came to their dungeon. They would then place these items into chests and use that to lure even more adventurers, repeating the whole process.
Still, even for a dungeon as large as Dan’s, spending money like this should make a significant effect on his finances if that was his only means.
"There are lots of ways. Once you become a veteran Demon Lord, it’s easy get rooms like [Treasure Vault] and [Mine] rooms, and once you got one of those, money isn’t an issue anymore."
Dan said so as the dealer made clear no more bets could be placed.
I once read about the [Treasure Vault] room in the Demon Lord Book when I was checking out all the possible dungeon rooms I could install in my dungeon.
I wasn’t exactly able to verify it at the moment, but what I remembered about it was that it costed 500,000DP. Very expensive. As for its effects, it produced one treasure per week. The quality of the produced treasure depended on the Demon Lord’s level.
For 500,000DP, I could buy 4 [Maelstroms] for B rank monsters and still have some left-over DP. I had the opinion that it was foolish to spend that much DP just for some treasure.
But now that I think about it, to be able to make once a week a treasure that even a top-tier adventurer would risk their life for, a [Treasure Vault] room might actually be useful.
Just when my interest for the [Treasure Vault] had grown, the dealer began spinning the roulette. And so, around and around the ball went.
A first-class dealer would have been able to manipulate the outcome, but due to Dan’s absurd way of betting as well as his intimidating presence born from the belief that he would somehow win, the dealer was too overwhelmed to be able to.
So, Dan who originally couldn’t win now had a sliver of a chance.
After a while of nail-biting suspense for everyone involved, the ball stopped.
Looking at the result, the dealer’s face went ghastly pale.
Dantalian won.
Considering where Dan put his chips, his winnings amounted to 27 times the original amount.
I felt pity for the dealer. Because he let the casino lose an absurd amount of money, his earnings would most likely be significantly lower for several days.
All in all, it wasn’t such a big deal for the casino, but it was still enough for Conanna to give a stern lecture to the dealer later.
"Alright, a reversal! We’ve agreed to go drink until the dragon race begins, so this will have to be the last match. In other words, I’m the winner, Ast."
"...Psh, one fluke and the tables are turned. But don’t get ahead of yourself; there’s still the dragon race itself. This time, it’ll be my reversal. With my discerning eye for dragons, I think that one’s already my win."
"I do have dragons too, you know. You don’t have a monopoly of them or this discerning eye you’re talking about."
The two were really close. If I hadn’t known beforehand, there was no way I would have believed they weren’t talking with one another for more than a century.
While the two argued which of them was going to win, I noticed Marcho and Stolas weren’t in sight.
Maybe I should go look for them...
"Procell"
Astaroth called out to me.
Not in his merry-old-man-excited-about-the-casino voice, but in his majestic-veteran-Demon-Lord tone.
"As you might have already guessed, I came here today not just to play around. Procell, I value you. And that is why I want to entrust my dragons to you and Stolas. Fumu, let’s talk more after the flying dragon race. But Procell, what kind of Demon Lord do you want to be? You can tell me your answer later... until then, I’m gonna go drinking with Dan! The alcohol in Avalon really are delicious. I’m excited!"
Saying they wanted to recharge before the races begin, the two parted ways with me and headed to the tenant area in the second floor of the casino.
What kind of Demon Lord I want to be...? I probably should give a proper answer. I’m also curious as to what he meant with ’entrust my dragons to you and Stolas’.
While thinking what to answer, I began my search for Marcho and Stolas.