Reborn as the Failed Lord with my Resource Gathering System.

Bang! Bang!

The sudden knock on the door drew the attention of everyone.

Even Maria, who had been pretending to be asleep, opened her eyes slightly and moved them towards the door.

Before anyone could ask who it was, the doorknob twisted as it slowly opened.

That was when they saw her, Ishtar, walking into the room by herself.

Upon seeing her, Dorian looked to the side after the system window appeared.

[Do not forget your pact has been answered as the winner.]

'Since when do you care what I forget.'

[...]

'...'

"Lady Ishtar, I am glad to see you awake and well. I can also see your bodyguard is not with you as well." Seraphina took it upon herself to speak first, standing to her feet and remaining at the side.

"Lord Aurelian did give me a good beating in there; I am more surprised I am even awake. And regarding Killa, for some reason he kept insisting on staying outside; I think he might just be shy."

Seraphina giggled nervously in response, having a faint idea as to why Killa would stand outside rather than coming in.

That was when Dorian chimed in—

"I believe I won the duel, no?" he asked, his face etched with total seriousness.

Ishtar stared at him for a while.

"I believe so. As much as it pains me, I must admit, I lost."

"Is that so…"

Dorian raised a finger.

"So just to be sure, as followed by the pact, I can ask you for anything, and you would do it without a second thought, no?"

Ishtar struggled to make herself answer that. "Y-yes," she replied. "If I am to go against that, then I would be punished by the God of Gamble."

"What type of punishment?" Seraphina asked, "I have not seen anyone choose to break the rules of a pact, so I am quite curious."

"It's more of a curse if anything. No one knows what the curse could be," Ishtar replied, sitting down on the corner of the bed. "It could be a curse of bad luck, or perhaps a curse to never walk out in the sun again; no one knows what kind of curse the God of Gamble could place on you."

She continued,

"That said, people tend to go for shorter pacts for the sole reason of running away from the God of Gamble's vision. The longer the pact, the more chances the God of Gamble would take a liking to you, and no one wants that."

Dorian froze up. Even without her having to say anything, he understood where she was going with it.

His pact was literally for her to always grant any of his wishes; a pact that, long-term, is not something anyone could easily ignore.

Then again, Ishtar's pact was also quite the same since she asked for him to become her slave upon winning, so would one really consider the God of Gamble to have feared that?

Gulp.

"And what happens with longer pacts?" he asked, purely out of curiosity.

Ishtar leaned back a bit before replying.

"I have mostly ever heard stories, like a man who made a bet to make another woman his concubine; after a year, he started to realize he was at the center of faith, and good things happened to him, at the cost of another tragic accident. Basically, every decision he made was a gamble. Which indicated the God of Gamble had taken a liking to him."

"Dude!" Dorian leaned forward, lifting his hand from Maria's head. "Why didn't you tell me this before I made my damn pact?!"

When she noticed Dorian's hand was no longer on her head, Maria buried her face in the bed, hiding her upset expression.

Of course, Seraphina caught sight of this and could only feel pity in that moment.

"Eh? What do you mean? The God of Gamble clearly has a liking for you; I assume you must have made a long-term pact in the past. Eh? Was I wrong?" Ishtar raised her brow slightly.

"yehh, eyah, eyah!" Dorian shook his head while waving his hand, "This is the first time I am playing this stupid pact; I have only ever heard about it, nothing more. And how do you even know the God of Gamble has taken any liking to me? Why didn't you tell me this either?!"

"I am quite curious about that as well," Seraphina uttered, moving closer to Dorian.

Maria, on the other hand, was still trying to figure out a way she could get Dorian's hand back on her head.

Ishtar was quite confused; she had assumed Dorian was aware of this, which was why he took such a huge risk making the pact to begin with.

She sighed.

"That's how it is. I must have jumped to conclusions on my own. Then again, the evidence speaks against that." She raised her hand a bit, with her palm open.

"Remember the strong object that appeared after we made our individual pacts? Yours was probably the biggest I have ever seen from anyone, which hints at the fact that the God of Gamble holds you in high regard."

Dorian turned his gaze down, staring blankly at his palm.

When his pact formed, a part of him wondered why it was far bigger than Ishtar's. Considering it was the first time he was playing it, it ought to be smaller.

Could he have possibly played it in the past? If so, he should at least have a memory of it.

He sighed.

"That explains my luck, I guess," Dorian blurted out. "So what you're saying is, I made a pact with someone in the past, won, and then got favored by the god of gamble."

The room fell silent for a while; questions bubbled up in everyone's mind, but no one knew if they should ask them or not.

At the end, Ishtar moved forward, her hands positioned on both sides of Dorian's legs while her face was dangerously close to his.

"Let's leave that for a second. I believe there is something you need from me, isn't there? Go on, make your first wish."

Her voice was laced with hypnotism, almost like she was urging him to say something she wanted from the wish.

...

[A/N]

Golden ticket? Dragon? magic castle? This author humbly asked with his face glowing shamelessly.