The atmosphere in the casino had long been transformed from its pleasant mix of joy and frustration to utmost horror. Ecniro didn't play games. His free time was not spent throwing money away in bets. He was here for business. The previous murmur of dozens of conversations being carried out at once was now but a flow of whispers. Some tables even paused their games as the participants could barely focus. Even the staff members were suddenly much slower and their shaking hands proved quite a problem when it came to shuffling cards or rolling dice. Even at Kard's table, nobody dared to say more than the few words necessary to continue the game.

A couple of minutes passed with nothing happening and so people were slowly getting ideas. Some were smart, such as simply continuing their games, since they had nothing to fear. Others, however, quickly began recalling all the bad deeds they'd done in the past couple of weeks. The collective list of sins of everyone in the establishment would require the longest parchment in the world. Fear was gnawing at those with even a slightly tainted conscience, which was, in all honesty, a vast majority of the people.

A middle-aged man quietly stood up from his chair, leaving all his money on the table. Better alive and poor than dead with all his coins. His steps were silent as he carefully tiptoed to the main entrance. The assassin was sitting with his back turned to the door, so there was no way he could–

"Please," Ecniro broke the aura of whispers that surrounded the place. "Don't run." He got up from his chair and faced the man. "At what table were you? Hmm? Would you tell me?"

The man raised his quivering hand and pointed to a nearby seat.

"Ah, poker. Classic. Excellent choice." Ecniro approached him and put his hand on the man's shoulder. "Now, would you be so kind and go sit down again? Please?"

He spoke as anyone else would. Perhaps even nicer. There was no sign of malice in his voice. Not a single raised tone. Not a hint of anger or aggression. He was speaking as if he was simply just a man doing his work. A work which he loved wholeheartedly.

"Now, shall we get the cat out of the bag?" He spoke, addressing the whole casino. "I know you are all afraid of me. Understandable. I will not try to persuade you to be calm. Some of you have already guessed that I am not here simply for fun. Indeed, one of you is going to die today. However, I cannot tell you who. And that is not just me being mean, I do not know myself. You see, Fromule, the owner of this lovely establishment, has taken notice that someone has been cheating around here."

A drop of cold sweat slid down Kard's forehead. He knew Moric looked at him, but he decided not to return the gaze. Any small slip could've been their end now.

"We don't know who exactly it is, so I will need everyone to remain in their seats until I resolve this. You can try to run, of course, but the bouncers outside are making sure nobody gets out, so it's really up to you if you want to risk it. If you play fair, then you can relax. Lean back, order some drinks, and have fun. If not, well, I would urge you to come forth now to save us all some time, but let's be honest, you will not do that. So please, try to hide as best as you can. Consider it a game of risk with some high stakes, hmm?" He gave everyone a closing smile and then returned to his table. Three rounds of Cauldrons have been played, spanning a total of over ten minutes. During this time, Kard felt as if he was the one thrown into a cauldron. Every inch of his body was itching, yet he feared to let even the slightest twitch give away what he knew.

"Kard?" Ecniro spoke, sending a wave of shivers down his spine.

"Y-Yes?"

"I should admit, I didn't sit down at this table by accident."

Moric's heartbeat flew through the roof. He considered running away, but his legs simply weren't willing to obey.

"Then why are you here?" Kard spoke, his voice made faint even with all the willpower he used to keep it from trembling.

"Well, I hate to say it." The pause between his two sentences was not unusually long, but to the people at the table, it felt like an eternity spent in a hot cell, waiting for their execution. "I need your assistance, Kard."

"A-Assistance?"

"Yes. I know you're a regular. Heard you come here every other day."

"Well... I do play, sometimes, yes."

"Good, good. Then can you help me out? I barely know some of the games played here so it will take me ages before the cheater makes a mistake. But you seem quite knowledgable."

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"W-Why should I?" Kard said, much to Moric's horror. "You don't w-work for free, no?"

Ecniro smiled. "Of course not. I wouldn't ask for it without some reward for you." He reached into his long black coat and pulled out a tiny rolled-up piece of paper. "Here. I can offer you this much as a reward."

Kard's eyes widened when he saw the number 300.

"Silver?"

"Gold."

"Gold?"

"Exactly," Ecniro took the paper from him and showed it in his mouth. "Hey, don't give me that look, I need to destroy it somehow."

"So much money. Then your commission cost–"

"About three times as much."

"R-Really? Well, see, nephew, this is exactly what I was talking about. Some people are just willing to pay a lot of money to have someone killed." Kard said, trying to keep his anger on a leash.

"I don't believe we've met," Ecniro eyed Moric.

"Come on. Don't be shy. Introduce yourself," Kard told him.

"M-Moric," he said and put forth his hand.

"Ecniro. Pleased to meet you. New here?"

"Y-Yes."

"I see. Nephew, you said? I thought you were an only child, Kard."

"I am. He is like... umm... my mom's sister's grandchild. Complicated family and all that. I just call him my nephew."

"Oh, I see. Convenient. Much easier this way. So, may I ask for your help then?"

"S-Sure. I'll try my best."

Moric suddenly stood up, much to the horror of Kard.

"Something the matter?" Ecniro asked.

"I need to use the bathroom. I..." he desperately looked through his mind for the right excuse. "I have drugs."

Kard's eyes widened.

"I really gotta take some, man. K-Kard, wanna have a line with me?" He reached into his pocket, which was the source of his coins all night, and pulled out a small bag with unknown powder.

Kard blinked a few times before he finally started to catch on. "Well... Sure, I guess if we're gonna be here a while, might as well have some." He stood up but briefly turned back to the rest of the table. "Just don't tell my wife." He winked at the others, even getting a slight chuckle out of Ecniro.

"Are we followed?" Moric asked the moment the restroom door closed behind them and they checked that none of the stalls would be hiding an undesired eavesdropper.

"I don't think so," Kard assured him after a brief look through the keyhole. "I assume the drugs were–"

"An illusion. I stay away from that stuff."

"So do I."

"I really wanted some privacy. You think that was suspicious? I saw someone do drugs in the bathroom of the pub, so it didn't seem so unusual."

"Many people take them. Nobody here really cares. We usually don't ask others to come with us though. But I don't think he's onto us. Fortunately, I know that guy. Was my father's friend. That gives us a bit of an advantage."

"Do you think we're gonna be here long?"

"Considering he is looking for you, you should hope that we'll be here for ages."

"Damn it!" the young wizard swore and kept shifting weight from one leg to the other.

"You wanna have a leak or something?"

"No. It's the spell. I've been stretching myself thin."

"What do you mean?"

"Too many fake coins are moving around this place. I'm not sure I can keep them transformed for much longer."

"Are you fucking kidding me? So you're saying this casino contains the most dangerous assassin in New Phoenix, who is looking for a local cheater, and all your coins are about to become rocks again?" Kard growled.

"Y-Yes?"

"What is stopping me from simply telling them the truth and throwing you under the bus?"

"Kindness of your heart?"

Kard lunged at him, grabbing the man by the collar of his tunic and pressing him against the wall. "Is this funny to you? That man can kill us both!"

"Okay, okay, maybe this would be in your best interest too."

"What are you talking about?"

"You really think that man isn't going to piece it together that you were trying to help me? What will you tell him? That the whole thing about us being related was your cover story? You will be just as guilty as I am! A-And I'll... I'll be sure to tell him everything. You throw me under the bus and I'll take you with me!"

Kard frowned. He wanted nothing but to turn back time to the night they found Moric and to never bring him home in the first place. "Fine, you little blackmailer. What the hell do you want me to do?"

"You must collect the coins I spent."

"Collect?"

"By collect I pretty much mean steal."

"You want me to dance around the casino, stealing coins, in front of everyone else, while there's an assassin lurking about the place?" he hissed out.

"I know, I know, sounds terrible, but listen, it makes perfect sense. You can claim that you are looking for the cheater, while in reality, you will just be looking for my coins. I can make the illusions have some details that will make them easy to spot."

Kard rolled his eyes. The amount of trouble this man brought him was worse than anything his profession would cause in a whole year.

"Fine, I'll help you out, but you'll shut up, sit down, and won't do anything to make it worse, okay?"

"O-Okay, I promise!"

"And when this is over, we're through. I want you out of this city. Out of this mess. If not, I will gladly kill you myself!"

Kard led the man outside, making a face that looked like he was about to sneeze. Moric didn't need convincing to do the same, even though his acting skills clearly haven't been as refined by the years of living in New Phoenix.

"Kard! Finally. So, feeling pumped up?" Ecniro asked as soon as they came back to the table.

"Oh yes! Let's go catch some cheaters!"

"Alright, I'll search the left side of the room, you'll get the right. The sooner I get this person, the sooner we'll all go home."

"M-Maybe Kard should take the left side instead?" Moric inserted himself into the conversation, much to Kard's dislike. "I-I think I saw some people... umm... like doing gestures that could be like... tricks and stuff?"

Kard clenched his fist under the table. He knew exactly what the man was telling him. Most of the coins were on the left side of the casino, in the area with the more traditional and simple games.

"Would you mind?" Kard asked Ecniro.

"Not at all. It doesn't really matter who investigates where, as long as we find them."