"… I lost again. You're incredible, master hunter," a player exclaimed as he pushed his cards away. "I think that's it for me."

"Me too," said another player. The third one just nodded. They stood up simultaneously, ready to make me fifty denicas richer and call the game that had lasted an hour to an end.

"Oh, come on, kids. You still have a chance to avenge your losses. Maybe I'll even play with a handicap," I said, smiling widely in apparent excitement.

"Thanks for the offer, old man, but we're already broke," the second one said and walked away. I sighed, looking around like I was being starved.

Still, as I watched them leave, I was impressed. It was the first time since I had arrived that someone was trying to pull a decent scam. We had been playing for the last hour, where I had maintained the skill level of an enthusiastic amateur with some poor decision-making.

They could have cleaned a part of my fortune and called it a day. Instead, they had let me win in a way that made tonight one of the fabled hot nights for a gambler, whetting my appetite for more. They had done so, because you couldn't just convince a gambler to lose more after big losses. First, you needed to convince them that their luck had returned.

At the same time, I had noticed multiple people watching me. The first thing they checked was my wealth, so while I was paying, I made sure to show them I had been carrying a lot of money, worthy of being targeted by a two-pronged operation.

The second thing they paid a lot of attention to was my playing style and my emotions, no doubt trying to make sure that I was a genuine amateur player and not a card shark who was trying to pull the same trick on them.

I had a professional appreciation for their competence. It was a good ploy.

Too bad, then, that they had targeted me.

Once they left, I looked at all the other tables wistfully before turning back to eat my dinner, which had already turned cold, forgotten during the intense game, waiting for the next step to arrive.

I decided to put my time off to good use. People outside were scared of talking about the recent events, but the same didn't apply to the guests here. After several drinks, people had much looser lips as they discussed the battle confidently.

It turned even more effective as I played with their emotions through Charisma, making people feel more confident.

The gossip mentioned a lot of knights and several priests by name. I didn't recognize all of them, but the ones I recognized were somewhat famous among the Kingdoms. Their names were whispered together with the mentions of failure and injuries, some even linked with death.

Apparently, Somaton had put a shocking bounty on the head of my rescued warrior. The official explanation was that he was a traitor who had sabotaged a flying castle, but the lack of details alone made it obvious that it was a cover story.

Unfortunately, they were more interested in the number of defeated and deceased than theorizing about what was really going on, and no amount of emotional manipulation could have changed that.

Still, even those scraps had been useful. The gossip that had been going on gave me a rough idea about the strength of those people. And, after remotely improving the life elevation of my new recruit to the limit, giving him enough experience to push him over level ninety, he was strong enough to kill far more knights.

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It told me that he wasn't a hothead who would throw his life away just because he was drunk with power. Not the greatest nugget of information, and it could imply many things from a Machiavellian practicality to excessive mercy, but every little bit was of use.

Other than that, the gossip had been mostly about the military presence and the possibility of war, but most people seemed to accept the war was not likely to spark at the border.

The waiter that greeted me first visited me five minutes after the others had left, giving me enough time to get bored, but not enough for my supposed gambling high to fade away. "The game ended, master hunter?" he asked.

"Unfortunately," I said with a shrug. "That's what I get for playing with a bunch of kids. They ran away just when the game was getting interesting…"

The waiter listened as I bemoaned about the misfortune, humming and nodding to goad me even further before finally interrupting me. "Well, sir. We do have a more serious game downstairs if you wish to join," he said.

"Of course," I answered.

"However, I have to warn you, the buy-ins are a bit higher," he added. I looked at him questioningly. "Two thousand denicas," he said.

I frowned. "That's a problem. I don't walk around with that much silver," I said. "Do you take skills or monster parts as a guarantee?"

"We do, sir. However, since we don't have someone to identify them properly, we pawn them with a small discount. I hope that's not a problem."

"I can just go and sell them," I argued despite knowing his exact reply.

He gave me an insincere smile. "Unfortunately, master hunter, the curfew is already in effect. You can't go out now. But, there'll be another game tomorrow."

I paused in apparent indecision, like I was trying to resist a Charisma-backed order. Gambling addiction was no joke. "Alright," I muttered in defeat, then continued with an excited voice. "I can take the items back as long as I win, right?"

"Except a small fee," he interjected, his voice oily as he started walking, desperate to make me skip the follow-up question. Another trick of a shady gambling den. Even if I win, they could hit me with a higher exchange rate to make up for the loss.

He led me to the second floor, which was decorated even more garishly with items that looked far more expensive than they actually were. There were only three tables, each filled with local high-stakes gamblers.

The way they looked at me was not too different from a starving man looking at a piece of steak.

What was going on was clear. The inn was doing a favor for their regular gamblers by leading a weak amateur among them to be drained, making sure that not only did they enjoy gambling, but also that they continued winning.

A nice trick, as I could see two official knights and five guard captains among the twenty players. And, having them meant that the inn couldn't be shaken down by opportunistic guards like the ones that tried to jostle me at the entrance.

However, my interest was caught by the corner table, where sat a middle-aged man with understated yet expensive clothes. None of the guard captains even dared to make eye contact with him, while one of the knights that was sitting at his table had a respectful expression whenever he spoke with him.

He was most likely a minor noble, who might know more about exactly what had been going on.

I was tempted to push myself onto that table, but it would be too suspicious. Instead, I looked at the waiter. "We have three tables, master hunter, but for different buy-in amounts."

"Explain," I said, wondering exactly what he was trying to bait me for.

"Well, the first table has a buy-in of two thousand, while the middle table has a buy-in of five thousand. Lastly, the table at the corner is for our most exalted guests, and it requires … twenty thousand denicas."

As he gave that last number, his gaze dipped down, taking a note of my magic sword, thinking that he had managed to keep his greed hidden.

Technically, twenty thousand denicas were overpaying for a magic sword, but I could understand where he was coming from. The market for the mana-forged weapons was weird, particularly for people without connections. The blacksmiths that could forge such weapons were already rare — mostly due to many artificial restrictions the nobles and churches applied to keep their power concentrated — and the restrictions on the shops about who could purchase them made it even harder.

As a consequence, they were expensive but easier to acquire in second-hand markets.

I was tempted to take the bait immediately, but it would be too much. "The two-thousand table would do for now," I answered and arranged pawning of a few expert skills and some healing pellets in my possession, roughly worth three thousand denicas.

Yet, even after screwing me up with more than a thousand denicas, the waiter still looked disappointed. Greed truly had no end.

I walked toward the first table, acting like I didn't notice his ploy. "Let's play some games."