「…Myself?」

Straf asks, furrowing his brows.

「Yes. Win or lose, you only stand to gain money.」

The woman confirms with a light nod and a faint smile.

「…You mean like a fucking slave? Am I going to get sent to the coal mines if I lose?-」

Straf spreads his arms, narrowing an eye at the dealer in search for clues. The man shrugs in response. Oleander begins to giggle, covering half of her face with her sleeve.

「No, not quite like that… I just enjoy your company quite a lot, master, and I'd like a chance at prolonging it…」

Oleander replies as she lowers her hand back down to her lap. The dealer raises his brow at the two while he listens.

「…Just a few hours. Perhaps longer, if you'd like.」

She adds as she leans forward with a lowered voice, smiling while quite obviously allowing Straf to peek into her partially visible cleavage.

「Ahhhhhh… I have to say, master… You're really lucky. I envy you to have an opportunity like that. Tsk…」

The dealer chimes in as he sits down in a more casual pose, propping himself up on his hands behind his back. He clicks his tongue with a hint of bitter jealousy, turning his gaze aside.

Rubbing his chin, Straf looks down from the woman's cleavage to her coins.

《…Am I just wrong?… Could it be that my luck is just forcing me into a set result?…》

He thinks, staring at the mix of gold and silver coins from all the gamblers, including himself.

《…Wait, wouldn't that mean all my choices are just invalid? Does that mean it's all deterministic!? Do I even have free will in that case!?…》

Straf's eyes widen and his brows rise as he turns his gaze to the dealer, who returns a mildly confused grimace.

《…Nonono, that's bullshit. All my choices are mine, I own them. I am the derailed train. I am the airliner after a quadruple bird strike. I am the weird noise while speeding down a highway.》

With a determined and an annoyed look on his face, Straf lifts piercing gaze up to the woman. She recoils back a little, and her cheeks flush a little as she quickly breaks eye contact.

「I'll play.」

Straf declares with a serious face.

「A- Ahh… I'm glad. We will play until the either of us runs out of money. Whoever is left empty-handed, loses. As I said, even if you lose, I will return what I took from you.」

Oleander nods with a light smile, and explains. The dealer sits up straight again and takes his dice into his bare hand.

「Right. This will be interesting. As usual, win or lose, the money doesn't change hands if you bet on the same result. Let's have you say what you want to bet on before I roll, too…」

The dealer nods, chiming in as he points his cup at the two.

「…Let's make it so that you can only bet soundly divisible portions of your money, too. Meaning, no betting a single coin out of a whole pile of 'em. Has to be a fraction…」

He continues, spreading his hands with a shrug of his shoulders, grimacing slightly as he thinks.

「…I won't be keeping that rule very closely. What I mean is, just don't make this boring, alright?」

The dealer shrugs and admits, briefly looking at the two as he asks.

「Fair enough… Right, master?」

The woman asks, tilting her head with a smile. Straf lowers his chin into his thumb and finger, thinking for a brief moment.

「…Fine. Odds.」

Thump-Clink.

Straf replies, and drops down four silver coins, which leaves an easily divisible remainder in the pile.

「Evens.」

Clink…

The woman says with a quiet voice and a smile as she matches Straf's bet. The dealer nods, shows them the dice, and begins rattling his cup again…

…

Fifteen minutes later…

Straf is gritting his teeth, staring at his rapidly evaporating pile of coins, which has been reduced to a small handful now. Stripe is well aware of what is going on, watching her savings quickly change hands between Straf to the woman after multiple ill-fated rolls. Peeking out from beyond Cycelia, her golden eyes stare at the large pile in front of the woman, and the tiny handful in front of Straf.

《…I'm not going to get fucking railroaded into losing. Surely I can game the system by forcing bad luck by doing something stupid?》

Straf glares at the remaining silver coins, grimacing heavily.

「I don't mind if you want to play by single coins. I'm enjoying our duel quite a lot. I'll even double your bets-」

Clakk!…

The woman says with a soft smile, but Straf shoves his entire collection of coins out ahead.

「Ah.」「Odds.」

She utters out in soft, confused surprise. Straf crosses his arms and declares with a confident smirk on his face.

「…That's not a good idea, master. I think smaller amounts-」

「Nah, it's a great idea.」

Straf cuts the woman off with an amused huff. She and the dealer exchange glances. The dealer is confused with his brows raised, while the woman appears lightly troubled.

「…Very well. I'll take evens. I will double your bet… But perhaps I am the one who's about to lose?」

The woman quietly replies with a nod as she calmly places a coin after a coin to match Straf's bet, then double it. She lifts her eyes up, smiling at him.

「Yup. Definitely. I'm winning this one. I'm certain. No other way. Odds are just lucky. I'm going to keep betting odds no matter what from now on.」

With an almost sarcastic tone, Straf nods his head, grimacing with an unimpressed expression on his face.

「No, I think you misunderstood… I think you never intended to win, master… Are you too coy to say that you enjoyed your time with me?… Or perhaps you want an excuse for us to leave?」

Oleander gently shakes her head. She leans in with a sly smile, looking directly into Straf's frustrated eyes while revealing her cleavage again.

「Nah, I assure you, I want to win money. I'm going to win money and I'm going to win big.」

With a tight-lipped grimace on his face, Straf replies. The woman straightens out, tilting her head and blinking at him with minor confusion on her face.

「…I see. If you're that desperate for money, I will quadruple your bet then.」

Clink… Clink…

She shrugs, glancing at the dealer with a light smile on her face and begins stacking coins on top of each other, doubling the bet again.

「Tsk…」

The dealer clicks his tongue and shakes his head in frustration.

「…Are you ready, then? Can I roll?」

He asks, showing them the dice and the cup. Straf shrugs, and the woman nods.

Clack. Clukclukclunkclakclakclukclak…

The dealer sighs as he shakes the cup with an annoyed, tight-lipped grimace on his face and lacking the usual enthusiasm.

Fwumpf.

「…There. Get ready.」

He sighs out with a shrug, and grimaces at the two, who are staring at the cup. Stripe gulps nervously while staring at it with them, though it's hard to see from her spot.

「…And it's evens.」

The dealer remarks as he throws his hands up, sounding unimpressed, and almost annoyed, even. Stripe's jaw drops in a silent scream. Cycelia looks at Straf and the woman, tilting her head.

「What the fuck is this shit? But?…」

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Straf utters out, staring stares at the two and two with deep confusion and disbelief on his face. Instead of taking his winnings, the woman adds a few gold coins to Straf's pile.

「Looks like I've won, master…」

Oleander declares with a quiet, gleeful voice as she places coins in front of Straf. The amount in his pile is now roughly the same as before he started losing to the gambler woman.

「…Or perhaps I have lost? Doesn't matter either way. If that's the price to pay, I don't mind at all…」

She remarks, tilting her head with an almost knowing smile as Straf blinks at her face with a baffled look on his.

「…Do you have a room that we could use?」

The woman asks as she straightens out, turning her smiling face to the dealer, who is now lazily lying on his side, and appears rather annoyed with Straf's loss.

「Tsk… Y'can have the backroom… I guess…」

Losing all interest in the woman, Straf, and the game, he replies after clicking his tongue, scratching his chest and lazily looking at the ceiling towards nothing in particular.

「Thank you. Do you happen to have something to drink too? I'll pay you back.」

Oleander replies as she scoops up her earnings and threads her money string through their holes.

《…But I was literally trying to lose this time. Does this mean nothing I do matters? How far back does this go then?… The battle fortress? The Academy?… The fucking bunnies?》

Still confused, Straf does the same while thinking intensely with his brows furrowed.

「…Tsk… Yeaaah, there might be a bottle or two somewhere there.」

The dealer again clicks his tongue and replies with a sigh, shrugging his shoulders with his mouth aslant.

「Great… Shall we go then, master?」

The woman ties a knot on her string, slips the loop onto her arm, then holds her hand out for Straf to put his into.

《…Does this not matter too? Am I just fucked no matter what I do? Both in literal and figurative sense?》

Straf briefly blinks at her very soft, small, feminine hand, and puts his large one onto it. She grabs it with a smile and stands.

「Huh? Where are they going? Straf won that last one, right?」

Cycelia asks, turning her confused emerald eyes to Stripe as she watches the woman lead Straf into an adjacent room through a sliding door.

「…Enjoy yourself, master.」

The dealer calls out to Straf with an annoyed tone as Oleander slides the door behind them shut with a sly smirk.

「…N- No… He, um…」

Stripe lowers her blushing face as her golden eyes aimlessly dart around the woven mat floor.

「No?… But that woman gave him her money, didn't she? Was I seeing things?」

Cycelia asks the group, blinking her confused gaze at the rest.

「Indeed. I saw that too.」「Mhm, she did.」「Looked like it.」

Lily, Nona, and Greaves chime in, nodding their heads.

「…What's going on, then? Where did she take him?… And for what?」

Cycelia returns her eyes to Stripe, who is beginning to sweat and jitter while grimacing at the floor.

「H- He, uhh…」

Stripe gulps, stammering while Cycelia's face takes on a markedly more suspicious and concerned grimace.

《I'm going to hear it all too…》

With a tight-lipped grimace on her completely red face, Stripe grabs onto her woolly hat with her clawed hands, almost making her animal ears silhouette through it.

「…Stripe? What's going on? Why did they leave?」

Cycelia asks again, leaning in slightly.

《…How am I going to explain to them of all people that Straf is basically a prostitute now!?!》

Stripe screams in her mind, clenching her teeth while jiggling like jelly from sheer embarrassment…

…

Around the same time, in the gambling den's backroom…

「Please, have a seat… Allow me to serve you, master…」

The woman points her hand to a small, low, circular table in the cozy backroom. There is a shelf here, a chest of drawers here, a cabinet there, and even a simple ink painting of a flower hanging on the wall. Oleander walks up to the cabinet, opens it, and looks inside. Straf sits down, still deep in thought while the woman retrieves a ceramic bottle with a handwritten label, and two small cups from the cabinet. She places both on the table, and kneels down next to Straf.

「…Master, you seem rather bothered by your loss… Maybe a drink will help?」

She asks, showing Straf the white ceramic bottle in her hands with a smile on her inquisitively tilted face.

「Tsk… Fuck it, whatever… Not like it fuckin' matters…」

Straf shrugs and takes the cup, holding out for the woman to pour the contents of the bottle. She leans in, pressing her shoulder against Straf's.

「Exactly, master… It's just a game… If you're still feeling down, I have something planned that might make you feel better…」

Gluglugluglug…

Oleander says in a soft, soothing voice with a smile as she pours the milky white liquid into Straf's small cup.

「It's just a…?」

Straf suddenly freezes while raising the cup to his lips, pulling it back with his brows heavily furrowed.

「…You know what? Yeah, it's just a fucking game. Fuck it, who cares?」

He scoffs, and a smirk appears on his face as he looks at the rather surprised woman, nodding in agreement. He shrugs his shoulders and throws the contents of the cup into his mouth.

「Master, you bounce back quick, at least. I'm glad. I hope you're still up for what I have in mind for you, though.」

Gluglugluglug…

「…And what would that be?-」

Straf asks, turning his gaze upward and to the side at the status icons in the corner of his vision with an amused smirk on his face. His smirk suddenly disappears as his brows rise.

「…Please, master… I am a lady… Don't make me say it…」

A brief look of concern flashes on the woman's face as Straf's expression suddenly shifts. She quickly replies, smiling again as she presses her cheek into Straf's arm.

「…Unless you'd like me to.」

She adds, whispering into Straf's ear. Straf stares at her with his brow raised. He throws the cup's contents into his mouth again, and the woman sighs very quietly in relief.

「…You won't drink with me?」

He asks, pointing at the lonely cup on the table. The woman perks up in ambushed surprise, and an awkward smile reappears on her face.

「Of course. Drinks go down easier with someone else, don't they?…」

Glugluglugluglug… Glugluglug…

She says with a soft voice, pouring the drink into Straf's cup, then into the other one.

…Clunk.

「…But please don't make me drink too much. I'd like to remember our time together.」

The woman adds as she gently sets down the bottle onto the table, and raises the cup up to Straf's with a soft smile.

Straf nods in reply, watching the woman with his mouth aslant and an expectant look on his face. He throws the drinks content into his mouth, while the woman tilts it between her lips.

Clink…

She sets the empty cup down directly in front of Straf, almost as if to intentionally demonstrate that it's empty. Straf lowers his cup for another refill.

Gluglugluglug… Gluglugluglug…

「…But you're fine with another, right?」

He asks, raising his brow and his cup to his lips.

「Of course, master… I have to say, this is a rather cheap drink… But it's not too distasteful, is it?」

She nods in response, raising her refilled cup as well. She tilts her head with a nonchalant smile as she asks, and brings it up to her red lips.

「It's drinkable…」

Straf nonchalantly replies, and throws the rest of the contents into his mouth.

「…Alright. Let me finish the bottle.」

He adds, holding the cup out for her just before she can refill hers. She perks up, and smiles as she redirects the bottle for his cup instead.

Glugluglug…

Straf once again drinks the entire cup, then another, then another, and another… Eventually, last droplets feebly drip out of the bottle's widening neck.

「That's the rest of the bottle, master.」

The woman declares with a poorly masked look of concern in her eyes.

「Uh-huh…」

Straf nods, and throws the contents into his mouth as before.

…Thud.

He falls on his back limp like a helpless turtle, staring blankly at the ceiling…