“River, I don’t think-” Edwin began.

“Don’t worry so much Edwin. You already checked the hallway. I did the math and there’s only a fifteen percent chance that you missed something,” River said confidently before taking a bold step into the corridor.

Unfortunately for River, fifteen percent was just enough as a pressure plate clicked into place.

Spikes jutted out from the floor.

“Ooh that looks like you’ll be taking a grievous injury, River,” Odez winced as he added up the total.

“Aw man,” River complained, “Hey Mori, got any more healing?”

“I’ve only got enough to stabilize you, but after that we should be calling this run a dud,” replied Morgana.

“Man, today isn’t my lucky day,” River complained as they looked down at the game board, “want to play again?”

“Eh, I’m starting to get hungry. Maybe we should take a break for some food before we roll up the next round,” Edwin replied.

“Oh yeah, I haven’t eaten anything since this morning,” Morgana added.

“I could use a break if nothing else,” Odez commented.

“Well whatever it is, we don’t have much to go around until payday,” Edwin said, “mostly oatmeal and some potatoes for now.”

“I don’t have much either. Jobs have gotten a bit scarce since everyone’s been recalled back into the city. Stronger delvers means all of the easy jobs are getting swept up for some quick coin,” Odez grumbled.

“Ugh, just another way Mr. House has ruined my life,” River sighed dramatically.

“Oh! Speaking of Mr. House, the sandwich I bought was only four copper,” Morgana chimed in with a clap of her hands.

“Oh damn, I would have expected that sandwich to be at least twice that price. Although it makes sense if you think about it,” Odez said.

“What do you mean?” asked Edwin.

“Well most restaurants sell food and need to make a profit off of that food,” Odez began, “Since the dungeon is a casino that has a restaurant then it can afford to break even or loose money on food if it keeps people in the casino longer.”

“Yeah that makes sense,” Edwin agreed.

“Well it doesn’t matter how cheap the sandwiches are if the casino is banned,” River sighed.

“Well technically the guildmaster only banned gambling at the casino. She didn’t say anything about buying a meal,” Morgana said, drawing the words out a bit.

There was a bit more back and forth on the topic, but eventually empty stomachs and even emptier coin purses won out in the end.

The four cadets made their way out onto the road before River spotted someone in the distance.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“Hey is that Maximus?” asked River.

“Maybe?” replied Edwin, “they’re wearing a cloak, so it’s hard to tell.”

“Hmm suspicious,” River murmured, “they’re going in the direction of the casino.”

“River it’s the middle of Autumn, we’re all wearing cloaks and we’re going to the casino too,” Edwin deadpanned.

“It would be weirder if he was wearing shorts. Unless he had frost giant blood. This weather is still probably toasty compared to what he’s used to,” said Odez sagely.

“Anyway,” River interrupted, “I just want to see if that’s Max.”

“You know, it’s things like this that have contributed your reputation as a busybody,” Edwin remarked.

That seemed to stop River in their tracks.

“Really?” asked River as they looked over to Odez and Morgana.

“Well, I have heard some things…” Morgana replied, trailing off at the end.

“River, you have a worse reputation than I do, and that’s saying something,” added Odez with the subtlety of a charging bull.

“Well, nevermind that,” River said, shaking their head as if shaking off the statement, “let’s go check it out.”

The other cadets let out quiet sighs before following River. Eventually the four of them caught up with the hooded figure.

“Hey Max,” River called out.

The hooded figure flinched before turning around to try and see who called his name.

“O-oh it’s River and their friends. What a coincidence. What brings you out this way?,” Max stammered.

Odez shot River a look that said “I told you so” before looking back at the mage.

“We were just on our way to get dinner,” River replied, once again ignoring Odez, “what are you up to?”

“Just… walking,” Max replied.

“Uh huh, you wouldn’t happen to be going to the casino, would you?” River asked with a smirk.

“N-no, what makes you think that?” Max asked as their eyes darted around.

“Ahah! So you are going to The Lucky Cat Dungeon,” River exclaimed, “meeting up with anyone?”

Max looked like they were about to bolt.

“River, stop antagonizing Max” Edwin sighed in exasperation.

“What? I’m not antagonizing Max. Max I’m not antagonizing you right?” asked River.

“Um, I’ve got some errands to run?” Max said as more of a question than a statement.

“Go ahead,” Edwin sighed before River could launch themselves into another round of questioning.

Max immediately took the opportunity and practically ran away from the four of them.

“Like I said, you’ve got a worse reputation than I do,” Odez stated.

“Whatever, at least we found out something important,” River said with a triumphant look.

“Oh?” asked Morgana.

“We found out that there are still people going to the casino to gamble,” declared River.

“Well, the guildmaster didn’t actually lay out any consequences for going to the casino, so it kind of makes sense that people are still going,” said Morgana

“The guildmaster is probably still writing the official dungeon guide. Technically guild members are supposed to wait until an exploratory team maps out the majority of the dungeon and determines the threat ranking before guild members can actually explore it,” Odez explained.

“I guess it would be hard to try and prevent most of the delvers from going if you don’t have to leave the city. Even people living in the guild hall don’t really have a curfew so it’s not like it’s that big of a deal unless you wake everyone up when you’re coming or going,” Edwin agreed before his stomach rumbled.

There was a slight pause before everyone broke out into quiet laughter.

“Come on, let’s go get dinner. I must be hungrier than I thought,” Edwin said before the four of them made their way to the dungeon.