The casino, a place that will almost guarantee you a crushing defeat if you stick with it long enough. In most scenarios, one would try to avoid it at all costs so as not to lose their wealth, but seeing as Meil specifically asked us to help him spend his money in a somewhat unproblematic way, I think we're making the right choice in going here. Besides...

"This is gonna be so much fun!" I shouted out loud as we entered what was apparently the biggest casino in the region, "Whoaaa~!"

"Holy shit, it's way too dazzling! We're inside, so how come it's brighter than outside!?" Ed gawked just like I did.

"Quite the interesting locale indeed." Meil for one inspected all the games they were offering, "Slots, poker, blackjack... I wonder which one is the most rigged of all."

"What kind of a question is that!?" A lady in a skintight bunnysuit holding up a tray of drinks berated us, "All the games are totally fair and square, sirs!"

"Is it not chilly, dressing up like that in this cold room?" He completely skipped over the charm of her outfit, "Would you like my coat?"

"You trying to pick me up?" She found his innocence charming, "Sorry, I'm not that type of girl. Treat me to a dinner date first, then I'll think about it."

Handing him a cocktail from her tray before strutting off seductively, she had left just as quickly as she came. By this point Ed and I could only stand there in awe and watch as this guy just somehow passively pulled a bunnygirl without even understanding what he did.

"Why did she give me this drink?" He placed it down on the empty table next to him, "I did not order this. I swear, their organization is extremely subpar..."

"Shut the fuck up and give us some spending money." Ed got sick and tired of his charades.

With that, we were each given a third of Meil's pocket money he had on him. In other words, 5 gigabytes each. Yeah, we can properly have some fun with this...! We thought it'd be more efficient if we all just went out separate ways in choosing what games to play, so I first chose the most classic casino game - Poker!

"Haha!" I went all out as soon as I joined everyone huddled around the poker table, "Raise, broskis!"

"Heh, newbie here is confident, isn't he?" The older guy softly mocked me, "Then I'll raise too!"

Confident? Dude, I haven't even looked at my hand! Man, it'd sure be funny if I still miraculously won, but it'd also kind of make me sad because I'd only prolong my time in here. As one would expect, the first round ended with me losing out completely because my hand was only a Two Pair, the worst possible hand you could get in the game. The other more experienced players that were in it to win it couldn't help but mock me, but one guy stuck out as honestly trying to help me.

"Kid, have you ever played poker in your life before?" He asked honestly, "Not saying this to be a douche, but if you don't know the rules, I'd suggest you start with the slot machines over there until you gain more experience."

"Clark, shut the hell up and let this idiot give us all his money!" The other scumbag grandpas got mad at him.

"Oh shut it, you." Good guy Clark retorted, "Have some shame and teach the youngsters the ways of this place. We're here to have fun, right?"

"....."

"Sigh, so there you have it, kid." He turned to me again, "This place isn't for the faint of heart. Don't go wasting all your money on it. I'm sure there's better things to throw it all away on."

Wow, he's such a kind and down-to-earth guy! Man, I almost feel bad for having to purposefully not listen to his advice, because it really is some good wisdom. To think nice people exist even in a dunghole like this...

"Heh, don't worry about me. Let's just say I've got some money to spare." I chuckled, "Besides, it's like you said - We're not here to make money, just to kick back, relax and have some fun with Lady Luck."

"Yeah, you get it, newbie!" The others cheered me on, "See Clark, you're the one trying to bully him out of the table, not us!"

"Kid. Sigh, do as you wish." He gave up before we began the next round.

After that, I got a bit more serious even if it meant I actually won some rounds. I figured it'd be disingenuous if I just lost every round on purpose, especially to the kind old man who tried to pull me out of this casino downward spiral. By the end, I was down to 500MBs, or about halfway done. Figuring it was time to call it quits on poker, I shook everyone's hands, slipped a few MBs into Clark's hand as thanks for being a bro, and went to the next game - Blackjack.

"Alright sir, your total is 19." The dealer pointed to my hand.

"Hit!" I tapped the table with my finger.

"H-Hit!?" Everyone else at the table jolted, "You crazy, guy!?"

"Don't worry, I got a gut feeling." I smirked, "Tell you what - The dealer's hand is currently 3, right? I'll even bet a Megabyte on him hitting until he reaches 20. That's where I think he'll stop."

I gained the respect of all the other players on the table it seems, if not purely because I sound so confident in my prediction, but just like previously, I'm talking a hundred percent out of my ass right now. Obviously, if the name of the game is to not exceed a total of 21, then no sane person would hit on 19, and there's also an extremely small chance of me guessing that the dealer will stop at 20. I mean come on, I'd have to be crazy lucky for that to...

"21." The dealer gulped as he pulled a 2 for me, "And as for me, let's see - 3, 12... 20."

"Eh?" I yelped, "W-Wait, I wasn't being serious, what the hell...?"

"Sir, if you're gonna count cards before joining the game, then I suggest you at least make it a tad less obvious." The dealer got angry at me, "Please leave the table."

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"Huh!? Oh come on, I was just lucky!" I made up excuses to not go, "Come on, I'll admit that was crazy, but I'm no card counter! You can't just decide that on your own with one measly round!"

"Sir, do you want me to call security?"

"Ugh, fine..."

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***

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"Ed, how's it going?" I noticed him just standing next to the slot machines and not playing any of them, "Did you run out of money already?"

"No. Well, yes, but that's not the point." He then pointed to Meil, who was sitting there and perfectly timing every single lucky 7 on the machine, "This guy, I don't think he understood our goal all too well."

"Meil?" I gently tapped him on the shoulder, "Y-You know you're not supposed to win these, right?"

"I know." He nodded, "I know, but... My Iro is interfering with my unsuccess."

"Your Iro?" We tilted our heads.

"The White Iro Ability - Sinus Wave, visualizes the Iro Beholder's luck as a graph." He explained, "Apart from that, the White Iro's Perk is their natural luck being higher than average. I know because I have personally run extensive studies on this very topic and even wrote a thesis on it."

So he can't even lose the money he has in the casino? Ironically enough, that's really unlucky. But damn, I didn't know that that was the White Iro's Power. I'm actually kind of jealous of never having gained it, but maybe it's part of my Rainbow Iro? Hold on, but if he's been winning these slots so much all this time...

"So how much money do you have now?" Ed asked, fearing the answer just as much as I did.

"...17GBs." He sulked.

"Dammit, you somehow made up for both Grim's and my losses! What the hell, if you knew you're a money-making machine, then why didn't you say anything, jackass!?"

"Because..." He bashfully revealed, "Because it was very fun..."

"...Fuck, now I feel like an ass." Ed sighed, "Well, I guess we're in no rush. Besides, it's not like this is ALL the money we have left to spend - You said you have way more back at your house, right?"

"Where you going?" I saw him walking off to a backroom hallway.

"I gotta take a leak." He gestured, "Don't mind me."

Hm, well whatever. But to get back on topic, I'm surprised to actually see Meil acting like this. Truthfully exposing how much fun he's having in the moment, not minding for the main goal of this entire casino visit in favor of just letting loose... I'm sure this is all due to Nelly's positive influence. Nelly... Dammit, I don't like imagining them living in the same house together. Hopefully calling him a father figure for her will really bring home that they can't be together, but in truth I doubt Meil ever even considered it a possibility. I'm sure he does only see her as a smart little girl, and I'm just panickin-

"AAGH!" Ed ran out of the backrooms, faceplanting in front of us, "Augh, ugh! I'm gonna...! I'm gonna be fucking sick!"

"What the hell happened?" I raised an Eyebrow before dropping my jaw all the way to the floor, "Oh sweet Prylos..."

My Eyes, are they playing tricks on me right now? From the same hallway Ed went to take a leak in, and subsequently ran out screaming from, walked out an incredible trio. 'Two bunnygirls and a pimp' would be the best way to describe them going off of their wardrobes, but the issue is the familiar faces on them. The guy with slanted Eyes and plain black hair sheepishly, almost anxiously revealed himself to us, and hiding right behind him was Eleanor and Othelia. As I said, they were both wearing the same playboy bunny costumes the waitresses here are wearing. What the hell is going on...?

"Y-Yo..." Issei chuckled nervously, "F-Fancy meeting you here, guys. Ha-ha..."

"E-Ed, this isn't...!" Eleanor tried approaching him to help him up, but he gagged and squirmed on the ground whenever she tried to grab him, "Ugh, stop doing that and listen! The workers here thought Othelia and I were one of them, so they made us wear these clothes, okay!? Issei's just helping us find them and clear up the misunderstanding."

"My Eyes..." He looked like he wanted to gouge them out himself, "Why, Prylos!? Why'd you have to show me my little sister in a bunny costume!? Is this punishment for all the wrongdoings in my life!?"

"Will you shut up, jackass?!" She slapped the crap out of him in front of everyone, "Ugh, I'm not THAT ugly, aren't I...?"

"You're very cute." Issei said without flinching.

"T-Thanks..." She blushed.

Hold on, am I missing something here again? Why is this idiot calling another girl cute in front of his girlfriend? And come to think of it, Othelia's been awfully quiet this entire time. Is she upset? Did they maybe break up since we last saw them? But no, if they did, then she wouldn't still be here with them.

"Please don't stare too hard, Lune." Othelia lightly scolded me, "Even I get embarrassed when put in these garbs."

"O-Oh, sorry! Didn't mean to, honest." I then finally thought to ask, "But wait, what are you guys doing here?"

"We finished our expedition and got our wishes." Issei happily revealed, "But... We've got some unresolved issues still, so we're holding off on going back to my home. Basically, until we figure out a solution, we just went here to take in our final look at this Vast World."

How nice! Well, logically speaking I can see why they'd want to take some time to celebrate and splurge a bit for their victory. Besides, it's smart on their part to not rush into things, though I have to wonder what exactly those unresolved issues are.

"A-ha!" Meil jumped for joy, startling all of us with his victory screech, "Edward, Lune, look! I finally lost my first game! Huh, what are you guys doing here?"