Reasonable Suspicion
I adjusted my posture in the chair, pretending to be calm.
"Wow, that's too bad. You could've taken the fourth chest."
But Hyran didn't answer.
"..."
She just glared at the die, her expression twisted with fury.
Then, when she finally lifted her gaze toward me, confusion flickered in her eyes.
—Are these bastards using our loaded dice trick against us?
…That exact look.
It was the face of someone who'd started to suspect, but wasn't yet certain.
The table-slamming, the stumble, the moment when the die changed hands—
it was ambiguous enough to keep her from being sure.
Igral's "accident" and my quick reaction weren't perfectly natural,
but they also weren't suspicious enough to draw open accusation.
After all, suddenly falling and catching yourself on the table isn't that strange.
The problem was the timing—too perfect.
Even I had to admit it was uncanny.
How did Igral intervene at exactly that moment?
Almost like he could read my mind.
What the hell was that about?
"Ahem, ahem. My apologies."
All Igral did was give a polite apology for interrupting the game,
as if nothing more had happened.
I couldn't make sense of him.
In the end, Hyran wasn't confident enough to accuse us outright.
"Please be more careful near the table, sir," she said flatly—
though her suspicious eyes flicked back and forth between the two of us.
"Yeah, seriously, what was that? Sneezing and slamming the table like that? You nearly scared me to death!"
I rattled off nonsense as I casually tossed the die.
The number to come after her 1?
Naturally—
[You rolled a 4.]
[You opened the fourth treasure chest.]
[You obtained the Shield of Balance!]
I hadn't even needed to touch the pattern.
When Igral sneezed earlier, I'd already known 4 would follow 1.
"Ah, looks like I got it! Hahaha."
I laughed sheepishly, having now claimed the fourth chest.
"...Congratulations," Hyran murmured tonelessly, lost in thought.
Her mind must've been racing.
She'd tried to fleece me, but now the situation had flipped—and the losses were piling up fast.
The two Shields of Balance she'd baited me with had vanished into my hands.
At market value, that was 240 gold coins.
No way she's keeping calm after that.
Yet, to her credit, Hyran's fingers moved subtly beneath the table, manipulating the die's pattern again before she rolled it.
[You rolled a 4.]
…Interesting.
So she's planning to follow that with a 6, huh?
She was lining up the next roll to claim a chest.
Her poise was impressive—calm, professional.
A true black-market veteran.
Even after losing three treasure chests,
she still had the confidence of someone who believed she could turn the game around.
But…
That was exactly how I'd set her up.
I'd been feeding her just enough hope to make her think she still had a chance.
Because to catch a fool, you have to give them hope.
Like I said before—
I wasn't here to be the sucker. I was here to catch one.
And now that we'd reached the halfway point of the game,
it was time to change gears.
Tap.
The die shifted once in my hand,
and I saw Hyran's eyes widen.
"...!"
I made sure she could see what I was doing—
skipping the pattern—and then tossed it onto the table.
[You rolled a 6.]
The 6 she'd been aiming for—landed in my favor.
I'd switched the pattern right in front of her.
There was only one way an NPC like her could react.
Her trembling hand lifted the die.
Then—
Tap, tap.
She bounced it twice deliberately on the table before handing it back to me.
That skipped the pattern forward twice—
which meant the next roll would be 1.
"..."
Her cold eyes locked onto mine.
It was her silent challenge.
Do you actually know the secret of the loaded dice?
Have you been using it all along?
I smiled quietly.
"You're giving me quite the passionate look there."
As I said—her suspicion came too late.
And my answer was simple.
Tap.
[You rolled a 6.]
[You opened the fifth treasure chest.]
[You obtained 50 gold coins!]
No point hiding it anymore.
"Mmm, that's sweet."
I grinned as I collected the coins,
watching the color drain from her face.
She'd realized it now—
I'd been the one using her own loaded dice against her.
And that she was the one being toyed with.
Her expression hardened,
and she glared daggers at me.
"...When did you figure it out?"
All pretense of civility was gone.
I chuckled softly.
"Does it matter? Obviously—from the start."
"Damn it. You completely played me."
"Yup. Thanks for the game."
"Who the hell are you? Who sent you?"
"...Me?"
I scratched my head, pretending to think.
"Well… let's just say I'm from the paradise of mad mages."
"The paradise of mad mages?"
"Something like that."
It was a throwaway line about the Balt Magic Empire,
but she seemed to take it seriously, mulling it over.
"The paradise… of mad mages…"
Then her eyes snapped back to the board, staring hard.
She knew now—
that I'd been using the dice's cheat system in reverse.
"Damn it!"
Her temper finally broke.
But even in her fury—
"..."
She didn't flip the table.
Instead, she grew even more focused,
eyes darting across the board, calculating every move.
The reason was simple.
There was a rule in the black market.
Once a game starts, it must be finished—no matter what happens.
Even if someone drew a blade afterward to reclaim their money,
the game itself had to end properly.
That was the code of the black market.
And any dealer who breaks it loses a finger.
So Hyran was now calculating—
if there was any possible way to recover from this point.
But it was far too late.
Leaning back, I crossed my arms and flicked the die toward her.
"Take your time. Forward or backward—your move."
"Shut it."
She growled viciously, slammed the die twice on the table, and hurled it into the air.
This time, she too openly used the cheating mechanic.
[You rolled a 6.]
The game resumed.
But the outcome was obvious.
Unless a 7 suddenly appeared on a six-sided die, my victory was already certain.
[You opened the sixth treasure chest.]
[You obtained the Rosary of the Forest!]
[You opened the seventh treasure chest.]
[You obtained 50 gold coins!]
Leisurely, I kept opening chest after chest, staying just ahead of the dealer's pursuit.
"..."
"Hey now, don't cry. It happens. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose—why the tears?"
"Shut up! I'm not crying!"
"If you're not crying, then what's that glistening in your eyes? Sweat, maybe?"
Hyran trembled, as if she couldn't believe she'd been beaten like this.
Well… that wasn't my problem.
[You opened the eighth treasure chest.]
[You obtained Quick Fang!]
In the end, I took every chest except the first one.
There was no need to even think about the final showdown.
"Game stop."
A message appeared.
[Victory!]
[Your rewards are as follows:]
150 gold coins
2 × Shield of Balance
Rosary of the Forest
Quick Fang
[Losses:]
50 gold coins
Exactly as planned.
Without spending a single coin, I'd turned a profit and obtained every item I needed.
Once old man Bamil brings the spectacles, I'll be ready for that event.
After checking the new additions to my inventory, I extended my hand to Hyran.
"It wasn't exactly fair play, but I'll admit—it was fun."
It was an offer for a handshake.
Naturally, she ignored it.
"..."
Her eyes blazed like fire from behind the mask.
What a woman.
Losing a rigged game hurts that much?
"Wow, now your eyes are literally burning. Is that magic?"
"Shut up."
…Guess it really did hurt that much.
Hyran tucked the dice back into her sleeve, took a deep breath, then fixed her gaze on me.
"Honestly, this is a first. I never thought someone could turn our trick against us."
I tilted my head.
"Really? So this has never happened before?"
"Of course not! Who in the world memorizes the cipher of the violet dice? Unless they're a freak like you."
"Come on, freak? That's harsh."
Veteran, sure. Freak, not so much.
…Or maybe the two were about the same.
But her voice gradually grew calm.
"As I said, this has never happened before. So I don't know what will happen next."
"...?"
"Once you walk out that door, be careful. The higher-ups already know what I've lost. They're not going to let you walk away peacefully."
That caught me off guard.
I guess my face showed it.
"Sir, this is the black market! Get your head straight! If you scam someone here, you'd better be ready for the consequences!"
"N-No, that's not what I meant."
I raised a hand to stop Hyran's scolding and asked my question.
"Why are you worried about me?"
She pulled off her mask and threw it at me.
Passionate woman, this one.
"You little bastard! I try to show some concern, and you bite my head off?!"
"Well, it's suspicious, isn't it? The one who just got wrecked worrying about the guy who beat her."
I shrugged, glancing at the scar carved along her lip.
She sighed.
"...Call it a whim. I've got a younger brother about your age."
"Oh, your brother's a gambler too?"
"No, damn it!"
What was I supposed to say to that?
Grinding her teeth, Hyran stepped out from behind the table.
She hesitated by the door for a moment, then spoke.
"Try not to die. I don't want to see the guy who beat me go out in some pathetic way. That's all."
A moment ago she'd been talking about her brother—
now it sounded almost sentimental.
"Sounds like you were impressed by losing to me, huh?"
I teased, but she didn't respond.
There was a heaviness in her face that made something twist in my chest.
It was getting harder and harder to think of these people as just game NPCs.
They all have their own stories.
The thought left my head spinning.
Was this still a game world?
Or had the world itself become a game?
…Whatever.
I'd think about that later.
For now, I opened my inventory.
"Kals, Tyrbaen—take these."
I handed them each a Shield of Balance and the Rosary of the Forest.
Their eyes went wide.
"My lord? I can't even use a shield properly."
"I'm the same! What use do I have for a forest rosary?"
Please.
"You'll figure it out once you use them."
Then I turned to Igral and tossed him the remaining Shield of Balance.
"Here. That completes the group buy. From now on, surviving is up to each of us. No objections?"
"N-None."
Igral nodded nervously from under his hood.
Good. Preparations complete.
Time to escape the black market alive.
I gestured toward the corner.
"Thompson, come here. Open the door."
"M-My lord?"
"Hey, don't look so nervous."
"W-Why are you grabbing the back of my neck?"
"...That's a secret."
Thompson's final role—
the human shield.
A technique known as 'Friend Shield.'
From here on out, he was my cover for getting out of this black market in one piece.
Of course, he wasn't just any ordinary shield.