Casino Wizard

Even during the time when he was active on the front lines, he had never been to the magic wasteland.

I stared blankly at the middle-aged hero, who volunteered to go to that dangerous place.

What on earth is he thinking… No, wait.

The priority was to talk him out of it.

‘If I cushion him and gently persuade him, he’ll probably realize. There’s no point in scaring someone who’s already made up their mind about such a dangerous task.’

So, I decided to use Saintess Theodora to my advantage.

The middle-aged hero, who generally didn’t hate people, openly displayed hatred for a particular person.

And the one pushing the middle-aged hero, who had been living as a retiree for five years, toward the magic wasteland. It would be best to use the antagonism towards that saint to dissuade him.

“Hero, if you go like this, it’ll actually be harder to catch the saintess.”

“What?”

It worked. I sighed and closed the ledger I had been looking at.

Then, I pretended to hesitate for a moment, shaking my head with a look of reluctance, as if I were showing a sign of concern. It was something meant to show the hero.

“If you join the magic wasteland expedition… Yes, surely you can save the money for the bribe. And the saintess’s supporters will probably be a bit troubled. They wouldn’t have expected you to really go.”

“Right. I was thinking the same thing…!”

“But what will you do if the saintess is satisfied with that and leaves?”

A look of confusion appeared on the middle-aged hero’s wrinkled face.

“Satisfied? With that?”

“Of course, the saintess’s goal is probably money. But she’s not just here for that. She’s been living in an isolated retreat, occasionally doing volunteer work, but we’ve been living richly in the capital, and that’s what has bothered her.”

“That girl… yeah. She must have thought that way.”

“If the saintess is like that, she might be satisfied for now, sending you to the magic wasteland.”

“Uh…”

It seemed the middle-aged hero was slowly being persuaded.

The saintess had been waiting, suppressing her anger for years.

At first, she probably laughed at the news we occasionally heard. It would have seemed ridiculous that a party, which was supposed to be a hero’s group, was running a gambling den in a tavern. After two years, she must have started to sense the discord.

That made it four years.

The saintess had been provoking us through letters while delaying her attack.

“The saintess might be satisfied sending you to the magic wasteland and then leave for the holy country.”

“That’s it?”

“From your perspective, it’s not ‘just’ anything. It’s the magic wasteland. Just because there’s no demon king doesn’t mean the wasteland is empty.”

“….”

“The saintess will leave contentedly, and head back to the holy country. Surely.”

Now, I was speaking with certainty.

I couldn’t be sure of the saintess’s true intentions. Whether she would be content with sending the hero to the magic wasteland and then return to the holy country, or if she would stay longer in the kingdom and try to spite me as well.

But this was the best option to persuade the middle-aged hero.

“You know, the one the saintess hates the most is you.”

The saintess would probably like that.

And after returning to the holy country, she would wait for the next opportunity… I focused on delivering the point that it would be a meaningless sacrifice.

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear what you just said, Hero.”

That was the end of it. The middle-aged hero responded with silence.

It must have felt empty. After gathering up the courage to take charge, he was rebuffed as doing something meaningless. He probably didn’t want to immediately change his stance and say, “Well then, I’ll go manage the customer queue.”

“Still, this is for the best.”

There were other ways than sending the middle-aged hero to the magic wasteland. I didn’t want to sacrifice a teammate just to save money and time.

“Right. That’s what I’m saying.”

“Hero, I understand the decision you made. You didn’t want to burden the casino, right? But… wouldn’t it be a loss to save the bribe for the church and then lose the saintess?”

“….”

“It’s almost opening time. Please return to your duties.”

It was getting close to noon.

The dealers stationed at each gaming table and the servers holding trays were all prepared to greet customers.

When the doors opened, guests would rush in and quickly take over the baccarat tables. VIPs would enter through a separate, elegant entrance.

While working, I hoped the middle-aged hero would start to collect his thoughts.

“Opening!”

“Wow!”

“Baccarat! Baccarat! I have to get a seat, even if it’s just a 10-die!”

As soon as the doors opened, customers poured in.

Still, the middle-aged hero didn’t leave his spot. He didn’t look like he was giving up, but he wasn’t stubbornly insisting either.

“Uncle?”

“Uncle? That sounds nice… But, Hyden, I know you don’t call me ‘uncle’ because you actually see me like one. It’s just… what should I call it? You do it when it’s necessary, right?”

“….”

“I’m not as smart as you, but I understand that much.”

The middle-aged hero knew how I persuaded people.

It wasn’t just that.

“Hyden, You told me the saintess would be satisfied and leave for the holy country, right?”

“Yes, Hero.”

“That might be true. She really hates me the most.”

“I know.”

“But if it’s you, Hyden, you can stop it, right? By setting a trap, for instance.”

The old man knew what I was capable of.

It wasn’t surprising.

He had helped me with setting traps, deceiving people, and blackmailing others in the past. He had always quietly done what I told him to do, but he wasn’t blind to it. He had seen and heard everything.

“He even mentioned the word ‘trap.’”

It sounded like he was suggesting that I use him as bait if necessary. He was ready to do anything to catch the saint.

I realized I had underestimated him.

Just because he didn’t have formal education didn’t mean he lacked insight. He must have carefully thought this through before revealing his decision to me.

Rather than feeling like I had won, I felt a bitter taste.

“Hyden. I think I’ve made my decision clear.”

“….”

“Then, for now… I’ll return to my duties.”

With a brief notice, the middle-aged hero descended to the main gaming area.

The persuasion had failed.

****

Do I really have to send him?

I stopped the plan for a moment and sat in thought for several hours. My serious expression seemed to prevent even the VIP guests from approaching me.

“I failed too, Oppa.”

The one who interrupted my contemplation was, in the end, the youngest member.

The female archer had recently switched back from wearing short skirts to trousers.

It didn’t seem like she was embarrassed; rather, it looked like she had made up her mind not to give the saintess any ammunition for an attack. The saintess could accuse my casino of being a den of debauchery and indulgence.

It was a sign that the youngest member was also tense about the saintess’s appearance.

However, the reason for her dark expression seemed to be something else.

“You’re not listening to me, are you?”

“He told me to just smile and do my job.”

“….”

“He even said if you were thinking of bringing Jerome Oppa to persuade him, I should just give up.”

It seemed she had also failed to persuade the hero.

The middle-aged hero had considered the youngest as a daughter, probably because she was the same age as his long-dead son.

If he wouldn’t even listen to her, then persuasion was pointless. Even if I didn’t approve, he’d probably end up making a deal with the Paladin Order on his own.

If that was the case, it would be better if I sent him myself.

I already had an idea in mind.

As soon as the middle-aged hero showed his firm resolve, my brain started working on the plan. Using him as bait to lure the saintess, isolate her, and ultimately trap her in the swamp, letting her die slowly and painfully… I already had that in my head.

The hesitation wasn’t because of the plan itself but because the destination was the magic wasteland.

“If it were a task to hunt down lowly monsters in a rural area, I’d accept it right away. But the magic wasteland is different.”

I didn’t want to make the middle-aged hero a sacrificial lamb.

Once I made the move, I would eventually start treating the other teammates the same way, and I wanted to avoid that at all costs.

That’s when I hesitated.

The youngest member carefully placed her hand on my shoulder.

“Oppa. It’s just a reconnaissance mission, right?”

“Lucy?”

“I’m just delivering the Hero’s message. And he also said this: it’s better than being abandoned by the party and left alone in the magic wasteland.”

“…?”

What was she talking about now? I turned around, confused, and Lucy started talking about something strange.

“He said he once had a nightmare just before the party broke up.”

“A nightmare?”

“He said it was a dream where only we infiltrated the magic wasteland. The wyvern knights of the kingdom gave us minimal support, but after infiltrating the magic wasteland, it was a mission where only we worked together.”

Suddenly, a dream story. I tried to listen further, but it seemed like a waste of time.

“In the dream, we abandoned the Hero and fled.”

“….”

“Of course, the one who led it was the saintess. And, while it was just a dream, he said that you, Oppa, had sided with the saintess and tricked me and Jerome Oppa. Eventually, Pierrot ended up fighting alone against the demons before waking up… Sigh.”

The conclusion of the nightmare the hero had shared with Lucy was so absurd.

It was strange that we, the weakest of the hero’s party, were infiltrating the magic wasteland, and even stranger that, once inside, we would abandon only the hero.

It was probably a nightmare born from the middle-aged hero’s victim mentality.

I couldn’t mock him. He was suffering from PTSD. Things had been very serious around the time the party broke up.

Still, I understood why he had shared the dream with Lucy.

“That means he’s made up his mind.”

“Yes.”

“Unlike in the dream, he would have said thank you for truly worrying about him. Is that right?”

“Yes, exactly. Oh, and he said it’s not dangerous because he’ll be accompanied by the Paladins.”

It’s hopeless.

I let out a short sigh and asked the youngest to bring the middle-aged hero.

“I got it, Oppa.”

A little while later, as soon as the hero came up to the second floor, I calmly made my announcement.

“Alright, Hero. I’ll respect your decision.”

“Yeah.”

But I didn’t intend to just send him off.

I had prepared a little gift for the elder who would be leaving soon.

“Before you leave, you should at least see the saintess, right?”

“What?”

“If I want to stop the saintess from fleeing to the holy country, I’ll need the hero’s help. You won’t regret it.”

A proposal to prepare for the operation in the Operation room.

“Thanks, Hyden.”

The hero smiled warmly, as if that was all he needed.