A night in the city. Most girls my age would prolly be happy about those plans, but I'm not for it. In any case, there are no other choices to make than to enter this gaudy bazaar of gambling and games. The entertainment district of the "4th pillar city".

Ah, the "pillar city"-thing is what they are calling this place. Of the seven pillars that make up Velantas, the one in the middle is the "1st pillar sanctuary" and the other 6, from the 2nd to the 7th, are "pillar cities".

But back to the entertainment. This place is essentially a vast area dedicated to any adult entertainment, as long as it follows the law. Gambling, alcohol, prostitutes, colosseum matches, betting, practically anything is possible here. As long as it, as I mentioned before, follows the law. Stuff like drugs and murder is NOT COOL in this district.

"Or better said, all of Velantas is dedicated to the art. Anything brutish or deconstructive to the art is looked down upon, or outright banned by law." - Bloom

"A city of arts on the top of a grand lake. Quite romantic." - Garami

"It sure is~. Which is why people are so happy for the lake returning to normal." - Bloom

...I am SO tempted to tell people that I was responsible for that. But not now. Gotta keep my cool.

From the restaurant not far from the entertainment district, Bloom and I held a final strategy meeting before heading out. I wanted a proper meal before facing the city of art's more "adult" side.

And speaking of art, I'm currently dressed in my latest masterpiece. Though, it's simply a hoodie and a tank top, along with simple pants. They are all mostly black, with pale grey and pale purple as secondary colors. Oh, and I bought some black leather boots from a nearby store.

My new threads are designed to make me look like a city girl, and it seems to work. Several people have already tried to hit on me. I refused politely. As in, not breaking their bones, at the very, VERY least.

Grr, it's infuriating, but keep it together, me. Luckily, my current style is different enough to make people who don't know me well fail to recognize me. That's the point.

"...just remembered, but did you manage to return the inn key during your scouting trips?" - Garami

"Yes, ma'am! No worries there!" - Bloom

Good. I don't want to end up solving the crime I'm falsely accused of just to end up having to pay a fine because I never returned that thing.

Bloom had been secretly buying during her scouting trips around the neighborhood. I mean, she was never seen by the guards, so she's perfect for that job. And for buying items needed for the dyes. Even after spending a few days weaving stuff like crazy, enough for the Weaver class to reach Lv.20, I still needed some sorta materials to use with the [Dyeing] skill. It was during one of these trips she returned the key to the inn.

Sure, some people may have seen her with me, but at least not the guards who gave me the bugged card. Before they could catch me on that day at the harbor, Bloom had dematerialized herself, so they shouldn't know about her.

Honestly, we are working with shitty-low chances here. Trying to find someone we have close-to-zero clues about, in an area that might, just might, be related to them, and trying to keep a low profile by NOT hiding or using any disguises. It feels like I'm playing Russian Roulette, but there are 5 bullets loaded instead of 1.

...maybe I should settle with life down in the sewers?

"Thanks for your patronage." - Restaurant owner

I paid for the grub and left the store, noticing something fatal for our plans.

"We're almost out of money..." - Garami

Dyes are far from cheap. Not to mention that I splurged on the food just now, plus my new boots...

"Why not sell some of the treasures we have?" asked Bloom with a low voice, in case someone was listening to us. She must remember why the bandits from "that night" wanted to rob me.

"It is possible, but I want to keep that as a final option." - Garami

Starting a rumor about a girl with ancient treasures in her pockets isn't something I wish for. It can bring more problems than just the mastermind.

In that case...

"Let's play some games." - Garami

"We're going to gamble?!" - Bloom

"Just some small bets. Enough to gather some funds." - Garami

"Are you sure about this? I agree that your LUC stat is higher than the average, but..." - Bloom

LUC and INT are special stats that tells of your average intelligence and luck. They can be anything from 0 to 300, and level-ups don't change them at all. You gotta use more special methods, not that I'm sure what those are. The average for human beings ranges from 80 to 120 for both stats. Having fewer points than that would mean you've got bad luck, if we're talking about LUC, or not as clever as the others if INT is the focus.

...not that those rules are foolproof. I mean, my LUC is 150 for some reason. Yet, I'm having my life(?) targeted by some unknown card shark. ...yeah, let's forget that INT and LUC exist at all.

"No prob," I told Bloom. "For some reason, I'm feeling confident at the casino."

"That's what any bad gamblers say before they go broke!" - Bloom

"I got a trick. No prob." - Garami

"That's ANOTHER thing they always say!!" - Bloom

There's no trust to find in this neighborhood.

I looked at the map at the entrance of the district to see where they're keeping the good stuff... Red-light district. Noted for later... The "card alley". Gotta take a peak there. It's gonna be a key point for the investigation. But going to a card table without any chips would just make people laugh at me, so...the slots.

The slot area is one huge building. You can call it a "slot-only casino", I guess. Rows on rows with slot-looking machines were placed all over the place. They seem not that different from the slot machines from my previous life, but there's this strange, antenna-like crystal on top of every machine. Maybe it's some sorta magic collector to keep the machines up and running?

"Come on, this is ridiculous! Gambling has never been a safe method to earn income! Let us try something else..." - Bloom

I ignored Bloom as I walked through the establishment in search of some good machines. There are lots of customers here, all wasting their money on the slots. Most of them fall into despair as their last coin is permanently swallowed.

"Bloom, do you know what two types of slots exist?" - Garami

"Huh? ...good machines and bad machines?" - Bloom

"They got those terms in this world too... Yes, and no. You're almost right." - Garami

I kept the conversation with Bloom going with a low voice.

"See that girl?" I asked her, pointing at a female with long, light-blue hair who screamed in defeat as the slot failed to spit out any money for her.

"That unfortunate-looking one?" - Bloom

"Th-that's a little harsh, but yes. That machine she's using, it's rigged." - Garami

".........huh!?" - Bloom

"Keep your voice down!" - Garami

"B-b-but you said, the game's rigged!" - Bloom

"Of course it is. You said so yourself. That gambling's the worst way for a stable income. At least for the players. If you're the one behind the games, you can rig them to your favor." - Garami

"Eh-eh!?" - Bloom

"Start using your vocabulary. The gig here is that those machines are using a predetermined algorithm to produce the result of the slot reels. It doesn't matter when you push the stop buttons on each reel." - Garami

"Th-th-that's cheating!" - Bloom

"No, really? I'd never guess that." - Garami

"........." - Bloom

"Jokes aside, it's not cheating. A respectable casino would ensure that there's a slight probability to win. Even a triple-7 is possible. But the biggest winner, in the end, will always be the house." - Garami

"...it still feels like cheating." - Bloom

"Yes, yes. Now, onward to the second type of slots. The unrigged ones." - Garami

"-!?" - Bloom

"What? Do you think that the rumors about how you can win with slots just by keeping an eye and the timing of the reels were solely propaganda? No, they also use rumors and such, but a few "good machines" are placed to make the rumors more believable." - Garami

Bloom looked at me with her mouth wide open, but I didn't have the time to humor her anymore. I need to focus on the reels.

The best bet for a "just" slot would be those that have reels running at high speed. Those are more likely to scare away people who rely on the timing strategy. I have already deduced which one of them is "real", and there are even some in use. And they indeed stop without fixing the result.

Hehehe. Sorry, casino owners. You made the fatal mistake of preparing these machines while I'm in town. Or, when anyone with so well-trained eyesight like mine is in town.

I sat down in front of one of the "good machines" and started the reels. Hmm, around 300 meters per second? Not bad. The development of gambling tools has advanced nicely in this world. But...7, 7, and...

---

"AND NEVER COME BACK!!" - Casino owner

"Damn female devil!!" - Casino worker A

"May "Deadroll" Davin curse you!!" - Casino worker B

"My bonuuuuus!!!" - Casino worker C

I left the casino with a wheelbarrow filled with cash and moneybags. Several triple-7s in a row, each giving 50 times the amount of money one is betting, which was increasing for every "you win" jingle, ended up giving me more cash than I can fit in my Storage. The owner of the casino reluctantly gave me the wheelbarrow in exchange that I left with my loot. Sorry~~.

"Mwa-hahahaha! I never doubted you, Master! Wo-hoo!" - Bloom

So symptoms of casino-originated gold fever include short-time memory loss. I gotta be careful of that.

Bloom is having the time of her artificial life in the wheelbarrow as she literally swam through the money. If those cheapskates hadn't kicked me out, I could have earned (won/robbed) enough for my money bath. Or maybe I should have aimed for a money bin?

I'm sorta surprised they didn't outright throw me out or accused me of cheating. Some workers looked at me funny while I was in the middle of my triple-7 fever, but all they did was look at some strange contraption with eyes that screamed "I can't believe this!". Did they have some gizmo to detect cheating?

In any case, I may have gone too far this time. It's to no one's surprise that I'm the center of attention for anyone in this part of the entertainment district right now. Where's the bank...I have no damn bank account. Tch...

"Eh, excuse me?"

"What?" - Garami

I turned around and saw a girl...scratch that. An adult woman with light-blue hair, a sword at her hip, golden eyes, and somewhat transparent skin...wait, what was that last part!?

"You're the wonder girl who crushed the slots, right? I watched you pass me and started slaughtering those jerks at the casino's payments."

"Yeeeaaah..." - Garami

Is she a stalker or something? ...oh, right. She's the girl who used the bad machine I showed Bloom.

"I am Mira Aureola. This is my adventurer card. I'm a qualified bodyguard for cute girls and their riches~." - Mira Aureola

A bodyguard? Is she looking for an easy job to refill her wallet? It seemed that she was losing big before.

I accepted the card she handed me and read its content. Silver-rank adventurer, I got no clue what that means. Her Main class is "Squire", that's a new one. Her race is a Light Sprite, okay...

"Squire" is some sorta warrior, right? Based on knights? And this obvious Light-related race...

"Do you use weapons made out of light or something?" - Garami

The thugs from before got stabbed by something made out of what appeared to be solid silver light. If that's the case...

"No. Not at all. It's easier to clad your sword with aether instead. Besides, those abilities are better for those who need throwing weapons." - Mira

"...tch. It sounded cool..." - Garami

"I-I mean, sure I could do that if I tried, but-!" - Mira

The "Sprite" woman started to make hasty excuses. If she's faking her distress, she's one hell of an actor. And potentially, the woman behind the card troops...

"You need money?" - Garami

The woman paused her flow of excuses after hearing my question.

".........YES! I WANT MONEY!!" - Mira

"Who doesn't?" - Bloom

Bloom's answer got many people who were listening to us to nod along...hey! This isn't a show!

"There are too many people here. Let's discuss it somewhere else." - Garami

My hunch is telling me this woman's not entirely unrelated to the events that happened to me. Let's try to milk as much information from her as possible.