And so, three days later...

"Why aren't they having the tables open...*mumble, mumble*..." - Mira

"Today's not such a day. Be patient." - Garami

Yup, that's right. This is the day that Karion has been preparing for. According to the official sources, he is taking a crew of the best adventurers he could find on a short warning and preparing a raid group to attack the "recently discovered spider monster that is hiding in the sewers".

"I wanted revenge on these jerks here... I lost half a month's earning..." - Mira

"That was solely your fault." - Garami

"Even so..." - Mira

Since there were only a few adventurers who fit Karion's strict criteria, the Union asked for the city guards' assistance to defeat the many-legged beast. They're going to enter from different points and meet up inside the spider's nest for a two-pronged attack to finish it off.

"Rather, what do you want here?" - Garami

"Hmm, there aren't any swords for sale, so..." - Mira

Though, that is a GODDAMN BIG BLUFF! That sneaky Karion has 0% will to attack the monster spider! Or, at least not at the moment. Instead, he is planning on luring the main force of the city guards away from their posts, which will also include the rogues who have infiltrated them.

Doing so gives Karion and his trustworthy adventurer friends (which doesn't include strangers like Mira and me!!) a chance to attack the base of the people controlling the parasites in the guards and the card troopers.

"You two remember why we are here...?" - Bloom

"Just sticking to our roles." - Garami

And that place is here! The Al-Miraj Casino! The biggest facility in the entertainment district is dedicated to card games.

However, today the playing tables aren't open. It is the annual "grand magic item auction". An event where the casino's normal services take a small break to introduce tons of strange items (magic or not, despite the event's name) and sell them to the highest bidders.

This year, they started the auction a few weeks too early though. A possible reason is that the Casino has been in the red lately. For some strange reason~, they have been forced to buy tons of new playing cards~. There must be a fad among the common crooks of stealing cards now~~.

...yeah, as if. Those are the materials for the card troopers. Karion thinks so, and he's the golem expert.

According to Bloom, golems can either be the kind you control, or the kind you set loose with some specific pre-programmed instructions. And the card troopers are the playing card version of the latter variant.

That must be why Karion caught on to what was going on here that fast. Bloom needed several days to connect the dots after we first learned about the card troopers, and she only solved the mystery when she overheard some gamblers complaining that they couldn't play at this place due to the lack of cards. Yet, the Union Master solved it in the blink of an eye! Does he have some detective class or title?

After knowing that, it was easy to deduce that the Al-Miraj Casino was a likely suspect. Either that, or people stealing those cards, but it's difficult to imagine that so many cards can be consumed in such a short period. Plus no other people were ordering either pre-made cards, or the paper needed to produce them. We did some discreet sleuthing at the paper ateliers and the specialist shops for gambling tools right before today.

With the news about this auction being held earlier than before, Karion must be planning on taking advantage of it to initiate his attack. There's a huge space underneath the Casino, way bigger than what you'd need for a vault, even if it was a shared one for the whole entertainment district. Heck, the place is 1.5 times bigger than the lovely street.

Karion must be aiming for that underground area. Meanwhile, Mira and I have positioned ourselves above ground by participating in the auction. When things get wild, we're gonna try to sneak in, bust some skulls, and grab some loot. We'll just pretend that some of the crooks managed to run away with the loot, which they then decided to sell anonymously to a pawn shop that Mira incidentally happened to know about~. Nothing illegal here, no way~~.

Huh? We're sounding like the bad guys here? Hey, these card sharks have blood on their hands, most likely. They should be happy I'm settling just for their monetary valuables instead of their lives.

"-and for the next into...did anyone hear rumbling?" - Auctioneer

Right when they were going to introduce some mystical, tribal weapon, the auctioneer paused as the chandeliers in the ceiling started to shake.

"Guess three times?" - Mira

"I don't even need one." - Garami

We left our seats while making sure not to be noticed by the casino workers as we headed for the basement. The storage facilities should be kept there. And even more so if they're connected to the gigantic underground area Karion has an interest in. We have to flee if the battle's reached wherever the loot is hidden. I'm a coward, so I only want the cold cash without getting into trouble.

Fortunately for us, the guards seemed busy with calming down the auction audience, so they're light-handed here. I bet the chaos downstairs is also luring some of them away for us. Go get 'em, Karion!

But the luck only lasted until right before the damn door. Two muscleheads armed to the teeth are guarding the place. They had to leave the best behind. This is the worst.

"Can you take them?" - Garami

"With or without making any noise?" - Mira

"...either?" - Garami

"Sorry, neither are good." - Mira

I was afraid of that. ...hmm? One of the goons is holding his ear. That gesture sorta reminds me of when people were using handless mics back in my world. Not that they have that kinda technology here on Terra Sol! Hah! Outside stuff like magitechs, as-in magic-based technology, they're in the Middle Ages!! ...speaking of tech, what about that Black Baron dude and his goons?

"Hey, the goons are leaving their posts." - Mira

...seems like they have some sort of communication equipment. I need to reevaluate my impression of the technology levels in this world.

"Karion seems to strike hard." - Garami

"So the corrupted casino is putting all its goons to fend him off. Or maybe just to drag out time?" - Mira

"If that's the case, let's get going before they finish whatever they're stalling the adventurers for." - Garami

If they have an escape plan ready, I want to lift off as many valuables as we can before they flee or notices us.

Mira took out a piece of crystal from her pockets and made it...transform into a rod? No, a key? No again. It seems like a rod that's halfway from turning into a key. Did she have that kinda skill under her belt? Handy.

"I'll try to pick the lock. Cover me." - Mira

"How can you make anything you say so knightish-" - Garami

*Click*

"Done." - Mira

"That's fast!?" - Garami

"I'm surprised myself." - Mira

Mira did tell me she owned the Thief class (I already knew because I Identified her, but...), though I didn't think she was this good at it.

*Swish*

Whoops! Something came outta the door after Mira opened it. What's that, some kinda animal?

"A cat?" - Mira

"A kitty cat?" - Garami

A black cat with white paws escaped from the locked room and headed for the exit. Really? A cat?

"Maybe someone forgot about it and locked the poor thing inside?" - Mira

"But why a cat?" - Garami

"I don't know. Maybe it is a mascot or a lucky charm?" - Mira

Black cats are supposed to be giving good luck or bad luck depending on who you ask...still, that's weird.

But it seems that little dude gave us some good luck! We found the storage room, just as planned! And it is empty! No guards, no villains, no goons, no money, no auction goods, no muscleheads...

"NO MONEY?!" - Garami

"SAY WHAT?!" - Mira

"YOU TWO ARE TOO LOUD!!" - Bloom

"Says you." - Garami + Mira

"...sorry..." - Bloom

After that comedy routine, we started to search through all the empty shelves in the room. There gotta be some sorta hidden door or an invisible chest or anything. There is no better place to keep the casino's valuables than here. Why else did they station those two meatheads from before here?

I started hitting the walls in the hope that they were hiding something, but nothing. Nothing at all--!!

*Click*

...the "fake that you're giving up to make something happen" plan worked. Yes, it was all according to plan. Seriously. ...I'm serious!!

Let's move on. The walls opened up to a secret room, just as I'd predicted. Several items were spread out here in crates. A quick look at them revealed they were the items supposed to be sold at the auction later today. If things went as planned, that is.

"Something you want from here?" - Garami

"Wouldn't they be too eye-catching?" - Mira

Oops. True. Most of this stuff is kinda unique, so people would know that we stole it. Let's restrict ourselves to stuff that wasn't on the brochure, as in the items not supposed to be sold at the auction.

Even then, we did find some cool-looking stuff. What caught my eye were several books about necromancy and dark rituals. The latter category aside, I did think about learning necromancy, so this is a good haul for me.

Mira took some evil-looking weapons. When I asked her if she was gonna use something that looked that cursed, she replied that she was going to give them to a blacksmith friend of hers to be reforged into something usable. I guess that's a way to use them.

Other than that, there were lots of strange stuff such as a jar filled with four-leaf clovers, rabbit paws, golden horseshoes, cat sculptures made outta jade, and lots more weird stuff. It's so weird that we didn't wanna take it with us. Except for the horseshoes. I mean, it's gold!

While we were looting the place, Bloom had been looking through some stuff at a desk placed in the back of the hidden room. Maybe this place doubled as a study for some guy? Anyway, when I returned my attention to Bloom, her face had gone pale from reading the documents there. Can avatars of skills get sick?

I looked at what she was reading...and understood why she was feeling down. I'm feeling like my blood's been drained from my body myself.

"Mira, you said Deadroll Jim was something akin to an urban legend?" - Garami

"Where did that come from? But yes, I guess you could say that." - Mira

"Then why is there a sacrificial ritual with his name on it?" - Garami

I showed Mira the document we were reading and saw her gradually turning pale just as we were. It describes a ritual based on the six-sided dice and sacrificing the blood of 6 people to grant a blessing-like curse that makes the ritual's target only experience good luck. The newer notes suggest that the author wishes to multiply this effect by a hundred or more! 600 people...

"This is why they started handing out those false entry passes." - Garami

"Wait, wait, wait just a sec! Why would they go all this way for something as fishy as a good luck charm based on a dark ritual? It's crazy!" - Mira

"I think people willing to use a sacrificial rite is not in their right mind from the start." - Bloom

And I agree with that. Whatever their reasons are, we are dealing with people way more nuts than we first expected.

"Not to mention that good luck is nice to have. I mean, it's thanks to it that we managed to find this place." - Mira

I wanna say it was through hard work we got here...but she's right. We've been unnaturally lucky with this heist. Rather, why did I go with this harebrained idea? Wouldn't it be safer to just let Karion do all the hard pushing while I waited for the matter to be settled?

"Maybe one of the lucky charms wanted to get out?" - Bloom

"Yeah, and pigs can fly." - Garami

"Why are you suddenly talking about Pigasus?" - Mira

......okay, let's take all the lucky charms with us as we ditch this place and return to the Union. Just to be safe. And let's not forget to take all these documents with us. They could be useful...somehow.