After some time and more convincing than I would like to admit, we finally agreed to attend the banquet, splitting up soon after to get ourselves ready.

The event was being held in Anciana's southern district, at an establishment known as DD's Wonders.

On the surface, it was a perfectly respectable place, dealing in all kinds of artifacts and potions but its real business was an underground casino.

The banquets were nothing more than bait, lavish events meant to lure in innocent lambs before slowly dragging them into the abyss of gambling addiction.

Naturally, none of us carried currency that held any real value here, so I doubted anyone would fall too deep.

…Well, except me.

I was the only one holding eight hundred Anciana credits, provided for accommodation and meals as part of the mission.

But since Alya had already taken care of all that for me, I was free to do whatever I wanted with the money.

Eight hundred credits was roughly equivalent to eight thousand dollars back in my previous world, a respectable sum, sure but still far too little to buy the high-grade herbs and potions I actually needed for a breakthrough.

So, naturally, I made a decision.

I would gamble.

After all, isn't a trickster supposed to be a gambler?

And believe it or not, DD's Wonders was a fairly respectable establishment even in a place this shady.

Sure, they had more than a few questionable side businesses but when it came to gambling, they played fair as long as you didn't get too greedy.

There was a strict policy against using mana or any special abilities to cheat.

Not that I had any intention of cheating, of course.

I mean… how hard could it really be to win against a bunch of rich idiots, right?

Especially when I had been something of a professional gambler in my past life.

With those thoughts in mind, I stood before the mirror, straightening my black suit.

"Damn," I muttered, admiring my reflection, "I look spectacular."

After praising my glory for what had to be the nth time, I finally stepped out of the room.

The banquet was about to begin and the organizers would be closing the entrances soon. Which meant we had to get there before that happened.

The moment I stepped into the lobby, I spotted Arthur exiting his room as well.

He was wearing a suit similar to mine, though his was orange, clearly chosen to match his hair and eyes.

A strange choice… but honestly, it suited him.

Most of us hadn't brought any party clothes with us, so we ended up doing a bit of shopping here.

Thankfully, everything we needed cost less than fifty Anciana credits.

Yeah, normal clothes were cheap as fuck by local currency standards.

"Hey, bro," he said, waving excitedly.

"Hey," I replied with a small nod. "You ready?"

He nodded even harder. "Yeah! I have never been to a banquet before in my life."

I let out a slow sigh.

My mind drifted back to the last banquet I had attended.

…The one where I kissed Viola's mother.

But well… the past was the past.

I was a changed man now, one who stayed as far away as possible from married women.

"Well, everything has a first time, I guess," I replied.

Truth be told, I wasn't much of a small-talk kind of guy. I could talk when it mattered, when words had weight or purpose but pointless chatter was a complete waste of breath for me.

Just then, another door opened with a soft click and Noah stepped out. He was wearing a white suit paired with a black shirt, a choice that somehow only made him look more clownish.

The moment he saw me, he glared.

"Looking ugly as always, Assborn," he scoffed.

I seriously wondered how the hell this immature bastard was ever supposed to grow into a so-called great hero in the future.

Even in the novel, his personality had been the same at the beginning.

It wasn't until that event at the end of the first year that he finally started to mature and even then, only a little.

Sure, Noah had opened up to Viola much earlier than he was supposed to… But that hadn't done a damn thing for his immaturity.

"I seriously don't want to know what kind of twisted definition of beauty you're working with," I said calmly. "But can we not fight for a while, Noah?"

Naturally, I wasn't as immature as this bastard.

"Huh?" Noah blinked, clearly caught off guard, like he couldn't even process my reaction.

"Yeah, I'm serious," I continued. "It's honestly exhausting arguing with a guy who knows only one word, one that perfectly matches his face."

I tilted my head slightly.

"I mean, we all know the word ass only really applies to you."

"Pfftt—"

Arthur, standing there like a cat on the edge of the world, let out a stifled laugh as Noah glared daggers at me and summoned his sword.

"I'm going to kill you today, ASSBORN." He snarled, already charging toward me.

"Catch me if you can—hahahaha!" I laughed as I bolted away.

Not because I was scared, of course.

But because getting on the nerves of this depressed bastard was oddly satisfying and, for some reason, it reminded me of my best friend Noah from my previous life… who had the exact same personality.

—

Meanwhile, inside DD's Wonders, a man wore a wide, crooked smile, one that sent chills down the spines of those kneeling before him.

"How many have arrived?" he asked.

His cold voice echoed through the room.

"Currently… three hundred," a trembling voice replied. "And nearly two hundred of them appear to be under thirty."

The man's smile stretched even wider.

"Our elven customers will be very pleased," he murmured. "Perhaps we'll even secure some… permanent business this time."

—

Unbeknownst to Rael, choosing to attend a banquet at that place on that very night was not a good idea after all.

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