“Ugh… I really can’t play at a casino.”
The fake golden sun muttered that.
They say there are plenty of quests near the forest, but maybe because I remembered Leo and his group sweeping up the morning quests the last time, my classmates have been super busy with their quests since morning.
Moreover, even if quests arise around here, it’s not because the quest board can’t handle them. They just leave some of the incoming quests for the students. The north really has a shortage of people, but Northwood doesn’t have a battlefield nearby, has plenty of money, and above all, security around here has to be stable.
Unlike the times when they were doing more than just the subquests, the number of quests was low this time, so we had plenty of time to relax after completing some.
Especially in the evening like this, it meant we could sit back at the casino.
“…”
Of course, Charlotte, who followed along, had a very displeased expression. The fact that she didn’t want to come outside last night shows she really has no interest in casinos. That was a relief. Since Charlotte was in the room like in the original story, we could relatively relax at the casino.
Jake, who lost money in the card game a couple of times, returned to the rail where we were waiting and overheard Charlotte opening her mouth.
“Thinking you can win money in a place like this is just wrong. The people running the casino aren’t fools, and if they thought you’d lose money, they wouldn’t run such a place.”
It’s not really a place based on cheating. If they pulled off tricks in front of high-ranking nobles, that would be a big deal. No matter how much the Duke is backing them, you can’t openly commit fraud where people from other dukes also come.
“The teacher said to take it easy as well.”
To be more precise, Carolyn’s expression looked very embarrassed about showing students a place like this.
It seems that the Northwood Duke’s household raised Carolyn too uprightly.
In fact, she was the character that would look the best in a bunny girl outfit among all the characters…but well, it’s not like someone from a duke’s family would have any reason to wear such a thing, so let’s just move on.
“I don’t really understand what’s fun about gambling.”
“That’s obvious. Don’t even try to learn it.”
In response to Lena’s words, Charlotte quickly chimed in.
Lena was the youngest among us. Maybe Charlotte found Lena cute, or maybe she thought of her as someone in a similar situation since she’s a foreigner, but Charlotte often took care of Lena.
Since Lena came from a place that clearly doesn’t have as much infrastructure as the Empire, she looked at the casino with curiosity, but didn’t hold a very favorable view of the bunny girls wandering around or the people engrossed in card games.
There were a few roulette machines operating. They were actually powered by a steam engine connected to gas pipes below the building. After all, it was a place leading the forefront of technology even in the Empire.
“Are you done yet?”
When I asked, Jake shrugged and said,
“I was thinking of getting Roti a diamond ring, but I lost all the money I had. I don’t even have enough to spin the roulette, so I guess that’s it.”
“…You lost all your café money too?”
“Yeah, pretty much. So can I borrow some money?”
At Jake’s words, Alice let out a deep sigh.
“The Duke’s eldest son borrowing money from the Crown Princess…”
“It’s not like it’s enough money to buy a territory or anything, so what’s the problem? Huh? Or should I win some and give it to you?”
“…I’ll lend it to you, so let’s get out of here quickly.”
Alice shot Jake a side-eye as she spoke.
There might be another reason for saying that. Seeing Alice glancing around from earlier, it seemed she was still concerned about what happened yesterday. Even with a mask on her face, those who could recognize her would.
True, her gaze might have turned this way a bit, but it was probably more because of the crowd in academy uniforms rather than recognizing Alice as a bunny girl.
“Ugh.”
After Alice, Claire also let out a small sigh.
…In fact, there were various reasons for Jake’s behavior. To some extent, he was deliberately rebelling against his household.
By the way, Leo was sticking close to Claire. He wasn’t pressing against her, but he was making an effort to express with his whole body, “I’m with these people.”
From the moment we entered the casino, bunny girls had been clinging to Leo enthusiastically. Being handsome was certainly a reason, but given no one was particularly sticking to Jake, it was probably more about the ‘foolish vibe’ he was giving off.
And Claire was looking at Leo as if finding him somewhat pathetic.
“How about it, Sylvia? Are you thinking of trying to win money? If you lend me the money you win, I could make it even bigger. You might hit the jackpot you can’t read the numbers for!”
I silently watched Jake, who was saying things he didn’t mean as if he had a steel plate on his face.
“Rather, I have things to do. I don’t mind you staying here until late, but if you stay here with not a single coin, you might end up in debt by morning to the Duke to the point he can’t handle it.”
“Okay, okay. I didn’t want to get scolded by Roti anyway.”
With just that comment alone, he’d be a hundred percent scolded by Roti.
A prince borrowing money from the Crown Princess— it wouldn’t be odd for his servant to report it, let alone the Duke personally giving a scolding for it.
But that was probably exactly what Jake was aiming for.
“So, what exactly do you want to talk about? Should we go listen in?”
Jake said that and began walking ahead as if it was natural, while we lowered our pace and followed behind him slowly.
*
Before telling the story to the group, we had quite a long conversation.
The Zibo hiding, and something that shouldn’t be discovered by the duke of this territory.
And to make matters worse, two of them are foreigners.
But if we just vanished from each other, that would be a problem too. If we disappeared recklessly, that would draw suspicion as well.
In the original story, in the end, Verati entered first, followed by Alice and Leo. Claire was watching from afar. This was the first time Claire participated as a guest character.
Upon returning, Alice and Leo disappearing together caused romantic comedy misunderstandings.
But this time, we had three people, so it would be impossible not to notice if that many people vanished at once.
So what we thought of was… just talking.
Not openly, but in a manner that was a bit more ‘noble-like’.
“Take a look at this.”
After leaving the casino and gathering at a nearby café, we showed an invitation card to other kids who didn’t know what happened yesterday.
“This is…”
Charlotte said as she received the invitation.
It was an elegant envelope. It had the atmosphere that a high-ranking person’s invitation would be inside.
As Charlotte held the envelope, she glanced our way. When Alice nodded, she cautiously opened it and pulled out the equally luxurious paper inside.
What was inside was a request form.
“Please explore the hidden areas of Northwood Forest…”
After reading that brief content, Charlotte showed a slightly bewildered expression.
“Why would there be such a request if it could go through the request board?”
“Since this is Northwood Duke’s land.”
“…Aha.”
As Charlotte put the paper back into the envelope, she said,
“So, you’re implying that it’s someone ‘other than’ the duke who made such a request.”
“Exactly.”
“But, is there really a reason for ‘us’ to receive such a request?”
“That’s…”
Alice closed her eyes for a moment. Then, she took a slight breath and slowly opened her eyes, exhaling her words.
“…There’s a reason they can’t say.”
“…”
Charlotte squinted at Alice, looking at her quietly before speaking.
“So that’s how it is.”
Charlotte shook the envelope gently between her fingers as she continued,
“They must have enough guts to think about robbing the duke’s territory, but they wouldn’t want to be found out by such troublesome people. Besides, not just a dungeon, but ‘dungeons’ they mention here. It’s just too obvious.”
Alice managed to maintain her poker face, but it seemed Charlotte could see through it all.
However, Charlotte didn’t press on any further.
“Alright. Everyone has stories they don’t want to share with others. Let’s go along with this this time.”
Charlotte glanced at Jake and Lena sitting beside her. Jake looked entertained while Lena tilted her head in confusion.
“It seems like both of you agree, though… but there’s one condition if we’re going along with this.”
“…Just say it.”
“If there comes a time when I ask you to let me trick you, you have to definitely let me do it! That way, it balances out, right?”
“…”
As Charlotte said that as if joking, Alice nodded.
And like what Charlotte had done a while ago, she looked over at the two sitting next to Charlotte.
“Well, I’m from the duke’s family, right? I wouldn’t want to clash with the royal family, so I’ll just follow along.”
Jake answered as if making small talk, while Lena responded as if still not quite understanding.
“Well, if a request has come, then shouldn’t we just solve it?”
Both of them gave their answers in a way that reflected their unique personalities.
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