Under the Oak Tree

290 Chapter “No objections, then?” Royald asked probingly, tossing the dice in the air.

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His confidence caused Maxi’s to falter a little. Though she was familiar with the rules, she had never played with anyone except Riftan. Royald, on the other hand, was a notorious troublemaker who initiated gambling matches at the Mage Tower every chance he got.

Was it wise for her to accept such a seasoned player’s challenge so rashly? Her winning streak against Riftan could very well have been due to his complete lack of talent in the game. She nervously shifted her eyes, deliberating over what to do, when Anette sighed.

“I understand how excited you are to lay a wager, but I’ve never played before. I barely know the rules.”

“What? You’ve never played dice?” Royald asked in exaggerated astonishment. “Why not take this chance to learn? It’s not complicated, and I would gladly guide you through it.”

“Royald, don’t you think it shameless for an experienced gambler to challenge a beginner?”

“You clearly don’t know a thing about games of chance! Just so you know, beginners tend to have better luck.”

While Anette stared at the deck of cards contemplatively, Maxi hastily ran through options in her mind. She might not be able to beat Royald, but besting a novice like Anette would not be too difficult. She quickly weighed up which of the two scenarios — drawing lots or playing dice — would be more likely to spare her from being selected.

Drawing lots would ensure a one-in-three chance of being selected. Playing dice against a beginner like Anette, on the other hand, would give better odds of avoiding last place. The fact that she was even having such thoughts made her feel guilty.

Anette was a friend who had always looked out for her at the Mage Tower. Yet, here she was, trying to lumber her with a risky mission. How was she any different from Royald? Even so, for the sake of her husband who had already suffered enough, she did not wish to run headlong into danger this time.

After carefully listening to Royald’s explanation, Anette nodded. “Fine. It’s rather simple, so I’m willing to settle this with a game.”

Maxi felt a moment of inner conflict before she yielded to her conscience. “A-Are you sure? You would be playing for the first time. Don’t you think it would be—”

“If I lose, I go. It’s as simple as that. I’m curious to see what this city of monsters is like anyway.”

“If that’s the case, can’t you just volunteer so we don’t have to bother with this game?”

Anette, Maxi, Miriam, Geoffrey, Nevin, and even Celric shot daggers at Royald.

“Only a suggestion!” said the mage, his shoulders drooping. “No need to look at me like that. All right, so everyone’s on board, then? No complaining later.”

Maxi spent a moment deliberating before squeezing her eyes shut. She nodded. The trio promptly laid out the leather game board full of numeric symbols and pushed it closer to the light.

After watching them wordlessly, Nevin slowly shook his head. “I must admit, I’m a bit saddened by how desperate you three are to save your own skins. I had expected at least one willing candidate.”

Maxi pretended not to hear as she accepted her allotment of cards from Geoffrey, who had been selected as their referee. She silently placed the buttons they would use in place of real money on the board.

Finishing her round, Anette passed the dice to Maxi. “Here. It’s your turn now.”

After carefully inspecting her cards, Maxi tossed in a few more buttons before throwing the dice. Several rounds later, it became clear the game was turning out very different from her expectations. The buttons were piling up in front of Anette.

Both Maxi and Royald were ghostly pale. Having confidently revealed his hand a minute ago, Royald was now fuming as Anette’s trumped his yet again.

“You—! Didn’t you say you’ve never played before?! Was that a lie to fool us?”

“I never lied,” Anette said flatly, gathering her winnings. She looked Royald up and down in exasperation. “It’s not that I’m good at it — it’s that you two are terrible. Max, I can understand, but you? For someone rumored to always carry dice with him, you should have no excuse to be so horrid at this.”

“He may be an incessant gambler, but he’s not much of a winner,” Geoffrey explained, doubling over in laughter. “His luck is so bad that the mages of Undaim and Sigrew call him the Wallet.”

This seemed to be a revelation even to Royald — his face grew beet red, and his shoulders shook with fury. However, it was Maxi who had it worse than him. For some reason she could not understand, her opponents seemed to know her hand every round. It was so bad that she almost suspected magical foul play.

Gnawing her lip, Maxi’s eyes darted from her cards to the game board. When she squeezed them shut and cast the dice, cries of dismay erupted around her. She slowly opened an eye to see Royald yelp with glee and collect his winnings.

Evidently peeved, Anette clicked her tongue. “Try to do better, Max. I really want Royald to go. I must see this contemptible schmuck suffer a little.”

Hearing this, Nevin, who had been sipping ale next to the brazier, shook his head. “Personally, I would rather have Maximilian go. Since we would have to work together, I would prefer it to be someone useful.”

“Hear that, Sludge? Must you try to win when Master Nevin himself wants your skills for this mission? You shouldn’t disappoint the senior mages! And it’s obvious you’re going to lose anyway. Why not save face and concede?”

“E-Enough of your prattling and play your hand!” Maxi said crossly, throwing the dice at Royald.

Up until now, Miriam had been watching without a word. She rubbed her temple with a sigh. “I can’t believe I’m wasting my precious time watching this idiotic game.”

“Ha!” said Royald. “Says the sole volunteer who was rejected for being useless at support magic. Stay out of this, Miriam!”

A fireball whooshed to life in Miriam’s palm. “Shall I burn you alive?”

Royald paid her no mind. Looking up to the heavens, he offered an earnest prayer with the dice clutched in his hand before casting them across the board.

Maxi closed her eyes and slowly opened them. As soon as he had gauged the numbers, Royald wailed and rammed his head on the ground. Anette munched on a piece of jerky as she narrowed her eyes, calculating their scores. She then swept up all the buttons.

Though Maxi also lost a few, she narrowly avoided landing in last place. The gap between her and Royald was meager, which meant the tide could turn at any moment. She nervously chewed on her nail as her eyes darted between the board and the remaining cards.

At that moment, the tent flap opened, and a few of the knights poked their heads inside.

“Please pardon the intrusion,” said the ever-courteous Elliot. “We wanted to know if you had reached a decision on who will…”

He trailed off when he spotted the game board on the ground.

Seeing his bewildered expression, Geoffrey explained, “Most of the members have been chosen. We are about to decide the last with a game.”

“By gambling?”

Until then, Ulyseon had been craning his neck over Elliot’s shoulder. He strode into the tent, his eyes widening when he saw Maxi’s scant number of buttons. “My lady! You are losing!”

“N-No! I’m in second place!”

“By two buttons!” Royal quipped. “I can easily turn this around.”

“Bunch of imbeciles.”

Apparently deciding that she wanted nothing to do with it, Miriam settled into a corner and threw a blanket over herself. Maxi did not spare her a glance as she carefully placed her bet. Elliot and Ulyseon quietly walked up behind to check her hand, worry etched on their faces.

Maxi glanced over her shoulder to see what they thought. Both of them wore uncanny expressions.

“I-Is there… something wrong with my cards?” she asked anxiously.

“Are you really going to bet that much with that hand, my lady?

Maxi once again glanced at her cards, then at the board. She could not fathom what the problem was. Elliot stroked his chin, unsure if it was appropriate for him to interfere. He appeared to make up his mind and was about to speak when Royald’s shouting cut him off.

‘No interference! This is our business! Any outside influence is inexcusable. It counts as cheating!”

‘We are not outsiders!” Ulyseon said heatedly. “How can we be when we serve her ladyship, the Lady of Anatol?”

‘IAS we’ve reminded you on numerous occasions, Maximilian is here as a mage of the Mage Tower. We distribute our responsibilities equally among all members!”

Anette clicked her tongue. “You sure can talk for someone who always tries to shirk his duties at every opportunity.”

When Royald opened his mouth to retort, the tent flap opened once again. This time, it was Riftan who entered.

“What’s all this?”

An icy silence instantly fell over the tent. Though she had done nothing wrong, Maxi shrank into herself. She cautiously studied him. Having already taken off his armor, he now wore his coat over a dark navy tunic and a black wyvern-skin vest. He strode over to them and bent over the game board, his brow furrowed.

‘Are you playing a game for leisure?

There was a pause before Elliot offered a cautious explanation. “The mages are in the process of selecting the last member to join the scout party.”

Riftan swiveled his head up to look at Elliot before his gaze landed on Maxi. ‘With a game of dice?”

Faced with his look of disapproval, Maxi awkwardly nodded. Riftan’s mouth opened wide as if to bellow something before he clamped a hand over it. It was not the reaction she had expected from the very person who had praised her as a natural gambler. What little confidence she had left quickly drained away.

Riftan turned to face Nevin and said menacingly, “Shouldn’t the members be selected among the high-ranking mages?

‘The majority lack field experience, so we thought it prudent to select mages proficient in search magic. It was decided that those with the required skills among the volunteers would go, but not many more were willing...” Sheepishly scratching the back of his head, Nevin added, “Which is why we have chosen to fill the remaining spot by a fair method.’

‘And that fair method is gambling?

“It’s what the candidates agreed on, so I don’t see the issue.”

Unable to offer any further objections, Riftan pressed his lips together. Maxi noticed Royald’s nervous sweep of the tent.

‘Come, this is the last round,” said Royald, hastily passing the dice to Anette.

‘Throw them if you’ve made your bets.”

Anette flicked a glance at Riftan before accepting the dice. They resumed the game in the now tense atmosphere. While they took turns casting their bets, Riftan watched them like a hawk observing its prey.

,nlealvEuty ublena ot teak tell silent eprserus ayn legor Roylad voiced his placmns.oit “Mserta ffyrGeoe, sa eth ereree,f tousn’hld uyo ban suhc b”eirhav?o

‘What’s the problem?” Riftan asked with a cold smile. “We are merely watching.”

‘Y-You’re trying to intimidate us!” Royald protested, though his voice grew increasingly smaller.

When he looked to Geoffrey for help, the senior mage pretended not to notice and apathetically distributed more cards. “Stop making a fuss and roll the dice.

This is getting tiresome.”

Growing dejected at the lack of support, Royald weakly accepted the cards. Maxi carefully assessed her hand and placed two buttons on the board. At the same time, Royald put a card down on the ground and gathered his remaining buttons with a look of determination.

“It’s live or die.’

With that, he placed all of his buttons on the board. Maxi’s eyes widened in surprise.

Anette immediately threw her cards down. ‘Tm going to fold.”

Royald regarded Maxi challengingly. “Well, what about you? Will you fold or keep going?

Maxi swallowed hard. If she were to fold, she would be left with a scant four buttons, while Royald would promptly claim first place by winning both her and Anette’s bet. She was certain this was the reason behind Royald’s bravado.

Gnawing her thumb, she squeezed her eyes shut and pushed all her buttons onto the board. ‘Very well. I-I will bet everything as well.”

Royald winced. A second later, he said firmly as if to brace himself, “Very well. Open a card, then.”

Picking the one with the highest value, Maxi placed it in front of her. Groaning, Royald followed with his own.

Maxi’s face lit up. Both of their cards added to fourteen, and the chances of the three dice landing on a sum greater than that were low.

‘Wipe that grin off your face. The scary thing about games of chance is that it’s impossible to predict how they will end.’

‘S- Stop yabbering and just throw already!” Maxi cried triumphantly.

Royald ducked his head to one side as if to block Riftan, positioned behind Maxi like a sentinel, from his line of sight. He began to pray fervently.

Geoffrey shook with laughter as he said, “What a pity the Temple Knights aren’t here to see a mage pray so earnestly.”

“1 think this would only worsen their impression of us,” Nevin remarked, shaking his head.

Royald concluded his protracted prayer and tossed the dice. The three cubes flew in an arc before clattering over the mat. As they rolled to a stop, cries of dismay erupted from the tent. Royald rubbed his eyes with his fists before leaping to his feet, yelping in joy.

“1 won! I’ve turned the tables!’

Maxi stared at the dice in disbelief. No matter how many times she checked, the numbers staring back at her were six, six, and five.

“Th-This can’t be!”

‘This is God’s will!”

Drunk with victory, Royald could not stop snickering despite the murderous gazes of the knights.

‘Have a safe journey, Sludge! I shall be praying here for your quick return!”

Leaning close, Ulyseon said in an almost sinister whisper, “My lady, if you wish it, I can discreetly get rid of him and make it look like an accident.’

Devastated, Maxi kept staring at the dice. Riftan stood behind her, clutching his forehead. He gazed gloomily down at her, then walked out of the tent with a sigh. Maxi’s shoulders slumped.

‘We were going to go anyway, so please don’t worry, my lady Elliot consoled her. “This is not a situation we hadn’t anticipated.’

His words and gentle smile pierced Maxi’s heart like a dagger. Close to tears, she weakly hung her head.

The next day, the group prepared to set out without delay. The mages drew a map based on the crystal model while the knights packed food and equipment. Since the mission was dangerous, Kuahel Leon opted to go with them. And, after fierce negotiation, Riftan and two subordinates were permitted to come along as well..

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