The sound of clattering chips echoed. The highest valued chips in the El Dorado Resort being stacked in front of the ten players seated at the table.

The beautiful young women roamed around the room and passed out refreshments to each of the players before taking place behind them.

A hazy room, a sleazy old man sitting at the head of the table with a confident smirk on his face...

All things considered, I would be lying if I said I was surprised I would run into a situation like this. After all, this was one that I manufactured by going out of my way to seek it out.

Even so...

One of the players sitting across from me. A fat man wearing gaudy gold jewelry and expensive silk clothes. After raking in the chips in front of him, he grabbed a glass of wine from the girl serving him before draining it and copping a feel.

Said girl smiled and let out a shy giggle. But the joy that should have been there from that giggle was gone. Her eyes were dull and empty.

And looking around, I could see similar acts being performed.

A rougher adventurer pulled one of the girls into his lap, laughing. Another kissed the nearest girl and then pulled her in by saying she was his 'good luck charm' for the night.

The only ones who were acting like a decent person were me and Welf, Ryuu, that Japanese-looking girl, and then the mysterious young girl who was definitely involved with my daughters and Pyrrha.

Ryuu was doing her best to play a dutiful husband to that Japanese woman and stayed close to her, using that to push away the woman.

The young girl disguised as a young man was acting like a money-hungry fool and focusing on counting the chips in front of her.

And Welf...

Well. He was radiating so much 'I don't want to be here' energy that the girls didn't try getting close.

As for me... I did what was natural.

And by that, I meant using my natural charm to keep as many girls as I could away from those sleazy bastards.

Girls which included that blonde fox girl who kept staring at me for some reason.

Terry gave me a strange look as he saw the small crowd of girls standing behind me. Still, he put on a smile and said, "My, my. You really do enjoy my little toys, don't you Mister Caranus?"

I laughed and then casually reached out to ruffle the blonde fox girl's hair. "Of course. Great heroes are meant to be surrounded by great beauties. I've been missing that since wandering around Orario, so it's a great opportunity to win them here."

The Japanese woman sent daggers towards me with her eyes. And if it wasn't for Ryuu whispering to her, it probably wouldn't have stopped with just her eyes.

The young girl glanced at me and frowned before seemingly tapping on the table.

But from the way the girl's fingers were moving, she was definitely typing... which meant that she was definitely a spy from my rambunctious daughters reporting on my every move.

Gotta remember to scold them later about that.

The other men that Terry brought in looked a bit sour at my words. Probably because I was hogging most of the girls.

But Terry himself just laughed and said, "Good! That's the way heroes like us are meant to be." He smiled and then snapped his fingers, causing the table to split open and reveal a strangely modern-looking card dealing machine.

The card machine spun around, spitting out a pair of cards to each player before spitting out five more in the center.

Terry reached out to split the five cards into a group of three and a group of two before saying, "Then should we get started?"

I smiled and said, "I don't mind. But..." I glanced at the other players and said, "Is everyone else fine?"

The sleazy mercenary type guys snorted and just waved me off, focusing more on the girls, alcohol, and mysterious substances.

The fat noble guy was the same, just waving his hand to move things along.

Ryuu spoke up though. Looking at Terry, she said, "I presume the stakes are as we discussed?"

Terry beckoned for one of the girls from the mercenaries to grab him some alcohol before nodding. "Of course. An unconditional request from either party... but it would be a bit unfair for that to be between just us, Mister Dragon." He looked around the table and said, "Do you not agree, my dear guests?"

The fat noble looked at the Japanese woman near Ryuu and licked his lips. "Hehe. If they're playing at this table, they should be prepared to lose everything, shouldn't they?"

The Japanese woman glared at the fat noble and muttered under her breath.

I couldn't catch all of it, but I clearly heard 'baka', 'hentai', and 'korosu.'

Now, I wasn't Japanese, from the Far East, or a Japanese language student, but I had seen enough Anime before ending up as Bell here for me to know that she was definitely pissed off and trying real hard not to kill the ugly bastard.

Still, at this rate we'd be here all night just playing at pretenses. ...And I could practically feel Welf starting to fume beside me, so I decided to move things along.

Grabbing one of my chips... which was apparently a million valis from the marking, I casually tossed it in the center of the table and said, "I agree. So shut up and play so I can take it all from you already."

Ryuu glanced over at me and frowned. She stared at my face and narrowed her eyes, clearly trying to reconcile what she remembered of me with what she was seeing.

Joke's on her. My disguise is foolproof. Especially since I figured out how to use the charm that I stole (awakened?) from Freya to make subtle suggestions.

One of the many trump cards I'd prepared in my deck box for the craziness the world seemed to be throwing my way.

But anyway...

The young girl disguised as a young man nodded and said, "Lyle agrees." She grabbed a coin and tossed it in as well before saying, "Time is money, and Lyle thinks we are wasting both talking."

Terry laughed and said, "Very well. Then... Let the games begin."

I smiled.

...Those idiots didn't know that I had Quantum Magic.

xxx

Welf was furious. At least, at first.

Seeing the young girls wandering around the room acting like 'that' and being treated like objects by the sleazy bastards that Terry guy brought in made him want to just burn the place down.

But he was patient. He trusted Bell to resolve everything, like how that guy always did.

And since Bell brought them out of the way to get here, he clearly had a plan to resolve all of this.

But that plan was gambling everything on cards in a shady room in the middle of the most infamous casino in Orario.

Welf wasn't a gambler, but he knew enough from his father's stories back in Rakia.

Places like these were always rigged. While you could win big if you were in with the house, they would scheme and collude to take everything away from you.

And with how Bell made it clear he planned to sweep everything away, it was going to be an uphill battle.

Now, Bell had good luck.

It'd be impossible for him not to with all the near death experiences he kept dodging.

And Welf saw that in action with how Bell swept through all the casinos and got them into El Dorado Resort.

But he didn't think that Bell could win here.

So Welf had been prepared to set things up as best he could for his best friend to win, but...

"Four of a kind. You lose, fatso."

The fat noble slammed his hands against the table and jumped to his feet. "Impossible! You cheated! You swapped the cards out! You had to!"

Bell beckoned for the girl behind the fat noble to come over before shrugging and said, "It's not impossible, fatso. We're playing with more than one deck here since we have so many players. Besides." He looked to Terry and said, "I'm sure the El Dorado Resort isn't a place that would fall to such crude measures, would it?"

Terry laughed and said, "Of course not, Mister Caranus." His eyes turned sharp and he said, "But I have to admit, your luck seems quite good tonight."

Bell laughed and held his arms out. "I'm surrounded by beauties and have my brother at my side. Moreover, tonight even the moon has hidden itself away out of respect for my presence." He lowered his arms and said, "Tonight is a night of possibilities and miracles, my friend."

Terry smiled. "I see." He tapped his hands against the table and said, "How much longer will that last, my friend?"

Bell smiled back and said, "Let's find out, 'my friend.'"

Welf watched the exchange and then shook his head.

It really was a good thing that Bell ran into Hestia first and became a family man. Seeing him like this, even if he was acting...

Wouldn't he have charmed all of the women in Orario?

Welf was sure that in another life, Bell was definitely the bane of all women alive... and maybe some men too.

The fat noble slammed his hands against the table again and said, "This isn't fair!" He looked at Terry and said, "You know what I've done for you! How can you-"

Terry snapped his fingers.

The moment he did, a surge of white flames erupted and engulfed the fat noble.

It happened in an instant. One second, the fat noble had been talking, and the next there was nothing left. Not even ashes.

Welf's eyes widened and he looked over at Bell.

Those flames... Although Welf wasn't sure, white flames were rare enough that he was fairly confident in what they were. And from how intense those flames had been, not to mention how they seemed vaguely familiar...

Bell didn't react to the flames other than to scoff and say, "Rude. At least let a man finish his last words before sending him off."

Terry laughed and brushed his hands together, as if wiping off dust. "My apologies, Mister Caranus. He was getting on my nerves. I am sure you understand, do you not?"

Welf frowned and opened his mouth to say something. But before he could, he heard Bell's voice.

'Those are Fina's flames. Keep an eye on the guy. We're going to send him off personally.'

Welf paused and then stared at Terry. Specifically, he stared at a ring on Terry's right hand that had seemed innocuous until now.

A simple golden band with a glittering diamond. One that seemed to flicker every now and then with a flash of white light.

Welf frowned and then leaned back to Bell and whispered, "We need to keep a better eye on what our kids our selling."

Bell nodded.

At that time, Terry tilted his head and said, "Are you brothers colluding against me now?"

Bell laughed and said, "Of course not." He smirked and said, "I can sweep everything away by myself." He nodded towards Welf and said, "My brother was just curious about that ring of yours." He chucked another chip on the table and said, "Is it on the table for winnings?"

Terry rubbed his ring and said, "A valuable client of mine loaned this to me... but if Mister Caranus were to offer more items like-"

Before Terry could finish, Bell flicked his wrist and tossed a pile of glowing gemstones on the table. Ones flickering with light similar to the ring that Terry was wearing.

Bell smiled and said, "As you can see, I'm an avid collector of mysterious gemstones. So." His smile turned into a grin and he said, "Are you in?"

Terry grinned back.

Welf watched that all unfold and then shook his head.

The poor fool. If Bell could outplay and snag Freya of all goddesses before taming her to be a loveydovey house wife, then what chance did a poor sap like Terry have?

Welf eyed his pile of chips and then shrugged.

Well, he was clearly just a side character today in Bell's little play. But while he was at it, Welf might as well get some spare funds.

Unlike Bell, Welf couldn't just pull money out of thin air to stockpile a wedding nest egg...

xxx

The night grew long. Chips continued to exchange hands as the cards were dealt, deciding the fate of the players at the table.

At least, that was the plan.

Terry resisted the urge to grit his teeth as he saw the slowly growing pile of chips in front of that cocky black-haired bastard. And he forcibly resisted the urge to yell at the girls he had collected to stay away from that guy.

Everything was going wrong.

Ever since he picked up that renard from those bandits, his luck had been flipped upside down.

No, it had turned around ever since that masked bastard handed over that weird potion and gem for safekeeping.

'I knew I shouldn't have accepted!'

Since then, that 'Mister Dragon' and his wife had showed up threatening to reveal his abduction of his toys, his underlings were starting to rebel and try to blackmail him, and now this cocky bastard had showed up sweeping everything away.

Him! Terry Cervantes! The one even Ishtar bowed her head to because he kept the Entertainment district running!

"What's wrong?" Caranus laughed and said, "Upset that luck isn't coming your way, Mister Cervantes?"

Terry resisted the urge to curse at the guy and simply smiled, adjusting his ring.

There were only six players left at the table. Terry, Caranus, that bastard's brother, that 'Mister Dragon' and his wife, and the young man calling himself 'Lyle.'

In other words, the only one left in his pocket was Terry himself.

The planted players he brought along had all lost their chips and then started to spill the beans on Terry's operation when they were losing, so he was forced to use that ring the masked man gave him to shut them up.

Of course, that meant that he had less people on his side to work with. But it also meant that the remaining players were forced to play more cautiously.

Since then, the only ones betting large were Terry, Caranus, and Caranus' brother.

The bastards.

Caranus tossed five chips into the center of the table and said, "We've been at it long enough, so it's about time we speed things up, right?"

That time, Terry couldn't help but scowl. He grabbed a handful of chips and tossed them in as well before saying, "You're talking a lot for a man in the middle of my territory."

"My." Caranus smiled and said, "Finally struck a nerve, have I?" He reached out to ruffle the hair of the blonde renard sitting beside him and said, "Careful now. You don't want to play the role of a villain, do you?"

Terry forced a smile and said, "Of course not, esteemed guest."

Dammit. Dammit, dammit, dammit!

That bastard was ruining everything!

And look at that Dragon bastard and his wife too! No, all of them were looking down on him!

No. Calm down.

He was the one in control here.

Until now, he had only been pulling a few subtle tricks to tip the odds in his favor.

A pocket ace here. A straight there.

But since that bastard seemed to have the devil's luck himself...

Terry stood up and walked over to the treasure trove he kept in the back of the room.

Caranus raised an eyebrow and said, "Planning to cash out so soon, Mister Cervantes?"

Terry laughed and said, "Of course not. Just grabbing one of my favorite drinks for good luck."

A glistening bottle with liquid that shimmered a faint gold.

That masked bastard said that it was a good luck tonic.

Terry doubted it. In fact, he was sure that it was something that would probably kill him and whoever was around him after he drank it.

But at this rate he was going to lose everything to that smug bastard anyway, so...

Terry sat back down and popped the cork off the bottle before draining it.

Smooth and savory. A sweet and fizzy sensation.

The moment that Terry finished it, he felt... light. Like nothing in the world could go wrong.

Maybe that masked man wasn't lying?

Either way...

Terry laughed and said, "How about we raise the stakes some, hm?" He looked at the other players and said, "Since this has become a two person show, how about we change things up? All or nothing for everyone still in play."

Caranus hummed and said, "Sure. A little risk makes things interesting. Right, Bro?" He tilted his head to look at the man called Wolf sitting next to him. "The hero's story is better if he's in danger of losing it all, isn't it?"

Wolf nodded and shoved his chips in. "Yeah, yeah. But I'm taking half of what you win, Bro."

Caranus laughed and said, "Don't worry. I've got a hefty nest egg already after tonight, so I'll hand the rest to you to prep for your wedding."

Wolf's ears turned red, but he nodded and said, "You promised, Bro."

"Of course. A hero never breaks his promises."

Terry's eye twitched at watching the casual exchange. But he pulled off his ring to add to his chips and shoved those in the table as well. "Confident, are we?"

Caranus nodded and said, "Always. Life has a way of going my way when I believe it, you know? Ah, but I guess someone like you who's living in the shadows wouldn't understand it, Mister Cervantes."

Terry exhaled and tried to keep calm, even as he felt his blood boiling.

'Don't let him get to you. He's just a smug kid who's trying to rile you up.'

Dragon shoved his chips in as well, shortly followed by his wife. Looking at Terry, he said, "I take it our agreement will be fulfilled so long as you don't win, Mister Cervantes?"

Terry waved his hand and said, "Sure. Whatever. Just hurry up."

Lyle glanced at Caranus and then said, "...Lyle will retire here for the night."

Terry glared at the young man.

Caranus shoved his chips in, along with the pile of gemstones he pulled out earlier, and then said, "Let him be, Mister Cervantes. A little chick like that should be allowed to scamper away like a bunny when they're afraid, shouldn't they? And it's just pocket change."

Lyle froze, glancing at Caranus.

Terry exhaled.

...It was fine. Compared to what else was in play, what Lyle had was indeed pocket change. So...

Terry waved his hand and said, "Go. Have the people at the desk exchange it and then leave."

Lyle nodded at Terry and then looked towards Caranus.

Caranus waved his hand and said, "Hurry up. The children should hurry up and go to sleep."

Lyle jumped and then nodded. "T-Then Lyle will head off first, Mister B-B- Caranus!"

With that, Lyle swooped up as many chips as he could and ran off.

Finally.

Terry tapped his fingers against the table in a sequence, setting up the cards to be dealt by the machine.

A royal straight flush for him. A four of a kind for that bastard just to give him a hint of hope. And then scraps for everyone else to send them packing.

The machine ruffled the cards.

The players watched as they flew out, landing on the table.

Terry waited for the five cards in the river to come out before sorting them out.

Caranus smiled and said, "Shall we just open? There's nothing left to bet."

Terry laughed after confirming he had the winning hand from the faint patterns on the back of the cards. "Confident as always, Mister Caranus."

"Of course."

Terry smirked and then said, "Don't cry when you lose it all, Kid." He flipped the rest of the cards over before revealing his hand. "Royal Straight Flush."

In the river, there was a King, a Queen, an Ace of spades, followed by two more Aces. A bit of hope for anyone who might have a pair.

Dragon frowned and tossed his cards in, revealing a pair jacks, making a full house with the Aces.

That man's wife flipped over a 2 and a 3, nothing matching at all.

Caranus's brother flipped over a pair of Queens, making a full house with the Aces.

And as for Caranus...

He stayed still, quietly staring at his cards.

Terry grinned and said, "What? Your luck finally ran out, you smug bastard?"

Caranus slowly shook his head and said, "No. Just..." He tossed his cards on the table and said, "You really should have played by the rules, Terry. Changing the game tends to come back and bite you."

A pair of aces.

Cards that Terry definitely didn't deal him.

A hand that, combined with the three aces in the river, made five of a kind.

A hand that beat everything else, and one that was only possible because they were playing poker with multiple decks of cards to make up for the larger number of players.

Terry froze.

At that time, a soft *click* echoed as the collars on the girls standing behind Caranus suddenly fell off, confirming Terry's loss.

Caranus stood up and flicked his hand, sweeping the entire pot of bets away along with Terry's treasure trove in the back.

Standing there, he looked at Terry and smiled. "Like I said, the hero wins. And like I also said... you shouldn't have become the villain, Terry."

Terry froze for a minute, still not believing what had just happened.

But then he roared and jumped towards Caranus.

Boiling blood. Vision turning red from anger.

Terry swung his arm towards Caranus' to knock that smug smile off that bastard's face.

And then-

*SMACK*

A loud collision.

Terry's fist clearly hit that bastard's face.

But he didn't budge.

Instead, Caranus let out a cold smile and stared at Terry with his crimson eyes.

Terry froze, suddenly realizing something was off.

And then Caranus spoke.

"Ryuu, take the girls out."

The eyes of 'Dragon' widened and he said, "So it was you after all, B-"

Whatever he was going to say was cut off as he, his wife, and the girls all vanished into thin air.

Before Terry could process what was happening, Caranus kicked him away and said, "Yeah. Nice to see you too. Now come on, Welf. It's time."

"FINALLY!" Caranus' brother jumped out of his seat and cracked his knuckles together. At the same time, crimson flames erupted from his arms before coalescing into a glowing sword. "I've been waiting for this!"

Terry got up and slowly looked around. Seeing the girls being led away by that 'Dragon' person and his wife. Realizing that Lyle was in on it as well. Seeing Caranus' confident stance and his brother being armed with a magic sword...

"He. Hehe. Hehehe! So you think you can play with Terry Cervantes, do you?" Terry cackled and then looked at Caranus.

That bastard... He was an ant. A tiny insect compared to Terry. And he had the gall to act up like that?

Was it his imagination?

As Terry stared at Caranus, the smug bastard started getting smaller and smaller. No, not just him, the room started to get smaller too.

Caranus raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth to say something.

But Terry didn't let him. "NO ONE PLAYS WITH TERRY CERVANTES!"

He charged at Caranus again. This time, instead of swinging a fist, he lashed out with his hands, wanting to rip that smile off the bastard's face.

And he did it. Terry saw his nails cut into Caranus' face, felt the warmth of blood fall on his fingers, and...

...felt his blood boil and burn?

Wait-

xxx

A loud thump. Terry falling onto the ground in a heap, midtransformation into an ungodly monster.

I reached up to wipe away the scratches on my face, feeling them immediately heal up as my lovely daughter's flames flew out from my ring to cover them.

I didn't need a mirror to know that there wouldn't even be a scratch left on my face considering how much my little princess adored me.

But putting that aside...

I stared at Terry's body that was a mix between a person and a weird plant monstrosity that reminded me a lot of those bioweapons in Resident Evil. A body that was slowly turning purple from his hand down, where he had my blood splashed on it.

"Huh." I tilted my head and said, "Come to think of it, lead was poisonous, wasn't it?"

And seeing the reaction Terry had to my blood, that definitely confirmed another aspect of my skill's description.

Welf walked beside me and stared at Terry as well. But when he heard my comment, he coughed and said, "W-Well... o-only a little...?"

I laughed and said, "It's fine. Now come on. Since we've come this far, we might as well go all the way. Ah, but first..." I reached out to grab Terry and shoved him into my inventory.

It was a tight squeeze, and my inventory definitely didn't want him in there.

But it should last long enough.

Welf stared at the empty space where Terry had just been and said, "...Should I ask?"

"Have you developed anti-charm and anti-mindreading measures yet?"

"...No?"

"Then no." I brushed my hands and then flicked my wrist, sending out a giant stone pillar to punch through the roof of the casino. "Now, it's not fair that Ishtar and her district got away with the damage, so it's only fair that we wreak some havoc to make that equal, right?"

Welf stared at me and then let out a deep sigh. "I swear, Bro. Sometimes, I can't tell if you're a calculating bastard or just insane."

"It's both, obviously. Now come on. We're going to be late for breakfast with the kids at this rate. Plus I need to make it up to Tia for staying out so late."

Welf drew his sword and said, "Well. At least you have your priorities straight..."