Rider
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Gambling den
🕑 Added 2022-08-29 14:42:07 +0000 UTCEntering a hall with over 100 people, all of them gathered around employees throwing dice, Seth quickly looked around the room. Noticing the dealer would scramble the dice inside a cup before asking for numbers, he smirked and walked towards a table marked 1G. He knew that was the betting amount for that table.
He could easily guess the rules after one look around the room. The dealer would put three dice in a cup and scramble them on the table and the players would enter the game by placing a gold coin and calling a number from 3 to 18. The closest number to the sum displayed on all three dice will win 90% of the coin pool.
There were two more people there. As the dealer scrambled the dice, the two other men there placed one gold coin each, one of them calling 13 while the other 7.
Before the dealer could open the cup, Seth placed his coin as well and said 3. The two men burst into laughter almost immediately. Almost no one would bet 3, since the odds of all three dice landing on one were quite low.
“Brat, go back and stop spending your father’s money.”
“Yeah, he’ll beat your ass for sure.”
Seth smirked and continued watching the dealer, waiting for him to reveal the dice. They might bet on luck, but the system has already told Seth the result.
The dealer shook his head and removed the cup, only for all three of them and even the server to the side to stare incredulously at the three dice showing one each.
Seeing that no one was moving, Seth said: “Can you move on and take your tax? I don’t have all night.”
The dealer coughed in embarrassment and pushed all three gold coins towards Seth: “Sir, for a perfect guess, there is no tax taken by us.”
“That’s even better.” Replied Seth as he took his coins and started heading to another table. The girl followed him, at the start amazed at how good his luck was, before, like everyone else inside the room, suspecting he was cheating.
After Seth gained 36 gold coins, a strong-looking man walked out from the back and came up to him: “Sir, please follow us into the back room. The boss wants to have a word with you.”
Seth smiled and gave the server two gold coins.
“Wait for me to return.” He whispered in her ear before following the man toward the back of the casino.
The man opened a room and motioned for Seth to step in. After Seth walked inside, the man that led him here closed the door and kept guard outside.
A gruesome-looking man with a gashing scar in place of his right eye was sitting behind a desk, looking with his only working eye at Seth.
“So you are the brat cheating in my house?”
Seth smiled and sat down on the couch in front of him. “Indeed, that’s me. What of it?”
The man found Seth’s calm attitude quite disturbing and moved his hand slowly under his office.
Noticing that he was about to grab a short sword strapped underneath the desk, Seth smiled and said in a deadpan voice: “If you touch that sword, I’m going to kill you.”
The man stopped and stared at Seth. The way he spoke in a calm tone, his unperturbed expression, and the fact he knew what he intended to do, threw him off completely.
“Who are you?” asked the man, not taking his hand back, but not grabbing the sword either.
“I’m the one who killed your town lord, and an ascended of the academy. I’m sure a man with your connections should know what that means?”
The man’s entire body shook at the word ‘ascended’. He knew that was what students that graduated from the academy in the capital were called, and each one of them was a superhuman monster.
“What would an ascended be doing in our small town?” the man was still somewhat doubtful but didn’t dare to slight Seth anymore.
“Passing by. I only came here because I needed some money and fun. If you want to make a move, I would be happy to entertain you.” By this moment, Seth gathered enough destruction energy to make a slight cut on the man’s cheek, right under his only working eye.
Feeling a small tinge of pain, the man touched under his eyes and froze when he saw the blood on his hand. Now, every doubt he had that this kid in front of him was an ascended was gone.
His hand started shaking as he said: “You are free to take all the money you want.”
“I’m not here to rob you yet. Your guild better quiets down for about a week while I’m still inside the town. If any of your people mess with me, then don’t blame me for what would happen next.” Having made his point, Seth stood back up and walked outside.
The guard at the door let him pass and Seth walked up to the server girl, who was waiting for him. He wanted to keep betting, but he knew no one would bet against him anymore after the show from before.
Moving close to the server, he whispered in her ear: “Is there any place around here where we could have some privacy?”
Seth could feel both positive and negative energy coming from her. He knew it was probably headed toward his money, but he didn’t care. He needed to work on his lust source as well, and this girl was not half-bad.
She was quite tall and had a skinny build. Her breasts were quite average, but he felt her size worked best with her body type. Her elbow-length, kinky, salt-and-pepper hair was worn and combed over, with her narrow, pale-grey eyes being slightly clouded by the hardships of life.
The server pondered for a moment before nodding and saying with a determined expression: “Follow me, sir.”
She led him back inside the hallway before walking towards a room with just the number three on the door. Picking up a key from her pocket with her trembling hand, she opened the door and even forgot to ask Seth to walk in first, as it was etiquette.
Not minding it too much, Seth followed her. Seeing her stop with her back facing him, shaking slightly, Seth said: “You know. I didn’t ask you to take me here so I can rape you. If you are uncomfortable, you could have just said it.”
The girl shook her head and started speaking, sniffling between each word: “Don’t worry, sir. It’s my choice.”
Heaving a long sigh, Seth ignored the girl and took a seat on the soft bed.
‘Show me the reason she’s doing this.’ he didn’t want to keep using the system for everything, but human interaction was still quite difficult for him.
The system complied, and Seth saw what was going on.
<Ella>
<22>
<Virgin.>
<In desperate need of money to pay a doctor to see her sick father. >
‘Of course, she had to be a virgin and a saint.’
A single name meant she was of common birth, probably from a village. The people born in the town would most of the time have two names.
He lay on his back and patted the bed next to him before saying: “Come and take a seat.”
Hearing the girl’s footsteps getting closer and the ruffling of clothes, he added: “Don’t undress.”
The girl lay down next to him and looked up as well. She didn’t know what he planned and her heart was beating wildly in her chest. She was scared, terrified even, but she knew this was her only choice.
Seth surprised her by asking: “Tell me about the reason you’re doing this. Don’t lie to me or I’ll leave and take the money I already gave you back.”. He could find out the entire situation from the records, but he wanted to hear it from the girl’s mouth.
“Sir?” asked Ella, not understanding why he would suddenly ask that.
“Was I not clear enough?”
The girl panicked and started speaking.
“My mother died ever since I was a little girl and my father was the only one who took care of me. Two weeks ago, he has fallen ill with a sudden cough. I hoped he will get better, but it got even worse in the next week, with him coughing even blood from time to time. I rushed to the town in desperate search of a healer. Since the lord’s wife was also sick, there were a few healers in town, but I had no money to pay for one. While looking through odd jobs, I found this one, but the coins I gain here were not enough to employ the services of a healer.”
“When I saw the number of coins the other girls did by entertaining the customers and heard your offer, I knew this was the only chance I had. Please, sir, allow me to earn the money I need to save my father.”
‘System, what is her father suffering from?’
< Advanced-stage cancer of the lungs caused by long periods of working in dusty mines. >
‘What happened in the previous timeline?’
<She sold her body and eventually her freedom, and gathered enough money to pay for a healer from the capital that was brought here by the city lord. The healer failed to save him, and her father eventually died. She was forced to comply with her slavery contract and didn’t even get the chance to be with him in the end. She lived as a sex slave for ten more years until a sadistic owner bought and tortured her to death. >
Seth took another deep sight and asked: ‘Can I treat her father?’
<Impossible. The disease is in its later stages. A sixth-level destruction source is needed to eliminate cancer at a molecular level. Even life energy would need to be used by a third shell ascended to cure it. >
Heaving another sigh, Seth looked at the crying girl next to him and said: “Go back home and spend his last days with him. No healer can save him.”
“What do you know?” the girl yelled at him, only for her to realize she has stepped over the line and shut up right after.
“Because I’m a healer myself. You must have heard about the situation with the town lord’s wife. I was the one who cured her. Your father is suffering from a disease called cancer, which can’t be treated by anyone. All you’re doing here is selling your body for nothing.”
Another wave of tears flowed down her cheeks. She has heard about the town lord’s wife getting healed and that’s why she was in a hurry to get as much money as she could. She wanted to catch that healer before it left the town.
Now, that healer was sitting on a bed next to her and telling her there was no hope. She continued crying for a few more minutes in silence before asking: “How can you be sure? You haven’t even seen him. How can I know you’re not lying to me?” She still hung on to a small thread of hope.
“Because once one coughs blood, there is no way of saving them. Also, your boss can guarantee my identity.”, Seth quickly made up a lie to convince the girl. He also knew that the boss wouldn’t dare to not confirm his story.
The girl stood up mechanically and started walking out without saying a single word back. Seth sighed and waited a little longer for the girl to confirm the truth with the leader of the gambling den.
Once the system told him she left the place, Seth headed for the boss’ room immediately after.
“That server Ella. Send someone to escort her back to her father and make sure no crooked healer around takes advantage of her.” Said Seth as he threw one gold coin on the desk.
The boss was taken by surprise, but he still nodded back. It was no big deal for him.
“Also, you must have some girls that will sleep with the customers for money. I want one in room 3. Please at least make her decently looking.” Said Seth next and threw two more coins on the counter of the office before walking out.
Once Seth was gone, the boss threw the two coins toward the guards that listened to the entire conversation and said: “Sent Selene to room three.”
