The Great Mage Returns After 4000 Years

Book 2: Chapter 353

The building was in a style he had never seen before in his life.

It had the appearance of hundreds of gold coins stacked on top of each other. The artificial light from the street reflected off the building, creating an indescribable splendor.

It looked as if the building was actually made of gold coins.

Of course, since it was being referred to as a ‘building’, it was clear how enormous the pile of gold coins were. In fact, this strange building was several times larger than the surrounding buildings. In addition, although they were made to be inconspicuous, several windows and doors could be seen on the building.

Looking at the shiny surface of the building, Lukas murmured.

“The Gold House. Quite the intuitive name. I like it.”

“It’s not made of real gold.”

“I think it might be plated on the outside.”

“I don’t think anyone would try to take it off.”

Peran gestured to a corner of the building.

There, a few large men were standing. They had harsh expressions and were all equipped with deadly weapons. They looked like mercenaries.

“…indeed.”

It seemed that if anyone wandered around for no reason, those guys would probably not even leave their bones behind.

Well. From a casino’s perspective, it was natural for them to hire mercenaries and bodyguards.

“The Lord of Yuterdam…”

According to Hector, he would be somewhere in this building.

He didn’t tell them anything about his appearance or personality. This wasn’t for lack of trying.

It was clear that Hector knew him well, but for some reason, he seemed unwilling to reveal any details about the Lord.

That came as a surprise to Lukas.

He’d never seen Hector hate a person so much.

“Do you know anything? About the City Lord.”

Lukas turned to ask Peran, who was always well-informed, but surprisingly, he shook his head.

“The City Lord of Yuterdam is Marquis Mikhail, but I don’t think that’s who Mr. Hector is talking about.”

“…”

“Let’s go in first.”

After saying that, Peran entered the building first.

The inside of the building was bright, colourful and spacious. If the outside was gold, then the inside could be called platinum.(TL: Platinum coins are higher than gold coins in the Empire)

Not just the walls of the hallway, but even the chandeliers that hung from the ceiling were covered in jewellery that didn’t seem fake.

It could be felt from the open entrance, but it didn’t seem like they cared whether customers were coming or going.

But that didn’t mean there wasn’t any security. The large suits of armour that were situated on either side of the entrance seemed to follow them with sharp gazes.

There was no limit to entry, but it seemed that if inferior people were to set foot in this place, they would be blocked.

“…so. How are we going to meet the owner of this casino?”

“That’s not too hard.”

Peran smiled confidently.

As he looked around, there was also no discomfort in his eyes.

“…you don’t have experience in casinos, do you?”

“I’ve played a bit of roulette, dice, and cards before.”

“…”

Although he said it like it was nothing, the games Peran just mentioned were all the core things that practically represented casinos.

Peran rummaged through his bag for a while before saying,

“Lukas, give me your hand.”

“My hand? Like this?”

Clink.

Something heavy landed in his palm.

It was a handful of sparkling platinum coins.

Not gold coins, platinum coins.

“This should be enough for you to play around with for a while. I’ll come get you later.”

“…I’ve never done anything like this before in my life.”

“First off, don’t play any game more than five times. Second, never bet all of your money at one time. Third, if you lost three times in a row to the same person, leave that game without hesitation.”

“…”

“If you follow those three rules, this much money is more than enough. Good luck.”

With those words, Peran really turned around and left.

…He never would have expected that he would like something like gambling. At least he didn’t seem to like alcohol. For a moment, Lukas missed the pure and steady young man from 10 years ago.

“Huu.”

Didn’t he just tell him to play around?

Lukas turned to look at his surroundings. He could see money being transferred back and forth in every direction.

As expected of the place called the City of Pleasure. The opening amount for every game was rather high.

Nevertheless, Peran had given him 12 platinum coins before he left. If he were to exchange it, that would be 1,200 gold coins, an amount that would be able to last him for over a month in the casino, not to mention a single day.

‘I’ll save him some money.’

Gambling was based on probability calculations, and battles of wits.

While it was hard to guarantee a win, if he learned the tricks, then at least he wouldn’t lose.

In addition, Lukas would be able to see through most tricks, so he didn’t have to worry about being deceived.

But before that, he decided to take a look around.

The Gold House was Yuterdam’s largest casino, but the building wasn’t just a casino.

A dazzling stage was set up in the centre of the spacious lobby, where handsome young men and beautiful young women dressed in suits and dresses danced elegantly.

As he watched this scene, a man in a gold suit approached him with a glass of wine.

“Sir, would you like a drink?”

“I’m fine.”

“…then please tell me if there is anything you need. I hope you enjoy your time here.”

“Ah. I would like to exchange some money…”

“The currency exchange office is right beside the entrance. Would you like me to guide you there?”

“Please.”

The man guided Lukas towards the front of the currency exchange office before leaving. The smile on his face didn’t leave from start to end.

Lukas wasn’t certain, but he felt that they probably paid a lot of attention to training their employees.

…Deciding it wasn’t necessary, Lukas exchanged only one platinum coin.

Clink-

He lightly shook the heavy money bag.

100 gold coins.

If he had exchanged the money into chips, he would have been able to enjoy a wider variety of games in the casino, but he didn’t feel the need to.

“…then.”

He wondered how much money he’d make.

* * *

By far, the most popular games in the casino were those that involved cards.

There were so many varieties of card games that one would need two hands to count them, but in Yuterdam, the game that was, by far, the most popular, was ‘Number Fight’.

“I-, it’s grown so big.”

“That board, how many piles are there now?”

“If we count Count Boboru’s side alone, it’s already 3,000 gold coins.”

“Ha! That’s the price of a house.”

“…”

Count Boboru, a man covered in colourful jewels, was biting his nails.

Receive. Stop. Receive. Stop.

A conflict that anyone who sat at a gambling table had experienced was occurring within him at that moment.

Count Boboru, whose cheeks were trembling nervously, closed his eyes for a moment before finally crying out.

“Call!”

“He received!”

“Wow!”

The surroundings erupted.inn????e????????. co????

Without being swept up by the atmosphere, Boboru revealed his hand.

“Double Five!”

Another cheer burst out from the crowd.

“A double appeared now.”

“There’s a reason why he held on till the end.”

“Hmm. I think that the Count will win this time…”

Nevertheless, Boboru didn’t relax just yet.

Double Five.

It was by no means a weak hand. In fact, it was a good enough hand that he could confidently say that he wouldn’t lose.

…However, that confidence had been stamped down over and over again.

By none other than the handsome blonde man sitting in front of him.

“I’m sorry about this.”

“N-, no way…”

“Double Seven.”

As soon as those words were said, another wave of shouts swept through the crowd of onlookers.

“Wow!”

“It became a battle between doubles!”

“Kya. There’s a reason why the board became so big!”

Unlike his enthusiastic surroundings, Count Boboru looked like someone who had lost their soul.

All the money that he had earned in three weeks at the Gold House, had completely disappeared in less than 10 rounds. He had nothing left.

‘Impossible…’

This was a dream. It had to be a dream. Huhu. Hahaha…

While Boboru was struggling to accept reality, Peran was focused on calculating his winnings after receiving the piles of chips on the board.

‘I made about 5,000 gold.’

It was a large enough sum of money to cause even nobles to falter, but it was still not enough.

What Peran needed was enough money to draw out the owner of this place, the Lord of this city.

“…I’ll stop… I think I’ll stop here.”

Count Boboru staggered up from his seat.

Well, he had earned almost 3,000 gold coins from this man alone. He would probably not set foot anywhere near a casino for a while.

Of course, Peran felt no sympathy for this fact.

‘Now that I’ve earned enough money, I should change games.’

There was no point in winning money from the customers.

To make the owner appear, he would need to take money from the dealers, the casino’s money.

Dice or roulette would be better.

…However, it was against the rules to leave a game immediately after winning such a large pot. Of course, this was only an implied rule, but it was a type of etiquette that gamblers followed.

It would be fine if he lost two or three rounds first.

Just as Peran came to a decision and was about to shuffle the cards.

“Is this seat taken?”

“Ah. No. Please have a seat, My Lady.”

“Thank you.”

A sudden soft voice made Peran shudder slightly.

The owner of that voice… No way…

He looked up at the person sitting in front of him.

Purple hair that went down to her waist and gentle features. And the dark, mysterious eyes which made her seem so unapproachable.

When their eyes met, the woman nodded slightly.

“Huhu. To meet you in a place like this.”

“…”

“What a coincidence, Peran Jun.”

Iris Phisfounder smiled gently as she said those words.