Sword Pilgrim

I walked in right away.

The destination was where Baldwin spent all his fortune. There was a man there who was still gambling.

There were also Knights who carried the name of Lutens around him.

Perhaps Baldwin had even put his own Knights as the stake.

I shook my head and sat down with a plop.

I sat down by the table where the man was sitting, and threw down the chips I had exchanged. All the gold coins in my hand had already been exchanged with chips.

To relieve Baldwin's grudge, I had to gamble and get the money back.

Of course, from the same guy who’d drained his money in the first place.

"What, a Pilgrim? Priests are now even allowed to gamble, hahaha!"

I didn't know the guy's name.

However, seeing how he had exhausted all of Baldwin's fortune, he must’ve had a knack for gambling.

"Lord Valtherus cares only for swords. Gambling is not prohibited."

The man's eyes changed.

He seemed to have realized that I didn't have good intentions.

"I know what you're thinking, but you'd better go home. I'm stronger than I look. I've had a knack for gambling since I was a kid, so I've never lost money. I don't want to steal money from a Pilgrim."

"There are many things in the world that you can only know once you experience them. Whether it’s gambling –"

Or something else.

When I didn't back down, he looked at me like he was having fun and fiddled with the dice.

"Pilgrim, Pilgrim. I don’t know if you know, but the eldest son of a noble family who was gambling with me just an hour ago died after squandering his fortune. So I don't want to keep going and take even a Pilgrim's money right now."

"Is that so."

"He said he came here to earn money for his family that was in the middle of a war. I stole that kid's money, and his life too, so…. I don’t want to do this again."

War can be a great source of money. But it also costs a lot of money.

"He had no talent with swords, and no charisma to command an army. The only thing he had was a talent for gambling, and the only thing he wanted was to help the family by winning a lot of money."

So go back, I heard his voice like this.

"So, don't try anything wrong, and go back. I don't want to rob money away from a Son of God."

This kind of a situation was beyond my knowledge.

All I wanted was the stacks of chips around me.

Dozens of those stacks of chips.

That's what the Corpse Grace desired.

"Let’s see your skill."

"If you say it like that… let’s, see what a priest's gambling skill can be like."

He shoved a chip with a sullen face as if he had drunk too much.

"Master, he's called Ged. He's a gambler nobody in Tristar can beat!"

Ignoring the noisy Bruns –

I threw the dice.

"Roll."

"Yes."

The dealer placed two dice in a wooden cup and shook them.

Dakak, dakak.

Soon, the cup landed on the table, and a number was spat out of Ged's mouth.

"Six."

Two dice in total.

So you just need to spit out a number up to twelve.

If you get close to the correct answer, you win money, otherwise you lose money. If both participants are not close, the dealer gets the money.

It's a simple game.

"Nine."

The same chip was placed and the number was said, and the cup in the dealer's hand was lifted.

Ged looked at the dealer once.

The dealer knocked on the cup and opened it.

Two dice appeared soon.

Three and three.

The total was six.

"Oh, I was lucky."

It was the guy's victory.

It was a simple and clear game.

It was a method that had to be based purely on luck, so it was simple, but it was fun.

I lost half of my money in one match, but I smiled.

"It seems that the Pilgrims have no talent in gambling because they’re always busy with searching for swords and practice."

Instead of answering, I placed all my chips and Arsando hanging from my waist on the table.

"What are you doing?"

"Just this much isn’t enough if you’re a man."

"… A good sword."

Arsando's blue edge flashed sharply.

"It's a Life Sword. A rare one. One of these swords can buy you a house."

Life Swords are not common.

This might be enough of a stake.

However, the man made a gesture as if this wasn't enough.

"More than swords, I want miracles performed by Pilgrims…"

The Knights of Lutens that I met recently said the same thing.

The territorial battles still hadn't seen an end. Although there were sufficient munitions and they were progressing towards victory, but the long war was ruining the territory.

It seemed that Callius wasn't the only one who wanted to raise the stakes.

"I see. But do you have enough wealth to afford that?"

Ged’s eyes fluttered slightly.

"I'm serious."

As the stakes increased at once, spectators gathered one by one.

He glanced at the onlookers and then rested his back to the chair.

"Of course."

Dozens of bundles were placed on the table as if waiting for this moment.

Thump, thump!

All the chips he had picked up today.

"I have some talent, so if I change all of these, it should be more than enough for your ransom. It'll be about a thousand gold coins. Plus."

Tuk. He pulled out a couple of blank cheques.

The two cheques, each signed by him, were valued the equivalent of a thousand gold coins each.

Three thousand gold coins in total.

It was the sum total of his property.

"As expected of the city of nightlife. I was bored because I thought there were no outstanding men in Tristar, but this turned out to be a lot of fun."

At this point, I was curious about the identity of the guy.

I thought he was just a gambler, but that wasn’t quite right.

"Bruns."

"Yes?"

"You shake it."

"I, what do you mean?"

Ged's eyes changed.

"It's just putting dice in a cup and shaking it, anyway. It doesn't matter who does it."

When I asked if it weren't so, Ged's mouth twitched.

"Or do you think I'm going to cheat? I swear on my sword and my God. Unlike others, I won't play any tricks."

"… Good."

Dakak. The dice were thrown into the cup.

Dakak, dakak, dakak.

Only the sound of the dice shaking inside the cup broke the silence.

Thud.

The dice cup went down.

A beat passed in silence.

Three dice.

The numbers were from 1 to 18.

Callius' gray eyes, which had been closed all this time, gleamed.

"Two."

"Two? Hahaha, hey, Pilgrim. Were you just looking for a place to stay?"

Number, two.

There were three dice, but calling the number 2 was such an absurd thing that it seemed like you didn't even know the rules of the game.

Ged laughed and shouted his choice.

"I’ll say three!"

Number, three.

Soon the dealer's hand moved.

The cup was lifted. The spectators murmured that it was absurd.

They thought that the Pilgrim who didn't even know the rules would have the same fate as that person from the Lutens family.

But the moment the cup was lifted –

All the onlookers were flabbergasted.

"Ugh!"

One of the three dice in the cup had landed on top of another.

The dice stacked in a layer of two showed one, and the third dice also indicated the number one.

"Lord, the dice say two! It’s the Pilgrim's victory."

Wow!!

Cheers rang out.

In a single game, Callius had earned more than three thousand gold coins.

‘Phew.'

There was something I could put my trust in.

It was possible because it was a dice game.

I’d concentrated my divine power in my ears and raised my auditory acuity by several times. The sound of dice hitting, the angle of the cup the dealer shook – everything was in my range.

It was an answer I’d come up with after calculating everything.

Because this dice up itself had been tampered with from the beginning.

Of course, it wasn't just because I’d concentrated my divine power on my ears.

[Bard's Blessing]

Grade – Epic.

• Best musical talent.

Callius' one and only talent.

It was because of Bard's Blessing.

It was possible because sound was considered as part of music.

There was a synergy between the absolute pitch granted by the Bard's Blessing and the sharp hearing amplified by divine power.

"Luck seems to be leaning towards me this time."

Callius took all the chips on the table.

Ged was almost stupefied by the current situation.

‘What. What happened?'

He had been gambling since the age of five.

He’d moved around the gambling halls to improve his skills and eventually gathered a lot of money.

Of course, it wasn't all just his perfect skills.

‘The ability to cheat while gambling.'

Cheating is also a skill.

He worked with the dealer and hid the trick in the dice cup itself.

Tapping the cup moved the dice.

He made the dice move whichever way he wanted, and the other party didn't even notice it.

Ged who was building his legend of invincibility based on that.

But then a pilgrim appeared.

He looked quite menacing, but the crisis soon turned into an opportunity.

A madman who bet himself with a stake when provoked a little.

Money was good, but if you had cadavers, it would be better if you brought a pilgrim who could make countless swords.

After all, victory is certain.

An invincible myth that has never been broken.

Ged didn't think it would break today.

So, he couldn't believe what was going on.

‘I lost?'

The stack of chips on the table.

It was moved towards the Pilgrim.

‘Is it a dream?'

No, it's not a dream.

All of his fortune evaporated.

It was all his wealth, which he had hoarded for so long, more wealth than most nobles had.

A fever rose inside Ged's head.

"Put that down!"

Ged drew his sword from his waist.

Whether it was because he was drunk, or not able to withstand the weight of the sword, he staggered dangerously.

"It's my money. It's my money!!"

The great gambler shouted.

A cold wind blew in the casino where a festive atmosphere had been spreading.

"Is there something more?"

Callius asked quietly.

I had nothing – there couldn’t be –

"Shut up!! Even if you’re a Pilgrim, who do you think I am!!"

Ged swung his sword.

Whoo!

His flimsy sword cut through the air.

Callius didn't even get up from his chair, but grabbed Bruns's neck and moved his body a shield.

"Ahh!!"

Chwak!

Blood soaked the gambling table.

"Ahhhhhhh!"

"Ged drew his sword!!"

The onlookers screamed and started running away. A faint smile crept across Callius' lips.

"Ouch!"

Tuk. Callius, who threw Bruns aside, picked up Arsando from the table.

"You hurt my follower. That too, in Tristar."

Callius took a step forward.

Then Ged, whose face had turned pale, stepped back.

"Kill him! Kill him right now!"

"Ha, but…!"

"Can't you hear me telling you! Kill him! I own you all! Kill him!!"

Under Ged's pressure, the Knights clenched their teeth and drew their swords.

They were just trying to live.

Callius couldn't stand it. His sword surged like lightning.

Seuk.

"Ah!"

A Knight's arm flew away.

"No, stop him! That cultist is trying to kill me! Stop him!"

Four remained. But none of them were Callius' opponent.

Pak, pak.

Each time he swung his sword, a Knight fell down bleeding.

Step by step, by simply stabbing and cutting, the Knights of Lutens fell down like scarecrows.

Neither the swords they held in their hands nor their hard armor could stop Callius' Arsando.

The gap between Callius and the Knights was so far and wide that nothing could fill it.

And soon after –

"Oh, don't come! Don't come, you devil!!"

Ged threw at Callius anything he could get his hands on.

Callius twisted his lips as he looked at him.

"This is a gift from Baldwin."

"Sa, save me… Kuk!"

Kuduk, pak.

The Carcass made of Baldwin.

Callius stabbed Ged with it.

He could feel the bones breaking and the heart being pierced through his fingertips.

Ged spurted blood and died without fanfare, and Callius looked at the cooling body with calm eyes.

As if Baldwin's Carcass had no more time, it quickly turned into smoke and disappeared.

[Baldwin's Gamble – Complete]

[Special rewards are given.]

[Tricolour Eye]

Grade – Rare.

• See objects in three colours.

Red, blue, gold.

‘As expected.'

Tricolour Eye.

A characteristic that can determine what kind of effect an object will have on the character, and indicate that with three colours.

I’ve acquired a characteristic that will be of great help in my future journey.

It's rare.

You can get characteristics through Corpse Grace.

I didn't know that at first.

Until I remembered the name Baldwin. Baldwin de Lutens.

He is the eldest son of Viscount Lutens and has a talent for gambling.

A person with original characteristics.

When such a person left regrets due to an unfair death and created a Corpse Grace.

The person who resolves it would gain the trait. I was lucky.

To have met Baldwin just in time.

Tadadadadat.

The moment I was feeling satisfied with my newly acquired characteristic –

Sreung! The casino's guards approached me with swords drawn.

And at the centre of them was a person walking leisurely with a cigar.

Thump, thump.

A giant had appeared.

"You did this."

A stature larger than others.

A slender figure and a muscular body.

Claw marks on his eyes.

Unlike his all-white hair and appearance like that of a wild beast, he was dressed in a well-fitting suit.

"Cedric."

Owner of the Casino de Cedric.

Cedric Bor Madrician.

"Do you know me?"

"Of course. I came all the way here to meet you."

"Hey, I don't know if you don't understand the situation, or if your liver is trying to jump out of your belly."

This casino was run by Cedric.

There, Callius killed the Knights of Lutens and their current master, Ged.

With this fact alone, there was no problem in being expelled from Tristar or being imprisoned.

“It was just self-defence."

"Yeah? It wasn't in my opinion. You know that? In my business place, what I say is the law. It's fine if it was self-defence. But it wasn't, in my opinion."

Callius' eyes narrowed.

"Were you aiming for that from the beginning?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Ged must have been a thorn in his eyes, taking money out of his den.

But there was no way to solve it, so he left it alone, and then Callius ended up intervening which was fine with him. Callius even killed Ged and his whole crew, so for Cedric, if he beat the Pilgrim who caused trouble and kicked him out of Tristar, all the problems would be solved and he would get the money.

‘One stone, two birds.'

Callius roughly understood the situation. Although he hadn’t known this would happen –

But he had killed Ged with Cedric in mind.

Callius's eyes gleamed.

Tricolour Eye.

When he looked at Cedric with it, his figure appeared pale red.

Red, indicated danger.

Editor's Notes:

None for this chapter.