Thus, this round was a game that I had constructed.

I made a situation where he would use his magic to create a four hand, and I would end up with a straight flush.

“Then, it’s my win. Thank you for your effort.”

I pulled the mountain of chips that laid in front of the man towards myself.

‘How much is all this? It seems we won’t have to worry about money for a while.’

It totalled nearly 4,000 cena.

I had hit the jackpot thanks to meeting a fool.

Just as I left my seat, I searched the man’s face. Leaving after taking everything made me feel a little sorry.

However, contrary to my expectations, the man seemed indifferent to the fact he had lost a large amount of money.

In fact, he was chuckling, and said.

“It was a really fun game. It was an honor to play the game with you.”

And then he asked me.

“May I ask my lady’s name?”

I looked into his eyes.

His blue eyes were knotted with a very complicated mixture of emotions.

I crossed my arms and answered.

“My name is Rubia.”

“Rubia, you say. What a pretty name.”

The man smiled as he looked at me.

“I feel that we will see each other soon.”

“That will never happen.”

As I replied as such, his smile grew deeper.

“No. We will definitely meet once more.”

His gaze looked straight into my eyes. It was as if he had swindled me.

“Then, I will be expectant of our next meeting.”

Just like that, we retreated from the casino after our great victory.

“4,000 cena. Not 400, but 4,000 cena….”

Marie looked astonishedly at our money purse.

It was such a large amount of money that she had most likely never dreamed of holding so much in her life.

“If you keep the purse open like that, a pickpocket is going to steal it.”

“Ah, no, never! I’ll never give it away! This is mine… no, milady’s!”

Marie flinched in surprise and placed the purse securely in her inner pocket. I could feel the avaricious determination to protect the money even if she lost her life.

“What should we do now?”

“Eat. Didn’t we agree to eat something delicious?”

In celebration of our victory, we ordered a feast at an expensive, luxury restaurant.

“Eat up.”

“Yes, thank you!”

Marie excitedly lifted her fork. But after a while, she, who had been eating pasta, made an unusual expression.

“Why aren’t you eating, milady?”

“Ah. I am eating.”

“But it doesn’t look like you’ve eaten a lot.”

I looked down at the plate of steak in front of me. It was close to untouched.

“Do you have any concerns?”

Marie asked in worriedly.

“What concerns? It’s not that delicious.”

“Yes? But it’s very good?”

Marie tilted her head to the side.

‘That man. He knew I had used sleight of hand in the last round.’

When their gazes had intersected for the last time, she could tell at that moment.

He saw through her tricks.

‘Why did he say nothing and just let it pass? And what was that about meeting each other again?’

Just then, Marie muttered as she chewed her meat.

“Who do you think that man from earlier is? He was rather handsome.”

That was something I was curious about as well.

Appearances were appearances, but what was most surprising was his skilled magic.

‘He’s at least a magic expert(☆ need to check this out again).’

Using translocation magic in order to switch out cards. And to do so without any hint of him using magic.

Even if it was close range teleporting, it was an impossible feat for an average magic user. He must be at least a magic expert.

‘There’s only about a dozen experts within this Empire. Was there such a young expert amongst them?’

A magic expert was comparable in strength to a sword master.

Amongst those who had talent in magic, only a small minority were able to become magic experts.

And the vast majority of magic experts reached that level in their late thirties, early forties. No, even middle-aged was rather early.