The Lady Only Deals With the Real Ones - Chapter 155

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

“…Did you say illegal gambling den?”

“How did you know that, Elisha?”

At the same time Patrick asked back, Chloe, who had been listening to the story, looked at me with surprised eyes.

She seriously lowered her voice and asked.

“Do you actually have some ability like mind reading?”

“It would be nice to have such an ability, but that’s not it. I looked at the customer’s hands.”

“His hands?”

“Yes. The way he counted money was unusual, and he couldn’t keep his hands still. Most importantly, he had calluses on the parts where he gripped cards.”

Grandfather had once told me.

All sorts of customers come to the pawnshop, but among them, the ones to be most wary of are gamblers.

It wasn’t simply because they were people who might harm me.

“You must be careful of gamblers.”

“Why? Um, because they’re likely to be involved with the underworld?”

“No. Those bastards don’t just ruin their own lives, they drag the lives of people around them into the mire too.”

Grandfather didn’t buy items from such gambling addicts.

He had seen many cases where after buying from them once or twice, they would steal and sell their family’s and friends’ belongings.

‘He even said he was disgusted when someone tried to sell their young child’s coat in winter while the child was shivering.’

So instead of becoming their source of money, Grandfather chose to gather information through conversation and report them.

I somewhat agreed with Grandfather’s thinking.

Then Patrick carefully asked.

“But if he was trying to raise gambling funds, wouldn’t he have sold items instead? Why would he pay big money to buy things like used watches and jeweled tie pins?”

“Yes, I find that strange too.”

‘Was it his own effort to quit gambling?’

If he converted money from gambling into physical goods, he couldn’t touch them immediately.

Various possibilities flashed through my mind, but it was definitely suspicious.

“But the fact that this is the second such customer means there’s definitely something on Floren Street. I think we need to investigate.”

Because the customer who just left wasn’t the first.

The signal from the customer who came with hollow eyes in the morning also stopped at Floren Street.

Moreover.

‘I can’t tell Patrick and Chloe, but I saw a faint light at those people’s fingertips.’

As if they had contacted holy relics or holy water.

‘Strangely, the light seems to appear more clearly since I returned from County Delphia.’

It was hard to imagine a holy relic sitting brazenly in an illegal gambling den.

But what if they had hidden the Ruby Tablet somewhere in the illegal gambling den?

What if that’s why I could see divine power from people who visited the gambling den?

It was definitely worth investigating.

‘Even if it’s not because of the Ruby Tablet, places like that should be rooted out anyway.’

After hearing my story, Chloe gently touched the money the customer had given us with her bare hands.

“Ah.”

Chloe, who flinched greatly, came over and whispered.

“I think Elisha is right.”

“Did you see something?”

“Since it’s money, too many people have handled it so I can’t see their appearance, but…! I can feel emotions. Intense joy and even more intense despair!”

Despair and joy.

The only place where those two emotions could be felt simultaneously was a gambling den.

Chloe’s testimony made it even more certain.

In that case?

“I should contact Count Airen.”

*

“Knights in plain clothes searched the signal location, but unfortunately only the case was found abandoned.”

Ailren, who arrived late at night, took out a map.

“But given the terrain, many buildings on Floren Street have underground spaces. There’s sufficient possibility that illegal establishments exist among them.”

Ailren, who had pinpointed several places where a gambling den might exist on the map Patrick had left, looked at me intently.

“But are you saying you’re also considering the possibility that a Ruby Tablet fragment might be here?”

His expression seemed to ask why I thought that.

Of course, I couldn’t tell Ailren about the light I saw at the customers’ fingertips or Chloe’s memory magic.

So I was about to say what I had prepared specifically for Ailren.

“Since it’s a place frequented by those involved in illegal activities, there must be someone dealing in stolen goods among them. If we catch and interrogate them, something will come out.”

“…That, um, I wasn’t going to use such aggressive language as Duke.”

“Aggressive?”

Tesagh, who had interrupted and cut off the conversation, frowned.

I laughed playfully.

“‘Catch and interrogate’ doesn’t sound gentle no matter how you hear it. Anyway, I was thinking the same as Duke.”

He had arrived at the pawnshop immediately after returning from the duchy, arriving one step ahead of Ailren.

‘As soon as he heard that Ailren was coming about the illegal gambling den matter, he said he would join us.’

So I couldn’t give a detailed explanation, but Tesagh seemed to have quickly realized that I had seen divine power.

I thought it was good that I had told him about my ability, and continued with additional explanation.

“Since they’re people who systematically operate gambling dens, they must be involved in other illegal businesses too. But where does the money those businesses earn go?”

“Ah, you’re saying that the cash flow from all businesses under the organization will eventually converge at the gambling den.”

“That’s right. Gambling dens are perfect for money laundering. Though I’m not sure if we should call it a business.”

“So in that gambling den’s vault, there would be not only cash but also valuable holy relics and treasures… That makes sense.”

True to his expertise as an investigator, Ailren caught on immediately.

Tesagh, who had been looking somewhat displeased at how well Ailren and I were getting along, bluntly spoke up.

“So, what’s the plan?”

“We plan to track the flow of money Elisha provided as evidence while simultaneously conducting undercover investigation.”

“Will that undercover investigation be done by knights under your command?”

“That’s correct.”

“Ha. I wonder if that will work.”

Ailren asked expressionlessly.

“Is there something you find unsatisfactory?”

“Aren’t all your knights just like you? With their naive looks, having never even bet on darts let alone cards, they’ll be kicked out immediately if they snoop around.”

“We plan to thoroughly train them before deployment. We can’t send civilians into such a dangerous place, can we?”

“This is a race against time. Besides, I doubt that training will be effective. Seeing how terribly that Patrick fellow performed even at pretending to be pawnshop security.”

“Is it the duchy’s chivalry to put those who should be protected at sword point in front?”

At those words, Tesagh’s brow furrowed sharply.

‘Why are you fighting when you have the same goal!’

Both opinions had merit. The problem was their attitude.

While it was true that Tesagh had been prickly first, Ailren’s retort was equally sharp.

I had no choice but to intervene between the two.

“Um… then couldn’t we send civilians to act as gamblers along with knights as escorts?”

Both men’s gazes turned to me.

“It would be good to send as many people as possible. We’d be distributing the risk in case they get caught or lose all their funds at once.”

“If new faces appear in droves, they’ll be that much more suspicious. It’s better to minimize personnel.”

“About that, I’m thinking some of them could get caught on purpose.”

Tesagh’s head tilted slightly.

“Get caught on purpose?”

“Yes. They’d obviously lurk around like they’re guards rather than knights, or like nobles’ personal bodyguards. Acting curious about what’s really going on here.”

“Ah, then….”

“Then they’d somehow try to appease them and send them away. While they’re relieved thinking they’ve handled the situation, they won’t know that real knights have entered.”

Ailren, who had been watching me, slowly opened his mouth.

“Considering that illegal establishments generally operate legitimate businesses on the surface to filter their clientele… Yes. I think such a strategy would work.”

“Right? What do you think, Your Grace?”

“…Your opinion sounds reasonable.”

I smiled slightly and casually added.

This was actually the main point.

“So, about that… would it be possible for me to go as one of those ‘civilians’….”

“That would be difficult.”

“No.”

I blinked at the simultaneous responses.

Why were these two people, who never agreed on anything, suddenly united on this of all things?

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————