CH 78

This was the Nightclub (tentative) on the Male Street (tentative).

Even though the building was complete, interior decoration still held much to be desired–something Ellis had learned long ago to not rely on Flint for. So instead she asked him to create a few game tables and chips in advance. The purpose was to quickly train up some dealers, bankers, and assistants for Machel.

Whether they had heard the details from the Workshop Guild or the Adventurer’s Guild, the word had gotten around and many volunteers had gathered.

“Well Machel, I’m going to explain how each of these games are played, so let’s train against some of these expert old men from the guild halls.”

“Understood Lady Ellis. Everyone here should remember what the young lady has to teach us clearly.”

Machel addressed her future subordinates before taking her seat. The women nodded their heads once while watching as the volunteers showed off some serious faces.

At the game table, there was one seat prepared for the dealer and then six seats to their right and six seats to their left. In total, there could be twelve people playing at one time.

There is a green cross affixed to the surface of the table with white markers adorning it to indicate where antes are to be left, bets are to be made, and where cards are to be drawn.

To the left of the dealer’s seat is the bunker. It is there that extra chips for dividends and boxes for storing game fees. On their right side is a card holder from where the dealer can draw cards without any of the players being able to take a peek.

First off was Warren Dice.

“In Warren Dice, the dealer will roll the dice and control the bunker. There will be two assistants standing to the left and the right of the dealer providing security and performing menial tasks such as collecting the winnings.”

Receiving Ellis’s instructions, Machel sat down in the dealer’s seat while two of her fellow employees took a spot beside her.

“Well then Machel, now you roll the dice the way I showed you before.”

“Understood.”

Machel threw a red and white die into a clay cup and slammed it on the table after rattling the dice inside for a second.

“Alright men, place your bets. The table today has a minimum of a 100 ril bet and a maximum of 1000, so let’s see your chips.”

Machel immediately started to pressure the men while acting talking like a yakuza. Ellis wasn’t sure where she got the idea from, but she liked it all the same.

“Ellis, is this for real right now?”

On behalf of all the other volunteers, Buzz wanted to make sure that the betting done for this test run would be real.

“Yes, I will personally handle the bunker today,” Ellis responded with a smile. The fact that all the game fees paid today would end up going directly into Ellis’s pocket was something she left unsaid though.

“Alright Machel. Make sure everyone has placed their bets and lock down the board.”

Machel took a quick look over between each of the players and confirmed their bets. The assistants were also meant to serve as an extra set of eyes to make sure that nobody tried to change their bets afterwards.

“Next raise the cup and declare the results. Be careful so that the cup doesn’t touch either of the two dice.”

Nodding, Machel slowly lifted up the cup directly off the table. The end result was a six for the red die and a one on the white.

“Last call! Now, I say red six and white one right?” Machel started off with a strong declaration, but she took a quick second to make sure she was doing it right with Ellis.

“Yosh! I’m great!”

Buzz jumped out of his chair and fist pumped into the air. He had bet a one or a six for the red and a one or a six for white as well. His end payout was nine times.

“Then the assistants will collect the money and pay out the dividends to the winners. Everyone else should wait patiently for the board to be cleared.”

The two assistants who had been silently standing at the wing until now nodded their heads and started grabbing the chips off the table.

“Once all the chips have been returned to the bunker, you pay out the money to the winners.”

Since Buzz had bet 100 ril, he should get 900 ril back total. Since the game fee is ten percent, that means 90 ril is paid forward. Taking out 710 ril from the bunker and adding it to the 100 still on the table, for a 810 ril payout.

“The assistants should start from one end of the table and work your way over to the other paying people one at a time to make sure nothing gets messed up.”

Since Buzz was the only person to win this roll, there was little need to worry about that this time.

“Uncle Buzz, when getting your money, it’s usually considered stylish to give the assistant who pays your winnings a tip.”

Buzz laughed at Ellis’s shameless plug there as if it were just the innocent ramblings of a little girl.

“It is only right that I share some of this happiness with the girl giving me that happiness,” he laughed. Grabbing one of the 100 ril chips from his pile, Buzz tossed it back to the assistant girl who received it with a smile.

Coincidentally, a smile had spread across Ellis’s face at the same time as the assistant. It may not seem like much but with this, the perfect atmosphere to suck up all the ril the guests had was complete.

Several more games were played afterwards. Since the ante was relatively small, the losses were light all around, and things progressed harmoniously.

“The assistants, if the guests accumulate a lot of fractional chips, don’t hesitate to ask if the guests want to consolidate them into larger amounts.”

In this case, guests had already started to acquire numerous 10 ril chips. The assistants nodded their heads once at Ellis’s recommendation and started to ask around the table to see if anyone wanted to switch their chips over. It’s easier to spend a single 100 ril chip than a handful of 10 ril chips after all.

“Machel, are you getting used to it?”

“Yes, Ellis. I, I think I’m actually having fun.”

It was like the cold, dead look she had worn the other day had never existed. Compared to then, there was a fire in Machel’s eyes, and thin as it may be, the small smile playing across her lips was as bright as the sun. The thought that this was the expression that she had originally worn crossed Ellis’s mind and made her smile once again. This type of expression would be far more effective at getting the men to continue betting compared to the cold princess look.

“Then shall we have you switch off with one of the assistants? Everyone needs to get used to this.”

“I understand. Then I’ll work on being the assistant.”

Machel obediently listened and vacated her spot at the dealer’s chair. From there, rotations were regularly made, but things continued to go smoothly. Like a steady stream, the ril lining the men’s pockets continued to flow out. Even when they won, the game fees and the tips for the assistants meant they were still being bled dry.

“Haha, I’ve been in good shape ever since you started helping me as an assistant Machel,” Doug laughed while handing over a small tip to her.

And then, Flint and Theseus appeared.

“Yosh! I’ve come to join the war!”

“Hello everyone. We came to see how everyone was doing.”

Margherita and Marilyn came in soon after. The two shared a small smile upon seeing the joy in Machel’s face.

“You guys are all just playing around!”

Baltis was the last person to come by. With him added, all twelve seats were filled.

“Well then, let’s switch to Warren Numbers now. The minimum here will be 100 ril again. The dealer’s jackpot here is 50 times the maximum bet so 50,000 ril.”

Ellis had already started cleaning up the dice and bunker chips to make room for Numbers.

“Warren Numbers is a game played between the guests, so Machel will be providing support only.”

Ellis opted to be the first parent and motioned for Machel to take a position next to her.

“Next the parent declares the total winnings. This time I will use the maximum and put forward 50,000 ril.”

Ellis took out 50,000 ril worth of chips and placed them on the table.

“Machel will act as my banker, distributing the chips to the winners and collecting money as needed.”

With that the game began. To start things off, everyone put forward their ante of 100 ril to demonstrate their ability to play. Ellis declared beforehand that she would play a set of six hands before transferring the parent role to someone else.

Ellis then placed her first card underneath the special handkerchief. Once she was done, the other players all put forward their bets.

“Close.”

Once everyone was done betting, Ellis signaled the end of the hand and put a tag on the ‘3’ for the specially made show card. She then pulled back the handkerchief, flipped over the card, and revealed the ‘3’ card.

“The number you mark on the show board and the card you placed down has to match. If they are ever different, then the parent is the only loser of the hand.”

Ellis continued to advance the game forward while explaining the rules to Machel.

“I got a hit.” Flint was the first to raise his hand having chosen three numbers with a 100 ril bet.

“I also hit.” Theseus was next having bet 500 ril on two numbers.

“Well I’m sure this is frustrating for everyone else.” Baltis meanwhile had successfully won with the maximum bet of 1000 ril on only a single guess.

Nobody else at the table had guessed the number to be 3.

“Then just like with Dice, the assistants will go around collecting the lost chips. Once everything is cleaned up, we pay out the dividends. Since Theseus had a one in two chance of winning, he gets 80 ril back with the subtracted 10 percent game fee. Theseus had a one in three chance of winning so he gets 850 ril back after 150 is collected as the game fee. Baltis had a one in six, so he gets 4,400 ril back after subtracting 600 as the game fee.”

“Whatever it is, I guess you don’t get much if you bet on three numbers.”

“Flint aside, don’t forget to tip your assistants Theseus and Baltis.”

The two guild masters nodded their heads and obediently handed over a chip to the girls aiding them. Theseus handed over one of his 100 ril chips while Baltis gave out a 1000 one. “Well Baltis is being quite generous today,” Ellis laughed to herself.

“Well then, let’s go for round 2.”

And so the game continued.

Ellis went with a ‘2’ for the second round.

“Alright, I got a hit!”

Buzz had managed to win with a 1000 ril bet over three numbers.

“I’m two in a row.”

Meanwhile Flint had won a 1000 ril bet off of two numbers.

Nobody else ended up calling a win. Doug, Buzz and all the other members of the Adventurer’s Guild had bet on three numbers while Theseus, Marilyn, and Margherita had all bet on two.

“Since nobody got a single hit, I think I’m going to declare Naughty Friends.”

Towards Ellis’s declaration, everyone was forced to reveal what numbers they had bet on. Buzz had bet on the numbers (1, 2, and 3), Doug had bet on the numbers (4, 5, and 6), and one other guild member had bet on the numbers (3, 4, and 5).

“A Naughty Friends has been established between Buzz and Doug. As such, Buzz’s winnings will be claimed along with both of their antes.”

As the two assistants went about claiming the money pile that had just formed, all Buzz and Doug could do was watch on with a pained look on their faces.

Unfortunately, there were the four two number bets to look at as well. Flint had bet on (2 and 5), Theseus on (1 and 3), Marilyn on (4 and 6), and Margherita on (4 and 5).

“A Naughty Friends has been established with Flint, Theseus, and Marilyn as well. Collect their winnings and antes.”

The look on Flint’s face wasn’t much better than the one Buzz and Doug had worn.

“What is this? Betting on 2 or 3 numbers is pretty high risk as well,” Baltis muttered under his breath.

When Ellis overheard him, she frowned a little on the inside. She thought it would be longer before anyone discovered the biggest pitfall in this game.

For the third round Ellis once again chose ‘3’. The choice was a model example of deceit, but it was something hard to guess at by amateur psychologists. Between that and everyone still being put off by the previous rounds two Naughty Friends, nobody had guessed the correct answer.

The round ended with an All Out. Everyone’s bets and antes were collected up by the assistants.

Now everyone had gotten serious about playing this game.

But Ellis wasn’t about to give up the ground she had so easily taken. She played her next three rounds with no tricks and then gave up her position as parent just as she said she would.

Her total winnings was 30,000 ril.

“As a general rule, the parents should give up about 10 percent of their winnings to their banker as a tip.”

And then just as she said, Ellis scooped up 3,000 ril and passed it over to Machel.

“Now, who will be the next parent?”

Flint, Theseus, and Baltis all simultaneously raised their hands to volunteer.

“Alright, then we will change the parents per turn going in a clockwise direction.”

“Hahaha, then I’ll show you all how it’s done.”

Ellis left the dealer’s seat and made way for Flint to take the lead. As she walked away from the table, Machel quickly ran up to follow her.

“You never even have to play the game yourself. You should have already realized that as long as you remain quiet, the chips will all be drawn towards you.”

“Lady Ellis, I really appreciate you introducing me to this kind of work.”

Machel responded with clear, cold smile.

Both of the girls took a second to look back at the game that was still going on.

“Lass over there, I’d like you to work as my banker.”

Flint nominated the assistant who had helped him out as a player to work as his banker. From there, the game began once again.

“Ellis, you’re home late.” Claire welcomed Ellis at the door with a slightly worried look on her face.

“Yeah, the training took a little longer than I thought it would. Here, I got this for everyone to make up for it.” What Ellis set out on the kitchen table was a rather large basket of fruit that Claire had never eaten before.

“Aren’t these rather expensive?”

“It’s fine every once in awhile. I got some extra income, so I thought I’d splurge a little.”

It may have just been Claire’s imagination, but she could have sworn that when Ellis smiled as she said that, she could hear the sounds of old men yelling in the night sky.