Chapter 6: A Curse That Lowers Drop Rates!? 【Side: Ghuftok】
“Hahahaha! Kicking out that incompetent fool feels great!”
“It certainly does, Ghuftok-sama!”
The women agreed with my, Ghuftok Linebell’s, words.
My party was composed almost entirely of women, aside from myself.
Kicking out that particularly irritating Slime bastard from among them had me feeling on top of the world.
“He was useless, after all. Just a money-grubbing con artist.”
“Exactly, exactly!”
My favorite woman, Plum Madeleine, chimed in.
“Now, let’s forget about trash like him and continue our adventure!”
“Yes, sir!”
◇
That day, just like any other, we had simply accepted a delivery quest.
And yet…
“Tch… Why?! This is strange…!”
The monsters weren’t dropping the target item at all.
“What the hell is going on…!”
We’ve already defeated so many of those monsters…!
“Hey, this is a normal drop item, right…?”
“It should be…”
Plum is an Item Artisan, a class that specializes in items, so she’s knowledgeable about things like item drop rates.
“Damn it…! Hey, we’re killing more!”
We had no choice but to continue hunting.
That’s because the target item could only be obtained as a drop from monsters.
“Gaaaargh! Damn it…!”
Because we’d been hunting for so long, our concentration was starting to wane.
As a result, we were taking more injuries.
In other words, the amount of potions we used increased, steadily draining our wallets.
“Damn it! At this rate, even if we complete the quest, we’ll be in the red! Enough, we’re done!”
“Right… Let’s just give up…”
For me to be in this situation… what in the world happened?
Could it be an unlucky day today?
This bad luck is so terrible, it feels like I’m cursed.
“If the quest is over, then I’ll be taking my leave to act freely, alright?”
“Yeah, do whatever you want.”
The one who said that and left us was a woman named Cartina Luguin, a Mercenary by class.
That woman operates strictly on money and never gets chummy with anyone.
Well, making such women mine is a hobby of mine, so that’s why I hired her.
It doesn’t look like we’ll get close anytime soon, but well, I’ll patiently win her over with my charm.
“Damn it! I’m so pissed off! Hey Plum! We’re going to the casino!”
“Yes, Ghuftok-sama!”
“Natalia! You too!”
“Yes! Of course!”
Natalia Brando, she, like Plum, is one of my followers.
She’s a timid woman, but she’s the type to do anything I say.
To relieve the stress from today’s quest, I headed to the casino with the two of them flanking me.
On days like this, it’s best to go all out playing and forget everything!
And yet—!
“Damn iiiiiiiit! Whyyyyyyyy!”
For some reason, that day, I lost an unbelievable amount.
“Now, now, Ghuftok-san, please calm down. This is a game of luck, so days like these happen.”
The casino dealer said so, but there was no way I could calm down.
“Shut uuuuup! This is cheating!”
I reflexively crumpled the cards on the table.
“Oh my…? Are you suspecting our establishment’s games of being rigged? If so, perhaps we should have a more detailed discussion in the back…?”
As the casino dealer said that, some burly men peeked out from the back.
This… Did I say something I shouldn’t have…?
“N-no… That’s not what I meant… I’m sorry for losing my composure…”
“If that’s the case, then it’s fine. We, too, want gambling to be enjoyable.”
But if I don’t make a comeback in the next round, I’ll be deep in the red, and that’s bad!
Isn’t there something I can do…!?
I signaled Plum with my eyes, deciding to have her help me cheat.
She would tell me the card numbers by the number of times she blinked.
“Well then… let’s begin. It’s the next round.”
I desperately wanted to recoup today’s losses here.
There’s no way I could end things still in the red…!
And then…
All the betting was over.
“Fufufu! As expected, I win in the end!”
The cheating worked, and I somehow managed to end the game just barely out of the red.
“Alright, let’s head back to the hotel.”
It was just as we were about to leave the casino.
“Sir, after suspecting our establishment of cheating, to then do it yourself… you’ve got some nerve, haven’t you?”
“Huh…?”
At the exit, I was surrounded and stopped by men.
No way, had my perfect cheating actually been exposed…!?
“That’s impossible…! How did you find out!?”
“Oh my… I was just testing the waters with that comment… So it was true, then.”
“You bastard…!”
“Alright, take him to the back… You can leave the women.”
I was grabbed by the burly men and dragged to the back.
What in the world are they going to do to me…?
“Ghuftok-sama…!”
“Damn iiiiiiiit! Let me go! I’m a customer!”
“Excuse me, sir. In our establishment, we do not consider those who cheat to be customers. And we deal with them very strictly. Yes. So that they can never do such a thing again…”
I don’t even want to remember what happened to me after that.
Surrounded by men in suits who were much larger than me…
“Uooogh…!”
“Ghuftok-sama…………!”
Even after returning to the hotel, I kept vomiting from the trauma.
Damn it…!
To think it would be this humiliating!