Unlike the desolate fields, the village was a bit more lively.

Occasionally, curious glances were cast our way by the locals, wondering about the strangers in robes, but people were generally kind.

“It would have been nice if Spinel had come along too.”

“It can’t be helped. Shall we buy a cake to take back later?”

Spinel, being a Red Dragon, seemed a bit susceptible to the cold.

Normally, she wouldn’t refuse an outing in this kind of chill, but it seemed she had used up a lot of her magic looking for Royden.

After reviving Ilion, Spinel’s magic wasn’t the same as before.

“But why didn’t you ask Royden?”

Well, because his absence is more helpful.

I answered the question with a furrowed brow. Seeing my expression, Lily gave an awkward laugh, as if she understood without needing further explanation.

“Still, isn’t it a bit too much to dislike someone who helped you regain our memories?”

“Is it that obvious that I dislike him?”

“Yes, very much so.”

“And yet he still acts like that even when I make it so clear? Is he completely oblivious?”

Thinking of Royden, who had been grinning and getting in my face since morning, made my irritation rise again. Being grateful was one thing, but disliking him was another.

“Let’s stop talking about that and go get something to eat.”

We had come out to change the mood, and it was a waste of time to spend it talking about someone I disliked.

The conversation naturally shifted to lunch options. Since the place was known for its wine, it seemed like a good idea to find food that paired well with it.

As we were looking around for a suitable place, we noticed a group of men in an alley having a serious discussion.

“Ah, hurry up and choose.”

“You’re so impatient. Just wait a moment.”

What are they doing?

Like a sparrow unable to pass by a millstone, my curiosity got the better of me, and I moved closer to observe.

What they were excitedly discussing was a table set on the ground. More precisely, it was the three cups on the table. It was a typical shell game.

“This isn’t right, you’ve got it wrong.”

Saying so, the shell game operator lifted a cup to show there was nothing underneath.

“No, it was definitely in the middle.”

The man, feeling wronged, insisted on trying again, while the other men watching with him laughed and teased him.

“Miss, let’s stop watching and go.”

“Why, it’s interesting.”

Lily tried to dissuade me from watching such a lowbrow game, but just observing wasn’t a problem.

The scene, which I hadn’t seen even in the capital, was enough to pique my interest, and I decided to watch a bit more closely.

The operator’s hand movements were quite skillful. He hid a die under a cup and quickly shuffled the cups. His hands moved so fast it was dizzying.

“This time, it’s definitely in the middle!”

“Then go ahead and open it.”

The man who had been tricked earlier opened the cup in the middle again. As expected, it was empty.

“It looked like it was on the right…”

“Did you think so too, Lily? Actually, so did I.”

Although the cups were moving quickly, it seemed to me that the die was under the right cup.

Perhaps our voices were heard. The shell game operator gestured to us, encouraging us to place a bet.

“Young ladies, if you’re going to bet, now’s the time. The odds are fifty-fifty.”

“Shall we place a bet?”

“What?”

“You know, Lily, I’m lucky!”

Especially when it comes to money, my luck is practically absolute. Since it was just for fun, I didn’t mind losing and took out 1 silver from my pocket.

“Miss…”

Lily sighed, unable to stop me.

“Which one will you bet on?”

“Of course, the right…”

“You’ll lose your money if you bet like that.”

Just as I was about to hand the coin to the operator and say the position, someone squeezed in between us and snatched the 1 silver from my hand.

“…What?”

The man was wearing a rather expensive-looking black coat, and his gentle smile seemed out of place in such a gambling scene.

While I stood there, startled by the sudden theft of my 1 silver, he stepped on the left cup with his shoe and looked at the operator.

“This lady says it’s on the right.”

“R-right side, you say?”

The operator stammered in surprise, looking at the man in the coat.

“Hey, I don’t know where you’re from, but don’t butt in.”

Meanwhile, one of the spectators stepped forward to block the man.

“The game isn’t over yet, so wait a bit. Or do you want to place a bet too? Which side, the left?”

The man smiled faintly and replied to the person blocking him. His sharp blue eyes made the spectator, who had been shouting, retreat quietly.

Is the atmosphere really getting so tense over a mere shell game?

Thinking the situation was a bit odd, I continued to watch the man’s actions.

“Now, you open the right one. I’ll open the remaining one.”

Reluctantly, the operator lifted the cup on the right as the man instructed, and there was the die inside.

“See, I told you it was on the right!”

“Well, this is unlucky. Take this and get lost.”

He tossed the 1 silver to me, who was jumping with joy, and waved his hand, telling us not to come back.

Having been chased out unexpectedly, Lily and I looked at each other with bewildered expressions.

“Why is he so angry?”

“Well, he couldn’t scam you, Miss.”

The man in the coat approached me and returned the 1 silver he had taken from my hand.

“Scam me?”

“Yes, you look like an easy target for a scam.”

Is he picking a fight with me right now?

“Anyway, since you made some money thanks to me, how about buying me a meal?”

“…What?”

“There’s a nice restaurant nearby.”

Saying this, the man started walking ahead, offering to guide us.

It seems like he’s the one trying to scam me, not the other way around.

***

“My name is Glenn.”

The man who introduced himself as Glenn really did nonchalantly have me buy him a meal. He was so confident that anyone would believe we planned to meet today.

“I’m…”

I hesitated to introduce myself.

“You’re Miss Rischefeld, aren’t you?”

Though it was pointless, I tried to conceal my identity. I slightly lowered the robe I had pulled over myself and gave an awkward smile.

“I thought I hid it well. Was it that obvious?”

“Rather than being obvious, it was just pointless to hide it.”

His neat lips curved into a slight smile.

“You seem like someone who wouldn’t know much about the world, enough to be tricked by a shell game, so I doubt you’re here traveling during such troubled times. And since the Duke has returned to the territory, there’s only one person I could think of.”

“Oh…”

Hearing it, his words made perfect sense. It was indeed pointless.

“By the way, about what you said earlier. What do you mean by scam?”

I couldn’t shake the suspicion that the one scamming me was the man in front of me. After all, I was spending several times more than the 1 silver I had gained.

“Those people earlier were all in cahoots.”

“In cahoots, even the spectators?”

“Yes. They were decoys set up to lure in naive people like you, Miss.”

Is it just my imagination, or does it feel like he’s calling me stupid in a roundabout way?

“But I did guess where the die was in the end.”

I muttered grumpily, and Glenn’s blue eyes twinkled pleasantly.

“You shouldn’t buy anything wherever you go. You’re a perfect target for scams.”

He’s definitely calling me stupid this time, isn’t he? I don’t think it’s my imagination.

While I was debating whether to get angry at his rudeness, Glenn calmly continued his explanation.

“The game you played earlier was one you could never win.”

“Why?”

“Because the die was never under any of the cups.”

They were all empty from the start?

I looked at Glenn with a puzzled expression, still not fully understanding.

“Judging by the operator’s hand movements, it would be easy to remove the die while shuffling the cups.”

“Then how did the die appear there?”

Lily, who had been listening quietly, also asked with a confused expression.

“It didn’t appear; it was placed there to make it seem like it was.”

Glenn took a sip of wine and continued.

“The important thing isn’t the die, but the person holding it. So, to win, you have to make them place the die where you want it.”

Make them place it where you want…

After hearing his explanation, I could vaguely understand why he acted the way he did.

“From the operator’s perspective, they had to make a choice.”

Glenn placed two empty cups on the table and looked at us.

“If neither cup had the die, it would be exposed as a scam, so they decided to make it look like the die was under the cup you chose, even if it meant losing money. Like this.”

He offered the right cup to us. When he lifted it, surprisingly, there was a die inside.

“Oh my, the die…”

Lily looked at Glenn in amazement, as if she had just witnessed a magic trick. Glenn looked at her and added a word.

“Even if you realized the trick, it would have been difficult to win. They would have used the decoys to intimidate you.”

As frustrating as it was, he was right that it was a game we couldn’t win from the start. Neither Lily nor I could have dealt with those large men.

After finishing his meal, Glenn wiped his mouth and asked,

“So, was my explanation worth a meal?”