"The strongest magic in the world is friendship. If everyone in the world were friends, you'd be invincible."
"Your friend already possessed that most powerful magic before she died."
Loren suddenly realized how great he was at comforting people. He even began to marvel at his own emotional intelligence.
"Ha ha ha..."
Violetta burst into laughter. By now, Loren was used to this reaction. Everyone who found out what the great treasure really was reacted this way.
But Loren noticed that Violetta seemed genuinely happy. She picked up the photo again:
"Did you hear that? We've already found the great treasure!"
The next moment, her smile suddenly froze.
"Now, I can focus on avenging you."
"Castio. That's my target. He's the true owner of this casino.
"Only by killing him can this casino be truly destroyed. Back then, it was him who cheated on the roulette wheel of death and killed my friend."
With that, Violetta pulled out a photo and pinned it to the wall with a dagger.
The photo showed a middle-aged man. The shot was blurry, but his smile was still visible.
"He's a big shot. Backed by high nobles, connected to big figures in other churches.
"It's because of his connections that this casino has been able to keep running."
While Violetta spoke, Loren tapped his fingers on the table. Some thoughts were forming in his mind.
Violetta could be useful too. Maybe he could even make her a Divine Envoy of the God of Hatred to help him deal with the Orthodox Gods.
The next step was to guide her, to teach her his own brand of social maneuvering.
Your friend was killed because of Castio. But without the protection of high nobles, Castio wouldn't have done it. He wouldn't even have opened a casino.
The nobles act this way because the King allows it. The King acts this way because of the power the Church gives him. And everything the Church does is for the Orthodox Gods.
So the God of Freedom is Violetta's real enemy.
Loren hadn't spoken yet. He planned to hear Violetta's plan first.
"Castio occasionally comes to the casino. He only comes for two reasons: either something happened at the casino, or he just wants to enjoy people's despair.
"I've done a lot of investigating. He doesn't actually care about money. The casino's profits all go to other big shots.
"What he likes is watching people's despair. Especially the moment they fall from the peak into the abyss.
"He occasionally joins the gambling too. But he only bets on the roulette wheel of death, and he always wins. All thanks to cheating.
"For someone like him, there's no way he'd casually gamble his life like that. If he dares to bet, he's sure to win."
As she said this, Violetta's hand unconsciously tightened. The chalk snapped in her grip, and she had to grab a new one.
"We can't predict when he'll come to the casino. But if something happens, he'll definitely show up. Like how you just cheated and won so much money.
"Soon, he'll come to the casino. When that happens, we'll go back.
"When betting your life, chips don't matter. Both sides automatically stake everything. Life is the biggest chip.
"That's why only one type of person gets invited by him to gamble their life: people who've lost everything. He'll bet chips that are enough to drive anyone crazy, just to tempt others into gambling their lives with him.
"If he just wanted to take back the chips, he could do it by cheating. This is all to satisfy his twisted desires..."
"So... that's how your friend died, isn't it?"
By this point, Loren had already pieced together the story of Violetta's friend's death:
"She got lucky, won a decent amount of money. But it wasn't enough for your medical bills, so she decided to keep gambling.
"Then the casino cheated, made her lose everything. Eventually, she had no choice but to gamble her life against Castio..."
"Yes."
Violetta confirmed Loren's guess. Her tone was ice cold.
"I have a question..."
At that moment, Veronica timidly raised her hand:
"From what you're saying, he's already won against a lot of people, right? It's basically obvious he's cheating. How can anyone still gamble with him?
"Even if he changes his identity, his style is still too obvious. I mean, what normal person would have tons of money and still gamble their life against someone who's lost everything..."
It surprised Loren that Veronica could pick up on that. She had good insight.
"You're right. But you're giving people too much credit for being rational."
This time, Violetta didn't need to explain. Loren answered for Veronica:
"You underestimate people's greed. Especially those who've fallen from the peak. They've lost the ability to live a normal life.
"Even if they don't bet on the roulette wheel of death, they'll still borrow money and keep gambling.
"That's why I hate gambling addicts."
Veronica nodded, half-understanding. Loren turned back to Violetta:
"So, what's your plan?"
"We wait a few days. Once Castio arrives, we go back to the casino.
"When we do, you'll do the same as today. Use your method to win money.
"When we've won so much the casino can't handle it, I'll propose gambling my life against Castio.
"Whether out of self-interest or his pathetic pride, he won't refuse.
"If we lose everything first, he probably won't approach us to gamble lives. That's safer.
"Even for someone like him, losing that much money won't be easy."
A hint of madness flickered in Violetta's eyes. She crushed the chalk again.
"If we can get on that roulette wheel of death, he'll die. That's our only chance to kill him.
"He has a Seventh-tier mage protecting him. That's not something ordinary people can handle."
"..."
A Seventh-tier mage...
A Seventh-tier mage was indeed dangerous. Back when they surrounded Loren, he had to go out of his way to cut each of them down.
Otherwise, getting harassed by them was just annoying.
"So, what can you give me?"
After hearing Violetta's plan, Loren started asking for his reward.
Honestly, he was curious to see how this would play out. But it wouldn't hurt to get something out of it.
Hearing this, Violetta directly lifted a floorboard. Beneath it was packed full of gold.
"You think I need money?"
Loren remained unmoved. He figured Violetta must have something else. Otherwise, forget about killing Castio—she wouldn't even have been able to earn this much money.
"There's this too."
With that, Violetta pulled out a card. On the back of the card was an Inverted Cross with an eye.
"A Tarot card?"
Loren recognized it.
"I got where I am today because of this card. This card lets me form unbreakable contracts with others.
"If I succeed in getting Castio onto the roulette wheel of death, no matter the outcome, this is yours."
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