Casino Wizard

My casino was nothing short of paradise for card counters.

We used 4 decks, hand-shuffled. Surrender (the rule where you can forfeit and get back half your bet) wasn’t allowed, but the cards were usually played until the deck ran out.

We also had tables that used only 2 decks, but there, the rules allowed guests to handle the cards themselves. Some players didn’t like not being able to touch the cards, so we catered to that preference.

The structure was such that even amateur counters could manage to profit.

It wasn’t like I maintained this system to donate money to the players, though.

“It’s been good enough until now. You only need to react if a card counter shows up.”

This was still an era where even basic strategies hadn’t been fully established.

Just gradually improving the setup by checking the house edge was enough.

As long as customers could sit down at the table thinking, “At least I have a 50% chance with blackjack,” I could still scrape in a decent profit.

Dragon Ear was the first to exploit that loophole.

He didn’t just count cards; it felt like he was reading the dealers’ expressions, too.

Lucy mentioned in passing that he sometimes abandoned counting altogether and made bold moves.

Not only was he sharp-eyed and quick-witted, but he was also great at multitasking.

Another astonishing thing about him was his stamina.

He played for over 9 hours, taking just five-minute breaks here and there, without ever losing his composure.

The result:

“Mr. Hyden. Table 5 of blackjack incurred a loss of 43 gold. Most of that loss, of course…”

“I know.”

“Yes, and… uh, it seems like the loss just increased.”

“I’m watching. Give me the report after closing.”

In a non-VIP room, Dragon Ear had taken over 40 gold.

“Ten minutes to closing! Start wrapping up!”

It was only when Lucy’s clear voice echoed across the gaming floor that he finally rose from the table.

While others regretted their losses, Dragon Ear gracefully collected his winnings.

Just before leaving the casino, he turned in my direction and murmured something.

I couldn’t hear it, but a server who had attended to his table passed on the message.

“He said he had fun and that he’d see you tomorrow.”

It could’ve been genuine, a taunt, or a deliberate provocation.

Forty gold wasn’t a significant loss, to be honest. No matter how skilled, Dragon Ear was just one person.

But I couldn’t ignore him.

It was obvious he’d show up every day now that he’d started.

****

Twenty minutes after closing.

“Hey, can you reassure her?”

Lucy brought over a dealer with a defeated expression.

It was Alida, a nineteen-year-old dealer who had been working the tables for five months without incident, handling blackjack and roulette games.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, boss. I’m really sorry…”

She looked like someone caught stealing loose change, mumbling apologies nonstop despite Lucy’s efforts to comfort her.

Of course, she wasn’t at fault.

If she was guilty of anything, it was being unlucky enough to have Dragon Ear choose her table.

“Boss, I lost so much money…”

“You did, about a year’s salary worth.”

“Ah…”

“But it wasn’t your fault.”

Given Dragon Ear’s evident card-counting skills, which had sharpened even while he played, and the favorable rules for counters, it didn’t matter who dealt the cards. They’d still lose money. Dealers were practically machines in this equation.

Still, she couldn’t help but feel responsible.

“I made mistakes…”

“It’s natural to get rattled in that situation. It’s not every day you see a dragonoid sitting right in front of you, constantly raking in money. Anyone would make mistakes under that pressure—revealing a second card by accident, giving away expressions…”

“Ugh…”

When I listed her mistakes, she looked guiltier than ever. Lucy squinted at me, clearly disapproving. She probably brought her over for reassurance, not criticism.

But I didn’t plan to just point out her errors and leave it at that.

“You held up well, though.”

“I’m sorry… What?”

“I considered switching you out mid-game, but that would’ve drawn unnecessary attention. It could’ve made it seem like he was dominating the casino. And since it wasn’t a huge loss, I decided to leave things as they were.”

“Boss?”

“You didn’t crumble under pressure, and that’s good enough.”

Alida stopped apologizing and slowly nodded.

“Give her a day off, Lucy. Also, reward her as you see fit.”

“Got it. Alida? You can go now.”

With her expression finally easing, the dealer walked away.

It was like giving a tip to a dealer who had been cleaned out by a pro, but it was the right thing to do.

You couldn’t blame a dealer who didn’t even know what card counting was (and didn’t need to) for losing to a pro.

The dealer having a mental breakdown left leaving only Lucy and me in the office.

Lucy, who had been quite considerate when consoling the subordinate earlier, erased her smile and sat across from me. Arms crossed tightly beneath her chest, lightly chewing her lip… even when our eyes met, she let out a sigh instead of offering a smile.

“He’ll come back tomorrow, won’t they?”

“Not just tomorrow, probably every day.”

“Oppa, I’ve been thinking…”

“Yeah?”

“Why don’t you just play a game and send them on their way?”

She was suggesting I entertain Dragon Ear with gambling as he wanted and then send him off.

“Even when he figured out Maria Bonucci’s tricks, Dragon Ear didn’t cause any trouble, did he?”

“True.”

“I heard from another guest that even at the pub, he only plays cards quietly. And he’s apparently quite generous to the drunkards he shares a table with.”

As a casino customer, Dragon Ear was indeed well-mannered. He didn’t lash out at the dealer for making mistakes and tipped 1 silver each to the servers who brought him his sherbet or mead. That was an incredibly generous tip.

“Let’s just play along and send him away, oppa.”

Lucy seemed eager to move dragon Ear to another area before he broke another dealer. I could understand her sentiments. Truly.

“Lucy. What he wants is for me to challenge him first.”

“I know that too.”

“It ultimately means he wants to choose the game and the stakes.”

“Well, I think a bit differently.”

Lucy licked her upper lip and crossed her legs.

“And what’s your idea?”

“I think you can decide the game. As long as you genuinely play your best, he seems like the type to accept the result—whether he wins or loses. …Probably.”

“The process of reaching that acceptance is the problem.”

It had been a long time since I’d had such a disagreement with Lucy. Perhaps the first time.

Dragon Ear was that much of an enigma. Yet one thing seemed hard even for Lucy to deny.

“It’s clear now. He’s just seeking fun.”

“That’s likely… Seeing how he’s traveling in a shabby wagon when he could earn 40 gold a day.”

“No servants either?”

“I did some checking. Oh, but his horse isn’t ordinary—it’s a beast you could use as a warhorse without issue.”

Still, he was just a wanderer.

Dragon Ear didn’t gamble for money but for amusement. The problem was figuring out what he found amusing. If he enjoyed the thrill of winning money or the intoxication of superiority, he would have been easier to deal with.

“He’s impossible to figure out. That’s how I see it.”

“Why?”

“He’s the kind of guy who can be satisfied playing a game of chess with a dying old man for a single bronze coin. Or wreck an entire family and, after watching for a while, give back 90% of the winnings as charity. He’s also the type to laugh while watching their relief.”

“And?”

I paused for a moment. Then, to express my thoughts most effectively, I raised my left hand—a hand intact, unlike Dragon Ear’s.

“Where do you think that man lost his wrist?”

Lucy’s expression slowly hardened.

“That…”

“He might have lost it in a gambling game.”

“His magical abilities alone show he’s no ordinary person. He probably has combat experience. The reason dragonkin rule in the Dragon Kingdom is their strength. I think I’ve seen him somewhere before…”

“If he lost it in battle, he’d have tried to reattach it.”

If it wasn’t cleanly severed, even holy magic couldn’t completely heal it. Still, he was dragonkin. Even if he lacked connections, countless nobles with access to saint-level healers would have been within reach.

Yet Dragon ear lived with one hand.

Maybe he lost it fighting a high-ranking demon, or it was destroyed without a trace during fierce combat, but I didn’t think that was it.

“I think he lost it gambling.”

“……”

“Maybe he wanted to heighten the ‘fun’ of gambling and wagered his hand instead of money. Or he got caught cheating with that hand and had it cut off. Or he cut it off himself to quit gambling but failed to stop. …If it’s the first case—”

“That’s the worst. Unacceptable.”

Lucy avoided my intact wrist and shook her head.

For someone who had fought on the front lines, this reaction was telling. It wasn’t because she had softened during her time as a dealer. Her revulsion was directed at something normal minds couldn’t comprehend.

“He might ask to gamble with me for my wrist if he thinks it’s the most entertaining option.”

“Without malice?”

“Yeah. No malice at all.”

Lucy smirked faintly, kneading her thigh, and I just gave a wry smile.

That settled our discussion.

I needed both hands. I wasn’t yet interested in taking Dragon Ear’s remaining hand either.

But I also couldn’t let him keep siphoning money from my casino.

If left unchecked, he’d eventually make it to the VIP room and cause more direct damage. So I had to act.

“Let him play for a few days. Changing the rules abruptly would stress the dealers and stir up the other customers.”

“Alright. I’ll just shuffle the decks more often.”

…

Dragon Ear continued his winning streak. Not as dramatically as on the first day, but steadily. At some point, someone even began scribbling notes behind him.

After four days of this, I made my move.

“Starting today, the rules of blackjack will change.”

I altered the rules of the game. Not just that—I aimed to boost the blackjack tables’ revenue through this adjustment.

Much more than what Dragon Ear had taken.

And more than what I’d spent countering his card counting.

That’s what a house manager does.