After the man finished swapping the cup, he crossed his arms and looked at Aldred. "Pick one."
"It's on the left," Aldred said without the slightest bit of hesitation.
The man frowned. "Are you sure? You don't want to think this through?"
"I am sure. Just pick it up."
The people nearby seemed amused and started to gather around them to watch.
The man grunted and lifted the left cup. And there it was. The small rock lay bare.
The people there cheered and clapped.
"It's not finished. You still need to win one more time."
"Okay." Aldred smiled.
The man put the cup on the rock again as the crowd got bigger. He sneered inside. 'You think I will let you win? What a naive guy. In every casino, the house always win!'
He began swapping the cups left and right again. This time his speed became much faster, and the crowd that tried to find out where the rock was gave up after a few seconds.
As the cup was swapping places, the small rock inside one of the cup suddenly moved upward, to the roof of the cup.
Aldred smiled when he saw this.
"Now choose," the man said.
"This one."
The man lifted the cup, and the stone was not there.
The crowd punched the air and cursed as if they were the one losing money. They then tapped his shoulders saying that he would get it next time.
"You lose. It's one to one now. If you fail, I will get the money."
Aldred showed a worried expression as he bit his nail. He even released a little bit of sweat on his forehead.
The man seeing this was excited. 'Seems like I will get an easy one million gold coins.'
The man began to swap the cup again. This time his hand was even faster, and just like before the rock flew to the roof of the left cup.
"Choose."
"It's the middle cup," Aldred said.
The man laughed inside. Aldred didn't even know he was tricked, but he also picked the wrong cup.
"You lost." The man smiled as he picked the middle cup.
But shockingly the crowd exploded into cheers as they hugged each other and jumped around.
Aldred smiled. "I win."
The man frowned. "What?" He looked down and saw the small rock below the cup he lifted.
"How is this possible?" He widened his eyes.
Aldred's eyes revealed a trace of purple energy. He clapped. "Well that concluded this game. Where is my one million gold coins?"
The man slowly looked at Aldred. "No. You must be cheating. The rock is on the left cup." He lifted the left cup only to see nothing.
He turned the cup around, and the rock wasn't there. "Where is it? Where is the rock?"
"The fuck are you talking about!?" a stranger shouted at him. "The rock is in the middle cup, and this gentleman guessed it correctly. Stop playing and give the man his money!"
"Yeah!"
"Yeah! Give his money!"
"Or is the casino planning to scam the players by not paying?!"
"Yeah!"
The man panicked. "Wait, the rock was supposed to be on the left cup. I know because I moved the rock."
'Crap!' the man closed his mouth at the realization that he accidentally spilled his secret.
Aldred smiled as his eyes glinted with dark aura.
"So, you're cheating! And not only you cheat, you also lost!"
"Fuck! So that's why I have been losing a lot in this casino. The game is rigged!"
"Let's get out of this place."
"Spread the word. This casino sucks!"
"What a scam!"
"Before we go, let's force him to pay first."
They approached the man while preparing the fist.
"Wait, I will pay!" the man showed his card to stop the crowd.
Aldred smiled and showed his card as well. They then tapped each other's card as the man sent one million gold coins.
"There. We're done, right?" The man asked with a worried expression as he looked at the crowd.
"Sure."
The crowd disappeared, and the small rock below the middle cup disappeared, and a rock appeared on the left cup.
The man breathed in as he looked around, blinking. "Where…?"
He kept looking around and saw the people were playing calmly. There was no loud crowd, there was no people about to beat him up and leave the casino.
"W—what happened?"
"What do you mean? I win, and you lose." Aldred smiled before he walked away with his wives.
The man was confused. He wanted to call for the man to explain the situation, but he thought better of it.
Aldred was laughing inside as he walked away. Everything the man see earlier was an illusion that he created. Aldred knew the man would argue with him, so he made a crowd to pressure the man to give in the money.
It worked, and he got the money without saying a single word.
"Aldred, don't you think what you did is a crime?" Mira asked.
"Scam the scammer, steal the stealer," Aldred said. "I am not making sin, Mira. I am the karma that will fall upon the sinner."
Mira laughed. "Okay."
As they walked around, the saw Bartrem scratching his head.
"Are you winning, Bartrem?"
"I have lost a couple of times already. I will keep playing though, trying to get back the money I lost."
"Okay, keep playing." Aldred looked at the players with a smile. His eyes glinted with purple light.
"Hey, Wena. You have been exploring the nook and crannies of the Reich Province for years. Why don't you tell us some secret dungeon spots?"
Wena humphed. "You gotta give me something in return, bastard."
"Old hag, you're old. Soon or later, you're gon to die. Why don't you help the younger generation."
"Younger generation my ass! You're as old as me!"
The old men laughed as they played their card. They loved teasing Wena, the old lady, as they hangout with her.
"Hello," Aldred greeted.
Wena looked to the side, revealing her beautiful green eyes. Despite her age and wrinkly skin, she still looked so beautiful because of her black hair. And that dreamy green eyes… if she was 20 years younger, any men would be dreaming to have her.
From what the system told him, Wena was a powerful Gold Rank that was fascinated with battles and legendary heroes. She spent her entire life on exploring the Reich province and unfold many of its secret. Sadly, her age made her bones weak, and she couldn't explore the dangerous corner she so desire.
"Halo, miss Wena. I heard you know a lot about this island. May I ask some question?"
"Don't talk to me, kid. Don't you see I am busy?"
Aldred tried to negotiate with her, but her mouth was shut.
"What if I can give you back your youth."
"Bullshit. I heard some many folktales and set out to find the truth. They are all fake except for a few."
Suddenly, her wrinkled skin unfolded, becoming smooth, fresh, and healthy. The white hair that threatened to grew, disappeared and was replaced by lush, strong, black hair that grew to her waist.
The old men that played cards with her had their mouth open wide. "Wena… you look so beautiful."
Aldred gave her a mirror, and she picked it up and stared at her own look. She caressed her face, feeling it around.
It was real. No wrinkles, no brown spots, all disappeared. Her tight skin became flexibility, and the texture was as soft as tofu.
"This… this is me." Tears trailed down her cheeks.
