Dokeshi March ~ 17!

The structure turned out not to be a casino. Instead, Patty’s Perfect Palace, Poolroom, and Pavilion of Perfect-Picked Poker and Pinochle was a three-story building that took up a whole city block. They weren’t stopped from going inside by the House Friday Vassal guarding the door; the inter-house politics must have kept House Tuesday and House Saturday from easily recruiting aid from the other Noble Houses. A failing on their part for certain, but a definite boon to Grant and Suki.

“Well, it might not be the border, but at least we should be able to gather some supplies. Maybe get some directions?” Grant was shocked to discover how large the building was on the inside. “There’s gotta be a store here, right? I mean, this front room alone is a whole market district!”

“I believe they call it a shopping center.” Suki was equally impressed, but her training allowed her to hide it like a proper citizen of the District, and not a tourist that would be an easy mark for the unscrupulous. “There is something else they call a ‘strip mall’, but I don’t think we want one of those. I heard they’re filled with overpriced goods and consumables.”

“Hopefully, this casino won’t be like that.” Grant headed to a stall that displayed a bunch of fresh fruit and vegetables. Their trail rations had started to run low, and he was hoping to find something to supplement their dwindling supplies. He took a single look at the options for payment and shook his head. “I’m sure they have their customers’ well-being at the forefront of their priorities.”

“Hand me the beast hearts.” Suki pointed to a pair of stalls that displayed the flags of House Wednesday and House Saturday next to each other. “I’m going to try to sell them. If I give them a good deal, maybe we can get those directions for free.”

Grant passed the swaddled organs over, relieved at finally getting rid of the heavy items. They had started to smell a bit, and he was worried that his little mystery mushroom might find a way to eat those as well. Carrying around food for the tiny fungus felt mildly insulting for some reason.

“Well, sir, how can I help such an esteemed gentleman?” The woman running the food stall seemed much better-fed than most of the people Grant had encountered so far in District March, but her clothing still looked a little more threadbare and worn than was probably the norm for such an establishment. “Would you like to see what your luck can buy?”

“I need some root vegetables, and hard-skinned fruits, if you have any.” Grant pointed his thumb back at his pack. “Things that travel well.”

“My good sir, all you need to do for a full crate of food is place a Day coin in the slot and pull the lever!” She wheeled around a waist-height machine with three spinning wheels connected to a bunch of gears and a lever. “This slot machine is checked for its honesty and accuracy by the Ethics Commission every day!”

<Oh, I’m sure it is.> Sarge’s sarcasm was palpable. <Any group named the ‘Ethics Commission’ certainly doesn’t involve any corruption.>

“Um, is there some other way we can do this?” Grant had already pulled a Day coin from his pouch before his new training with Suki took over, but he was loath to spend it on a machine he couldn’t control. “Like, I just give you this coin, and you give me the food?”

“I’m sorry.” The vendor winced, and her eyes darted around to make sure no one was listening. “I just work here. The casino owns the stall.”

<I have an idea.> Grant felt a tingle come from Sarge. <Put one hand on my hilt, and use the other to pull the lever. Let’s see if we can tap into your Lightning Attunement a bit.>

Dropping the coin into the slot, Grant did as Sarge suggested. He felt a strong surge of power come from his sword, and his mana dropped by two points. The handle made a hard clunking sound when he pulled the lever, and a spark of static jumped from his fingers when he pulled his hand away. The vendor was already pulling out a small crate, containing food that had wilted and showed a few spots of mold, when the machine started shaking and the three wheels with little symbols and numbers slammed to a stop.

“How… what happened?” The vendor seemed dumbfounded and unsure of what to do next. She glanced over at a House Friday guard standing near the entrance to the gambling floors. “Um, I don’t know what to do now.”

“Does it mean something good when I get three of those little pictures in a row like that?” Grant pointed at the symbols of a pile of Time drawn on the wheels. “Do I get extra food or something?”

“What seems to be the problem here?” The uniformed guard had approached, and his eyes locked onto the machine that displayed what Grant had won. He glared sharply over to the woman and stalked over to whisper furiously into her ear. After she shook her head and whispered something back, the guard waved over to the other guard by the door. “Sir, it seems as if there is a problem with this machine. We will be happy to refund you, but you will have to try again to win your prize.”

“I don’t think so.” Grant shook his head, then nodded toward the attendant. “She told me this machine was checked by the Ethics Commission just this morning. I clearly won. Are you saying there is something wrong with their testing? Can I get your name and position so that I can put it in the complaint?”

“No, not that!” The guard blanched and looked for support from the other guard that he had waived over. He was already wheeling away the machine and was no help. “Look, that machine gave you a jackpot, and for any payouts of that size, we have to talk to the floor manager.”

“Floor manager?” Grant peered around pointedly, clearly verifying that they were standing in the market section and not the actual gambling floor. “I am just trying to buy some food here.”

The guard was angry, but everyone present knew Grant was in the right. No one said anything as they waited for the manager to show up. Eventually, a greasy-looking man wearing a fancy suit and tie approached, his hands wringing as he guided the two casino employees off to the side. After another bout of furious whispering, he finally came over to speak with Grant.

“My, um…” His eyes quickly scanned over Grant’s Late Spring armor and sheathed uchigatana. “My Valued Guest, what seems to be the problem?”

“Are you joking right now?” Grant gave him a stern glare, allowing his hand to drift closer to the hilt of his Wielded Weapon. “I won, and now I would like to get the fruits of my winnings. Vegetables, too.”

“Well, we seem to have had some technical difficulties with our equipment, and we will need you to try again.” The man produced a deck of cards from his pocket. “Perhaps we can play a quick game to determine your prize, instead of you having to wait for the machine to undergo repairs?”

“This is ridiculous. Just give me my food, and I will leave.” Grant attempted to walk around the man, but he held up his hand to stop him. “I’m willing to report this to the authorities. You are clearly breaking the rules… avoiding paying me my winnings, even?”

Now it was the manager’s turn to grimace at the thought of the punishment for being caught. Grant used the momentary distraction to grab a perfectly red apple. As soon as he picked it up, he immediately discovered the problem. “This isn’t even real! This food is all made of wax! This whole place is one giant scam!”

“No! It isn’t like that!” The manager took an involuntary step back in fear. He tried patting the air with his hands in a motion intended to calm Grant down. “That’s just the display we use. It is just a representation of what we offer.”

“It’s misleading, is what it is. Do you do this with other items? Lie to your customers?” Grant purposely avoided using the word ‘cheater,’ but he was slowly building up to it. His hope was that the manager would just give him what he wanted before it got to that point. He was trying to use all of the lessons Suki had given him so far, but he wasn’t sure it was going exactly the way he intended. It was too late to stop now, though. “I don’t see why an establishment like this would risk their reputation over a crate of food.”

“Fine! Please!” The distressed manager waved for Grant to follow him toward a door off to the side of the market. “Come with me, and we will get you the prize.”

<Yeah, like that doesn’t have ‘trap’ written all over it.> Grant narrowed his eyes suspiciously just as he was about to take a step. Sarge’s comment had likely just saved him, and he was in full agreement.

“I think I’ll wait out here.” Grant’s refusal stopped the greasy man in his tracks. “It’s just a single crate of produce. There’s no need for me to follow you into a side room where there aren’t any witnesses.”

<You’re laying it on kind of thick, kid.> The look of pure venom the man shot Grant’s direction would have melted a block of ice. <Abyss, maybe you aren’t. I think it would be a good idea to double-check any of the food that man gives you. He seems the type to poison it, just out of spite.>

“I’ll be back with your winnings.” The manager turned and waved for the guard to follow him. They disappeared into the darkened doorway, and Grant could easily hear shouts that gradually faded away. The lady vendor surreptitiously motioned Grant closer, and pointedly looked to the side so she didn’t appear to be speaking to him.

“They are going to have to get the food from the kitchens, since there isn’t anything high-quality out here.” A shiver went through her body as she glanced at the doorway. “I recommend you get out of here as quickly as possible. Once word of this gets to the main office, it would be better for you by far if you were long gone. The food shortage is affecting even the big guys nowadays.”

Grant executed a single, sharp nod, not directed at her. He had already had the same thought. The remaining guards were already eyeing him, and the atmosphere in the room had definitely shifted a few degrees away from pleasant. While he waited, Suki finally finished up her business and made her way back over to him.

“What are we waiting on?” Suki quickly picked up on the mood, and Grant caught her flexing her hands, as though she were only a moment away from activating her gauntlets. “Is there a problem?”

“I won a crate of food. They’re giving me a hard time about it, almost like they weren’t expecting anyone to ever win something good.” Grant lowered his voice so the vendor couldn’t hear. “The game was rigged. They didn’t even have anything here to hand over. As soon as they bring it out, we need to leave.”

He raised his voice back to a normal level. “How about you? Were you able to sell the beast hearts?”

“Yes.” The corners of her mouth turned down sharply. She produced a tattered scroll of parchment from a pocket on the side of her small pack. “I had to take a pittance for what they were really worth, but I was able to get some information we might need, as well as a basic map that shows the entrances we need to find. It isn’t the best, but it was all they were willing to part with.”

“It’s definitely better than what we had before we walked in here.” Grant took a quick look over the scroll before handing it back. “I think we can make it to the closest place by this time tomorrow, if we walk late and wake up early.”

“We should be fine.” They were interrupted by a shout, followed by a chorus of groans that came from the casino floor. Suki instinctively took a half-step toward the flashing lights and cheery sounds before catching herself. “It’s too bad, really. I wanted to get some more practice in before you had to face the high-rollers in the major casinos.”

“It can’t be helped.” Grant casually placed his hand on February Twenty Nine and glanced in the direction which the broken—or now not broken, depending on one’s perspective—betting machine had been taken. “I think I can manage, though.”

Grant heard a squeak of fear from the woman that had been working the produce stall, and he spotted the manager returning from his trip to the back. He wasn’t alone.

“Well, it took some searching, but we were able to find the food you won.” The oily man was much more confident, considering the five guards accompanying him. One in particular was an incredibly large specimen. The guard’s burly hands made the small crate of food look like a tiny square of wood. “Congratulations on your win. I do hope you will avail yourselves of the other games of luck and chance which our fine establishment has to offer!”

<Don’t show fear.> Sarge steadied Grant’s mental state with his calm tone. <Men like them won’t know how to act when the object of their attention doesn’t react the way they think they should.> Grant allowed a silent agreement, placidly reaching forward to pluck the crate of food from the human mountain of muscle.

“Thanks!” Tucking the crate of food under his arm, he didn’t even bother to check its contents. “We have business elsewhere, unfortunately. Maybe we can swing by to try our luck the next time we are in the area.”

He turned his back on the six of them and headed for the exit without missing a beat. The manager’s face darkened in anger, clearly upset at having been dismissed while surrounded by the intimidating guards. As for the guards, they seemed more confused than anything. Grant glimpsed the unpleasant man making a few sharp gestures with his hand in the reflection of the shiny gilding on a lamp by the door. The five guards quickly moved off, obviously heading for another exit so they could confront Grant and Suki once they left the safety of the more public areas.

“We are going to have to run.” Grant passed the crate of food off to Suki so she could secure it in his pack, and he almost stumbled when she jerked the straps tight to close the covering flap. “I saw him give some kind of order to his guards. They’ll probably be right behind us.”

“I noticed.” Suki tapped the pocket that held the map. “We just need to cross the bridge that’s a few blocks away, and we should be able to lose them in the buildings on the other side.”

<Or, you could fight!> Sarge seemed excited about the prospect of Grant facing the human brick wall. <Just think of the amazing cultivation gains you could get from defeating all those Vassals!>

“Sarge thinks that all of them were Vassals. I think running is the best option.” Grant held the door open for Suki, and the two of them walked calmly down the steps as Sarge ranted about engaging in combat. It had started to grow dark while they had been inside, and the tall buildings cast long shadows across the road. The moment the two of them hit a dark spot, they started running.

<If they have more than half a thought between them, you have to know they’ll be waiting for you at the bridge.> Grant grimaced at Sarge’s admonition. He had the same concern. He glanced at Suki, who was steadily racing farther ahead of him.

“We’ll just have to hope they have less than half a brain, then.” Grant lengthened his stride to catch up with Suki. “Otherwise, you’ll get your wish soon enough.”