Chapter 22: 022. Have You Ever Played Cards With A Femboy’s Life On The Line?!

Over the past week, he and Lord Ren had traveled to an adventurer town called Loreheim which was a bustling frontier settlement that served as a hub for monster hunters, mercenaries, and various other rough types seeking fortune and glory and upon arriving in Loreheim, Ren had immediately sought out some kind of crazy woman... Mandy still wasn’t entirely sure who she was or how Ren had known her and that woman had enthusiastically helped transform Mandy into what Ren kept calling a "femboy."

And with this new feminine body and magically altered voice, they had somehow managed to catfish the Hero himself.

Using extreme sound effects that Ren had purchased from somewhere, combined with Mandy’s genuinely terrified screaming while begging the Hero to save them, they had created a fake distress call that had been sent to Jace’s Mirror device.

The message had been designed to lead the Hero to a completely different Empire... the Eleites Empire, specifically to Kakune Town.

While Mandy didn’t know the exact purpose behind this elaborate deception but the absolutely devilish grin that had been on Lord Ren’s face while they recorded the fake message showed that whatever the Hero was about to experience definitely wouldn’t be pleasant for him.

As of right now... this very moment, Mandy was kneeling on the dirty wooden floor in the back corner of a nearly empty tavern.

He was positioned between two men.

On his left sat Lord Ren, still wearing his commoner disguise in the black-haired, handsome appearance that let him move through common society without drawing attention.

On his right sat a middle-aged man with a completely bald, shining head that reflected the tavern’s dim lighting. The man’s name was Ronald, and he was exactly the kind of sketchy individual that Ren had been looking for.

"I can’t believe you’re actually betting your slave on the line," Ronald said while looking at Mandy and very obviously licking his lips in a way that made Mandy’s skin crawl. "What a desperate man you are. Are you absolutely sure this is the real deal? She’s not some illusion or shapeshifter?"

"Of course she’s real," Ren said smoothly, placing his hand flat on the wooden table between them. "She’s as genuine as they come. All I want to know if I win this game is the location of the Black Market and the Slavehouse in this town. That’s it."

Upon arriving in Loreheim, Ren had realized something frustrating.

Sure, he’d finally reached the town he’d been traveling toward, but he had absolutely no idea where the Black Market was located, nor did he know where to find the underground Slavehouse.

Both of these establishments operated in complete secrecy, as they dealt in goods and services that were... technically illegal, or at least morally questionable.

Nobody spoke about the Black Market openly. It was as if the place didn’t exist at all, because acknowledging its existence could get you in serious trouble with the authorities so Ren had to find a specific type of person... someone connected to the criminal underworld and lure them into revealing the locations.

Sure, he could have just threatened to kill someone like Ronald and tortured the information out of him, but where was the fun in that?

Besides, Ren didn’t have to act like a villain all the time. Sometimes it was entertaining to do things the roundabout way.

Plus, he genuinely enjoyed the absolutely terrified look on Mandy’s now-feminine face every time Ronald’s eyes wandered over "her" body.

’We really have done some crazy stuff these past few days...’ Ren thought with a small internal sigh. Like, for example, he had probably sent the Hero charging off toward Kakune Town in the Eleites Empire right about now.

And as for how Ren had managed to get Jace’s Mirror contact information without needing to physically touch Mirrors or link his own real contact to Jace’s device?

Simple: he’d purchased a one-time Unknown Mirror Message from the System Shop.

It was a consumable item that allowed him to send a single anonymous message to any Mirror device without leaving any trace or establishing any connection and then he’d had Mandy act out the entire distress call scenario, complete with sound effects and genuine terror in his voice.

The performance had been genuinely amazing on the very first take, which Ren had found quite impressive.

However, Ren wasn’t just sending Jace on a pointless wild goose chase to waste his time.

There actually were real demons in Kakune Town... a hidden nest of them that had been lying dormant, waiting to emerge later in the original story’s plot if Ren remembered correctly.

Ren had sent Jace there specifically so that while the Hero fought and killed those demons to gain combat experience and level up, the Usurper’s Pocket Watch that Ren possessed would siphon off 50% of all those gains directly to Ren himself.

Even now, Ren could feel himself growing noticeably stronger than he’d been a week ago... All thanks to Jace’s hard work and training.

So really, Ren needed to keep his guinea pig grinding away and "speedrunning" his development as much as possible.

Though Ren seriously doubted that Jace would actually be able to defeat the First Demon King... one of the twelve Demon Kings who served directly under the Demon Lord who was currently residing in Kakune Town’s ruins.

’Meh, he can die if he wants to,’ Ren thought with complete indifference. ’Though I’m absolutely sure his protagonist plot armor will save him at the last second anyway. It always does.’

Ren turned his attention back to Ronald, who was still staring at "Sheila" which was Mandy’s feminine alias with uncomfortable intensity.

"Then we have a deal," Ronald said, finally tearing his gaze away from Mandy and focusing on Ren. Ren brought out a deck of cards from his storage pouch and placed them on the table.

"We’re going to be playing Dragon’s Ante..." Ren said, naming the most popular card game in this world essentially this reality’s equivalent of poker, but with different suits and card rankings.

"How can I be sure you’re not going to cheat?" Ronald asked suspiciously. "You could have marked cards, or enchanted them, or—"

Ren shrugged casually. "The cards were personally purchased and inspected by Sheila herself. She can verify they’re clean."

"Ooh~" Ronald’s eyes immediately went back to Mandy, looking him up and down. Mandy shifted uncomfortably closer to Lord Ren, trying to create distance between himself and Ronald’s creepy stare.

"Sheila," Ren said, "why don’t you explain the rules and split the deck for us?"

Mandy stood up, his fake breasts bouncing in a way that made him want to die of embarrassment and took hold of the card deck.

"We’ll be playing two rounds of Dragon’s Ante," Mandy explained. "Each round, we’ll draw three cards from the deck. The goal is to create the highest-value combination possible."

He began shuffling the cards with ease... at least Lord Ren had taught him how to shuffle properly before this.

"The card rankings from lowest to highest are: Peasant, Soldier, Knight, Noble, King, and Dragon," Mandy continued. "The suits are Flames, Waves, Winds, and Stones and a matching suit multiplies the value."

Ronald nodded, clearly familiar with the game.

"If this kind gentleman wins both rounds..." Mandy said, hating every word coming out of his mouth, "then I, Sheila, will belong to him as his personal property but if Lord Ren wins, then the gentleman will lead us to the locations we seek."

Both Ren and Ronald nodded in agreement.

The owner of the tavern... the only other person present besides the three of them watched from behind the bar with vague interest, having seen plenty of high-stakes gambling in his establishment over the years.

Ronald closed his eyes and took a deep centering breath as Mandy finished shuffling the deck with a final flourish, then spread the cards face-down across the table in a neat fan pattern.

"Please select your three cards," Mandy said.

Ren was absolutely sure he wouldn’t lose this game because he had already cheated, obviously.

What kind of Villain would he be if he played fair?

Mandy had another magical rune placed on him... this one hidden beneath his dress that allowed him to transmit thoughts directly into Ren’s mind.

Through this telepathic connection, Mandy could see which cards were which as they were laid out, and communicate their positions to Ren without anyone else knowing.

"You may choose first..." Ren said politely to Ronald, gesturing to the spread cards.

Ronald’s eyes scanned across the face-down cards carefully with his fingers hovering over several different options before he finally selected three cards from different positions in the spread.

He pulled them toward himself but didn’t flip them over yet.

Meanwhile, in Ren’s mind, Mandy’s telepathic voice whispered.

’Third from the left is a Dragon of Flames... Ninth from the right is a King of Flames... Fourteenth from the center-left is a Noble of Flames... That’s a perfect Flame suit ladder if you can get all three my Lord.’

Ren reached out and casually selected exactly those three cards, pulling them toward himself.

"Shall we reveal?" Ren asked calmly.

Ronald nodded, but Ren could see a bead of sweat forming on the man’s bald head despite his attempt at confidence.

They both flipped their cards simultaneously, laying them face-up on the worn wooden table.

Ronald had drawn: Knight of Winds, King of Waves, Noble of Stones.

It was a respectable hand with three different face cards with decent individual value, but no matching suit to multiply the score. It was still quite strong for a first draw, honestly.

Ronald’s expression showed cautious optimism then Ren revealed his cards one by one, deliberately drawing out the moment.

First card: Dragon of Flames.

Ronald’s eyes widened slightly... Dragons were the highest value cards in the entire deck.

Second card: King of Flames.

Ronald’s jaw clenched. Two Flames suit cards, including the Dragon... That was already looking bad for him.

Third card: Noble of Flames.

"Full Flames ladder," the tavern owner called out from behind the bar, having watched the entire exchange. "Three-card matching suit progression with a Dragon at the top. That’s worth triple the base value so the black haired man wins round one decisively."

Ronald’s hands clenched into fists on the table, but he forced himself to nod stiffly.

"Fine," he said, his voice tight. "That was just the first round. Best two out of three... One more round to go."

"Of course," Ren said with a pleasant almost friendly smile that somehow made Ronald even more nervous.

Mandy gathered all the cards back from the table, his fake breasts bouncing slightly as he leaned forward to collect them.

He shuffled the deck thoroughly, taking extra time to make sure every card was completely randomized.

Several tense seconds passed with only the sound of cards sliding against each other and Ronald watched the shuffle with intense focus with his eyes tracking every movement of Mandy’s delicate feminine hands.

’This is it,’ Ronald thought, his jaw set with determination. ’I can’t just rely on pure luck alone anymore. If I want to win... if I want to claim that beautiful slave girl for myself... I need to use every advantage I have.’

He’d been deliberately holding back his secret weapon during the first round, not wanting to reveal it unless absolutely necessary but now the stakes were too high to hold back.

As Mandy spread the shuffled cards face-down across the table again for the second round, Ronald closed his eyes and focused deeply, channeling mana through the dormant bloodline ability he’d inherited from his maternal grandmother.

『Divine Gift: Minor Premonition.』

It wasn’t a true Divine Authority like what the Hero or other blessed individuals possessed... those required direct divine selection and were exponentially more powerful but Ronald’s ability was still quite useful in situations exactly like this.

Minor Premonition allowed him to glimpse a few seconds into the immediate future, showing him potential outcomes based on different choices he might make.

The ability wasn’t perfect... it only showed probabilities and not certainties but it was more than enough for a card game.

Ronald’s vision split and multiplied, showing him dozens of possible futures simultaneously. In one future, he selected the first three cards from the left and drew two Peasants and a Soldier which was a terrible hand.

In another future, he chose cards from the right side and got Noble of Waves, Knight of Stones, Soldier of Winds which was mediocre at best.

But there... in a future branch that stood out more clearly than the others, he saw himself selecting specific cards and drawing an excellent combination.

If he selected the fifth card from the left, the eleventh from the right, and the second from the center... he would draw Dragon of Waves, Dragon of Winds, and King of Winds.

Two Dragons and a King, with two of them sharing the Winds suit.

That was an extremely powerful hand and one of the best possible draws that didn’t include a perfect three-card ladder.

Ronald’s eyes snapped open, and he reached out with complete confidence to select those exact three cards that his premonition had shown him.

His fingers touched the fifth card from the left.

’Perfect.’

Then the eleventh from the right.

’Exactly as foreseen.’

And finally, the second from the center.

’This is it... I’ve won.’

He pulled the three cards toward himself, keeping them face-down but already celebrating internally. Meanwhile, in Ren’s mind, Mandy’s telepathic voice suddenly spoke with urgency:

’My Lord, I felt mana fluctuate around him! He definitely just used some kind of magical ability!’

’Oh?’* Ren thought back with interest. *’What kind of ability?’

’I’m not certain...’ Mandy admitted, ’But based on the timing and the way the mana moved, I think it was some sort of prediction which was probably to help him see which cards to choose.’

Oh another thing about Mandy was that he was very sensitive about mana... His class leaned more over to the mana side.

’’Interesting,’ Ren thought calmly, not at all concerned. ’So he’s cheating too. I appreciate the commitment.’

’What should we do, my Lord?’

’What cards did he select?’ Ren asked.

’He took the Dragon of Waves, Dragon of Winds, and King of Winds,’ Mandy reported after a moment of concentration. ’That’s a really, really strong hand! Two Dragons and a King, with partial suit matching!’

’Then we just need to draw something stronger,’ Ren thought simply. ’What’s left in the spread that can beat his hand?’

Mandy’s eyes scanned quickly over the remaining face-down cards on the table, his telepathic ability identifying each one.

There were still several high-value cards remaining, but most combinations wouldn’t be enough to beat two Dragons.

Unless...

’There’s one combination that would work!’ Mandy thought excitedly. ’There’s still one more Dragon in the deck... Dragon of Stones and there’s also a King of Stones and a Noble of Stones available. If you get all three of those, that’s a Full Stones ladder!’*

’And a full three-card suit ladder beats his two Dragons and partial suit match,’ Ren finished the thought. He had made sure to study this game extensively before this...

’Exactly! It’s perfect!’

’Where are those three cards located?’ Ren asked.

Mandy guided him precisely: ’The Dragon of Stones is seventh from the left. King of Stones is fourth from the right and Noble of Stones is tenth from the center.’

’Got it.’

Ren reached out and selected those exact three cards with smooth movements. His expression revealed absolutely nothing as he sighed.

"Ready to reveal?" Ren asked casually.

Ronald nodded with his confidence growing by the second as he was absolutely certain he’d won this round.

There was no way he could have drawn anything better than two Dragons without using magic, and Ronald had clearly felt no mana fluctuation from Ren’s side of the table.

They both flipped their cards simultaneously and Ronald revealed his hand with a triumphant expression:

Dragon of Waves, Dragon of Wind and King of Winds.

His smirk widened as he looked across the table.

"Two Dragons and a King, with two cards matching the Winds suit. Beat that..."

Ren slowly revealed his cards one at a time, deliberately building the tension.

First card: Dragon of Stones.

Ronald’s smirk faltered slightly.

Another Dragon? That complicated things.

Second card: King of Stones.

Ronald’s eyes widened.

’No... No, that couldn’t be—’

Third card: Noble of Stones.

"Full Stones ladder," the tavern owner announced from his position behind the bar. "Three-card matching suit progression with a Dragon anchor and perfect suit bonus applies so this young man wins round two."

For a long moment, Ronald just stared at the cards in complete disbelief then reality crashed down on him.

"FUCK!" Ronald grabbed his head with both hands, his face going bright red with a combination of rage and disbelief. "I lost! How is that even possible?!"

His mind raced frantically.

He’d used Minor Premonition specifically to see the best possible outcome. He’d drawn exactly what his divination had shown him... two Dragons and a King so that should have been nearly unbeatable!

How had this random commoner managed to draw the one combination that could defeat it?

Then his eyes narrowed with sudden suspicion.

"You cheated!" Ronald accused, pointing a shaking finger directly at Ren. "There’s no way you could have known which cards to pick! You must have marked the deck somehow, or used illusion magic to see through the cards, or employed some kind of manipulation spell, or—"

"Why would I cheat?" Ren interrupted calmly as he tilted his head slightly, as if genuinely confused by the accusation.

"I didn’t use any magic at all during either round of this game," Ren continued. "I simply selected cards based on intuition and luck."

He paused deliberately, letting the silence stretch for just a moment.

"Unlike you, who very clearly used some kind of mana-based ability during the second round."

Ronald’s face went deathly pale and all the blood seemed to drain from his features as the implications hit him.

"I... I don’t know what you’re talking about," Ronald stammered weakly.

"I sensed the mana fluctuation quite clearly," Ren said with casual certainty. "It happened right before you selected your cards. Some kind of divination or prediction magic, if I had to guess the specific type... Probably showing you potential future outcomes to help you choose the optimal cards."

Ren’s expression remained perfectly calm and friendly.

"And yet, even with that significant magical advantage helping you, you still lost the round. Interesting, isn’t it?"

Ronald’s mind was screaming in panic.

’This guy sensed my Minor Premonition?!’ he thought desperately. ’But that should be completely impossible for a regular mage to detect!’

Who was this guy...?