Miss Witch’s Devotion Has Gone… Twisted

”Sixth-tier Mage?”

Hearing that title, Loren froze for a moment. This was the first time he had encountered such a situation — people said a Sixth-tier Mage was terrifying.

In battles not involving Loren, a Sixth-tier Mage’s ripples could kill bystanders.

Still, Loren wanted to see what this woman was really up to, but in the end he chose not to keep gambling.

”Fine, let’s go.”

Loren collected his chips and stood up.

The suit-wearing man breathed a sigh of relief. He had been ready a moment ago to smash every roulette wheel, but fortunately Loren stopped at the last second.

For an instant, a dangerous thought flashed through the man’s mind: he suspected Loren and the woman in red were in cahoots, that her words were just saving face for Loren, and that Loren had no real moves left.

It even gave him an urge to rile Loren into continuing the gamble.

”You know what, actually you and I are the same kind of person.”The instant the suit-wearing man had that thought, Loren spoke:

”I’m like you. I only bet on games I know I’ll win, then, knowing I’ll inevitably win, I enjoy watching others struggle.

”I have to admit, your dramatic internal monologue did entertain me, which is why I was willing to play with you this long.”

That was the truth. There’s no point in rushing a robbery; Loren had planned that if he discovered the casino was cheating a second time, he would simply rob them. But the suit-wearing man’s inner theatrics were amusing, so Loren kept playing.

His mood swung wildly between elation and despair, the two hemispheres of his brain fighting each other.

”I’m leaving. See you next time. I hope you can find a more skillful method. Your current methods are horrendously cheap.”

After saying that, Loren turned and left with Veronica. The woman in red followed behind them.

The suit-wearing man grew angrier the more he thought about Loren’s last words. Finally he reached out a hand.

”Wait—”

But before he could finish the word, he slapped himself hard across the face.

Loren smiled slightly and paid him little mind.

All the chips were exchanged for the largest denomination of gold coins. Even so, they filled a suitcase, and the woman in red’s coins filled two large suitcases.

When they left, the woman in red trailed after them.

”Shouldn’t we hide first… after all, we made so much money from them…”

Veronica didn’t really grasp the value of money. Even seeing so many gold coins didn’t shock her; she was only worried Loren might be in danger.

”Don’t worry. We’ve made so much that we’ve already become the casino’s star attraction. To protect their reputation, the casino won’t move against us that quickly.

”Even if they plan to act, they’ll wait until they’re absolutely certain. They won’t leave any suspicion on themselves.

”They’ll even protect us from other threats. If gamblers get killed right after winning, even if unrelated to the casino, that’s bad publicity.”

The woman in red spoke casually, as if she knew casinos inside and out.

”Do you know casinos very well?”

”Of course.”

When Loren asked, the woman in red answered confidently.

”So who are you, really? Why did you approach me?”

”I’m just a gambler…”

”Nonsense! Why don’t you say you’re human while you’re at it?

”I hate riddlers. You’d better be clear.”

Loren cut off the woman in red’s evasive reply. He had come out with her merely to see what tricks she had left. If she were another riddler, it would be boring.

”My name is Violetta, and I have a grudge against this casino. I want to destroy it completely.”

Finally, Violetta chose to be frank.

She could see Loren was special. To win Loren’s help, she had to tell the truth.

”So I’m willing to pay any price. This is some sincerity.”

Saying that, Violetta handed Loren the suitcase stuffed with gold coins.

Honestly, Loren only needed a little money. He couldn’t carry all of this; Scarlett wasn’t here. The reason Loren went so far was simply that he disliked casinos.

Loren looked into her eyes, eyes like Noah’s — writing the sentence ”I have nothing left” across them.

”Let me guess: someone very important to you was killed by the casino, so now you’d do anything to destroy it?”

”…”

Violetta fell silent. It seemed Loren had guessed correctly.

”Alright, let’s find a place to sit and discuss a plan.”

Loren was a little interested. Violetta was the same kind of person as Noah — people like her had boundless potential. If she ever gained the power of the Goddess of Love or the God of Hatred, she could change fundamentally.

”Let’s go to my place. It’s well hidden.”

”Fine, lead the way.”

Loren handed the small suitcase to Veronica, took the two large suitcases himself, and followed Violetta.

Violetta led them twisting through alleys until they reached an unremarkable little house in the slums.

The interior was simple: two beds, daily essentials for two people, a table and chairs — that was everything.

A huge sea chart was pasted on the wall, marked with a coordinate point.

Loren recognized that point; it was one of the coordinates for the great treasure.

On the table lay a photograph: two girls. One was Violetta, her smile in the photo a little strained; the other girl smiled happily.

Back then Violetta had looked human, not so twisted as now.

Loren picked up the photograph and asked:

”You want revenge for her?”

”Yes, she was my only friend.”

Violetta took the photo. Seeing that familiar face, Loren felt her hatred intensify.

”You want to find the Dawn Princess’s great treasure?”

”Yes. We’d been saving money to go to sea. This is the money we saved.

”She said she would use that invincible magic to change the world so the lower classes could live happily.”

Violetta pulled a chest from under the bed packed with coins and added the coins she carried into it.

”Unfortunately, until she died, we had saved only a few coins. We couldn’t even afford a ship.”

Now there was more than enough money for a boat, but it was useless to her.

”How did she die?”

Loren suspected the girl had been beaten to death for exposing cheating, but he did not say it aloud.

”She was lucky. She almost never lost when we played rock-paper-scissors, but she didn’t like gambling. She wanted to earn by her own effort.

”Then I fell seriously ill and our funds weren’t enough. She took our savings to gamble.

”In the end she died at the roulette wheel, because the casino cheated…”

At that point, Violetta’s hatred nearly solidified into something tangible. This was the kind of follower the God of Hatred favored.

”Want to know what the Dawn Princess’s great treasure is? That invincible magic.”

Loren suddenly said that. Violetta didn’t lift her head; she no longer cared.

She only wanted her close friend back, or the person who killed her avenged.