Dokeshi March: Chapter 17 (Patreon)

Chapter 17

It turned out not to be a casino that led to the next region. Instead, Patty’s Perfect Palace, Poolroom and Pavilion of Hand-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 warning anyone else, which was a large oversight on their part, 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, and maybe get some directions.” Grant was shocked to see how large the building was on the inside. “I mean, there is a whole market district for a front room here!”

“I believe they call it a shopping center.” Suki was equally impressed, but didn’t show it like Grant did. “There is something else they call a ‘strip mall’, but I don’t think we want one of those. I heard they are 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 hoped to find something to supplement their dwindling supplies. “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 am going to try and sell them. If I give them a good deal, maybe we can get those directions for free.”

Grant passed them over, relieved at finally getting rid of the heavy items. They had started to smell a bit, and he was worried if 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 seen so far in District March, but her clothing still looked a little more threadbare and worn than was probably the norm for an establishment like this. “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 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 have any corruption.>

“Um, is there some other way we can do this?” Grant had pulled a Day coin from his pouch, 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 of food that was 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 looked 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 walked over, and his eyes locked onto the machine that showed what Grant had won. He looked sharply over to the woman, and walked over to start whispering 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, and nodded toward the attendant. “She told me this machine was checked by the Ethics Commission just this morning. Are you saying there is something wrong with their testing?”

“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 looked around pointedly, clearly indicating 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 standing there 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 walked over to speak with the two casino employees. 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. “I won, and now I would like to get the fruits and vegetables I asked for.”

“Well, we seem to have had some technical difficulties with our equipment, and we will need you to try again.” The man pulled out 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 went 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 right now.” Now it was the manager’s turn to grimace at the thought of being caught cheating. Grant used the momentary distraction his words brought to grab for a perfectly red apple. As soon as he picked it up, he immediately saw the problem. “This isn’t even real! This food is all made of wax! This whole place is all one giant scam!”

“No!” The manager took a step back in fear. “It isn’t like that!” 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 was purposely avoiding 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 if 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.” The 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 winnings.”

<Yeah, like that doesn’t have ‘trap’ written all over it.> Grant nodded at Sarge’s comment. He was in full agreement.

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

<You are 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. <Although, 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 quickly hear shouted words that faded away. The woman vendor motioned Grant closer, and looked to the side so it didn’t look like she was 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 quickly. Once word of this gets to the main office, it would be better if you were far away. The food shortage is affecting even the big guys nowadays.”

Grant gave her a sharp nod. He had thought the same thing. The remaining guards were already eyeing him, and the atmosphere in the room had definitely dropped a few degrees. While he was waiting, Suki finally finished up her business and made it back over to where he stood.

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

“I won a crate of food. They are 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. “I had to take a pittance for what they were really worth, but it let me get some information we might need, as well as a basic map that shows the entrances where we need to go.” She produced a tattered piece of parchment from a pocket on the side of her small pack. “It isn’t the best, but it was all they had.”

“It’s definitely better than what we had before we walked in here.” Grant took a quick look over it 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.” There was a shout followed by a chorus of groans that came from the casino floor. Suki 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 placed his hand on February 29 and looked in the direction the broken - or now not broken, depending on your perspective - betting machine had gone. “I think I can manage though.”

There was a squeak of fear from the woman that had been working the produce stall, and Grant saw the manager return 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 made the small crate of food in his hands 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 our fine establishment has to offer!”

<Don’t show fear.> Sarge steadied Grant 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 gave a silent nod of agreement, and stepped forward to take the food from the human mountain of muscle.

“Thanks.” Placing the crate of food under his arm, Grant 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 started heading for the exit.

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 upset. Grant could see the unpleasant man make 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 put 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 will probably be right behind us.”

“I noticed.” Suki tapped the pocket that held the map. “We just need to get over 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!>

“I think running is the best option.” Grant held the door open for Suki, and the two of them walked calmly down the steps. It had started to grow dark while they had been inside, and the tall buildings around them 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 will be waiting for you at the bridge.> Grant grimaced at Sarge’s words. The thought had already occurred to him. He glanced at Suki, who was steadily moving 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.”