IS IT WRONG TO TRY TO PICK UP GIRLS IN A DUNGEON? FAMILIA CHRONICLE

, maybe even put yourself up if you don have enough to cover the wager. ”

”… ”

”Thats how this started, after all. That poor excuse of a father bet his only daughter, played a game, and wound up handing her over to us. ”

The man recognized that Lyu was an adventurer, or at least someone comparably powerful. He was taking precautions while simultaneously trying to draw her onto his home field with gambling. Meeting his gaze, she nodded.

”All right. ”

Placing a bag full of gold coins on the table, she sat in the chair across from the burly man. A split second later, an uproar broke out around her. The adventurers cheered for the spectacle that was about to begin.

”If I win, youll tell me everything. ”

”Ah, no problem, no problem. Thats if you win, though, missy. ”

Before long, their table was completely hemmed in by spectators excited to watch the game, but also preventing the gorgeous elf from escaping. Lyu squared off against the thug leader, surrounded by a wall of people.

”What are we going to play? ”

”Hows poker sound? ”

Lyu didn object as the man started to shuffle. Ordinarily, for the various people in the mortal realm, cards meant a standard deck. It was made of fifty-three cards in four suits with twelve cards each, plus one joker that could be used in place of any card. The suits were swords representing war, fruits meaning fertility, coins signifying wealth, and blessing in the form of chalices. One theory was that they originally dated back to the Ancient Times and had been adapted to games in their current form, while another theory held that the gods who descended to the mortal realm brought the designs with them.

Poker was one of many possible games. After cards were dealt from the deck, it was a contest between players to see who could assemble the best hand.

”Whats in the bag, missy? ”

”Fifty thousand valis. ”

The man whistled at her response. He furrowed his brow deeply as he cut and shuffled the cards in an easy, practiced manner.

”You should have said so sooner! If you happen to lose that money and still want to continue gambling…Well, then, like I said before, just wager yourself. ”

”… ”

”Ive lost count of the number of elves Ive sold to the Pleasure Quarter like you. But please don misunderstand. I didn do anything to them until they couldn pay back what they owed, you know? ”

The man licked his lips as his gaze shifted to Lyus slender neck, crawling across her pale skin.

Vulgar jeers and laughter assaulted Lyus slender ears. It was intimidation. An attempt to agitate her. The psychological battle had already started. The leader of the toughs laughed as he started doling out cards.

”One thing I should tell you. ”

”Oh-ho-ho, and whats that? ”

As her opponent finished dealing, Lyus sky-blue eyes narrowed beneath her hood. ”—I won tolerate cheating. ”

As she said that, she drew the shortsword at her waist and, faster than anyone could react, stabbed it down into the table.

The entire bar fell silent after the loud crash. Her opponents eyes went wide and he started to sweat as the naked blade stood right between two of his fingers, a hairbreadth away from piercing his skin. His arm trembled as the card that he had hidden in the palm of his hand fluttered to the table.

”Next will be your finger. ”

The man went pale as Lyu retracted the sword after her calm declaration.

”Be careful. I always end up going too far. ”

With a sharp gaze, she offered one final warning. The people around the table nervously gulped.

Naturally, it was only a bluff. Lyu was neither cruel nor brutal enough to actually commit such violence over a game. However, the results were immediate. The man and his henchmen who had lost their insurance broke into cold sweats. She had thrown them off balance, and they could not read her. All that was left was to amuse herself with a normal game. Holding her cards so that the people around her couldn see, she matter-of-factly built her hand. Lyu knew that in a gamble, someone who had been shaken once would keep jumping at shadows.

”Full house. ”

”…?! ”

As Lyu laid her hand on the table, her wide-eyed opponent crushed his cards in his fist. She had won nine straight hands. The bar was shrouded in silence by this point. The dozens of chips the man had gambled were now gone, and Lyu had built a mountain of gold coins her winnings.

”You have to be cheating! ” he exclaimed as he leaped from his seat.

”How rude. I do not have to stoop to your level to win a game, ” Lyu dispassionately responded.

She was too straightforward and not very good at bluffs. Some would even say that warnings and intimidation aside, she was incapable of bluffing. Without any other tricks, she just simply played the game in a straightforward manner. She took the cards dealt to her, diligently built the best hand she could, then hid behind an unreadable gaze.

Lyus expression was frighteningly static. It was rare that someone could read her intentions from her poker face, and she never wavered in the slightest at her opponents bluffs. By the end, when she spoke the lone word ”raise, ” the thugs face looked as if a knife was at his throat.

Lyu often felt that gambling resembled an adventurers technique and strategy. And with regard to the latter, Lyu had decades of experience with composing strategy in the heat of battle, so she generally saw through her opponents bluffs without much trouble. The antics of a lower-class adventurer like the man across from her were no better than those of a toddler.

It was a simple matter once she had outwitted her opponent. Not to mention he had never regained his composure after she caught him trying to cheat once.

”You bastard, who are you?! ”

”No one of consequence. Im just here on a friends behalf. ”

She recalled her experience when she was still part of Astrea Familia. In those days, it was not unusual for her to conduct undercover investigations at gambling parlors fronting for criminal enterprises. Once, they were trying to crack down on a bookie who was hassling normal citizens; another time it was in order to obtain intelligence about the main branch of an enemy organization. Pretending to be a customer and slipping under the bookies radar took more than just above-average confidence. Technique and strategy were necessary.

The person who had taught Lyu how to successfully gamble was a colleague in Astrea Familia. After that prum girl with a wide grin half beat the method into her, she had put what she learned to good use so many times.

Lyu could instinctually see how to obtain victory.

”Its my win. Now talk. ”

Lyu looked up, remaining in her seat as the leader turned bright red and gritted his teeth. He looked around, flustered, before angrily shouting, ”Get her, you assholes! ”

As I thought, it comes down to this.

Lyu had wanted to finish things peacefully. She sighed as she readied herself while the underlings started to attack.

One minute later…

In less time than it had taken to finish the poker game, the demi-humans were battered and bruised and splayed across the tavern floor.

”Eek! ”

”I know you people were targeting Anna from the beginning. Where is she now? Tell me. ”

Several tables were upside down. The bodies of henchmen were sticking out of mounds of chairs or the bar. Lyu grabbed the boss by the collar and lifted him with one hand from where he had collapsed to his knees. His bruised face twitched as he flapped his mouth like a floundering fish.

”Th-the Marketplace! Thats where we took her! ”

”The Marketplace…? ”

”Those were the guys who gave us the job! Well pay you well, so snatch the girl without roughing her up and bring her here, they said. ”

”You
e telling me the client was a company? ”

The man kept nodding his head as Lyu raised an eyebrow dubiously. She pressed him for more information about who hired him, but all he did was stick to ”I don know. ”

When Lyu finally stopped questioning him, the women in the bar had all huddled, teary-eyed, in a corner, trembling in fear. Having gotten all she could, she dropped the man and left the tavern behind. Under cover of night, the elf moved through the town and returned to The Benevolent Mistress—but not before heading to a certain place.

The following day, Lyu was working in her usual waitress uniform when a single customer came to the restaurant and sat at a corner table. The time was late afternoon. This was usually when the balance of customers shifted, leaving few normal guests in the tavern.

Surprised that she had already appeared, Lyu walked toward her holding a menu.

”What would you like? ”

”One black tea. After that, since Im alone, Id also like someone to talk with for a bit. ”

The beautiful woman with aquamarine hair and glasses carried herself with a refined demeanor.

Asfi Al Andromeda. She was an influential force in Orario who claimed neutrality while wielding an information network with broader reach than anyone else. She was also the leader of Hermes Familia.

The detour Lyu had made last night was a visit to the home of Asfis familia. She had left inside the tightly closed gate a letter containing a written request addressed to Perseus. She had signed it with the name Leon.

Lyu withdrew to the kitchen with the order and quickly returned with a steaming cup.

”I didn think you would come so quickly. Did you already…? ”

”Yes, I investigated the location of this Anna Kreiz you wrote of, ” Asfi responded, elegantly sipping her tea.

The contents of Lyus letter were a request for information about Anna Kreiz, specifically the whereabouts of the girl who had been carried off to the Marketplace.

”I owed you. At the end of the day, this is all because Hermes was causing problems. ” Asfi sighed as she grumbled. ”A job is a job, and I don like owing people. This is just paying back a debt—nothing more, nothing less. Obviously, I don need a reward, either. ”

She made her position clear so there would be no misunderstanding: Her motivation was purely business and not a gesture of goodwill.

”Thank you, Andromeda. ”

”Lets move on. ”

Asfi shifted her glasses to hide her embarrassment at the sincere thanks even after what she had just said.