They both sat in front of the table,

  It was very comfy.

  As expected from the chairs of the casino boss's office.

  Or better say, the boss in charge, since the real one was in prison.

  But anyway, he thought they would play poker or some card game when the dealer showed the deck.

  But to his surprise, it was an easy kind of card game.

  Lucky him, he knew almost no card games for casinos.

  A very simple kind of game called:

  Blackjack,

  Also called 21.

  The one most close to 21, wins.

  The old and simple Blackjack.

  It depended on both, skill and luck.

  They received the chips, an equal amount for each of them, for now, those were free.

  Or maybe not, but they could not reject. Mike knew the value of the chips; it was not a huge amount but was very expensive actually.

  But Mike had no time to lose, as the game started, he quickly asked his doubts.

  "Why you recognize me so easily?"

  He was not dumb, he went everywhere asking for information.

  But his question actually was, why would they pay so much attention for the boss to remember the mercenary doing his job?

  "Hit" Said the boss and the dealer gave him a card.

  Then the turn was for Mike.

  "I simply think that a mercenary is not normal in Aether, and you asked questions everywhere"

  The boss's answer was not very helpful.

  It seemed like he was evading the real question because he knew something.

  "I stand" Said Mike, He had a 10 and an 8.

  It was well known in blackjack that while the amount reaches a certain value just starting the game, you should stand.

  The girl was nervous, but she chose to play safe, thinking that she was at least lucky to have a special mercenary beside her.

  Unlucky anyway, she didn't know that Mike's priority was not to save her.

  "I see, you must know a lot of things in this city, right? I mean, all kinds of people come to casinos in Aether these days, important ones too" He asked the boss,

  Testing the waters.

  "Not a lot, just a few little things, I am just a humble manager in charge of this place"

  Again, the boss was evading the questions.

  He decided to keep playing without talking too much.

  They at least were informed that the drink there was free for them.

  Not the chips though.

  But anyway, Mike only accepted a drink because of goodwill,

  To not show disrespect towards the people there.

  He planned to not drink too much.

  Not because of the uniform he was wearing, but because of his concentration.

  At first, the boss was winning most of the games, or better said, he was winning almost all the biggest bets.

  Mike thought it was mostly the dealer favoring the boss, but then, he used his ability to scan the dealer.

  And found out, the boss was really smart for this game.

  The game was totally fair, that alone was surprising.

  But anyway, he found out that, when concentrating, he could find the small details on the cards.

  Very small details, yet could be useful in the next rounds.

  But just as the round was ending, with Mike's victory this time, the girl beside him was suffering a stressful moment.

  "I... I have no more chips..."

  "Oh? So sad, I guess you lost this time" Said the boss.

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  This time, his tone was ominous, like showing no emotion from it.

  "You can always buy more, there is still some more time before the transport arrives in front of the casino, you know?" Suggested the dealer.

  The girl had almost no money, and actually, she could probably not even pay for the chips given at first.

  She was in trouble and took some looks at Mike.

  "Idiots should be aware of the consequences when paying for illegal activities..." He sighed a little loudly while thinking.

  "Boss, what about letting her go?" He suggested, but when receiving the looks from everybody, he understood that it was mostly not possible.

  When someone gets into a casino and keeps betting over their pocket capacity, only consequences await them.

  So Mike ran his mind and kept his words going on.

  "I mean, I can pay for her if you want, is not a problem" The bet was high, paying for all that was not a small amount of money but he kept talking.

  "And most importantly, I want to start betting big from now on, and I don't mean just money" Those last words got the interest of the boss.

  "And the girl would only get in the way, what about it?"

  "Speak your mind, what do you want to bet?" The boss smiled and spoke in a friendly voice again.

  "What about this? Information?"

  "Information, eh? I got something, but what useful information do you have for me? I am just a humble guy"

  Mike wanted the information from the boss but had nothing really useful for him aside from money.

  If they wanted a fair game, the bet must be equal, or almost equal.

  Otherwise, the game would lose value.

  "Maybe there is something aside information I can offer. Just speak your mind, boss"

  He said with a smile, understanding how to deal with the boss in front of him.

  "Well, some valuable things must be hard-earned, I am up for a good game, but a little tired" Those words made Mike think that they were finally free to go after paying.

  He didn't really want to pay for the girl but trying to save her, he got in trouble for it.

  But anyway, whatever the case, he was not free to go yet.

  "The girl can leave, let her out without paying"

  The words made her feel grateful to Mike and even bowed to Mike and to the boss several times, saying her goodbye and leaving quickly.

  Mike showed no emotion, just like a poker face man prepared to make his move.

  But internally he was cursing his words.

  What would the boss want from him?

  "Now then, we still don't know each other, I am Lucas Crane, manager of this humble casino"

  "Captain Mike Blood, Blacklist Hunter from the Golden Corps"

  Most people were stunned while hearing Mike's rank, not only because the "Captain" part,

  It was mostly because of the Blacklist Hunter occupation.

  "Oh? Such a surprise then, I think I have the perfect game for this occasion then, Bull, you come here, you will play with the dice this time"

  The dealer retired the table as well as the boss, who sat not far away.

  The boss also ordered to bring someone, and few minutes later, other two people got into the room.

  One of them was the guy from before, the "troublemaker" who got taken earlier.

  He was beaten up badly, the bandages could not hide all of his still-open wounds.

  The other was a common-looking man, not really anything worth mentioning.

  But he soon knew, the man was in debt to the casino, probably a gambling addict.

  And the dice game they were about to play, was not a simple one either.

  It was simple unless they included the revolvers.

  "For bets, you all place the same amount of money each, but if you don't have money, you can use the revolver on your head" Explained the boss.

  But Mike had his ability, he could somehow feel the position of the bullet in the revolver and smiled.

  "I got lucky"

  The short smile made others misunderstand him.

  Liar's dice was a dangerous game when weapons were included.

  It not only depended on one's skill to lie.

  It also depends on the skill to identify lies, to count statistics, and to get lucky and not get killed with your bullet.

  In Aether, most people knew how to lie very well.

  Even if there was another ability user, nobody could notice when Mike used his ability to scan the other's revolvers.

  When scanning, no one was able to detect his ability, he was a ninja.

  ...

  Meanwhile, back into the base of the corps.

  Rose just realized during the afternoon about Mike's mission.

  Kat was with her head down, ready to receive the scolding.

  But opposite to her expectations...

  "You rarely do something wrong, I guess this is the exception that confirms the rule"

  Rose had no intention of scolding her.

  Just as Rose knew about Mike's leaving to the jungle, Kat learned about the organizations there.

  But most of those groups were deep into the political world.

  Only if Mike were to get in contact with politicians he would get the information and ruin some plans for Aether.

  Probably not even the current tyrant in Aether would forgive him, and Rose could not protect him.

  Luckily for Kat, Rose was not nervous or stressed about it, instead, she looked calm.

  Her thoughts were mostly on other matters.

  In the past months, she finally understood Mike's character.

  She understood that he was not the cold-blooded bad guy she imagined.

  It made her study Mike's behavior for some months and now understand how he usually was.

  He was not a good guy either, just didn't like to get into unnecesary trouble.

  But most important.

  "He hates politics and things very troublesome, so he won't get me in any trouble"

  That aspect of him was why she was eager to let him stay working for her.

  Plus, he was in great debt with her.

  "And even if so, he owes me a lot for what I did for him"

  For her, Mike was another citizen tricked by her actions that could do anything for her.

  But that would change if things complicated too much in the world.

  Under hard circumstances, humans can adapt.

  But as politicians in a corrupted land, they can not imagine other things rather than their perfect scheme.

  But once again, Rose was not the normal liar.