Arthur could not help but feel furious. He felt irritated when he remembered Mason's smug face. But although he was embarrassed by the bookkeeper 's revelation, Arthur was not satisfied. He thought they should suffer some real damage.
Arthur thought of a wicked plan immediately.
"Okay, let's keep on gambling. Let's see who wins more. I see that Pato's talent in this kind of gambling is extraordinary. So it is a competition between Mason's group and me. "
Arthur said with a smug face. He dragged down all of them with him to gamble. They cannot reject a noble like Arthur's invitation to compete. If they reject, it will feel as if they were looking down on a noble and that is not something nobles will take in easily.
"Mason, what is happening? Why are we competing with third son of city lord? You said third son of city lord asked for my help. That's why I came. Now, I am in a competition against Arthur young master. This is not good!" Pato said angrily.
"Well.., you see.."
Mason didn't know what to say. He thought Arthur will rely on Pato after he loses a round. Then he and Pato will work together to backstab him. But now Arthur got lucky once and wanted to compete with them. This turned out different than what they expected.
"Well.., we won the money right? He will ask for our help when he starts losing money. Just you wait and see. You can't keep on winning by luck every time.
....
After that first round of gambling, Arthur participated in betting a few times more. But they were all side bet. He didn't buy egg again.
But he won all the bets.
Mason and his group were shocked by Arthur's amazing skill. They were first doubting whether or not it was luck, but after a few times they were convinced that this does not have anything to do with luck.
"How could it be possible! He didn't lose even once. Is he the reincarnation of some deity or something? It can't be he is cheating, can it?" Mason exclaimed with astonishment and grief. He lost money during this bout of gambling. Although he won some too, but it wasn't enough. He lost more than he won.
"Don't be stupid. There is no way to cheat. It looks like, he is really skilled in this." Pato berated Mason immediately.
"Mason, what are you doing?"
Suddenly, an angry voice came from his back. He turned his head toward the origin of the voice and saw a woman standing there. She appeared to be only 30 years old, with her skin looking perfect. She had aqua coloured hair. Nice and shapely body figure. She was wearing a mix of light blue and black coloured adventurers clothing.
"Aunt..." muttered MASON as he foolishly stared at his aunt.
It was none other than Kaine, Mason's aunt. She wasn't wearing her armour today. But even with this kind of clothing, she looked a ravishing mature beauty.
Arthur also stared at her along with all the people in the area. Everyone was mesmerized after seeing her ravishing beauty.
This is the first time Arthur saw her without her armour. It was a treat for the sore eyes to have the chance to admire her beauty.
"Mason, why aren't you answering? What are you doing?... "
Kaine bombarded her nephew with a bunch of questions as soon as she arrived.
"Did you gamble with our group's money? Tell me!" Kaine was interrogating Mason on front of everyone. She felt anxious inside because if her nephew wasted group's money by gambling that will be embarrassing. It will also effect their journey when they get out on a guild mission.
Mason felt awkward and ashamed so he remained silent. But his silence irritated Kaine immensely.
"Mason.., you crazy. Did you really bet with the money of our team?" Kaine asked Mason while feeling disappointed. But Kaine already knew the answer.
"How much did you lose?"
"Not everything..."
Kaine was irritated after listening to him. ' not everything ' , did he want to lose all their money before stopping? Fortunately, she was here in time.
"Hey Kaine. You are here too." Arthur called out Kaine at this moment. Mason flinched as he remembered that Arthur was here. Kaine also became surprised to see Arthur. She didn't think that he might be into gambling.
"Ah.. you..." Kaine stuttered a little seeing Arthur.
"What you? Stop stuttering. I have a name. You can call me by my name. By the way, you look so beautiful today. Excited about the date?" Arthur asked Kaine with a teasing smile.
Kaine blushed after hearing that. This made her look even more charming.
"What nonsense are you talking about? No one's excited here except you. Also, what are you doing here?" Kaine asked after she retorted Arthur.
Arthur felt happy inside. He was waiting for this moment to come.
"Ah.. I am here for you."
"For me?" Kaine looked at Arthur confused and her eyes told Arthur to explain what he meant by this.
"Mason, your nephew told me that you are struggling with gathering materials for a new weapon. So I wanted to give them to you as present. I thought I will buy some materials from here for you. That's why I am here."
Kaine felt moved by Arthur's caring gesture. She thought Arthur would not try too much to impress a commoner like her. But he was so attentive towards her that she could not help but feel moved. "
"Is that so?"
"Yes. I must thank MASON, your nephew. He is the one who told me about your difficulty. He is also the one who introduced me to this place. "
"We also had a little competition to see who won the most bet but surprisingly his group lost." Arthur said with a smile that showed his competitive spirit. Like he was eager to win.
Mason felt like vomiting blood. Seeing Arthur complement him, it felt like he worked hard to bring these two closer. Mason felt like a fool. His plan didn't go the way he wanted it to go.