After talking it over with Eli, Middendorffi doesn't have to put on the dinner, bath and bed routine at night.
He was still watching videos in the middle of the night, and for some reason, lately, he was still watching the kind of murder cases narrated by the legal channel. That BGM with mosaic images, if an average person were to watch it, would be creepy.
Eli looked amused, "Why are you interested in humans killing humans?"
"Humans, it's weird." Middendorffi said, "I'm trying to understand their logic, but sometimes, there's nothing logical about what they do."
"Because people are different, there's always a variety of extremes." Eli tried to explain, "And then there's the part that's insane, where they can't control themselves or even understand themselves. Then others, even less so."
Middendorffi commented, "The brain, it's such a complicated thing."
It was a neutral comment, and Eli had the subtle feeling that he was also disliked.
It's a good thing Middendorffi's mobile phone saved the day.
Late in the night, he received a new message. When he tapped it, Middendorffi looked up at Eli and self-consciously confessed, "Sally sent it to me."
"What's she got you on about her family gossip again?" Eli nibbled on his phone, "It's three o'clock at night; she's messaging you at this hour ..."
-- Not like a normal relationship, not even friends.
Middendorffi didn't understand the implication of Eli's words and asked, "Messaging me at this hour, what's wrong?"
"... Nothing." Eli would only remind Middendorffi about some emotionally entangled issues above friendship. Middendorffi didn't know anything about it, and Eli had a strong sense of responsibility and possessiveness for him and would never let messy people abduct him in front of him.
So Eli walked up to Middendorffi, sat down, and looked squarely at his phone screen, "What did Sally say?"
Middendorffi showed him the message, reading it out at the same time, "She said, 'Teacher Bear, is it possible for evil spirits to help people win at gambling.'"
This is not like trying to tease, but Sally, this girl, looks like a hot character, but her mind is quite complicated. Eli does not walk away but asks, "How will you reply?"
Middendorffi back, "Usually back to 'not necessarily'."
Eli was pleased with the answer but cautioned, "Wait until daylight. Otherwise, it's the middle of the night, when people are looking for you, and you're answering back, but the commoners are sleeping."
Middendorffi pointed to the phone, "'Sleeping'?" Sarike was not sleeping.
"She's not sleeping if she's not sleeping, but it's not your responsibility to accompany the chat even at this hour." Eli felt like he would get to the lovey-dovey part of the conversation if he kept explaining, so he turned the conversation around, "So, do you listen to me?"
"Listen." Middendorffi paused and added, "I don't answer her messages much in the first place."
"Then keep it up. That's the way to be a superior person." Eli smiled and backed out of the message screen for him, "Alright, watch your murder and arson video."
***
Following Eli's advice, Middendorffi replied to Sally's message after ten in the morning.
And true to form, it was the phrase "not necessarily", word for word, not a single punctuation mark too many.
Surprisingly, Sally, who always replied positively to Middendorffi, only sent another message in the afternoon.
[Mr Bear, I'm very sorry! I was drunk at night and didn't notice the time, so I sent you a message on a whim! I'm sorry for disturbing your rest!"]
[I've just sobered up now, so I'm also sorry for the late reply!
[But I wasn't joking when I asked the question; I was genuinely inquiring.]]
[I have a friend who ran into such a 100-fight, invincible man that he played through the entire field! I couldn't find out how he was cheating. I wondered if he had any tricks up his sleeve. The kind like that Chow Tin Lam!]
Middendorffi finally replied after reading this string of ding-dong incoming messages: [Field?
Sally replied quickly, this time: [In Las Vegas! With a licence! Legal ha!
Middendorffi needs help understanding what this means. He shows it to Eli, who understands it in context and explains, "It's a casino. Someone who won almost every item in the casino was suspected of cheating - that is, cheating in some way. But the people at the casino didn't find out the person's means, so they started to wonder if he went off the beaten track."
Saying that Eli looked up Las Vegas on his mobile phone again, further explaining, "Las Vegas is the largest city in Nevada and the first of the four gambling capitals that this world is renowned for. It's about two states away from the city we live in now."
Middendorffi nods and then replies to Sally, [Are you inquiring, or just posting randomly?]
Eli looks at him back and comments, "You're pretty good at that aspect of discourse."
Middendorffi honestly replies, "Henry taught me; he told me not to work for those people for nothing."
Eli thought of Henry and Lupin and looked puzzled, "You do listen to them a lot ..."
"They would rationalise my actions by their imaginations." Middendorffi said, "It's a relief to deal with them; I don't have to overthink."
"... Okay." Eli was out of temper again, "Go ahead and have some fun then."
This moment Sally's response came, [Consultation, it counts as consultation! But Mr Bear can stop replying to me for now, and I'll ask if my friend needs to labour you to check it out].
Middendorffi says, [If I have to see it, Eli will come with me too.]]
Sari: [Okay, I understand; Mr Jones is also a high-level person. I'll go ahead and confirm, haha.]
Receiving this message, Middendorffi doesn't continue to reply. Instead, it was Eli, watching him send the message, who looked at him puzzled and asked, "You called me 'teacher'?"
"Isn't that what you're called in front of these clients? Calling you by your first name doesn't seem very respectful." Middendorffi returned, "Actually, you've taught me so much; it does seem fair to call you a teacher as well."
Eli, not sure if he was a little distracted or what, came up with a god-awful, "Call it."
Middendorffi barked, "Teacher Jones."
He paused, then added: "Or, Master?"
Both of them were very flat, but it just made Eli rub his fingers together, and then he added, "I don't think you've ever called me that when you called Henry and the others brother and sister."
Middendorffi, too, without a single question, called "Brother Jones."
"Call me something else."
"Brother Eli."
"Don't bring my name."
"... Brother?"
Eli turned away.
Middendorffi couldn't fathom him and looked at his back, bewildered, "So I'm going to call you 'Brother' from now on?"
"No, don't." With a wave of his head, Eli went into his room and closed the door without looking back.
Middendorffi: ?????
--Humans, that's deep.
***
The next night, Middendorffi and Eli boarded a night flight to Las Vegas.
It's no wonder the opposite side is rushing things; the lucky winner is rumoured to have gone to the poker game on the first floor, which will take a big bite out of this venue if they kill through. The venue's owner is a young generation who has just taken over the business. He said earlier that he would not drive people away and could afford to play, but now he is starting to curse. However, the rules of this business are to "afford to play" andn't to take back the words that have been put out. There is no other way; I can only think of ways to check whether the other side is cheating. But let all sorts of detectors sweep around, all kinds of shielding devices in his surroundings set a circle, is nothing, just short of naked check.
Finding Middendorffi to see is also considered a doctor in a hurry. However, compared to the lucky winner's winnings, the two combined round-trip plane tickets, food and accommodation are just a drop in the bucket. So they were invited, even if they had travelled for nothing, it wouldn't have cost them much.
When Middendorffi and Eli arrived at the place, it was already past midnight, but this was the time when the city was bustling with activity.
The venue, in particular, was loud, smoky and deafening. An assistant brought the two of them to the upstairs box, and once the door was closed, it was quiet.
"The two teachers, hard work, hard work." The young boss spoke with a slight accent, but it was understandable; he got up from the couch to shake hands with the two men, "I'm Adonis; Sally should have mentioned me to you two."
Middendorffi said, "I'm Bear, and he's Jones."
"Mr Bear, Mr Jones." Adonis didn't call out anything else, it seems he got Sally's advice, "Do you two see fit to take a snack and rest now, or ...?"
"Just pour a glass of water." Middendorffi had never been much for pleasantries, and Eli was even less for talking in front of strangers, so they got straight to the point, "Where is everyone?"
"Downstairs playing roulette." Adonis personally poured lemonade for the two men and introduced himself, "The poker game just ended a game and he won again. I had someone stretch the intermission a little and he went down to play again. Tsk, those players I poached from the tournament are useless! I'll have to rely on the two of you to take a look for me."
These compliments were not received by Middendorffi, who only took a sip of water and then set it down, "Roulette keeps winning too?"
"Sometimes a small loss in a single game, but when I come off the table, then when I come on the table is a win."
"Can't the roulette wheel be adjusted? Does that also make him win all the time?"
Middendorffi and Eli are still making up this knowledge on the fly. Partly by asking "collectors" and partly by watching online videos of gambling scams. Henry also told Middendorffi not to go to the table, as he was told that he would lose everything.
Adonis listened to his question and coughed lightly, "Where is the tone? Ah, we are all legally licensed, no hands, ha, Mr Bear."
Middendorffi was unimpressed; it wasn't like he was here to check the field, so he said, "Take us there; I want to see him win live."
"That, I'll go down and get in trouble with the eyes; let my assistant accompany you two down there." Adonis said, "The drinks and food in the venue, you two feel free. I also have a little chip ... ready."
"Not playing." Middendorffi looks to the assistant, "Let's go."
The assistant opened the door respectfully, "Please, both of you."
Middendorffi and Eli then follow one after the other. Adonis waited awhile and exited the box, making seven turns to the monitoring room.
Another shareholder was waiting, and as soon as he saw him enter, he asked, "Looks pretty young, really something, huh?"
"How would I know." Adonis was also straight staggered, "Sally introduced her; she screwed Peter down with these two; just wait and see."
"Okay, then I'll be right here on the sidelines." The shareholder's chair swivelled towards the surveillance curtain wall.
The giant LED screen was surrounded by smaller screens, timed to jump through the images of hundreds of security cameras. And the giant screen in the centre had been aimed at a roulette table surrounded by people.