This Lich Requests More Remuneration
Chapter 238 - 219 Harvey’s Mistake

Chapter 238: Chapter 219 Harvey’s Mistake

The next day, Harvey and Sawtooth Blade once again appeared in the tavern.

Compared to yesterday, the gauze on Harvey’s face had been removed, leaving only a few bruises on his face, which seemed to have healed quite a bit.

Today’s dealer had also changed, from a Drow Elf to a Lizardman.

This Lizardman apparently didn’t recognize Harvey, so his greeting was merely a polite welcome when Harvey took his seat.

However, just a few minutes later, this Lizardman dealer had no choice but to keep his eyes glued on Harvey.

This young Mage won seven times in a row, turning one Gold Coin into over a hundred.

Each time he bet all on "high," and the Lizardman rolled "high" seven times in a row.

Losing a hundred Gold Coins was bearable, but the key issue was that other gamblers had also noticed Harvey’s luck and started betting with him.

After seven consecutive losses, over a thousand Gold Coins were lost just like that.

Even the cold-blooded Lizardman couldn’t help but wipe some sweat from his brow; he was panicking, fearing he had encountered the gambling god himself.

Harvey’s face remained expressionless as he once again put all his Gold Coins on "high," and the other bettors followed suit, pooling close to two thousand Gold Coins. If they lost again, today would be a massive loss.

The thought of losing several thousand Gold Coins made the Lizardman’s throat go cold; if the boss was displeased, his very life could be at risk.

With this thought in mind, the Lizardman didn’t dare continue shaking the dice cup and said to Harvey, "Friend, you should stop while you’re ahead. Luck can turn if you push it too far, and it can backfire."

But Harvey arrogantly retorted, "What’s the matter? Are you only allowed to have people lose money here, not win it?"

The Lizardman dealer’s pupils narrowed into slits, clearly on the verge of turning hostile. Did this kid really think he could mess with the people who ran gambling dens in Dew City?

"Alright, since the customer speaks so, let’s see how much you can win."

The Lizardman dealer shook the dice cup again, and unsurprisingly, it was another "high."

The crowd around the gambling table cheered loudly, almost ready to worship Harvey, as with this round, every one of them had made a hefty profit.

Harvey looked at the Gold Coins with a face still void of emotion and placed his winning back on the table.

Once again, he chose "high."

Without hesitation, everyone put their winnings on the line, following Harvey’s lead.

The mountain of Gold Coins was dizzying for the Lizardman, and a few more rounds like this might bankrupt the owner.

The dice in the cup sounded as if they were being shaken to pieces, but the Lizardman dealer kept shaking non-stop.

The gamblers were running out of patience, urging, "Open it already! What’s the matter, can’t you afford to lose?!"

"Yeah, why aren’t you opening it?"

"Hurry up, I’m waiting to win money to retire and buy a house!"

...

Under the pressure of the crowd, the Lizardman dealer had to open the dice cup again, even though he had repeatedly verified that he had rolled a "low." However, just like the previous times, upon opening the cup, the result was always "high."

"We won!"

"Mage, you’re the gambling god!"

"Incredible!"

...

Harvey quietly watched as the Lizardman dealer brought out a large chest of Gold Coins, slowly paying out to all the bettors. His movements were sluggish, as if counting them one by one to be certain, but in reality, he was desperately trying to delay time.

He simply could not afford to lose anymore; if he lost again, there wouldn’t be enough Gold Coins left to pay out.

Harvey counted his Gold Coins, finding them more than enough to re-equip everyone in the "Sawtooth Blade" tribe.

Yet Harvey didn’t take the money and leave; instead, he once again bet all these Gold Coins on "high."

Everyone went berserk, the Gold Coins piled into a small mountain. Most people felt they had earned enough, and the regulars knew this was the limit; betting any further would mean notifying the hidden bosses behind the scene to bring cash from elsewhere.

And if that happened, they would truly offend the opposing party.

"What’s this, you’re giving up already, afraid of getting into trouble? You all have lost a fair amount here before, right? Did the house ever worry about you causing them trouble? There’s no rule that says you can only lose and not win in gambling. Am I right? Follow me, let’s win until they’re bankrupt, and that wouldn’t be a bad story either. Maybe you could even become heroes in a Bard’s tale."

Harvey’s words turned many faces red with excitement. Right, there was no logic in only being allowed to lose and not win. With so many people here, why should they worry about the house not paying out?!

"I’m in!"

"Damn it, I’ll go all out with him. Win big just once, and I’m set!"

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, it only comes once!"

"Right, let’s break the bank together!"

The feverish crowd slammed their Gold Coins onto the gambling table, all shouting: "High!"

"High!"

"High!"

"Big!"

....

Without any surprises, the dice in the container were still showing a high number— the Lizardman dealer fainted on the spot; this time, he was truly finished.

Something felt off to "Sawtooth Blade," as Harvey’s play style had been cautious and careful yesterday. How could it have become so reckless today? Although she was suspicious, the current environment prevented her from taking Harvey away. She could only go up to him and ask, "What if this blows up in our faces? How are we going to get away?"

But Harvey reassured her, "It’s better when it blows up! With so many people around, the house dares not welsh. We earn enough in one go, and we won’t come back."

Despite her skepticism of Harvey’s assurances, "Sawtooth Blade" had no other choice.

After the commotion, the unconscious Lizardman dealer was carried away, and word of the incident spread throughout the tavern— the onlookers packed the place, waiting for the owner of the gambling house to show up.

Before long, a portly human appeared in the tavern.

As he entered, he said to everyone, "Haha, thank you all for coming. Unfortunately, our staff had a little accident and is unwell today, so gambling ends here. We will fully compensate your gold coins; how about that?"

That was tens of thousands of Gold Coins— an unimaginable sum for the Adventurers present.

The task of hunting the Legendary Sand Lizard was worth only a few thousand Gold Coins, so who wouldn’t be happy to walk away with that much now?

Just as everyone seemed about to agree, Harvey said, "Wait, I’m not done playing yet! Dear Owner, you have more than one dealer, don’t you? Get someone else; let’s continue."

The owner walked over to Harvey, eyed the young man for a moment, and then said, "Esteemed Mage sir, I am Olivie, Captain of the Seaberry Mercenary Corps of Dew City. You must be new here. If there’s anything you need, just ask. We can be friends."

Olivie believed he was being quite generous; as long as he could salvage his reputation, the money lost in the gambling house could be earned back eventually. The tens of thousands of Gold Coins he was losing pained him, but it was an acceptable loss.

In fact, Olivie entertained the idea of recruiting this gambling prodigy, Harvey, under his wing; then, the other gambling house owners might as well prepare for bankruptcy.

Therefore, Olivie was very kind to Harvey, hoping that the young Mage would give him face.

However, Harvey was clearly intent on making a scene, unabashedly saying, "Since when is there a rule in gambling that one stops playing after a loss? Cut the talk, let’s get started. I won’t stop today until I win a million."

At these words, the others started to back away.

They realized that Harvey was using them as a shield.

Harvey wasn’t here to win money after all; he was clearly picking a fight with Olivie.

But since Olivie was willing to compensate tens of thousands of Gold Coins, the other gamblers were already satisfied. Thinking of his influence in Dew City, they knew nothing good would come from further confrontation.

Many chose to walk away, taking the money and leaving the tavern, while Olivie appeared unconcerned. The menacing mercenaries beside him did not attempt to stop them.

As people tend to follow the crowd, with the first person leaving, many more followed suit.

Soon, the tavern was nearly empty, as the original gamblers had fled, leaving only those who loved a spectacle and didn’t mind the chaos.

Only "Sawtooth Blade" remained by Harvey’s side— the female Orc felt nervous. If it came to a fight, she wouldn’t be able to defeat so many by herself.

Although she had some brothers outside as backup, they were still outmatched in numbers.

It was then that Harvey sheepishly admitted to "Sawtooth Blade," "Sorry, I miscalculated. I thought those gambling dogs would join me to make a fortune."

Grinding her teeth, "Sawtooth Blade" said, "You did this on purpose!"

She too had figured it out— this youngster clearly intended to use Olivie’s power to escape.

Unmasked, Harvey no longer hid his intent. He stood up, went over to Olivie, and then said to "Sawtooth Blade," "I can’t help it, who made me weaker than you? For the sake of last night’s fond memories, let me leave, and you can leave with the Gold Coins too."

Harvey turned to Olivie, who looked puzzled, and said, "I apologize, Mr. Olivie, for leveraging your influence to escape. I promise, I’ll earn back tenfold what you lost today. And her—please let her leave with the winnings. Is that alright with you?"

Olivie hadn’t anticipated such a twist. The young man had been coerced into gambling; that was worth considering for recruitment. A gambling genius, if utilized properly, could be more profitable than ten gambling houses.

"Fine, rest assured, your person is safe with me, Olivie. But this Orc... hmph, she dares to cause trouble in my establishment. If I let her go so easily, how will I continue to hold sway in Dew City?"

Olivie glared at "Sawtooth Blade," with his once-benevolent eyes turning fierce.

Seeing things were turning sour, Harvey quickly said, "Mr. Olivie, for my sake, let her go. She doesn’t have to take the Gold Coins."

Although Harvey had managed to find a way out, the situation was spiraling out of his control. Just moments ago, Olivie had agreed to let people leave with their money, but now he had suddenly turned hostile.

"Sawtooth Blade" wouldn’t have any of it— she drew a Sawtooth Curved Knife from her waist and said to Olivie, "Come on, let’s not waste time! Even if I die today, I’ll take you down with me!"

The fierce female Orc attacked Olivie before his mercenaries could even move. She lunged at him with her curved knife, drawing a bloody arc aimed at gutting him.

But Olivie just smirked and vanished from "Sawtooth Blade’s" view.

It turned out that the man conversing with everyone just moments ago had been an illusion; Olivie was a Mage himself, and his rank was quite high.

"Sawtooth Blade" found herself surrounded by the mercenaries, quickly descending into a desperate fight, accumulating injuries one after another.

Harvey frowned deeply. He hadn’t intended for her to get hurt; his arrogance had been his downfall.

Sighing, Harvey recognized how he paled in comparison to his teachers. Taking advantage of the chaos, he quietly pulled out a small, round object from his pocket and dropped it onto the ground.

A cloud of smoke billowed, enveloping the tavern in an instant.

This was Harvey’s last resort; he hoped she could make a successful escape.