Last Born Of The Desdemona

Chapter 423: Chapter 423: Rock-paper-scissors

Chapter 423 – Rock-paper-scissors

"Don’t make this hard for us, Lord Cassius." One of the guards said, his muscles bulging under his tight uniform, "You are no longer welcome in any of our Establishments. The information has already been sent to all of them."

"I still don’t understand why you need to go that far to get money." The other guard chimed in, looking at Cassius with puzzled eyes, "You are already more than wealthy. You are a Desdemona, holding the blood of Death inside you. What’s the point of cheating to get more money?"

’Because I can, duh.’ Cassius thought, thinking that it was quite obvious, but he didn’t bother himself to say that. Instead, "gentlemen, it’s very unwise to judge people when you don’t know them. Very unwise to judge me, even. For all you know, I might be more poor than you. Didn’t you learn to not trust the Net?"

"More poor than us?" The guards repeated, and their faces were going red again in anger, thinking that Cassius was mocking them.

And that feeling became even more apparent when they stared at his innocent looking face, a smile plastered across it, "You don’t believe me?" Cassius said.

The guards opened their mouths to say something, surely a cold rebuke, but closed their mouths back immediately.

They looked at each other for about a second, a short time Cassius wondered if they could talk telepathically, before turning their attention to him.

At that point, the Last Born was dusting his black clothes.

"Our Lady, Rose Bishop, said that one more word out of your mouth and you will be blacklisted from every building under her name." The first guard said, talking in a way that made it sound that he was only narrating, "She also says that you will be forbidden to buy her books and to watch her films. She continued to say that she will—!"

"Alright, stop, I get it." Cassius waved his hand at them, lips twitching, "There is no need to go this far just for a couple of million, gentlemen. This sum of money is nothing to me."

"Then give it back."

"Nope." Cassius smiled at them, before pivoting, walking away from the big casino.

This short event was seen by many onlookers, and some of them didn’t shy away from taking some videos and posting them online.

In a matter of seconds, the fact that Cassius was blacklisted from all casinos was known to most of the Kingdom.

Cassius himself didn’t care that much. He only wanted to test his Blessing and have a bit of fun. And well, he had actually achieved what he wanted.

It was a shame that he couldn’t scam that annoying little girl, but it was still fun.

He would get her back, one day.

[Argh!!!] Tysche groaned, angry and disappointed, [I am sure it’s because of that girl! She is the one who snitched on us!]

’Pretty sure. But the fact that her snitching made these guards throw me out means she is quite important.’ He tilted his head, ’which is deeply strange because I don’t know her.’

[Just kill her.] Tysche said.

[Can you stop suggesting he kill someone every two seconds?] Ananke said with an exasperated tone, [This is getting annoying.]

[Leave me alone.] Tysche said lazily, [I am talking to MY Blessed, alright?]

[You—!]

’Please, ladies, no.’ Cassius stopped them, walking while flipping the golden coin, trying to get used to the motion, ’I have enough things to worry about in the outside world, I don’t need two goddesses bickering inside my head. I mean, come on, how old are you two?’

[Very rude to ask a woman her age.] Tysche’s voice was dead cold.

[Didn’t I teach you some manners?] Ananke added.

Cassius’s eyebrow twitched. He opened his mouth to give a sharp reply to both of them, but stopped instantly when he heard a voice.

"First time?"

He halted in his steps, whirled his attention on the voice. And there, Cassius took in the sight of a young man with wild messy brown hair, and equal brown eyes.

The young man wore a rather big famous brand black shirt but shriveled, as if he was bullied by some dozen men, and grey pants with high boots.

He sat down in a silent alley, away from the noises and stomping feet of the Vorn city street.

From where he was, the young man had a direct view of the pedestrians. Which meant, to Cassius, too, who had decided to walk.

The first thing Cassius took notice of was the fact the man had all his fingers wrapped in bandages. And also, of his rather unique presence.

He didn’t know how to put it, but the man seemed...seemed what?

"First time?" Cassius repeated.

"Being kicked out of the casino, of course, dickhead." The man said with a grin, pointing at himself "I have been banned too. More than I can bother to count. And mind you, I didn’t cheat. These motherfuckers are sore losers!"

’Is this guy calling me dickhead?’ Cassius thought, chuckling.

The man looked like he knew him, yet still didn’t fear or respect him. Now, that was something new.

Cassius Desdemona was immediately interested.

"One thing I learned recently is to not believe any gambler who said he didn’t cheat." Cassius said, "they always do."

"That’s the beauty, isn’t it?" The man replied suddenly, grinning, "So how about it? We are both banned, and we both have a lot of money on us right now. One gamble, Lord Angel. One stinky cock gamble."

His brown eyes went wild, excited, "How about we see who is the best cheater?"

Cassius’s goal, on that day, had been to enjoy himself before going back to the Academy. And the moment he had seen the man, he knew he was going to enjoy himself.

And besides, he didn’t really care about the money. He was doing it for the love of the game, as they said.

So he stepped forward and sat on the ground, face to face with the man.

"Seems like a good idea to me." Cassius said, "What is your name? And what kind of game do you want to play?"

"My name? Oh, you can call me Big dick."

Cassius’s lips twitched, "Is this what they call believe it till you become it?"

"I think, dickhead, you wanted to say Fake it till you make it."

"Same thing. Let’s not sweat the details, good man." Cassius chuckled, "But I can’t call you that name as the respectable man that I am. Well, how about Gambler?"

"Suits me well. Though another name would suit me even more but," he grinned, "let’s not sweat the details, shall we?"

[He is good.] Tysche said, already feeling a strange aura from Gambler.

’I know.’

"The Game is simple, dickhead. Very simple, even." Gambler said, unfurling his bandaged fingers, palms facing up, "We play only one time! Only once, and the winner takes everything! And the game is the favorite of the MasterofPaths."

He stretched his hand towards Cassius, closing it into a fist,

"Rock-paper-scissors."

Cassius blinked, surprised by the game for a moment, but then smiled. It seemed simple, but it was everything but that.

A game like this pushed the two contestants to guess what their opponent would choose in order to choose the one that would make them win.

That meant that they needed to have a certain understanding of the person, which was completely unlikely for two beings who had just met.

That was when powers entered into the game, each one using what they had to tilt the outcome into their favor.

Understanding flashed between the two. Just like Gambler had said, this was just to probe who was the best cheater.

And Cassius chuckled, his new earring swaying softly. "Interesting, I accept."

"So we bet everything?"

"If by everything you mean money. Then yes, everything."

"How stinky! I like it." Gambler cackled then, clapping his bandaged fingers, before his eyes became dead serious, "Shall we? We can start whenever you are ready, Lord Angel."

Cassius nodded. He took the golden coin, using his Blessing, and in front of Gambler, he flipped it after choosing his two statements.

As the coin was in the air, swirling upon itself, and about to fall down, he looked at Gambler and stretched his own hand, "Shall we?"

Gambler giggled, nodding. "Yes."

The game then began.

"Rock," the two said at the same time, shaking their hands while their eyes remained locked on each other.

"Paper."

The tension between them suddenly thickened, so much that the surrounding noise seemed to fade away, as though some invisible barrier had descended around the two.

At that point, the golden coin was already halfway down, spinning upon itself faster than the eye could properly follow.

Cassius and Gambler’s hands were already moving, their fingers beginning to take the shapes they had chosen, yet neither of them looked away from the other.

Then, finally...

"Scissors!"

The golden coin struck the ground with a loud clank, landing on heads. Cassius’s eyes immediately lit up in triumph at the sight of it.

He had won.

Only then did he look at his hand, and the triumph on his face disappeared almost immediately.

He had made a rock.

And Gambler...

"I win," Gambler laughed, his body suddenly beginning to waver and distort like a mirage.

...had made paper.

Cassius stared at their hands, unable to understand what he was seeing.

How?

"Wait, how did—!" Cassius abruptly closed his mouth as his Blessing chimed inside his mind.

{You have been fooled. The Coin of Maybe’s power has been deactivated.}

Those words made Cassius pause for a fraction of a second before his head snapped toward Gambler, only to find that there was no longer anyone standing there.

Gambler had disappeared.

And somehow, a terrible feeling told Cassius that Gambler himself was not the only thing that was gone.

His hand rose almost mechanically toward his ear, his fingers searching for something that should have been there, only to touch bare skin.

Cassius’s expression slowly changed.

The earring...the one his grandmother had given him not even a day ago.

"...gone?"

His heart dropped.

—End of Chapter 423—