“Let’s make it a good match.”
✦ ✦ ✦
Practically speaking, the handshake was all the people around them saw, and the threads of tension began to unravel.
However—even after Firo and the others had gone, Melvi didn’t move. He couldn’t.
The Gandor brothers seemed to have realized this. As they headed downstairs, they were smiling thinly.
“……”
Melvi didn’t even spare a glance for them. His eyes were on the palm of his own hand.
A nasty sweat was beading on his skin, as if he’d just startled awake from a nightmare.
“I think you really pissed him off,” his guard Felix said from behind him.
“……”
Melvi’s face was blank, and Felix grinned. “He’s a tough one to beat when he’s serious. In any kind of contest.”
Half as if it were somebody else’s problem, he gave his friend the greatest compliment he knew:
✦ ✦ ✦
“He even gives me a run for my money.”
✦ ✦ ✦
Oblivious to the flying sparks that might soon burn down the city—more and more guests arrived at Ra’s Lance.
The wealthy citizens who’d received invitations from the Runoratas.
The relatives of individuals with mafia connections.
Politicians who’d taken bribes.
As the crafty and powerful gathered, yet another group reached the casino party.
“Ohhh! Wow, Miria, just look at it! It really does look like a lance!”
“Yes, Gungnir! And Gáe Bulg! And Amenonuboko!”
Isaac, in a coat and tails, and Miria, who was wearing an evening gown, looked up at the tall building and offered their candid commentary.
“Mgh… Well, that’s it. We’re here. It would’ve been fine by me if we’d never gotten here, but…”
Jacuzzi followed them, dragging his feet. A crowd of his delinquent friends trailed behind him, making their usual racket.
“Hey, guess this is my castle, huh?!”
“What’s with you? Did you finally lose your marbles?”
“Don’t be stupid. I’m going to master the art of gambling here, and then the whole world will be mine.”
“I predict that 3,423 seconds from now, you’ll be stripped to your birthday suit and crying.”
“Yo, Melody, knock it off.”
“And then 6,983 seconds later, they’ll have taken your skin, too. You’ll be dead.”
“What’s gonna happen to me?!”
“Hya-haah!” “Hya-haaaw.”
“Uhhh…can we all…go in?”
“Technically, we’re here at the Martillos’ invitation, so yeah.”
“Once we’re in, we’ll be home free. Let’s scatter and pull in as many gamblers as we can from other areas.”
“Let me remind you that picking pockets and swindling are absolutely forbidden. You especially, Melody. Watch yourself.”
“I turned over a new leaf 839,200 seconds ago.”
“…That seems relatively recent…”
“I’m kidding. Please don’t get mad, Miz Nice.”
“Hya-haah.” “Hya-haw!”
“Hmm? Hey, where’s Rail?”
“Said she’s working solo ’cause she’d attract too much attention.”
“Donny and Jacuzzi stand out worse.”
“Maybe she really is self-conscious about those scars on her face…”
✦ ✦ ✦
“Hmm. I can’t tell whether the conversations these kids have are natural or unnatural. I worry I might even fall into a trance. How about you, Ricardo?”
“Not really…”
“Let’s do an experiment: Try screaming ‘Hya-haah’ or something. It might change your outlook on life.”
“I doubt that would change my life, but it might end it.”
Christopher was bringing up the rear of the delinquents’ group. As he talked with Ricardo, he looked up. “Well, well! This really does feel like an enemy of Nature! The sky is the greatest natural phenomenon there is, and this building is trying to shatter it… Or perhaps waiting for lightning to strike.”
After expressing his unique opinion of Ra’s Lance, Christopher murmured to himself. He was wearing a vicious smile. “You know, it might be fun to be that lightning.”
Ricardo heard that disturbing comment without responding.
Sham’s knowledge was offering a warning—one step into this building was a step into hell.
Actually, it was a safe bet that the entire area was already the same as the building.
The schemes of the many syndicates were jumbled together in a veritable tornado.
✦ ✦ ✦
They had arrived.
On that point alone, their group, Firo’s group, and Melvi’s group were all equals.
They’d probably end up betting their fates here.
Praying that the bet would at least turn out to be a beneficial one—Ricardo stepped into Ra’s Lance with the rest of Jacuzzi’s group, by choice.
✦ ✦ ✦
And the vortex of destiny raged.
The whirlpools belonging to each individual tangled with the others in intricate ways, and no one could tell which way the currents flowed.
Their force could easily have washed Ra’s Lance itself away.
✦ ✦ ✦
However, the man who had created one of the largest currents in this incident—
—Huey Laforet—
—didn’t show up.
✦ ✦ ✦
This event revolved around the immortals, and it was missing one major piece that would have shown its full shape.
But even so—
—in a city transformed into a gambling den, the ruthless dice of destiny were cast.