章節 48: Blue Sky Casino
"Are you sure you all don't want to come? Come on, there's going to be free drinks since it's the casino's grand opening."
Yulia spoke to the rest of team Valhalla as she twirled in front of Stefano's living room mirror, making sure that her elegant evening dress was fit for the occasion.
It was a green one-shoulder dress that traced her curves, slit from the thigh down but it didn't reveal her entire leg, giving the dress a sensual but classy flare. Her usually ponytailed hair was let-down, like a dark flowing mane. Ever proud of her deity, she wore silver flame earrings. Her tail had three golden rings on it, courtesy of Augustia.
All in all, you would think that she's a high class noblewoman and not some adventurer who could burn you into a crisp.
"We'll pass, we have some early training to do for tomorrow." Sitting on the sofa, Antani explained as she was braiding her lover's hair just for kicks. Pausing for a moment, she smiled at Yulia. "You look amazing, by the way!"
"You look good, alright. With that get-up maybe your cheesy one liners might actually land." Ellamir snickered, her back was turned against her lover playing with her locks.
"Why thank you." Yulia graciously returned Antani's smile. Her tone took on a playful anger as she addressed Ellamir, however. "And as for you! I don't depend on my one-liners, mind you! They're merely honest compliments for the pretty ladies who happen to catch my eye."
"Yeah, whatever. Doesn't change the fact that they're cheesy though."
"Screw you!"
As soon as she was done bantering with Ellamir, Yulia's gaze turned towards Gloria and Stefano sitting at the dinner table. The two were playing old maid, a simple but amusing card game. They seem to be enjoying themselves even with those hardened mug.
"You two, stop playing that children's card game, come with me and I'll show you how to earn gold while playing cards."
"Don't wanna, no money." / "Gambling for money is against Mithra's teachings."
Her gaze stern, Gloria only needed one card to complete her pair. While Stefano was intent on winning their third match, his face was an iron curtain, no expression slipped through even if Gloria's hand hovered on the correct card. Only for the cleric to cave in and slump as soon as Gloria drew from his hand the last card she needed. He sighed, regaining his composure. It wasn't like the punishment for losing was severe or anything.
"Hah! I win, go shuffle cards!" Gloria puffed her chest with pride as she won their little game, thrice in a row. Either she was lucky, or her opponent had abysmal luck.
Three!? Yulia hopes that her squire's luck doesn't rub off on her, cause she's planning to spend a few tonight. Clutching her dragon skin purse in her hand, she started heading towards the door.
"Guess I'm going alone then. I'm off, see you all tomorrow."
+++
The Blue Sky casino, on its first opening night, the grandiose place is already filled with gamblers, dapperly dressed and excited to throw away all of their money. Any decent casino gambler knows that the house always wins, but some of them are still willing to bet that lady luck might grace them with her touch and hit some sort of 'jackpot'. Yulia was of the sort.
"Champagne, madam?"
A fellow tiefling wearing an employee's vest offered her wine, as she sat comfortably in the waiting area's latex seat while waiting for her old friend.
"I'll have one. Thank you."
Yulia took a glass of chardonnay. They both gave a courteous smile to each other as the tiefling took his tray to serve other guests. She took a sip, as she expected, the taste of aged white grapes were crisp and clean as it smoothly rolled past her tongue.
With her drink in hand, she marveled at the vibrant ceiling painting, resembling the blue sky complete with clouds. While the floor had murals of various beings that hovered into the sky. Birds, wyverns, dragons, harpies etc.
A ridiculous thought popped into her head, making her giggle. Maybe she could ask her old friend for her to be included in the floor painting? It was his casino, after all.
"Yulia!"
An orc dressed in an ivory baroque frock coat called her name. His beard neatly trimmed
"Gabral, it's good to see you! Look at you, aren't we looking dashing this evening?"
Yulia offered a hug for the friend that she hasn't seen in a while, to which the orc gladly accepted.
The moment they seperated, Gabral gave Yulia a compliment of her own along with some lines that indicated their familiarity with each other.
"And you look lovely in that dress! You've grown into a fine lady, though it makes me kinda worried, are you still in the habit of bedding women left and right?"
Hardly a positive quality, but Gabral knew, since they've been party members for a few years prior, that she was doing it out of compulsion. The affection shown to Yulia by those women masked some sort of pain. The best that he could do, is not judge her for it hope that he could one day face whatever it is that is plaguing her and emerge victorious
"Would you believe it if I told you that I already stopped?" Yulia flashed him a coy grin.
"Don't lie to me, you sly paladin. Sooner or later, you are going to meet your match, we all do. Let's head to the bar counter, all rounds on me!"
The satyr bartender courteously nodded to Gabral as he and Yulia sat at the barstool.
"What can I get ya, boss?"
"Give me a 'Dwarven Hammer'. Since our other friend isn't here, let's drink to his memory. Gahahaha!"
The drink that Gabral ordered mixed Dwarven fire wine, Ginger ale, and rum. As its namesake implies, two of these are enough to get a regular adventurer "Hammered."
"Right away. And for the beautiful madam?"
" I'll have a 'Mermaid's tears.' "
The drink reminded her of Gloria, but there is another reason why she ordered such. Lowering your inhibition in a place made to drain the gold out of your pockets is never a good idea. Thus, Yulia ordered a drink that's a bit on the lite side. Made from elderberry vodka, dry white wine, and ginger. The flavors combined resulted in a solemn but sweet and sour drink.
With their respective drinks in hand, they resumed their conversation.
"Oh yeah, Dax said to give you his regards, congratulating you on your casino's opening." Yulia took a sip, playing with her drink's straw right after.
"Regards!? I need that bastard over here, in the flesh! What, he can't leave his tavern for a single night!?"
"He can't. You know Dax, he's a penny pincher, he's not hiring any barkeep and insists on doing it himself just so he could 'save gold' ."
"Gahahaha! You remember the time when a cyclops guarding a bridge asked us for a toll? We were all politely telling the bugger to piss off until the mad lad, axe in hand, went toe to toe with the giant ten times his size just because he got enraged by being asked to pay 10 silver."
"How could I not? Dax gave him a good scare that the fella never extorted again. That was in some village by the city outskirts, I bet the villagers would've posted that on the guild board but Dax gave them a freebie."
As both of them fondly looked back, laughing at the adventures of their party, the whole thing reinforced a saying in Yulia's mind. "Once an adventurer, always an adventurer." You might retire from the life, but the memories and companions you made along the way will forever stay with you. It was probably the same reason why Gabral and Dax still wore the emerald necklace around their neck even after retirement. The pride encased within must have held some inexplicable weight, preventing them from taking it off.
As their laughter faded, Gabral took on a more serious tone, asking Yulia something that has bothered him since they met this evening.
"So, why are you still ranked platinum? I could tell at a glance, you've grown stronger. "
Not one to sidestep the issue, Yulia smirked as she answered, "I'm heading straight to diamond but I want to fight Garreth for my rank promotion."
"What, have you gone mad!? Out of everyone, you should be aware how insanely strong he is! You're his squire, for crying out loud! Cut the bullshit, you don't have anything to prove, just go and challenge other diamond adventurers!"
"See, it's exactly because of that! Nobody wants to fight the guy. He's pious as shit, but I could tell, all these years he's been itching to fight someone his equal."
Yulia had nothing but reverence for her mentor. Gabral was right, she had nothing to prove as she now wielded enough strength to make a name for herself.
She had nothing to prove to anyone, except for herself. All she wanted was a simple match, one where she and Garreth would give it their all. An honorable duel of sorts. She wanted Garreth to be proud of the strength she had achieved.
Gabral sighed, "You do remember that Garreth's rise to fame was when he soloed a mother fucking dragon, right? If I was at least 10 years younger I would have fought you this instant, just shake some sense into you."
A chuckle escaped from Yulia's lips.
"You're 45, why are you acting like you're 70 or some shit?"
"Bah, I'm not as limber as I used to be. My joints ache when I swing my great sword. I'm warning you, growing old isn't fun. Take advantage of that youth of yours while you still can."
Just before Yulia could poke fun at Gabral's self-deprecation regarding his age, an unexpected patron popped beside her.
A sultry voice all too familiar made her turn her head to the woman ordering a drink. The high slit dress that she wore was backless, all so her furled wings could breathe freely. A classy dress, but one that still managed to evoke the succubus' sensuality.
"One 'devil's temptation', please."
Their eyes met, embodying Magna's drink of choice, Yulia was tempted with but a single smile from the succubus.
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