Once they saw just who came towards them, the staggering men soon lost all interest in their music and stared at the new arrivals to their dirty corner of Saniya. A tall man full of confidence strode towards them, accompanied by a beautiful young woman. Although they were dressed in simple gray clothing, their att.i.tude and posture both spoke volumes of their true heritage. Clearly, these two strangers were warriors under the new lord of Saniya, the eccentric King Corcopaca, who had left the confines of the inner city for a night out on the town. Without a word or even so much as a look towards the drunkards, the two stepped past them and into the building itself. Despite their orders, neither of the guards made any attempt to stop them. If they made any trouble for the walking money bags, the boss would kill them. It wouldn't be the first time, if rumors were to be believed.

Once the two strangers had entered the establishment, they found the central hall just as in accordance to the rumors. Any semblance of furniture had been removed, either because the owner wanted to save money or as a measure to deny weapons to drunk and disappointed patrons. Instead, mats had been laid out all over the floors, with men both young and old kneeling over cups and dice. The gambling den of Kon Ekkekko, one of the so-called criminal lords of Saniya, was filled with the smells of hope and desperation. For a second, action stopped as everyone within the room focused their attention on the strange new visitors. Soon however, all men returned their focus back to their own vices.

After he had walked towards the central area of the hall, the tall man took a seat atop one of the mats, with his lady taking position next to him. However, to the surprise of the dicer in their front it was not the man, but instead the dainty young lady who retrieved a jingling purse from within the many folds of her dress. Once she had revealed twenty or so coins, she stacked them right next to herself, in a neat fas.h.i.+on. At last, the new guests were ready to play.

"New Gaaame!" With his routine call, the man with the dice reopened play. Despite the unusual nature of today's marks, a victim was a victim. In the end, the only difference was how much money they would have to lose. The man held three dice between the fingers of his right hand and showed them to all the players and onlookers, before he made them disappear in the cup to his left. The cup sealed, he shook his hand to make sure all marks could hear that it had been filled as shown. A smile in his heart, he decided to give the newcomers a little taste of victory, before he dropped the cup on the wooden board in his front.

"Even," the lady in the dress said as she moved two of her silver coins over to her left, his right. As he tried to suppress his grin, the dicer lifted his cup to reveal six, six and two.

"Fourteen, even!" he shouted out, as he watched the lady clap in child-like excitement. Under groans and cheers, the dicer's partner behind him used a crooked stick to rake in the money of the losers, before he handed the winners their earnings, by placing them on the spot they had been on before, adding to the rest of their bet. It was a trick the boss had come up with himself. Anything to leave them betting. So long as the money was still on the mat, it was theirs.

"New Gaaame!" With his usual routine, he continued his moves. The scammer watched as the young lady thought for a while, with her delicate fingers over her small mouth, before she removed one of the extra coins from her side. With sparkling eyes, she seemed wholly absorbed in her play, while her male companion simply sat to the side.

*Looks like this guy let his girl out for a bit of fun. They wouldn't mind losing some coin so long as the girl's happy.*

Determined to reel their latest catch in even further, this time he would let them taste defeat. Rather than show the dice with his palms outward, he showed them together with the back of his hand, to hide the palmed dice. Of course any appearance of fairness was nonsense from the start, for the scammer had dice hidden everywhere. With a smile, he moved his hands, so quickly that no one would notice, and exchanged one set of dice for another. Odd numbers were almost guaranteed.

As he worked on his own performance, he failed to notice that the young lady tugged on her left sleeve while she nodded towards her companion. Once the oblivious scammer had finished his little charade, the dice once again dropped.

"Four Three Two! Odd wins!" he shouted, with a twinkle in his eye. It was a loss only a bit larger than their previous win. They would have to bet some more to make up for it, an excellent start to their careers as gamblers. However, at this point something happened, something the scammer had not expected.

Without a word, the tall warrior stood up from his kneeling position and, before anyone could react, ripped off the dicer's sleeve. Like rain, the different sets of dice drizzled out of the torn sleeve and danced around on the mat. A short gasp went through the crowd, before everything turned still for a second. All eyes were focused on the a.s.sortment of identical looking dice.

"A trickster, is it?" With a smile and a curious look, the young lady spoke towards no one in particular as she picked up one of the dice and turned it in the light, to show that it only had even numbers on its sides.

While the trickster swallowed heavily, eyes flitting in search of a way out of his dilemma, his partner, or rather his watchdog, stepped forward with his crooked stick in hand.

"What is this!? You want to cheat your way out of the losses, b.i.t.c.h!? You put that fake dice here, mixed it in with the real ones when no one was loo-" The watchdog looked over in a threatening manner, but his words were cut short as the large hand of the lady's own hound cut off his air supply. Desperate, he struggled to free himself of the iron grip, but it was in vain. Again the room turned to silence. The only people to move were the other dogs in the room, who slowly formed a circle around the happenings and threatened with their clubs.

"Quato, you can let go now," the lady spoke in a casual tone.

At last, the man named Quato pushed his victim away and onto the ground. While the dog was still huffing and wheezing from the pain in his throat, the lady put on a smile. Looking around the hall, she spoke again.

"It seems like there is a small disagreement between our sides." She retrieved a piece of wood from her sleeve and threw it onto the mat, among the plethora of dice. Though the onlookers were confused at first, soon they saw what had been thrown, and the crowd reacted with gasps. On the mat lay the Triquetra, the seal of Medala's imperial family. Even a commoner would know this sign, especially in a city administered by the Pluritac clan.

"You can get up to your usual tricks and try to dump our bodies in some dark alley, but I wonder what the king would have to say if two of his warriors would disappear in his first season as lord." With her smile unchanged, the lady continued. "I don't think we can solve our troubles with violence, so we would need someone to moderate. How about you show us to the owner of this establishment? I hope we can find some common ground with him."

While everyone else was frozen in shock, the young lady, with practiced grace, picked up her seal, and a set of trick dice for good measure, before she stood to look at the guards in expectation. None of the men would dare act on their own, not when any rash action could mean all-out war with the king's forces. No one had the heart to disappoint the lady.

__________________________

"So you're... sent by the king personally?" Confused, the short Kon Ekkokko stared at the lady in his front.

"Indeed. My name is Tamaya di Pluritac. I have come on order of King Corcopaca, to discuss certain measures with owner Kon."

Although he felt sweat flow down his brow and collect on the tip of his nose in a small droplet, the owner of the gambling hall still managed to retain a calm voice.

"I had never expected the king to have any interest in my small business and even know my humble name. I am exceedingly honored."

Tama smiled without returning his look. Instead, her eyes turned towards his desk, and all the things he had placed there. She brushed over the ink stone, doc.u.ments and small chest of gold coins, and instead turned to the still-closed bottle of wine he had intended to enjoy throughout the day.

"You should be," she answered at last. "With all the work that needs to be done, King Corco only cares to deal with the most pressing problems. Ah, that makes you a problem, Kon Ekkokko."

With a frown, Kon leaned forward in his chair.

"I am unsure I understand. No problems are caused by my business, no laws broken. Does the king intend to make betting illegal? Although I am but a simple businessman, I feel like this would not be an advisable choice on the side of our wise ruler."

Without consulting her host, the young lady opened the bottle and smelled the wine inside, which caused her face to grimace from the unpleasant odor.

"What is this swill? I thought a proper criminal lord would be able to afford higher quality than this?" Tamaya sighed. "It seems like you are not very well off, so I will not play with you too much. The king intends to clean up his own lands first, and undo the damage done by the previous administration."

At last Kon's voice began to shake. The new king had already emptied out the inner city and put all its inhabitants into a prisoner's camp. It appeared as if he was intent on doing the same here.

"I... this servant has no connection with the previous-" Before he could finish his words, the young lady had dropped his bottle of wine onto the floor, where it burst under a loud noise.

"Oops," Tama said in a high-pitched voice. "It is your good fortune that the king has decided to excuse all crimes before his own ascension. This generous act will be announced tomorrow at midnight, when the king will unveil his new set of laws to replace the old ones. That makes you a free man for now."

Although he was confused for a moment, Kon soon realized that the strange n.o.ble lady had come with nothing but good news. With a bow, he tried to make a good impression on the king's servant.

"In this case, I would like to thank King Corcopaca for his generous actions."

"No reason for thanks. There is still the charge of trickery and theft. Your men also attempted to strong-arm warriors of the king. That is more than enough charges to ruin your 'business', even under the best of circ.u.mstances."

Again, Kon was confused. He didn't understand what the strange young lady in his front wanted in the end.

"However," Tama continued without a care, "if you are willing to comply with the king's new regulations on gambling, he is willing to let your transgressions go."

At last, the crime lord understood why the girl was here. The king intended to earn from his business, just like Lord Sawo had done.

"And what would those new regulations be?" he asked with a business smile. Time to negotiate.

"First, all gambling businesses need to hand over part of their earnings, as a fee to make this dangerous vice less desirable to run."

With a nod, Kon ceded to the obvious request.

"Of course. Anything for the king."

"Second, any gambling businesses will now need to be licensed by the king's office directly. Gambling without a license will be illegal. The license will not only require a fee, but any establishment will also have to comply with certain regulations. No cheating customers, no killing or strong-arming, open books. Officials of the king will need access to everything so they can make sure that the gambling hall is up to order. Oh, you will need to register from tomorrow onward, as soon as the new laws are in effect."

"What!" At the girl's casual explanation, Kon exploded. "This is impossible! No gambling house can operate like this! How would we make any more coin?! If the king's laws won't let us breathe, he will draw the anger of the whole city!"

"You are a fool, Kon Ekkokko," the girl gave an impish smile, "which is why you cannot make money without cheating. Shouting out 'odd' or 'even', what happens if I bet on both? I would never lose. Meanwhile, you will still have to pay your men. Instead of a silly setup like this, you should stack the odds, tell people in advance that there is always a slightly larger chance for the hall to win."

"No one would come!" Kon replied with a frown. "Who would be foolish enough to bet when the odds are stacked against them?"

"People do not bet because they want to earn money. No one is silly enough to believe that your games are truly fair. No, they bet because of the pleasure a win brings them. If all odds in the city are unfair, you will get as many patrons as before, but then you will have the king's official support as well. Is that not preferable?"

As he observed the messenger before him, Kon thought for a while. Although her words had some truth, he would rather not change his business and risk future profits. Instead, he decided to intimidate the little girl. How well could she possibly react to a criminal lord's defiant might? Worst case, he could always gain some extra benefits.

"No matter what the king says, I won't do it! And I tell you that none of the others will either. Go ahead, threaten death! For every hall you storm, two more will spring up within the city. The king's men will fight crime until they die or the city is burned to the ground."

As an answer to Kon's threatening growl, Tamaya narrowed her eyes, though her voice was still as light as a bell.

"Wrong again, Kon Ekkokko. We only need to kill until we meet an owner who is willing to play by our rules."

With one sentence, all of the crime lord's bravado had been blown away. Evidently satisfied with the effect of her words, Tamaya stood up to leave.

"I do not expect an answer now. Your actions tomorrow will be answer enough. Choose with care."

Thus, the little girl turned to leave the sweaty businessman alone with his thoughts.