novelonline Chapter 3559 "Mr. Snake"
Chapter 3559 "Mr. Snake"
Chapter 3559 "Mr. Snake"
"So, the guy who was playing cards with Xia De had all his family members suddenly die while he was playing? That doesn't seem right at all."
Megan said, and Shad nodded:
"So this person has a problem, but there's no element, and it doesn't seem like an infinite snake. I guess it might be related to the conservation of luck. I know it's superstition, but what I mean is, he borrowed luck, so he has to give it back. Someone directly interfered with his luck, which is why he himself has no elemental response."
Mr. Kruger's house is no longer habitable. Although he has relatives and friends on the island, according to Stella and the others' investigation, he did not seek refuge with anyone tonight, but instead stayed upstairs in a dilapidated tavern very close to his home.
These kinds of taverns tucked away in alleyways can be found in any city. They usually sell food and drinks on the first floor, offer accommodation on the second and third floors, and are frequented by prostitutes at night. While such places are convenient to stay in, they certainly don't seem like the kind of temporary lodging a grammar school teacher would choose.
"Now that we have a pretty good grasp of the basic information, are you going to go see him tomorrow?"
Sevier then asked Shad, who shook his head:
"I won't wait until tomorrow. I'll go check it out after dinner."
Claire then asked with concern:
"Why are you in such a hurry? Did your grandfather say he wanted to take revenge on him?"
Xia De then laughed:
“I plan to use the time key tomorrow, which will take up a lot of my energy. So I’d better deal with whatever I need to do now. Besides, although I don’t know what’s behind Clement Kruger, he’s just an ordinary person, so it won’t be too difficult to investigate him.”
“I’m afraid this is another trap set by some demon or Bloodthirsty One. Let’s go together.”
Megan then spoke, and both Sylvie and Claire looked at her. There wasn't a need for too many people to go, so since Megan had spoken first, they couldn't very well say they wanted to go too.
However, considering that Megan and Audrey had just arrived and hadn't spent much time alone with Shad in a long time, the two not-so-happy witches didn't say anything more.
During dinner, the Radiant Messenger sailed from the town dock to the Wheel of Time dock, so when Shad and Megan left the ship, they disembarked directly at the Wheel of Time dock.
After the two left the pier, Megan looked back one last time at the large ship that was gradually disappearing into the night, before smiling and taking Shad's arm:
“Sevier and Claire really thought I just arrived today.”
Xia De then reminded him:
Lying is not a good habit.
"I know~ It's just taking advantage of a few small things, I'm not the kind of girl who likes to lie."
Clement Kruger's tavern didn't even have a formal name; because it was located in an alley known as "Fishtail Alley," it was called "Fishtail Alley Tavern" by the locals.
It was already eight o'clock in the evening when Shad and Megan arrived near the tavern. There were no streetlights in this secluded alley, but the tavern windows provided relatively bright light. The tavern, located deep in the alley, had three floors and its main structure appeared to be a rather dilapidated gray brick and stone building.
Because it was winter, the tavern doors were closed, but you could hear the noise coming from inside from a distance, so the business must be quite good.
Stella even found out the location of Clement Kruger's room. Shad looked up outside the tavern and counted the number of windows, then used illusion magic to conceal himself and Megan, and finally flew directly to the window with Megan.
The cramped, dark room opened directly onto the bed; there wasn't even a separate bathroom or dressing room. The lights were off, but sobbing could be heard from inside through the closed window.
By the dim moonlight of the night, Shad saw Rhodes cards scattered on the floor of the room, and in the corner of the bed, Clement Kruger was curled up under the covers, crying.
Megan glanced at Shad, and the two used teleportation to enter the room. The crying young man didn't notice anyone's presence. Shad and Megan looked around, and finally Megan snapped her fingers.
With a soft thud, the crying stopped.
The young man, his eyes red and swollen, looked up to see the source of the sound, and then saw Megan's bright golden eyes. The witch, with her extremely powerful mental strength, had hypnotized him with just a glance, but Mr. Kruger was in a very poor mental state, making it quite easy to control him.
Megan gestured for Shad to ask, but Shad didn't directly ask for winning strategies:
Why are you crying?
"Because I killed my family."
His blank expression and hoarse voice were evident as he answered, and even under hypnosis, tears were still streaming from his eyes.
"How did you kill your family?"
Shad asked again, and the young man continued to answer blankly, tears streaming down his face:
“I borrowed too much luck, so I paid the price. I shouldn’t have been so greedy.”
Shad gave Megan a look, meaning "I wasn't wrong." The witch smiled, and Shad continued to ask:
"Explain in detail, what does 'borrowing luck' mean?"
The young man, with tears streaming down his face, said:
"I have gained a strange ability: I can improve my luck. But the more luck I gain, the more I have to pay. The price is what I have, and anything is possible."
I knew this could cause serious problems, so I didn't dare to be greedy. I only asked that my luck be slightly better than my opponent's during the game. Yes, just slightly better than my opponent at that moment, and that my luck return to normal after the game ends.
This way, my luck won't improve much, and the price I'd have to pay should be offset by selling those valuable Rhodes cards. Most of the problems can be solved with crowns.
Xia De roughly understood what was going on.
“Starting from the end of the year, everything was going very smoothly. I kept winning at cards, and the costs I paid, such as falling out with friends and having my grandfather’s belongings broken, were all within my means.”
But I don't know what happened today. Maybe it was the pent-up cost that exploded all at once. I was winning all day, but I ended up losing. I wondered if I couldn't bear the consequences, and sure enough, my father, mother, and brother are all gone.
But I don't understand. All I ask is to have slightly better luck than my opponents when playing cards, just slightly better. Why do I have to pay such a high price?
Megan then understood: the witches all knew that Shad had exceptionally good luck, and was even said to be blessed by the Old Gods, which made him even luckier at cards. Therefore, the amount of luck needed to surpass Shad's at the card table was terrifying.
If he hadn't run into Shad, Clement Kruger might have continued winning as long as he hadn't been greedy. But he did run into Shad, and he did indeed have that incredible luck, causing Shad to lose two hands.
It was precisely because of this terrifying luck that the price he had to pay was the lives of his family. And when all his family members were dead, and he no longer had enough luck to exchange for enough to beat Shad, he naturally could no longer beat Shad.
So it was no coincidence that Elder Harald lost four cards that morning, and that his opponent had unknowingly used the lives of his loved ones to win Shad's cards. Shad didn't know whether this should be called "cheating".
Shad also used supernatural powers to enhance his luck outside of the game, but the difference is that he didn't gain luck to win against others, while Kruger gained luck specifically to win. Therefore, the latter should be considered to have cheated.
"Where did you borrow your luck from?"
Shad continued to ask, which was the crux of the matter. He had considered that it might be a demon, an evil god, a relic, or an unknown evil object related to fate, but he never expected to hear such an answer.
"A temple. Before the year-end festival, I went winter fishing by the stream at the foot of the mountain. When I got home, it was quite late. In the darkness, I came across an ancient temple I had never seen before. Somehow, I went inside and saw that the temple housed a huge ouroboros wheel."
It was a metal wheel that could be turned. A man dressed in a robe that looked like those worn by priests in a story told me that turning the wheel could change any fate.
He called himself 'Mr. Snake,' which is Mr. Snake. I was content with my life, but I wanted to make money; being a teacher didn't pay well. So I asked if I could gain luck, and Mr. Snake said that improving luck came at a price before I spun the roulette wheel.”
Megan silently questioned Shad about what was going on. Shad wasn't sure either. Although she had mentioned "temple" and "Mr. Snake," it might just be a scene that some demon or something wanted mortals to see.
"After you spun the wheel, you just left, right?"
"When the ouroboros wheel turned, the snake's eyes began to glow. That's when I woke up as if from a dream and realized something was wrong. I wanted to run away, but my body wouldn't obey me."
Then the roulette wheel stopped, and the snake's two eyes fell out—two yellow gems resembling eyeballs. Mr. Snake kept one gem and gave me the other, then told me that if I wanted to end this borrowed luck, I only needed to throw the gem into any waters, inside or outside the island of Fatummister.
He started sobbing again:
"But when I found that gem in the ruins of my house today, it, it..."
The snake-eye-like gemstone sat on the dirty bedside table, but it wasn't a gemstone now; it was just a gray stone shaped like an eyeball, with a pitted and uneven surface, making it look nothing like something artificially carved.
Shad held it in his hand but did not feel any elemental reaction. However, there were black lines drawn on the surface of the stone, which was the next step in the investigation.