Volume 8 Chapter 14 (1/2)

Ever since the casino opened, a great amount of activity could be observed in Avalon every day. Our rate of acquiring repeat guests was high and so was our rate of acquiring new ones that heard of us and our casino through word of mouth.

One reason for such increases is the improved accessibility to our city given by the additional Hippogriff airports.

However, there was one problem arising from this.

”Wow, our casino's overflowing with guests. It seems my estimate was indeed naïve. I'm so glad now that we didn't build the building for just 500 people.”

Fafnir was built under the assumption that it would entertain an average of a thousand guests. Although it could host up to a maximum of 2,000 people, there were also the dealers and the staff members to consider.

The closer we try to go to the limit, the less the guests' satisfaction would become.

For the moment, I was considering either rearranging the current layout, replacing some staff with more capable people, or just simply adding more space. Whichever we go with though, it would take some time before they would be implemented.

Because of that, I decided that whenever the guest count would reach a thousand, further admission would be halted. We would only admit additional guests when either current guests had exited or when several staff members would take a break.

It was a delicate balancing act. Thanks to this system and Conanna's decision-making, we were somehow able to satisfy our guests.

That being said, this did raise other concerns.

For example, some of the guests—after all the trouble they went through to get to Avalon—would occasionally find themselves unable to enjoy themselves in the casino. To counteract this, the merchants and I needed to put extra effort in thinking up of other ways the guests could pass their now plenty free time.

Which shouldn't be hard considering Avalon was already full of fascinating things gathered from all over the world even before the casino.

Another way to think about it was that it gave the other things in Avalon a good chance to develop.

”It's surprising to see how much those wanting to immigrate here has increased after the casino has opened.”

The more recreational facilities were in Avalon, the more employees were needed to man them. Also, there were some people too into gambling in the casino that had chosen to settle down here. Whatever the case might be, they ultimately decided that it would more convenient to just settle here than to travel back and forth.

Because of that, the number of those wishing to permanently reside here were greatly more than anticipated.

”Things are going so well. It's almost too good to be true, sometimes. There are miscalculations here and there, but they're mostly for the better. Well, no use thinking about it for now. It's better to focus my attention on testing the capabilities of an Abyss Howl.”

Abyss Howls were the monsters unlocked when I made Tiro. I was certain they were above norm, but what I wanted to find out was how above the norm they were.

Depending on today's results, I could also include them in my deal for tomorrow's meeting with Stolas where we would help each other's forces grow stronger.

◇

For the testing, I went to the [Mine] room.

It was devoid of humans—they would not be allowed entry even if they found the entrance—and it was spacious, thus making it a good place to go wild.

Even so and the fact that it had always been useful, I was thinking of removing this dungeon room in the near future. The [Mine] room was located in the same dungeon floor as the city, and Avalon had been becoming cramped. There was no easy way to deal with the increased population, so I thought why not relocate the [Mine] room in the newly added floor and in its stead place another [Plains] room.

”Oto-san, I'm so excited to see the new kid!”

”Gaugau♪”

”Fufu, the new kids would be fine. Yeah, no need to worry… ugh, I wish I had some money for alcohol right now. Hey, hey, when the new kid gets here-”

”…Ruhe-sama, please keep your gambling to a moderate level. You're making even our lord feel dismayed.”

Four of my monsters were with me in the room.

The Abyss Howls could potentially form another main force of our war potential, so Kuina, the top monster, was here. Similarly, Duke was here because he was the commander of my monsters. Meanwhile, Tiro and Ruhe were present because they would be the ones working together with the Abyss Howls in the other dimension.

Additionally, a few Mithril Golems were here as well. They were to be the Abyss Howl's test dummies. According to Rorono, so long as we don't break the golem cores, we could go as wild as we wanted.

The always cheery Ruhe wasn't so cheery today.

She had gambled and lost all of her wages and bonuses in the casino, leaving her penniless.

Being penniless wasn't a real, life or death problem for her, considering that she was a monster and thus didn't need food to live. But then again, without alcohol to enjoy, she was in a rather bitter mood.

I felt sorry for her, but I knew I mustn't help her. For if I did, she would only get more and more addicted to the casino.

”Once I get next month's salary, I'm going to win it all back! With interest! It's just a couple of days more of waiting. I'm so excited!”

After hearing her say she say she was going to win back her losses, I knew Ruhe was the type that shouldn't gamble at all.

Ruhe wasn't the only one of my monsters that would come to the casino to take a breather.

For example, Rorono had also gone to it. Out of curiosity, she went to see the building made by her followers, the Dwarf Smiths, despite being busy with the development of the Avalon-Ritters. And even though she just intended to have a bit of fun, she completely dominated on the card game that was much like blackjack using her incredible memory and calculation skills.

One could theoretically be unbeatable in some card games like blackjack if they memorized the cards that had been played and then calculated the odds of the other cards showing up. But then again, memorizing and predicting which of the 312 cards—from 6 decks comprising of 52 cards each—was going to be drawn next was no easy feat.

By the way, the chips used in our casino could be turned into cash or into gift prizes, depending on the guest's preference. The gift prizes included things that could be procured in nowhere else but Avalon, making our casino even more popular.

”Ruhe, keep it in moderation, ok?”

”…but maybe bribing the Darkness Dragons beforehand might be the ticket…”

”Ruhe, listen, don't do that, you hear? It'll ruin the races for everybody, including you.”

”Ahahaha. I was just joking, patron. Just joking. I will never do such a thing, you know.”

I was absolutely serious. Meanwhile, Ruhe just looked sideways.

Well, whatever, it's not like there's anything she can offer the Darkness Dragons that is worth more to them than the prize of the race.

For the Darkness Dragons, there was no prize better than being able to feast on the wild animals of the [Forest] area as much as they wanted for a whole day.

In other words, even if I left her alone, Ruhe couldn't find a bribe that the dragons would accept.

”Why don't we get started on today's agenda? We're going to make a new comrade, right?”

”Yes. Thanks to a certain someone, we got a bit distracted.”

Unless we moved on, it would be dark before we even began.

Alright, let's start.

”[I Shall Compose]”

Upon reciting the words of power, my [Demon Lord Book] materialized.

And when I thought of the Abyss Howls in my mind, the book opened to the page that was about them.

Featured on the said page was an image of an Abyss Howl, some simple description of them, and the cost for buying them with DP.

They looked a size smaller than Tiro, but they gave off the impression that they were just as ferocious.

When I read the description on the page, I had confirmed that on top of having excellent physical capabilities and sense of smell, they also possessed [Transfer] and an other-dimension-related ability.

”Now, show yourself, Abyss Howl!”

I paid 1200DP and summoned the demonic dog.

”Gau!”

From the magic array in the air, a huge dark-blue dog appeared.

It had fangs protruding from its mouth that matched its fiendish eyes.

Its ears were relatively small which suggested it didn't have outstanding hearing. On the other hand, its nose was big which suggested it had the disposition of a hunter.

”Woah, it's a tiny Tiro-chan!”