I Don't Know the Original, I'm Too Busy Trying to Make a Living-Chapter 193

Where there is light, there is always shadow.

As the Halo estate rapidly developed, back alleys naturally began to emerge—places where shady and grim activities took place.

Susan had ventured into one of these back alleys in Halo.

At the entrance to the alley stood a pawnshop. A line of haggard people queued outside, their eyes sunken as they waited to exchange jewelry or valuables for cash.

Nearby, men with dangerous glares loitered about, almost as if they had coordinated their outfits. Each of them had a dagger strapped to their waists.

‘Good heavens!’

Penelope, who had only ever seen the bright and splendid sides of the estate, was taken aback. She hadn’t expected Halo to have an area like this.

Or rather, she had vaguely suspected it, but she hadn’t imagined it would be so blatant.

‘More importantly, how did someone from another estate manage to find this place so quickly, having only just arrived?’

The persistence of a gambling addict was truly astonishing, driven by sheer determination.

Susan scanned the shabby buildings with bloodshot eyes before stepping into one. Near the entrance, a group of people stood smoking. Judging by their pallid complexions, they seemed to be fellow gamblers.

Penelope quickly turned to Ahwin, who raised an eyebrow.

“It seems there’s a gambling den in there,” she said.

“Looks like it,” he replied.

“Let’s go inside.”

“Dressed like that?”

Ahwin gave her a once-over, eyeing her attire.

Penelope glanced down at herself before turning back to Ahwin. In her opinion, he was the bigger problem.

“No one’s paid us any attention on the way here. Can’t you just use magic to sneak us in?”

“We haven’t interacted with anyone so far,” Ahwin explained. “But if we go into a cramped area, we’ll bump into people or get caught up in their business. That makes it harder to maintain the illusion. Magic isn’t all-powerful, you know.”

“Is that so.......”

What did that even mean?

Penelope didn’t understand a word of what he was saying. In situations like this, it was best to just smile and nod. Her smile seemed to soften Ahwin’s expression almost immediately.

“If magic won’t make us invisible, then let’s just change clothes and sneak in,” Penelope suggested.

“......You’re really serious about this, aren’t you?”

“What have you been watching this whole time?”

Without waiting for an answer, Penelope grabbed Ahwin’s hand and tugged him forward. He looked slightly flustered.

“Don’t you have plenty of shabby, inconspicuous robes in your wardrobe?”

“......How did you know?”

“You wear them all the time.”

She had once thought his awful fashion sense was the reason he wore those ragged clothes, but she’d since realized it was to hide his beauty.

Her boyfriend hiding his looks felt like something straight out of a novel.

‘Well, this is a novel.’

Penelope’s confident demand was met with a sigh from Ahwin. He glanced briefly at the building Susan had entered, then reached into the air.

“......!”

Penelope’s eyes widened as a robe materialized out of thin air.

Ahwin draped the robe over her and then donned one himself, transforming into the perfect image of a beggar in mere moments.

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‘Transformation magic! I’ve seen this on TV before!’

Penelope looked at him with awe, marveling at the miracle that had unfolded before her eyes.

Meanwhile, Ahwin meticulously adjusted her hood as he thought to himself, ‘She’s always more impressed by the smallest spells.’

He still couldn’t quite figure out what amazed her, but as long as she was happy, he felt satisfied.

“Shall we go in now?” he asked.

“Promise me you won’t cause any trouble,” he said with a skeptical tone.

“I promise. No trouble at all.”

She responded so quickly and confidently that Ahwin cast a despairing glance at the sky before taking her hand.

Together, they prepared themselves and entered the building Susan had disappeared into.

The moment they stepped inside, a pungent smell hit them. It was the acrid stench of smoke from gamblers puffing on cheap tobacco.

‘What in the world is this place?’

The thick smoke made it hard to see clearly.

Having come from a world where indoor smoking was banned, Penelope wrinkled her nose. She’d heard secondhand smoke was worse than smoking itself, and it felt like she’d inhale a lifetime’s worth of it here.

“Watch your step, Pepe,” Ahwin said, guiding her by the hand. Penelope snapped out of her thoughts and followed him.

Thanks to Ahwin, she navigated the place without getting lost and reached the inner part of the building.

Inside was a large hall with tables scattered about. A bartender stood at one end, taking orders.

People sat around the tables, drinking and smoking.

Penelope blinked in confusion.

‘Huh? Isn’t this supposed to be a gambling den?’

She had assumed Susan was here to gamble, given the purse she carried. It seemed her assumption was wrong.

Just then, Ahwin tugged her hand again.

“This way,” he said.

He led her to a corner where a staircase descended into the basement. Penelope swallowed hard. If anything screamed “suspicious,” it was this staircase.

At the bottom of the stairs, a door awaited, guarded by a heavily armed man.

The man eyed the two robed figures warily. It wasn’t surprising, given how sudden their appearance was.

“What brings you here?” the man asked.

Penelope quickly responded, “We’re here for a game. I heard this is the place to win big.”

“......”

“......”

The man stared at her, dumbfounded, while Ahwin wore a similar expression.

After scrutinizing them for a moment, the man smirked.

“Even the high and mighty nobles like to play a round or two for fun. Just remember, if you know anyone here, pretend you don’t. That’s the rule.”

“Got it. Any other rules I should know?”

“Find Jack inside. He’ll provide you with whatever you need. The rest, you’ll learn as you go.”

“Thanks for the tip.”

The man glanced at Ahwin, then gave him a knowing, almost sympathetic look. Ahwin nodded slightly in return.

‘What’s going on?’

Penelope felt like she’d just been slotted into the role of an impulsive noblewoman dragging her husband into a gambling den out of sheer curiosity.

The man opened the door with a heavy creak.

“Enjoy your time.”

Penelope stopped overthinking and stepped inside.

“Wow......”

It was unmistakably a gambling den.

Tables were scattered around, each surrounded by people. Cards lay on some tables, while others had roulette wheels spinning. Every table had its own dealer.

‘It’s a casino!’

It looked almost identical to the ones she had seen in her previous life, albeit a bit more run-down. Wherever there were people, there were always those willing to gamble everything.

Oddly enough, no one here was smoking or drinking. Those activities seemed restricted to the upper floor.

‘That must be one of the rules the guard mentioned.’

As Penelope took in her surroundings with curiosity, the reason she was here—Susan—had long slipped her mind.

She found herself captivated by a roulette table, trying to {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} figure out the game. The rules seemed simple enough: bet on where the ball would land.

‘I could play just one round for fun....’

She reached into her pocket to check how much money she had when—

“Aren’t you going to move? The Countess is right over there.”

Ahwin’s words snapped her back to reality.

‘What was I about to do?!’

She had almost been lured into gambling. She shuddered at the thought of how close she had come to falling into the trap.