Chapter 112
“What nonsense… aaah!”
Bang!
The man’s face, lifted halfway, crashed back down onto the table. Hutmane pressed down on his struggling body with his elbow as if it were a nuisance. A groan immediately escaped.
“Ugh! It hurts! I said it hurts!”
“Well, of course it hurts if I make it hurt. Stop squirming and stay still.”
“What are you guys?! This is a crime. A crime! Do you even realize that?!”
Isabelle frowned at his whining, clearly annoyed by the squeaky voice.
“It doesn’t matter who we are. We just asked you to pay the stake according to the game rules, so why are you dodging the issue?”
“Even if you cut open my belly, I won’t give you a penny! How dare you mess with an innocent citizen? I’ll have all of you sued!”
The man ground his teeth, venting his indignation. Isabelle, utterly exasperated, fixed him with a cold stare.
“Innocent citizen? You’re really mouthy, aren’t you? Shall we try it your way? If a report is filed, it’ll come out that you and that guy connived to commit fraud. You’re okay with that?”
“W-what evidence do you have to say such a thing?”
“You really thought we wouldn’t notice you cheated with magnets? If you want to argue more, maybe we should take apart the dice and see if there’s a magnet inside.”
Both the man and the dealer stared at each other, their faces turning pale. Only then did the man seem to realize their trick had been exposed, and his tone softened considerably.
“What are you really? Who are you to be messing around here?”
“Hah, are you a goldfish? Didn’t you remember what you just said a moment ago?”
“W-what?”
Watching the man at a loss for words, Isabelle’s lips curved into a shy smile.
“Oh my, I guess you heard my little muttering, huh?”
Isabelle tilted her head at Hutmane, who was still pressing down on the man’s bulky body as if to squash it.
“Honey, let’s go. It looks like you don’t even have the ability to pay this off, so we’ll let it slide with our generous hearts.”
“Live properly. Next time, it won’t end like this.”
Hutmane gave a warning, threw the man to the floor, and returned to his seat, grumbling.
“You’ve got a good laugh. Even after being treated like that, you can still smile?”
“Well, there’s a saying. Abundant money offsets all bad emotions.”
“So in the end, you’re satisfied with just a little pocket change?”
“Pocket change?” Isabelle thought. It was 4 million gold!
Four times the 1 million gold that had started this whole ordeal—how could she not feel pleased?
‘After giving the money back to Amanda and Hutmane, I still have quite a lot left. How can I grow this money so people notice?’
Even in this era, real estate investment was popular. Should she buy some land for development? Or maybe saving it safely wasn’t a bad choice either.
But then, a chilling thought struck her: in the future, she might have to leave this money behind to return to her original world.
‘I need to find a way to bring the money from this world back to my original world.’
Isabelle imagined herself as a rich woman and left room 607.
Having left room 607, Isabelle told the two ahead that she had somewhere to go and headed to the corner of the hallway where she had spoken with Chester.
Though there was no set appointment, Chester, having arrived earlier, was waiting for her.
“Chester!”
“I thought you might not come, so I waited. Luckily, we meet again.”
Isabelle blinked in surprise. She had come to thank Chester, but he hadn’t just been waiting to say goodbye.
Suddenly, he approached, took her hand, and bowed his head.
“Thank you so much. You really eased the burden on my heart.”
“What do you mean?”
“It seems I was troubled by what happened here, even without realizing it. Helping you and seeing that guy get his comeuppance lifted a weight off me.”
Understanding Chester’s meaning, Isabelle softened her lips into a gentle smile and patted his wrinkled hand.
“I’m the one who should thank you. Things went smoothly thanks to your help. By the way, is there still anything you need me to do?”
“…”
Unlike before, hesitation was visible on Chester’s face. Isabelle noticed and prompted him gently.
“You have something you want to say to your daughter, right?”
After a long pause, Chester revealed his inner thoughts.
“What right do I have to leave anything for her? But if possible… if I could just see her face one last time, that would be my wish.”
“…Hmm.”
It wasn’t difficult to relay a message from the deceased to their remaining family, but meeting face-to-face was another matter. Especially for a bound spirit like Chester, leaving the gambling hall was impossible.
Even if she found his daughter, bringing her to the hall was out of the question.
Isabelle didn’t want to ignore Chester, who had helped so much, so she racked her brain—and an idea struck her.
“It might be possible.”
“Possible? As you know, I’m bound here. I can’t go outside…”
“That’s exactly it. A bound spirit is trapped because of lingering attachments, right? But you said your heart’s burden is lifted.”
“!”
Chester’s face lit up as Isabelle calmly organized her thoughts. There were still a few things to confirm.
First, she had to check if Chester could leave here, and then find his daughter.
“Chester, if you’re ready, would you try going out the window?”
Chester floated in the air. Nervously, he kept looking at Isabelle. With her encouraging gaze, he took a deep breath, steeled his expression, and leapt beyond the wall.
Crackle.
Small sparks flew around him.
“Chester!”
The situation seemed like his soul could ignite any moment. Isabelle reached out to him, but he pressed on, pushing further into the world outside.
Crackle!
The sparks vanished, as if chains had broken, and he shot out into the open.
Outside, the bright sun had risen. Covering his face against the unfamiliar light, Chester exhaled sharply.
“Chester!”
Isabelle, already outside, called to him as he floated in midair. Looking down, he saw Isabelle celebrating as if it were her own success.
“Chester, you did it!”
“Suddenly running outside, talking to thin air… what are you doing?”
Hutmane, following Isabelle, took off his stuffy jacket and muttered, though he didn’t seem genuinely upset.
“Sorry, something urgent came up.”
“Detective!”
At that moment, Amanda came running, breathless, and stopped in front of them. She hugged Isabelle tightly, then let go.
“Detective, you’re amazing! How did you know those people were frauds? I only had a hunch—I never could have figured it out.”
“I had help too. Alone, I wouldn’t have known their method.”
“Help?”
Amanda’s puzzled look followed Hutmane’s gaze, which had caught sight of the ghost.
“Nice to meet you!”
Chester waved, knowing she couldn’t see him.
“You’re waving at the two of them now.”
“You don’t need to narrate that.”
Amanda, watching their conversation, sensed something strange. She clung to Hutmane and looked around quickly.
“Who… who is waving?”
“Oh my, I didn’t mention it. I can see ghosts.”
Amanda’s face went pale when Isabelle handed her the business card. She clutched Hutmane’s sleeve, trembling.
“R-really… there’s a ghost here?”
“You don’t have to be scared. It’s a friendly ghost. And it looks completely normal.”
“It seems I scared her,” Chester thought sadly.
Trying to comfort him, Isabelle patted the air and gently spoke to the trembling Amanda.
“By the way, Amanda, can you tell me why you were in a place like this?”
Gathering courage, Amanda opened her mouth.
“I didn’t expect to come here either. Actually, I came to the capital to find someone.”
“Someone? Who is it?”
“Jane. A woman named Jane.”
