He went to the barracks.
　There, he saw the guards.

"Zeke. I thought you were off duty today.
I had nothing to do. I thought I'd work out.
Yeah. ......
You're too smart for that. ......

　For some reason, the guards looked at me like they couldn't believe what they were seeing. I've been torturing my body with strength training and striking out.


"Wind ....... It's time to go up.
　After finishing his workout, he took a shower at the Guard's dormitory. After sweating and refreshing himself, he looked at the clock on the wall.
　It was still noon.
　There was still plenty of time left on his day off.

There's nothing left to do at .......

　Now that I have finished my training, I have done all the tasks that I should have done.
　At times like this, ordinary people may enjoy their hobbies, but I had no hobbies of my own.
　This has been the case since I was a member of the Red Lotus Fang.
　Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, I didn't notice it because I didn't take many days off due to the hard work I did as an adventurer and after I became a guard. .......

I didn't realize it because I didn't take many days off, but I was thinking, "Could it be that I'm a boring person?

　It was then that I suddenly realized.
　I don't have anything to devote myself to other than my work.
　I don't have any kind of breadth or depth as a human being. ....... It's not a good idea to have no hobbies at your age.
　I'm suddenly getting worried.

I'm not sure. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

　I thought about it.
　Nothing came to mind.


　No hobbies, no girlfriend.
　When you take away the work, there is nothing left for me.

I'll go for a walk at .......

　If I stay in my room, I'll sink into bad thoughts.
　And I like to walk. It's not a hobby.
　It's no use staying in the dormitory like this. While I'm doing this, my precious day off is fading away. I can't afford to waste even a second of it.
　I went outside and headed towards the city.
　The main street was bustling with people of all ages, young and old, men and women, coming and going. I was walking in an alley off the street when I heard a voice.

"Oh. It's Zeke. What are you doing here?

　What are you doing?" He called out.
　I looked and saw Spinoza with his hands up.

"Can't you see? I'm going for a walk.
What?　A walk?
Yeah. I've been working out and there's nothing else to do.
You're pissed. How you spend your free time determines how much you enjoy life. Would you like me to teach you how to play?
In your case, it's probably gambling.
That's not all. Drink, hit, buy. Drink, drink, buy, whatever you want.
I'm not proud of it.


No, no, no, no, no. I'll take care of it.
......

　Well, I was having trouble finding a hobby, that's for sure.
　Try something.
　Maybe I should ask Spinoza to teach me how to play.

"Okay. All right, take care of it.
Whoa!　You're good!　I'm on it!　I'll add some color to your gray life!

　I'll add color to your gray life!" Spinoza said as he squared my shoulders.

I promise you a rosy life from today!

　...... I'm worried.

I was taken to a casino in the city.

...... It was just as I thought.
There's nothing in this world more fun than gambling. The pleasure of the brain juice that comes out when you hit a jackpot can't be experienced with any other hobby.

　Spinoza had the eyes of a junkie.

"Well... Which game should I play? --Hmm?

　We were wandering around the casino.
　There was a cheer like bubbles popping.
　--What is it?
　I looked and saw a large gallery of people gathered around one table.
　They were looking at a man in a feathered hat. He is holding a card in the shape of a fan and smiling a fake, rude smile.

"What are you doing?
It's a poker table.


Poker. I've heard of it. It's a game where you play with five cards.
Oh. You know it.
When I was an adventurer, other adventurers used to play it in the tavern. I've seen the guards sometimes playing it in the dining hall at night.

　Sometimes the guards would invite me to join them. But I didn't know the rules, so I couldn't play with them.
　I asked Spinoza.

Who is that player?　You seem to be getting a lot of attention.
"His name's Feather. He's famous in this casino. He says he's never lost a poker game to anyone.
That's great. Is he that lucky?
Maybe I'm lucky. Poker is a game of judging the odds. I heard he can read his opponent's cards by looking at his face.
Oh.
How about you guys?

　He must have overheard our conversation.
　Feather, who was sitting in his seat, looked at me and invited me to join him. He pushed up the brim of his feathered hat with his fingers, revealing his handsome face.

"If you can beat me, I'll give you all the chips I have.
"Whoa!　Zeke!　Look at that. That's a lot of chips!　It's got to be at least a million. ......?



　Feather had a huge stack of chips in his hand. So many that he had to tilt his chin back to see the top chip.

But we can't afford to pay that much.

　We're poorly paid guards.
　I'm confident that I don't have much on me.
　...... I'm starting to feel sad about what I'm saying.

I don't care. You guys can just tip what you have.
I'm sorry, but I don't think so.　That means I have 30,000 in my pocket right now. If I beat you, I'll get a million?
Yeah.
Yes!　I'll take that bet!

　Spinoza came forward with the million.

...... Are you sure?　That 30,000 must be all you have. If you lose, how are you going to survive until your next payday?
Hey, hey, hey. You're a little man. Why are you thinking about losing before you play? I'm going to win.

　Spinoza sat down to face Feather without any hesitation.
　...... This positivity should be emulated.

I'm going to win.　Let's go for it!