A month had passed since Vex was banished from the castle.

  Vex kept up his persona the whole time, even if his clothes didn't look emperor-like anymore. They were torn up, unwashed, and giving off a stench familiar to any peasant. His pants sprayed with different sized blobs of mud making a gradient from top to bottom.

  Vex didn't have any complaints about his living conditions, he was filled with dumb optimism, grinning out of joy with every step he took. The loser Patrich Cole was gone, he became "Emperor Vortex The Unyielding" and that was enough to reassure him that everything will work out. Calling it motivation would be a stretch, he was only motivated to gain and not to do. And that's just what he attempted to do for the past month.

  He traveled from place to place. Every new town he visited looked the same as the one he just left, the only thing separating them in his mind were the people- they had vastly different styles and even slightly different facial features. Once he caused enough trouble in one town he'd just go to another, accumulating massive debt.

  Casinos weren't yet to be a thing in Pangea. Most taverns had a "luck corner" where patrons could wager their coin. The luck corners were usually operated by scammers whose accomplices acted as strangers trying their luck at the game. The games were rigged, their partners won massive sums in front of naive onlookers, hooking them to play too. The regulars knew of this but kept their lips sealed and sometimes even laughed at the fools getting played.

  After seeing a man win 100 gold Vex stepped up confidently.

  "I am Emperor Vortex the Unyielding, the fortune's favored, the shadow glowing in the light, the one who bedded the royal princess of Aldric. I will try my hand in this peasant's game and show you how a true emperor operates."

  The host did a top to bottom scan looking at the quality of his clothes and looked for jewelry. Vex looked like a prime target, overconfident and rich.

  "We welcome you, mister emperor blessed by the gods of fortune. Minimum bet is 20 gold coins, we play odds or evens. That sum is probably nothing to royalty like you."

  The sum was massive, a commoner could live at least two months off of that. Vex scratched his messy scalp. He needed to keep up his emperor persona.

  "I saw swords go for 40, I guess that's not too much. I say evens."

  Vex dropped his pouch on the table.

  "If I lose just take what you need, I'm not planning on losing anyway."

  The gambler threw the dice and put a bowl over it. He slowly picked up the bowl revealing the dice result.

  Odds.

  He lost.

  "No big deal."

  Vex held back his annoyed expression. He wished for evens and dice landed on evens, the scammer was just that good with his sleight of hand.

  The host knew he could milk Vex dry, but being careful, he allowed smaller bets.

  Vex played again and again, losing almost every time . Dice "landed" on odds, even if he wished for evens. The only time it would land on evens was when the bet was minimal. After he lost all his money a shady looking guy stepped towards him and offered a loan. To any man bearing common sense this situation would scream "loan shark". But Vex was either too stupid or too stubborn to care about the consequences. After losing everything he just dipped to another town to try his fortune there.

  On the road luck always seemed to shine on him. He'd find a sleeping adventurer and rob him, see some dropped gem, scam an old lady with bad eyesight into buying weeds telling her it was medicinal herbs. Once he was even mistaken as a hero who saved a village from bandits and got a small reward. But when he entered the luck corner he'd always lose on big bets. With each town the dirtier he got, the smaller the bets and the loans became.

  He arrived in a new town and headed straight to the tavern. It was his seventh attempt. But this time he was eagle-eyed observing every detail. He didn't have concrete proof of cheating, he believed in his luck. When he got near the tavern he desperately looked around for totems or other objects that would cast bad luck on him. That made him miss the obvious faces in the windows witnessing his arrival, shuffling back to their seats as he entered. Immediately after entering the building the story repeated itself. Someone won the "jackpot", a woman invited Vex to play. He looked around.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  An identical corner like in every other tavern- dimly lit, purple tablecloth hiding the wooden table's imperfections, a small candle that barely even glowed and a bunch of jugs with cups around them.

  "Always in these dimly lit corners where you can barely see anything. Always a person winning just before me. Those bastards... I don't care how, I'm gonna make them hurt."

  The host greeted Vex.

  "Good evening to you, sir emperor, wanna try your chances today ? I'll give you a special offer if you bid over 5 gold and win, I'll even kindly triple it!"

  The village harlot who tried to pretty herself up with limited makeup looked at Vex and told him enthusiastically.

  "He only does the triple win deal for the most honorable of guests, you should do it! Maybe you'll win more than you think..."

  Vex realized how blatant it became. The idea of them thinking they'd fool him seven times in a row was hurting Vex even more than his losses. He understood that the scammers were somehow connected and even communicated, he hadn't introduced himself as an emperor and the gambler just called him than.

  "They think they can seduce me with that whore ? She looks over 50. Her shitty make up is basically falling off her."

  As much as he hated losing, he was more curious how the scam worked, imagining himself outplaying the scammers, crowd cheering.

  "Enough of these games! I'll give you all something more interesting, lets wager a real bet. I bet that the roll will be how many men this harlot bedded yesterday. To make it fair, she will carve the number on the table when I'm not looking and you'll cover it with this purple tablecloth so I can't see it. We'll use the sum of the numbers since I don't think this hag can handle more than 12 a day anymore. The odds are 35 to 1. If I win I'll get 100 gold. IF I lose you'll get my 6 gold and all the clothes off my back, they should add up to at least 15 gold. And one more rule. If I catch you cheating, you'll set yourself on fire."

  "Easiest win ever."

  The scammer thought to himself and then said.

  "Very interesting proposal sir. I think I'll agree.. but your clothes are dirty, they are barely worth that anymore. If you win I'll give you 80 gold."

  "Deal."

  Vex fished out his last 6 gold coins out of his pocket and put them on a table. The woman, unhappy with how she was addressed spitefully carved a number on the table. She carved a zero laughing at thinking how the fool just fell into his own trap. The zero may have been a lie, but there was no way to prove it and guaranteed their win. The woman put the tablecloth over her carving and left the knife on the table. The stage was set.

  "Emperor, you can come now."

  The scammer didn't even need to do his trick, but still decided to do it out of confidence. He rolled the dice and quickly put the bowl over it. At the same time Vex grabbed the knife and slammed it into the table. The candle which was set at the edge fell over and the corner got too dark to see anything. The dealer felt a sharp pain in his middle finger as he heard a slam. Scammers' goons quickly brought a lantern to them, it's light was brighter than the candles. The whole tavern saw a knife deep in the table, Vex's other fist slammed on the upside down bowl, hiding the dice and the scammer's finger crushed by the bowl's edge.

  The trick was revealed, every time he would "reveal" the dice he'd start lifting the bowl from his side and quickly flick the dice to the side with his middle finger if needed.

  "So you cheated... you're an idiot for trying to fool an emperor that operates in the darkness... Anyway, let's see the results."

  He lifted the bowl. The scammer's finger had yet to reach dice and looked already swollen. The dice were on 4 and 6 equaling 10.

  "Don't celebrate so early, idiot. Lets see the number our lovely hostess carved."

  The scammer was confident harlot was smart enough to carve a 0. Vex took out the knife and lifted the table cloth. The stab mark left a clear line right by the carved zero, making it into a ten.

  The trickster’s jaw fell with a silent gasp. As if he swallowed his tongue, he could not muster out a word, but it did not matter, more trouble for him was brewing.

  Vex noticed a faint smell of smoke. The fallen candle got its embers on the scammer's fine beetlesilk pants. In seconds he was halfway on fire. He ran out hoping to find a puddle to jump into.

  The tavern regulars cheered. Vex had given them the best show they've seen in a long time. Vex was surprised himself, all he did was bluff not even planning to win, he just wanted to expose the cheater. After a minute of daydreaming he got back into his character.

  "That's what happens when you cross Emperor Vortex, the Unyielding, I hope this expose entertained you and taught you a lesson, my people. I'll be taking my spoils and heading out."

  Vex counted 80 coins from the stash to take for himself. He would have taken everything if the whole tavern wasn't focused on him. The charred gambler returned furious. He picked up a knife and charged at Vex. Women gasped, a massive bald guy raised his grotesquely muscled arm and clothes-lined the scammer. He looked at Vex and with a kind voice wished him good travels, hinting him to leave as soon as possible. It was his way of thanking Vex for the show.

  The dark emperor swore to himself to stop gambling (At least with dice.). But it was too late. Even though he won back 80 gold, he still had accumulated over 480 gold in debt -enough to get a bounty on his head.