Early in the morning, the diligent Tanjiro got up and burned the firewood he had chopped yesterday to make charcoal.
Even though today's weather was bad, he was still prepared to go to town to sell the charcoal.
However, the worried Kie called him over. She squatted down and gently wiped the charcoal dust from Tanjiro's face with her hands.
"Tanjiro, snowy days are dangerous. Don't go today."
"Thanks to Jotaro-san's help, our family isn't lacking food right now."
Tanjiro looked into his mother's eyes and said seriously, "I want all the younger siblings to be able to wear warm clothes in winter, so I still want to sell more charcoal."
Kie's gaze became even gentler. She reached out and patted Tanjiro's head, saying softly, "Thank you..."
Takeo, Hanako, and Shigeru gathered around, clamoring to go to town with Tanjiro. But Kie refused. It snowed heavily last night, and the ground was covered in snow, making it inconvenient to push the cart. If they went, they'd only slow Tanjiro down.
"Tanjiro, today I'll go to town with you."
Jotaro had walked over at some point. He was dressed as usual, in a black uniform and black hat, his all-black appearance made him stand out in this colorful world.
"Eh? Jotaro-san, you're going to town too? If you need cigarettes, I can bring some back for you."
Tanjiro, carrying a basket full of charcoal on his back, said this while walking beside Jotaro.
Jotaro replied calmly, "No, I have other things to do today."
After walking for a while, they ran into Nezuko carrying Rokuta on her back. Nezuko smiled and told them to come back early.
After Jotaro's tall figure disappeared from sight, the smile on her face turned a bit bitter.
"Jotaro-san will probably be leaving soon…"
At the foot of the mountain was a small town that Jotaro had visited a few times. After parting ways with Tanjiro, he skillfully found a tobacco shop and bought a few packs of cigarettes from the owner.
Then, following the path he remembered, he found a casino.
That's right, this was his quick way to make money.
From what he knew, this casino often set traps to make gamblers lose everything they had. That day, he even encountered a person who had lost all his money at the casino, lost hope in the future, and tried to drown himself in the river.
Jotaro had no sympathy for that kind of person. In his view, if you chose to come to a place like a casino, then you should be prepared to lose money.
He lifted his hand and pulled open the curtain outside the casino, bent down, and walked in with his head lowered.
Inside, there were many gamblers shouting loudly around the gambling tables. No one paid any attention to his arrival.
Jotaro had his hands in his pockets and casually walked over to one of the tables.
In the center of the table stood a beautiful, curvy female dealer, shaking the dice with energy.
The gamblers around the table shouted loudly after placing their bets.
"Big! Big! Big!"
"Small! Small! Small!"
Annoyed by the noisy atmosphere, Jotaro frowned. But he still squeezed through the crowd to the table.
His gaze stayed on the dealer the whole time. Of course, what he was observing wasn't her alluring body, but her technique in shaking the dice.
"Hey there, want to play a round?"
After the betting round ended, the beautiful dealer noticed the tall Jotaro and flirted with a wink.
Most of the gamblers here were locals, short in stature and dressed in rough linen clothing. Jotaro was tall and well-built. Clearly, he came from a well-off background. At a glance, he was an outsider with money.
Seeing that Jotaro didn't speak, she kindly reminded him, "Are you new here? Newcomers usually have good luck. Want to try a round?"
Jotaro glanced at her and exchanged all the 10,000 yen in his pocket for chips, betting it all on "big."
During this process, he accidentally revealed his valuable watch.
The diamonds on the watch sparkled, instantly catching the dealer's attention. Her gaze stayed on it for only a moment before naturally looking away, as if she hadn't seen anything.
"You sure you want to bet on big?"
Jotaro nodded and didn't change his decision.
After everyone finished betting, the dealer started shaking the dice and then revealed the result.
The three dice added up to fifteen points, big.
No suspense, Jotaro easily won this round.
Afterward, Jotaro kept betting and kept winning. His capital gradually grew to about 500 yen.
The losing gamblers looked at him with red eyes, extremely envious of his luck.
Jotaro didn't like the atmosphere here. When his capital reached 500 yen, he bet it all on triple sixes.
The dealer noticed this and was secretly delighted. In her eyes, this was a sign of being overwhelmed by gambling fever.
Many gamblers here, after winning some money, really thought their luck was incredible, that they could win no matter what, like they were chosen by fate.
But in reality, that was just an illusion she secretly created and controlled.
Jotaro had taken the bait. She secretly signaled someone underneath the table. If Jotaro lost this round, he'd definitely get more caught up and exchange more chips to win back what he lost.
After everyone placed their bets, the same process followed.
Only this time, the dealer, unable to contain her joy, announced eagerly before even fully lifting the lid, "What a pity, sir. 1, 2, and 4, seven points. Small."
"But don't be discouraged. With your luck, you'll win it all back if you play more cautiously."
However, the gamblers around were stunned as they looked into the bowl at the three dice, as if they had seen a ghost.
After a moment, they snapped out of it and let out heart-wrenching howls.
"Unbelievable! Unbelievable! It's actually triple sixes, a leopard! A leopard!"
"Oh my god! This guy's luck is insane! His capital more than multiplied ten times!"
Hearing the noise around her, the dealer lowered her head and looked at the three shining sixes in the bowl, murmuring blankly, "How is this possible? How is this possible…"
'I clearly shook 1, 2, and 4!'
In this era, there are bills with a face value of 10,000 yen, so Jotaro was not satisfied with his current capital. He planned to win a few more rounds. That way, he wouldn't have to worry about living expenses anymore. And he could focus entirely on gathering information about the demons.
Maybe because Jotaro's body was too tall for these short people, he only moved slightly, and those around him unconsciously stepped aside.
He pulled out a chair and sat down, crossing one leg over the other, resting his arm on it. Without moving his chips, he said casually, "Yare yare, I'll bet on triple sixes again this time."
Saying this, Jotaro even took out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it in front of everyone.
Seeing the dealer frozen in place, he impatiently said, "What? Didn't you hear me? I said I'm betting on triple sixes again this time."
"Hurry up and open the round."
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