The Duty Of An Academy Student Should Be To Study - Chapter 90

Episode 90

‘I’m not cut out for this darn factory. I’m not meant for this kind of work.’

However, George knew that if he didn’t want to end up in the clutches of the Redmark Summit, he had to hide and survive here. It was frustrating, but he had no choice.

Just a few days ago, unable to bear it, he sneaked into the gambling alley. He thought he saw a familiar face and hastily ran out.

George looked at his trembling fingertips. He wanted to sit at a table and handle chips. 

He missed the unique atmosphere and air of the gambling house. He felt thirsty, like someone who hadn’t drunk water for a long time.

George’s face grew thinner, and dark circles formed under his eyes. It was evident to anyone that he was not in good shape.

After standing and working for half a day, George hugged his aching muscles and walked to the dormitory building. 

Today, he was on restroom cleaning duty and had to clean up the filth left by dirty men. He thought it might be better to die. 

‘How did I end up like this…?’

His body and mind were in a miserable state. Most likely, there were bruises where the supervisor had hit him earlier.

‘The supervisor is such a brat. A little blue-eyed punk. A worthless brat who couldn’t even look me in the eye in the past…’

George cleaned the restroom, sobbing in self-pity and anger. Amid his grueling work, waves of regret would occasionally overwhelm him.

When he sold his title and moved to Quilts, at first, thoughts of gambling didn’t even cross his mind. He was engrossed in raising cattle. After a long time, he took care of his home and hugged his children, who clung to him one by one.

‘Why did I start again?’

He couldn’t remember the reason. It was as if gambling was his fate. 

When he came to his senses, he found himself involved in a small gambling den in the countryside. There, George had no real opponents and always walked away with all the money from the table.

No matter how hard he worked to raise cattle and sell milk and cheese, he couldn’t make that much money. 

George quickly grew tired of Quilts’ life, and whenever he had a chance, he went to nearby cities to visit gambling houses.

“Father!”

George suddenly remembered a voice he had heard before. A small hand grabbed his sleeve as he was about to leave for the city in a carriage. It was his eldest daughter, Rose.

“Father, please don’t go. Please… Mother is sick right now. And you said you wouldn’t gamble anymore… What about the younger siblings?”

It was a completely forgotten memory. George looked down at the dirty restroom floor with a grim expression.

Yes, that’s right. Rose had clung to him, crying. She begged him to stay with the family. Didn’t he promise to live well here…?

George suddenly threw the mop in a fit of emotion.

“Damn it!”

He couldn’t remember what he had said to Rose, but he knew he had pushed her away. The desperation in Rose’s eyes turned into despair.

Thinking of his family made George feel dirty. It was especially true when he thought of his eldest daughter. She was truly brave and beautiful.

When Rose was still a newborn, before George fell into gambling, he was cherishing her. 

As the first child, she was naturally adorable, and he often held her. People around said she resembled her father.

Though her steps were a bit unsteady, she learned to talk faster than other children. She had a sweet smell that mingled with her hair when she nestled against him, and when she grinned, she showed her tiny teeth, squeezing George’s finger tightly and giggling…

What would life have been like if they had continued living like that?

At that time, they were managing to get by. He had inherited land and hadn’t squandered all the money he had saved from gambling.

George bit his lip.

“Damn it, damn it….”

It was a futile and unnecessary imagination. George tried hard to think of something else while cursing deliberately.

“I’m not wrong. It’s just that luck wasn’t on my side for a moment. It’s not my fault.…”

He hypnotized himself relentlessly, his eyes filled with stubbornness.

After finishing the restroom cleaning, George came into his lodging, completely drained. The place was crowded, and everyone had to sleep huddled together.

It was when George, covering himself with a worn and dirty blanket, crouched like a shrimp. The conversations of others nearby reached his ears.

“They say he won everything in every game yesterday.”

“What on earth is he doing?”

“He looks young. He looks smooth like an actor.”

“I can tell without even looking! Probably a guy mooching off some rich woman.”

“Could be. There’s an air of sophistication about him… Anyway, Wonder Laquoi took everything from a guy yesterday.”

“What kind of name is that?”

“Probably just a pseudonym used only at the gambling tables.”

George, who was lying down, suddenly sat up. The people conversing were taken aback and looked at George. 

George approached them with quick steps, his eyes narrowed and asked.

“What did you just say? Wonder Laquoi?”

“Come on, I thought you were sleeping.”

“You mean he’s here?” 

George’s breathing became fast.

Wonder Laquoi. If it weren’t for that guy, he wouldn’t have to flee from the capital.

At that time, George gathered all his funds and participated in a large gambling event. If he won there and left, he planned to clean up in the capital and return to Quilts. Stealing the house deed might have been a bit extreme, he thought.

But suddenly, all his money was taken by a guy named Wonder Laquoi. He was a man with deep-set eyes, and at a glance, his face looked somewhat vicious. He wasn’t one of the usual gamblers who frequented the gambling tables.

He thought this guy looked like a spoiled son from a rich family who came to the gambling house for some amusement. Young masters with lots of money were the easiest to fleece.

However, after the game, the one who had lost all the money was George. Throughout the game, George felt like he was dancing on Wonder Laquoi’s palm.

It was the first time he had lost so ruthlessly. He wasn’t a regular gambler making a living from gambling.

After that, all George had left was a house deed he had brought from Quilts.

“If you sell even the property deed, I’ll never… never forgive you.”

George suddenly remembered what Rose had said. Since that day, he had completely drifted apart from Rose.

‘If Wonder Laquoi hadn’t shown up suddenly… I would have taken the money and gone back home.’

George began rationalizing, as he always did.

‘Why did that guy come to Valloch? What kind of person is he?’

Venturing outside the factory and sticking his head into the gambling house could be dangerous. 

George knew his situation very well, but he couldn’t stand the thought of Wonder Laquoi, who had trampled on him ruthlessly.

He felt a twitch in his toes as if he wanted to run away right now. 

George began to chew his lips meticulously, falling deep into contemplation.

* * *

That evening, one of Valloch’s famous gambling houses was incredibly lively and noisy.

When Jasper finally revealed his hand of cards, a simultaneous explosion of shouts and sighs of astonishment erupted from the surroundings. 

Caleb, who had been standing next to Jasper spectating, let out a surprised breath.

Once again, this round was a complete victory for Jasper, no, Wonder Laquoi. 

Caleb spoke in a startled voice.

“How on earth did you do that?”

“Skill.”

Jasper looked at the countless chips piled in front of him without much excitement on his face.

Card games were nothing but a psychological battle. Jasper read the opponent’s expressions while concealing his own. Momentum was important, just like clashing swords. He must never get too excited.

And if he remembered which cards hadn’t been played yet, reading the opponent’s hand also became easier. It was a matter of predicting and exchanging moves as they took turns. He thought it was not much different from combat.

Jasper occasionally enjoyed card games with a light heart.

On the days when he heard irritating nagging from Ethan, he would go to the back alleys where no one recognized him.

And in the most abhorrent places according to Ethan’s standards, he indulged in escapades. He deliberately created the alias ‘Wonder Laquoi’.

When mingling with third-rate lives not being under the name Conway, he felt a strange sense of liberation.

‘I can’t believe one of the people I met there was Rose Bell’s father.’

There was nothing but trash in there.

He doesn’t understand how someone like Rose Bell came out of such a mud pit. Rose was so transparent and honest. To the extent that he would wish she were a bit more selfish.

After knowing the trajectory of Rose’s life, Jasper fell even more for her. 

While he’d been acting out his childish rebellion by adopting an alias, she’d been facing it all head-on. Even when her heart was broken and dirty, she never lost herself.

‘It’s really… strange.’

A person like Rose Bell is only Rose Bell. Jasper was convinced of that. Once she lost Rose, he knew he wouldn’t feel the same about anyone else.

No, the premise of letting go of Rose Bell in the first place is ridiculous. Coming here across the sea was solely to obtain Rose.

‘First, I have to find George Bell.’

He planned to make himself known at the Valloch gambling tables and build a rapport, intending to interrogate George. The last reported sighting of George was right here at this gambling house.

While waiting for the next game, Jasper meticulously scanned his surroundings. Like setting a trap and waiting for the prey.

He thought it would take quite some time, but this prey seemed impatient and walked right into his trap. 

The door of the gambling house opened, and George Bell, with a bony and grim face, stumbled in.