After getting off the carriage, Ansu wasn't in a hurry to take Celia to the casino. Instead, the two of them first stopped for breakfast at a small, somewhat famous snack shop in the Black Harbor District.
"You haven't eaten all morning; you must be hungry, right?"
Ansu brought over a steaming plate of fish and chips along with a crepe drizzled in sauce. He also ordered two cups of refreshing black coffee and sat down with Celia at a table facing the street.
Ansu took a few bites but noticed there was no movement from the person opposite him, so he looked up.
Celia had no intention of starting at all. She just rested her chin on her hand, quietly watching the bustling street outside, her thoughts drifting off to who knows where.
"Hmm? Not hungry?" Seeing that she still hadn't started, Ansu held a fry up to her lips.
Celia opened her mouth and took a small bite.
After chewing for a moment, she frowned slightly, her expression full of distaste.
"This isn't good at all! It's just terrible cooking from that island nation across the sea. This kind of thing only becomes popular in places where ingredients are scarce. I have no idea how it became a hit in Novalon..."
Ansu froze, looking at the plate of fish and chips he had nearly half-finished. He didn't think it was that bad...
Fried food was delicious! This was his budget alternative to KFC.
"Does the Lady Witch not like fried food?"
Ansu rolled up the crepe on the plate. This thing was actually quite similar to a savory pancake, and its crispy texture suited his tastes. "Then try this? This is a local dish."
After it was placed on the plate in front of her, Celia just glanced down at it and shook her head again. "It looks way too sweet and greasy. I don't want to eat this either..."
"It seems the Lady Witch has no appetite." Ansu thought to himself that this was likely an early symptom of depression. The Witch's current state was truly not great...
"Well, you should still eat at least a little something, or you won't have any energy."
Ansu looked at her helplessly. After being subjected to her sharp-tongued critiques, he felt like the food on his own plate didn't taste nearly as good anymore.
Looking at Ansu's expression, Celia suddenly patted the seat next to her. "If you feed me, then I'll have an appetite."
"Huh?" Ansu instinctively looked around. Several customers were already staring in their direction.
"Forget it if you're embarrassed!" Celia curled her lip, resting her chin on her hand as she looked out the window again.
Ansu sighed and rubbed his forehead, but he ultimately picked up the food and sat down beside her.
"Come on, open up."
He picked up a piece of fried fish with a fork and blew on it to cool it down.
Celia suppressed the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth and turned her head, reluctantly opening her small mouth.
After finally getting the food into her mouth, Ansu suggested with a smile, "Since the Lady Witch looks down on all this food, why don't you come to my house as a guest another day? I'll prepare a table of mysterious dishes you've never tasted before!"
Celia blinked, chewing as she asked in surprise, "Your cooking is that good?"
"Of course!"
Celia naturally wanted to visit Ansu's home, but after thinking it over, her mood turned a bit gloomy again.
"Your sister, Vera, has never really liked me, has she...?"
"Every time I go to your house, that little girl just glares at me like I'm some kind of enemy..."
If it were before, Celia naturally wouldn't have cared about such hostility. Or rather, she never cared about anyone's gaze or opinions.
But regarding this person who was Ansu's only family, the current Celia hoped the girl's attitude could be a little better...
"Vera definitely won't mind."
Ansu didn't want Celia to stay depressed, so he continued saying things to cheer her up. "In fact, lately, she's been quite grateful for the way you, her boss, have been looking after me!"
"Really?" A surprised light flickered in Celia's eyes. "But..."
"There are no 'buts'." Ansu smiled sincerely. "As long as the Lady Witch's attitude toward Vera is just a tiny bit better, that child won't keep being so difficult. Trust me."
Ansu had never given up on his 'remodeling' of Celia. Since he couldn't change her habit of not treating others like humans, he would at least try to make her attitude toward those around him a bit better...
He would start with Vera.
Ansu could already imagine it... the awkward sight of the Lady Witch visiting his home while stiffly carrying a gift.
Because Vera was his sister, he believed Celia wouldn't do anything too out of line.
Yes, this was called socialization! The Humanization Project for the Witch officially begins now!
...
After slowly feeding Celia for quite a while and both of them having finished eating, they left the snack shop together.
Ansu led her through the bustling market district, weaving for a long time between the unevenly built slum buildings and numerous smoke-filled factories. Suddenly, the view opened up, and a massive casino hidden inside an abandoned factory appeared before them.
Because the rent for this abandoned factory was cheap, a mysterious owner had bought it and converted it into a massive, chaotic gambling den. Almost any gambling game one could think of could be found here.
"So it's this place..." Celia seemed to have heard of this casino before.
"This is the property of an underground gang. The cult has dealt with them before. Although they're just a gang, they have several transcendents under their command."
Ansu nodded. Since they could run such a large casino, the gang itself definitely had some capability.
Even though it was still morning, many gamblers with flushed faces were already shouting and screaming outside the casino. Gang members were dragging away those who had already incurred massive debts and had no way to pay them back.
Generally speaking, parts of their bodies were worth at least some money. Underground casinos had always been one of the sources for organ trafficking.
Ansu took a quick scan of the casino's exterior. There was roulette, blackjack, poker, dice—everything. However, he wasn't interested in these common games.
First, the odds weren't high enough, and second, he needed a game where the results were announced a bit slower—ideally something where he would know the outcome in about ten minutes...
Therefore, horse racing and all competitive events were the best choices.
"Come on, I'll show you something exciting!" Seeing how crowded and chaotic the surroundings were, Ansu instinctively took Celia's hand and led her toward the innermost part of the casino.
Celia looked down at her hand being held tightly by him, her eyes flickering for a moment.
Then she replied with a smile, "Okay."
As soon as they entered the circular arena of the racecourse, a wave of boiling noise rose from all sides.
Celia discovered that the horse racing here seemed a bit different from what she had imagined.
This was because horses and contestants were constantly being carried out of the racecourse. Whether horse or human, most of them were missing limbs. Some were even worse... their bodies were almost torn to shreds, and their remains were being collected in iron buckets.
Voided betting slips flew through the air like snow, and the surrounding shouts were incessant. At this moment, whether they were gamblers or enthusiasts, everyone had their eyes wide open, cheering for the horse they favored.
"This... this is horse racing?" Celia looked at Ansu, blinking in surprise.
"This is a Black Harbor District specialty horse race!" Seeing that the noise was too loud, Ansu had to lean in close to Celia's ear. "There aren't many tedious rules here; it's all about violent excitement! No matter what method the contestant uses, as long as they can complete one lap and finish in the top three, they win!"
"So on the track, you can try your best to sprint for first place, or you can just take out your opponents. After all, if you take out everyone else, doesn't that count as a win too?"
"Interesting..." Celia watched the current race with great interest.
Before even one lap was completed, only half of the original fourteen horses remained. The track was covered in bloody corpses. The remaining horses were clearly no ordinary creatures; they had likely undergone special modifications. Their muscles were grotesque, their eyes were blood-red, and some even had mouths full of jagged fangs.
They didn't look like racehorses at all. She would have believed it if someone told her they were monsters from the northern wastes...
"They must have been injected with the filthy blood of monsters... their bodies are in a state of permanent madness, remaining hyper-excited until they die." Celia's interest was growing. She stared intently at the horses below, constantly analyzing them for Ansu.
"Wait? I even feel a faint aura of black magic... is it forbidden flesh magic? Fascinating. If it were me, I would modify a racehorse like this..."
Celia began excitedly sharing her ideas with Ansu. Ansu let out a helpless laugh, thinking that he had truly brought her to the right place today.
After all, she was quite an expert in this kind of 'modification'; it was right up her alley.
If she were allowed to give some guidance, she might just be able to modify a super monster that could dominate the entire racing circuit...
Rate on N.U.
