A man clenched his fist around the cards he was holding in his right hand, completely crushing them.
"You're cheating! There's no way you win 4th time in a row!" He yelled, raising his fist in a threatening way, trying to scare the girl in the hopes of getting his money back.
"My, my~! So much money I raised today! What is that? Like 1000 Nir? [1 Nir = 0,25 EUR]"
"That's a record!" She chuckled and leaned her cheek against her hand as she pushed all the won money towards herself, not slightly afraid of the man.
Many people watched us, some laughed, some whispered to each other, some rolled their eyes, and some sighed with pity.
"Look, look! The new guy tried to play blackjack with Marisa!"
"What a poor soul!"
"Why's she always targeting those who don't know anything? That's just cruel!"
A vein popped out on his forehead, and he grabbed her by the bangs of her long violet hair that had a black ribbon on the left side, smashing her face into the table.
"Here's your tip, fucking bitch." He scowled and released her hair, then stood up and left the table as if nothing had happened.
It took her a moment to gather enough strength to straighten up, and so, through tears caused by the pain, not emotional state, she did, but her nose started bleeding.
She pressed a handkerchief to her nose, blocking the bleeding, and eyed the man down in a mocking way as he furiously left the tavern via the front door.
"Hahaha! Idiot!" She laughed and stuck her tongue out.
"No matter what method,"
"If it's gambling, I will win, muahahahaha~!"
A waitress walked up to the table, putting an unsealed, empty envelope right under my nose.
"Marisa. Miss Valipe would like a margin on what you earned today, just like always." She said calmly, but the only way to describe her finger tapping the envelope was: Impatient.
"Ah, that greedy woman won't let me earn money in peace, huh?" Marisa groaned and grabbed the thin bundle of banknotes, counting exactly 200 Nir and putting it into the envelope.
"How is Liora doing? Haven't seen her with you in a while." The waitress asked, a hint of worry in her calm voice.
"Liora? She's fine." Marisa shrugged. "It's just that I didn't want to bring her lately because I was playing with shady guys." She rolled her eyes at the door. "Just like that, baby scum."
The waitress nodded. "You are right, in case someone decided to attack you, Liora wouldn't be able to protect herself, and even worse, she would create even more danger."
"Exactly," Marisa confirmed. "Is that all? I want to go home."
"Yes. Thank you." The waitress nodded and sealed the envelope with a crimson stamp, then walked away, returning to the kitchen.
Marisa grabbed the black leather purse that was lying on her lap and opened it. It was filled out with banknotes.
She smirked and carefully pushed the new earnings into the file.
"Mhm," "That should be enough for this month... Tho we can always get some more tomorrow~!"
That cheeky woman is Marisa. No surname. 17 years old with no past before she was 15. No talent with magic. Not registered in any guild. There's barely any information on her whatsoever.
She was only 17, but already one of the most hated and respected people in the town, due to never losing a bet.
She didn't ever have a real job and, as expected, earned money by gambling with drunk adventurers and people who had just arrived at the town, unaware of who she was.
Marisa laughed to herself and looked around to see who was in the tavern. She saw a lot of familiar faces and maybe two to three new ones.
"Hmm. I think I should change the tavern soon." She sighed deeply, standing up from the chair. "Soon, there will be no one who would want to gamble, and the money will last us for only 2 months at best."
Marisa stretched her arms behind her back and walked towards the door with proud steps, not turning back once.
After leaving the tavern, she wanted to return home and eat something, but there was one small, little obstacle to avoid.
Something gleamed on the ground, and she bent over to take it.
"Oh! A penny?—"
The man who was charging at her didn't predict that she would bend over to pick up a penny, and missed her face, punching the air, losing balance, and fell over her butt, driving the forehead straight into the cobblestone sidewalk.
"...Huh?"
Marisa looked to the side, seeing the man on the floor, which made her burst out in laughter.
"What are you doing, my guy~?! Too drunk to walk straight?!" She put a finger on her lips and continued laughing with mischief in her eyes.
"GUYS! GET THAT BITCH AND TAKE OUR MONEY BACK!"
He gritted his teeth and furiously roared at the other two guys who were leaning against the wall, tho his voice sounded amusing because he was plugging his nose in pain.
"Oh!" Marisa chuckled and waved at them.
"Hi guys!" She yelled, then, without a second thought, ran away straight into a dark alley.
The two guys immediately started chasing and throwing rocks at her. "GET BACK HERE!" "STOP RUNNING!" They yelled over and over again, but Marisa carefully ran through the alleys.
By the way she moved, avoiding everything that could hurt her or damage her dress, it was clear that it wasn't her first time running away from someone.
She looked back at them and laughed, mockingly pointing at them. "You two are too slow, fools!" "You will never catch me... No one did~!"
Then, she kicked a barrel that was standing in her way. The sharp heel of her shoes made a hole from which a semi-transparent substance poured on the ground.
"Hihihi," Under her nose, she giggled mischievously, jumping over a metal rod that was sticking out of the wall.
She stopped running and spun around gracefully, looking at the two guys as they slipped on the substance and collapsed onto each other, covered in it.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!"
"GET OFF ME!"
"YOU GET OFF ME!"
"Ahhh, I wonder what Liora made for dinner! My stomach is so needy nowadays!"
Mairsa wondered and started clapping her hands together. She sat down on a wooden crate that was by the wall and crossed her legs.
"Amazing! You two are just amazing! So stupid, so simple! Just straight up amazing~!"
The two guys looked at her, and their eyes went wide in amusement and satisfaction as the loser from before snuck up behind her and raised a sword over his head.
Marisa grabbed her chin and started tilting her head to the sides as if it was being pushed from opposite directions.
"Hmm... Let's exclude all the 'no no' options." She put her fist on her hand. "Potatoes are eliminated as we ran out of stock."
"Pancakes are also not possible to make because we don't have anything to make them sweeter."
"We have no chicken... No salad..."
"Hmm... Now that I think about it, we should restock on food before the winter!"
"Unless we don't already have enough money."
Marisa's mouth opened thanks to a moment of realization, which out of excitement she yelled out loudest she could.
"It must be it! Pasta with pork loin meat served with tomato sauce and spicy chili!"
She could feel the saliva accumulating beneath her tongue and stared at the struggling, but amused men with curiosity.
"What is so funny, huh—" A shiver ran down her spine as she noticed a weird shape above her shadow with the corner of her eye.
A drop of sweat dropped from her nose as she slowly turned around, her mouth clenching, but her snarky expression remained.
"Uhhh... Hello there, mister." She smiled awkwardly, playing with the ribbon in her hair.
"DIE YOU CHEATER!" The man screamed and drove the sword down, aiming to vertically slice her in half.
"Hehe~!"
Before the sword could make contact with the tiniest of her hair, a vase fell down from hell knows where and shattered against his head, knocking him backwards and out of consciousness.
"Idiot!"
She stomped on his unconscious testicles a couple of times.
"You lose with me four times and yet you still try?"
"I hope your balls won't be able to produce sperm anymore because I don't want children from such a dumb idiot walking on this beautiful land!"
She yelled in disgust, then looked back at the two guys covered in the substance that made them unable to stand up.
"H-How did you know...? How did you know that the vase would fall?!" One asked in disbelief, and undoubtedly the biggest amount of fear he's ever been in.
Marisa rolled her eyes and covered her mouth with her hand, muting a chuckle.
"I didn't~"
She winked and walked away, deciding to let them go or help their friend, but it was only up to them whether they would do it or not.
After a while, Marisa finally reached her small, wooden, but lovely and cozy house.
She opened the unlocked door and walked in, closing it behind her, then she took off her shoes and threw them aside, right next to another pair.
"Mmmmhhhmm" Marisa mumbled under her nose that ran around the place, after catching an amazing scent coming from the kitchen-living room.
In the kitchen was no one other but Liora, humming a quiet tune with a soft and lovely voice, unaware of the fact that Marisa had arrived.
"Huhuhu~" Marisa laughed quietly and started creeping on her toes towards Liora.
After looking at what she was cooking, the edges of Marisa's lips curved into a playful smirk, and she wrapped her arms around Liora's waist, clutching the fabric of her apron softly.
"Oh—!" Liora gasped.
"Just how lucky are you, Marisa? I was just about to set the table!"
"I knew it would be pasta!" She said with a gentle tone, pressing her lips against Liora's right cheek for a longer moment.