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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: An Eye for an Eye (2)
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After placating Charles Wellesley, I returned to the hall where I had been sitting.
Who would look suspiciously at a ten-year-old boy? Still, just in case, we made sure to return to our seats one by one.
"You returned later than I expected. It seems your conversation was a long one."
"It appears Mr. Wellesley has taken quite a liking to me, so we talked for a bit. He actually wanted to speak more, but I mentioned I was in the middle of a card game, so we agreed to finish this and then continue our chat."
"Is that so?"
"So, James, I think you can head back first later. Mr. Wellesley said we could talk a bit more at his mansion and that he would have his carriage take me home."
To map out my future plans, I needed to work somewhere with fewer people around.
Besides, it bothered me that I had never handled cards in this child's body before.
I would need some practice to get my feel back, and right now, there was no better place than Wellesley's mansion.
So, James, my apologies, but would you mind heading off?
"You're going to Mr. Wellesley's mansion to talk? This is the first time you've met. What on earth did you speak about for him to favor you so much, Young Master?"
"We just talked about this and that. You mentioned Mr. Wellesley also attended Eton College, didn't you, James? I used that as a topic of conversation, and it went well. I might even be able to get a letter of recommendation out of it."
"Oh! If that happens, there would be nothing more to wish for. Mr. Wellesley's father, the Duke of Wellington, is one of Eton's most celebrated graduates. A letter of recommendation from him would guarantee your admission."
Sorry. That was a lie, of course.
Well, it's a lie for now, but since it's likely to become true in the end, let's just say I didn't lie.
"In any case, that's what's happening, so let's wait here until Mr. Wellesley's card game is over. When it's finished, you can head home first and tell my father I might be a little late today, James."
"Of course. The Earl will be very pleased as well."
I continued to make up plausible stories for James while I observed and analyzed how Wellesley was being swindled.
First, the card game being played here was, for all intents and purposes, poker.
It wasn't a time when modern poker had been established, but the basic framework seemed to be mostly complete.
Fundamentally, there were no major differences in the gameplay or the hand rankings.
However, there were a few crucial distinctions, and they were the very weaknesses of this scam I intended to exploit.
First, as was common in most gambling dens of this era, they didn't use coins or chips like in modern times.
Most of what was put on the table was cash, or if not, tangible assets like gold or jewels.
Furthermore, there was a tendency to make the calculations needlessly complex, which I suspected was heavily influenced by the vanity of the aristocracy.
It was an era overflowing with upper-class individuals who couldn't stand playing by the same rules as the ignorant common folk, so I suppose it was to be expected.
A prime example was that the payout rates were calculated differently depending on the hand ranking.
For instance, even if you won with a one-pound bet, the amount you received from your opponent varied depending on what hand you won with.
From my observation so far, winning with a combination of one pair or less—two cards of the same number—paid out 0.5 times the bet.
Two pairs, having two sets of cards with the same number, paid out 1 time.
Next, three of a kind, also known as a triple, a combination of three cards of the same number, paid out 2 times.
A straight, where five cards form a numerical sequence, paid out 4 times.
Following that, a flush, where all five cards have the same suit, paid out 8 times.
A full house, holding both a triple and a one pair, paid out 16 times.
Four of a kind, also known as quads, a combination of four cards of the same number, paid out 32 times.
A straight flush, where five cards are in numerical sequence and of the same suit, paid out a whopping 64 times.
Finally, a royal straight flush, a straight flush consisting of A, K, Q, J, 10, had a multiplier of 256 times.
This meant that even with a one-pound bet, winning with a royal straight flush could net you 256 pounds.
Of course, a royal straight flush is something you might see once in about 650,000 hands of poker, so it was fair to treat it as a non-existent hand.
Aside from these multipliers, as I analyzed earlier, the game was nearly identical to modern poker in almost every aspect.
And I had a rough idea why they had set up the multipliers like that.
It was because if they decided in advance which combination would win, it would be easier to control the amount of money being moved through the scam.
Moreover, it made it easy to give the marks a taste of the high life with a big win at a high multiplier and then fleece them over several rounds. Conversely, they could let them win several times with small multipliers and then take it all back at once with a high-multiplier hand.
To put it bluntly, it meant they could manipulate their marks more easily.
However, from what I'd watched, the cheating dealer was intentionally controlling the game so that combinations of four of a kind or higher rarely appeared.
He was probably massaging the game to avoid suspicion, as too many high-multiplier hands would surely raise eyebrows.
For that, at least, he deserved some praise.
"Oh dear, it looks like Mr. Wellesley is going to lose everything. It seems the cards aren't in his favor today. He'd need a big win to be in a good mood, which would increase the chances of you getting that recommendation letter, Young Master…"
"I know, right? I'll have to cheer him up later."
James, knowing nothing, grew anxious watching Wellesley continuously lose money, but this was all according to plan.
Well, well. Just as I thought, he's dealing from the bottom again.
I had been watching closely to see if they would use any other methods, but now I knew exactly how they were running their scam.
Their primary method was the one most familiar to modern people among card-cheating techniques: bottom dealing.
Yes, it was exactly that kind of bottom dealing.
Simply put, bottom dealing is a technique where a pre-arranged combination of cards at the bottom of the deck is dealt to a desired player.
A skilled technician only pretends to shuffle the cards, deceiving others while giving an advantageous hand to a specific person to manipulate the game.
People who had no immunity to such techniques were bound to be deceived right before their very eyes by skilled technicians.
Just like Charles Wellesley had been until now.
"Oh, Mr. Wellesley lost again?"
"A triple was a hand worth betting on, but his opponent had a straight. He must be quite upset."
Every time the dealer dealt from the bottom, I raised my glass as if to drink my mulled wine, giving Wellesley a signal. It had been spot on three times already.
By this point, Wellesley seemed to trust me completely, and just as I'd told him, he was taking deep breaths and not showing his emotions.
"Don't worry, James. Mr. Wellesley apparently won some money last time, so he came today thinking he would likely lose it all. So he won't be in that terrible of a mood."
"Is that so? Well, that's a relief, but…"
James loathed gambling, so he didn't understand the psychology, but of course, that was a ridiculous excuse.
Who on earth wouldn't be upset after losing money?
But Wellesley absolutely had to lose a lot of money in this game.
It would add more plausibility to the plan to come.
Come to think of it, the sleight of hand in the early 19th century isn't as sophisticated as I thought.
Honestly, I'm a little disappointed.
It was a bit surprising that there was such a gap, despite being only about 200 years apart from the modern era.
But on second thought, it wasn't so strange that the skill level of cardsharps in the 1830s was worlds apart from my time.
It wasn't because Korean sleight of hand is the beeeest in the world! but probably due to the advanced equipment of the modern age.
With surveillance cameras, recordings, and other high-tech equipment constantly in use, swindlers had no choice but to devise all sorts of techniques to avoid getting caught.
In fact, it wasn't just sleight of hand; other fraudulent methods had evolved in the same way, so there was no reason for cardsharps to be an exception.
In any case, thanks to this, I was now perfectly certain.
At this level, I could strip them clean without them even knowing what hit them.
Like a dry rag, until not a single drop of water could be wrung out.
* * *
In the end, as planned, Charles Wellesley lost all his stake money and returned with me to his mansion.
Thanks to my forewarning, his anger didn't explode, but it was clear he was seething in another way.
"You seem a little heated."
"Of course I'm furious. How could I be in a good mood knowing I've been deceived and bled dry by those damned swindlers all this time?"
"Still, you'll get it back several times over. Please, calm down."
"Hmph… Right, I must. If it weren't for you, I would have flipped the table and had those bastards thrown in jail long ago. But why didn't your man-servant come with us? Didn't you say he was the one who came up with the plan?"
That's because I have no intention of revealing my true nature to James or my father just yet.
In Wellesley's room, I casually took out a deck of cards and began to shuffle them.
I had been worried that my senses would be completely off after changing bodies, but thankfully, that wasn't the case.
With a few days of consistent practice, I felt I could probably regain about 80% of my old touch.
And even that would be more than enough to toy with those amateurish frauds right in front of their faces.
"I'm sorry, but I told a little lie."
"What? A lie?"
"It wasn't my man-servant who realized you were being cheated and proposed the plan. I just borrowed his name because I thought you wouldn't believe me if I told you the truth from the start. That's why I sent him away."
"What are you talking about… You mean, don't tell me?"
"Yes, it's exactly what you're thinking."
It was a secret from others, but Charles Wellesley had been chosen as the shield who would draw aggro for me in the future.
Once this matter was settled, he would become my staunchest ally, even more so than James.
The possibility of failure didn't exist.
Because I would make it so.
Therefore, Wellesley needed to slowly learn about this side of things and get used to it starting now.
I gave him a rough explanation of my background as he stood there with his mouth agape.
Of course, I omitted the part about my past life, as he wouldn't believe it anyway.
"So… you grew up in a country called Joseon, in a corner of Asia, until recently? And you just came to Britain? That must be why I've never heard of a child in the Earl of Aaron's family. Wait, but how do you speak English so well?"
"Mr. Wellesley, sometimes the world produces prodigies who defy common sense. It will be less of a shock for you in the future if you just understand it that way."
Patting myself on the back and calling myself a prodigy was cringeworthy beyond imagination, but it was better to act like the greatest big shot the world had ever seen.
What had happened at the gambling den earlier was an established fact.
And the fact that I, who had only been in Britain for a few months, could speak English this fluently was also undeniable.
This alone would prevent Wellesley from ever seeing me as an ordinary ten-year-old boy.
"Good heavens, the fact that I'm having this conversation with a ten-year-old boy is more unbelievable than the fact that I've been a victim of a cardsharp. So, what is this perfect plan you've devised? I've heard the gist of it, but I haven't heard how you intend to execute it."
"Of course, I'll tell you. But there are a few prerequisites. Mr. Wellesley, you will need to learn how those bastards cheat and develop a keen eye to catch them in the act."
"Me? I mean… I'll know the method if you tell me, but those men are seasoned swindlers. Won't it be obvious if I watch them too closely?"
"That's why you need to train. You'll pretend to watch casually, and the moment they try to deal from the bottom, you'll snatch their hand right there. If there's clear evidence of a card hidden at the bottom of the deck, they won't be able to deny it."
Getting caught bottom dealing in a typical gambling den might cost you your hand, but I had no intention of being so lenient this time.
What good would taking their hands do me? It wouldn't make me any money.
Cashable assets are far better than such useless things.
"What I mean is, how do I train for that? Should I find a skilled swindler to hire right now?"
"There's no need for that. You can just train with me."
I showed him a demonstration, shuffling the cards with a flourish right in front of his eyes.
Compared to my past life, my skills were truly pathetic, but to Wellesley's eyes, even this must have seemed marvelous.
"How can a ten-year-old boy have such dexterity…"
"Where I lived, this was considered normal. It's a den of vipers where the weak cannot survive."
When running a con, you must speak only the truth about things the other person can verify, but there's no need to do so for things they can never confirm.
What could he do? It's not like he could send someone all the way to Joseon to check.
If I show him the results and insist it's true, then my words simply become the truth.
I blatantly dealt from the bottom right in front of Wellesley, passing the cards to him, and his eyes widened in shock.
And for good reason. The cards in Wellesley's hand were…
A four of a kind, composed of four aces and a single king, a hand he hadn't touched even once at the gambling den today.
"Good heavens. When did you…? I didn't notice a thing. This is normal? Then what in the world is that country, Joseon…"
If he was this surprised by something so minor, he'd have to worry about a heart attack in the future.
After that, I demonstrated bottom dealing a few more times, personally testing just how far Wellesley's jaw, hanging open in astonishment, could drop.
Mm-hmm.
The reactions of the 19th century are just delicious.
At this rate, I might get addicted first.