Chapter 8: Bargaining Chips

The Golden City. It's another world!

And chips, chips are what make that world go 'round!

At the Golden City, chips can buy you anything.

Anything you can think of, and a whole lot of things you can't imagine, all wishes can come true here.

There are four kinds of chips at the Golden City: bronze, silver, gold, and diamond.

Legend has it that if you can get your hands on a diamond chip, the master of the Golden City will do any favor you ask.

Alexa is the master of the Golden City, and she has powerful connections in Utgard.

She could get you the approval without lifting a finger!

So our goal is to play the games at the Golden City, and win all the way until...

... we get a diamond chip!

Wait, I've got a question...

Tevor... Why are you here?

We can't afford the fees for the Larkspur Detective Agency.

Oh, of course, I'm here for...

!!!

Whoa, I see pigs flying!

Hey, what do you take me for?

I mean, it's true: you don't need to trouble yourself with any fees this time.

Amazing! So who's paying our way? Larkspur's help doesn't come cheap.

Money's not the only thing that drives Larkspur, you know?

Oh? What is it then?

Don't worry about that. You'll figure it out when the time is right anyway.

First things first. Take these fake IDs and get yourselves into the Golden City.

Sachiko and I have never even been to a casino. Will we really be able to get a diamond chip?

Don't worry about that.

... I'll make it happen!

Tevor is here...

Afraid?

I'm not afraid, it's just that...

Things are about to become difficult.

Hmph. Maybe... not as difficult as you think!

To the average person, the games at the Golden City are full of excitement and luck.

But for a detective, they're just calculations and probabilities, an exercise for the mind.

No matter what form the game takes...

I've got it under control!

Mr. Tevor is awesome!

The site has been prepared, Mr. Tevor.

Let the games begin!

The game on this floor is called...

Huh...?

Golden City games are supposed to be things like blackjack and Texas hold 'em!

What's going on here?!

Aha, yes! To make the guests' experience as enjoyable as possible, the master of Golden City has made some minor tweaks!

You call this a tweak?!

I call it a dirty trick!!!

Alright, calm down. Maybe this game is even easier. And we can help out!

Yeah! And what, the know-it-all Mr. Tevor can't draw?

Hey, who says I can't draw?!

Now, please choose someone to draw.

Captain, Miss Sachiko, please avert your eyes.

Mr. Tevor, you may view the question.

(Nesting dolls?!)

(Hm, that seems pretty easy.)

Alright, can you guess what Mr. Tevor has drawn?

Whoa, that's ugly... Seems like Mr. Tevor really can't draw...

Hey! You, Mmph!

My apologies, but the rules say that the person who's drawn cannot speak. Otherwise, they might provide hints.

(I have no idea what Tevor's drawn, so I can only make a wild guess...)

Is it... Is it a row of strange statues?

It looks like that ancient game that's been passed down through the ages! Something called "bowling"!

Or maybe... They're pictures of a guy who's shrinking over time...

He's wasting away, but he's got a smile on his face...

It's healthy to keep slim, but I think he's taking his diet a bit too far...

Do you guys have diets in this world?

Um, you might be overthinking this one too...

May I ask, is that your final answer?

We're sure! Our answer is...

Incorrect!

The answer is "nesting dolls"! I drew it clear as day!

Liar! Mr. Tevor can't draw at all!

Captain, Mr. Tevor, please avert your eyes.

Miss Sachiko, you may view the question.

(Hah! Easy peasy!)

(Looks like Sachiko can't draw either... Not good.)

Hm, the drawing is ugly as sin, but it shouldn't be a problem for this brainy detective.

Uh... What's this supposed to be?

It looks like...

... a pig with a runny nose!

(Hm, I can see the resemblance...)

But the question couldn't be so simple!

(Wow, he sure is a great detective. Will he discover some kind of plot twist?!)

The pig has snot running from its nose to the ground. In my view, it must have contracted a serious respiratory disease!

And that is precisely what Sachiko is hinting at... It's...

Swine flu!

...

Just an idea, but maybe it's not so complicated. It might just be an elephant.

...

If you say it's an elephant, then...

Alright, our answer is...

Correct!

Captain is amazing!

Miss Sachiko, Mr. Tevor, please avert your eyes.

Captain, you may view the question.

(Seems pretty easy. As long as I do an okay job, it shouldn't be a problem.)

(Hm, maybe not clear enough. I'll add a grapevine to avoid confusion with... something else.

Hm, the linework and technique are rough, but I can make out a dense arrangement of circles in the center...

Which clearly reveals the correct answer!

What?! So fast?!

This is the Star Cluster necklace that was stolen from the Sotheby Auction House last month!

Captain has drawn the March 15th Auction House Heist!

... You know, most people's heads aren't stuffed full of case files.

Is there a chance that it might be... a bunch of grapes?

Hm, taking your suggestion into consideration...

Okay, our answer is...

Correct!

Yippee!!!

Your bronze chip has been upgraded to a silver chip.

Now on to the next phase.

We made it to the second floor! Although it doesn't look any different from the first...

I deduce that they didn't have the funds to redecorate this floor.

Mr. Guard, what game will we play on this floor?

Draw & Guess.

Again? The place looks the same, and we play the same game, too?

What's wrong with you guys? Don't you have any normal casino games?!

Downright dirty tricks, I tell you!!!

Those are the house rules of the Golden City. My apologies.

Don't give the guy a hard time, Tevor.

Yeah!

We can start, Mr. Guard!

Captain, Miss Sachiko, please avert your eyes.

Mr. Tevor, you may view the question.

(The Sphinx?! ... This is a freebie!!!)

(The Sphinx provides my power! They'll guess this one for sure!)

(I'll add a pyramid, just to be on the safe side...)

Alright, can you guess what Mr. Tevor has drawn?

...

I'm thinking of something bad.

Me too.

You say it first.

Well, it looks like a cat. A cat that... has taken a very big poop...

Exactly... With such a mountain of poop, this cat can't have many friends...

So, is that our answer?

...

May I ask, is that your final answer?

I don't see any other possibility...

But if that's the answer... Man, it's not pretty to look at.

I guess we admit defeat.

Very well. Challenge failed!

What the heck are you two thinking?!!!

That's the Sphinx! My power comes from the Sphinx, you buffoons!

And that's a pyramid behind it!

That's the ugliest pyramid I've ever seen, Mr. Tevor!

Yeah!

Enough with you!

Captain, Mr. Tevor, please avert your eyes.

Miss Sachiko, you may view the question.

(Hehe! This one's simple!)

(What is that...?)

It doesn't seem quite right, but that one on the bottom must be a fish.

I have no idea what the one on the top is.

I speculate that those two arcs should represent rapid movement.

And thus, the one on top is a bird flapping its wings!

(Why do I get the feeling that it might be a person...?)

A fish and a bird. What could that represent?

There's an expression, "bird and fish may never meet"...

Yes, the inescapable fate that the two can never meet! Could this imagery somehow represent fate?

Do you think so? Would Sachiko have made it that complicated?

(I'm sure Sachiko would use a more direct method.)

(Never mind, I don't want to argue with Tevor. He always misunderstands.)

(It would be much simpler to see the thing on top as a person.)

Have you come up with an answer?

Yes, our answer is...

Correct!

Wow, Captain!!!

Miss Sachiko, Mr. Tevor, please avert your eyes.

Captain, you may view the question.

(... Seems like the difficulty has suddenly increased. That's odd...)

(It shouldn't be too hard to get the point across, though. Roosters have crests on their heads, so I need to make that obvious.)

Hm, Captain's drawing appears rather direct this time.

Really?!

The red at the top has an arrow for emphasis, although I don't know what it is.

Combined with the arrows at the bottom, the red part at the top and the black circles at the bottom are clearly connected to the answer!

That is to say...

If you interpret this image as an exceedingly bad drawing of a boat, the problem is solved!

Whoa, what's that?

There was a fire on the boat, so the captain released a lifeboat for the passengers to evacuate!!!

The answer is... a shipwreck!

(This guy really loves to make inferences...)

Is that your final answer?

No, no! It's not! Mr. Tevor... Thanks, but why don't you rest a bit!

Oh, are you not a fan of my powers of deduction?

Our answer is...

Correct!

Nice job, Sachiko!

Woo-hoo!!!

Your silver chip has been upgraded to a gold chip.

Now on to the next phase.

Hm, we've gone up another floor, but the decor is the same again.

So I guess we're playing Draw & Guess again, right?

No, in fact not.

The game for this floor is...

Super...

What?

Super Draw & Guess!

Buddy, how have you gone all your life without being strangled to death?!

Those are the house rules of the master of the Golden City. My apologies!

In Super Draw & Guess, you'll draw and guess in a relay format.

One person draws while the next guesses, and then we repeat that on and on.

Since the questions will be much more difficult, the criteria for a correct answer will be made easier. The final answer only needs to contain the word of the question to be considered correct.

There will be three rounds. Win all three, and the diamond chip is yours!

Wait, we've only got three people. How can we do a relay with an odd number?

You are correct. The master of the Golden City has arranged another player to join you.

And that would be me.

Wait, but Xuan Pin is on your side! What if she draws nonsense on purpose? This is another dirty trick!!

Worry not... I have a feeling that the three of you will have no trouble drawing enough nonsense on your own...

Have a look at these images.

Wow, they're amazing! Drawn by an expert, it looks like!!!

These were drawn by our Commander Xuan Pin!

So you see, Commander Xuan Pin's drawing skills are on a different level from yours.

But why are they all drawings of Mr. Mateo?

Hey, that's not the point!

For the sake of my pride as an artist, I won't draw any nonsense for you.

If you lose the game, you can always check to see whether my drawings were the culprit.

If it was my fault, the round will be invalidated and we'll restart the game.

Alright, let's start then!

Round one of Super Draw & Guess begins!!!

Captain, Miss Sachiko, Commander Xuan Pin, please avert your eyes.

Mr. Tevor, you may view the question.

(Pff... This is so easy they'll guess it right away...)

Alright, Captain. You may view Mr. Tevor's drawing.

Captain, pass your answer to Commander Xuan Pin for her to draw.

...

(I can't tell what that is at all.)

(Could it be a slide?)

(I guess it is...)

My answer is...

... It's a slide.

(A slide?)

(Okay, no problem.)

(As an artist, I'm quite proud of this work. It should leave no doubts at all.)

Miss Sachiko, please answer based on Commander Xuan Pin's drawing.

Seeing this drawing...

... would make children very happy!

...

...

And...

... This slide that looks like a high heel is pretty cool!

Round one, passed with flying colors!

Your answer contained the correct word: high heel!!!

... So that's what you call luck, eh?

Round two of Super Draw & Guess begins!!!

Captain, Miss Sachiko, Commander Xuan Pin, please avert your eyes.

Mr. Tevor, you may view the question.

(This... How am I supposed to show...)

(Hm... Yellow for mud and black for stones...)

Alright, Captain. You may view Mr. Tevor's drawing.

Captain, pass your answer to Commander Xuan Pin for her to draw.

...

(As expected... I can't understand much...)

(The yellow thing is curved. Could it be...)

(... a banana?)

(Then what are those little black things...?)

(Is it some kind of food from this world, and I've never seen it before? ...I know, I'll tell Xuan Pin some extra foods to increase my chances.)

My answer is...

... A generous platter of snacks. The more, the better!

(... He must be taking a wild guess...)

(Alright, I'll just draw it.)

(Such impeccable drawing technique in such a short time!)

Miss Sachiko, please answer based on Commander Xuan Pin's drawing.

It's a big platter... with tons of food in it...

...

...

This combination of food is so weird, it's kinda gross to look at. It looks like a mudslide.

Round two, passed with flying colors!

Your answer contained the correct word: mudslide!!!

... I don't know why, but I was expecting Sachiko to guess wrong...

The final round of Super Draw & Guess begins!!!

Captain, Miss Sachiko, Commander Xuan Pin, please avert your eyes.

Mr. Tevor, you may view the question.

(... I see they really don't want to give us a diamond chip...)

(How can I draw something so abstract...?)

(Oh, wait! Fate...? Right, as the master musician Beethoven once said: "I shall seize fate by the throat"!)

Alright, Captain. You may view Mr. Tevor's drawing.

Captain, pass your answer to Commander Xuan Pin for her to draw.

...

(A hand is holding the neck of something strange...)

(And from the motion... I get it! The hand is holding...)

(A chicken!)

(When they slaughter chickens, they have to hold their necks to drain the blood!)

(And there's music, too?)

(Back in my home world, I heard that at some slaughterhouses, they play music for the chickens before slaughtering them to keep the meat tender.)

(Maybe it's the same in this world...)

(Then we got it all right!)

My answer is...

... Chickens at a slaughterhouse, with music playing nearby.

(... What in the world...?)

(Forget it, I'll just draw it. Otherwise, they'll say it was my fault...)

(This... Not sure what I think about this. It's drawn well, but what the heck...?)

Miss Sachiko, please answer based on Commander Xuan Pin's drawing.

...

This guy's playing the piano, and he looks skilled, so the music must sound great.

...

...

After listening to such beautiful music, the chickens will be slaughtered... It's a harsh reality...

... A really cruel fate...

Final round, passed with flying colors!

Your answer contained the correct word: fate!!!

... You were right in the end, but how you got there... leaves me speechless...

Congratulations to you all! You've won a diamond chip!

Would you like to meet the master of the Golden City, Miss Alexa?

Yes, we would.

Of course. Just a moment, please.

Whew, I'm tired! The Golden City is such a pain, and I've taken a big loss on this job...

What have you done to get so tired?

Just drawing a bunch of weird pictures that nobody can understand?

You! You were so nice when we first met!

You two seem to know each other quite well.

To be honest, I've never seen Sachiko be so mean before.

Well, you're right about that. We've known each other for years now.

Even though Mr. Tevor's always got money on his mind...

Whenever I'm in trouble, he's willing to help.

Don't talk like that. Friends are friends, and business is business.

It's just that when I'm in trouble, you just happen to have business with it, right?

Look, that's why Larkspur Detective Agency has got trouble turning a profit.

There's always business going on that loses me money.

So you mean, this job...

Lost you money?

So you noticed it.

The dark undercurrents moving around you involve much more than just the mayor stopping you from reaching the tundra.

And the more difficult the job, the more value needs to be exchanged.

So let me ask you: have you got any leverage to bargain with them?

That diamond chip is valuable...

But whether you're facing the master of the Golden City or the mayor of Utgard...

That bargaining chip seems a little too light for the deal.

Then what do we do?! Think of a solution, Mr. Tevor!

Alright, alright! I do have some leverage with the master of the Golden City.

I can get her to help, I'm sure of it.

I was saving it for a rainy day, but I just can't hold out against you.

How did you know?

I guessed it when Mr. Tevor said we needed to get the diamond chip.

Those casino games always come down to luck.

Mr. Tevor is always meticulous with his jobs, so he'd never pin his hopes on a casino game.

Which means that besides the diamond chip, he must have had another way to get the master of the Golden City to help.

As always, you can learn everything you need by reading someone's face!

As soon as I saw his expression, I knew he had a way. He just wasn't telling us.

(I always took Sachiko to be a simple girl.)

(But sometimes, her perceptiveness and emotional intelligence can be downright scary.)

(Maybe the reason why I couldn't fully trust Sachiko is because actually, I was just scared she'd see through me.)

(And I didn't like what she'd see in me.)

(Sachiko is a bit too bright for someone like me, after all.)

Dear guests, let us proceed to the Golden City's top floor.

The master of the Golden City has been waiting for a long time.

As the master of the Golden City, you wouldn't want these... to be seen by anyone else, would you?

???

Mr. Tevor, is that you as a child?

?! Sorry, wrong picture!

Forget you ever saw that! That photo was an accident!

It's been a long time, Tevor!

Oh, so you know each other?!

Alexa has commissioned my help on some cases in the past.

Why are you here?

I had some business in Utgard, and I was showing some friends around the place.

Hi, Miss Alexa. We'd like to use our diamond chip to ask for your help.

Of course. However, before you make your request, I need to explain something.

The rumors about the Golden City are exaggerated.

Diamond chips are valuable, but they can only be traded for things...

... that are within the Golden City.

Wait, Alexa. That's not how I understood it.

As the master of the Golden City, I'm the one who gets to explain the rules.

Yes, it's your right as the master of the Golden City.

And...

As the master of the Golden City, you wouldn't want these... to be seen by anyone else, would you?

???

Mr. Tevor, is that you as a child?

?! Sorry, wrong picture!

Forget you ever saw that! That photo was an accident!

Right, this one!

As the master of the Golden City, you wouldn't want these... to be seen by anyone else, would you?

!!!

Five years ago, a certain author garnered quite some acclaim on an online literature page for young ladies.

Do you want me to read this author's works?

"Sorry, I Cheated", "Picking Up School Hunks", "99 Stolen Kisses"...

Stop!!!

I'll do whatever you want!!!

That's awful...

Like a real villain.

Yeah, but you can delete the "like" part.

Hey, who's side are you on, anyway? I'm helping you!

Oh, there he is. He's got me shaking in my boots!

Alright, Captain. Tell Alexa what it is you want.

Well, it's quite simple. I'm sure it will be no problem for you.

We have urgent business that requires us to visit the Raine Tundra.

I need the mayor's approval to be allowed to travel there.

So that's it...

Anything else, I can do. But this...

I can't.

But it's not that big a deal.

Don't tell me you can't do it. I know how close you are with the mayor.

Perhaps I'm not explaining myself clearly enough.

Take a look at that website.

?!!!

You... already changed your pen name to your real name?!

That's right. I am...

The author of "Picking Up School Hunks" and "99 Stolen Kisses"...

You went that far to keep from being blackmailed?!

These are special circumstances. My position must be firm.

I must not be swayed, even by your forceful coercion.

I see. The matter really isn't so simple.

Otherwise, I wouldn't have gotten this...

Do you know, Alexa, why I've come to the Golden City this time?

Do you know what drives the Larkspur Detective Agency, besides money?

Mystery, friendship, and...