Chapter 187: The Gambling Abyss of Two Angels
Watching the three angels eat with such satisfaction, Franklin also tore off a deer leg and bit into it heartily. Looking at the harmonious scene before him, his only thought was contentment.
As the roasted meat dwindled to nothing, Astraea pressed her now-rounded little belly and showed a blissful smile.
"Master is the best master. I'm sticking with master for life. No one can stop me."
Seeing Astraea's face full of happiness, Franklin shook his head with a smile. Easy to feed, easy to coax—she really was the perfect candidate for a wife.
"I'm so full. Master, your cooking is absolutely flawless."
Ikaros didn't show delight. Her expression was actually a little downcast, which left Franklin momentarily confused.
"Ikaros, what's wrong? Does the food not suit your taste?"
Ikaros looked at Franklin apologetically. "Master, back at home, I caused you trouble. I'll keep working hard from now on."
Listening to her cryptic words, Franklin was completely lost.
"So what exactly are you talking about? I think you've been doing great in everything—why would you think otherwise?"
Ikaros looked at him seriously. Seeing the confusion in his eyes, she realized she had overthought things.
"Sorry, master. I'll work even harder… in cooking."
Once Franklin realized what she meant, he gave a helpless laugh. "I thought it was something serious. You really don't need to stress over that. Just take it slow.
We've got a long life ahead. If everything were perfect right out of the gate, it actually wouldn't be perfect at all. Growing step by step is what makes life enjoyable."
She didn't fully understand what Franklin meant, but she still gave a soft nod.
"I will, master."
The sun gradually dipped westward, night slowly arriving. Franklin walked into the house with the three little angels. With a wave of his hand, the glowing plants lit up, making the room bright as day.
"The night's long, and you artificial angels can't dream. What do you usually do to pass the time?"
Sitting together around the tea table, Franklin looked at them curiously. In response, Ikaros stayed silent, and Nymph's eyes flickered with fear.
Only Astraea raised her hand with a smile. "Me! Me! My fun is snacks—and the shows on the ground's TV. Every time I watch, it's super interesting!"
Franklin wanted to ease the heavy mood somehow, but the tension in the room made it hard to even begin.
After a moment of thought, he waved his hand. Two sets of extremely thin cork playing cards appeared on the tea table, along with forty thousand in neatly scattered fake currency.
"Ahem, let's play a game. It's called Fight the Landlord. Each person starts with ten thousand. Each round costs one. Every bomb doubles the stakes…
And that's it for the rules. Once you lose all your funds, you'll pawn your clothes. Every garment you remove gives you another ten thousand in funds."
The moment he said that, Nymph's expression toward Franklin changed entirely.
"Master is a pervert."
Her tone was so certain that Franklin's face instantly flushed red.
"Don't talk nonsense. This is just to make the game more competitive. A sense of crisis builds motivation—and makes the game more intense."
Nymph suspiciously stared into Franklin's eyes, making him incredibly guilty, until she finally looked away.
"If master says so, then fine. But my processing ability is the strongest. The one who ends up naked will definitely be Astraea."
"Huh? I'll lose until I'm naked? No way! I just won't be the landlord even once. Even if I coast the whole time, I won't lose everything."
Seeing the confident gleam in her eyes, Nymph grinned, and Franklin covered his face helplessly. This girl was absolutely the type to be baited into disaster.
If it really came to that, it wasn't something Franklin wanted to see. A real game needed wins and losses—that competition was what drew out the deepest instincts in a living being.
"One more condition. Nymph, your and Ikaros's processing abilities are ridiculous. You can calculate cards or even memorize where every single card goes.
So, by my authority as master, I forbid you from using more than the brainpower of a normal adult human tonight.
I'll do the same. No cheating, no boosted mental ability. Just normal high school-level thinking."
Nymph had planned to argue, but she swallowed the words and watched Franklin shuffle the cards in dazzling, chaotic motions.
Things went exactly as Franklin expected. After being provoked by Nymph, Astraea took the landlord role with full confidence thanks to her amazing hand—then immediately suffered an instant, crushing defeat.
She held onto some sense for a few rounds. But once three rounds of being a farmer passed, she got hyped up again, completely losing control.
By nine o'clock that night, Astraea reluctantly removed her shoulder guard. With her now bare shoulders as a reminder, even her low processing ability began to kick in.
"Nymph-senpai, I've learned my lesson this time. I'm definitely going to make *you* end up naked."
Nymph just snorted, entirely unfazed.
By three in the morning, Astraea again shamefully removed the other shoulder guard.
"What happened to the bragging? Weren't you going to strip me down to nothing? Who is it that's already lost two pieces?"
The harsh truth made Astraea's face twist with frustration. "I'll win. I definitely will."
Day and night blurred together. Except during mealtimes—when Astraea instantly snapped out of her gambling trance—the rest of the time she and Nymph were two gamblers drowning in obsession.
And the one losing clothes kept changing.
Astraea paid the price of two shoulder guards and one wrist guard, forcing Nymph to reluctantly remove her battle cloak.
The struggle only escalated. Franklin kept his own aura lowered to the minimum. The extra winnings he earned were immediately destroyed so the girls wouldn't notice anything suspicious.
Six days passed.
Astraea had removed both shoulder guards, both wrist guards, her long boots, and her mid-length socks.
Her smooth skin, her long, flawless white legs, her delicate feet and little toes—Franklin's heartbeat sped up just looking at her.
With only her chestplate, skirt, and underwear left, the allure Astraea radiated made Franklin tremble with excitement.
Nymph's natural disadvantage showed too. With only her cloak to begin with, she removed that, then both wrist guards and both boots.
Now wearing only a black strap leather thigh-sock set and a high-slit one-piece mini dress reaching her waist, she tempted Franklin even more.
She wasn't large, but her soft skin, petite frame, and flushed face drew Franklin in completely.
And Franklin had discovered something—Nymph didn't seem to be wearing underwear. He absolutely had to confirm that soon.
Ikaros followed Franklin's lead. Whenever he won too much, he would take all her funds as the landlord, then intentionally lose them to Nymph or Astraea.
All she had removed were her two shoulder guards.