With Anika standing by Leonard’s side, the ga only got livelier.
As ti passed by, the anxiousness in her heart disappeared. After so ti, as she felt the crowd’s energy, she started to cheer for them too.
She would clap in excitent whenever soone bet big and mutter teasing encouragents from ti to ti.
"Co on, don’t be shy! Put more coins in! Your wives will be proud of you!" she shouted once, her face burning red as the words left her mouth.
Because of it, the crowd laughed, cheered, and actually did throw more silver on the table.
The longer it went, the more Anika realized that she could do this thing! She can actually work with Leonard!
She wasn’t just guarding the coins anymore. She was working alongside him.
And Leonard, for his part, wasn’t heartless.
He knew if everyone lost every ti, they’d stop coming. So, every now and then, he would let a number of players win. It didn’t matter to him if he was losing a single coin or a few coins every ti soone won.
He knew not to be greedy.
"Woah! We have another winner!" Leonard clapped when a young man won two silver coins. The crowd burst into cheers as though they’d witnessed history.
"See? That’s the third win in a row!" Anika shouted beside him, pumping her fist.
The ga continued for more. Coins clinked on the table, and the dice rattled inside a cup. They stayed in the sa spot until the sun began to lower in the sky.
Finally, Leonard gave the cup one last shake, lifted it with excitent, and called it a night.
"That’s it for today!" he announced. His voice was loud but final.
Because of it, people groaned. So even sighed, but no one complained. Instead, the people looked satisfied. They were already talking among themselves about tomorrow’s chances.
"Don’t worry! The first 5 people would line up on my little table tomorrow will automatically get a silver coin!"
The mont Leonard announced the small reward for tomorrow, the whole crowd erupted.
"Woooahhh!"
"Leonard is the best!"
"See you tomorrow!"
"I’ll camp outside just to be first!"
"Haha! I’m winning that coin!"
"Watch go here as soon as I wake up!"
People clapped, cheered, and even stomped their feet in delight at his sudden announcent. So raised their fists in the air, others waved their coins proudly as if showing proof of their loyalty.
"We’ll definitely go back tomorrow!"
Leonard couldn’t help but laugh at their joyous shouts. They looked so determined. He lifted one hand and waved it at them.
"Alright, alright! That’s enough. Go ho now! Spend ti with your wives, your lovers, your family, and yourself before they think you lost everything here!" he shouted at them.
That made the n roar in laughter. Still, they began waving their hand and also walking away.
Now that they were finally alone, Leonard turned his gaze on Anika. She was still standing beside the table, clutching the pouch of coins tightly to her chest as if protecting it.
A wide grin appeared on Leonard’s lips. He leaned slightly closer, wiggling his brows playfully at her.
"We earned a lot today, didn’t we?"
Anika’s eyes were still sparkling as she hugged the pouch tightly. At Leonard’s playful grin, she let out an excited breath and nodded quickly.
"Yes! You won’t believe this," she muttered out loud, almost bouncing on her feet. She loosened the drawstring on the pouch and showed the inside to Leonard.
"I counted the coins earlier, and we won a generous amount of 63 silver coins and 2 gold coins!"
Leonard’s brows shot up, but Anika wasn’t done.
"That’s so much for just a few hours of work! We didn’t even do anything except interact with the crowd and play with the thing you called dice. Can you imagine that?" she said, her words full of disbelief.
"We must have gathered more than a hundred coins altogether, maybe even more. But of course, so of it went back to the winners. It’s just a pity, but still!" Her laughter bubbled up.
"Still, that’s a lot! This is insane!" She couldn’t seem to stop smiling as she looked at him.
Leonard chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. He was amused by her excitent.
"Now, stop with your excitent. Let’s pack up already."
Anika pouted but still followed anyway.
Together, they finally cleaned their area.
Leonard gathered the dice, the wooden cup, and folded the small table while Anika carefully secured the pouch of coins against her chest, holding it as though it were the most precious thing in the world.
When they were done, Leonard carried the chair under one arm, while Anika walked beside him with the money. The sound of the coins clinking faintly inside was like music to their ears.
The road wasn’t too crowded anymore. The sun was dipping lower in the sky. People were probably in their hos right now, cooking and preparing themselves for dinner.
"So," Leonard finally broke the silence between them after a few minutes of walking. He glanced at her, "How was it? Is it your first ti doing this kind of thing?"
Anika tilted her head. She thought of what to answer for a mont before opening her mouth to say sothing.
"Honestly? I didn’t expect it to be fun. I didn’t think I’d enjoy it this much. At first, I was nervous, but once the crowd got going, it was really addictive! You know... everyone was shouting and laughing!"
Leonard chuckled under his breath, shaking his head.
"It’s not that big of a deal. Just so dice rolling, that’s all."
But Anika quickly shook her head, her eyes sparkling again.
"No, no, Leonard. You’re good at this! This can actually be considered a business. A proper business that people would love!"
Leonard’s steps halted because of that.
"Business?" he repeated, his brow arching as he found himself caught off guard.
"Yes!" Anika nodded eagerly.
"You can make a proper business with this! We could rent a small place, then hire a few workers. That way, more people could bet at a ti. They wouldn’t have to wait around or crowd in one spot." Anika’s eyes sparkled as she explained it.
"Just imagine it! You can build a place where people would keep coming back to, day after day!"
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