Pioneer Lord: I Have Conquering System

"Younger than me?" Looking at the petite, baby-faced Silver Dragon Maiden, Levi scoffed and gestured between their heights. The action said it all.

"I may look young, but in human years, I’m already thirty-five."

The Lord dismounted the carriage, his expression unreadable, and said nonchalantly, "I think you’d get along great with a certain Half-Elf."

Levi realized he truly never learned his lesson. Not long ago, he’d had that exact same blunder with Miriel regarding the lifespans of humans versus long-lived races. He hadn’t expected to get shut down by this Silver Dragon Maiden over the same thing.

A Giant Dragon’s lifespan is often measured in millennia. While thirty-five is middle-aged for a human, in the vast timeline of a Giant Dragon’s life, it’s the age of a young girl.

’Damn, I’m so jealous.’

’Suddenly, Levi felt like there was no point in being human!’

’It was bad enough that he wouldn’t live as long as them. But in terms of personal strength, if it weren’t for his cheat ability, they’d leave any human in the dust.’

In the end, he could only plop down cross-legged on an empty carriage with Zat and the others, starting a game of cards to drown his sorrows in fun.

Those two clowns, Zat and Hog, had secretly learned a trick or two from him and tried to use them on the newcomer, Orak. But as it turned out, the Old Beastman was sharp-eyed and caught them cheating on the spot, utterly disgracing Levi.

"It’s not my fault, Boss. I didn’t expect Orak to have such sharp eyes," Zat said with a pitiful look, rubbing a new bump on his head.

Orak just smiled. ’I may be old, but I’m not blind,’ he thought. ’Swapping cards right in front of me like that? Even a blind man could have seen it.’

’Still, this novel card game is quite interesting.’

"Shoo, shoo! You’ve completely disgraced me. Don’t you dare go around telling people I taught you."

The Lord shoved Zat aside with his rear, then shuffled the deck with a fancy flourish. "Orak, let me play a couple of hands. But just playing for fun is boring. How about we wager some Gold Coins?"

Seeing the Lord’s winks and suggestive glances, Orak, with his decades of life experience, understood instantly. He smiled and said, "Alright. But My Lord, I don’t have much money, so please go easy on me."

Meanwhile, Sophia, who had been idly gazing at the blue sky and white clouds, lost in thought, found her attention drawn to their conversation.

"Gold Coins?"

She sidled over, her face full of curiosity as she watched the three of them play a card game she had never seen before.

Levi didn’t bother explaining, simply carrying on with his game against Hog and Orak.

"Hog, play the pair of Kings! That old-timer Orak definitely doesn’t have anything higher!"

Having just been kicked away for annoying the Lord, the Beastman ran over to pester Hog the Jackal Wolfman.

Hog’s face turned green with rage. He hadn’t even played his cards, and now everyone knew his hand. What was the point of even playing?

Orak just smiled, played a single King, and then a pair of Queens to end the round.

With the Lord deliberately throwing the game, Orak successfully won dozens of silver coins.

After a few rounds, his total winnings came to nearly two Gold Coins.

Sophia’s eyes went wide as she watched from the side. In such a short time, the Old Beastman had won more money than she could earn in a whole month of hard work.

"I’m done, I’m done. Let someone else have a turn."

Orak waved his hand, looking like he’d made a killing and was ready to retire on his laurels.

Before Zat could say he wanted a turn, the Silver Dragon Maiden eagerly shouted, "I’ll play! I’ll play!"

She quickly plopped down in the seat Orak had just vacated.

She had been watching from the sidelines for a long time and had already figured out the rules.

’From her perspective, you could win so much money just by playing a simple card game. How was that any different from picking up money off the ground?’

’Besides, the game looked so simple. She could totally do it too!’

The Lord and Orak exchanged a knowing smile, but they had to keep up the act. Levi frowned and asked, "Do you have any money? What are you doing joining in if you’re broke?"

"Well... can’t I bet my work hours instead?" the Silver Dragon Maiden asked cautiously.

She really didn’t have any money. The small stash she had painstakingly saved up had been completely cleaned out by that "old woman," which was why she had run away from home in the first place.

’Where would she get any money now?’

Even the cartload of scrap weapons and armor she had collected hadn’t been sold yet.

"Fine," Levi nodded reluctantly, though inwardly he was laughing his head off.

And so, with the Silver Dragon Maiden’s face alight with excitement, the game began anew.

But, whether it was because the Lord’s luck was terrible today or because the Silver Dragon Maiden was a genuine genius, he kept losing. Before long, the Silver Dragon Maiden had completely cleaned him out.

"Hehe."

Looking at the stack of more than ten Gold Coins piled up in front of her, Sophia was so excited her card-holding hand was trembling. In just a short while, she had won a fortune that would normally take her a year to earn.

"I won! I won!"

After winning yet another hand, Sophia excitedly held out her little hands. "Money!"

A series of emotions flashed across the Lord’s face—hesitation, anger—but in the end, he heaved a helpless sigh and placed a Gold Coin into the Silver Dragon Maiden’s hand with extreme reluctance.

"Again! Again!" Sophia eagerly gathered the cards, clearly addicted to winning.

Halfway through the next game, a Beastman came running from up ahead, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Boss, there’s a group of bandits blocking the road!"

"Game’s over, game’s over." The Lord tossed his cards down, standing up to stretch his stiff limbs.

The prize that was within her grasp had just flown away. Sophia was so angry she was about to complain, but the scout’s announcement made her snap her mouth shut. Suddenly, winning and losing didn’t seem so important anymore.