도박사 잭 II/13권

제13회 혼의 가격

──최후의 레이스는 제6레이스 이상으로 고조되는 전개를 보였다.

먼저 제일 인기 있는「4」번이 머신 트러블로 레이스 포기. 이어 두 번째로 인기 있던「3」번과 그 다음「6」번이 차례로 트러블에 휘말려 리타이어까지 가진 않았지만 머신의 속도가 대폭 감소.

실질적으로 남은 9대가 달리는 레이스. 그 중에도 제일 승률이 높은「1」번은「5」번의 집요한 블록에 막혀, 순위를 올리지 못하고 있었다.

이 상태로 선두 경쟁을 펼치는 것은 앞에서부터「7」「2」「12」번.

「12」는 카를로스── “만년 2위인 레전드”로 불리는 남자가 선두 경쟁을 하고 있는 뜨거운 전개가 되고 있었다.

그리고 최후의 승부처인 마지막 코너── 미묘하게 벌어진「7」「2」의 틈새로 베테랑인 카를로스가 날카로운 코너링으로 뚫고 지나간다.

──제7레이스의 결과는「12－7－2」로 확정. 놀랍게도…… 1위는 카를로스. 관객들은 오랜 세월 침묵을 이어간 《레전드》의 훌륭한 부활에 취해, 큰 함성을 보냈다.

그런 서킷의 모습을 레너드가 불쾌하다는 표정으로 바라본다.

「혹시 꽝？」이라고 물어보는 할.

하지만 레너드는──

「후후, 설마 레전드가 1위를 할 줄은 예상도 못 했었군.」

「하지만 그는 톱3에 들어갈 거라 믿고 있었다.」

「내가 산 티켓은 2 - 7 - 12의“트리오”…… 120배의 더블오 티켓이다.」

「…………！」

잭과 할은 충격을 받은 듯했다.

심지어 레나드가 40만 미라를 걸어── 4,800만 미라를 획득했다.

「후후, 놀라서 말도 안 나오는 모양이군.」

「그래, 아무래도 그런 것 같네.」

레너드와 니케가 우쭐거린다. 하지만──

「쯧, 우쭐하기는.」

할이 혀를 내밀고, 잭이 말한다.

「놀란척한 것뿐이야.」

「무슨 말을？」「설마──」

의구심을 갖는 레너드와 니케를 향해 다시 잭이 말한다.

「내가 산 것은 12 - 7 - 2의 “트리플”──」

「1,100배의 트리플오 티켓이다！」

「…………………！！」

레너드와 니케의 말문이 막혔다.

트리플오 티켓이란 그 이름대로 배당률이 1,000배 이상인 티켓── 더블오 티켓이 몇 개월에 한 번 나올까 말까라면 이쪽은 몇 년에 한 번 나올까 말까 한 지극히 희귀한 티켓이다.

이로 말미암아 잭의 소지금은 5,500만 미라…… 레너드의 4,810만 미라를 넘어섰다.

「이 자식, 어째서 그런……！」

「나에게 그걸 듣고 싶다는 것은 자신의 부정을 인정하게 되는 꼴이야.」

「그래도 알고 싶다면 알려주지.」

「나는 말이야 레너드. 카를로스를 매수했어.」

「매수, 라고……」

「그래, 실은 아까 지인에게 똑같은 티켓을 사게 했지.」

「지급금액은 내 이름으로 그 자리에서 끌어모은 10만 미라…… 그것이 1,100배로, 전부 해서 1억 천만 미라.」

「이 금액을 그대로 준다고 했다.」

「바보 같은, 그에게는 내가 정기적으로……」

「그 정도의 거금이라고는 해도 어째서 그런 눈앞의 이익에……！」

「잘 들어, 레너드…… 확실히 사람의 마음이라는 것은 미라로 살 수도 있을 거야.」

「하지만,“혼”이라는 것만큼은 아무리 미라를 준다고 해도 살 수 없지.」

「카를로스가 나의 거래에 응한 것이 좋은 증거……」

「사실은 훨씬 전부터 손을 씻고 싶다고 생각하고 있었을 거다.」

「크으, 잘난척 말하기는……」

「역시나 레전드…… 몇 사람과 결탁하고 있었다고는 해도 항상 후방에서 레이스를 조종하고 있었을 줄이야.」

「정말 무서운 사람이야.」

「근데 레너드 씨는 순위까지 지정했었지？」

「그럼 왜 “트리플”이 아니라“트리오”에 걸었어？」

「심지어, 마지막에 전부 건게 아니라 10만 미라를 남겨두고……」

「그건 말하자면“보험”이었겠지.」

……적중이었다.

승부에 이기기 위한 씨앗을 심었다고는 해도 불확실한 요소를 완전히 제거할 수는 없다. 모든 수단을 다 쓴 후에, 가장 확실한 수단을 취한다.…… 그것이 레너드의 방식이었다.

「흐흥, 하지만 그렇게 도망갈 길을 만든 거라면 어쩔 수 없네.」

「전부 걸었다면 잭에게 이겼을텐데.」

「뭐, 뭐라고……」

바로 계산을 해보고 사실을 알아채는 레너드. 마지막 50만을 모두 걸었다면 6,000만, 잭의 5,500만을 넘는다.

「……그래, 이건 착오다.」

「실제로 티켓을 산 부하가 번호를 잘못 들어서 그런 거다……！ 그러니까 나의 패배는 아니야……！」

「──그 정도로 해두지？」

그건 니케의 말이었다.

「레너드…… 당신 아까 레이스에서 제일 인기 있는 머신에 무언가 장치를 했었지？」

「증거는 확실하게 없앴겠지만…… 한 것을 알고 마크하고 있었다면 이야기를 달라져.」

「아쉽지만 레너드…… 당신이 한 짓은 모두 드러나 버렸어.」

「무슨 생각이야…… 너는 도대체 무슨 말을 하는 거야？」

「뭐, 그건 이걸 보면 알게 될 거야. ──들어와.」

니케의 신호에 VIP룸에 레너드의 부하와는 다른 검은 복장의 사람들이 들어온다. 그리고 레너드와 그의 경호원을 둘러싼다.

「포기해라, 레너드！ 이미 다른 부하들도 항복시켰다！」

「니케, 이건 도대체……」

잭의 의문에 니케가 호주머니에서 안경을 꺼내 끼며 대답한다.

「후후, 다시 한 번 내 소개를 하겠어.」

「대통령 직속 첩보기관 《록스미스 기관》의 스탭……」

「이것이 나의“진짜 직업”이야.」

……잭과 할은 한 방 먹은 표정을 지었다.

Chapter 13 - The Price of the Soul

It quickly became apparent that this final battle was going to be even more intense and unpredictable than the sixth race had been.

First, car 4, which had been the favorite to win, had to withdraw partway through due to mechanical trouble.

The second and third most popular cars, 3 and 6 respectively, also had their own share of problems, and while they were able to continue the race, their performance was far from their full capabilities.

Thanks to these technical difficulties, there were essentially only nine of the original twelve cars still in the race. Of those nine, car 1 had the highest odds of winning, but car 5 stubbornly refused to allow it to overtake, and car 1 was unable to get into the lead.

The cars at the front of the race were 7, 2, and 12. While they generally held that order, they were constantly jockeying for position. Furthermore, car 12 was driven by none other than Carlos, the Legendary Loser. That in itself generated a lot of excitement as it had been quite some time since he had been anywhere near this close to winning a major race.

As the heated race neared the end, the final corner that would determine everything approached. Just as they began the bend, a gap opened up between cars 7 and 2. Whether it was nerves or a lapse in concentration, the drivers of those two cars left a space wide enough for Carlos to sneak through, and he seized his chance. With a deft hand at the wheel, car 12 shot through and took the lead.

The race ended. Car 12 was victorious, while car 7 held onto second place and car 2 came in third.

Leonard watched all of this unfold with a sour look.

'Did you lose?' asked Halle.

Her hopes, however, were quickly dashed.

He shook his head and laughed. 'No, no. I just wasn't expecting ol' Legend to snag first place like that. I did believe he had the goods to get into the top three, though.'

His smile widened. 'You see, I bet on a trifecta box with cars 2, 7, and 12. The payout's 120 times what I staked.'

Jack and Halle were stunned speechless.

To make matters worse, Leonard had bet 400,000 mira, meaning that he received 48,000,000 from his ticket.

He watched their faces with undisguised smugness. 'Heh. Looks like you two realize now that you never stood a chance in Gehenna of beating me.'

Nike giggled at his shoulder. 'Sure seems that way.'

The pair oozed confidence, sure that they had won.

Halle's face fell...then she stuck her tongue out at them. 'Nah. We just wanted you to think that.'

Jack grinned at the puzzled look on Leonard's face. 'What the lady said. We were just pretending t'be surprised.'

'Then... You didn't...'

Leonard couldn't seem to work out what they were trying to imply, but Nike quickly understood. Her painted lips compressed into a flat line.

'I put my money on a trifecta,' Jack clarified. '12, 7 and 2. Get it now? That's 1,100 times what I bet!'

This time, it was Leonard and Nike who were stunned into silence.

Tickets that paid out over a hundred times the bet made were rare enough even at this racetrack, but tickets that paid out over a thousand times the bet were almost unheard of.

As a result of his bet, Jack won 55,000,000 mira, a total pot that was significantly higher than Leonard's 48,100,000 winnings.

'Wh-What...? How did you...?!'

It was Jack's turn to laugh at the furious expression on Leonard's face.

'You do realize that asking me that is basically admitting wrongdoing on your part, right?' he said. 'But ...if you really wanna know, I'll tell you. It's simple. I bribed Carlos.'

'You did WHAT?!'

'I got a friend of mine to get a ticket just like this one. The money for it was 100,000 mira he'd gathered on the spot in my name. Multiply that by 1,100 and you get 110,000,000. I told Carlos he could have the lot.'

'What?! But I've been sending him... Why would he throw all that away for a one-off sum like that, however big?!'

Jack made a 'tsk-ing' sound. 'You might be able to buy people's hearts with money for a while, Leonard, but there's no amount of mira that will let you buy their souls. The fact that Carlos accepted my offer is pretty solid proof of that. I'm guessin' he wanted out a long, long time ago.'

'Tch... What do you know?!' Leonard gestured angrily, but then grudgingly added, 'I'm pretty impressed, though. Admittedly, he wasn't alone, but it takes some skill to manipulate the outcome of races from right at the back. Ol' Legend hasn't lost his touch, that's for sure.'

It was at this point that Halle spoke up. 'But if you'd arranged the outcome from the start, why did you go for a box instead of just a trifecta? And why not go all in and bet your last 100,000 mira, too?'

Leonard looked away. 'Well...just to be on the safe side...'

Jack's suspicions had proved right. Leonard knew as well as anyone that it was impossible to completely remove all unpredictable elements from a bet. As such, his way was to excise as many as humanly possible, and then take the surest and safest path to victory. He hadn't changed at all.

'Huh... Makes sense,' Halle said. 'Too bad it cost you the victory, though. If you'd gone all in, you would've won, too.'

Leonard's head snapped back around. 'Wh-What?!' He quickly did the sums in his head and realized the truth. If he'd bet his entire 500,000 mira, he would have won 60,000,000 mira, comfortably beating Jack's 55,000,000.

'It's... It's a mistake!' Leonard blurted out. 'A mix-up! The subordinate I asked to buy the ticket must have bet the wrong amount! I didn't lose! I couldn't possibly lose...!'

'Save it, Leonard.' Nike interjected coolly. 'You messed with the most popular car in the race, didn't you? You did an excellent job of hiding the evidence... but no amount of hiding is going to be enough when someone already knows what you're going to do and can watch out for you.'

She pointed a perfect, lacquered nail at him. 'You've been getting away with things for a long time...but not anymore.'

They all stared at her.

'Wh-What are you talking about?' Leonard sputtered. 'What are you suggesting?!'

'It's probably faster to just show you...' she said. 'Come on in.'

At Nike's signal, a number of men in black suits entered the VIP room. They weren't Leonard's men, though. Instead, they surrounded him and his underlings.

'This is the end of the line for you, Leonard. We've already taken the rest of your men into custody!'

Leonard wasn't the only one baffled by what was happening.

'Nike? What are you...?' began a puzzled Jack.

With a laugh, Nike took a pair of glasses from her pocket, placed them on her nose, and addressed him directly. 'I should probably introduce myself, shouldn't I? Being an actress isn't my primary occupation... I'm actually a member of the Rocksmith Agency, an intelligence group which answers directly to the president.'

Jack and Halle could only gape at her in shock.