Watching Mister Riddell eat, Shade was not worried that he might suddenly overeat and upset his stomach. Satiety Feast was exceptionally effective at curing gastrointestinal problems.
But Mister Riddell did not finish all the food. After eating a third of it, he asked Shade for the wooden box, gathered the remaining food onto a plate, and placed it inside. It seemed he intended to save it for later.
After all, no matter who it was, they could not stand eating biscuits for who knew how long.
Tasting normal human food again greatly lifted Mister Riddell's spirits, which had been on the verge of collapse. Coupled with Shade's arrival giving him someone to talk to again, the gentleman's mental state visibly improved.
Before beginning the gamble again, Shade asked Mister Riddell about the origins of the god summoned by the gaming table. The middle-aged man, who had remained here for a long time, indeed gave him an answer:
"This is the holy emblem of a god."
He wiped his mouth with his robe sleeve. Though his eyes were still bloodshot, at least his voice no longer trembled.
After asking Shade for paper and pen, Mister Riddell drew a complicated design in Shade's notebook. Perhaps because he had not written for a very long time, his hand shook slightly:
"Every time I fall into slumber, I dream of this symbol. Every time, I hear someone urging me to continue the gamble. It is as though, the moment I close my eyes, these corpses begin whispering in my ears. I even have a premonition that even if I find another way to leave Terror Castle, as long as I do not complete the gamble, I will keep hearing that voice for the rest of my life, until I return here and sit at