It was precisely because of the strange attitudes of the three gentlemen that not only the old Duke Lucas himself, but also the other guests who were invited this time, were eager to know what they had just seen.
"Okay then, let the game begin."
Mr. Mark announced loudly as he fiddled with his white shirt and black formal tie.
Two middle-aged men from the Prophet's Association acted as dealers beside Mr. Mark. In this era, there was superstition, and people believed that women would bring bad luck to Rhodes cards, so there were no sexy ladies dealing cards here.
Xia De got his first card and felt a little nervous. He didn't know how to play Rhodes at all. He had learned some Rhodes skills in the past few days while reading books and playing with cats, but he was definitely not as good as those veterans.
Therefore, Miss Anat's mention of "the luck brought by the founding series cards" is probably Xia De's hope for winning the game.
Although he had said before that he didn't care about winning or losing this game, but sitting here, being watched by so many people, especially Miss Bei Yasi who was dressed as a maid for some unknown reason, made him feel inexplicably pressured.
"Just play casually and try to ask for as few cards as possible. After all, this is a game where luck plays a major role."
He comforted himself in his heart that this time his opponent's deck was not stained with blood, so it was a very fair game.
"It's okay if I lose... Go apologize to Miss Carina. I can't lose every time I help her."
My mood returned to normal, so I looked down at the first card and it was 13.
"Um... ... "
He gestured for the next card, and the second card was dealt directly face up, the 8 of the Sun.
"Um... ... "
He rubbed his hands, pondered for a moment, and asked in his heart:
"Is there another inexplicable person interfering with my luck?"
I didn't find anything.
"So why... exactly 21?"
Why can't you just consider it your luck
The whispering voice asked, and Shade nodded, indicating that there was no need to ask for the next card.
"Are young people so cautious?"
The old duke on the other side smiled, but he also didn't ask for the third card. Then the two opened their cards, Shad had 13+8=21, and the duke had 8+8=16. The latter was not disappointed, but continued to smile and said:
"It turns out there's a reason why young people are so cautious."
The guests who were watching the card game were whispering to each other, and Shade saw Miss Bei Ya Si took advantage of everyone's attention on the card game and quietly slipped out of the door. No one knew where she went.
"I didn't have a chance to tell her that there is a high-level sorcerer on this floor... But Miss Carina knew about Miss Beatrice last time, so it shouldn't be a problem."
Shade won the first round of the first game, but he did not continue his luck in the second round. The sum of the numbers of the first two cards was 17. The cautious detective did not choose to continue, and the Duke got two 2s in a row until the fourth card:
“That’s terrible.”
Duke Lucas regretfully revealed his cards: 6+2+2+12=22. Shade's luck didn't need to be particularly good, as long as it was better than his opponent's.
In the third round of the first game, after Shade got the bottom card, he absentmindedly found that Miss Bei Yasi had returned. She was still dressed as a maid, and when she saw Shade's eyes "peek" at her from behind the Rhodes cards, she also made a greeting gesture.
By the time Xia De reacted, he had already got three cards, so he hurriedly stopped. The total of the three cards was 18.
At this time, people burst into small exclamations. It turned out that someone had finally drawn the first special rule card. Even though the old Duke Lucas was still behind, he still showed a smug expression as if he had already won.
"Detective, it looks like I have better luck."
Firearms: Luger Revolver, Suit: Sun 10. After drawing this card, if the cards in your hand, including this card, are odd in number, and the suits of all the cards in your hand are different, you can adjust the number on the card from 10 or 11.
Duke Lux did not continue to bid. The other open card in his hand was a flower 1. He solemnly flipped the bottom card with his fingers and then threw it on the table. It was the moon 3, which met the special rules.
"Oh my God, how lucky I am!"
The crowd burst into exclamations again, and there were heated discussions and congratulations. This was not a deliberate attempt to please the old duke, the people present really thought this was quite remarkable.
"It seems that no matter what, the Duke's points are smaller than mine... I won the third round of the first game and won the first game, right?"
Xia De asked the dealer next to him quietly. No matter how the number on the Rhodes card was adjusted, he should have won with 18 points. But people's reactions now made him wonder if there was some special rule that caused him to lose.
"The first round is over, Mr. Shad Hamilton wins!"
Amid the excited discussion, Mr. Mark announced loudly. Shade did not show any smug expression, while the old Duke Lucas, who was wearing a red army uniform, had a red face, as if he had just won a battle:
"Look, detective, this is a really interesting game. You won the first game, and I got the rule card. This is really interesting!"
“I really don’t fit in with this group of people.”
Xia De thought to himself, while the old duke continued to praise:.
"It looks like Carina has found a great Rhodes player. Detective, this won't be so easy next."
Although the first game only lasted a short fifteen minutes in total, everyone still took a five-minute break before continuing with the second game.
During this time, Shade used the excuse that he didn't drink and wanted some grape juice, and started a conversation with Miss Beiyas, who was dressed as a maid. But the latter blinked and didn't say anything extra, and it seemed that she didn't want to involve Shade in her affairs.
This made Shade feel relieved, as it was exactly what he was thinking.
Duke Lucas' luck finally came back at the beginning of the second round. In the third card of the first round of the second round, he actually drew the queen. And Shade, who had 15 points in his hand, tried to continue to draw cards, and his points exceeded 21 points. Then the old duke smiled and said that luck is indeed conserved.
In the second round, Shade drew the queen of his deck. The Duke continued to ask for cards as he had thought, hoping to get 21 points or draw the king. But unfortunately, he drew the card Star 13 with a special pattern, which was very unfortunate and he was out of luck.
This game, where one player wins a round, was much more exciting than the first game. The Duke was in high spirits and arranged for his servant to find a poet who could play the lute to sing poems while the two played cards.
In the third round of the second game, Shade, who was a little relaxed after winning a game, took a gamble and although he still didn't draw a special card, he collected 20 points when the cards were suspended. The old duke drew a special rule Rhodes card again, this time it was the ancient hero Knight Tim, which also required a dice roll to take effect.
But this time the Duke had no such luck. He neither successfully used the special rules nor beat the detective's 20 points.
"It seems that I am lucky today."
Having won both the first and second rounds, Xia De let out a sigh and thought to himself that he would win if he won one more time.
Maybe you can make money by betting on cards, that sounds great.
"Unless I'm really desperate, I won't gamble. This is a matter of principle."
Xia De emphasized again, and then heard the woman's pleasant chuckle. After accepting that the other person existed at the same time as himself, and not thinking whether the other person was really himself, Xia De became more and more accustomed to the woman's voice that often whispered in his ears and in his heart. Just like he didn't like cats very much at first, but gradually got used to Mia becoming a member of the family.
One of the prices for being exposed to the mysteries and becoming a ringmaster is that the whispers will follow you throughout your life. Sleeping, eating, socializing, and even in private... This is the price, and nothing is free. But every time he hears the gentle laughter in his ear, Shade thinks it is not a price, but a gift to himself.
At this time, the third round of the second game officially began. Shade's first hole card was the 8 of Flowers. The Duke lowered his head and looked at the cards, then directly showed his hole card:
"king."
The old man, who was as strong as a lion, couldn't help laughing, and his deep voice almost shook the glass:
"I haven't been this happy for a long time. Carina really found a good player this time. I'm not bad either. I was able to draw the king and queen in one round. The last time I had this luck, my son was about your age. Detective, my trump card is the king. Unless you draw 21 points, I will also win both rounds of the second round."
The onlookers excitedly talked to each other about the game. Something rare happened in almost every round, which made the game much more interesting to watch.
People were already speculating whether the young detective had the luck, and Shad was curious about that, too.
"Keep dealing the cards."
He gestured, but he was not nervous. Even if he lost this round, the second game would only be two to two, so he was not in a hurry.
He turned his head slightly to look at the black-haired maid who had been standing behind him since the start of the game. The maid looked at him, her beautiful eyes directly expressing the meaning of "Is there something wrong?". Shade shook his head, but he found that he could see some physical features that made him blush when looking up. The maid Tifa was probably the one with the best figure among all the women he knew in this world.
I looked at the table again and saw that my second card was the Sun 12, which added to the 8, totaling 20.
"Oh~"
Even he couldn't help but sigh, and Duke Lucas on the opposite side was already smiling:
"Detective, do you want to lose this round or try another card?"
"Keep dealing the cards."
Shad said.
The Duke tapped the table with his fingers:
"That's what young people are like. They should have some spirit of gambling."
But Xia De felt that this was not a compliment to himself, but the old Duke simply wanted to win more thoroughly.
The third card was dealt, and the people on Shad's side couldn't help but stretch their heads slightly to look at the card, expecting to see the young detective get a card with a point of 1 from any of the four suits and win the game with a surprising reversal.
Xia De glanced at the cards and raised his eyebrows:
"Perhaps the belief that the founding series cards increase luck is not just superstition."
He was not lucky enough to draw any 1 among the four cards of the same suit, but he drew 3 instead.
The third card is Sun 3, with the Genesis Silver Moon on it, and the number can be adjusted from 1 to 5.
Plop~
Turning around, I saw the gray-haired Viscount Ford finally collapsed with his hands covering his heart and a smile on his face.