The moment the two sides looked at each other, both Dr. Schneider and Shade widened their eyes, and Shade even read the meaning of "Why are you here" from each other's eyes.
When asking about his attire, Shad did tell the doctor that he had to attend a more formal dinner due to a commission from the firm, but he did not mention that it was a dinner at Lake View Manor, and the doctor did not ask him where he was going, probably because he did not think that Shad would appear in this place.
He wanted to leave the card table and go to the doctor, but the doctor shook his head slightly at Shade seriously, and did not stop talking with his friend about the difference between silver and gold hammering.
As they passed by the grape trellis, there were friends of Dr. Schneider's companion sitting at the card table, and they exchanged a few words.
The doctor did not have any conversation with Xia De, but secretly performed a series of complex movements with his hands, and only left with his companions after confirming that Xia De saw clearly.
"But what do those gestures mean?"
Xia De stared at the grapes hanging from above and thought puzzledly.
Although he saw it clearly, he did not understand it at all. He did not know sign language or hints, so it was useless for Dr. Schneider to explain it clearly.
"However, now Madam Lasoya of Mercury Blood, the Orthodox Church's ring wizard team, the high-ring wizard 'that lady' of unknown level, and Dr. Schneider have all appeared in Lakeview Manor. What will happen here... Let's try to find a doctor after playing cards... Will Miss Louisa and Father Augustus be here too?"
The second game of Rhodes between the gardening artist Sir Solal and the flour mill owner Mr. Sikh was obviously more interesting than the first game between the two barons. The two were almost deadlocked in a game-winning manner, and by the end, both of them had sweat on their foreheads.
When the second game ended with a score of 4-4, not only the participants but even the onlookers did not dare to breathe deeply.
"I won this round."
Sir Solar used the face-up "Flower 12" to pick up the face-down card, let out a long sigh, and turned the "Sun 9" to the front. Mr. Sikh, who was sitting opposite him, sighed and turned his face-down card over. Even Shad couldn't help but feel sorry for him.
Mr. Sikh's face-up card is not important, because his back-up card is actually the "Queen". According to the rules of the Rhodes competition, once a player draws the "Queen" or "King", he must stop playing. The other player can continue to draw cards, but unless he can get exactly 21 points in the end, he will be the loser in any case.
If both parties draw the king and queen, they compare the size of the other card. If the king is bigger than the queen, the king is bigger than the queen. If one party holds both the king and the queen, they automatically win, but this situation is only possible when the cards are dealt.
So, Mr. Sikh drew the queen but lost to Sir Solar's blackjack, a hand that would have been a topic of conversation for months.
Sir Lavender, with a flushed face, stretched his head to look at the cards on the stone table, and slapped Sir Solar's shoulder heavily, almost knocking out the toothpick in his mouth.
The two players stood up and left, and the atmosphere at this time was obviously much better than that in the first game. Sir Solar and Mr. Sikh had no conflict of interest, and the two shook hands in a friendly manner, with the latter still expressing his regrets.
The game became a one-win game, and the final choice was particularly important. Baron Rwanda, who seemed very smart, decided to play again. Baron Lavender thought carefully and finally took out a deck of cards and asked his "friends" to draw a card each. In the end, he let Shad, who for some reason drew the king, play.
Now even Shade was speechless:
"But this kind of luck is a bit strange."
But the Rwandan Baron had something to say. He was a little shorter than his friends around him, and after sitting down in advance, he looked more like a glowing potato:
"Lavender, we agreed to play fair. The people we invited are all our respective friends, not paid Rhodes masters. Otherwise, this game would be meaningless."
He didn't directly say that there was something wrong with Shade, but he obviously didn't approve of a stranger like Shade playing against him.
"Yes, this young detective is my friend. We had a very pleasant chat just now."
Baron Lavender said this without changing his expression. Shad took the opportunity to hand his few remaining business cards to the shorter baron. When the latter saw the address of "No. 6 St. Teresa's Square", he was a little surprised like everyone else and put the card away carefully.
"You see, I'm from Tobesk, not a Rhodes player from outside. If I were a great player, you wouldn't have heard of me. Oh, Baron, if you don't believe me, I can swear to the gods that I'm definitely not a Rhodes master."
Shade said seriously. Baron Rwanda still looked at him suspiciously, but nodded to indicate that the game could begin. But before Mr. Candela of the Prophet Association began to shuffle the cards, Baron Rwanda said to Baron Lavender:
"Since Detective Hamilton is your friend, why don't you give him my bet after he wins, and I'll give you 20 pounds as an additional bet."
The Rwandan Baron was all smiles:
"Since you're friends, I assume this must be okay, right? You don't need to raise the stakes."
Although 20 pounds was a lot of money, it was not as valuable as the ancient fairy tale match girl. According to the market price that Shade knew, the match girl with special rules would be worth no less than 50 pounds if it could find a suitable buyer. This was a real collection of rich people.
Baron Lavender certainly didn't want to agree, and there was no reason for him to agree to such a request now. But seeing that everyone was looking at him, he suddenly made up his mind, and the issue of face instantly occupied the peak. He raised his head and said:
"Of course, Detective Hamilton is my friend. If he wins the bet, the stake goes to him... and your 20 pounds goes to Sir Solar."
As he spoke, he patted Shad's shoulder heavily as he sat down. Shad understood that Baron Lavender would definitely ask for the cards back afterwards, but he would compensate him with a sum of money.
"That's fine with me."
Shade said, and Sir Solar, who was standing aside watching the game, nodded indifferently.
So the third game officially began. The decks were still the decks of the two barons, so after the shuffling, Shade, with a faint red light in his right eye, roughly knew the contents of the opponent's first two cards.
Of course, it was impossible for him to remember the bloodstains on all 54 cards, but after using the spell Blood Echo, he not only had a keen observation of subtle bloodstains, but his memory of bloodstains was also strengthened, so he dared to confidently think that he knew it roughly.
"The opponent's first two cards are 10 and 9, so he probably won't continue to ask for cards..."
Xia De thought to himself, and saw that his open card was the Sun 1, and the bottom card was the Star 9. He stretched out his hand to signal Mr. Candela to continue to give the cards, and the result was the Moon 11.
"No, this luck is definitely not right. What happened?"