The victory against Mr. Bersong meant that Shade entered the final round of the Lakeview Manor Rod Tournament.
The final round of the game would be held at the round table under the grape arbor. Shad's match with Mr. Belson was the fastest, so when he, Tifa, and the onlookers came under the grape arbor, the other three opponents had not arrived yet.
It was already 10:30 tonight. Shade rubbed his face and felt that his mental state was still very good. He put his hands together on the table. Seeing that the game would not start for a while, he turned around and suggested to Tifa:
"After you finish playing cards, how about you take a walk in the garden with me? There won't be many pleasant evenings like this before the first snow of this winter."
"OK."
The maid agreed, and the cat in her arms looked at Shad with a lazy expression, just like a child who was reluctant to get out of bed on Sunday morning.
Soon, the other three opponents who entered the finals also arrived here one after another. Due to the limited space for spectators, some people even paid to exchange seats with the people in the front row.
The referee of the final game was Mr. Justin from the Prophet Association, and Shad's three opponents were Shad's friend Baron Lavender, who was lucky today; Viscount Glenn, a relative of the Lemaire family on the other side of Lake Schluch, who was not from Tobesk and had recently visited Tobesk and was invited to the banquet; the last one was the lady mentioned earlier, who called herself Miss Mary Witte, the daughter of the local Viscount Witte.
She has blond hair that is almost white, and she wears a long black top and red bottom dress, and a wide-brimmed hat with pink flowers.
Although she looked different from the one she had seen at the banquet in Huntington, there was no doubt that she was the Sixth Ring Warlock "Miss Pavo" of the Truth Society. Not only because when she sat down opposite Shade, Shade could sense her level of ring warlock, but also because the silver-covered notebook she was holding looked like a "miniature version" of the thick silver book.
"From Saturday night, it only took her three days to get from Huntington to Tobesk? That's really fast."
Shade thought to himself as he, along with the others, turned in the deck for inspection again.
Will you report her
The voice beside my ear chuckled, but Xia De showed no expression:
"Let's wait and decide. The heretic holding the wrathful divine punishment might also be here. Also, Miss Pavo showed up at the banquet but didn't go to contact Princess Margaret. Maybe it's because of something more important."
Are they here for the "Secret Keeper" matter as well
"I don't know for now. Let's finish this game first."
The four players' decks of cards were checked quickly. Mr. Justin from the Prophet Association acted as the referee, and Mr. Sikh, who had just hosted the game for Shad, acted as the dealer. The dealer and the four players were evenly distributed around the round table.
The winner of a multi-player card game is determined by points. No points are awarded for busting. Among the players who have not busted, the winner gets 4 points, the second highest score gets 3 points, and so on. If the points are the same, all points are shared.
There are three rounds in total. After three rounds, each person's score is added up, and the person with the highest score is the final winner of the game.
The rules were quite simple and no one had any questions. As people urged, Mr. Justin loudly announced "The game begins", and everyone's eyes were focused on the four decks of cards on the table.
The framed wedding ceremony was in the center of the table, and everyone had a kerosene lamp at hand. Although it was night in the garden, at least the lights were bright.
"Miss Witt, this is my first time playing Rhodes with ladies. It's rare to see a lady like you."
Baron Lavender said with a smile.
Everyone got their first card. Shad glanced at his flower 3 and asked for more cards. Baron Lavender and Viscount Glenn, who had slender fingers, did the same. "Miss Witt" asked for a card without even looking at it. She responded to Baron Lavender:
“My father taught me how to play Rhodes when I was little. It was only when I got into the card game that I discovered how fascinating mathematics is. Even now, as I’m studying for a degree, I haven’t forgotten the game that inspired me.”
The Draerion language is quite standard. If it weren't for the fact that "she" could determine the fluctuations of the spirit and the characteristics of the soul, Shad would not have been sure that the other party was "Miss Pavo" of the Truth Society.
Mr. Sikh's dealing technique was quite professional. The four cards flew across the table almost without interruption and stopped on everyone's hidden cards.
Baron Lavender looked at his "Flower 13" and raised his eyebrows. After thinking about it, he decided to stop playing. Viscount Glenn got Star 10, and he signaled that he would continue to play cards. Shade got the Northern City Coldwater Harbor Moon 7. Unfortunately, this card requires more than half of the deck to be used to trigger the rules. Therefore, although people quietly admired Shade's luck, in fact, the cards could not be used at all.
Xia De's current points are only ten, so he continues to ask for cards.
"Miss Witt" also continued to ask for cards, so except for Baron Lavender, the other three people got the third card.
Viscount Glenn also struck up a conversation with the lady. It was indeed rare for ladies to play Rhodes. In addition to the fact that the ladies were not interested in it, most noble ladies would not sit down and play cards with strange men:
"The last time I saw your father was in the spring of this year. I heard that he unfortunately fell off his horse and has been recuperating in bed for the past six months. I wonder how he is doing now?"
"Father is still in bed, but he can walk around with the help of a servant."
Miss Witte said without changing her expression.
After getting the third card, all three players, including Xia De, stopped playing.
The four men looked at each other, and Baron Lavender, who only had two cards, opened his cards first:
"Flower 13 and Moon 4, 17 points. I don't want to bust, because busting means zero points."
"How cautious."
Shade praised, and behind Baron Lavender, Baron Rwanda, the "archenemy" of the Baron, snorted, which made Baron Lavender feel better:
"Mr. Hamilton, what are your points?"
Shad revealed his cards;
"Flower 3, Moon 7, Moon 10, 20 o'clock."
"Oh, it's Hamilton from Rejade as expected."
People were talking about it, and Shad smiled. He reached back and touched the cat that Tifa was holding:
"Miss Witt, where are your points?"
"What a coincidence, mine is also 20 points."
As she spoke, the lady picked up the first hidden card and the third card with her left and right hands. They were the Sun 2 and the Moon 11, and the one on the table was the Sun 7.
People applauded to express their congratulations, and the three people at the table looked at the last Viscount Glenn. This tall and thin gentleman with slender fingers shook his head slightly:
"It seems I have the best luck tonight, Mr. Hamilton, I'm sorry."
He turned over his hole cards and put them together with the last two: 5 of the Sun, 10 of the Star and 6 of the Flower.
“Oh, 21!”
The heated discussion pushed the atmosphere to a new climax, followed by congratulations to the Viscount for winning against Shade in the first round.
Although Xia De was quite lucky, it was impossible for him to win every game, so he expressed his congratulations in a very gentlemanly manner.
Just as the referee, Mr. Justin, wrote down the result of this round on a piece of paper and was about to start the second round, Shade heard laughter:
He cheated.
"Um?"
Shad raised his eyebrows, turned to look at Tifa to hide his expression, and then stretched out his hands to touch Mia fiercely, which made people laugh. Traditionally, people believe that cats bring luck, so Shad's behavior can be interpreted as praying for good luck.
“Who cheated?”
Glenn at Blackjack. While you were talking to the Sixth Ring Warlock, he replaced his hidden card with the card in his sleeve.
The cat with a sour face looked at Shad, seemingly not wanting to make any response to his boring behavior. Shad turned around and prepared to continue the card game, without any doubt about "her" words.
The other party used the common people's cheating method, and used it blatantly under the gaze of so many people. Obviously, this was not the first time. Xia De did not expect the other party to be so bold. It was indeed his negligence that he did not notice it just now, but he always hated others cheating when playing cards.
At this time, he had already begun to think of ways to make the other party suffer, but he glanced at "Miss Witte" again and found that she was also looking at Viscount Glenn:
“She found out, too.”
Xia De thought to himself, looked at the first card that had been thrown over, and already had a plan in mind.
In the first round, 21 points won over two 20 points, which triggered a heated discussion that did not subside until the second round began. Among the four players, Baron Lavender was the only one who did not know the truth. He took his own cards and laughed while discussing with Shade who would draw the first special rule card.
"Miss Witt" looked at her cards normally, and Viscount Glenn also joined in the conversation with Shade. In this way, when everyone got the three cards of the second round, Miss Witt and Baron Lavender both said that they would stop playing.
The starry sky above, the light of March is so bright, and the warm light of the gas lamp next to the grape trellis is so bright. The atmosphere is just right. At this time, Shade's two open cards have 16 points, and Viscount Glenn has 13 points. The exciting game has once again reached a critical moment.
"Keep asking for cards."
Shad raised his hand.
"Knight, aren't you taking too much risk? Baron Lavender was right just now. If you explode the card, you get 0 points. If the points are smaller, at least you still get points."
Viscount Glenn frowned and asked. Shade shook his head seriously:
"If you don't even dare to take this kind of risk, what kind of Rhodes player are you?"
"Yes, you are worthy of being the champion of Big City Player 1853!"
Someone in the crowd echoed, and Xia De nodded:
"Viscount, do you want more cards?"
Viscount Glenn looked at the table illuminated by the lights:
"Then I'll continue to ask for cards."
The next cards of the two players are given in turn, and the cards are dealt with their backs facing up, but according to the rules, they must be turned over immediately after receiving the cards.
Xia De's hands were faster, and he smiled after flipping open the cards:
"Look, Viscount Glenn, Sun Six."
Explosive exclamations suddenly sounded, and then spread to the periphery of the grape trellis. Although Sun 6 meant that Shade had exploded, it also meant that this was the beginning of death.