Whispering Verse

"In all these years of playing cards, this is the first time I have encountered an opponent as oppressive as you. You have not lost a single game in 12 games now. This 13th game is already the last round. As long as you beat any of us One, you still win this round."

"How about we surrender and lose half of the points as we discussed in the fifth game?"

Shade then suggested and showed the two cards in his hand:

"In this way, although I still win, Viscount, at least the loser is not you."

Viscount Belgra took a look at Shade's hand:

"You are now at 17 points. I don't believe that your trump card is within 4 points. In the first two rounds of this round, you have already touched Sun 1, Moon 3, Star 3 and Star 4. I want to bet that you have busted. You are defrauding us."

Shade smiled and asked Mr. Herman Wood:

"What do you think?"

The young man wiping his sweat narrowed his eyes slightly:

"I will really lose if I take the initiative to admit defeat, but if you bust a card, at least you lose this round. After all, according to the rules this time, you will get two points for winning and no points for losing, but 1 point will be deducted for busting the card. I also I think you are bluffing, Mr. Watson, you have already busted this hand, right?”

Shade held his two hands together and let his fingers pass through the fingers of the other hand:

"Are you so sure? So, do you want to add some bets to this round? No, it's not special cards. We will bet on special cards next."

Viscount Belgra and Mr. Herman Wood looked at each other:

"We don't believe you didn't bust, so we'll increase the bet. If we lose, we'll go to church tomorrow and donate an extra 5 crowns."

Shade finally smiled:

"No problem, I accept the bet, it's up to you two to open the cards first or I open the cards first."

"I'm 18 o'clock."

"I am also 18 o'clock."

"Then it's really a pity."

Xia De revealed his trump card, Sun 3:

"I'm at 20."

The witch gently put her hand on Shade's shoulder, and Shade turned to look at her. The countess' golden eyes were also full of smiles.

The card game is temporarily over, and the negotiations between the three major families have also come to an end for the time being. Everyone takes a rest before proceeding with the rest of the evening's activities. Although playing cards is just an excuse, in fact, every secret gathering like this will turn into a real Rhodes card game in the end with the highlight, which will also be used as a daily conversation topic by the card players invited by the three major families. .

After all, no one wants to lose.

"I didn't expect you to be so powerful."

In the corridor, Miss Belindel, who excused herself to go to her room in the club to touch up her makeup, said to Shade. Shade was not modest this time:

"I'm just lucky. Viscount Belgra deserves to be the champion of the Big City Players 1850. His skills and luck are also very good. Since coming to this city, I have long wanted to play a few games with him. Please watch , I will definitely win his special card in a while.”

"Well I hope you remember what you're going to do tonight."

The witch reminded again.

"Of course, but that's after winning the card."

The break ended quickly, and Shade, Viscount Belgra and Mr. Herman Wood sat back at the table again. The bright light illuminated the table covered with green blanket white. Earl Martin Eddington, Baron Harry Wood and Miss Belindle did not return to sit on the sofa, but each came to their own players.

The servants brought chairs so that there were six people at the table. Miss Belindel is beside Shade. The "Witch's Smell" perfume is very unique. It is a special smell that only a few people can distinguish.

She watched Shade skillfully cut and shuffle the cards, then pressed the deck on the table and then made a slight stroke to spread the deck in a fan shape on the table in front of her.

"Is your hobby usually playing cards?"

She asked Shade in a low voice, and Shade nodded slightly:

"Raising cats and playing cards, but although I like playing cards, I don't often play cards with others. On the one hand, I am very lucky and it is not fair to play cards with others. On the other hand, I hate gambling. Betting on special cards does not count." gamble."

The smile on the blonde countess' face became brighter and brighter:

"This is really a good habit. Yes, Vanessa will not allow gamblers to appear in the opera troupe. Do you have any other hobbies? It doesn't take too long to raise a cat, right?"

"I don't have any hobbies. At home, I mean when I'm in the opera troupe, if I don't have an outing, I usually stay in my room and read."

Then I thought about my career:

"Or help people solve some troublesome things, such as finding cats, investigating missing persons, etc. Of course, I won't help people for free, I will charge a fee."

The Countess nodded. Her understanding of this man became clearer and her satisfaction with him became stronger. Judging from her interactions over the past few days, "John Watson" had very low materialistic desires and did not like smoking or drinking. Although he played cards, But it seems that it is just a fun collecting card game. Keeping cats is a very good hobby, especially the cats are really beautiful. As for the beautiful girls, he only pays a little attention to them. He does not show any disrespect when in contact with his maids.

For a handsome young man like him, especially a ring sorcerer of such a high level, this can be regarded as a model of morality, only worse than the ascetics of the church.

"But is there something wrong with this? Isn't it because I'm not interested in girls?"

There was some doubt in my heart, so I recalled the time when he rode a horse and carried her seriously injured back to the city. However, the memory of that night was very vague. I only remember that although he was embarrassed at the time, he did not behave in any special way.

So the witch slipped a coin from the sleeve of her hanging left arm and dropped it into her hand. She tossed it gently, rubbed it with her fingertips to confirm the upward pattern, and then moved slightly closer to Shade:

"Are the rules still the same as before?"

Shade thought that she wanted him to cooperate with the performance and she could touch men at will, so although he was a little embarrassed, he did not stop the witch's face from almost sticking to the side of his face:

"Yes, there are three rounds in each round, and the total points are calculated after each round. The first to win two rounds wins, so if everyone is lucky, it will take about four rounds to end."

The blonde countess gave a slight "hmm", as if she was curious about his shuffling action, so she continued to poke her head, and her hair slightly swept across the side of Shade's face. His face turned a little red, and he focused his attention on the deck of cards that had been exchanged for shuffling.

Miss Belindel was relieved.

The card game started quickly, and everyone took out the special cards they wanted to bet on this time and showed them. Shade naturally took out the [Fool's Story·Thunderstrike Madman], and Herman Wood, who had two special cards in the deck, took out the [Ancient Fairy Tale·Song of the Mermaid], and there were 7 in the deck. Viscount Guerra, who had a special card, even including the [Big City Player·1850 Lockwood Champion] with the suit Sun 7, took out the [Text of the Times·Terrael River News].

The special rules of the [Big City Player·1850 Lockwood Champion] are the same as those of Shade's [Big City Player·1853 Tobesk Champion], both of which allow the opponent to show his trump card.

"Please wait a moment."

Shade looked at the "ancient fairy tale" and suddenly said that he also had three "ancient fairy tales", namely the Match Girl, the Sleeping Princess and Cinderella, but this was not the reason why he spoke at this time:

"I remember that [Ancient Fairy Tale·Song of the Mermaid] seems to be in the hands of Mr. Spears, the first permanent secretary of the King's Council in Delarion (Chapter 502). You see, I look like a northerner. I have been in the country for a long time. Lived in Delrayon, knew the poker players there, heard about it.”

So Herman Wood explained proudly:

"Yes, but that was last year. My uncle, Sir Gerald Wood, visited Tobesk with Princess Margaret last year, and he won this card from the secretary. .”

Shade nodded to express his understanding, but he didn't expect that he was so destined to this card. The staff of the Prophet's Association has arrived at the scene. After confirming that the three cards are genuine and there are no problems, the most important card game of the night begins. As the steam mist sprayed out from under the table, the groove slowly rose to lift the three people's decks.

Mr. Herman Wood, who had already lost all night, took the lead to draw cards. It seemed that he would not give up unless he won a game tonight. Viscount Guerra, on the other hand, was much more cautious. He reached out to touch the cards only after seeing Shade draw them.

A trump card and a hand card entered the hands of the three people. The witch next to Shade also looked at his cards, and then smiled. She took the goblet from Miss Matilda behind her and said to Earl Martin Eddington and Baron Harry Wood:

"How about, like before, do you want to increase the bet for each round?"

Shade glanced at her, and the countess blinked to reassure him:

"It would be too tacky to gamble. I recently got a stone statue of "The Maid of the Morning" carved by Master Larian. Yes, it has been inspected by someone and it is genuine."

"Of course, Count Belindel, thank you for the pearl necklace last time. My daughter is very happy."

Earl Eddington asked Viscount Guerra for his opinion before throwing out his bargaining chip:

"My fleet has just transported some good horses from the New World. If anyone wins the first game, I will personally transfer two horses to you."

Baron Harry Wood smiled and said:

"The two Earls are really generous, so I can't be stingy. I haven't gotten anything good recently, but hasn't Earl Belindel always wanted to take a look at my family library? If the two Earls win, You can go and see it at will.”

The witch unfolded the fan in her hand to cover the lower half of her face to hide her smile.

The three players asked for the third card. Shade looked at the Moon 2 and Stars 13 in his hands, and confirmed that the hole card was indeed the Flower 3. Then he softly asked the witch on the side:

"Shall we continue asking for cards?"

"This is you playing cards."

The fan continued to cover the lower half of his face, and only Shade could hear the sound:

"Do you need me to divine?"

"unnecessary."

He knocked on the table to signal that he would stop playing. Herman Wood hesitated for a moment, but did not follow suit considering the consequences of exploding the cards. Only Viscount Guerra touched the fourth card, and then smiled and showed his first card to Everyone, that is a special card, and it also has special rules:

"Luck seems good. Sun 1 [Modern Textile Technology·Weaving] can be used when four cards are drawn and no cards are exploded. If the total points of the cards in the hand are less than or equal to 8, the points will be adjusted to 21 points."

The face of this card shows a turbaned female worker bending down in front of a huge machine to operate. A tapestry with complex patterns hangs on the shelf next to her, and in the background behind her are countless female workers similar to her operating. The machine works.