Whispering Verse

Time 2]

Shade withdrew his hand from the box and shook his head decisively:

"No, not now."

He didn't really come here to find Flora's missing uncle. The original purpose was the Impermanence Card, but now the purpose is to know the truth about Bennet. Before he figured out what was going on here, he would not just go to another point in time:

"I also need to be prepared. Ximu Town in 1819 was different from now. Reckless time travel will cause big problems."

"Very cautious, then we'll see you next Saturday."

As the masked man spoke, he picked up the oil lamp and prepared to stand up. Shade immediately stopped him:

"No, no, next Saturday is really too late. I might not even be here next Saturday."

Shade plans to investigate Uncle Flora's background after he returns. If he can find Anthony Winslet, who cannot be found even through divination, based on the clue of "childhood playmate", he might be able to get information about this "time relay". Station" for more clues.

He doesn't plan to waste too much time here. In any case, he will travel directly from here next time. After feeling the principle of time travel here, Bennet's story will almost be over.

Pigeons, debt collection, the Impermanence Card, and royal illegitimate children, this family is involved in too many things. Foreigners come to this city and are distracted by too many things, but at the moment when everything is about to end, all doubts can be solved here.

"You want to come see me again in advance?"

The masked man shook his head:

"Sorry, I will make an exception for you to open on Sunday this time, just because there is something about the guest just now on Sunday. I am only open on Saturdays, and there have been very few exceptions over the years."

Shade was waiting for this sentence:

"I have nothing to do, how about we gamble? Let's play a game of Rhodes."

It was the first time we met last time. This proposal was too frivolous, but this time I can give it a try:

"If I win, you make an exception for me again. If I lose, I will send you two more Sands of Time when I come next Saturday. Since you need so much Sands of Time, the consumption should be It’s huge, surely having more reserves wouldn’t be a bad thing?”

The masked man hesitated:

"Although the [Sands of Time] are not non-tradable sage-level or angel-level relics, but you can take out so much sand at one time, you are not really a member of the church, are you?"

"Just like I won't explore your origins anymore, I don't want you to explore this issue either. So, what's your opinion?"

He took out the deck of cards from his pocket. The masked man thought about it for a moment before nodding lightly:

"It's okay to find something interesting to do on a boring night. But even if you win, you still need to give me an exact date. I can't be here waiting for you every night next week."

Shade smiled and said:

"Of course, if I win, I will come back the day after tomorrow, Tuesday night. Two days of preparation time is enough. I only need to prepare some banknotes and prepare a map of the Vista Grove of that era. Speaking of which, in 1819 Did the city of Vista have steam pipes? I don’t want to sleep in an unheated rental house or hotel in the winter.”

Both of their decks were put on the table, and Shade still used his own backup deck, which meant that they were all ordinary cards. Fortunately, the Moon 2 used to deliver the message before the time rift leading to the end this afternoon was a common card drawn from the real deck, otherwise Shade might be embarrassed to find that his deck only has 53 cards. .

I thought there would be some twists and turns, but when the two exchanged decks for inspection, the masked man across the table actually had the card that Shade was looking for in his deck.

Not only is it the most noble card, but there are actually 27 special cards among the 54 cards in the masked man's deck, accounting for half of the deck. He had never heard of anyone other than the Stranger himself having such a large collection of special cards.

"There are always good things in the hands of those who leave. I have been trying to collect a complete set of special rules cards for many years and am now halfway through. Of course, please don't try to track me through these cards. You can at most It’s just that some missing people were found to have appeared locally.”

When Shade checked his deck, the masked man did not forget to explain:

"Sometimes I also invite guests with unique cards to play a game. This is one of my few hobbies here. You probably can't imagine who I have played cards with."

He seemed to suddenly become very talkative. Shade was familiar with this kind of person because he was also this kind of person. It seems that the [Origin Time] that appeared in the devil's memory is probably where someone once played cards with the masked man:

"Have you ever played poker with the champion poker player in Ayutthaya?"

"Yes, it's a pity that I couldn't convince the other party to take out the Big City Players Championship card as a bet. The man said that this was the most important honor in his life, and he would take it to his grave even if he died."

"So, did you also win this card from the guests who came to the Time Transfer Station?"

Shade drew the most special card among them, but the masked man shook his head:

"No, this one is a gift from my father."

The upper right corner of the card is marked with the number 2, and the upper left corner is the very familiar small symbol of "moon". Between the two, in the center of the front of the card, there is a black vertical line drawn in a white circle, which is the logo of the "Original" series.

On the card below, a white-haired old man is sitting on a seat made of a giant tree. The branches above the back of the chair are entangled and twisted, wrapping a round clock dial.

【Origin·Time】, Flower Moon 2. The composition is simple but the elements embodied in it are quite rich. The tree and time are integrated. As for the visible old man on the disk, he is probably just an incarnation of the father of the infinite tree.

Let’s look at the rules again——

[During the period from when this card is drawn to the point settlement stage of this game, any player can choose to discard all cards in his hand and draw an equal amount of cards in his hand again. This effect can be targeted at himself, and this effect can be targeted at multiple people. If this effect targets itself, the card will be reshuffled into the deck to be drawn. 】

Even though he knew that he was likely to see this card, his heartbeat still sped up inexplicably at this moment. For a powerful ring sorcerer, it is easy to detect that the heart rate of the person across the table is abnormally accelerated, but the masked man thinks this is a normal phenomenon:

"Time is enough to sharpen everything."

Shade disagreed:

"Did you know that there is a forbidden thaumaturgy called 'Crystal Touch'? The crystals created by this thaumaturgy are special substances that cannot be affected by time."

"I know this thaumaturgy. It comes from a story about a greedy elf. Let's get started. I have far more special cards than you do, so you make the rules."

"Then it's simpler. We keep playing, and whoever wins three times first will win the final victory."

"no problem."

Shade simply rinsed the opponent's deck and pushed it back. Both of them held down their own decks and gently wiped them, so 54 cards were arranged in a fan shape on the table in front of each other.

The kerosene lamp was placed on Shade's left hand. When the two raised their hands to draw their respective cards, the huge shadows formed by their arms swayed on their respective decks.

This is not a game of cards with friends telling stories, so the game is supposed to be played in silence. But Shade wanted to find out more information, so he started a new topic while drawing cards:

"Please forgive my curiosity. If you want to stay in the past for a short period of time, you only need to pay a price such as money. Then as long as you make sure that the gains from each exploration are greater than the price paid to you, doesn't it mean that you can form a Is it a positive cycle to make money through time?”

As he spoke, he pulled out the first two cards. Since the deck was all ordinary cards, he didn't have to pay attention to the rules. The extreme combination of Star 13 and Flower 1 made him raise his eyebrows, and then raised his hand to indicate that he would not stop playing.

The masked man on the other side of the table professionally pressed the cover card with the common card Moon 8, and then opened a corner of the cover card to check:

"Except for ring warlocks like you who come to me, my invitations are usually only given to those who have regrets and want to make up for it, or who have completely given up on 'the present'. I won't say that I haven't met anyone who wants to get wealth. People who have to travel through time many times, but those people will undoubtedly have a bad end.”

He immediately stopped playing two cards, and Shade drew the third card himself. After taking a look at it, he threw it on the table.

The crisp popping sound is a sound that only an experienced gambler who has undergone many trainings can produce. The third card is Moon 5, 13+1+5=19 points. There is really no need to take risks.

The masked man also revealed his trump card, and as expected, it was a special card. The card surface shows a sloping street, with glowing gas street lamp posts erected on the street. Although the card surface is black and white, you can still see the tranquility in it:

[The Age of Steam·Gas Street Lamps That Always Light at Night], Color: Flower 10.

[After drawing this card, throw a dice. If the number is an even number, all participants in the game need to reveal their first hidden card. 】

Counting "Women's Textile Worker After Work", "Station with Whistle" and "Coal Worker in the Mine", this is already the fourth special rule card in the "Age of Steam" series that Shade has seen, and none of these cards are Belongs to him.

It's just a pity that this card has no effect in the settlement stage, 10+8=18 points, Shade won the first game.

As for why he didn't activate the effect before Shade drew the third card when this card was the first card, it was naturally because if the effect passed, he would also reveal his trump card. In the case where there is no special negative price for busting a card, Shade, who knows the opponent's trump card, will definitely continue to draw cards even if the card is busted.

PS: The picture of this chapter is "Creation·Time".