Whispering Verse

"Are you sure this isn't a pirated Rhodes card? Why does it look so new?"

At the wine table, Shade frowned and said while holding Mr. Darkness's special card. The wine table where both parties played cards was specially customized for Rhodes players in the tavern. Although the table was wiped clean, there were still wine stains that could not be removed all year round.

"I just went to the Prophet's Association to exchange for new cards not long ago. The old cards are a bit badly damaged."

Mr. Darkness shuffled Shade's deck skillfully, so Shade nodded.

Since the Rhodes cards were issued hundreds of years ago, special cards will inevitably get damaged after being circulated for many years. Therefore, the Prophet's Association also provides a replacement service. For a sum of money based on the value of the cards, the Prophet's Association will recycle cards that are more than 80% complete and replace them with brand-new cards.

In this way, it also avoids the different levels of newness and oldness of special cards and decks, causing the cards to be identified through the back of the card.

After shuffling the cards with each other, the card game officially begins. The young bartender dealt cards to the two men while the burly bartender kept score.

The first one is a hidden card, and among the subsequent two open cards, Shade has a 3 of flowers and a 7 of the sun, while Mr. Darkness has a 9 of the sun and a 4 of the moon.

"There's no reason to fold in the first game."

Mr. Darkness said with a smile. He was probably really bored and was very interested in playing cards. His thick fingers directly opened the cover, Sun 3, 16 o'clock, he raised his eyebrows and motioned for Shade to open the cards.

Shade was not nervous at all and casually opened the cover. Sun 11, exactly 21 o'clock.

"Good luck."

Shade said with a smile, and then motioned to the bartender to keep score.

In the second game, Mr. Darkness played Moon 9 and Moon 7, and Shade played Star 3 and Star 13.

Their open card points are all 16. According to the rules of Rhodes, the risk of the third busting card is about the same.

"Do you want to fold?"

Shade made a gesture of invitation.

"Of course not, what about you?"

Mr. Darkness asked, and both men seemed to be laughing under the light of the tavern's gas lamp.

Of course, Shade would not give up, so he opened the cover with his hand. Sun 1, totaling 17 o'clock.

Mr. Darkness picked up his Moon 9 and opened the cover with a flick. Star 13, you don’t have to do calculations to know the busted cards.

"At least I'm missing a 13."

He said slightly relaxedly, stacked the three cards and threw them to the side of the table, and then motioned to the young bartender to continue dealing the cards.

In the third game, Mr. Darkness had 9 of flowers and 1 of moon. He directly opened the cover and got 9 of stars, for a total of 19 points.

He smiled proudly at Shade, who squinted at him and then looked at his own cards, Sun 1 and Star 11.

He put his fingers on the cover and hesitated for a moment:

"Discard."

Shade opened the cover, Sun 13.

His brows furrowed slightly, and the reason why he folded his cards was not because Shade guessed that he would definitely blow the cards in this round, or because he was not confident in his luck, but when he was about to open the cards, the voice in his heart reminded him that the opponent was actually using thaumaturgy. .

The traces of thaumaturgy are very slight, and there are no sound or light effects. If it weren't for Shade's extremely sensitive perception, he wouldn't even be able to find any traces. The hesitation just now was actually to give the voice in her heart some time to determine the effect of the thaumaturgy.

And after Shade's hand came into contact with the object of thaumaturgy, which was Shade's trump card, she really gave the answer:

[Your trump card was changed by him. 】

"Change cards? Space replacement ability?"

[It’s not space, I can’t tell you what it is. 】

After coming to this world and playing cards for so long, Shade finally met a guy who cheated when playing cards. After losing twice in a row, Mr. Darkness started to think crookedly.

"How despicable!"

In fact, Shade's use of [Echo of Blood] when playing cards, or his preparations to draw Moon Dancer last time, were also considered cheating, but he did not expect that someone would go further than him and directly steal other people's trump cards.

The rules of gambling in the tavern are the same as those of regular ordinary people's Rhodes games. Shade knew that his opponent was cheating, but without evidence, he could not report the opponent because he could not prove his statement.

Under normal circumstances, there will be no cheating in a match between two ring warlocks. The effects of thaumaturgy or incantation are either immediately noticed by the onlookers or cannot be noticed by anyone except the caster himself.

But that doesn't mean that Shade can't do anything about it.

"After a while, the cards are dealt, and I change my hole card to [Origin·Balance]. If the opponent dares to change the card, I will let him try the thaumaturgic counterattack."

Different from [Kasenlik Southern Folklore·Moondance Festival] which must be placed in the deck to be useful, [Origin·Balance] can appear anytime and anywhere as long as Shade wants it, regardless of whether it is in the deck or not. Let it appear.

Moreover, although the cards in the Founding series do not have any extraordinary properties and can accept the effects of thaumaturgy and incantation like ordinary cards under normal circumstances, [Creating·Balance] is different.

After experiencing the evil god coming to the night, this Rhodes card seemed to be used by Shade just as Luvia said. Although Shade did not have the power of the chosen one like Iluna, the power he displayed had nothing to do with the ancient gods. But as a card, this magical card does not accept any spells or thaumaturgic effects except Shad.

After conjuring this card, Darkness will be counterattacked by thaumaturgy. At this time, Shade used the other hand that was hanging low to change the cards again, changing [Origin·Balance] to the palm of his hand, returning the original hole card to normal, so that he would not have to worry about being discovered.

With things in mind, the fourth round has begun. Shade's bright cards were Moon 6 and Star 10. He put his fingers on the cover, and then looked at Mr. Darkness opposite, who was checking his two cards and was not using thaumaturgy for the time being.

【Do you want to change your trump card to Founding·Balance? 】

She seemed very interested in this matter.

"Wait a minute, I want to give him a surprise when he is unprepared."

To a certain extent, Shade can be considered a very stingy person.

But this time Mr. Darkness did not change the cards. The reason for the third rotation was because Shade had won the first two games, but his thaumaturgy probably cannot be used at will, and with so many ring warlocks watching, many The risk of exposure to thaumaturgy is high for the first time.

In this way, we came to the 8th round. At this time, the decks of both sides were close to more than half, and in terms of score, Shade was 8 points ahead due to luck. Mr. Darkness has not changed his cards since the third game, but when he saw that in the eighth game both sides showed 17 points, Shade knew that the opponent was cheating again.

"It's about to begin! It's about to begin!"

He stared at his opponent, feeling amused at his current mood. But at this moment, a hand suddenly fell on Shade's shoulder from behind.

Turning to look back, it was Miss Princes who put her left hand on Shade's shoulder. Because she was wearing a mask, Shade couldn't see her expression, but he could see her shaking her head slightly:

"Mr. Watson, you have been very lucky."

As he spoke, he touched the ruby ​​earring in his right ear again.

[The ruby ​​relic works. 】

She reminded quietly in her mind.

Shade sat upright and looked at the cards under the light in front of him. He had always liked the pattern on the back of the Rhodes card:

"What is the effect of the relic?"

[Don’t change the cards, just open your cover and take a look. 】

Shade opened the cover, Sun 3, totaling 20 points. The middle-aged man with severe ectropion on the other side looked at the opened card in surprise, obviously not expecting this result.

"you"

Of course he couldn't say "Why haven't your trump cards been changed?"

"You're really lucky."

He snorted through his nose with his mouth closed, and then opened his cover, busting the cards for a total of 23 points.

Mr. Darkness pinched his lips with the nails of his right index and middle finger, and he became nervous.

[We can only guess at the effect of the relic held by Miss Princess. It is probably the effect of prohibiting thaumaturgy. 】

"Forbidden thaumaturgic effects? Are Miss Prince's earrings such a powerful relic?"

Shade frowned slightly and watched the dealer continue to deal the cards.

[This is just speculation, and it is certainly impossible to ban all thaumaturgy. But according to my feelings, the level of the relic is probably above the sage level. 】

"What? That ruby ​​earring belongs to Miss Princes. Who is it? But since she is still helping me, I don't think there is any need to be too suspicious."

He thought in his mind, stacked the three cards that had been dealt and threw them aside, then turned to look at the blonde girl standing behind him again:

"After you leave here in a while, where will your next stop be?"

"Want to see the sea?"

Her voice came from behind the mask and seemed a little dull.

After Mr. Darkness's cheating methods failed, the outcome of this card game was already doomed. Even though the method of drawing an entire deck required more skill than the ordinary method, Shade relied on luck and eventually won easily with a 23-point lead.

The middle-aged man who cheated in the card game did not cheat. After the card game ended, he took the 9 pounds that Shade had paid in advance from the bartender, and then sat back at the small round table against the wall and continued to read the newspaper. During this period, he did not say a word. Didn't tell Shade.

The onlookers gradually dispersed, and this incident will probably become a topic of conversation in the tavern in the next week or two.

After Xia De paid the broker's fee, he naturally got the poet-level relic [Universal Currency].

If you look closely under a gas lamp, you will see that there are very fine characters engraved around the periphery of the coin. After translation, the meaning is [equivalent substitute, equivalent luck].

"If I choose to use this coin, can the twenty-sided die of fate reflect the bad luck it brings?"

【certainly. 】

"So who is the target of the rebound? To the coin? To me who uses the coin? Or to the being who created the coin?"

【Do you want to try it? 】

she asked, chuckling in her ear.

"I'm just kidding."

Shade quickly stuffed the coins into his pocket.

Of course, this coin is stored separately to prevent confusion with other coins.

"I have nothing else to do here. Do you want me to buy you a drink before I leave?"

After the card game was over, Shade, who was in a good mood, asked his companion. After this card game, his favorability towards Miss Princes has greatly increased.

"Would you like a drink too?"

Miss Prince asked, Shade thought for a while:

"I think I'll just have a glass of ice-cold fruit juice."

"Then I also want a glass of fruit juice."

She said, then motioned for Shade to choose a seat. Both of them are wearing masks, but they will definitely have to take them off when they want to drink, so it’s best to choose a more remote location:

"Mr. Watson, you seem to be very good at playing Rhodes. Why don't you take this opportunity to tell me about your Rhodes experience?"

She carefully selected the topics for chatting in the tavern and asked Shade questions in a relaxed tone.

The gas lamp shade on the wall was a little dirty, giving the yellowish light an ambiguous halo. For Shade, this feeling of becoming familiar with a stranger within a few hours was very strange.