However, as soon as Xia De entered the hall, someone grabbed his wrist.
A tall, thin middle-aged man wearing black leather shoes stood next to Shade almost face to face. Mr. Cyndia Mark, the vice president of the Tobesk branch of the Prophet Association, really startled Shade.
"Mr. Hamilton, you are finally here."
Mr. Mark's voice is hoarse today.
"Am I late?"
Shade asked hesitantly.
Mr. Mark let go of his hand, giving Shade a chance to get his pocket watch, but it was only half past nine in the morning.
"You are not late, I am too early."
"Mr. Mark, what time did you wait for me here?"
Shade could imagine this middle-aged gentleman walking around in front of the association, hands behind his back, waiting for him.
"Nine o'clock. Mr. Hamilton, you don't understand how important today is to me."
With that said, he led Shade towards the stairs leading to the second floor. A group of people standing at the stairs spontaneously made way for Mr. Mark and looked at Shade curiously.
"Is it important to you?"
Shade thought he heard wrongly.
"If your Rhodes card is successfully identified, then the Tobesk branch will be the first branch in the past 30 years to identify the original series of Rhodes cards. We will completely overwhelm including the Lane Association.
All associations have become this year’s... In short, this is also a very important thing for us.”
It can be seen that the Prophet Association has really worked hard to prepare. Today, the entire third floor of the association is closed to the public. Compared with the last time Shade came up, the carpets have been replaced with brand new ones, and the oil paintings hanging on the walls have also been replaced.
At first glance, it looks like a new antique. The gas lamps hanging on the wall have been carefully and carefully wiped, and even the door numbers of each room have been replaced with a brand new style.
Shade calculated the cost of such decoration, and found that it might actually be more than what he received yesterday.
The association opened the main conference room on the third floor, which is only used for important agendas, as today's appraisal venue. The room was cleaned and renovated, and the interior was divided into two parts. One part was for those who arrived early.
The working area of the gray-haired masters of Rhodes card appraisal. Each of these old gentlemen looks like an old professor who came out of the university district of Tobesk City.
The other group let Shade rest and discuss some matters with the Prophet Association.
The president of the Tobesk branch is still away today, and Vice President Mark received Shade. He introduced to Shade Lis who came specially from the headquarters of Lane City, the capital of the Principality of Lagson, located in the center of the United Kingdom of Kasenlik.
Mr. Te Rimo.
Mr. Rimo is a middle-aged man with no hair and a somewhat big head, but is taller than Shade. He is also the vice-president, but he is the vice-president of the entire Prophet Association.
Everyone sat down, and Xia De took out his notebook and showed the [Creation Silver Moon] in it.
Mr. Rimo and the gray-haired appraisers all showed expressions of wonder:
"It's really amazing. Even after just one look, I feel like I've seen a miracle."
Mr. Rimmer said very exaggerated words, and then called the secretary of the association to record the next conversation. This was a very formal occasion, and the conversation needed to be recorded for the purpose of filing a report.
For this matter, the Tobesk branch prepared three secretaries, two men and one woman. Shade felt that the older lady with short brown hair wearing an association uniform and an Ouroboros pendant looked familiar, and then he saw
That was Miss Anat, the third-circle sorceress of the group.
"Putting this uniform on, my temperament has really changed."
He sighed in his heart.
The lady with beautiful purple eyes looked up and was very shocked when she saw Shade. She was even shocked. Her reaction was not like seeing an acquaintance, but like seeing an evil god appearing in front of her.
She sat on the chair behind the sofa where Mr. Rimmer was sitting, preparing to record. So she could only control her expression and nodded to Shade as a greeting, but she thought there were many things she wanted to ask.
"Speaking of which, Dr. Schneider, Miss Louisa and Priest August all knew that I had this card, but they didn't tell Miss Anat... But what did her look mean just now?
Is it too exaggerated?”
He thought in his mind, put on the white gloves prepared by the association, took out [Founder Silver Moon] from the notebook, and handed it to the old gentleman sitting on his left. The old appraiser looked like he was about to faint from excitement.
Already.
The appraisal site was right next to it, ensuring that the cards would not leave Shad's sight throughout the process. While the appraisers were working, Mr. Rimmer and Mr. Mark had a conversation with Shad.
Of course, the association is not qualified to interfere with the ownership of card owners, but the founding series of cards has important significance to the association:
"Mr. Hamilton, I want to confirm again. Do you really want the association to help find a buyer and sell this card?"
Mr. Mark, the vice president of the Tobesk branch, asked, and this time Shade gave the opposite answer:
"Sorry, I don't want to sell it yet."
This is not only because he is not in a hurry to spend money now, but also because through this card, he has established a relationship with the high-level warlock Duchess Carina Cavendish. In the future, it will not only be beneficial to the detective career, but also to the studies of the high-level warlock.
Great benefit.
"You really think so. No one can refuse the Rhodes card. There is a wonderful saying that every Rhodes card will choose its owner. Mr. Hamilton, it is destined to belong to you."
This is probably some kind of superstition surrounding gambling, a method concocted by the Oracle Association to promote the sales of Rhodes cards.
The bald Mr. Rimmer's Delarian is not very good and he has a very strange accent:
"Mr. Hamilton, I'm sorry, can I ask what your future plans are for this card? Is it just a personal collection? Or maybe it will appear in the Rhodes Card Competition."
"I would probably use it, but I wouldn't gamble."
Xia De emphasized, seeing the two vice presidents looking at each other, he added:
"I know the value of this card...but I recently met a nice person, just yesterday, Miss Carina Cavendish, who invited me to bring this card to the Sunday Night Romance.
German card game, with...what's the name of that duke?"
"Duke Lucas?"
Mr. Mark asked tentatively. When Shade nodded, the gentleman showed a pleasant smile:
"We have always advocated that Rhodes cards should appear in the game instead of being hidden. Mr. Hamilton, I am glad that you can make such a choice. It just so happens that the Prophet Association will appear in the Rhodes game on the weekend.
notarization."
"Isn't this a private match?"
Shade asked hesitantly, and Mr. Rimmer, who had a strange accent, explained:
"I also know about the weekend game. This is probably the most important Rhodes game in the Torbesk region this month. Duke Lucas openly invites the Rhodes fans he knows to watch the game, even though it is only between two people.
However, the Prophet Association will also notarize it in the strictest way.
Rather than saying that the weekend is a game, it is a salon for nobles and Rhodes card enthusiasts. However, I didn’t expect that the other party in the game with Old Duke Lucas was actually Miss Carina.”
"Do you also know Miss Carina?"
Shade asked curiously. He still didn't know what this lady looked like.
"Although Miss Carina rarely participates in social activities, this lady is quite famous. After all, she is an unmarried duchess..."
He winked at Shade:
"There is never a lack of discussion about her in social situations. You are really lucky to be favored by Miss Carina, Mr. Hamilton."
When it came to luck, Shade was shocked and realized one thing:
"Speaking of which, I was also invited to participate in a Rhodes game on Sunday night last week, and then...this Sunday night, it happened again."
He planned to ask about the whereabouts of the other people in the same group on Saturday.
After going around in such a circle, Mr. Rimo finally mentioned the topic he wanted to ask:
"Since you don't care about using this founding series card to participate in the Rhodes game, then, are you willing to participate in the 'Big City Players' Rhodes Competition held in Tobesk this fall?"
This is the reason why Mr. Rimo traveled all the way from the south to come to Tobesk. With the "Original Series" Rhodes cards appearing in the competition as a gimmick, this year's "Big City Players" will definitely attract more participants.
.
"Sorry, I don't gamble."
Shade immediately shook his head.
Vice President Mark immediately explained:
"But this is not gambling. The association has never organized gambling activities. This is just a Rhodes card competition. It is not a bet between the two parties. Instead, after paying a small registration fee, you will receive prizes provided by the association based on your ranking. The association can rely on
Competitions like this gain connections and promote Rhodes. You can meet all the Rhodes masters from the New World and the Old World."
"If this is the case......"
That would be no problem, but Shade was waiting for the other party to make an offer. Sure enough, the gentlemen here understood very well, and Mr. Mark immediately said with a smile:
"We can even pay for the invitation..."
He stretched out his hand and twirled his fingers, but was immediately "reprimanded" by Mr. Rimmer, the vice president of the Prophet Association:
"It's not okay if there are no such rules. Spending money to invite Rhodes players will undermine the fairness of the competition."
The bald Mr. Rimmer's tone was serious, but before Vice President Mark could apologize, he said to Shade:
"If you participate, I think the association can provide an additional fee to pay for your lost time, transportation, food, accommodation, and clothing to participate in the competition. Of course, this is not to spend money to invite you to participate, but just to
This money is worth considering to make up for your losses from participating in the competition."
This is probably the reason why Mr. Rimo is the vice-president of the Prophets Association, while Mr. Mark is only the vice-president of the Tobesk branch.
"In this case."
Shade, Mr. Mark, and Mr. Rimmer leaned back on the sofa together, and the three men all had smiles on their faces:
"That's totally fine."
Miss Anat smiled and shook her head as she recorded.
The southerner bent down again and wrote a number on the letter paper on the coffee table and handed it over:
"This is the reward, Mr. Hamilton, and you will probably be satisfied with it."
Shade squinted at the numbers:
"Let me confirm, is the unit in gold pounds or carson rik krona?"