The old Duke said this, and after testing out that the detective's hand strength was not inferior to his, he let go of his hand with satisfaction:
"I heard about last Sunday's game at Lakeview Manor. It was really exciting. It's a pity that I wasn't there. But just listening to their descriptions, I knew that Tobesk finally had another Rhodes card.
Good player."
Although he was old, he spoke with great energy. Shade could clearly feel the military temperament in him, which was even more obvious than the temperament in Captain Rades.
"Okay, very good! Playing Rhodes is only fun when you play with young people like you."
The heartfelt smile on the Duke's face cannot be faked. It's like the fake smile and the heartfelt smile he showed when he peeked at the knight novel in class and saw the excitement. The two can be distinguished at a glance. Xia
De has already figured out what kind of person the other party is. This is another hopeless Rhodes lover.
There is not much nonsense, the salon, cocktail party and socializing are all held after the game is over. Since both sides of the game have appeared, it can start directly.
Most of the people here are here for the Rhodes cards. There are probably not many people who know that the significance of the game lies in the personnel transfer of the navy, so the atmosphere is very lively.
The old Duke sat on the chair on the left side of the long table, and the servant pulled out the chair for him. Shade sat on the chair on the right side, and the black-haired maid pulled out the chair for him.
The guests who came to watch the game gathered around, but not directly around the table like rude gamblers, but in groups of two or three, standing slightly away from the table but still able to see the cards clearly.
Location.
The room became quiet, and Vice President Mark of the Prophet Association walked to the table and coughed. His status as the host of the game convened by the two dukes was perfect:
"I won't say much more. The participant in this game is Duke Lucas——"
Vice President Mark nodded to the old Duke, and then nodded to Shade:
"And Detective Hamilton on behalf of Miss Carina."
Shade also nodded slightly to Mr. Mark.
Miss Carina does not plan to show up in front of everyone, but according to the young black-haired maid behind her, Miss Carina is on this floor, waiting for the outcome of the game.
"Is this considered social phobia? No, does it mean that you 'hate men' to this extent?"
Shade thought to himself, but suddenly he was worried that high-level warlocks could read minds even through several walls, so he didn't dare to think about it.
"This game will be played according to the rule of best-of-three games. In each game, the side that wins three times first wins the game. If both parties keep blowing cards, the side that draws out their deck first will lose the game."
Shade noticed a plump lady standing not far to his side, sizing him up. He glanced at the lady with his peripheral vision and found that she was probably over forty years old.
"Before the game begins, we first invite three gentlemen to jointly check the Duke and Detective's decks for final confirmation."
This is the rule of the informal competition to prevent the Prophet Association from being bribed. Of course, only this kind of card game played by nobles will cause such trouble. The time for Vice President Mark to speak is enough to complete half of the game.
.
The three who were invited to check the deck were Baron Skaven, who had a beautiful mustache, Baron Hull, who wore what looked like horseshoe boots, and Viscount Ford, who had gray hair and looked almost sixty years old.
Everyone was wearing similar black formal suits.
The three of them first picked up Duke Lucas' deck, inspecting it while nodding and exclaiming from time to time, which made Shade's opponent particularly proud.
It took a few minutes to check it out, but in fact it was just a formality. Then after greeting the detective, I picked up his deck of cards from his left hand.
The main part of Shade's deck is the deck he picked up from the roof of the pet boarding center when he picked up little Mia. Although it is a bit older, the old deck appears to have been played with frequently.
He sandwiched the five cards with special rules in the center. The gentlemen who opened the deck quickly saw the first card [Ancient Fairy Tale·Match Girl].
Shade heard Baron Hull mutter the name "Baron Lavender", who was obviously an acquaintance. Then came the second picture [Original Steam Engine·Mark 9] and the third picture [Eastern Views of the Old World·Lake Tees
], the three of them smiled while looking at it. This is also a rare card. When they saw [Northern City·Lengshui Port City], they couldn't help but exchange it. This card seemed to be very famous, but I didn't know.
Where did Professor Manning get it from?
Later, Baron Hull, holding the deck of cards, was the first to see [Creation Silver Moon].
He blinked at the card in his hand, then stretched his neck and stretched his head to take a closer look at the items in his hand:
"Uh~"
There was a strange sound in his throat, and his whole body felt as if he had been hit by a bullet. His hands shook at a frequency that was visible to the naked eye. His eyes were widened, as if they were about to pop out, and his mouth was slightly open, looking like a patient with dementia.
"What's wrong? Are there any other precious cards in the detective's deck?"
The other two gentlemen beside him asked in a low voice, as if to blame him for the startling effect. Since they were standing on both sides of Baron Hull, they both stretched their heads to look at the card.
"Uh~"
Baron Skaven also made a strange noise. He stretched out his generous hand with a gem ring to cover his mouth, but his bulging eyes were really similar to Baron Hull's.
The older Viscount Ford was more mature. He turned his head to look at Vice President Mark of the Prophet Association and asked tremblingly:
"Is this the real thing?"
"Yes."
The latter nodded, and then a commotion broke out in the room, because people saw the elderly Viscount Ford suddenly covering his heart with a ferocious expression.
The panicked servants wanted to help, but were dismissed by the Viscount:
"No need~"
He squeezed out this voice from between his teeth:
"I won't be able to pass out until I finish watching this game."
Then he took his hand away from his chest abruptly, and his originally red face returned to normal little by little:
"I must watch this game."
Very roughly, he took Shade's deck of cards from Baron Hull, who had not yet recovered from the shock. He stared at [Original Silver Moon] for a few seconds before returning the deck to the detective.
This made Baron Skaven, who reacted but found that he had no chance to touch the card with his own hands, extremely annoyed.
"What did you see? Rare cards? Which series? Why are you acting so exaggerated? If I hadn't known you for a long time, I might have thought that you were hired by Carina to act and disturb me before the game.
Feeling."
Old Duke Lucas sat on the other side of the table and asked curiously, raising his head, but the three gentlemen shook their heads at a very unified frequency:
"I didn't see anything, I wish you victory."
Their voices overlapped together, which sounded somewhat comical.