"Are you sure this isn't a pirated Rhodes card? Why does it look so new?"
At the wine table, Shade said with a frown while holding Mr. Darkness's special card. The wine table where both sides played cards was specially customized for Rhodes players in the tavern. Although the tabletop was wiped clean, it could still be seen.
to wine stains that cannot be removed all year round.
"I just went to the Prophet's Association to exchange for new cards not long ago, and the old cards are quite damaged."
Mr. Darkness shuffled Shade's deck skillfully, so Shade nodded.
Since the issuance of Rhodes cards hundreds of years ago, special cards will inevitably get damaged after being circulated for many years. Therefore, the Prophet Association also provides a replacement service. A sum of money is spent based on the value of the cards. The Oracle Association has recycled more than 100 complete cards.
Eighty-eighths of the cards were replaced with brand new cards.
In this way, it also avoids the fact that special cards and decks are old and new, and the cards can be identified through the back of the card.
After shuffling the cards, the card game officially began. The young bartender dealt the cards to the two people, while the burly bartender scored them.
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. At 3:16 o'clock in the sun, he raised his eyebrows and signaled Shade to open the cards.
Shade wasn't nervous at all and casually opened the cover. The sun was 11, which was 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, Moon 7, and Shade played Star 3, 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, both of them seemed to be laughing under the light of the gas lamp in the tavern.
Of course, Shade would not give up, so he opened the cover with his hand. Sun 1, a total of seventeen points.
Mr. Darkness picked up his Moon 9 and opened the cover with a slight pick. With Star 13, he knew the busted card without counting.
"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 round, 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 were very slight, and there was no sound or light effect. If Shade's perception was not extremely sensitive, he wouldn't even be able to detect the traces. The hesitation just now was actually to give the voice in her heart some time to confirm the effect of thaumaturgy.
What effect did it have.
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 to play 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 wrongly.
"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 magicians. The effects of thaumaturgy or incantation are either immediately discovered by the onlookers, or no one can detect them except the caster himself.
But this doesn't mean that Shade can't do anything about it.
"After a while, the cards are dealt, and I turn my hole card into [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.
where it will 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 playing cards under normal circumstances, [Creating·Balance] is different.
After the evil god descended into the night, this Rhodes card seemed to be used by Shade as Luvia said. Although it did not allow Shade to have the power of the chosen one like Iluna, it showed
The power has 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 changing this card, Darkness will be counterattacked by thaumaturgy. At this time, Shade used his lowered hand to change the card again, changing [Origin·Balance] to the palm of his hand, letting the original
The trump card returns to normal, so there is no need to worry about being discovered.
Thinking about things in his mind, the fourth round has begun. Shade's bright cards are Moon 6 and Star 10. He puts his finger on the cover card and then looks at Mr. Darkness opposite, who is checking his two cards.
Card, no thaumaturgy is used for the time being.
【Should we change our trump card to Founding·Balance?】
She seemed very interested in this matter.
"Wait a minute, I want to give him a surprise when the other party 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 Shade was 8 points ahead due to luck. Mr. Darkness had not changed the cards since the third round, but when he saw
In the eighth game, when 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 closely at his opponent, feeling amused at his emotions at this time. 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, your luck has always been very good."
As he said that, he touched the ruby earring in his right ear again.
【The ruby relic works.】
She reminded quietly in her heart.
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, for a total of 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 can't say "Why haven't your trump cards been changed?"
"You're really lucky."
He snorted through his nose with his mouth closed, then opened his cover, and the total was 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 Prince, it is probably the effect of prohibiting thaumaturgy.]
"Forbidden to perform 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 a guess, and of course it is 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, where will your next stop be?"
"Want to go see the sea?"
Her voice came from behind the mask and seemed a little dull.
After Mr. Darkness's cheating method failed, the outcome of this card game was already doomed. Even though the game of drawing an entire deck required more skill than the ordinary game, Shade relied on luck and ended up leading by 23 points.
Advantage, easy win.
The middle-aged man who cheated in the card game was not cheating. 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 without saying 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].
Observe carefully under the gas lamp, you will find very detailed text engraved on the periphery of the coin. After translation, the meaning is "Equivalent Substitute, Equivalent Luck".
"If I choose to use this coin, will the twenty-sided die of fate be able to bounce back 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 with a chuckle 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. Before I leave, would you like me to buy you a drink?"
After the card game, 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 back, and Shade thought for a while:
"I think I'll just have a glass of iced fruit juice."
"Then I also want a glass of fruit juice."
She said, and then motioned to Shade to choose a seat. Both of them were wearing masks, but they would definitely have to take them off when drinking, so it was 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.