While waiting, Shade found an empty single sofa and sat down. Next to him, a group of strange men who seemed to have just met each other gathered together because of current political issues.
Shade also listened attentively and found that they were discussing the possibility of another all-out war between the northern kingdom of Delarion and the southern kingdom of Carsonric.
But after a while, the topic shifted to the maritime trade and pirates in the Old World and the New World. One of the middle-aged fat men participating in the conversation seemed to be the manager of a trading company. He was very familiar with the situation in the New World.
, and believes that as long as adventurers have the courage to go by boat, they can always win wealth.
The New World is rich in products. Although there are no indigenous people, many civilizational relics can be found. Coldwater Port City, the most important port city in the west of the Kingdom of Delarion, serves as the connection point between the Old World and the New World, and there is no shortage of opportunities there.
After the middle-aged fat man was called to undergo appraisal, the conversation finally turned to Rhodes cards. The men who did not know each other compared their decks, showed off to each other the newly acquired special cards, and
Or laugh at the fun stories of the Rhodes collectors in town.
The middle-aged man with a mustache, wearing a black top hat and placing a gold-encrusted cane next to the sofa, is the leader of the conversation among the group of people because he has more special card-faced Rhodes cards, one of which reads [Northland]
Flower 13 in Artek City, the City of Art, even has special rules:
[When using it, throw out a 20-sided dice. If the number of the dice is equal to 20, you can re-draw the card unconditionally. 】
This is a genuine card that has been authenticated by the Prophet Association, so although the effect is very ordinary, it is still excitedly touted by many Rhodes card enthusiasts.
The man with the mustache called himself Mr. Lavender. Seeing that the atmosphere was getting more and more lively and he had nothing to do now, he suggested:
"How about we play Rhodes, using the simplest rules. If I win, you need to give me 5 pence. If I lose, you can give the winner 10 pence. Oh, gentlemen, let's kill this boring thing.
Early in the morning."
The so-called "simplest rule" means that each person draws three cards in a row, and the winner or loser is determined according to the rules of blackjack. If both sides bust their cards, they will draw three more cards until one side wins.
The stakes were not very high, and chatting here was really boring, so the busybodies gathered around Mr. Lavender to watch the fun.
Shade also went over to watch the excitement, but he had always hated gambling and was unwilling to participate in even such small bets, so he just watched (note).
There were three men in total who were willing to play cards with Mr. Lavender.
The first is Mr. Luke, who works at Chengnan Tobacco Company. He just mentioned the tobacco trade and tax issues of Delrayon and Carson Rimmer, but unfortunately he was eliminated directly with a figure of 25 points;
The second one was Mr. Ponton, who made a living by collecting rent from local real estate. He had thick knuckles and his right eye was crooked under glasses, but his Rhodes skills were top-notch. After three rounds of fierce battle with Mr. Lavender, he finally finally
Won 10p, which won the applause of the onlookers.
Finally, there is the stalwart Captain Serwell, whose ships ply the Old World water system, mainly for inland shipping. He is a frequent visitor here, and many people, including Mr. Lavender, know him.
Unfortunately, Captain Sewell was really unlucky. The sum of the first two cards exceeded 21, so he could only lose five pence.
"Does anyone else want to play?"
Mr. Lavender seemed to be in high spirits, and after defeating the third opponent, he extended an invitation to the onlookers. He often visited the local Prophets Association and various Rhodes clubs, and was a well-known card player in the city.
Experts, so the gentlemen who joined in the fun were just making noises, but no one wanted to end.
After all, five pennies is money.
Mr. Lavender looked around, and finally saw the unfamiliar face of Shade in the crowd, and also saw that it seemed to be his first time in this kind of place:
"Sir, would you like to play cards with me?"
The middle-aged man kindly extended the invitation.
"Sorry, I don't gamble."
Shade shook his head, but Mr. Lavender was not angry either. Instead, he smiled and said:
"How about we stop gambling and just play one round? My waiting number is 21. It will be my turn soon. Let's just play one round and give it a try."
People around him were also cheering and pushed Shade to the front row.
Shade thought for a while, since he was not gambling, he could just play once and regard it as a way to pass the entertainment time. So he sat down on the single sofa opposite Mr. Lavender and asked this very wealthy gentleman.
Hand over your business card:
"Shad Hamilton, detective."
"The detective profession is said to be very good at playing cards."
Mr. Lavender took the business card and was surprised when he saw the address of the detective agency. He obviously did not expect that the young detective would have the money to open an agency in that location.
"But I barely played it."
As Shade spoke, he took out his own deck of cards, which was the one he picked up when he went to pick up little Mia. Both parties shuffled the cards for each other, and then drew three cards from the top of their own decks.
Mr. Lavender opened his cards with an excited expression. His deck contained many special cards with exquisite faces. One of the three cards he drew was:
"Look, the sun is 5, the silver moon is 8, the stars are 4, 17 o'clock, you are really lucky."
The people behind him also whispered congratulations.
Since he didn't gamble, Shade had no pressure. He turned over the first card and threw it on the table. It turned out to be Sun 13. The people around him immediately made a sound of regret. Under the rules of blackjack, two more cards were drawn and the cards exploded.
The probability is quite high.
Shade revealed the second card, which was the 7 of Stars, which added up to 20 points. But under the simple rules, he could not suspend the card and had to draw three cards.
People were infected by the atmosphere and exchanged their opinions on the detective's last card.
Shade was also curious about what his luck would be like today, so he picked up the last card, stood it up and carefully looked at the numbers on the card. People behind him also stretched their heads to check, and then they all exclaimed,
Even the woman in his head chuckled, reminding Shade that she was always there.
A smile appeared on Shade's face, as if the stress of last night's incident had disappeared at this moment. Playing cards was indeed a good way to spend time.
Throwing Star 1 on the table, Mr. Lavender, who was sitting opposite, immediately held the coffee table and stretched his head to look, and then showed the same exclamation expression as the people watching:
"Oh, blackjack. Beginners always have such wonderful luck, but Detective Hamilton, do you want to play another round? I haven't been beaten by blackjack for a long time."