"Haha, as we get older, our physical strength and spirit are no longer as good as those of you young people, but the life experience accumulated over a long period of time is not in vain."
Shade nodded clearly, stretched out his hand, and the flying red butterfly automatically landed on his finger, and then melted into his skin.
After ringing the bell on the fence gate and waiting for a few minutes, the old butler carried a polished oil lamp and walked through the small yard filled with white mist to the door. After calling himself "John Watson"
After Shade explained his purpose and showed the cards, the bald old butler in black formal clothes actually let them in.
"You see, Rhodes cards are really useful sometimes."
Following the old butler through the courtyard towards the mansion, Shade whispered to Priest Augustus. The priest ignored him and stared at the back of the old butler in front of him:
"He won't live much longer."
"What?"
"Heart disease, judging from the current medical level, is hopeless."
Priest August shook his head and motioned to Shade not to speak too loudly:
"People will die all the time, it's normal."
Earl Darak is a well-known local Rhodes player, and many people have come to challenge him. When the old butler led Shade and the priest into the house, he also confirmed to them that they wanted to use special cards.
Make a bet.
"Every time the count gambles with others, does he always use special cards to make the bet?"
"Mostly yes."
The old butler nodded and led the two of them through the foyer hung with art and antiques, and walked upstairs along the stairs.
Although Shade is not very knowledgeable in antique appreciation, he has seen many houses of great nobles. From his point of view, the Dalak family has indeed declined. The decoration inside the house is old, and the vases and oil paintings placed there are...
Some artworks are obviously modern. For example, the oil painting at the corner of the stairs looks like the "Heroes Slay the Dragon" auction that Shade saw at the Fire Worship Festival dinner.
The room was very quiet, and it seemed that except for the old housekeeper, all the servants were taking a rest. But at least the place was kept very clean, and it was obvious that the maintainers of the house were doing their best to maintain the dignity of the place.
Shade and Priest August met Count Darak in the study room on the second floor. Compared with the flashy attire at the Fire Worship Festival banquet, the Count behind the desk at this time was wearing a very normal black coat. If it weren't for a hairpin in his hair,
With a pink flower, he will look more normal.
The old butler introduced the purpose of the two guests. Shade felt the red butterflies that melted into the skin of his fingers trembling. Priest August also touched Shade's arm, looked at him sideways and nodded.
Both Shade and the priest knew that the third person they were looking for to come back from the dead was the middle-aged noble in front of them.
"Mr. John Watson? Oh, I remember you, you are Miss Aurora's"
The count raised his head in surprise.
"I am a friend of Miss Aurora. The Baroness from the South Country was joking with you last time."
Shade replied with a smile. At this time, the old butler left temporarily to prepare tea for the three of them, so it didn't matter what Shade said. Now that he has found Earl Darak, he must send him away.
"Ha, I know you are not an ordinary bodyguard. I heard that Miss Aurora is always nice to men. Moreover, if an ordinary bodyguard has such good card skills, then my life will be a failure.
Already."
The Earl, who looked even thinner than last time, smiled and put down the pen in his hand. He was writing a letter just now:
"Mr. Watson, with your appearance, you can actually make money in anything you do. I guess you are the lover of Miss Aurora."
"Ahem!"
Shade coughed quickly to prevent his image of a promising young man in the eyes of Priest Augustus from being further damaged:
"Earl, let's get down to business. After the last card game, I heard from the locals that you are a famous local Rhodes player, so I want to play cards with you again. Last time, we didn't use our own
A special card cannot be counted as a win or loss."
Count Darak looked even happier:
"Yes, we didn't use special cards last time, so I can't be considered as losing to you."
As he spoke, he stood up:
"You two, the weather is weird today, and I happen to have nothing to do to kill the boring day. Come on, please come with me, I have a special Rhodes table here."
The count went to the door, and Shade and the priest Augustus also stood up from their chairs at the table.
"First, let's observe what his current condition is. If we can send him away without fighting, then we will try to avoid fighting."
Shade hoped that his eyes could express such a complex meaning, but Priest Augustus actually nodded when he saw Shade's eyes.
Shade was very curious as to what Priest Augustus thought he wanted to do.
In short, under the leadership of the count, the three of them returned to the first floor together. The count even took a long detour through the house to introduce the history of the antique collection and the tradition of the Dalak family.
The Count stayed in front of one of the rapiers for the longest time. He also said last time that he was very good at using the rapier.
The so-called special Rhodes gambling table is actually a table with squares drawn on the tabletop to facilitate the placement of card piles, drawing cards and discarding cards. It is a sunny room on the first floor, and it was arranged by the Earl specifically for playing and playing.
A house where players play Rhodes.
In addition to the table in the middle, there are many signatures and photos hanging on the surrounding walls. Those are players who have come here and played cards with Count Darak. According to the Count, he even played with "Big City Player 1850"
"The runner-up played cards. However, the opponent did not want to leave a photo, so he only left an autograph.
In addition to the signatures and photos on the walls, there are neat glass display cabinets under the four walls. In the cabinets are interesting souvenirs related to Rhodes cards. For example, in "Ayutthaya Players 1853" that ended more than a month ago, the semi-finals were used to calculate
The copper commemorative coins and news reports of the time are all displayed here.
After introducing the exhibits, the gambling game officially began.
With the old butler as the referee, Priest Augustus dealt the cards to the two players. As for the bet, Shade bet on his "only" special card [Legend of the Brave: Bard Fletcher], and claimed with a smile
If you win this time, go to the Red Water Camp on the Windy Trail and challenge Brigadier General Carter who has [Legend of the Brave: Swordsman Saibalon].
"No, no, your news is out of date. Now [Swordsman Sebalon] is in the hands of a captain in the Red Water Camp. He is the same captain who solved the serial murder case at the Middleburg Mechanical College."
The earl reminded, then took out and showed his bet:
"[Ancient Fairy Tale·Sleeping Princess] Color: Sun 4. If you roll 10 or 20 on a 20-sided die twice in a row, you can adjust the card number between 4 and 5."
He read out the information on the card and asked the butler to hand the card to Shade for inspection.
The count took off his gloves with some pride, waved his wrist and said:
"This year's Grand City Players Champion, Rejed's Hamilton, also has a special card from the ancient fairy tale series, which is [Ancient Fairy Tale·Match Girl]. I even plan to take a steam train to go there in the winter if I have nothing to do.
Tobesk City, challenge the big player with dozens of special cards."
He moved his fingers with an expectant smile on his face:
"The trip to Tobesk must be very interesting. I may be able to become friends with that young man."
Shade's face was sullen and showed no expression.
If Earl Darak was not a nail resurrected from the dead, he actually wouldn't mind having such a friend, just like Baron Lavender who initially invited outsiders to play cards and led Shade into the world of Rhodes.
But sometimes fate doesn't always go as you want, and you have to go what you want, and no one can disobey this.
In order to make the game more interesting, this time the traditional best-of-three game rule is adopted. Each game has five rounds, and the first to win three rounds wins one game.
The two parties shuffled the cards with each other, and after the old butler confirmed that they were correct, the cards were placed on the left and right hands of Priest Augustus for the cards to be dealt.
The long table was placed parallel to the window, and through the thick fog, thin sunlight illuminated the tabletop and the profiles of the two people.
Shade got his first hidden card, but he didn't open it, but directly signaled that he wanted the second card.
Then he smiled and said:
"Count, I heard that you were seriously ill at the beginning of this year? I wish you good health."
"Yes, that disease really almost killed me."
The Earl also got his second card. After taking a look at it, he frowned, obviously not satisfied with it.
Shade's second card was Sun 1. He signaled to continue dealing, and then warned:
"I have a doctor friend who often says that exercising more will help your health."
He does have a doctor friend, but that's a psychiatrist.
"That's a good idea, but lung disease may not have much to do with exercise. I'll stop trading, 18 o'clock."
Count Darak showed his two cards.
The third card that Shade got was Moon 10. He took another look at the hole card, and then also announced a suspension:
"Sun 1, moon 10, stars 8, 19 o'clock."
"That's really unlucky."
The Earl shook his head and threw the cards in his hand aside. The two cards were swirled together, and he looked like a veteran of Rhodes:
"However, my illness may be related to my unhealthy living habits. Mr. Watson, you are a foreigner, do you know about the interesting local drink, blood brew?"
Shade raised his eyebrows in surprise and took the cards handed by Priest August:
"Of course I know. I even met a salesman selling this drink at the Fire Worship Festival party. But I have always stayed away from blood products. Even steak must be nine-mature before I eat it."