“Where is Miss Jialinna?”
As the appearance of Origin · Silver Moon astonished the Prophet Association 一行人, Xia De quietly asked the Black-haired maid beside him, who looked at him in surprise:
“My lady dislikes meeting strangers, so you will only see her after you win the bet tonight. What, do you need to see her now? I can go ask for her permission.”
“Not for now.”
Xia De said, then extended his hand to shake the enthusiastic Vice President Mark’s hand again.
Before the game began, both players’ decks had to be inspected to prevent the presence of forged rhode cards. The Old Duke’s deck had already been checked, so now only Xia De’s remained.
Xia De’s deck originally contained only three special cards, and Miss Jialinna had given him two more this time. The maid handed them to Xia De for inspection, then directly substituted them into his 54-card deck.
The two cards were Mark IX from the Original Steam Engine series, suit sun 10, and Tis Lake from the Eastern Continent Landscape series, suit Flower 8.
The former’s special effect was: when this card is drawn, if at least two cards are already held in hand, and all held cards are of the Sun suit, the number of this card can be adjusted within 9 or 10.
The latter’s special effect was: after drawing this card, guess the number of one of the opponent’s unrevealed cards. If correct, after the opponent reveals their card, you can choose whether to force the opponent’s card number to increase by one. If the opponent reveals their card first, then 【Old Continent Eastern Landscape · Tis Lake】 has no effect.
In terms of functionality, neither card was as practical as Xia De’s Silver Moon, and like the match girl, they had entertainment-oriented effects. But special rhode cards themselves were wealth, so Xia De certainly wouldn’t complain.
It’s worth mentioning that Mia’s owner, Miss Mia San Gaode, seemed to have gone to her rural hometown near Tis Lake. Xia De had seen it when he looked up the map, thinking about the “Mia cat returning home” route.
During the wait for the inspection, Xia De saw that the Prophet Association 一行人 were all busy, and the Duke’s servants were waiting to be called. He then secretly asked the Black-haired maid a question:
“Excuse me, do you know what white stone crystal is?”
The pattern at the bottom of the bottle was inconvenient to describe without paper and pen, but it was easy to ask about something that seemed to be a mineral.
The Black-haired maid looked at Xia De with some surprise, her beautiful brows slightly furrowed:
“Detective, where did you hear about that? It’s not a common mineral.”
“Is it very valuable?”
Xia De asked nervously, primarily wanting to know if it was expensive. Recalling that Miss Louisa hadn’t even heard of white stone crystal, he was prepared to hear a terrifying number.
“It’s not particularly expensive, but it’s very rare, extremely rare. This mineral is a rare associated mineral. For ordinary people and Ring術士, it has basically no use. white stone crystal is produced in small quantities in the Yarahan Desert region of the Old Continent, and in large river valley open-pit noble metal mines in the New World. Its most common use is to stabilize space in super-large rituals, but the dosage is very small, and there are many similar materials that can replace it.”
As the personal maid of a Witch from the Witch Council, she indeed had extraordinary knowledge.
“Then where can I find it? What’s the market price?”
Xia De asked again, his eyes scanning around. Everyone was busy, and no one was paying attention to their conversation.
The Black-haired maid, Miss Tifa Servett, thought for a moment. Her voice was very pleasant:
“The market price is hard to say, because this item basically doesn’t enter trading channels. Some ore collectors are very fond of collecting it. The Tobesk Mineral Association probably has some in their collection. And, my lady also happens to have some…”
Xia De looked at the maid, and the maid also looked at Xia De, both waiting for the other to speak first.
“Will Miss Jialinna sell it to me?”
After a few seconds of staring, Xia De proactively asked, as he was the one asking for a favor.
“My lady doesn’t care about such impractical items; she wouldn’t say anything if I just took it. But Detective, my lady said that everything has its reward.”
The maid winked at Xia De, then her eyes narrowed, and a smile appeared on her face. Black hair, black eyebrows, and brown eyes—these were the hair and eye colors familiar to an Outsider.
“Alright, Miss Servite, what do you need?”
Xia De asked again, knowing that the other party certainly didn’t want money. After all, a single piece of jewelry on the maid could be worth several Mia.
Tifa Servett turned her head to look at the Prophet Association 一行人 who were inspecting the rhode cards, and said softly:
“Help me with something. It’s not convenient to say now. Your only task tonight is to help my lady win the game. Later tonight, I will visit you with that white stone crystal. You can decide for yourself whether to accept… the commission, since you are a Detective, you should be happy to accept that phrasing.”
“Alright.”
Xia De nodded. If the other party’s request was too much, he could refuse and then try his luck at the Tobesk Mineral Association.
“At such a close distance, can you feel the maid’s Ring術士 level?”
While smiling, he asked in his heart.
【Not a High-Ring, but stronger than your doctor friend, Lasoya, and the Heart Collector. Most likely Hexacle, but possibly PentaCircle or Septacle. I can only give a more accurate answer if you touch her, or even have further contact.】
Xia De nodded, but didn’t make any rash moves. He just couldn’t help but marvel that even a young maid could possess such power. The Witch Council must wield extraordinary power and secrets.
Because only five cards needed careful inspection, and they all had appraisal certificates, the appraisal process didn’t take too long.
After it was over, the Prophet Association 一行人 walked in front, Xia De, the Old Butler, and the Black-haired maid walked in the middle, and the Old Duke’s mansion servants walked at the end. A group of over thirty people arrived together on the third floor.
The third-floor banquet hall was actually a transformed dining room used for entertaining guests in the mansion. It was clearly not as grand as the one at Lakeview Manor, but it was still nearly three times the size of Xia De’s first floor. It was rare to find such a large space within Tobesk City.
The guests who had arrived early were already chatting with people they knew, most of them accompanied by their female companions. Well-dressed gentlemen and ladies in less formal long dresses mingled in the intoxicating light of the chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, navigating the social scene with ease. However, most of those invited were rhode cards enthusiasts, so the topics of conversation mostly revolved around the tense and exciting rhode cards game.
The original long tables in the banquet hall had been moved, and now only a rhode cards gambling table stood in the center, flanked by two simple wooden chairs with backrests.
Along the walls, there was a row of sofas and tea tables, but all the sofas faced the center, not arranged in small groups. The servants of Duke Lux’s household were currently preparing fruit plates, pastries, and black tea on each tea table.
The oil paintings hanging on the walls must have been temporarily replaced, as a normal banquet hall or dining room would not feature rhode cards as the subject of oil paintings.
Xia De walked in with the others, his eyes quickly scanning the surroundings, very worried about spotting the Writer, the Old Priest, the Diviner, or even the blue-eyed doctor. Fortunately, they were indeed unrelated to tonight’s events. But while looking around, he unexpectedly made eye contact with a young maid with long brown hair, who was bending over to arrange teaware.
“Hmm?”
The maid quickly lowered her head, and Xia De’s eyes widened slightly, then he naturally turned his head, observing her only with his peripheral vision:
“Miss Bei Ya Si?”
Xia De couldn’t see his own expression at that moment, but he had seen surprise in Miss Bei Ya Si’s eyes just now.
The latter was wearing a heavy maid’s long dress and a uniform hair accessory. Her facial skin was powdered, making it appear dull and obscuring her normally pretty face. The young woman with long brown hair was not old, but with her hair tied back with a white lace-edged hairband, she looked a bit more mature.
Seeing that Xia De’s peripheral vision was still observing her, she gestured to him while bending over to arrange the teaware. Xia De understood this simple gesture this time; it meant for him not to keep looking this way.
Turning his head, Xia De continued to observe the guests and unexpectedly saw some people he had met while playing cards at Lakeview Manor, though Baron Lavende and Baron Rwanda were not present.
“What is Miss Bei Ya Si doing here dressed like this?”
Xia De thought to himself, scanning the surroundings, looking for others from Miss Bei Ya Si’s Ring術士 team, but there were none.
“Which means, similar to the Lucky Southern Cross Club, this is still her own action… Should I leave immediately after the game? I always feel that whenever I encounter her, something abnormal is bound to happen.”
The Old Duke, dressed in a red old army uniform, with a white belt around his waist and a wheat ear decoration on his right shoulder, was originally near the main door, conversing with two elderly gentlemen, one of whom wore a cuboid pendant around his neck.
Seeing the door open and the people from the Prophet Association enter, the gray-haired but robust Duke, who looked like an old lion, apologized to his companions and immediately walked over with a smile to shake Vice President Mark’s hand.
He wasn’t tall, but he looked exceptionally sturdy.
After exchanging a few pleasantries about the weather with the local Vice President of the Prophet Association, he stood in place and watched Xia De and Miss Tifa walk over together.
“Detective, this is Duke Lucas.”
The Black-haired maid clasped her hands together, letting them hang naturally in front of her, and introduced him with a slight bow. Xia De immediately extended his hand.
“Duke, this is the rhode cards player invited by my lady, Hamilton Detective.”
The Old Duke’s expression clearly showed that he knew Xia De’s identity beforehand, so he naturally extended his right hand and shook Xia De’s hand firmly. He smiled, his smile kind, but his grip was truly strong. Xia De had learned about the Old Duke’s identity beforehand; in his youth, he had been the commander of Delarion’s First Army Corps:
“Mr. Hamilton, I’ve heard of you.”