Due to the strange attitude of the three gentlemen, not only Duke Lucas himself, but also the other guests invited this time, were eager to know what they had just seen.
"Alright then, let the game begin."
Mr. Mark adjusted the tie on his white shirt and black suit collar, announcing loudly.
Two middle-aged men from the Prophet Association served as dealers beside Mr. Mark. Superstition existed in this era; people believed that women would bring bad luck to rhode cards, so there were no sexy ladies dealing cards on site.
Xia De received his first card and felt a little nervous. He actually didn't know how to play rhode cards at all. In the past few days, during his breaks from reading and teasing Mia, he had learned some rhode card techniques, but he was definitely no match for those veterans.
Therefore, Miss Annette's statement about "the luck brought by the Founding Series cards" was probably Xia De's hope of winning.
Although he had previously said that he didn't care about the outcome of this game, sitting here, being watched by so many people, especially by Miss Bei Ya Si, who was dressed as a maid for some unknown reason, made him feel inexplicably pressured.
"Just play casually, try to take as few cards as possible, after all, this is a game where luck plays a major role."
He comforted himself, this time his opponent's deck was no longer stained with blood; it was a very fair game.
"It's nothing if I lose... I'll apologize to Miss Jialinna. It's impossible to lose every time I help her."
His mood returned to normal, so he lowered his head to check his first hole card, Flower 13.
"Hmm..."
He signaled for the next card, and the second card was dealt face up, Sun 8.
"Hmm..."
He rubbed his hands, pondered for a moment, and asked in his mind:
"Is there some inexplicable person interfering with my luck again?"
【I haven't found any.】
"Then why... exactly 21 points?"
【Why can't you consider this your luck?】
The whispering voice asked. Xia De nodded, signaling that he didn't need another card.
"Is the young man so cautious?"
The Old Duke on the opposite side laughed, but also didn't ask for a third card. Then both of them revealed their cards: Xia De had 13+8 = 21, while the Duke had 8+8 = 16. The latter was not disappointed, but continued to smile and say:
"It turns out the young man's caution had a reason."
The guests observing the game whispered among themselves, while Xia De saw Miss Bei Ya Si quietly slip out of the doorway while everyone's attention was on the game, disappearing somewhere.
"No chance to tell her there's a High-Ring Sorcerer on this floor... But Miss Jialinna already knew Miss Bei Ya Si last time, so it should be fine."
Xia De won the first round of the first game, and in the second round, he indeed did not continue his luck from before, with the sum of his first two cards being 17. The cautious Detective chose not to continue, while the Duke continuously received two 2s, stopping only at the fourth card:
"How terrible."
Duke Lucas regretfully flipped over his hole card: 6+2+2+12 = 22. Xia De's luck didn't actually need to be particularly good, just better than his opponent's.
In the third round of the first game, after Xia De received his hole card, he somewhat absentmindedly noticed that Miss Bei Ya Si had returned. She was still dressed as a maid, and seeing Xia De's gaze "peeking" at her from behind the rhode cards, she even made a greeting gesture.
By the time Xia De reacted, he had already received three cards. He quickly called a stop, with his three cards totaling 18.
At this point, a small gasp erupted among the people. It turned out that as the game progressed, someone had finally drawn the first special rule card. Even though Duke Lucas was still behind, he still showed a triumphant expression as if he had already won.
"Detective, it seems my luck is better."
【Firearm · Luger Revolver】, suit sun 10. If this card is drawn, and the current hand, including this card, has an odd number of cards, and all cards in hand have different suits, the card value can be adjusted from 10 or 11.
Duke Lucas did not ask for more cards. His other face-up card was Flower 1. He very solemnly used his finger to flip over his hole card, then slammed it onto the table: Moon 3, which met the conditions for the special rule.
"Oh! My God ~ What luck!"
Exclamations erupted again among the crowd, with enthusiastic discussions and congratulations echoing endlessly. This was not a deliberate attempt to flatter the Old Duke; the people present truly believed this was quite an extraordinary event.
"It seems no matter what, the Duke's points are less than mine... I won the third round of the first game, winning the first game, right?"
Xia De quietly asked the dealer on his side. No matter how that rhode card's number was adjusted, his 18 points should have won. But the current reaction of the people made him suspect if there was some special rule that caused him to lose.
"First game over, Mr. Xia De Hamilton wins!"
Amidst the excited discussions of the people, Mr. Mark announced loudly. Xia De showed no triumphant expression, while Duke Lucas, wearing a red army uniform, was flushed with excitement, as if he had just won a battle:
"Look, Detective, this game is truly interesting. You won the first game, and I encountered a rule card, this is truly interesting!"
"I really don't fit in with these people."
Xia De thought to himself, while the Old Duke continued to praise him:.
"Jialinna seems to have found an amazing rhode card player, Detective. It won't be so easy next time."
Although the first game, all in all, only lasted a brief fifteen minutes, everyone still rested for five minutes before continuing to the second game.
During this time, Xia De used the excuse of not drinking alcohol and wanting some grape juice to strike up a conversation with Miss Bei Ya Si, who was dressed as a maid. But the latter blinked, said no extra words, and seemed unwilling to involve Xia De in her affairs.
This made Xia De relieved, as it perfectly aligned with his thoughts.
Duke Lucas's luck finally returned at the beginning of the second game. In the third card of the first round of the second game, he actually drew a Queen directly. And Xia De, holding 15 points, after trying to ask for another card, his points directly exceeded 21, and then the Old Duke laughed and said that luck was indeed conserved.
In the second round, it was Xia De who drew the Queen from his own deck. The Duke, of course, continued to ask for cards as he had thought earlier, hoping for 21 points or drawing a King. But unfortunately, he drew the special patterned card star 13, very unluckily busting directly.
This kind of game, where each person won a round, was much more exciting than the first game. The Duke's spirits were high, and he arranged for a servant to find a Poet who could play the lute, to sing poems and add to the entertainment while the two played cards.
In the third round of the second game, Xia De, who was slightly relaxed from winning a game, gambled on his luck. Although he still didn't draw a special card, he managed to get 20 points when he stopped. The Old Duke again drew a special rule rhode card, this time 【Ancient Hero · Knight Tim】, which also required a dice roll to take effect.
But this time the Duke didn't have that luck; he neither successfully used the special rule nor won against the Detective's 20 points.
"It seems my luck is pretty good today."
Xia De, who had won two rounds in the first and second games, let out a sigh of relief and thought to himself that he only needed to win one more time to win the match.
【Perhaps you could make money gambling, that sounds very nice.】
"Unless I'm truly desperate, I won't gamble. That's a matter of principle."
Xia De emphasized again, then heard the woman's pleasant chuckle. After accepting the other party's co-existence with himself and no longer wondering if the other party was truly himself, Xia De became increasingly accustomed to the woman's voice, which often whispered in his ears and mind. It was as if he originally didn't like cats much, but gradually got used to Mia becoming a member of the family.
One of the costs of coming into contact with the mysterious and becoming a Ring術士 was that whispers would follow him for the rest of his life. Sleeping, eating, socializing, even in private settings... This was the cost, nothing came without a price. But every time he heard the soft laughter in his ear, Xia De would think it wasn't a price, but a gift to himself.
At this point, the third round of the second game officially began. Xia De's first hole card was Flower 8, and after the Duke looked at his card with his head down, he immediately revealed his hole card:
"King."
The old man, as robust as a lion, couldn't help but laugh, his deep voice almost vibrating the glass:
"It's been a long time since I've been this happy. Jialinna truly found a good card player this time, and I'm not bad either, to be able to draw a King and a Queen in one game. The last time I had this luck, my son was probably around your age. Detective, my hole card is a King. Unless you draw 21 points, I will win both rounds of the second game too."
The spectators excitedly discussed the game's situation, with rare occurrences happening almost every round, which greatly increased the game's watchability.
People were already guessing whether the young Detective would have that luck, and Xia De was also very curious about this.
"Deal again."
He signaled, but he wasn't nervous. Even if he lost this round, the second game would only be two to two, so he wasn't in a hurry.
He turned his head slightly to look at the Black-haired maid who had been standing behind him since the game began. The maid met his gaze, her pretty eyes directly conveying "Is there something?" Xia De shook his head, but found that from an upward angle, he could see some body features that made him blush. The maid Tifa was probably the best-figured among all the women he knew in this world.
He looked back at the card table and saw his second card was surprisingly sun 12, which combined with the previous 8 points, totaled 20.
"Oh ~"
Even he couldn't help but exclaim, while Duke Lucas on the opposite side already had a smile on his face:
"Detective, lose this round, or try for one more card?"
"Deal again."
Xia De said.
The Duke gently tapped the table with his finger:
"That's how young people are, they should have some gambling spirit."
But Xia De felt this wasn't a compliment, but purely the Old Duke wanting to win more thoroughly.
The third card was dealt, and the people closer to Xia De couldn't help but lean forward slightly to see the card face, hoping to see the young Detective get any 1-point card from the four suits, winning the game with an amazing reversal.
Xia De glanced at the card face and raised an eyebrow:
"Perhaps the saying that Founding Series cards increase luck is not just superstition."
He didn't have the luck to draw any 1-point card from the four suits, but instead drew a 3-point card.
The third card was sun 3, card face 【Founding · Silver Moon】, which could adjust the number from 1 to 5.
Thump ~
Turning to look, Viscount Ford, with his graying hair, finally collapsed with a smile on his face, clutching his heart.