Whispering Verse

As Mr. Antonio spoke, he smiled and showed his trump card to Shade. At this time, both of them only had two cards in their hands:

"Look, Mr. Watson, my luck has finally come."

Star 4, [Story in the Woods·Clown in the Woods]. When this card is the hole card, if the total points of the first two cards are not more than 8 and the suits are different, you can choose to stop playing at this time and the total points will be regarded as 20 points (note).

On the card, a clown riding a unicycle is tossing five balls among the tall trees in the forest.

"What an interesting rule."

Shade praised, and then looked at Mr. Antonio's hand. It was the common card of Sun 2, which means that special cards can take effect:

"How about a suspension?"

"Oh, of course. Now that I have drawn a special rule card, how can I not use the rules?"

the playwright said, and Shade noticed that his voice was louder enough that people around him could hear it. Originally there were only two people playing cards at the table, but when they heard that the special rule cards were in effect, three more gentlemen came over.

Shade was happy to wait for a while and let Mr. Antonio introduce the current situation to his acquaintances in the association, and then said:

"Then I will continue to draw cards."

Shade showed his first two cards, only 13 points.

"Then, good luck next time, Mr. Antonio, you win."

His third card was Star 10, and the total point was 23, which was a direct bust. The middle-aged man who made the right choice immediately smiled. Although he only won the first round of the third game, the expression on his face seemed as if he had won the entire game.

After all, having a special card work and being able to win the game with it is something you can brag about for a long time.

The onlookers gradually dispersed while talking about Mr. Antonio's good luck. Shade and the gentleman continued to draw cards leisurely. The playwright's introduction to this city is not over yet, and he is very talkative at the moment:

"What I just told you are all modern festivals and customs. According to my research, a long time ago, there was no city in the Randall Valley. Before my ancestors moved here in the eastern part of the Old World, There is a very ancient worship of the earth, the rivers, and the mountains."

This did not attract much attention from Shade. It was perfectly normal for River Valley cities to have similar nature worship.

"Twenty o'clock, suspension."

Shade smiled and revealed his hole card. Three cards were worth 20 points. Mr. Antonio also carefully opened his trump card, took a look at it, and showed his hand:

"19 o'clock, oh, we have to bet on luck again. Star 3? Oh, it's just a little bit short. Maybe you ran out of luck just now. Mr. Watson, you only need to win one more round to defeat me, but I Didn’t think it would be easy.”

Since the card game has reached its final match point, the middle-aged playwright is no longer distracted from telling the story.

The two of them each pulled out their trump cards, opened a corner on the table to check, and then looked at each other, trying to read the other's cards from each other's expressions.

Next, the second card was drawn. Shade was the 7 of the Sun. He noticed that there were very few cards of the sun suit that he drew today, and Mr. Antonio was the 1 of the Stars.

Needless to say, continue to draw cards. Shade is Moon 5. He knocked on the table to signal that he would stop playing, but did not show his trump card. Mr. Antonio pressed the back of the card upward on the table, prayed softly to the god of the sun [The Old Man with the Lamp], and then opened his third card.

Quite unexpectedly, it turned out to be another special card. This gentleman actually drew all his special cards in three rounds.

[Story in the Wood·Silver Snow Wolf], Colored Sun 1.

If this card is a hole card, it has no special effect; if this card is not a hole card, and the suit of the hole card is moon, you can choose to discard the hole card or this card after the suspension, and draw a new card to replace it.

The card shows a wolf running through the forest in the snow with its back to the card. The details of the picture are very good, not only the scene of the moon and the sun appearing in the sky at the same time in the evening, but also the rabbit and wolf footprints on the snow.

"Since there is no declaration, the special effects of the redrawn Rhodes cards can be regarded as valid."

Shade was quite emotional:

"For players who hold multiple special cards, this card is more interesting than the [Forest Clown] just now."

“But to me, [The Clown in the Woods] is more interesting.”

Mr. Antonio said with a smile, and then continued to draw the fourth card:

"Oh, the points exploded."

His fourth card is the flower 10, and the first three cards add up to 12:

"Why do you always bust at 22 o'clock today?"

Although he said this, he was not upset at all, but instead became more excited:

"Then, I activate the effect of [Story in the Wood: Silver Snow Wolf], discard the hole card in my hand - Moon 4, and draw it again."

He showed Shade his cards and then touched the deck.

"Throw away your trump card, and your total points will be 18 points. And my total points are still 19 points. If you want to beat me, you can only get 2 or 3 points."

Shade showed his hand of cards, and Mr. Antonio narrowed his eyes slightly:

"If you were at 21, I would probably give up, but it's only 19. Don't be afraid. The advantage is mine. Today's luck seems to have gone to the extreme. There were a lot of busted cards, but I also drew two special cards."

He revealed his next card, and the two gentlemen looked at it together.

It was a playing card with a special pattern. The pattern on the playing card was of a lush forest, with a human face on an ancient tree. As expected, it should also be a Rhodes card from the "Stories in the Forest" series.

But unfortunately, the point is Sun 13.

"Oh, Mr. Watson, it seems you have better luck."

He smiled bitterly and shook his head. Although he was a little reluctant to give up, he still pulled out his two special cards and pushed them to Shade:

"Please choose one. I am willing to admit defeat. Since I can win cards from others, I can also accept losing cards myself."

"You're such a nice guy, I'll choose this one."

Shade took away [Stories from the Forest: Silver Snow Wolf], then pointed to the banknotes he had taken out in advance and placed on the table:

"Although we were betting on special cards according to the agreement, since I didn't take out the cards, you agreed to bet against me. So even if I win, please take away half of the bet."

As he spoke, he was about to hand half of the banknotes to Mr. Antonio, but the playwright was proud of being a Rhodes player:

"That's not okay. Since I said I was betting on special cards and I actively agreed to the game, how could I still take your money after losing?"

He refused to accept the money no matter what, and Xia De couldn't move, so he had no choice but to give up.

But then the two did not separate, but continued to play cards. Of course, the minimum bet is 2 copper pfennig.

1 krone is equal to 7 euros, and 1 krone is equal to 95 pfennigs. These three currencies are the main currencies in Kasenlik. However, due to the chaotic currency relations before the founding of the United Kingdom, there are other currencies besides the three mainstream currencies. Among the major currencies, 1 pfennig has the lowest value, while the currency value of the "copper pfennig" is one-thirtieth of a pfennig. This is a coin that looks like copper without banknotes.

It is worth mentioning that because the value of 1 krona is so high, krona rarely appears in the lives of ordinary citizens. Even though copper pfennig is not a major currency, it is widely used in citizens' lives.

According to the exchange rate conversion, 1 copper pfennig is approximately 1.4 pence.

The two continued to chat about local legends and stories while playing cards. The playwright also shared with Shade interesting stories from when he was writing the script.

And when the sun gradually rose above his head and the time came to about eleven o'clock, "her" voice finally came to Shade's ears:

[Luvia Anat stepped out of the carriage and was walking towards the stairs downstairs. 】

Shade's expression remained unchanged, he did not get up and leave, but continued to talk to Mr. Antonio. Luvia will definitely not stay in the association for too long, because it will be lunch time soon. So Shade planned to wait for a while and go directly to the entrance of the association to wait for her to leave. In this way, people would not find Luvia meeting strangers in Randall Valley.

But things were a bit unexpected. Twenty minutes after "she" discovered Luvia, the purple-eyed girl wearing Carsonrick's characteristic floral dress and a lady's hat with feathers on her side came to her. Appeared on the second floor terrace.

Of course, most of the gentlemen here focused on their cards, so not many people noticed her, and Luvia walked directly towards Mr. Shade and Mr. Antonio.

"Can you excuse me?"

She smiled and interrupted Mr. Antonio who was telling Shade "The Poems of the Elves and the Earth." After the playwright very gentlemanly invited her to sit down, Luvia said:

"Hello, gentlemen, I heard that when you were playing cards just now, you used [The Story of the Wood: Silver Snow Wolf] as a bet?"

There was a smile on her lips, and Shade knew that she must have recognized him. After all, the witch eyeshadow he applied could only be effective on strangers. She probably heard about the card game a few hours ago, which reminded her of Shade, who claimed that he would definitely come to see her.

At this time, Shade, who tried to surprise Luvia, was surprised by Luvia instead. Shade had never seen her dress like this before. It was really beautiful.

"Yes ma'am, do you know this card too?"

Shade took out the cards from the deck, and Luvia nodded:

"Yes, this card is very special. I think it will be very useful to my friends. I have a humble request. I wonder, sir, if you are willing to give this card to me. I can give you a very high price."

PS: Thanks to the reader ( @Ofer) for providing the Rhodes card ideas.