Whispering Verse

The noise could no longer be suppressed at this moment. Even though this was a noble banquet and even Prince William of Anjou was present, people still could not hide their excitement:

"The first three cards were three 7s, and the fourth one was the queen? If he hadn't met Mr. Oxenfurt, how would John Watson have lost this round? How could anyone have such luck?"

Shade took a deep breath, looked at Mr. Oxenfurt who was also surprised across from him, and then asked Margaret's brother:

"Prince William, according to the rules of Rhodes, you cannot draw cards after drawing the queen. But I drew the cards this time because of the requirements of special rules, and the rules require that two cards be drawn. There is no order for these two cards. order, so I can keep drawing cards?”

"this"

His Royal Highness the Prince hesitated for a moment, and then asked someone to find the staff of the Prophet Association. Tonight's banquet only invited local nobles. Businessmen like Mr. Oxenfurt came with friends and were not considered invitees. Therefore, there was no Rhodes Arbiter from the Prophet Association at the banquet.

The game was forced to pause for twenty minutes. Under the urging of everyone, the servant rushed to the Prophet's Association to find someone. When the old man, who was wearing an association uniform and had a Ouroboros brooch on his chest, arrived, he listened to the situation of the card game, then reviewed what had just happened, and after thinking for a moment, he said:

"The special rules are greater than the basic rules. About 45 years ago, something similar happened. Yes, Mr. John Watson had already drawn the queen, but he could still draw the last card."

The curiosity that had been suppressed for twenty minutes has reached its peak at this moment. Everyone is looking forward to what Shade's last card will be. It is not that he has no possibility of winning, but the possibility is too slim and incredible.

The old man from the Prophet Association took out the record book and prepared to record the results as a rare case and add it to the "instances" at the back of the rule book.

Shade put his hand on the last card. People didn't dare to urge him. Even Prince William looked at his hand with his mouth closed. But Earl Granger, who knew Shade well, could tell what they were thinking:

"Mr. Watson, I just said that you can take a sneak peek at what the cards are, but you must have people from the Prophets Association come to see them. Let's open the cards quickly, is it?"

His eyes widened, and Shade frowned slightly. He has a wonderful inspiration, and it seems like he shouldn't win this game, and if he does, something bad will happen.

[So, do you want to win? 】

"Whether we win or not is not up to me."

Shade said in his heart, and turned over the fifth card under the gaze of countless pairs of eyes——

king.

The single queen and king are less than 21 points, but the king and queen appear at the same time, and the game is directly won.

Although Mr. Oxenfurt's "Special Rule Combination Combo" was very good, fortunately Shade had better luck.

Mr. Oxenfurt's eyes were serious, and he raised his hand to press his temples, while the exclamations around him almost pierced Shade's eardrums. He did not show any joy because "her" voice came to his ears again:

[Outlander, you feel the curse of bad luck. 】

Shade put his hand into his pocket and frowned at the man opposite. The other party just sighed regretfully, and then looked at the cards in front of Shade again. He did not show any characteristics of a ring warlock:

"I was cursed for winning against him. Does this have something to do with it?"

[The source of the bad luck cannot be determined. Do you want to use [Twenty-sided Dice of Destiny] to counterattack? The effect of the curse is very weak and has almost no effect on you. 】

After hesitating for a moment, Shade did not use his dice. If possible, he tries not to use the power of fate.

"How interesting, Mr. Stone Oxenfurt"

"Mr. Watson, this card belongs to you."

The card slid along the coffee table table towards Shade, and precise force control made the card stop right at Shade's hand.

[Southern City·Randall Valley], suit color: Sun 7. When this card is drawn, if there are cards with the same value of 7 in the hand, all the remaining cards in the hand can be adjusted to have a value of 7.

"It seems we didn't bet on special cards?"

Shade reminded, but Mr. Oxenfurt shook his head slightly:

"I can't remember the last time I lost. If you beat me, it belongs to you. I will never touch this kind of card stained with bad luck again. If you have time, you can come to my manor as a guest. Looking forward to our next match with you.”

Then the business card was slid over.

After Mr. Oxenfurt finished speaking, he stood up, said goodbye to Prince William softly, and left directly, without even giving Shade a chance to return the ring. Prince William didn't care about Mr. Oxenfurt, and still looked at Shade's five cards on the coffee table in disbelief:

"This kind of thing actually happens. What kind of luck is this?"

Shade picked up [Southern City Randall Valley] and stared at Mr. Oxenfurt's back. He still felt that this person was definitely not as simple as he seemed.

The wonderful Rhodes game between Shade and Mr. Oxenfurt eclipsed all other aspects of the party. Even though the game has ended, people are still talking about the details of the card game enthusiastically. Shade believes that maybe even Tobesk will hear about the game in the near future.

Of course, he didn't forget what he was here for. After accepting the large fortune and the [Southern City Randall Valley], Prince William of Anjou was invited to dance by the niece of Earl Granger and the daughter of the Marquis of Carragher. Shade and Count Granger talked privately.

"Yes, it's still about Mr. Thomas Granger."

The two of them stood outside the dance venue holding wine glasses, and Shade said softly:

"It seemed like you weren't telling me the truth last time."

He shook his glass:

"I know this is related to your family's past, and I shouldn't bother you again. But please forgive my curiosity, what exactly happened to your great-uncle?"

Earl Granger glanced at him, shook his head slightly and took a sip of his wine glass:

"Yes, regarding my uncle, I did conceal something last time. You sent back such a precious relic. I shouldn't have concealed it, but it doesn't really matter. I just hope that, Mr. Watson, this matter can only be done by you. It’s enough to know.”

"Yes, I can swear to [Mr. Dawn]."

Speaking of drawing the Holy Emblem on his chest, the Earl nodded:

"As for the great uncle Thomas Granger who ran away from home, in fact, the family did not find any clues during the long search. It's just that it involved something that no one likes to talk about, so we Keep silent about this matter. Mr. Watson, you also know that noble families always have many inexplicable relatives. If we really want to trace it back, we even had a blood relationship with the Anjou royal family hundreds of years ago."

He smiled self-deprecatingly:

"The family really hasn't found the whereabouts of great-uncle Thomas Granger after he disappeared. But my grandfather once found out that before he disappeared, he had frequent interactions with our distant relatives, the eccentric Farmer family. Contact, there was a lot of correspondence between them.”

"Are the Farmer family also local nobles?"

"No, no, it's just a distant relative of ours. He is a poor rural nobleman in the north of the kingdom, but now he has no descendants. Yes, there is no descendant at all."

"what happened?"

Shade asked with some surprise. It was not a common situation for nobles to exterminate their heirs. But unexpectedly, the count asked an even weirder question:

"Do you know the Pantanal?"

"Of course, I heard that Delarian and we are planning to open up new trade routes in the outer areas of the swamp. By then, transportation in the southern part of the Old Continent will be strengthened and a new commercial city will be formed in the western part of the Old Continent."

This is what Shade saw from the newspaper.

"Yes, yes, but the trade route to be connected recently is outside the swamp. What I want to say is that in the middle of the swamp, there is an island in the middle of the lake. You probably haven't heard of this."

The sound of the piano could not cover up the voices of the two people, but Shade believed that no third person could hear their words at this moment. His fingers unconsciously tapped the body of the glass:

"I've never heard of it. It's too remote. I don't know anything about that swamp."

"Yes, there is a huge lake in the center of the Pantanal that is not inferior to Lake Eldron. There is an island in the middle of the lake. Although the island in the lake is deserted, it actually has an owner. Although De For some unknown reason, both Larion and Kasonric were unwilling to develop that deserted area, but about seventy or eighty years ago, Kasonric sent soldiers to garrison on the island as a pledge of sovereignty. That island, according to the land deed from who knows what happened hundreds of years ago, actually belongs to the Farmer family, a distant relative of the Granger family."

Shade nodded. Although the island in the middle of the lake was extremely remote, both countries were indeed thinking about it. After all, it was a nominal national boundary. It is not cost-effective to station troops for a long time, but the Five Gods Church will not stop it from sending people to plant flags or maintain facilities such as lighthouses and barracks every few decades.

What's more, seventy or eighty years ago, the power of the Pantanal Voodoo Society was far less powerful than it was last year. The sealed evil creatures also showed no signs of breaking through the seal at that time.

"Is the extinct heir of the Farmer family related to the island in the middle of the lake?"

Shade asked again, and Earl Granger nodded solemnly:

"About seventy or eighty years ago, when the kingdom sent soldiers to enter the island again, the Farmer family also accompanied them. They wanted to vacation in a deserted manor on the island and then come back with the soldiers. They were always strange, and there were rumors This family has hereditary mental illness. But in short, their family did not come back, and the soldiers did not come back. The subsequent investigation was in vain, and there is still no result. People are very taboo about talking about this matter, and it is said that Farmer The fact that the Er family insists on going to that island for vacation is related to the correspondence between my uncle and them. Baron Farmer was obsessed with occultism at that time, and so was my uncle."

This kind of family scandal is really not suitable to be told to strangers.