“Priest, you really are experienced.”
Xia De praised him sincerely.
“Haha, when you get old, your physical strength and spirit can’t compare to you young people, but the life experiences accumulated over a long time are not for nothing.”
Xia De nodded knowingly, reaching forward with his hand. The Red Butterfly automatically landed on his finger, then melted into his skin.
He rang the bell on the fence gate. After waiting a few minutes, the Old Butler, holding a brightly polished oil lamp, came to the door through the not-so-large courtyard filled with white mist. After Xia De, who introduced himself as “John Watson,” explained their purpose and showed the rhode cards, the bald Old Butler in a black formal suit actually let the two of them in.
“You see, rhode cards are sometimes really useful.”
Following the Old Butler through the courtyard towards the mansion, Xia De whispered to Priest Augustus. The Priest ignored him, instead staring at the Old Butler’s back:
“He won’t live much longer.”
“What?”
“Heart disease. From the current medical standards, there’s no cure.”
Priest Augustus shook his head, motioning Xia De not to be too loud:
“People always die; it’s normal.”
Count Dalak was a well-known rhode cards player in the area, and many people had come to challenge him. When the Old Butler led Xia De and the Priest into the house, he even confirmed with them that they wanted to use special cards as stakes.
“Does the Count always use special cards as stakes when he gambles?”
“Most of the time, yes.”
The Old Butler nodded, leading the two through the hall adorned with artworks and antiques, and up the stairs.
Although Xia De wasn't very knowledgeable about antique appraisal, he had seen many mansions of Great Nobles. In his opinion, the Dalak family had indeed declined. The interior decoration of the mansion was old, and some of the vases and oil paintings displayed were clearly modern artworks. For example, the oil painting at the turn of the stairs looked exactly like the “Brave Saga: Bard Fletcher” auction item Xia De had seen at the Fire Worship Festival banquet.
The interior was very quiet; it seemed all the servants were resting except for the Old Butler. But at least the place was very clean, showing that the maintainer of the house was still trying their best to preserve its dignity.
Xia De and Priest Augustus met Count Dalak in the study on the second floor. Compared to his flamboyant attire at the Fire Worship Festival banquet, the Count behind the desk was now wearing a very normal black coat. If not for a pink flower stuck in his hair, he would have looked even more normal.
As the Old Butler introduced the two guests, Xia De felt the Red Butterfly, which had melted into the skin of his finger, vibrating, and Priest Augustus also touched Xia De’s arm, looking at him sideways and nodding.
Both Xia De and the Priest understood that the third person who had died and been resurrected, whom they were looking for, was the middle-aged noble in front of them.
“Mr. John Watson? Oh, I remember you, you are Miss Aurora’s…”
The Count looked up in surprise.
“I am Miss Aurora’s friend. The Southern Kingdom Countess was joking with you last time.”
Xia De replied with a smile. At this moment, the Old Butler temporarily left to prepare tea for the three, so what Xia De said didn't matter. Since they had found Count Dalak, they had to send him away.
“Ha, I knew you weren’t an ordinary bodyguard. I heard that Miss Aurora is always stern with men. Besides, if an ordinary bodyguard has such good card skills, then my life would be too much of a failure.”
The Count, who looked thinner than last time, smiled and put down the steel pen in his hand. He had just been writing a letter:
“Mr. Watson, with your appearance, you could actually make money doing anything. I guess you are Miss Aurora’s lover…”
“Cough, cough!”
Xia De quickly coughed to prevent his image as a promising young man in Priest Augustus’s eyes from being further damaged:
“Count, let’s get down to business. After the last card game, I heard from locals that you are a famous rhode cards player here, so I wanted to play with you again. Last time, neither of us used our special cards, so that can’t count as a win or loss.”
Count Dalak seemed even happier:
“Yes, neither of us used special cards last time, so it doesn’t count as me losing to you.”
Saying that, he stood up:
“Gentlemen, the weather is strange today, and I happen to have nothing to do to pass the boring daytime. Come, please follow me, I have a dedicated rhode cards gambling table here.”
The Count walked towards the door, and Xia De and Priest Augustus also stood up from their chairs at the table.
“First, observe his current condition. If we can send him away without a fight, then we should try to avoid fighting.”
Xia De hoped his gaze could convey such complex meaning, and Priest Augustus, seeing Xia De’s gaze, actually nodded.
Xia De was very curious about what Priest Augustus thought he wanted to do.
In any case, led by the Count, the three of them returned to the first floor. The Count even took a detour through the mansion to introduce the history of his antique collections and the traditions of the Dalak family.
The Count lingered longest in front of one particular rapier. He had mentioned last time that he himself was very skilled with a rapier.
The so-called dedicated rhode cards gambling table was actually just a table with grids drawn on its surface to facilitate placing card piles, drawing cards, and discarding cards. It was a sun-facing room on the first floor, which the Count had set up specifically for playing rhode cards with players.
Besides the table in the middle, the surrounding walls were covered with numerous signatures and photographs. These were all players who had come here and gambled rhode cards with Count Dalak. According to the Count, he had even played cards with the runner-up of “Big City Player 1850.” However, the other party was unwilling to leave a photo, so only a signature was left.
In addition to the signatures and photos on the walls, there were also neat glass display cases below the four walls. Inside the cases were interesting souvenirs related to rhode cards. For example, the copper commemorative coins used to calculate points during the semi-final stage of “Big City Player 1853,” which ended more than a month ago, and the news reports from that time, were all displayed here.
And after introducing those exhibits, the gambling officially began.
With the Old Butler as the referee, Priest Augustus dealt cards to the two players. As for the stakes, Xia De put up his “only” special card, Brave Saga: Bard Fletcher, and smilingly claimed that if he won this time, he would go to Red Water Camp on Windy Path to challenge Carter Brigadier General, who possessed Brave Saga: Swordsman Sabaron.
“No, no, your information is outdated. Now, Swordsman Sabaron is in the hands of a Captain at Red Water Camp, the same Captain who solved the serial murder case at Mi Fort Mechanical College.”
The Count reminded him, then took out and displayed his stake:
“Ancient Fairy Tale - sleeping princess, Suit: Sun 4. If you roll 10 or 20 twice consecutively on a 20-sided die, you can adjust the card number within 4 or 5.”
He read out the card information and had the butler hand the card to Xia De for inspection.
The Count somewhat proudly took off his gloves, flicking his wrist as he said:
“The Great City Player champion this year, Hamilton of Thunder Jeed, also has a special card from the Ancient Fairy Tale series, which is Ancient Fairy Tale - Match Girl. I even plan that when winter comes, if I have nothing to do, I will take a steam train specifically to Tobesk City to challenge that Great City Player who has dozens of special cards.”
He flexed his fingers, a hopeful smile on his face:
“A trip to Tobesk must be very interesting. I’ll probably become friends with that young man.”
Xia De kept a straight face, showing no expression.
If Count Dalak wasn't a resurrected nail, he actually wouldn't mind having such a friend, just like Baron Lavende, who initially invited Outsiders to play cards and led Xia De into the world of rhode cards.
But sometimes fate doesn't always go as planned. What must leave, must leave. No one can defy this.
To make the card game more interesting, this time they adopted the traditional best-of-three rule. Each game had five rounds, and winning three rounds first won a game.
Both sides shuffled their cards. After the Old Butler confirmed everything was in order, the decks were placed to Priest Augustus’s left and right for dealing.
The long table was placed parallel to the window. Through the thick fog, thin sunlight illuminated the tabletop and the two men’s profiles.
Xia De received his first face-down card but did not open it, instead directly indicating that he wanted a second card.
Then he smiled and said:
“Count, I heard you suffered a serious illness at the beginning of this year? I wish you good health.”
“Yes, that illness really almost took my life.”
The Count also received his second card, and after glancing at it, he frowned, clearly not pleased.
Xia De’s second card was sun 1. He indicated to continue dealing, then advised:
“I have a Psychologist friend, and he often says that more exercise helps with physical health.”
He did have a Psychologist friend, but that was a Psychologist.
“That’s a good idea, but lung disease might not have much to do with exercise... I’ll stand, 18 points.”
Count Dalak showed his two rhode cards.
Xia De’s third card was Moon 10. He glanced at his hole card again, then also announced he would stand:
“sun 1, Moon 10, Star 8, 19 points.”
“How unlucky.”
The Count shook his head and tossed the rhode cards in his hand aside. The two rhode cards spun and stacked together, clearly showing he was an experienced rhode cards player:
“However, my illness might be related to my unhealthy lifestyle. Mr. Watson, you are an Outsider, do you know about an interesting local drink, blood brew?”
Xia De raised an eyebrow in surprise, taking the rhode cards Priest Augustus handed him:
“Of course, I even met a salesman promoting this drink at the Fire Worship Festival party. But I always keep my distance from blood products; I even have to eat my steak well-done.”
“Then your life is truly missing a lot of fun.”
