Whispering Verse

"Mr. Hamilton, you are really lucky."

Seeing 21 points, the two Mr. Fulan threw their hands on the table together. Although no one busted their cards, no one had 21 points.

Therefore, after the first two rounds, Shade led by 4 points, but Eric Foran and Charles Foran had 3 points and 2 points respectively, so Shade was not a sure winner.

The cards in the third round were drawn quickly, and since it was the last round, everyone was very focused. Shade looked at his first secret card, frowned slightly, and then looked at the expressions of Mr. Fulan. But they were indeed good Rhodes players, and their expressions were very calm, and they would never give Shade a chance to see their mood.

"Speaking of which, have you read the news? The newspaper said that a perverted murderer appeared in the city, and he was also a man. He used the excuse of 'looking for his younger brother' to contact other people."

Shade said again and took out the third card. He intended to test the two five-ring warlocks. Mr. Eric Foran nodded:

"Of course I've seen the news. The person we were dealing with, Baron Sally from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, specifically asked us not to leave the embassy at night. I really didn't expect Tobesk to be so dangerous."

"After all, it is a big city, and all kinds of things can happen. The number of gas explosions here last year will probably surprise you even more."

Shade said, then tapped his finger on the table:

"I think this game is over and I'm going to stop playing."

The Foran brothers, who also held three cards, also stopped trading, and Mr. Charles Foran, who wore a monocle in his left eye, also announced:

"My luck has come too, look at this card."

He revealed his third card, which was indeed a special rules card:

"Star 7, [Words of the Times·Willendale Sun]. Throw a 20-sided dice. If the number of the dice is not greater than 10, adjust this card to the number of the dice."

The "Words of the Times" series was released about 30 years ago. It is a series of decks jointly issued by the Prophet Association and the newspaper industry. The deck contains newspapers with huge circulations. Among them, the card with the king suit is [Times Letter·Threepenny Newspaper], which is the newspaper published by the Prophet Association itself.

Mr. Charles Foran took out his ivory dice, asked Shade to check it and then tossed it gently. The number was 10:

"I knew it would work."

He showed his hand. The other two cards were Sun 1 and Flower 10:

"21 o'clock!"

His brother, Mr. Eric Foran, shook his head:

"It's really unlucky. I thought I would definitely win this round."

The three cards in his hand are Flower 8, Sun 5 and Sun 7, with a total of 20 points.

"Then I'm going to activate my special effects too."

Shade said, throwing out Star 5 from three cards in his hand. This card is a common card. Then, he showed Flower 12’s [Origin·Earth]:

"Remove a star suit card from the hand, and the total points of all players are increased by 3 at the same time. My last card is Flower 6. Then, my total points are 5+12+6-5+3=21 points. As for the two..."

The Fulen brothers' total points added up to 3, and they all busted.

"Original Earth?!"

Only then did Mr. Eric Foran understand what surprised his brother when he checked the deck just now. After obtaining Shade's consent, he carefully picked up the card for inspection. On the other side, Mr. Charles Foran, with some regret, handed over his flower 3 [Shacadie's Story: Lady of the Mist] and watched Shade insert it into the deck.

Although it was regrettable, he did not feel it was a pity at all to lose the championship to "Big City Players 1853". He even thought that after returning to Willondale, he would have something to brag about with the players of the local club:

"Mr. Hamilton, you are indeed a good player at Rhodes. If you have the opportunity to go to Willendale City in the future, remember to play cards with us again. But next time, I can try to bet on something else."

"I rarely gamble."

Shade said seriously:

"But I don't mind playing cards. I wonder if there is any news about other [Original] series cards in Willondale City."

When I mentioned the city of Willondale, I naturally thought of the princess from the southern country and the young witch who was the princess' tutor.

"I don't know what they are doing now."

The two of them chatted with Brother Fulan for a while at the wine table. When everyone's wine glasses were empty, the three of them said goodbye.

Shade did not continue wandering, but returned directly to his camp.

The huge tent with two exits to the east and south was well arranged. The innermost part was a bed, with bedside tables, wardrobes, armor stands, desks, coffee tables, and dressing tables.

The maids were either watching the grooms feeding the horses outside the tent, or they were busy cleaning inside the tent. Although Shade does not live here at night, this is also his main base of activities in the next few days.

Dorothy was sitting on the edge of the bed reading a war novel called "Gunshots on the Dover River", while little Mia was standing on the bed looking around without knowing what she was reading. Tifa stood by the small stove next to the east entrance of the tent, preparing black tea. When she saw Shade coming back, she smiled and nodded to him. When Shade entered the tent, the writer also put down her book and said:

"I just heard that something happened to Earl Lewis of Kasenlik. Please stop wandering around and be careful about bumping into the killer."

As he spoke, he also laughed, and then asked:

"You seem to be in a good mood. Who are you going to play Rhodes with?"

"how do you know......"

This time it was Shade's turn to be surprised. He had just come back and didn't say anything about his itinerary.

"You are so understanding."

The blonde girl stood up:

"If I don't know you, how can I write your story? And you only have so many hobbies. Instead of playing cards, did you meet other cats and play with them for twenty minutes?"

"Meow?"

Mia turned to look at Shade again. After being picked up by Shade, Mia was still twitching her nose as if she was sniffing something.

Although Tifa suggested that Shade take a nap at noon to prepare for the afternoon game, Shade did not have the habit of napping, and he did not like to sleep anywhere other than at home.

So throughout noon, he stayed in the tent talking to Dorothy and Tifa. During this period, a police detective came to ask people here if they had seen any suspicious people half an hour ago, but they did not get any answers.

The count's assassination did not affect the afternoon game. It was not until 1:30 in the afternoon that Shade went to confirm his appearance order in the afternoon.

The afternoon event is "mounted shooting", which requires you to run enough laps around the arena within the specified time and shoot at the target in the process.

Only one group of three people can play in the arena at one time, so the schedule starts in the afternoon and continues into the evening. The afternoon sun is also dazzling, so if you can get a session after 4 o'clock, your results will be better.

But this time Shade did not have such good luck. His three-person team was the second to appear.

After confirming the order, Shade immediately returned to the camp to prepare. Tifa and Dorothy helped him check his harness and confirm his attire. They looked even more nervous than Shade.

Shade suggested:

"After I set off in a while, Tifa, you and Dorothy get ready. When I come back, we will go for a walk outside the camp."

"Do you want to familiarize yourself with the route for tomorrow's long-distance horse racing?"

The maid asked, this is also the custom of the annual competition. After all, if you familiarize yourself with the route in advance, you can at least ensure that you won't go the wrong way.

"No, no, Tifa, please help prepare snacks and tea that can be taken away. Since I have time today, when I get off the field, how about we go for an outing?"

Shade said.

"Is this an invitation?"

Miss Writer asked with a smile, Shade nodded:

"Of course, with such nice weather, let's ride horses to the countryside to relax together, then watch the sunset by the river, sit on the tablecloth and drink tea. This should be considered a good activity, right? Spring is here, since we want to rest , naturally you have to enjoy life."

Dorothy did not speak, but gently kissed the side of Shade's face in reply.

Shade then looked at Tifa again. The black-haired maid was a little hesitant:

"The mission given to me by the lady does not include going to relax with you."

"But isn't it to help Shade relax? Moreover, we do need the maid to help get some things."

Dorothy said, the smile on her face looked like Lesia:

"Miss Carina, I will forgive you."

Amid the cheers of the audience and the melodious sound of horns, the afternoon riding shooting competition officially began. The knights were nervously preparing for their respective games, and the bursts of cheers from the stadium made those who couldn't buy tickets curious about who showed off their superb skills.

There were no accidents in Shade's game. Although the sun's rays were still very strong when his group entered the field, it was not a difficulty for Shade who did not need to use his own eyes to aim.

However, Mr. Ben Seaver and Mr. Duane Wiswo in the same group did not perform very well in the afternoon due to the glare of the sun. When the three men left the competition venue on their horses with the sound of the horn, the two frustrated gentlemen wanted to ask Shade to have a drink with them, but Shade politely refused.

"Mr. Hamilton!"

As soon as Shade left the side door of the arena, people gathered outside the arena surrounded him. Among them were reporters from newspapers and supporters whom Shade didn't know. Thanks to the "bragging" in "Hamilton Detective Stories", Shade was one of the favorites in this competition.

Fortunately, Miss Carina's maids dispersed the crowd properly, allowing Shade, who had just experienced the competition, to escape as soon as possible.

"how do you feel?"

When Shade led the horse back to his own camp, Miss Writer asked curiously, and a smile appeared on her face after receiving an affirmative answer.

In fact, tomorrow morning's newspaper will publish the scores of the 36 players after the end of today's schedule. Then we will know where Xia De is currently ranked.