Even the loyal Witch Apprentice couldn't help but look at his teacher when faced with this temptation.
Miss Winslet has been paying attention to the conversation between the two. Although she doesn't play cards very much, she also knows the famous name of "Founding Series". She is very considerate of her apprentice:
"Charlotte, then you can play a game with Shade. If you win, you can temporarily help him keep this card. If you lose, I will give some other prizes to 'Legendary Player'. You can add one more oil painting to the oil painting originally promised to him."
"No, miss, how can I ask you to help me bet? Please let me use my special cards to bet!"
Miss Bell said immediately, his tone of voice was full of anger, and there was no gentleness at all.
Miss Winslet pretends to be angry:
"Is my oil painting not as valuable as your playing cards? Charlotte, I make the decision here, not your cards."
Then she looked at Miss Danist:
"Just think of it as tonight's entertainment. Do you want to guess who can win?"
The red-haired girl smiled and shook her head, because there was no need to guess at all.
The card game was played on the sofa. Shade and Miss Bell sat on the short sofas at both ends of the coffee table, and the other two ladies sat on the long sofa to act as referees.
The game adopts the most classic points system, with a total of three rounds. The winning score is 1 point, the loss is 0 points, and the busted card is -1 point. This requires that the cards should not be blown as much as possible during the game.
When the two were exchanging decks and shuffling the cards, Shade also declared in advance:
"I currently have 38 Special Rule Card in my deck. If you think this is unfair, I can take out some of the special cards and keep only Founding Series."
Since there were more than thirty Special Rule Card cards in the deck, even in Tobesk's spare time, Shade has never used a "full" deck to play cards with others.
And Miss Bell looked down at the deck of cards in Shade's hand and was startled for a moment, then quickly shook his head and "snatched" the deck from Shade's hand:
"Keep all the special cards, I want to give it a try. There are a total of six special cards in my deck including [Race Legend·Elf]."
After both parties shuffled the cards, the game officially began. Both of them fanned out their decks on the coffee table, and then each took out their first two cards.
"Speaking of which, Galina, what do you think about your playing cards?"
Witches on the side asked Shade curiously.
"I don't smoke or drink. My usual hobbies are just raising cats and playing cards occasionally. She doesn't have any objections. Galina often says that my life is too monotonous, but I really don't like other things."
Shade looked at the bright card in his hand——
[[Phantom Opera House·Silent Audience]], color: Moon 12. If when this card is drawn, the previous card is also of the Moon suit, then all players except yourself are forced to stop playing in this round.
He showed the card to the girl across the table, then inserted the card into the gap between the first hidden card and the coffee table.
"Don't you like operas and concerts? Or horse racing, salons, and banquets? Look at your face and perfect figure. Even if Tobesk's aristocratic girls knew that you were Galina's lover, they would definitely have stuffed you with notes. Oh, you have received handkerchiefs or underwear at banquets."
That Witches said teasingly, and then was patted by the red-haired girl.
"Rather than having a party, I prefer reading at home in the evening."
Shade said, opening his first hidden card and showing the man in black robe facing the bubble card in the boundless Star Sea:
"Sorry, [Founding·Space], color: Moon 10.
After drawing this card and before the suspension period, you can choose whether to activate only one effect: toss a coin. If it is heads, the opponent will discard the first card and the last card at the time and draw a new card; if it is tails, exchange your first card with any non-Moon suit card displayed by the opponent. "
Miss Bell covered his mouth. Black-haired Girl looked at the card with his eyes wide open, with an inexplicable flush on his face:
"This is so"
"Shade, 12+10=22, you busted."
The red-haired girl reminded, Shade smiled and nodded:
"But aren't there still rules that can be activated? I choose to activate the effect of [Founding·Space]."
He looked at Miss Charlotte Bell's Hand Cards opposite. The hidden card had not yet been shown, and the open card was the common card Sun 9.
So he dug out a coin from his pocket, tossed it casually, caught it, and then showed the result that the coin turned up on its back.
"Swap my first card with Miss Bell for Sun 9."
He handed over the cards, and the girl, whose right hand was trembling, took [Founding·Space] and handed over her own Sun 9.
"My current point is 9+12=21, suspension. Miss Bell, according to the rules of [[Phantom Opera House·Silent Audience]], you must also suspend trading now. What is your point?"
"I lost."
She showed the hidden card with the suit "Stars 7", her eyes still staring at the [Founding·Space] that Shade exchanged for her.
Miss Winslet on the side shook his head, as if regretting that the first round ended so quickly:
"Shade, you said you only like to read at night? Is this because your teacher is present, so you want to express yourself?"
"Shade is indeed very diligent."
The red-haired girl sitting next to her helped Shade defend herself:
"Shade is an outstanding student of the Academy. At the end of last year, he also won the 'Feliana Medal' from the Academy. He is not only very talented but also very hardworking. I know this better than anyone else."
Miss Winslet held the tea cup and turned slightly to look at her:
"So you conclude that your student is a kind of ascetic?"
Originally Miss Danist wanted to nod, but thinking about Shade's complicated love life, he had to admit:
"The only difference between him and the ascetic is that he has almost no resistance to beautiful girls."
Miss Winslet thought she was talking about Cavendish, but actually she was talking about Cavendishs.
At the beginning of the second round, Shade and Miss Bell drew cards again. Of course, [Founding·Space] is still with Miss Bell at this time, and she wants to wait until the game is over before returning it to Shade.
The open card of Shade is the ordinary card "Stars 2". After a glance, the hidden card is also the star suit:
[Great City Player·Year 1853 Tobesk Champion], suit and color: Stars 12. When you draw this card, you have the right to view a hidden card that your opponent has not revealed.
Shade thought for a while and showed this card:
"I am now at 12+2=14 points."
Miss Bell once again stared at the "championship card" with wide eyes, and then also showed his two Hand Cards:
"Sun 13 and Flower 6, at 19 o'clock, I will suspend trading."
"Then do you want to continue drawing cards?"
Witches, holding a tea cup, asked Shade, and Shade nodded of course:
"Continue to draw cards, I am still very adventurous [Founding·Knowledge], suit: Flower 1."
He showed his third card, which had extremely complicated rules:
"The effect is activated according to the number of Hand Cards when this card was drawn. This is the third card, so effect 3 is activated: You can choose whether to force the opponent's total points to be reduced by 3. I choose yes. My total points are now 12+2+1=15 points."
Miss Bell looked at the card, took it into his hand and watched it carefully for a moment after getting permission:
"I'm now at 19-3=16 points."
"You are still in the suspension stage, I choose to continue drawing cards."
After saying that, he went to get the next card, opened it and laughed:
"[Life Ritual · Wedding], suit: Flower 5. Throw out two 20-sided Dice. If the difference in numbers is less than or equal to 2, you can adjust the card points between 4 and 5.
I don't have to throw the dice. After all, no matter what result I throw, I win. It's just the difference between 19 points and 20 points. "
Miss Bell pursed his lips and nodded, then looked at the two "Founding Series" in his hand:
"In this way, your score reaches two points. In the next game, unless you start with a busted card - 1 point, and I start with a 1 point if you don't bust a card, I will lose anyway."
"So there are too many special cards in the deck. Even if the special rules of most cards are triggered harshly, it will still make the game very boring."
Shade said and went to touch the cards again, but unexpectedly the Witch Apprentice looked at him seriously and shook his head:
"It's not boring at all, Mr. Hamilton, it's the most interesting poker game I've ever played.
For ordinary players like us, it is a dream to be able to play even one Founding Series game with you, let alone play against your prosperous deck.
It's boring for you, but for me, it's as exciting as every sparring session with the lady - I'm really sorry that I couldn't let you use your full strength. "
Shade believed that his expression must be very strange at this moment, because both Miss Winslet and Miss Danist covered their mouths and chuckled.
"This apology is unnecessary."
With that, the third round officially began. When he saw the bright card [Origin · Silver Moon] in his hand and the lady sitting on the high stool holding Moon on the card, he couldn't help but smile, and then shook his head with some nostalgia:
"Look at this, this is the first Special Rule Card I got. It's simple and practical, and the numbers can be adjusted within the range of 1 to 5."
Then he was about to reveal his secret card, but was stopped by the girl opposite:
"Sorry, please look at this!"
She smiled reservedly and showed her Hand Cards to Shade. On the card was the next looming figure of Clock Tower in the thick fog:
"[Urban Legend · Killer in the Mist], suit: Moon 11. When this card is drawn, if this card is the second card and all players have not checked the first hidden card, all players will not be able to check their first hidden card before announcing their suspension, and all players must draw the third card."
"I have a [Urban Legend · Non-Existent Street] of Moon 4. Is your card a luck card?"
Shade understood:
"This card itself has 11 points. If you don't know the first card, the possibility of drawing the third card to blow it up is not small."
PS: Picture of this chapter "Race Legend·Elf"
The author is very satisfied with this picture.