"A bust draw?"
The temperature in the cabin kept dropping. The damp air felt as though its moisture could condense at any moment. Though Shade was tormented by hunger, the moment he heard they were playing cards, he immediately perked up.
"A draw counts as your win. Besides, I respect the special rules of Rhodes Cards, and my deck has no special cards. I'm a very fair person."
Shade nodded and placed his own deck facedown on the table. Imitating the other man, he reached out and tugged at it, causing the cards to scatter into a mess.
He froze for a moment, then gathered the deck with both hands before carefully spreading the entire set into an even arc.
"Let's not waste time. I've been looking forward to seeing your cards."
As the Captain spoke, he reached toward the deck, and nine cards automatically slid out from the fanned pile. He casually arranged them into three groups of three, then flipped them over together.
"First set, 21 points."
The first three cards were Flower 3, Sun 10, and Moon 8.
"Second set, 21 points."
The middle three were Moon 7, Flower 7, and Stars 7.
"Third set, 21 points."
The final three were Stars 9, Moon 6, and Sun 6.
The nine cards lay faceup on the table. On their nine different card faces, evil spirit monsters wriggled as though they truly existed within the flat cards.
The Captain flipped the cards very quickly, but he spoke even faster. He announced the results before revealing the cards, meaning he knew the outcome without even looking.
In fact, there was no need for that at all. He had "printed" that deck right in front of Shade. "As long as you aren't caught cheating, it isn't cheating." The captain had said