"Great City Player? Oh, right, there are betting pools outside the venue too. Hmm. Come to think of it, do we already know the contestants' circumstances?"
Shade asked absentmindedly, always feeling as though someone were watching him from behind. Of course, it was entirely an illusion. The two professors had chosen seats in the corner and were talking quietly, paying no attention at all to the "stranger" facing away from them.
Shade cautiously took a sip of the strange drink in his cup.
"Not yet, but I heard that this time, there's actually a holder of a Founding Series Rhodes Card."
"Cough, cough~"
Shade coughed, waving to show that he was fine.
"That's quite good. The newspapers should record information about those key matches."
He spoke quietly, trying to make himself as inconspicuous as possible, intending to get up and leave after a while. Otherwise, if he left right after the professors entered, it would look very strange.
"I have no chance of going to Tobesk City. Even if I did, I couldn't get tickets to watch the Great City Players playing cards in person. When the Great City Player Rhodes Cards Tournament was held in Coldwater Port twenty-one years ago, the ticket price was equivalent to several months of my salary. It'll only be more expensive now."
The bartender shook his head rather regretfully, then jerked his head toward Aurora Manor. As he wiped a glass, he said:
"Sometimes, I really envy rich people. Do you know how many Gold Pounds that manor was sold for twenty years ago?"
"How much? You even know that?"
Shade asked in surprise.
"This amount. I was already working at this tavern twenty years ago. I heard it from the owner here at the time."
The bartender dipped his finger in water and