"Would anyone like to be the dealer?"
Once both sides had taken their seats and the onlookers gradually lowered their voices, Mrs. Sangmei called out.
Then an elderly gentleman raised his hand from the back of the crowd.
"How about me?"
He squeezed to the front and introduced himself. He was also a regular at the Three Cats Inn and the owner of a nearby antique shop.
"So, what rules are we playing by? Best two out of three under the basic rules? Draw the whole deck and compare victory points? Or do you have something else in mind?"
Shade asked. Supporting the deck in his left hand, he pulled upward with his right, making all fifty-four cards oscillate between his hands before smoothly shuffling them with a loud flutter. This sparked an enthusiastic round of discussion among the crowd.
Thanks to the thaumaturgic power of the Cherished Item, he could now easily perform shuffling techniques that could only be seen in films from his hometown. It made him look even more professional, and the maid behind him raised an eyebrow, likely wondering whether Shade was actually a gambler.
"Since we're playing against a new opponent, why don't we try something new?"
Mrs. Sangmei was shuffling as well, and her technique was equally practiced. She then took a die from her pocket and tossed it onto the table. It was a six-sided metal die. Her lively eyes looked at the opponent across the table.
"Detective, since you've brought a companion too, how about this? You and I each choose a representative. Before each round, they roll the die once. Add the two results together and divide by two—that will be the number of cards we draw that round, rounded down if it's odd. Best two out of three is too