The final match used a fairly traditional best-of-three format. In each round, a win earned 2 points, a draw gave each side 1 point, and a loss earned 0. The first to accumulate 10 points won the round.
Moreover, there would be a ten-minute break after each round. However, the players were not allowed to leave this floor during the break, to prevent cheating by other means.
The first round went quickly. It was not only Shade—even Tifa could see that Mr. Virgil Cameron was clearly distracted. The most obvious instance came during the third hand of the first round. After Mr. Cameron's second card had earned a Queen, he actually still asked for another card. Though he awkwardly apologized after being reminded, it still prompted quiet discussion among the spectators.
If I didn't know I was innocent, I'd suspect I drugged him.
Shade murmured to himself, though he knew perfectly well that the man was probably thinking about meeting with the "Gray-headed Eagle."
I didn't make contact with him beforehand, and that left him distracted during the game. I wonder if that counts as cheating outside the match.
With Mr. Cameron so distracted, Shade easily won the first round 10 to 4. Yet this sort of victory did not bring him much satisfaction.
Mr. Cameron seemed entirely unconcerned with winning or losing. As soon as Chairman Stan, acting as referee, announced the end of the first round and the start of the ten-minute break, he stood up. In a suitably audible voice, he told the female companion behind him that he was going to the washroom, then hurried out of the competition auditorium.
Before leaving, he had clearly glanced at Shade. The meaning was undoubtedly for Shade to follow him.
Shade's first instinct had been to avoid getting involved