Shade had also slipped into the crowd. After Mr. Olsenford defeated his third opponent with a splendid twenty-one, he raised his hand and said:
"I think I can be the next challenger."
"Oh, Mr. Watson."
Earl Granger still remembered Shade and greeted him with a smile. Seeing that the Earl knew this stranger, the others made room for Shade to sit on the short sofa opposite Mr. Olsenford. The Earl quietly introduced Shade's identity to the Prince. William Anjou gave Shade a somewhat surprised look, while Shade took out his deck and displayed it to the people around him:
"Everyone, I'm from out of town. It's an honor to play cards with Mr. Olsenford, but my deck has no special cards."
He even intended to let his opponent inspect it, but the middle-aged man waved his hand and refused:
"Mr. Watson, you seem to be from the Northern Kingdom?"
"Yes. I was born in Delarion and am currently a novelist traveling through the Old Continent."
He introduced himself, then determined that there was no Elemental Reaction on the other man—at least, none that he could currently sense:
"Then let's begin. How about I roll the die?"
As he spoke, he tossed the die. It landed on three, meaning they could draw at most three cards.
Since this was a quick match decided in a single round, although Mr. Olsenford seemed quite interested in Shade, neither of them said anything more.
After shuffling, they each drew their first face-down card. Shade lifted his card and took a look. Stars 7. In a match where only three cards could be drawn at most, that was quite a delicate number.
Like Shade, Mr. Olsenford lowered his head and lifted his card for a glance. The corners of his mouth curved upward, and his