After leaving Wilde Opera House, Shade braved the snow once more, carrying his suitcase to the local Seer Association. Though heavy snow drifted through the freezing air, it could not dampen people's enthusiasm for Rhodes Cards.
Countless carriages were parked in the square outside the Seer Association. The stairways on both sides of the fountain statue at the entrance were equally crowded. Shade had wondered what occasion it was, but after meeting Luvia, he learned that a brand-new Rhodes Cards deck, the "Phantom Opera House Series," was being released simultaneously across the entire Old Continent today.
The so-called "Phantom Opera House" was not a real opera house, but a fictional term representing opera houses in general. This deck was not a reprint, but an entirely new series. Among all the cards released were over a thousand cards with special artwork, along with a total of fifty-two Special Rule Cards. In other words, every suit and number apart from king and Queen corresponded to a Special Rule Card.
A superstition circulated among Rhodes Cards players that buying cards on the first day of release gave one a better chance of drawing Special Rule Cards. That was why, despite the snowstorm, so many people had come to the Seer Association for the event. The local association was holding a regional tournament, and the top three winners could receive ten, five, and three boxes of the new cards for free.
"You're actually not tempted by this?"
Randall River Valley City's Seer Association occupied more land and had more rooms, so Luvia casually found an empty room to speak with Shade. She did not work as a diviner here, so Shade could not ask her for a reading.
"When have you ever seen me voluntarily buy newly released cards?"
Shade said with a smile: