No one spoke to Shade, so he wandered around the caravans by himself. Nearly everyone was busy with their own work. Everything here was normal, very normal—but it was precisely that normalcy that made Shade feel something was wrong.
Pretending to be interested in the circus's souvenirs, he stopped in front of a stall. Most of the souvenirs they sold were cheap items purchased locally during the circus's tours across the Old Continent, then marked up and resold in the next city. Shade even spotted an anchor pendant from Coldwater Port, a maple-leaf bookmark from Middlesburg, an empty wine bottle bearing the label of a famous Huntington winery, and an ugly stone ornament from Randall River Valley.
He had originally wondered whether the circus had accidentally acquired some relic that was causing subtle incidents, but soon his attention was drawn to a stall selling all sorts of Rhodes Cards.
It sold not only ordinary complete decks, but also wooden card cases sold by Seer Association branches across the Old Continent. Since card cases from different branches differed in design and engraved emblems, there were indeed collectors who liked such things.
Besides ordinary decks and card cases, the stall even had more than a dozen Rhodes Cards with special card faces. Though these cards were not as expensive as Special Rule Cards, they were still things card players could proudly show off.
Shade paused to inspect them. Though he had not intended to buy anything, one card caught his eye. Its illustration showed "a cat looking up beneath a tree."
It was Moon 10, the same suit as the "Founding" he was searching for. Even if he found "Founding" in the future, he could still put this cat card into a backup deck.
"Pet Series Desert Cat."
Shade said the card's