Rhodes Cards

"If this job went smoothly, maybe I could really try staying here as a detective. Once my life was stable, I could make contact with the supernatural and see whether I could find hope of returning home."

During the idle hours spent watching the entrance to The Club, the Outlander thought of his distant homeland. Shade could not help but sigh.

After estimating the time again, he concluded that since Mr. Lawrence had also entered The Club, the two of them could not possibly come out within an hour.

"They have things to do. Should I find somewhere to rest?"

As he thought this, his eyes swept over the surroundings, and he soon spotted a tavern called the Screaming Hound at the street corner.

Taverns located on main roads and open during the day were usually not especially chaotic, particularly when it was only two in the afternoon. Shade squeezed the ten-pence note in his pocket, licked his somewhat cracked lips, confirmed the time, hesitated for a moment, then walked over.

Pushing open the tavern door, the first thing he saw was a row of gas lamps on the walls, illuminating the somewhat dim interior. The air was filled with a mixture of alcohol fumes and fermenting food, making the still-hungry Shade somewhat uncomfortable.

Shade now knew that the lighting fixtures used in this era were all gas lamps. Besides gas pipes, steam pipes generally climbed along the walls as well. The gas pipes were the thinner ones, while the steam pipes were wrapped in insulating layers.

The tavern's round wooden tables were all empty. There were not many people at the moment, only three customers seated around a wooden table against the wall, far from the bar, gambling with cards. A landscape oil painting of a Snow Mountain hung on the wall beside them.

They were three men who did not seem well-off. Though their clothes had no patches, their dark garments had been washed until they had faded white. The hats placed on the table had clearly been used for a long time as well, wrinkled and piled together.

Perhaps they simply wanted to rest during this leisurely summer afternoon. Shade did not disturb them and walked toward the bar where the bartender stood, intending to buy only a glass of iced water. Then he heard one of the card players cheer.

"I won again this time!"

The Bearded Man, a middle-aged man with messy hair, stood up and smugly threw the cards in his hand onto the table.

"Look, exactly twenty-one."

He spoke as he proudly looked around, but unfortunately, there was no one here besides himself and his friends. When he noticed Shade, who had just entered, his eyes lit up.

"Buy this gentleman a glass of Rye Wine!"

The man who had won at cards but was not wealthy said to the bartender. Shade turned to look at him in surprise, then paused before giving a slight nod of thanks.

"Thank you for the kindness, but I think a glass of iced water will be enough."

He was not good at drinking, nor did he know how strong this so-called Rye Wine was. Besides, he was still carrying out detective work, so there was no need to touch alcohol.

Clearly, a glass of water cost far less than a glass of wine. The three men assumed Shade was trying to save them money and immediately took a liking to him. Seeing that he had no companions, they invited him to play cards with them.

But Shade did not know how, so he could only watch from the side while they played. The men enthusiastically taught him the techniques of Rhodes Cards.

The cards in this world were very similar to the poker cards from his previous life. There were likewise four suits and fifty-four cards in total, except the four suits were Sun, Moon, Stars, and Flowers.

The most common way to play followed rules similar to twenty-one and was called Rhodes Cards. There were also rules like solitaire, Old Maid, and comparing card values, but Rhodes Cards was popular throughout the world. It was said that the inventor of this game was named Rod.

Cards were generally made with an illustration on the front, with the suit and number marked in the upper-left and upper-right corners. Therefore, special series of cards issued in certain eras with special artwork were particularly valuable.

The latest special series of Rhodes Cards had only one thousand sets issued. It was called the Fairy Tale Series.

The three card-playing men were not wealthy and did not know much about these special series of Rhodes Cards. They could only offer a rough explanation.

They only knew that some nobles obsessively pursued those rare cards. In particular, some cards not only had special artwork, but even contained special game rules.

Those cards were worth a fortune. There were rumors that Biford Auction House had sold a special card for twelve thousand pounds last year.

Shade quietly converted the prices in his head and thought of the Sun 3 tucked inside his diary. He did not feel like laughing. Instead, he deeply suspected whether the card he had inherited was genuine.

But if the card depicting a woman sitting sideways and raising a Silver Moon was authentic, then his last remaining worry about his future life would disappear.

After chatting with the three card-playing men in the tavern for an hour, Shade got up and bid them farewell. When he returned to the entrance of the newspaper office, the spot beside the mailbox was occupied by a young man in a brown vest and glasses.

He was probably a real reporter, so the young detective moved to stand beside the black iron lamppost.

The lamppost was generally cylindrical and also used gas as its energy source. Shade had been standing beside it leisurely when his eyes accidentally caught sight of the nameplate. The plaque clearly stated that smoking beneath the lamppost was strictly forbidden, and that any Consequences would be borne by the smoker.

Shade imagined what might happen and instinctively moved away from that dangerous place.

The sun gradually slanted westward, while Shade waited patiently. After the hunger reached its limit and vanished during the afternoon, his body clearly felt much better. He planned to leave for the Church of War and Peace's cathedral to collect relief food at around five if Lassoya still did not appear.

He could also take the opportunity to see what the Church in this world was really like and confirm whether it possessed supernatural power.

"But there's that voice in my head. Won't I be taken away the moment I enter? And there's also the secret of the Outsiders."

He was worried about that as well, but without knowing anything, Shade actually had very few choices available to him.

Perhaps noticing that Shade had thought of her again, the woman's voice sounded in his mind once more.

Observe his ring.

This sentence had appeared at noon, except the pronoun had been female then, while this time it was male.

Shade immediately raised his head and looked toward the entrance of The Club. Sure enough, he saw a young man carrying a Suitcase walk out. On a finger of his right hand was the white Pebble Ring he had seen on Lassoya's finger at noon.

Its design was far too distinctive, so Shade was certain he had not mistaken it.

Both of them wore the ring on the middle finger of their right hand, yet the voice in his mind gave no further hint.

How interesting. Why had the owner of the ring changed?

Shade thought this as he watched the ring-wearing man leave The Club. Rather than look for an empty carriage, he blended into the evening crowd and followed behind a hurried fat man carrying a briefcase, walking east along the street.

Steam City's fog blurred his figure. If Shade did not pursue him, he would soon lose track of the man.

Should I follow him? That voice in my head definitely isn't speaking nonsense just because it has nothing better to do.

As he thought this, he turned away from the entrance of The Club, unfolded one-eighth of the map tucked in his notebook, and searched for the direction of the Church of War and Peace's cathedral. The church distributing relief food was east of his current location, and it was already very close to five o'clock.