Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

The Prophet's Society issues no more than three sets of special series cards each year, with an uncertain number of issues in each set, but there will only be a maximum of 54 special rule cards among them, meaning there can be at most one of each card suit and number.

It's even possible that in a whole set of cards there are only two special cards, which are not sold on the market but given directly to people with special relationships with the Society.

Therefore, it's difficult to get a card from the special series, and if that card also comes with special usage rules, without luck one must have money to acquire it.

Although Baron Lavende and Baron Rwanda are wealthier than Shard, they do not have enough money to purchase the precious Roder Cards. However, they are both Roder Card experts and rely on card skills to win cards from friends and Roder card enthusiasts from out of town. This kind of event is not happening for the first time today.

The gambling match proceeds using a best of three rounds format, and Baron Lavende and Baron Rwanda must each participate at least once, while their friends can substitute for the remaining rounds.

Since there are only two participants, each side uses their own deck of cards for the competition, with Mr. Candela, a friend of Baron Lavende who works at the Prophet's Society in Tobesk City, responsible for shuffling and dealing the cards.

The first dealing is two cards each, with both sides deciding whether to stand or take more cards. A round ends when one side wins five times, scoring a point, and the first to gain two points wins and takes the opponent's bet.

The bet can be included in the card set, so after both sides present their Roder Card identification certificates to prove the authenticity of the cards, the game officially begins.

"I have used this deck for 5 years, and it has won me over 100 matches!"

Baron Lavende said, leaning on a stone table while waiting for the shuffle to proceed.

"This deck of mine has been with me to battlefields, and though you can't see the marks now, it has been stained with my blood."

Baron Rwanda clenched his fist and aggressively retorted.

Shard activated the Ring of Fate in his soul and used the Sorcery spell "Echo of Blood" to glance at Baron Rwanda's deck, then kept his face straight without showing any expression.

The atmosphere under the grape trellis reached its peak during this moment of "exchanging tough words," and both Baron Lavende and Baron Rwanda chose to play the first round. The heated ambiance also attracted participants from the nearby garden's trellis banquet, but only a few gentlemen chose to stay and watch after discovering it was a Roder card competition.

Shard was forced to stand by the stone table, but actually had no interest in this fancy gambling. After noting the rules, he paid attention to the distribution of bloodstains on Baron Rwanda's cards, but then stopped watching the game, unaffected by the tense and smiling atmosphere around him.

"What's so fun about cards?"

Shard found this world's people's interests hard to understand, attributing it to cultural differences.

So, he merely paid vague attention to the progress of the game, mostly looking around distractedly, wanting to know what major event the woman in his mind was referring to.

During the first half of the first round, as Baron Lavende began to sweat while holding his cards, Shard saw a squad of Circle Sorcerers from the True God Church appearing on an unlit side path, away from the garden's elegant gas lamps and candles. They were coming from the direction of Lake Schluch, and must have been near the lake for a while, though Shard hadn't noticed them before.

The squad only comprised six people, but Shard recognized three of them, whom he had seen before near the explosion at the silverware shop not far from the Silver Parrot Milk Delivery Company.

One was exceptionally burly, one had the demeanor of a scholar, and there was another, who, on the very afternoon Shard had arrived in this world, had handed him a Church pamphlet for claiming relief food.

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"This is a Circle Sorcerer from the 'Church of War and Peace' of the 'Father of Peace', the True God."

Shard shifted his gaze away from the group to prevent them from noticing him. Although the Circle Sorcerers also noticed the gathering under the grape arbor, they did not approach but took an inconspicuous garden path toward the front courtyard of the manor.

"Now there are two squads of Circle Sorcerers here, probably from different churches... what exactly is going to happen?"n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

He pondered to himself, then jumped at the exclamations from the men by his side, as it turned out that Baron Rwanda had drawn that special "Ancient Fairy Tale: Matchstick Girl" card.

The parties who had come to compete in the Roder card game, of course, both brought dice, and although Baron Rwanda had rolled a 13 on his first try, meaning he couldn't use special rules, this still excited the onlookers, with the not-so-tall baron himself feeling quite proud.

This was something Shard couldn't understand, after all, he had not activated any rules.

Baron Rwanda carried this "good luck" into the first round, securing five victories first and defeating Baron Lavende. The latter, pursing his lips, looked quite upset, but still managed a forced smile and complimented the other's card skills as he stood up, his comical expression adding even more gaiety under the grape arbor.

Although Baron Rwanda had won, he chose not to continue playing himself but asked his friend, Mr. Sic, a local flour mill owner, to enter the competition. Similarly, Baron Lavende brought in his friend, Sir Solar, a landscape artist who had managed the gardens at Cold Spring Palace.

These were their real friends, who had appeared many times before, not hired friends like Shard.

The game started again, and Baron Lavende, having already lost a round, was extremely tense. The garden landscape artist, on the other hand, was very relaxed, even casually holding a toothpick, twirling his mustache with his fingers, and explaining that he was trying to quit smoking.

By now, the night had fully fallen, and the three-round moon hung high in the sky. The light under the grape arbor came primarily from the elegant gas lamps in the garden and the candlesticks fixed atop the tables by the people.

The Roder card competitors under the warm yellow glow squinted at their hands, while the onlookers eagerly anticipated each reveal.

Only the bored Shard was not attracted by the card game; he gazed at the purple-red grapes hanging from the grape arbor above and wondered if the owner of Lakeside Manor would mind guests unilaterally taking away some of these plump fruits.

"Come to think of it, can cats eat grapes?"

Shard's thoughts drifted quickly, but his main focus remained on observing if there were any oddities nearby.

As his eyes wandered, he saw two middle-aged gentlemen in black formal wear, holding glasses of wine as they passed by the garden path next to the grape arbor. They were discussing a topic on mental health, roughly whether striking the back of someone's head with sanctified silverware could treat more serious mental disorders.

Shard saw Dr. Schneider, who, also holding a glass of wine, occasionally glanced towards the people under the grape arbor during breaks in his casual conversation with a friend and caught sight of the youngest detective among the group.