Chapter 2349: The Parsifal Club Card Game

Chapter 2349: Chapter 2349: The Parsifal Club Card Game

"By rights, only those who registered here beforehand can come, but who can resist your handsome young friend? The girls here all favor such men. You may participate, but you still have to pay the registration fee.

A participant can bring two friends into the venue, and the registration fee is 20 Crowns, which I know is quite steep. However, I keep only 20% of the total registration fees as a commission, and the remaining 80% is distributed among the four semifinalists in a 1:2:2.5:2.5 ratio. Of course, the champion can also earn that rare Roder Card as a reward. Once you win, it’s much more than just 20 Crowns."

The 20 Crowns registration fee, converted at the current exchange rate, amounts to nearly 250 pounds, making it quite a significant fee.

"What card?"

Shard asked, to which Mrs. Frei leaned forward slightly and whispered in Shard’s ear:

"[Ancient Alchemy: Dragon Transformation Stone]."

Shard was taken aback:

"Isn’t that..."

One of the three expensive Roder Cards scattered in Moon Bay after the merchant’s death, as rumored.

Mrs. Frei nodded slightly, with a hint of pride:

"I’ve always had information about this card, but since none of you were willing to buy it, I secured it myself. So, how about it? This card is worth the gamble of spending 20 Crowns, isn’t it?"

It certainly was, since the "Ancient Alchemy" series is one of the oldest Roder Card series, featuring the famously renowned [Ancient Alchemy: Philosopher’s Stone], [Ancient Alchemy: Serpentine Elixir], [Ancient Alchemy: Elixir of Immortality], and [Ancient Alchemy: Universal Solvent]. Each time they have appeared in modern auctions, they have been sold for at least 600 pounds, which is ten times the price of a normal special rule Roder Card.

"Where did you get this card from?"

Shard inquired with curiosity, partly wanting to know the clues to the last of the three cards and partly remembering that the death of an MI6 infiltrator was related to this.

Mrs. Frei chuckled:

"If you win, I can certainly tell you, but did you bring enough money?"

Thanks to Marquis Mosen this morning, who sponsored the trio with ample operational funds.

In any case, after quite some effort, the trio successfully entered the Parsifal Club and quickly found the captain organizing his Roder Card deck by the table.

Compared to the towering Vampire Kind and his large hands, Roder Cards seemed like small pieces of paper. Surprised to see Shard and the others appear, the Vampire Captain remarked:

"What do you want to say to me, chasing me all the way here... Wait, don’t tell me you even paid the 20 Crowns ticket fee?"

"It’s alright, we didn’t pay for it ourselves."

Mr. Benhart said, seating himself in the chair opposite the captain, while Shard and Mr. Albert stood behind him:

"We want to talk to you about the ’threatening letter.’ In fact, we already went to look for it this morning..."

"Can it wait a bit?"

The captain, still arranging his deck, said:

"I need to concentrate on preparing for the upcoming game. The 20 Crowns cost isn’t cheap. Can we discuss this afterward? You see, even if I make it to the finals, you’d only have to wait two hours. If my luck is bad, you won’t even have to wait that long."

"This concerns your life safety."

Shard warned.

"Life safety? I’m a seafaring man; there’s always danger to life. However, as long as the cargo’s value is high enough, then everything is worth it. Without this understanding, I wouldn’t have made it till today. Now, the value of these Roder Cards is indeed high."

Captain Rudolf said, while Mr. Benhart wanted to speak but he declined the dialogue.

So, Mr. Albert made the final offer:

"Then may we accompany you?"

"Worried I’ll run off after playing cards? Ptolemy, am I that kind of person? Okay, okay, following me is fine, but you can’t stand behind me when I’m playing against your friend here. I lost to him arm wrestling last time, and I’ve been itching to recover my dignity ever since."

All those who came to this card game were either friends of Mrs. Frei or regulars at the Parsifal Club. The Captain was one of the friends, not a regular. Among the confident card players, Shard even saw Freeman Hawthorne, whom he had ambushed twice before.

However, Freeman Hawthorne was busy chatting with other acquaintances and didn’t notice Shard. Even if he did see him, he wouldn’t recognize him, so Shard didn’t pay much attention to him either.

Including Shard, there were 15 players who paid the entry fee. Since it wasn’t an even number, Mrs. Frei herself decided to join the tournament to make it 16. No one minded, as this resourceful lady would certainly not let herself reach the finals.

This meant the entry fees totaled 300 Crowns. Even if Mrs. Frei only took a 20% cut, she would net approximately 750 pounds.

Though she would make a small profit on paper, accounting for the lost business revenue at the Parsifal Club, it was a loss. However, maintaining her relationships with these important guests and friends, there might be other motives as the local information broker. Overall, this event was definitely worthwhile.

This official Roder card tournament naturally invited staff from the local Prophet’s Society as referees. After the three of them entered the venue, the tournament began promptly.

people would go through four rounds of card games, each round played in three small games. Each small game was point-based, where the first to earn three points wins the small game, and the first to win two small games wins the round to advance to the next. Including breaks, it should take about two hours.

Mr. Albert followed the Captain, while Mr. Benhart stayed with Shard. In the first round, Shard didn’t meet anyone familiar, but the businessman Mr. Stanford he played against had quite poor card skills, even making mistakes while counting points. So it was no surprise that Shard won this match.

In the second round, Shard’s opponent was the local nobleman Baron Rayman, whom he had met at Margaret’s party last week. The baron wasn’t bad at card playing and even had decent luck. Among the two Special Cards in his deck, he drew one before the match ended.

But Shard’s luck was even better. When the second small game between Shard and Baron Rayman ended, the latter looked at the "Empress" card in Shard’s hand, rubbed his chin for a long time before saying:

"So you stopped at the second card, not because your points were high enough, but because the Empress card forced a stop?"

Freeman Hawthorne was eliminated in the second round, and among the other three entering the third round, Shard surprisingly knew two. The tall Vampire Captain looked very happy, and as for Mrs. Frei, she laughed and said her luck was quite good, also promising not to take the prize money, instead giving it as a bonus to the girls who played with the guests today.

Shard’s opponent in the third round was Mrs. Frei, while Captain Rudolf played against another fat baron Shard didn’t know.

When Shard placed his deck with no Special Cards at hand, he tried to read Mrs. Frei’s expression, but the skilled woman revealed nothing. She instead said to Shard:

"I didn’t expect you to be so good at Roder Cards. Last time I asked the ’Boatman’ about you, he only said you were good at dealing with ladies. But I’m curious why your deck doesn’t have any Special Cards."

"I have many ladies around me. To maintain my wealthy persona, I usually sell any Special Cards I acquire. When I was in the Northern Country, I even sold a Special Card to Rejed’s Hamilton, the 1853 Big City Player’s champion."

Mr. Benhart behind Shard stifled a laugh, while Mrs. Frei squinted and smiled:

"You’ve met that Knight? I heard he’s quite handsome, too, winning the heart of the beautiful Duchess of the Northern Country just with his appearance. I’d love to meet him and see what kind of face can capture such a noble lady’s heart."

Mrs. Frei’s card-playing style was different from anyone Shard had played against. She didn’t seem to care about winning or losing, and no matter her hand or how many points she displayed, she always wore a smile, making it impossible for Shard to deduce her hidden cards from her expression.

But Mrs. Frei’s card skills were somewhat average. She constantly chatted with Shard about the culture and recent happenings in Moon Bay, such as Margaret’s disaster relief speech at Moon Bay City Hall on Tuesday morning, and the support for manpower and resources coming from Velindale to help Moon Bay through the turmoil.

Even when she lost to Shard in the end, she showed no regret. Wishing Shard luck in winning the [Ancient Alchemy: Dragonstone], she stood up and left her seat.

Shard stood up with his teacup and saw that Captain Rudolf and Viscount Gla’s game was still wrapping up, while Mr. Benhart whispered to Shard:

"This Mrs. Frei seems quite unusual."

"She’s the local head intelligence figure. Rumor has it she’s backed by either Edington, Hawthorn, or Belindel, the Upper Three Families of the Seven Great Families... definitely not Belindel, and judging by her methods, not Hawthorn either; if Freeman Hawthorne got in trouble here, she wouldn’t... Most likely Edington."

Mr. Benhart nodded, watching Mrs. Frei’s back:

"Moon Bay City sure is complicated."

Finally, Captain Rudolf, relying on luck, defeated his opponent and also reached the finals. The finals were held in the main hall on the first floor of the Parsifal Club. None of the players who had lost left; they all wanted to witness who would win.

A professional card table was set up in the center of the hall, quickly surrounded by players and the club’s girls.

Besides their decks, each had only a teacup beside them on the table. As Shard and Captain Rudolf sat down and shook hands at the table, the robust Vampire Kind laughed and said:

"I said after drinking last time that the next time we meet, I must play Roder Cards with you."