Chapter 8: The Rhode Card

“If this business goes smoothly, perhaps I really can try to stay here as a detective. Once life is stable, I’ll approach the extraordinary and see if I can find any hope of returning home.”

While idling away the time monitoring the club entrance, the outlander thought of his distant homeland, and Shale couldn't help but sigh.

He estimated the time again. Since Mr. Lawrence had also entered the club, it was impossible for the two of them to come out within an hour.

“They have things to do, should I find a place to rest?”

He thought to himself, his eyes scanning the surroundings, and he successfully spotted a tavern named “The Screaming Hound” at the street corner.

Taverns that opened on main roads and operated during the day were usually not too rowdy, especially since it was only two o'clock in the afternoon. Shale pinched the ten-penny note in his pocket, licked his slightly chapped lips, confirmed the time, and after a moment of hesitation, walked over.

Pushing open the tavern door, the first thing he saw was a row of gas lamps on the wall, illuminating the somewhat dim interior. The air was filled with a mixture of alcohol and fermenting food, which made him, still hungry, feel a bit uncomfortable.

Shale now knew that the lamps used in this era were all gas lamps. Besides gas pipes, there were generally steam pipes climbing along the walls; the gas pipes were the thinner ones, while the steam pipes were wrapped in insulation.

The round wooden tables in the tavern were empty. There were few people, only three customers sitting around a wooden table against the wall, far from the bar, playing cards. An oil painting of a snowy mountain hung on the wall beside them.

They were three men who didn't look very wealthy. Although there were no patches on their clothes, their dark garments were washed to a faded grey, and the hats placed on the table were clearly well-worn, crumpled together.

Perhaps they were just looking to relax on this leisurely summer afternoon. Shale didn't disturb them and walked toward the bar where the bartender stood, intending to buy only a glass of ice water. However, he heard a cheer from one of the card players

“I won again this time!”

A middle-aged man with a messy beard stood up and threw his cards onto the table quite smugly

“Look, exactly 21 points.”

He looked around triumphantly, but unfortunately, there was only him and his friends. Seeing Shale, who had just walked in, his eyes lit up

“Buy this gentleman a glass of rye ale!”

The man who had won the hand but wasn't wealthy said to the bartender. Shale turned to look at him in surprise, paused for a moment, and then nodded slightly to express his gratitude

“I appreciate the kindness, but I think a glass of ice water will suffice.”

He wasn't good at drinking, didn't know the strength of this so-called “rye ale,” and was currently on a detective job, so there was no need to touch alcohol.

Clearly, the price of a glass of water was much lower than a glass of ale. The three men assumed Shale was trying to save them money and immediately took a liking to him. Seeing that Shale had no companions, they invited him to join their card game.

But Shale didn't know how to play, so he could only watch from the side. The men were very enthusiastic about teaching Shale the techniques of “Rhode Cards.”

The cards in this world were very similar to the poker cards from his previous life, also consisting of four suits and 54 cards in total, except the four suits were Sun, Moon, Star, and Flower.

The mainstream way to play was a rule similar to “Blackjack,” called “Rhode Cards.” Other rules like Solitaire, Old Maid, and High-Low existed as well, but the Rhode Card style was prevalent worldwide. It was said that the inventor of this style was named Rhode.

The cards were generally produced with pictures on the front and the suit and number marked in the top left and top right corners. Therefore, special series of cards issued in certain eras were particularly valuable.

The most recently issued special series of Rhode Cards had only 1,000 sets, named the “Fairy Tale Series.”

The three men playing cards were not wealthy and didn't know much about the so-called special series of Rhode Cards, only able to give a rough idea.

They only knew that some among the nobility were fanatically pursuing those rare cards. In particular, some cards not only had special illustrations but even contained special game rules.

Those cards were worth a fortune. It was rumored that last year, the Beaufort Auction House sold a single special card for 12,000 pounds.

Shale quietly converted the cost of living and thought about the “Sun 3” tucked in his notebook. He didn't want to laugh; instead, he deeply suspected whether the card he had inherited was genuine.

But if that card with the woman sitting sideways holding up a silver moon was authentic, his last bit of worry about his future life would vanish.

After chatting with the three card players in the tavern for an hour, Shale rose to leave. When he returned to the entrance of the newspaper office, the spot next to the mailbox was occupied by a young man in a brown vest wearing glasses.

This was likely a real reporter, so the young detective moved to stand next to a black iron lamppost.

The street lamp was generally cylindrical and also used gas as its energy source. Shale was standing there leisurely, but his eyes inadvertently caught the nameplate. The nameplate clearly stated that one should never smoke under the lamppost, or they would be responsible for the consequences.

Shale imagined what might happen and subconsciously moved away from this dangerous place.

The sun gradually slanted westward, and Shale waited patiently. After the feeling of hunger reached its limit and disappeared in the afternoon, his body felt significantly better. He planned to wait until around five o'clock; if Lady Lassoya still didn't appear, he would set off for the Church of the [Church of War and Peace] to collect relief food.

By the way, he could also see what the churches in this world were all about and confirm whether they possessed extraordinary power.

“But, with that voice in my head, won't I be arrested as soon as I walk in? And the secret of being an outsider...”

He was a bit worried about this, but without knowing the situation, there weren't many choices Shale could make.

Perhaps noticing that Shale was thinking of her again, the woman's voice in his mind sounded once more

【Observe his ring.】

This sentence had appeared at noon, only then the pronoun was feminine, while this time it was masculine.

Shale immediately looked up at the club entrance. Sure enough, he saw a young man carrying a briefcase walk out, and on the finger of his right hand was the very same white pebble ring he had seen on Lady Lassoya's finger at noon.

Because the design was so unique, Shale believed he couldn't be mistaken.

Both of them wore the ring on the middle finger of their right hand, and the voice in his mind offered no further hints.

“How interesting, why would the owner of the ring change?”

Shale thought to himself. After seeing the man wearing the ring leave the club, he didn't look for an empty carriage but instead blended into the evening crowd, following behind a hurried fat man clutching a briefcase, walking east along the street.

The fog of the steam city blurred his figure. If he didn't follow, Shale would soon lose track of the man.

“Should I chase after him? The voice in my head definitely isn't talking nonsense for no reason.”

He thought to himself, turned away from the direction of the club entrance, unfolded one-eighth of the map tucked in his notebook, and looked for the direction of the [Church of War and Peace]. The church distributing relief food was to the east of his current position, and it was already very close to five o'clock.