Chapter 32: Cheating

Hearing the fat chef's demand, Shade frowned. He looked toward the man collecting the money, known as "Mr. Knight," who shook his head

"That is between you two. The club won't stop him from leaving, but you'll have to convince Fat Jack."

"I have no money left."

Shade pulled out the pockets on both sides of his coat; indeed, there was nothing inside but a keychain and a notebook, because his money was in his inner pockets

"I didn't expect him to be able to owe so much money."

Little Franklin had already stood up, his head bowed, standing silently beside Shade. Although he had been a bastard, he knew that he had to rely on this man, who didn't look much older than himself, to leave.

"No money?"

The fat chef huffed and bent down to pick up the four scattered Rod cards from the floor, showing the suits to Shade: the Sun 1, Sun 8, Star 13, and the Emperor.

The Emperor and Queen were independent cards outside of the four standard suits, somewhat similar to the Jokers in Shade's world, but they played a very interesting role in the "Blackjack"-style gameplay of Rod cards.

"Draw one from the four. If you draw the Emperor, you take him with you. If you don't, he leaves all his clothes behind, and you leave your jacket behind."

Speaking in a muffled tone, the fat chef began to shuffle the cards with his hands behind his back. Then, using a hand marked with bloody teeth marks, he spread the four face-down cards in a fan shape

"Don't call me a bad man; he's the one who bit me."

He said irritably, gesturing for Shade to draw a card quickly.

Shade blinked and reached out to stop Little Franklin, who was about to reach forward

"If your luck is good enough, you won't need me to redeem you here."

As he spoke, the Ring of Fate within his soul rotated slowly, driving the Elements, and the Elements influencing reality. Faint red traces appeared in his right eye; the *Echo of Blood* caused the bloodstains to reflect in Shade's vision.

The world in his eyes changed, everything taking on a wondrous halo. Even though Little Franklin had only sprayed a tiny amount of blood onto the cards, and all of it had been on the faces, the incantation of *Echo of Blood* still allowed Shade to see the faint red traces in the air and the different hues of red mist surrounding the four cards in the fat chef's hand.

He had just seen that the amount of blood sprayed on the "Emperor" was the highest; therefore, he almost immediately knew that the card he needed to draw was the second one from the left.

"Does this count as bullying? To do this just after becoming a Ring Warlock... this isn't right."

He thought absentmindedly, scrutinizing his own morality and values.

Then he extended a finger and placed it on the card furthest to the right. However, his eyes did not look at the back of the card; instead, he stared intently at the fat chef's face. The chef immediately stiffened his fleshy face, struggling to maintain a neutral expression.

Mr. Knight and Little Franklin were both drawn to this scene.

"This one is not it," Shade said softly, placing his finger on the second card from the right and staring at the chef's face for a few more seconds.

"This one isn't either."

Shaking his head, he moved to the correct card this time. Several seconds later, amidst the fat chef's irrepressible expression of shock, he slowly drew it

"This is the one."

The card was slowly flipped over; it was indeed the "Emperor."

*This probably counts as bullying an ordinary person,* he thought to himself.

"Damn it, I didn't realize you were such an experienced gambler!"

The fat chef was stunned for a moment, then furiously slammed the other three cards onto the ground

"Take this damn kid away. If he owes money again next time, you'd better make sure he doesn't fall into my hands."

A look of relief appeared on the pale face of the accountant's son. Shade simply nodded; he did not judge the actions of others, he only knew that the incantation *Echo of Blood* was indeed of great help to his detective work.

Having given Shade a receipt, and to prevent Shade and the dejected Little Franklin from wandering aimlessly around the club, the man escorted them toward the exit. However, just as the three of them reached the second-floor staircase to head down, they were intercepted.

It was a woman in her thirties dressed as a maid. Her appearance was mediocre, but her temperament was quite good.

She walked down from the third floor

"That lady wishes to see you."

She looked at Shade and gave him a slight nod.

"Is there someone behind me?"

Thinking this, Shade immediately looked behind him, but there was no one

"Me?"

"Yes, sir. Please follow me. Your friend may wait for you on the first floor for the time being," the woman said. Not understanding, Shade looked to the man leading the way, who merely shrugged

"There is only one distinguished guest on the third floor tonight. If it is that lady, you'd better follow her up; she is a very noble lady. As for him, I'll keep an eye on him for you and ensure he doesn't get near the gambling tables."

As he spoke, he slapped Little Franklin's shoulders firmly twice. The latter was nearly knocked over but did not dare oppose Shade's departure.

"May I know who that lady is?" Shade asked hesitantly, suspecting she might be someone like the club owner, or even wondering if Lady Lasoya, Mr. Lawrence's "mistress," had discovered him.

But he did not understand why she would seek him out. The former detective's only connection to this place was coming here to collect someone last time; beyond that, Shade had no other social connections that could link him to this club.

He was also thinking about the cat at home, wanting to get back as soon as possible to prevent the newly arrived cat from defecating on his bed or desk.

"That lady is a noble with a title, our most distinguished guest tonight. For the sake of her reputation, you cannot know her identity for the time being."

The woman dressed as a maid spoke in standard Delarion Common, and only then did Shade nod slightly

"Then what is the reason for seeking me? My apologies, but I don't believe I know someone of such high status."

"Please follow me."

The leading woman turned to walk upstairs. After a brief hesitation, Shade followed.

Compared to the relatively quiet second floor, the third floor was absolutely silent. Judging by the decor, if he hadn't just walked up from below, Shade would have believed he was in a floor of an art museum.

He followed behind the maid, walking along the carpeted corridor while looking at the oil paintings on both sides of the walls. They stopped before a pair of golden double doors, and the maid helped push open the left door just enough for Shade to enter

"The lady is waiting for you inside."

Shade nodded again. He waited for a second, and when he did not hear the woman's voice in his mind indicating the appearance of an "Element," he finally entered the room.

The maid closed the door from the outside. Shade stood with his back to the door, looking out at the empty drawing room.

The layout of the room was very similar to the doctor's drawing room and consultation room.

Bookshelves occupied an entire wall, and the floor was completely covered by carpets. The combination of desk, tea table, sofa, and cabinets were all made of brown wood, giving it a very professional, business-like style.

However, the brass metal box on the tea table was somewhat eye-catching; it looked like a so-called gear mechanism box, which required the large and small gears on all six sides to be rotated into a specific sequence to open.

The steam and gas pipes on the walls blended well with the color of the painted walls. On each side of the walls were two gas lamps shaped like angels blowing horns, but their warm yellow light was no brighter than the crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

The three windows on the wall directly facing the door were all covered by heavy, reddish-brown embroidered fabric curtains, but Shade did not consider the possibility of someone hiding behind them.

It was extremely quiet, and Shade felt a creeping sense of dread because of it. Someone was watching him, but they were definitely not in this room.