Chapter 1516: [Era Text] and Mounted Archery

"Mr. Hamilton, you truly have had good fortune."

Seeing the 21, the two Mr. Foleys both slapped their hands onto the table. Although neither busted, neither had 21 either.

Thus, after the first two rounds, Xia De led with 4 points, while Eric Foley and Charles Foley had 3 and 2 points respectively, so Xia De was not yet assured of victory.

The cards for the third round were drawn quickly; as it was the final round, everyone was highly focused. Xia De looked at his first face-down card, frowned slightly, then observed the expressions of the Mr. Foleys. But as expected, they were also skilled at Luo De Pai; their expressions were calm, absolutely giving Xia De no chance to read their moods.

"Speaking of which, have you seen the news? The newspaper says a perverted murderer has appeared in the city; the culprit is also male, approaching others under the pretext of 'searching for a younger brother'."

Xia De spoke again, drawing a third card; he intended to test the two Five-Ring Mages. Mr. Eric Foley nodded:

"Of course we saw the news. The Baron Sally from the Foreign Ministry, who handed over duties to us, specifically instructed us not to leave the embassy freely at night recently. Truly unexpected that Tobeske is so dangerous."

"After all, it is a big city; all sorts of things can happen. The number of gas explosion incidents that occurred here last year would probably surprise you even more."

Xia De said, then tapped the table with his knuckles:

"I think this card game should end; I stand."

The Foley brothers, both holding three cards, also stood. Mr. Charles Foley, wearing a monocle over his left eye, announced:

"My luck has come too; look at this card."

He flipped open his third card; it was indeed a special rule card:

"Star 7, 【Era Text: The Welandel Sun】. Roll one 20-sided die; if the die roll is not greater than 10, adjust this card to the die roll."

The "Era Text" series was issued about 30 years ago, a deck of cards produced through cooperation between the Prophets' Association and the newspaper industry. The deck included those newspapers with massive circulation; among them, the card with the King suit was 【Era Text: The Three-Penny Gazette】, which was the newspaper issued by the Prophets' Association itself.

Mr. Charles Foley took out his ivory die, let Xia De inspect it, then tossed it lightly; the result was 10:

"I knew it would definitely work."

He displayed his hand; the other two cards were Sun 1 and Flower 10:

"21 points!"

His brother, Mr. Eric Foley, shook his head:

"Truly bad luck; I thought I would definitely win this round."

His three cards were Flower 8, Sun 5, and Sun 7, totaling 20 points.

"Then I must also activate my special effect."

Xia De said, discarding Star 5 from his three cards; this card was a normal card. Subsequently, he revealed Flower 12, 【Origin: Earth】:

"Remove one Star-suit card from the hand; the total points of all players increase by 3 simultaneously. My last card is Flower 6. Thus, my total points are 5+12+6-5+3=21 points. As for the two of you..."

The Foley brothers' total points increased by 3, and both busted.

"【Origin: Earth】?!"

Only then did Mr. Eric Foley understand what his brother had been surprised about when inspecting the deck earlier. With Xia De's consent, he carefully picked up that card to inspect it. Meanwhile, Mr. Charles Foley, somewhat regretful, handed over his Flower 3 【Shakadi Story: Lady of the Mist】, watching Xia De insert it into the deck.

Although regretful, he did not feel it was a pity to have lost to the champion "Dacheng Player 1853"; he even thought that upon returning to Welandel, he would have a topic to brag about to the players at the local clubs:

"Mr. Hamilton, you truly are a skilled Luo De Pai player. If you ever have the chance to visit Welandel City in the future, remember to find us to play cards again. However, next time, I might try betting on something else."

"I rarely gamble."

Xia De said very seriously:

"However, I do not mind playing cards. I wonder if there is any news about other 【Origin】 series cards in Welandel City."

Mentioning Welandel City naturally brought to mind that Princess of the Southern Kingdom, as well as the young witch who served as the Princess's tutor.

"I wonder what they are doing right now."

After chatting with the Foley brothers for a while by the wine table, once everyone's wine glasses were empty, the three took their leave.

Xia De did not continue wandering; instead, he returned directly to his own tent.

The huge tent, with exits to the east and south, was arranged very well. At the very back was a bed; bedside tables, wardrobes, armor stands, desks, tea tables, and dressing tables were all present.

The Misses of the maid staff were either watching the grooms feed the horses outside the tent, or busy cleaning inside. Although Xia De did not stay here at night, this was also his main base of operations for the coming few days.

Dorothy sat by the bed reading a war novel titled "Gunshots on the Duffer Bank," while Mia stood on the bed looking around, not knowing what she was watching. Miss Miss Difa stood by the small stove near the tent's eastern entrance preparing tea. Seeing Xia De return, she smiled and nodded at him. After Xia De entered the tent, the Miss of the writer also put down her book and then said:

"I just heard that Count Lewis of Carsonlick met with trouble; you must not wander around recklessly again, be careful not to run into that killer."

Saying this, she laughed herself, then asked:

"You look in very good spirits; who did you go play Luo De Pai with?"

"How did you know..."

This time it was Xia De's turn to be surprised; he had just returned and had not yet mentioned his itinerary.

"You are too easy to understand."

The blonde Miss stood up:

"If I did not understand you, how could I write your story? Moreover, your hobbies are so few. If you didn't go play cards, did you perhaps encounter another cat and play with the cat for twenty minutes?"

"Meow?"

Mia turned her head to look at Xia De again; after being picked up by Xia De, she twitched her nose as if sniffing something.

Although Miss Miss Difa suggested Xia De take a short nap at noon to prepare for the afternoon competition, Xia De had no habit of napping; moreover, he did not like sleeping anywhere other than home.

Thus, for the entire noon, he stayed in the tent talking with Dorothy and Miss Miss Difa. During this time, a detective came to ask if anyone here had seen a suspicious person half an hour ago, but received no answer.

The Count's assassination attempt did not affect the afternoon competition either. It was not until 1:30 PM that Xia De went to confirm his own order of appearance for the afternoon.

The afternoon event was "Mounted Archery," requiring participants to run enough laps around the arena within a specified time and shoot at targets during the process.

Only one group of three could compete in the arena at the same time; therefore, the afternoon schedule would continue until dusk. The afternoon sun was equally glaring; thus, if one could draw a slot after 4 PM, the results would be better.

But this time Xia De did not have such good fortune; the three-person group he belonged to was the second to appear.

After confirming the order, Xia De immediately returned to the tent to prepare. Miss Miss Difa and Dorothy helped him check the tack and confirm his attire; they looked more nervous than Xia De.

Xia De then proposed:

"After I set off in a moment, Miss Miss Difa, you and Dorothy prepare; when I return, we will go for a stroll outside the camp."

"Is it to familiarize ourselves with the route for tomorrow's long-distance horse race?"

The Young Lady maid asked, which was also the annual custom of the competition. After all, familiarizing oneself with the route in advance at least ensured one would not run the wrong way.

"No, no, Miss Miss Difa, please help prepare some snacks and tea for takeout. Since we have time today, how about after I finish my match, we go for a spring outing?"

Xia De said.

"Does this count as an invitation?"

The Young Lady writer asked with a smile, and Xia De nodded:

"Of course. With such fine weather, we can ride our horses to the countryside to clear our minds, then watch the sunset by the river and drink tea while sitting on a picnic blanket. That should count as a wonderful activity, right? Spring has arrived; since we wish to rest, we must naturally enjoy life."

Dorothy said nothing, but lightly kissed Xia De's cheek as her answer.

Xia De then turned to look at Miss Miss Difa, but the black-haired Young Lady maid hesitated somewhat:

"The tasks Miss gave me do not include going for a spring outing with you."

"But isn't this to help Xia De relax? Moreover, we do need a maid to help carry some things."

Dorothy said, her smile looking in every way like Princess Lei Lei Qianya:

"Miss Jia Lin Na will forgive you."

Amidst the cheers of the audience and the melodious sound of horns, the afternoon riding and shooting competition officially began. The knights nervously prepared for their respective matches, while the bursts of applause echoing from within the arena made those who could not buy tickets curious about who had displayed what exquisite skill.

No mishaps occurred during Xia De's match. Although the sunlight was still strong when his group entered the field, this did not count as any difficulty for Xia De, who did not need to aim with his own eyes.

However, Mr. Ben Seifer and Mr. Duane Wisworth in the same group performed rather poorly in the afternoon due to the glaring sunlight. When the three rode their respective horses out of the competition arena amidst the sound of horns, these two somewhat disheartened gentlemen still wished to invite Xia De for a drink, but Xia De politely declined.

"Mr. Hamilton!"

As soon as Xia De stepped out of the side gate of the arena, the crowd gathered outside swarmed around him. Among them were reporters from newspapers as well as supporters Xia De did not know. Thanks to the "boasting" in The Hamilton Detective Story Collection, Xia De was one of the favorites in this competition.

Fortunately, Miss Jia Lin Na's maids properly dispersed the crowd, allowing Xia De, who had just finished the event, to escape as quickly as possible.

"How did it feel?"

When Xia De led his horse back to his own camp, the Young Lady writer asked curiously, and upon receiving an affirmative reply, a smile appeared on her face.

In fact, tomorrow morning's newspaper would publish the scores of the 36 contestants after today's schedule concluded; by then, it would be known what position Xia De currently held.